The Floating Starlight Bridge

by Reki Kawahara

  Unable to use his right hand, Jigsaw went to greet Haruyuki with the saw in his left arm wrapped in Incarnate and kicks from both legs. However, Haruyuki completely saw through each and every one of these attacks with the predictions of the Enhanced Armament and his own inspiration. He moved only the bare minimum distance with his wings and tail as he simply slashed at the enemy avatar.

  In a certain sense, this fight was perhaps the perfected form of the Aerial Combo Haruyuki had worked so hard on. Yet there was not one speck of excitement or beauty or pride in it. It was simply nothing more than an ugly atrocity unfolding in the empty sky three thousand five hundred kilometers above the Earth.

  First, he cut Jigsaw’s right arm off. Then his right leg. His left leg. And finally, only the left arm supported the avatar.

  A minute or so later, having dissected his enemy, Haruyuki grabbed tightly on to the head and torso of the ruins of the avatar that had been Rust Jigsaw, now a lump about to fall to Earth, and yanked them upward.

  He should have been feeling absurd levels of pain, but Jigsaw still maintained the energy to smile thinly. “Heh-heh…heh. Praise yourself now. But…my objective’s already been achieved.”

  Haruyuki had almost no interest in this, but still he cocked his head and listened to what Jigsaw had to say.

  “And in a certain sense, we benefit even from the restoration of the Armor. Tremble with fear. From this moment, this world you believe in will begin to transform. It will lose this show of order, and the original confusion will cover everything. Before the revolution we bring about, despa—”

  Gashhuk.

  Without bothering to listen to the end, Haruyuki crushed Rust Jigsaw’s head. The avatar threw off a red light and scattered; the Burst Linker who had ruined the Hermes’ Cord Race departed from the Accelerated World for the time being.

  No.

  Maybe the destroyer in the truest sense was already Haruyuki himself. This race that he had wanted so desperately to save only a few minutes earlier no longer mattered either way to him.

  It’s not enough. Something like this, it’s totally not enough.

  Muttering in his heart, Haruyuki swiveled his head around. Naturally, there was no one. But the energy like a vortex throughout his body and the destructive urge, rather than subsiding, seemed to burn even more brightly.

  I want to fight. I want to beat down more enemies, more and more, one after another, with this power.

  He threw his head back, seeking new enemies, and the last remaining spectator stand jumped into his field of view.

  The hundred or so members of the Gallery leaning forward in their seats wore uniform expressions of bewilderment. Whispered conversations flew back and forth through space.

  “Isn’t that…the Armor of Catastrophe…?”

  “No way. I heard it was completely annihilated a little while ago.”

  “But, you know…That kind of crazy performance, the Armor’s the only thing that could do that…?”

  “But, come on, the look’s totally different from when I saw it in the Unlimited Neutral Field…”

  If you want to know so badly. Confirm the truth of it with your bodies. The truth of the legendary berserker, the overwhelming power of Chrome Disaster.

  A mad smile bled onto Haruyuki’s face below the visor. He slowly deployed his wings. The long tail folded up into an S and concealed itself in his body. As he was on the verge of kicking off the ground and heading toward the myriad prey there—

  Something gently touched the wings on his back.

  It was a memory. The memory of the countless duels that had permeated the metallic fins that were supposed to be mere propulsive devices. In particular, the wings, colored with darkness, flashed back for the merest of moments to the memory of the lone fight against the Black King Black Lotus, which had taken place the previous night in Haruyuki’s bedroom.

  Far, far away, a fleeting voice was revived within him.

  …I’m proud of you…

  Abruptly, the talons on his feet held firmly on to the iron plate in an unconscious movement. His body, so ready to soar up into the sky, was yanked heavily back down.

  …I.

  A single thought trickled down like a drop of clear water in the middle of that consciousness seething for battle.

  The strength I’m looking for…shouldn’t be…this blind slaughter…

  The white ripple spread out in his head. Instantly, a part of his blackly lit armor shook unstably.

  DO NOT FIGHT IT. DO NOT FEAR. THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT YOU SOUGHT, SOMEONE SAID IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND, SOUNDING IRRITATED. NOW, RELEASE EVEN MORE OF THAT ANGER. DESTROY EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU. AND THEN EAT IT. EAT IT ALL. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL OBTAIN MORE, MORE, MORE, UNLIMITED STRENGTH.

  Eat? I…I don’t want that…I don’t want to be strong…for myself. It’s for the people I love…To protect my meager but still warm family…And for that person more important to me than anyone, to keep chasing after the same dream, I…

  Abruptly, several hazy faces popped up before his eyes. Smiling faces, with their gentle gazes, began to paint over the black waves crowding in on him from all sides.

  IN THAT CASE, EAT THEM, TOO. EAT THEM AND MAKE THEM YOUR POWER. NO NEED FOR ANYONE ELSE. DESTROY. SMASH. I AM THE PERSONIFICATION OF CALAMITY. I AM A SYMBOL OF TERROR. I AM THE TRUE CHROME DISASTER!!

  This voice echoing like a broken bell.

  Haruyuki mustered all the mental strength he could and shouted in return, No! No!! I…I…!!

  “I am Silver Croooooow!!”

  The instant the cry burst forth from under his visor—

  The heavy armor over his body lost its hardness, like liquid metal. Drip, drip. It flowed toward the bottom of his feet, revealing Silver Crow’s original helmet. The dark metal did not disappear, however. It coiled around the silver plating and tried to return.

  “Unh…Ah! Aaaaah!”

  Clenching his hands so tightly they threatened to break, Haruyuki resisted it. He worked with every fiber of his being to distance himself from the dark fluctuation trying to take control of both his avatar and his consciousness. But after only a few seconds, his resistance proved to be in vain; the evil shining began to return from the tips of his limbs.

  This power of control far surpassed the domain of a simple item, stepping even into the realm of a true curse. Not some digital code written by the server, someone’s consciousness itself. And it was trying to fuse with Haruyuki’s own.

  He had absolutely no idea what kind of logic would allow this sort of phenomenon to occur, but in fact, although it had only been a few minutes, Haruyuki’s own thoughts were already encountering serious interference. While fighting Rust Jigsaw, Haruyuki had been more than half not-Haruyuki. If he fell into that state again, he might very well turn this fearsome power on his companions, on that someone most precious to him.

  Exactly. Just like Cherry Rook, the fifth Chrome Disaster, who had tried to hunt his own “child,” Scarlet Rain.

  “Go away…Go away…Go awaaaaaaaay!” He pushed a desperate voice from between gritted teeth. But the Armor had already restored itself to his arms and up to his knees. It didn’t seem that he would be able to stop this force.

  In that case, there’s one thing I can still do.

  Sharp claws glittering, he raised his right hand and turned the tips of those talons toward the center of his own chest. Five fingers dripping with dull black Incarnate aura, he went to pierce the heart area, the most critical point of a duel avatar—

  “Haruuuuuuu!!”

  He heard his name in the distance. Jerking his head up with a gasp, he looked down along the space elevator and found there an unexpected sight.

  A fresh green avatar with her right hand stretched out toward him as far as it would go. Lime Bell. Carrying her, the sky-blue avatar Sky Raker, flying toward him in a straight line, glittering flames jetting out of her booster. And then far behind, shuttle number one, running along intently on its lone remaining linear wheel.
>
  “S-stay away! Bell! Raker! You can’t come any closer!!” Haruyuki shouted in a daze. Instantly, his mental focus weakened, and the armor increased the pace of its reclamation of his body.

  “Run! I…I can’t…hold it back…anymore…!!”

  Pwaah! A dark aura erupted from his entire body.

  A sharp metallic sound echoed and reverberated as the Armor of Catastrophe climbed up his chest from his shoulders and covered his stomach. All that was left were his neck and head. The heavy metal collected there in the blink of an eye, and began to build back its sinister headpiece. A light gray film lowered itself over his field of view. If the visor of this helmet came down, Silver Crow would without a doubt completely disappear.

  However, Sky Raker’s charge did not waver. She began to go even faster, flying straight at Haruyuki.

  On her back, Lime Bell lifted her left hand straight up. She spun the enormous bell, dazzling in the sunlight, around once, twice, counterclockwise. Three times. And then a fourth time.

  Finally, she brought it down, pointing it straight at Haruyuki, and shouted loudly, clearer than the din of the stars.

  “Citron Caaaaaaaaall!!”

  Majestic bells, an orchestra of angels, echoed throughout the space. Riding the beautiful sound, a ribbon of light shining a clear green flowed toward him.

  Text flickering irregularly popped up in the thin added layer covering his field of view. PREDICTED ATTACK/NORMAL SPECIAL ATTACK; RANGE UNKNOWN/POWER UNKNOWN/EFFECT UNKNOWN; THREAT LEVEL/100.

  Haruyuki’s left arm moved on its own to release a dark fluctuation on the ribbon. However, Haruyuki mustered whatever willpower he had left, so much so that it felt like his brain would catch fire, grabbed his left arm with his right, and pushed it back down.

  Immediately after that, the clean lime-green light wrapped around Haruyuki’s body.

  As if sliced up by the ribbon of light, the dark armor broke into parts all over. The heavy metal once again melted into a fluid, and the tail on his back was even pulled in at the base. The power of Chiyuri’s special attack Citron Call mode two, to forcibly rewind the status of an avatar, was trying to cancel out the equipping of the Enhanced Armament.

  Geh…Yuroooooo!

  The ferocious howling of a beast filled his head. Echoes of overwhelming anger and frustration. And then in the middle of that—the tiniest bit of fear.

  Go away! Go away! I don’t need you! I’m going to get stronger; I’m always going to have the right power now! So…you have to go awaaaaaaay!!

  As if repelled by Haruyuki’s cries, the metal abruptly disappeared, leaving only the tail that had appeared first. In the fresh green light, Haruyuki raised his now-freed arms, grabbed hold of the tail extending from his own back, and then put every drop of strength he had into ripping it off.

  His entire avatar creaked, and a terrifying pain pierced his back. But he didn’t let up. Skrrk, skrrk. The unpleasant sound of destruction filled the air, and the thick tail in his hands flailed as though it were a separate living creature.

  FOOL.

  The weakened voice whispered as his back.

  IN YOUR HEART, YOU DO WANT TO FUSE AND BECOME ONE WITH ME AND MY POWER. BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE, OTHER THAN MY CREATOR, WITH WHOM I HAVE BEEN IN SUCH POWERFUL ALIGNMENT.

  Haruyuki replied firmly to the voice. Even still. Even if that’s true, I reject you. I refuse you. And I do this for the people who gave me the power to be able to do it!!

  At the same time, he concentrated the remainder of his will into the hands, gripping the tail. Haruyuki changed that to light and released it.

  “Laser…Sword!!”

  A clear metallic clang filled the space, like the clashing of pure silver swords.

  The snow-white swords of light gushed forth, crossed each other, and sliced halfway through the heavy metal tail. The raging cry of an animal rang out just one final time, and then in the top left of his field of view, a system message flashed: YOU DISARMED THE DISASTER.

  The final remaining fragments of the tail melted and crumbled away into nothing, as if wiped out by the light of the sun.

  Having used up all his energy, Haruyuki slowly began to fall toward the Earth, but four arms belonging to the flying Chiyuri and Fuko gently caught him.

  Apparently, he was out for longer than he thought.

  When Haruyuki opened heavy lids, the jet-black mirrored visor of the Black King, Black Lotus, was before his eyes.

  “Kuro…yukihime…” Murmuring, he lifted his head. He was in the front row of the crew seats of shuttle number one, parked now. They had laid him down on the bench seat, with his upper body resting on Lotus’s lap.

  When Kuroyukihime realized Haruyuki had regained consciousness again, she nodded once slowly. A gentle voice trembled slightly as it came out from her mask. “You came back to us, Crow. Well done…You really…came back to us…”

  “Kuro…yukihime…” Haruyuki’s voice began to shake implacably. “I…I’m sorry…I…I…”

  “Don’t talk now. You used all your strength and fought an opponent who needed to be fought. That’s enough for now…”

  “That’s right, Corvus.” Sky Raker looked back from the cockpit and stretched out a hand to stroke Haruyuki’s helmet tenderly. “You saved the race from its would-be destroyer. No one in Nega Nebulus—no, in the Accelerated World, would reproach you for that fight.”

  “……” His heart was suddenly full and he started to drop his head when Takumu spoke to him from the rear seat, his tone his usual one.

  “Exactly, Crow. And I’ve known forever that you snap and do crazy stuff. When you went flying after shuttle number ten, it was more like, Ah, here we go again.”

  “A-ha-ha! It’s so true! And then it’s always us cleaning up after you!” Chiyuri, next to Takumu, laughed delightedly.

  Haruyuki felt he had to stand up for himself. “W-well, I never asked you to clean up or anything!”

  “Oh, ohhh. So that’s your story? And after big sister Raker and I worked so hard, that’s all you have to say for yourself!”

  “Unh…S-sorry…You really helped me out…”

  His four teammates laughed at once at the back-and-forth. After a slight delay, Haruyuki added his own laughter to the mix.

  They chatted harmoniously for a while, and then Chiyuri whirled her head to look around the shuttle.

  “Aaah. But it totally sucks we can’t make it to the finish line after you worked so hard for us, Haru! And it’s just a little farther, too.”

  At this, Haruyuki pulled himself up from Kuroyukihime’s lap and checked the condition of shuttle number one. It was just as Chiyuri said; the machine didn’t look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. The rear, which had taken the full force of Rust Jigsaw’s Incarnate attack, was rusted and crumbling, while the right linear wheel in the front had blown off completely, and the left had crackling sparks popping out of it. It was actually a wonder they had managed to get from where Haruyuki had flown off from to where he had fought Jigsaw.

  “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Kuroyukihime waved the sword of her right hand. “We should simply be glad that the victory was not carried off by that villain…At any rate, after this, it probably won’t be the time or place for any further events in the Accelerated World…”

  She trailed off, and Haruyuki opened his mouth to ask her what she meant.

  At that moment, a shout rang up from below them on the tower.

  “Hey, hey, heeeeeeeeey! Too early for the giving of it up, meeeeeeeen!!”

  “Waah?!” Haruyuki cried out, turning around. There in his sights were two shuttles laboriously climbing the tower, weak sparks shooting from the linear wheels. There was no mistake, these were the machines of the green and red teams he had assumed dropped out long ago.

  Ash Roller sat in the cockpit of the machine, which was in the lead. But Haruyuki could see neither hide nor hair of Bush Utan and the other Green Legion members, who should have been riding in the r
ear.

  And driving the shuttle behind Ash was the deep crimson, leopard-headed avatar, Blood Leopard. But she, too, was alone; there was no sign of the shooting squad.

  The extent of damage on both machines was not much different from that of number one. As Haruyuki and his companions watched, stunned, the two machines staggered toward them and came to an awkward stop alongside them. Instantly, all the linear wheels on both shuttles flew off with a pathetic noise.

  “Ah. Aaaah. Mega-solid work getting this far.” Ash Roller patted the side of his shuttle, and Pard, too, gently stroked her steering wheel and murmured, “GJ.” And then they both lifted their faces and looked at the five members of Nega Nebulus.

  Cocking her head to one side, Kuroyukihime spoke for all of them. “Well, I suppose I should first say, ‘Well done’…How on earth did you manage to chase after us, even after losing your team members? It’s definitely no longer possible to continue the race.”

  “Oh, yeah, right. I kinda just talked with Miss Panther Head here for, like, a minute, right?” Ash Roller said, scratching the back of his skull helmet. “So then the whole team dropped out, yeah? Just took the hits too hard, you know—”

  “You talk too much. And I’m not a panther, I’m a leopard,” Pard interjected curtly and picked up the explanation. “Currently, none of the shuttles is drivable. But if our three teams work together, there’s a very small possibility we could reach the finish line.”

  “Wh-what do you mean, Leopard?” Sky Raker leaned forward and Pard met her gaze.

  “One step outside of the shuttle and you’re on a vertical cliff. But my Beast Mode and Bike Guy’s motorcycle can run up walls.”

  “B-bike guy…,” Ash Roller muttered in a complicated tone, but was ignored as the unfaltering explanation continued.

  “But that will deplete both of our special-attack gauges. So Bike Guy and I run to that limit carrying Crow and Raker. Then Crow carries Raker on his back and flies to his limit. Finally, Raker flies as far as she can with the energy remaining in Gale Thruster. Although I don’t know whether or not she’ll be able to make it to the finish line.” Pard spread both hands as if to say, Only the gods know that.