Accel World - Volume 6 - Chapter 9

9

When the mountain of sandwiches had been neatly decimated, the large plate cleared away, and more tea made, Haruyuki raised his voice with a question he could no longer keep himself from asking. “Um. What did you mean by what you said before, Kuroyukihime? That Shinomiya’s real body is locked up in the Unlimited Neutral Field? I had a tag team duel with Shinomiya in the Normal Duel Field yesterday, and…Is there some separate problem in the Unlimited Neutral Field?”

To his right, Chiyuri similarly cocked her head. But Takumu seemed to have hit on something, and he opened his mouth, albeit hesitantly. “Master. Is it perhaps ‘unlimited EK’?”

“Oh, just like you, Professor! Quite knowledgeable.” Kuroyukihime nodded, but Haruyuki had absolutely no clue what that meant.

“U-unlimited EK? Taku, what is…?” he asked, leaning his whole body forward.

“Haru.” Takumu replied with a question, pushing on the bridge of his glasses with a finger as he did. “Did you know that there are several ways in the Accelerated World to make a Burst Linker disappear—i.e., to push them into total point loss and the forced uninstallation of Brain Burst?”

“Huh? There’s just dueling and winning over and over,” he responded reflexively, before remembering the fact that he himself had fallen to the brink of annihilation two months earlier and adding, “Wait. There’s also a big fight in the Unlimited Neutral Field. Both sides charge all their points onto a Sudden Death Duel card, and the winner gets them all. Oh, and speaking of sudden death, there’s also that special rule for level niners.”

“Right. So that’s three. Anything else?”

“There’s also that…PK…I think?” Chiyuri said with an expression like the tea in her mouth had turned to salt water. “Physical kill? The one where you attack in the real, lock ’em up in a car or something, and steal every last one of their points in a direct duel. Which is totally not okay.”

Takumu nodded with a severe look and added, “I guess in a broader sense, you could call that guy who came after us in April a PK. Anyway, that’s the fourth. And the fifth is the ‘unlimited EK’ I mentioned, formally known as ‘unlimited Enemy kill.’”

“Enemy kill…Not killing Enemies, right? So then killed by Enemies?”

“Right. That’s exactly it,” Kuroyukihime interjected, so the three closed their mouths and looked her way. After bringing her cup of tea to her lips, their black-clad Legion Master began to speak quietly. “I already explained to Haruyuki yesterday that there are Enemies in the Unlimited Neutral Field with incredible attack power, called Beasts and Legends. However, the ones at the very top, the ones that are truly a force of nature, stay within predetermined Territories, rather than wandering the field freely, so they pose no danger as long as you don’t approach their areas. But conversely, if by some chance you are thrust into their territory and killed, escape is extremely difficult.”

“Uh, umm?” Haruyuki let his gaze wander and tried to remember the rules of the Unlimited Neutral Field, a place he had visited countless times.

In that world, a player’s HP gauge dropping to zero—the player dying, in other words—didn’t mean the Burst Linker was returned to the real world. You remained in the place of your death in a “ghost” state, your field of view colored gray, and were revived after an hour. And you couldn’t use the “burst out” command in the Unlimited Neutral Field. The only way to “drop” into the normal full-dive VR game and automatically return to the real world was to slip through one of the “leave point” portals set up at landmarks like stations or famous tourist spots.

Taking these two rules into consideration, he thought about the situation Kuroyukihime mentioned. Assume you carelessly charged into the territory of a fixed-position enormous Enemy, were targeted and hit with an attack of overwhelming force, and then died instantly. Then YOU ARE DEAD would be displayed in your vision, and you’d wait for the regeneration gauge to fill, as a ghost tied to that spot with no physical body. An hour later, you would finally come back to life and be able to move—but that spot was still within range of the enormous Enemy. You would, of course, quickly be attacked again, and die once more. An hour later, you’d come back to life…and die again, and…

“Th-there’s no end to it, is there?” Haruyuki shouted, and Kuroyukihime nodded with a gloomy look.

“None. Which is why it’s ‘unlimited.’ The unlimited Enemy kill deliberately creates this situation. In other words, another method of causing a Burst Linker to lose all their points is to leave them deep in the territory of a massive Enemy and have them killed over and over and over, every hour. Naturally, the chances of escape are not necessarily zero. After all, once you come back to life, if you can move even the slightest bit before your immediate death, you’ll regenerate in that location next. You can gain distance bit by bit, and perhaps at some point, make it out of the Enemy territory, but with a single death, you lose ten points, as is the case with any Enemy. Die ten times, it’s a hundred. A hundred times, and you lose a thousand points. You can’t hold out against that for long.”

A chill ran up his spine as he imagined himself plunged into such a situation, and Haruyuki assented her point in a hoarse voice. “Th-that’s true. Especially after you’ve used up a lot of points like right after leveling up or buying an expensive item or something.” However, he quickly realized something and furrowed his brow. “B-but this ‘unlimited EK’…Wouldn’t it be pretty risky to set up? I mean, you could die before you managed to leave your opponent in that territory.”

“Exactly. Which is why people usually use methods such as throwing their opponent in from outside the territory or sending them flying in with an explosive attack.” The answer came from Fuko. Still with a gentle smile playing on the edges of her lips, she added, somewhat terrifyingly, “Once, I used Gale Thruster to drop this PK jerk—whose name I was lucky enough to find out—right on top of the head of a Legend. At any rate, in a normal unlimited EK, it’s not that easy to carry the other player that deep into the territory, so you can usually escape if you really fight and work hard. And since the stronger the Enemy, the riskier it is for the Burst Linker planning the kill, the distance needed to escape is usually shorter, too.”

Haruyuki nodded in understanding, alongside the two other junior members of the Legion.

At that moment, Utai, who had stayed silent until then, moved her fingers surreptitiously. UI> BUT THERE’S AN EXCEPTION TO EVERY THEORY. Clear eyes still turned on some far-off place, the fourth grader with the mysterious air slowly continued typing. UI> ONE OF THE THREE PEOPLE WHO CHARGED INTO THE VERY DEPTHS OF THE TERRITORY OF THE LARGEST AND MOST POWERFUL ENEMY IN THE ACCELERATED WORLD DIED, NEVER TO RETURN AGAIN. A BURST LINKER WHO CAN NEVER DIVE INTO THE TRUE ESSENCE OF THE ACCELERATED WORLD, THE UNLIMITED NEUTRAL FIELD, EVEN IF ABLE TO ENTER THE NORMAL DUEL FIELD. I AM HER.

Haruyuki had already told Takumu and Chiyuri the gist of the story he had heard the day before in the student council office about the decline and fall of the first Nega Nebulus. About the absolutely impenetrable Castle in the middle of the Unlimited Neutral Field, and the most powerful Enemies that guarded its gates, the Four Gods. The members of the first Nega Nebulus had set their sights on reaching the Castle under the assumption that this was the second requirement for clearing Brain Burst and attempted to break past the Four Gods. And then they were annihilated.

That was as much as Haruyuki had been told. He still didn’t know the crux of it, the reason why a single defeat had led all the way to the collapse of the Legion. However, from this talk now of unlimited EK, Haruyuki was arriving at a guess, albeit a hazy one. He took a deep breath, looked at Kuroyukihime, Fuko, and Utai in turn, and then opened his mouth. “Then that means…Shinomiya, two and a half years ago, you went deep into the territory of the Four Gods and died, and now you can’t come back alive. Is that it?”

Nodding sharply, Utai tapped at the air. UI> YES. HAVING A HIGH RESISTANCE TO FIRE, I LED A SQUAD TO CHALLENGE THE GIANT FIRE BIRD SUZAKU, GUARDIAN OF THE CASTLE’S SOUTH GATE. IT WAS A DIFFICULT OPPONENT, WITH PHYSICAL ATTACKS FROM ITS LONG-RANGE FLAME BREATH AND TALONS, AS WELL AS A BROAD-RANGE FIRE ATTACK IN ALL DIRECTIONS. HOWEVER, WE HAD ALL THIS INFORMATION, SO WE DEVISED A STRATEGY TO RESPOND, AND WE SUCCEEDED IN PENETRATING TO A POINT WHERE WE COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE GATE. BUT THERE, SUZAKU’S ATTACK PATTERN CHANGED. IT ENVELOPED ITSELF IN FLAMES AND CHARGED AT HIGH SPEED. WE WERE UNABLE TO MEET THE ATTACK, AND OUR BATTLE LINE CRUMBLED. MY OWN RESISTANCE TO FIRE WAS ALSO LITTLE COMFORT. TO AT LEAST CREATE A ROUTE OF RETREAT FOR MY COMPANIONS, I LURED SUZAKU INTO THE DEEPEST PART OF THAT TERRITORY AND DIED THERE.

“Apparently, the attack patterns of Seiryu at the east gate and Genbu at the north gate also changed for the worse halfway through,” Kuroyukihime murmured, and bit her lip before continuing. “It was the same with Byakko at the West gate, who I went up against with Raker. By all rights, we also shouldn’t have been able to make it back from so deep in Byakko’s territory. But using the last of her power, Raker carried me and flew us out.”

“Because at the time, I had already lost my legs and wasn’t any use in battle.” Fuko moved her mouth with the same look on her face, as though she were enduring a certain kind of pain. “I mustered every ounce of my will and flew desperately to ensure that Sacchi at least made it out alive. Even now, I sometimes have dreams where I hear Byakko’s teeth clack-clacking right behind me…Although that punishment is too light for me, the only one of the Four Elements to survive.”

UI> I KNOW I’M GRATEFUL FOR HOW HARD YOU WORKED FOR US, THEN, FU, AS I’M SURE ARE GRAPH AND AQUA.

“That’s right, Raker. If you and I had been locked away at the gates of the Four Gods, we wouldn’t have been able to even think of having a ‘child.’ Without a doubt, Silver Crow and his honorable rival Ash Roller would not have been born. And without the formation of the second Nega Nebulus, we would never have met again like this. Your decisive flight led us to the future.”

At Kuroyukihime’s gentle yet firm words, Fuko raised her lowered eyelashes and nodded softly.

Feeling something welling up in his heart, Haruyuki silently watched over them, but at the same time, unable to suppress a question that had popped into his head, he saw his opportunity and timidly opened his mouth. “Um, Kuroyukihime? I understand that Shinomiya’s duel avatar is actually sealed away at the south gate of the Castle in the Unlimited Neutral Field. But yesterday, I teamed up with Shinomiya—with Ardor Maiden—and fought a duel. Which means that Shinomiya is still a Burst Linker. She didn’t lose all her points two and a half years ago, right? How is she protecting her burst points from the unlimited EK state?”

“A good question,” Kuroyukihime said, and turned her gaze on Takumu once more. “So then perhaps I’ll ask the pride of our Legion, the brains, to give us another lecture. Takumu, you must have already guessed how it works?”

To Utai, whom he was meeting for the first time, the look on Takumu’s face was rather complicated, but still, his professorial character steadily taking root, he replied obediently, “Yes, Master,” and turned back to Haruyuki. “Okay, Haru. This time it’s about how to withdraw from the Unlimited Neutral Field. Do you know how many ways there are?”

“Hey, even I know that much, okay?” Pursing his lips, Haruyuki raised his eyes to glare at his childhood friend, who was again pushing his glasses up. “I mean, it’s common knowledge, right? The answer is ‘one.’ You can only leave the Unlimited Neutral Field through a leave point portal. This general principle means that unlimited EK can happen, doesn’t it?”

“Eennnnh! Wrong!!” It was, of course, Chiyuri shouting. His other childhood friend, sitting across from Takumu, had a playful grin floating to her lips that was reminiscent of a cat. She shoved three fingers into Haruyuki’s face. “The answer’s threeee.”

“Ngh—N-no way. Th-three?! Like with an item or something?! Or a special attack?”

Chiyuri made the ennh sound of the wrong buzzer once more at the flustered Haruyuki before folding down fingers to enumerate her response. “The second way is to cut your Neurolinker’s global connection. The third’s to take your Neurolinker off your neeeeck.”

“Wha…” He was temporarily speechless at this unexpected declaration. Finally, his thinking rebooted, and he groaned desperately, “Th-that’s cheating! I mean, okay, it’s not cheating, but…That’s in the real world, though!”

“Goodness, Taku didn’t say anything about a method you could do in the Accelerated World, did he?”

“I—I guess not, but I mean, taking off your Neurolinker while you’re accelerated…No one can do that themselves!”

“Oh, my, he didn’t say anything about a method you could do by yourself, did he?”

If he got into one of those endless back-and-forths he’d had with Chiyuri since they were kids…

Abruptly, gentle laughter came up from his left. Turning his eyes that way, he saw that it wasn’t just Kuroyukihime and Fuko giggling delightedly; even Utai was spilling with soundless amusement.

They laughed for a dozen seconds or so before Kuroyukihime opened her mouth. “Ha-ha-ha! You really are a wonderful trio, you three. Chiyuri is right. Leaving the Unlimited Neutral Field through an internal route voluntarily is indeed one way, but there is also passively being made to leave from the real world.” Koff. Clearing her throat, she recomposed her expression. “Two and a half years ago, the general members of the first Nega Nebulus took on the Castle attack, knowing it was reckless. However, it was most certainly not a group suicide. Thus, we set up a safety. We decided that rather than the normal wireless connection, we would go through a wired connection, with either a home server or a leftover PC as a stepping-stone.”

“Stepping-stone,” Haruyuki murmured, and Utai supplemented with the chat.

UI> WHEN A MAIL WITH A SPECIFIC SUBJECT LINE ARRIVES AT THAT INTERMEDIATE MACHINE, THE MACHINE IS SET TO AUTOMATICALLY DISCONNECT FROM THE GLOBAL NET. THEORETICALLY, WHEN A SQUAD IS DESTROYED, THE FIRST PERSON TO RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD THROUGH A LEAVE POINT SENDS THAT MAIL TO ALL LEGION MEMBERS. IN THAT INSTANT, EVERYONE AUTOMATICALLY BURSTS OUT, DISCONNECTED. In other words, should one fall into a state of unlimited EK, at the very least, they would escape without losing all their points.

“Huh…M-makes sense.” A sigh of admiration slipped out of his mouth. The thought that you could get out of the Unlimited Neutral Field with such methods had never even crossed his mind.

But looking back on it now, that time two months earlier when he had visited that cake shop in Sakuradai in Nerima Ward with Takumu so that Takumu could get Incarnate training from the Red King Niko, they had indeed made their global connection directly rather than wirelessly. He had no doubt that the same safety was installed on the router device in that room as well.

There’s still so many things I don’t know, huh? Haruyuki wondered absently as Takumu next to him raised his hand lightly.

“Excuse me, Master. I don’t know the details of a disconnect departure from the Unlimited Neutral Field, either. What happens to your duel avatar in that case?”

“Mmm. Well, the situation becomes slightly complicated. When you depart the Unlimited Neutral Field using an irregular method such as disconnecting from the net or removing your Neurolinker, your duel avatar does indeed disappear from the field. After that, you can fight a normal duel without any issues, but if you dive once more into the Unlimited Neutral Field, you will appear not at your location in the real world, but in the coordinates where you disappeared.”

“Uhhh?” Haruyuki said, unable to digest this.

“Corvus.” Fuko popped a single finger up. “You do remember the house on the top of the old Tokyo Tower in the Unlimited Neutral Field where I lived for quite a long time, don’t you?”

“O-of course. How could I forget? You pushed me down from there.”

“I haven’t forgotten. At any rate, since my real-world house is on the southern edge of Suginami, it’s a bit far to the old Tokyo Tower in Minato Ward. But when I went to the house on the tower, I didn’t actually go to all the trouble of heading over there from Suginami. I fixed my avatar’s positional data on the top of the tower by automatically disconnecting from the global net with a timer so that I would appear in that place the next time I dived.”

“O-ohh. So that’s it!” Nodding deeply, his thoughts moved forward.

Utai Shinomiya—Ardor Maiden—had made it deep into the territory of Suzaku, one of the super-powerful Enemies of the Four Gods, two and a half years earlier. Normally, immediately following her regeneration an hour later, she would have been killed again, a cycle that would repeat infinitely until finally she lost all of her burst points. However, thanks to the safety of an automatic disconnection with the arrival of a mail, she had been disconnected before her points were used up and had returned to the real world. Which was why she had been able to team up with Haruyuki in a normal duel the previous day.

But this return was limited. The moment she called out the “unlimited burst” command to dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field, the ultimate battleground for a Burst Linker, Utai would appear not in the position of her physical body in the real world, but directly in front of the god Suzaku guarding the south Castle gate. Naturally, she would instantly be hit with a fierce attack and immediately die. She would descend once again into that terrifying state of unlimited EK.

“So that’s why you’re ‘sealed,’ then. For you to be released from that place, someone would have to go right up to Suzaku and rescue your avatar immediately after you dive,” Haruyuki murmured hoarsely, finally understanding.

Nodding sharply, Utai sent her ten fingers smoothly racing. UI> IT’S NOT JUST ME. AQUA CURRENT, ANOTHER OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS, IS SEALED IN FRONT OF SEIRYU AT THE EAST GATE, AND GRAPHITE EDGE IS SIMILARLY SEALED AT THE FOOT OF GENBU AT THE NORTH GATE. TO ENSURE THE ESCAPE OF THE OTHER MEMBERS, WE THREE—NO, SACCHI AND FU TAKING ON BYAKKO AT THE WEST GATE AS WELL—WE ALL CONTINUED TO MAKE OURSELVES THE TARGET FOR THE FOUR GODS AS LONG AS WE COULD. FORTUNATELY, NO ONE ELSE ENDED UP IN A STATE OF UNLIMITED EK; THEY WERE ALL ABLE TO ESCAPE THE TERRITORY, BUT THEY DIED OVER AND OVER AND OVER IN THE PROCESS, LOSING A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF POINTS. IT WAS COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO MAINTAIN THE LEGION TERRITORY. WE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO ABANDON ALL OUR TERRITORY AND DISBAND THE LEGION ITSELF. AND THIS IS HOW THE FORMER NEGA NEBULUS DISAPPEARED. IT WAS NO ONE’S FAULT. NO ONE WAS TO BLAME. Utai’s fingers seemed to Haruyuki to creak loudly here.

Lifting his eyes with a gasp, he saw that the nine-year-old girl, who had until that point maintained essentially the same expression, had twisted up her face and was biting her lip hard. Her fingers moved once more and typed fiercely, as though to rip holes in the air. UI> NO. IF I WAS FORCED TO SAY, IT WAS THAT PERSON. THE ONE WHO DECEIVED SACCHI, PRESSED HER, AND THEN BETRAYED H

“Utai.”

“Uiui!”

The two voices stopped the string of characters. Utai clenched her hands above her holokeyboard and hung her head low, while Fuko next to her gently hugged her.

Kuroyukihime watched from her slightly removed seat with an expression that suggested she was enduring something. “Utai,” she said finally, quietly. “I’m the one to blame. All the responsibility for the destruction of the Legion is on me. The fact that I created the initial opportunity with my impulsiveness. And the fact that once it was all over, my spirit was broken and I locked myself away in the local net for two years. But I met him—Haruyuki—and gained the strength to stand up once again. I will no longer vainly fear the past or turn my eyes from it. At some point, she and I will settle things. And to that end as well, Utai, I want to break your ‘seal.’ I want you to come home. To the new Nega Nebulus.”

It wasn’t as though he were able to understand all of the words exchanged. Who was “that person” Utai was talking about? What had happened with Kuroyukihime back then? But this didn’t feel like the time to be asking about it, so Haruyuki leaned forward and started speaking in utmost earnestness to Utai.

“Shinomiya, I second that request. I’m sure you already know, but right now, my avatar is parasitized by an Enhanced Armament called Chrome Disaster, and if I don’t ‘purify’ it this week, the kings are going to put a bounty on my head, and I won’t be able to duel in any real way anymore. I—I have to get way stronger. I can’t be standing still for even a second if I want to keep fighting alongside Kuroyukihime and everyone else in the Legion. Please…please help me.”

The Haruyuki from just a little while ago would never have given voice to such words; his twisted pride would have gotten in the way. But during his many difficult battles, he had learned, albeit only slightly, what it meant to fight together with your comrades. There were times when you had to stand your ground and insist on your own way. But acting tough, like you could do everything by yourself, was foolish hubris. After all, everyone, without even knowing it, was always being helped by someone.

As if unable to take in Haruyuki’s heartfelt words, Utai cast her gaze downward. For a brief period, silence. Then fingers were raised slightly to tap at the air hesitantly.

UI> THE REASON I SO FIRMLY REFUSED ALL COMMUNICATION WITH SACCHI AND FU AND THE OTHER LEGION MEMBERS FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS WAS EXACTLY THIS PROPOSAL. I WAS AFRAID OF THE WORDS “BREAK THE SEAL.” GIVEN THAT ALL THE LIMITERS HAVE BEEN RELEASED FOR THE FOUR GODS, THEY HOLD ATTACK POWER THAT DEFIES IMAGINATION. THE RISK OF FALLING INTO THE SAME UNLIMITED EK STATE IS SIMPLY TOO GREAT FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD GO TO RECOVER MY AVATAR. IN FACT, WE WERE FORTUNATE THAT IT ENDED WITH ONLY THREE OF US SEALED AT THE FOUR GATES. NO MORE OF MY COMPANIONS CAN BE SACRIFICED. I —AND I’M SURE GRAPH AND AQUA DO AS WELL—BELIEVE THIS AND SO I’VE REFUSED CONTACT. REALLY, I

Here, her fingers froze. The lips that Utai shouldn’t have been able to move were trembling slightly. Haruyuki sensed rather than heard the words that flowed out into the still air.

I missed you.

Two drops slid down her white cheeks. Fuko squeezed her small body tightly, the corners of her own eyes wet. This time, Utai put up not a hint of resistance, instead burying her face in Fuko’s chest, shoulders shaking violently. He heard a faint but definite sobbing. Haruyuki, Takumu, and Chiyuri, who had no direct knowledge of what had happened back then, had to blink several times themselves.

Releasing the embrace after a mere thirty seconds or so, Fuko wiped Utai’s cheeks with a handkerchief she pulled from a pocket, and the girl continued to face downward, as though embarrassed, as she started to type again.

UI> I’M SORRY. I’LL CONTINUE. I HAD NO INTENTION OF CONTACTING THE NEW NEGA NEBULUS MYSELF. AS LONG AS I COULD WATCH OVER SACCHI’S FIGHT IN A CORNER OF THE ACCELERATED WORLD, THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR ME.

BUT THEN THE ANIMAL CARE CLUB AT MY SCHOOL WAS ELIMINATED, AND I COULDN’T FIND ANYONE TO TAKE IN THE ANIMALS WE HAD CARED FOR THAT WOULD BE WITHOUT A HOME. AFTER WRESTLING WITH IT, I SENT A REQUEST MAIL TO UMESATO JUNIOR HIGH, THE SCHOOL SACCHI WENT ON TO. ON THE ONE HAND, I NEVER THOUGHT SACCHI WOULD NOTICE MY NAME, WHILE SOMEWHERE IN MY HEART I WANTED HER TO.

“I noticed. Your name stands out, Uiui,” Kuroyukihime said, smiling.

Although her eyes were still red, Utai pursed her lips sharply. UI> I DIDN’T CHOOSE MY NAME. WHEN THE REPLY TO MY MAIL CAME NOT FROM THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BUT IN THE NAME OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL, I TRULY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. BUT I TOLD MYSELF IT WAS FOR THE SAKE OF THE ANIMALS AND CONTACTED SACCHI WITH A DIVE CALL. AND THEN HER FIRST WORDS WERE

“Conditions of an exchange. I would convince the administration and have the animal hutch readied. In payment, I would have you come back.” Everyone gaped at these words, reproduced by Kuroyukihime herself. Surprise quickly changed into knowing, wry grins.

Utai also connected a smile with text. UI> SACCHI, YOUR IMPATIENT, INSISTENT SIDE HAS NOT CHANGED AT ALL. I APPARENTLY WASTED MY TIME THINKING UP WHAT I WOULD SAY TO YOU, GIVEN THAT YOU SIMPLY ATTACKED ME HEAD-ON. SO I REPLIED THAT I WOULD AT LEAST HEAR WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY. AFTER THAT, I GRADUALLY GOT PULLED IN BY THE PACE OF THINGS, AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, HERE I WAS. IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHEN I WAS FORCED TO MEET IN THE REAL IN THE OLD DAYS.

Reading the words, Haruyuki remembered fondly the time Kuroyukihime had “invited” him to the upperclassmen’s lounge. She had just shown up all of a sudden in the virtual squash corner. Her first words were “Don’t you want to go further, boy…to accelerate?” And I wanted to know what she meant, so I went to the lounge, and we’re all of a sudden directing, and she’s already sending me Brain Burst. I didn’t even get a chance to breathe.

But if she hadn’t invited me like that, I totally wouldn’t have gone. She really is impatient and insistent, but more than that, she’s totally serious about everything. I mean, with this Armor of Catastrophe plan, too, she’s been hard at work without my even knowing it.

Haruyuki abruptly felt a question and he turned to Kuroyukihime, who was sitting directly across from him, and raised a hand timidly. “Uh, um, Kuroyukihime…”

“Mmm? What is it?”

“Umm, after the race ended last week, when we were here talking about what to do about the Armor of Catastrophe parasite, you said you had an idea about someone with the power of purification, so we should leave it to you. Did you mean Shinomiya?”

“Yes, I did.” She nodded crisply, and he pushed with another question.

“But did you have a way to get in touch with her? Shinomiya said before that she totally refused all contact for over two years.”

UI> IT IS EXACTLY AS YOU SAY, ARITA. I DISCARDED THE ADDRESS I USED BEFORE. THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NO WAY FOR A MESSAGE TO COME TO ME FROM SACCHI. IF I HADN’T MAILED UMESATO JUNIOR HIGH ABOUT THE ANIMAL HUTCH, WHAT HAD YOU BEEN PLANNING TO DO? Utai cocked her head curiously as she typed.

A gentle grin slid across Kuroyukihime’s face. “Isn’t it obvious? Even if you deleted your mail account, I at least know the school you go to and what grade you’re in, Utai. All I had to do was go directly to the grounds of the elementary division of Matsunogi and find you from the edge of the fourth-grade classroom. Right?”

The instant she heard this, the color drained from Utai’s cheeks, and she responded with awkward fingers. UI> WHEN I WAS TRYING TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO ASK UMESATO ABOUT THE ANIMAL HUTCH, I HEARD A VOICE TELLING ME TO DO IT. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN THE VOICE OF HEAVEN.

And then Haruyuki and his childhood friends, together with Fuko, laughed out loud. Utai’s head was still pulled back fearfully, and Fuko patted her on the back.

“Right, Uiui? The time came for you to return to the place that needed you. It was like that for me, too. When a troubled and injured little bird appeared in my small garden at the top of the old Tokyo Tower, I felt it, too. That a wind would blow once more in a stagnant world.”

“Exactly, Utai. It’s true that I’m impatient, but I no longer live as recklessly as I did in the past. I’m saying this precisely because I believe that now a strategy to free your avatar from the seal of the God is possible. Come back.” Kuroyukihime stared directly at Utai with her jet-black eyes.

Utai met that gaze with eyes singed by the color of flames. UI> I, TOO, WOULD LIKE TO RELEASE MY AVATAR FROM ITS SEALED STATE NOT JUST FOR MY OWN SAKE, BUT ALSO TO PURIFY ARITA’S AVATAR. IF IT IS THE DISASTER PARASITIZING HIM, THEN THIRTY MINUTES MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO PURIFY IT, SO IT WOULD HAVE TO HAPPEN IN THE UNLIMITED NEUTRAL FIELD RATHER THAN THE NORMAL DUEL FIELD. YESTERDAY, I DUELED IN A TAG MATCH WITH ARITA AND SAW VERY CLEARLY HIS LATENT POWER. WE DEFINITELY CANNOT ALLOW THE KINGS’ PLANS TO MOVE FORWARD.

Haruyuki read this and unthinkingly raised his voice. “What? B-but I didn’t do anything good yesterday. I just got hammered down, basically.”

Utai turned back to Haruyuki, ponytail swinging, and smiled with a look that made him feel a mysterious love in her innocence. UI> ARITA. DID YOU LEARN THAT “WAY OF THE FLEXIBLE” FROM SACCHI?

“What?” Kuroyukihime furrowed her brow.

He glanced over at her and pulled his shoulders in, answering frantically, “Oh! No, uh, she didn’t, uh, teach me. It was more like she showed me once, and then I just…I figured I’d try practicing it, too.”

UI> JUST AS I THOUGHT. EVEN THOUGH THE TRICK WAS THE SAME AS SACCHI’S TECHNIQUE, THE FORM WAS DIFFERENT. IN YOUR DUELING, I FELT THE INTENT TO AIM FOR THE FAR-OFF DISTANCE AND CONTINUE. THAT FIGHT CONTAINED THE FEELING THAT EVEN IF YOU LOST YESTERDAY AND LOSE TODAY, YOU WOULD TRY AND FIGHT AGAIN TOMORROW, WITHOUT LOSING HEART. THERE ARE NOT SO MANY BURST LINKERS LIKE THIS, WHO HAVE REACHED LEVEL FIVE AND STILL HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVING FORWARD STEP BY STEP.

“Huh? No, that’s…I’m…It’s…” Completely unaccustomed to being complimented, Haruyuki was unable to endure it and dropped his head. He then heard Chiyuri’s voice and the grin it held.

“Plodding ahead is Haru’s signature move! Ever since we were kids, even if he was worse at something than Taku and me, before we knew it, he’d have gotten good at it. Although that’s limited to games!”

Inwardly grateful for the life raft his childhood friend had launched for him, Haruyuki immediately retorted, “I-it’s not just games! I mean, in the who-can-clean-off-a-corn-cob-the-best contest, I was number one in the e—”

“Haru, there’s not much difference there in terms of practical use, you know.” Takumu’s crisp jab got them all laughing brightly.

Once the laughter died down, Utai sat up straight and looked at each of them in turn before bowing her head deeply. UI> RIGHT NOW, I’M FULL OF DOUBT AND FEAR AND HESITATION. BUT IF I DON’T TAKE A STEP HERE AND NOW, I’LL LIKELY NEVER BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD FROM THE PLACE I’M CURRENTLY IN, NOT IN THE ACCELERATED WORLD AND NOT IN THE REAL WORLD. WITH THE WORLD BEYOND AND THE CURRENT WORLD—FRONT AND BACK—BECOMING ONE, AND MY DUEL AVATAR BECOMING FROZEN, MY REAL-WORLD SELF HASN’T BEEN ABLE TO GET ANYWHERE, EITHER.

“That’s exactly it, isn’t it?” Fuko, sitting next to Utai, nodded softly. “During the time I lived in hiding on the old Tokyo Tower, before I even knew it, I got the feeling that the me in the real world was also living hunched over, holding her breath. So much so that these last two months since Corvus appeared have felt much longer than those two years.”

This time it was Kuroyukihime nodding her head deeply in assent. Her obsidian irises glittered as though they contained an infinity of swirling stardust. “It’s only natural to feel that, Fuko. Because even when we haven’t launched Brain Burst, when we’re heading toward a single goal with friends, we’re always accelerating. The excitement that makes our hearts pound strongly also fiercely drives our consciousness.”

And then finally, Utai set her ten fingers dancing lightly once more. UI> I WANT TO FEEL MY HEART POUND AGAIN LIKE IT USED TO. I WANT TO PURSUE WITH ALL OF YOU THE CONTINUATION OF THAT DREAM THAT WAS INTERRUPTED. SACCHI, FU, CHIYURI, MAYUZUMI, AND ARITA. After a moment’s hesitation, her slender, smooth fingers tapped out determinedly:

UI> I’M ASKING YOU NOW. PLEASE RELEASE ME—MY OTHER SELF, ARDOR MAIDEN, FROM THE SEAL OF SUZAKU.