Accel World - Volume 24 - Chapter 9

9

July 23, 4:55 AM.

Koto Takanouchi/Cobalt Blade touched the bottle of carbonated water she had brought from the first-floor kitchen to the slender neck of her twin sister, who was sitting on the edge of her bed shaking her head.

“Yaah!” Springing upward, Yuki Takanouchi/Manganese Blade glared at her sister. “Come oooon! What are you doing, Kotooooo?”

“It’s because you’re all dreamy-headed, Yuki. Drink this and wake up.”

“Unnnh.” Groaning, Yuki accepted the bottle. Koto sat beside her and opened her own bottle before drinking in big gulps. The almost-burning stimulation of the bubbles cleared away what little sleep remained in her head.

Yuki also seemed to be completely awake at last, as she produced a voice that was a little more serious. “What do you really think, Kotoooo?”

“About what?”

“About whether or not Oscillatory’s got one more trap set uuup.”

“Hmm.”

At the meeting of the five Legions the previous evening, Koto and Yuki had insisted they should prioritize the direct attack on Oscillatory Universe over the Sun God Inti mission. It was an assertion based on their caution about the meticulousness of the White King, but in point of fact, it wasn’t as though Koto had any evidence of a trap. She simply had a bad feeling.

This chill had come over her when she and Yuki went to Minato Area No. 3 to check the matching list several hours before the meeting. The only name registered on the list was that of the White King, White Cosmos. When she’d seen that, Koto had felt Cosmos’s cold hand stroking the back of her neck.

The woman was challenging them. She was saying that she wouldn’t run or hide, so they could come fight her at any time. That was what Koto thought. Naturally, she couldn’t challenge the White King to a fight on her own judgment, so Koto and Yuki had returned to Shinjuku in silence. To be more accurate, they had run home with their tails between their legs.

At first, they both thought Cosmos’s challenge was a trap. But soon, they revised their thinking. Neither Enemies nor ambushes could be brought into the Normal Duel Field. If it actually was that the White King simply hadn’t deleted her name from the list out of sheer pride, then it had to be Inti where the trap lay. Koto and Yuki both reached that conclusion when they took part in the meeting, but…

“To be honest, I don’t know,” Koto murmured, glancing at her sister. They were both wearing similar pajamas, and their hair was down, so there was basically no difference in their appearances. “Maybe both are traps; maybe neither is. But if it’s just like CCC’s Lemon Pierrette said and we have to do both, then…”

“There’s no big difference in which we do first, huuuh?” Sighing, Yuki put the cap back on the bottle and set it down on the bed’s headboard. Koto did the same and checked the time. 4:58 AM.

They were scheduled to meet with the other Legions at exactly five. Just in case, she would have preferred to dive a minute early, but all the participants in this mission had agreed to hold off until ten seconds in advance. A mere minute in the real world was sixteen hours and forty minutes in the Unlimited Neutral Field, so the extra time increased the possibility of being picked up by the White Legion’s monitoring—if there was any.

“Wonder if Corvus’ll come,” Yuki murmured.

Koto nodded right away. “He’ll come.”

“But if we fail in the Inti attack, he’ll end up in Unlimited EK, too.”

“Even so, he’ll come,” Koto asserted and lay back. This was Yuki’s bed, but it had the exact same mattress with the same topper as her own, so she didn’t feel any difference.

Yuki lay down next to her. They connected their Neurolinkers directly, and Koto plugged another cable into the direct terminal on their home server. She set the automatic disconnect timer, and their preparation was complete. Time remaining: thirty seconds.

“We have to make this a success,” Yuki said.

“Absolutely, for the honor of our Infinite style.”

Yuki giggled; it was the first time she’d heard the name of their sword school in a while. But Koto understood how she felt. They’d thought the name was incredibly cool when they were still in elementary school, but for ninth graders, it was—

Koto cut off her random thoughts and said, “We dive on the count of three. Three, two, one…”

““Unlimited Burst.””

It was their first trip to the Unlimited Neutral Field since the meeting of the Seven Kings, and blue moonlight fell heavily over the stage. The buildings had all been transformed into gothic structures made of white stone.

Descending to stand on the stage in the form of Cobalt Blade, Koto looked up at the night sky and murmured, “A Moonlight stage…Unfortunate it’s not a water stage of some kind, but we did get a fairly good one here.”

“True. No strange gimmicks, and it’s a help that there’s nothing flammable,” Manganese Blade replied, standing next to her.

Koto snuck a glance at her profile, even though it was familiar by now. Her own tone hadn’t changed between the real world and the Accelerated World—she was maybe just a little briefer here—but the change in her sister was dramatic, almost into another person. So Koto ended up wanting to double-check if this was really the sister who’d been next to her immediately before the dive.

But Yuki accepted Koto’s gaze without complaint and continued, “But dawn doesn’t come in the Moonlight stage, so if there is an Oscillatory ambush, it’ll be harder to spot. Have to make sure our scouting’s tight.”

“Good point.” She nodded, her full warrior armor clacking.

The mustering point for the mission was Gijo Plaza at the Ministry of Defense, the same as the meeting the day before. This was less than a kilometer away from where Koto and Yuki lived in Sugacho in Shinjuku, and they still had two hours and forty minutes before the mustering time of five AM, but she wasn’t in the mood for dawdling. Koto checked for the feel of the sword on her hip and started walking north. Along the way, they smashed small objects to charge their special-attack gauges.

They avoided the major roads and had advanced three hundred meters when they hit Koshu Kaido. They would have no choice but to expose themselves at this crossing, so they hid in the shadow of a building for a moment while Koto checked the east side and Yuki the west. When they had confirmed and reconfirmed that there was no sign of any Enemies or observers, they quickly cut across the wide street.

Once again, they selected only back roads toward the north. Finally, a chalky tapered tower rose up in the night sky ahead—the large radio tower that was the symbol of the Ministry of Defense in the real world.

They walked below the landmark illuminated in the moonlight and crossed Yasukuni Street, and when they slipped through the Ministry of Defense gates, there were already a couple dozen Burst Linkers gathered there. The fact that they had beaten Koto and Yuki there, even though the twins lived so close by, meant they had definitely not waited until ten seconds in advance to dive as instructed but rather gotten a minute or two head start. Other than that, they were following the items agreed upon at the meeting. Instead of clumping together in the middle of the plaza and making noise, they concealed themselves against the walls, split up by Legion.

On both sides of the plaza tiled in pure-white marble, there was a corridor lined with Grecian pillars, and the members of Leonids were gathered on the east side of it. The first to notice Koto and Yuki approaching was a large avatar who greeted them in a low voice, Legion mainstay Frost Horn.

“Cobal, Manga, good morning.”

“Morning, Horn. And everyone else,” Koto replied, and a chorus of voices responded briefly in kind. The Leonids had always had fewer female members, but the twelve or thirteen people gathered there were all boys. Koto had long ago gotten used to this kind of environment, but sometimes she was jealous of the Legions with a higher ratio of girls. “At ease. We still have two hours. You’re probably all sleep-deprived, so anyone who wants to take a nap, do it now.”

“This is an important mission to rescue Commander Knight. I can’t sleep!” the small avatar who stepped out next to Horn responded in a youthful voice. Named Cerulean Runner, the avatar had the same Japanese design to his armor as Koto’s and Yuki’s. His main weapon was a small Japanese katana, and he’d apparently decided he was going to be a sword master a cut above the rest someday, but unfortunately, the design of the armor covering his head was that of a common soldier’s hat, so he ended up looking more like a foot soldier than a samurai. But just as the name Runner suggested, he was the fastest in the Legion despite being only at level five. If he kept pushing himself in that direction, he would likely come up with an interesting fighting style.

“If you get this worked up now, you won’t last until the real fighting starts,” Koto admonished this young hopeful in a severe voice. “Part of your job is also making sure you rest when you can.”

“…Yes, sir!” Runner assented readily, but he kept glancing at the opposite side of the corridor.

“Something bothering you?” Yuki asked him.

“Oh! Um.” He paused briefly. “I’m actually a fan of Heliosphere over there. Would it be okay if I went and got an autograph?”

“…”

Koto rolled her eyes beneath her armor. Heliosphere was an idol group made up of three F-types belonging to Prominence, and they were fairly popular. This much at least even she knew. “Do as you like,” she gave permission with a sigh.

“Oh!” Frost Horn interjected. “Then I’m going, too.”

“What? You like Helios, too, Horn?!” Runner responded immediately, and Horn gripped his shoulder tightly.

“I’ll tell you this right now. I was at their first show. Who’s your fave?”

“The leader, Blaze Heart, of course!”

“I’m on Freeze Tone.”

“Oh! Freeze is great, too.”

“Let’s hurry up, then. You talk to them.”

“What?! Horn, no, please, you do it!”

The two receded at a quick pace, chattering all the while, and Koto wordlessly watched them go. After shaking her head at the same time as Yuki, she looked around the plaza once more.

The largest group was Great Wall, in a clump near the main entrance of the Ministry of Defense building on the north side. In the southeast corner was Aurora Oval. The southwest was Crypt Cosmic Circus. And inside the corridor on the west side was Prominence, with Nega Nebulus immediately nearby.

“Hold down the fort here,” Koto murmured to Yuki and walked out of the corridor to cut across the plaza. Ahead of her was “Strong Arm” Sky Raker, whom Koto and Yuki viewed as their greatest rival in the Accelerated World.

Even without including the members of the merged Prominence, Nega Nebulus had grown to a fairly decent size in the blink of an eye, and there were already more than five of them gathered there. But the key person for that day’s mission, Silver Crow, was not among them.

Noticing Koto’s approach, Raker turned around, wheelchair and all, and touched a hand to the brim of her white hat. “Morning, Cobalt. Looking forward to today.”

“Mmm. Crow’s not here yet?”

“No. But no need to worry. He’ll definitely be here in time,” Raker declared, and Cyan Pile, Lime Bell, and Ardor Maiden behind her all nodded.

They firmly believed in Crow. That came across loud and clear, but it didn’t erase the anxiety lurking in Koto’s heart. Wasn’t Crow the kind of guy who would show up with more than enough time to spare when it came to something important like this?

“It’s not that I doubt you, but Crow’s indispensable to today’s mission. Just in case, maybe someone should…” …go to his house and get him? She couldn’t bring herself to utter the words.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous collision from the west.

“What was that?!”

By the time Koto cried out, Raker was already racing her wheelchair toward the gate on the plaza’s south side. Koto ran after her, and the executives from the other Legions also started hauling. She leapt out onto Yasukuni Street after Raker and looked to the west.

The earth shook once more.

Bracing her feet, Koto saw a massive shadow approaching from the direction of Akebonobashi Station on the wide road.

“Enemy!” she shouted.

“And it’s a Beast class…Flame Blower.” Raker had an unusual note of panic in her voice.

Charging toward them and making the ground rumble was a crustacean-type Enemy likely seven or eight meters tall. Countless sturdy legs sprouted from the massive bottom part of the body, reminiscent of a giant isopod, and mouthparts dangled below long, slender compound eyes. These were perfectly shaped to skewer prey, but the name Flame Blower suggested a different purpose.

Suddenly, the Enemy raised those mouthparts. It was targeting the three duel avatars running desperately about twenty meters ahead of it. One was a member of the Leonids; the other two looked to be from Great Wall. Most likely, they had had the bad luck of stumbling along a Beast-class Enemy on their way to the Ministry of Defense.

“Jump to the side!!” Koto yelled, and the duel avatars threw themselves to the left and right. Immediately after that, dazzling orange flames jetted from the Enemy’s mouthparts.

Shhhwwmmfff!! Flames shot out more than ten meters and licked a straight line down Yasukuni Street before jetting up high into the sky. Having just barely evaded being roasted alive, the three avatars scrambled to their feet and started running again. But Flame Blower hadn’t stopped running while it spewed its fire, so it had made a serious dent in the distance between them. The Burst Linkers would be hard-pressed to dodge the next blow.

“Manga, let’s go!” Koto cried.

“Aye!” Yuki responded. They gripped the hilts of their beloved swords and launched off the ground at the same time, while the other Legion executives chased after them.

With more than ten high rankers assembled, the Enemy was no match for them, even if it was a Beast class—was what she wanted to think, but it wasn’t as simple as that. Flame Blower had large quantities of fuel inside its body, and if a player made a misstep and destroyed the carapace, it would bring about an enormous explosion. To avoid being caught up in that and dying, the standard play was to keep far enough away from the creature and shoot it full of holes with long-distance firepower, but they couldn’t use that move here. If there were any Oscillatory Universe personnel monitoring Kitanomaru Park, there was no way they wouldn’t notice a massive explosion near the Ministry of Defense, which was a mere two kilometers away. The mission members would end up giving Oscillatory time to set a trap.

“Oi! Cobal! Manga! What do we do?!”

Someone chasing Koto and Yuki at top speed called out to them, and when she looked to her right, Koto saw Scarlet Rain. Although she was only 70 percent the height of Koto and Yuki, she looked like she could still run even faster if need be.

“We can’t be all loosey-goosey with this one!” Rain continued.

“Roger that!” Koto replied at maximum speed. “We make ourselves Blower’s target and draw it somewhere far away. I want you to get back to the plaza!”

The Red King, the only king who hadn’t ended up in Unlimited EK at the meeting the day before, was too valuable a battle resource to allow her to put herself in the path of danger. That was Koto’s intent when she spoke, but Rain sped up and started to pull ahead of her.

“Weird, bad sitch here. You gotta know Beast-class Enemies don’t get lured off so easily, yeah?!”

She was exactly right. The higher the Enemy class, the more intelligent the AI they were given, and a half-hearted hate control wouldn’t work on this one. With Koto and the others simply striking at its legs, it would see through to their real purpose of luring it away and not stop its forward charge.

Already, there wasn’t even a hundred meters between them and the charging crustacean. The Enemy raised its mouthparts once more and set its sights on the three duel avatars frantically scrambling down the road ahead of it. Blower had closed most of the distance that separated them, so even if they jumped to the sides, it would kick them flying with its formidable legs.

Even if they had to watch the unfortunate avatars be killed, they would regenerate before the start of the mission. But if they just let them die without at least trying to save them, Koto and her comrades would drop down to the same level as the Acceleration Research Society, which mercilessly used its members as pawns.

The twins tightened their grips on their swords.

With Rangeless Scission, the special attack they held in common, the longer they continued the charging motion of gripping the hilt while the sword was sheathed, the greater the range and force of their attack. This time, they had been charging only for the minute or so since they flew out of Gijo Plaza, but it should have been enough to just barely reach Blower.

However, before they could draw their swords, the Red King whipped out the gun on her hip so fast, the eye couldn’t catch her hand. Pew, pew! Her aim was impeccable; consecutive light bullets made a direct hit with Blower’s mouthparts. The Enemy roared like a conch blowing as it reeled backward. The mouthparts for shooting flames were far tougher than they looked, and destroying them was no easy feat. And even if they were destroyed, that didn’t mean the Enemy wouldn’t be able to shoot flames any longer. But if you managed to hit with more than a certain amount of force, it could cause a delay in the creature’s charge, albeit for only a few seconds.

Not letting the opportunity slip away, the three targeted Linkers ran like frightened rabbits to put some distance between them and it—and in an attempt to join up with Koto and the others. But when two of them peeled off to the sides, Yuki pointed to the rear and shouted, “Keep running into the Ministry of Defense!”

“O-okay!”

“Super sorry about this!”

“Thanks for the assist!”

The three shouted back and ran down Yasukuni Street, stumbling over themselves.

Koto and Yuki abruptly put on the brakes and gave instructions to their comrades.

“Spread out and block the street!”

“Anyone with fire resistance to the front!”

Reacting immediately, the avatars running behind them spread out to both sides. When she checked on the lineup there, in addition to Rain, Koto found Sky Raker and Aqua Current of the Black Legion, Aster Vine and Mauve Wire of the Purple Legion, Iron Pound and Suntan Chafer of the Green Legion, and Blood Leopard of the Red Legion. And she was pretty sure that was Tangerine Ringer and Sax Loader of the Yellow Legion.

With this many powerful fighters, actually splitting Flame Blower’s hard carapace wouldn’t have been difficult. But then the Enemy would explode spectacularly. In which case, there was only one conclusion.

“We defeat it without making it explode!” Koto declared.

“Seriously?” Iron Pound groaned to her left. “With this guy, it’ll take us the whole hour.”

“It’s to ensure the kings’ rescue. We have no choice!” Yuki shouted.

Everyone, including Pound, nodded. Whatever they might have said, not one of the people there thought they could slack off on this rescue mission.

Flame Blower stopped before the twelve of them. It opened its sharp, large jaw to the side of its mouthparts, and a complicated pattern of light raced across its jet-black compound eyes.

The carapace that enveloped Blower’s body was a pale red, but the hard shield-shaped armor on its head was a crimson that bordered on black, and that was its true weak point. When that armor was smashed, the core of the central nervous system was exposed, so if they destroyed that, they would be able to defeat the creature without causing it to explode.

And when defeating an Enemy that way, there was the possibility of a drop of rare material items and Enhanced Armaments in addition to the burst points, so tenacious Enemy-hunting parties would often try their luck on the strategy.

But that armor was also impossibly hard. Hard enough that a high ranker’s special attack would shave away only the smallest fraction of it; with a party of thirty people, it would take four or five hours until it shattered. And even with this group, the most powerful lineup in the Accelerated World at present—excluding the kings, of course—Pound’s estimate that it would take an hour was pretty much on the mark.

Even so, they had to do it.

“Shooters, keep digging away at the head armor! Attackers, block any leg attacks while targeting the mouthparts! When the flame jets come, judge whether it’s vertical or horizontal and evade. Tanks, you protect the shooters for now!” Koto called out one instruction after the next.

“““Aye!””” the entire group yelled in response.

The weak point of its armor was nearly five meters above the ground, so unfortunately, Koto’s and Yuki’s normal attacks wouldn’t reach it. Still, they’d be able to get off one shot each of the Rangeless Scission they’d been charging since they left the plaza.

Here we go, Yuki!

Anytime, Koto!

The twins made eye contact and then spread their legs wide to lower their stance.

““Rangeless…””

The call of the technique name was perfectly synchronized but was interrupted by a voice coming from an unexpected direction.

“Hold up!!”

The call came from behind Flame Blower. But not one of their ten comrades had yet gone around behind the Enemy.

““?!””

Stunned, Koto and Yuki stopped their attack and opened their eye lenses wide.

Yasukuni Street was half-hidden by the Enemy’s massive bulk, but there was a gentle curve to the left around the intersection at Gappazakashita, so they could just barely see past it. Something was charging toward them at an incredible speed, so low in the air it almost scraped the surface of the road.

It wasn’t running. The two wings spread wide shone with reflected moonlight. There were only two Burst Linkers in the Accelerated World who could fly—not glide—under their own power. One of those people, Sky Raker, was ready to fight to Koto’s right. So then that was…

“Corvus.”

She wasn’t sure whether it was Yuki or her who spoke the name.

As they stood rooted to the spot, the flying avatar rounded the curve, grazing the road with the tip of his wing, and closed in behind Flame Blower. Noticing this, the Enemy started to turn its mouthparts. But by that time, the avatar was already just barely slipping by the Enemy’s side, past the mouthparts, and up. Turning so sharply in midair that he nearly left skid marks on the road, he closed in on the armored head. The silver flight avatar—Silver Crow—gripped the hilt of the longsword equipped on his left hip.

Absurd, Koto thought. The shield-shaped armor alone was stronger than even the armor of a Legend class. If he swung at it with that much force, he wouldn’t be able completely absorb the blowback, and either the sword would fall or he would drop to the ground.

However…

The sword Crow drew from its scabbard did not send a single spark flying when it hit the crimson armor and pulled out to the right. The tip carved an arc and bounded back before it was brought down, a silver thread of light trailing behind it.

It was curious sword work. Even though it was fast enough that it was all Koto could do to keep it in focus, there was a hint of slowing at the moment it touched the armor, and then it sliced cleanly through without the least resistance.

She’d never seen such a technique—except, no, she felt as though she had seen something like it, just a long time ago. A long, long, long time ago, back when she and Yuki were still middle rankers who had only just finally gotten to the level of being able to enter the Unlimited Neutral Field.

Cutting off this flash of thought, Koto shouted, “The armor’s cracked! Ready projectile attack!”

Silver Crow flew off to the left.

A cross of light flashed across the shield-shaped armor, and it split into four pieces that shot outward, like they had been pushed out from the inside. The creature’s central core was revealed, looking just like a massive jellyfish and emitting a disturbing purple light.

“Fire!” Koto shouted.

The long-distance types, including the Red King, launched light bullets of various colors. An inexperienced party might panic here and miss their mark so that they ended up hitting the torso and causing it to explode, but given that these were the most veteran warriors of each Legion, naturally there was not a single miss; all the bullets were sucked into the jiggly core.

Shuddering intensely, the core swelled up like a balloon and exploded, glowing mucus splattering outward. The three levels of the Enemy’s health gauge instantly dropped to zero, and the light faded from its compound eyes, blinked several times, and disappeared. The countless legs lost all power, and the Beast-class Enemy Flame Blower sank its massive bulk onto the road.

The Enemy’s body melted into a vast quantity of particles that danced up and scattered in all directions, and the Burst Linkers gave restrained cheers of victory. Koto also unconsciously clenched her fist in front of her before looking for Silver Crow, her other hand still gripping that hilt.

The key figure in the Flame Blower assault was standing on the edge of Yasukuni Street with his back turned to Koto and the others, putting his sword into its sheath again. Crow! she was about to call out. And then she froze in place at the same time as Yuki beside her.

“Is that the real Silver Crow?” her sister murmured, but Koto couldn’t respond. Because she was wondering the exact same thing.

The slender form. The silver metal armor. And more than anything else, the wings folded up on his back. It was the very picture of their familiar Silver Crow, but the air around him was somehow…It was like a veteran of great experience, a high ranker far beyond Koto and Yuki.

Sky Raker and Aqua Current caught up with the twins rooted to the spot.

“Corvus!” Raker called out, and Crow looked back.

Instantly, the curious air around him vanished like smoke, and Crow trotted over to them on brisk feet. He stopped directly in front of them and bowed his head. “I’m sorry I’m late, Master!”

“We were worried. Where on earth were you?”

“Oh, kinda training, kinda finishing up, you know…”

“She made you train right before the mission?!” Raker was outraged. “I’ll hang that girl up by her toes!”

“N-n-n-no! I just decided to stay a little longer.” Crow scratched his helmet.

“But it looks like you were able to master her sword technique, so I think the training was worth it,” Current said.

“No, I mean, mastering it…” He shrugged. “It’s more like I finally moved up one tiny step or something.”

Koto could restrain herself no longer. She asked over Raker’s shoulder, “Crow, it seems like you’ve been busy, but you can take part in today’s mission, yes?”

“Yes, of course, Cobalt!”

His words were heartening, but when she saw him up close, there were countless small cuts carved into his metallic armor—and even places with dark rust.

“You look quite tired. It’s possible to delay the mission start time if it’s just by a little, you know.” She was accidentally more considerate than normal, but Crow shook his head slightly.

“No. Right now, I’m probably—I don’t know…I think I’m kind of in this zone right now.”

“Zone?” Yuki interjected from one side. “Is that why you were able to cut Flame Blower’s armor back there?”

“Probably. I think so. I don’t think I’ll be able to get back into it if I go to sleep, so I’ll keep going to tackle the real mission,” Crow replied, and that aura of an ancient veteran cloaked his body again for an instant. Or so she felt.

Exactly what training had he been doing? And who was “that girl” Raker mentioned? She had plenty of questions, but now was not the time for interrogations. Crow had made it in time for the meetup, and if he could take on the attacker role, then it was Koto and Yuki’s job to make sure he had all the support he needed.

“Understood. Then we start at five AM as planned. Until then, rest your body at least.”

“We’re counting on that technique back there in the mission, too, Crow.”

The twins turned on their heels, and the other Legion members who had been surrounding them at a distance crowded around Crow all at once. Listening to Raker’s voice guarding Crow as the other Burst Linkers thanked him and teased him and questioned him, Koto and Yuki kept walking down the moonlit Yasukuni Street to return to Gijo Plaza. A strange exultation enveloped her, and it seemed to her that it wasn’t only because they had crushed a Beast-class Enemy.