The Red Crest

by Reki Kawahara

  “The key point here is that rather than a duel via the normal global net, she targeted the school festival and attacked on the local in-school net.”

  At Takumu’s voice, Haruyuki’s thoughts stopped, and he lifted his face. The indigo duel avatar, while being the most heavyweight, close-range type in Nega Nebulus, was also something of a staff officer.

  “For the majority of Burst Linkers,” he continued as he brought his left hand up to his face mask, “I think the school they go to is the ‘final fortress,’ equally or more important than their own homes. Even more so when there are several Linkers in the same school—when you have comrades there. To be attacked at that school and completely demolished on top of that has to be a fairly serious mental shock. Like what we ourselves experienced this April.”

  “Taku,” Haruyuki said without realizing, but Takumu shook his head slightly as if to say he was okay. When the “marauder” Dusk Taker took everything two months earlier—or when they had believed he had—Haruyuki for sure and most likely Takumu as well had been more than shocked; he had been beaten down to the depths of despair.

  In fact, hadn’t Haruyuki at that time clung with all his might to the hope that Ash Roller had shown him? It was fortunate that Ash had introduced him to Sky Raker, but what if he had encountered an ISS kit user before Ash and been told that they would give him that power? He wasn’t sure he would have refused.

  “If the three Linkers at Meihoku Academy are thinking that the thing they should protect above all else is destroyed, the possibility that they will accept the raider’s invitation is not zero…I think,” Takumu said, almost murmured, and lifted his face to look at Kuroyukihime and ask her in a firm voice, “Master, what was the name of the Burst Linker who attacked the Meihoku festival?”

  “Mmm. Yes. I didn’t tell you yet, did I? Magenta Scissor.”

  The instant he heard this name, Takumu nodded as if his suspicions were confirmed, but Haruyuki and Chiyuri were unable to hear this without reacting violently.

  “What?!”

  “That’s—”

  Their simultaneous shouts drew the eyes of the other four members.

  They looked at each other and nodded. They had been planning to tell everyone that day after school. This meeting could actually be said to be a windfall.

  “Um. This report is a bit late, but last night, Chiyuri and I crossed swords with Magenta Scissor in the Setagaya area,” he offered ever so timidly, and now it was Kuroyukihime and the others crying out in surprise.

  “What?! So if you were with Chiyuri, a tag-team match then?! Who was Magenta’s partner?!”

  The questions came at a rapid-fire pace, and he brought his hand to the back of his helmet as he replied, “Uh, um, more than a tag match—it was like a group fight. It wasn’t a normal duel. We ran into them in the Unlimited Neutral Field, so…”

  The other four appeared speechless, so Haruyuki cleared his throat once before explaining in order the events of the previous evening.

  The fact that Chiyuri discovered an Enemy that attacked with a laser near Sakurajosui Station in Setagaya Area No. 2. That they visited the Unlimited Neutral Field to do special training for the Theoretical Mirror ability with this Enemy as his opponent, and that an unexpected encounter was waiting for them there. And about the fierce battle with the shock troops led by Magenta Scissor and their hard-won victory.

  “And the three members of Chocolat Puppeteer’s Legion Petit Paquet want to come to Suginami soon and say hello. I didn’t think that would be a particular problem, so I said sure. That’s okay, right?” Haruyuki wrapped up his story with that question.

  Kuroyukihime exchanged glances first with Fuko and then Utai before shaking her head back and forth, even as she assented. “Yes, well, that’s not a problem. But I’m surprised you had the energy for such a grand adventure right after your revenge match with Wolfram Cerberus.”

  “I-if I had known all that would happen, I wouldn’t have gone!” Haruyuki replied reflexively, but then quickly took it back. “N-no, if I had known, I probably would have actually invited you and Master and Mei and Taku so all of us could go.”

  “Exactly. We couldn’t just leave Choco and them. I’m really glad we dived at that time yesterday. If we had been even five minutes later, it might have all been over.”

  Haruyuki nodded deeply at this from Chiyuri, and then continued with a but. “But, Chiyu, if—no, probably, Magenta Scissor attacked Meihoku Academy because of the fight yesterday.” He turned his face toward Kuroyukihime. “Kuroyukihime, after the fight yesterday was over, I told Magenta Scissor that it was a contest to see whether she reached her objective first or we destroyed the ISS kit main body first. And she said she would give up on the north and head east. Shimokitazawa’s on the eastern edge of Setagaya area, right? So then, Magenta Scissor is acting on that declaration. In a sense, it’s like I made her do this.”

  “You’re wrong, Haruyuki.”

  At some point, Haruyuki had dropped his head, but at the sound of his master’s voice, he jerked his face up again.

  Because his face mask was almost completely covered by amethyst-colored, semi-mirrored goggles, the expression on the face of the Black King couldn’t be seen, unlike with the face masks of Sky Raker and Lime Bell. Even so, Haruyuki sensed that Kuroyukihime was smiling sternly and gently.

  “What you did was protect a Legion that might well have been wiped out last night and release two Burst Linkers from the control of the ISS kits. That’s all. Given that she subdued Setagaya Areas Two through Five with force, it was only a matter of time before Magenta Scissor made her way into Setagaya Area Number One, which includes Shimokitazawa. How could you be responsible for that? …Although I’m just a little displeased I was not invited to your special training.”

  “That’s right, Haru, Chii. If you had just said something, I would’ve gone, too,” Takumu interjected after Kuroyukihime, sounding a little hurt.

  “N-no, that was just—” Haruyuki hurriedly waved both hands. “It was sort of like things just kind of went that way, like in the moment. Like I said before, if I had known we’d end up in that kind of fighting, I would have dragged you along whether you liked it or not.”

  “Ha-ha! I know. And…Chii was probably just watching out for me. I mean, you were in Setagaya and all.”

  Haruyuki was slightly surprised at this from Takumu, but Chiyuri shrugged and said, in a tone that wavered between rejecting and agreeing with this statement, “Um, more than watching out for you, it was more like it might make you remember something you didn’t want to.”

  When Haruyuki thought very carefully about it, it had only been nine days ago, on Tuesday of the week before, when Takumu had headed out to Setagaya area on his own and been given the ISS kit by Magenta Scissor. The following day, he had been attacked in the real by the PK group Supernova Remnant and forced to activate the ISS kit; for a time, Takumu had squared himself with the idea that he might soon no longer be a Burst Linker. He would need a little more time to completely shake off those hard memories.

  However, Takumu shook his head slightly after Chiyuri spoke. “Thanks, Chii,” he said calmly. “But I’m okay. Right now, I feel like the fact that I lost to the temptation of the ISS kit, my fight with Haru, and you and Haru pulling me back are all part of my strength.”

  “We grow only stronger from the number of our mistakes.” Utai nodded, her small face mask shifting as she spoke. “It is exactly as Mayuzumi says. We, too, have made many of our own mistakes.” Fuko and Kuroyukihime—likely included in the “We, too”—cleared their throats, looking uncomfortable. Once the mood had relaxed, Utai announced in a clear, adorable voice that could only be heard in the Accelerated World, “But I do not think that Arita’s behavior at this time was a mistake. Arita, and Kurashima as well, did whatever they could in a difficult situation. Just like they have in the many fights up till now.”

  “It’d be nice…if that was true…”

  “It is true. I
t’s important to reflect on the past, but more important is what we will do from now on. You told Magenta that this was a contest, yes, Arita? In that case, we must simply do exactly that.”

  “Um, ‘exactly that’? So you mean…destroy the main ISS kit body?” Haruyuki put the question forward timidly.

  “Yes, I do!” Utai replied sharply.

  The only thing to do to eliminate the ISS kits plaguing the Accelerated World was to cut them out at the root. Haruyuki also understood that, but the kit main body was hidden away on the top floor of the Tokyo Midtown Tower rising up over distant Akasaka. And on top of that, it was guarded by the Legend-class Enemy, the Archangel Metatron, unbeatable outside of a Hell stage.

  There was only one power that could resist the immediate death dispensed by Metatron’s laser—a legendary ability possessed only by Ardor Maiden’s parent and real-life older brother, Mirror Masker, the power to reflect all light techniques, Theoretical Mirror.

  “Oh!” The cry slipped out of not just Haruyuki’s mouth, but also Chiyuri’s at the same time. They had finally remembered the unresolved question of the investigation interrupted by Chiyuri’s mother’s special sweet-and-sour pork with pineapple the previous evening.

  “Right, right! Kuroyukihime, it’s serious! I mean, Haru—”

  “A-ah! I’ll tell her!!” Haruyuki tugged on Chiyuri’s cloak-type armor from behind to make her stop talking. After thinking for a minute about where to start, he first turned to Kuroyukihime and asked a roundabout question, “Um. Kuroyukihime, I just want to check something first. What kind of effect did the Theoretical Mirror ability actually have? Like, did it change the direction of a laser fired at the user…and let it flow off?”

  “Mmm. Mmm. I’ve only seen it in action a few times. What about you, Fuko?”

  “The same. You and I have nothing to do with light techniques, after all.”

  Kuroyukihime and Fuko glanced at Utai, seemingly concerned. The small shrine maiden avatar nodded as if to say she was okay, too, before speaking clearly: “I will answer that, Arita. Rather than let the laser flow off, it might be more accurate to say that Theoretical Mirror dispersed it. To be more specific, my brother would take an unmoving posture and break up the light-type attacks focused on himself into countless thin lines and erase them. Something like that.”

  “Break into countless lines and erase…” Repeating her words, Haruyuki instinctively replayed in the back of his mind the scene in which he dealt with Lava Carbuncle’s red laser the previous evening. He had repelled the laser that hit his crossed arms back and to the left. Or rather, he had bent its trajectory and targeted Avocado. No matter how he looked at it, the expression “break apart and erase” just did not fit.

  Wait. I’ve had this vague awareness of it ever since I was eating sweet-and-sour pork with extra pineapple in the Kurashima dining room last night. That I awakened some counterfeit ability to the Theoretical Mirror that I was supposed to get. Because…

  “The name of the technique was different, right…,” Chiyuri announced mercilessly.

  Haruyuki dropped his head. His body kept moving until his knees were on the ground, and he shifted into a formal kneeling position.

  “Wh-what is the matter, Arita?” Utai’s scarlet eye lenses opened wide.

  Haruyuki turned toward her and the similarly dumbfounded Kuroyukihime and Fuko and tragically confessed, “I-I’m sorry! I…learned the wrong ability!”

  Three minutes later.

  Having heard the rest of the story, Kuroyukihime and the others crossed their arms, put their hands to their mouths, and groaned together.

  “Mm-hmm. This is indeed an unexpected development,” mused Kuroyukihime.

  “So rather than Theoretical Mirror, Optical Conduction?” said Fuko.

  “We can’t say anything until we see it in action, right?” asked Takumu.

  Haruyuki took all this in with his head hanging deeply, and a small hand was placed gently on his shoulder. The slender white fingers were those of Ardor Maiden.

  “Please lift your head up, Arita. You have nothing you need to apologize for.”

  “B-but I…After you took the trouble to tell me about mirrors and all kinds of stuff, Shinomiya…”

  “Acquiring new abilities outside of level-up bonuses is essentially a very difficult thing. And yet a mere three days after the meeting of the Seven Kings, you were able to awaken a new power. You should instead be standing tall. Now please get to your feet.”

  Utai tugged on his arm, and Haruyuki stood up, shrinking into himself as he did. When he lifted his eyes, immediately before him were the forms of Kuroyukihime and Fuko. A black, sword-shaped hand and a slender, sky-blue hand reached out from either side to gently touch his arms.

  “It’s just as Utai says, Haruyuki. As far as I know, you are the only one who has twice succeeded in awakening your potential.”

  “And even if the name of the ability is different, it’s still too soon to despair, Corvus. All it has to do is defend against Metatron’s laser. From what we’ve heard of the phenomenon, I believe it has that possibility.”

  Hearing these warm words from his masters, Haruyuki was finally able to relax his shoulders. The truth was, he’d wanted to go for a while without telling Kuroyukihime and the others about the fact that he had gotten the wrong ability. He was afraid of being scolded or disappointing them, but when he thought about it, staying quiet was much more disloyal. There wasn’t a single good thing about Legion members hiding things from each other. Haruyuki should have learned that much during the Armor of Catastrophe incident.

  I’m going to just say the things that need to be said. Because Kuroyukihime and Master and Shinomiya and, of course, Taku and Chiyu are my precious comrades. Murmuring this to himself, Haruyuki thought about whether there was anything else he should tell them and remembered one other critical concern. They still had nearly half of the duel time remaining, and if he didn’t take this chance to tell them, he’d probably drag it out again.

  “Um, Kuroyukihime, there was one other thing besides the ability thing.” As he spoke, he opened his storage and turned the two cards tucked away there into objects. He offered them to her, crimson font on their black surfaces.

  “Mmm.” Kuroyukihime brought her semi-mirrored goggles closer, suspiciously. “What’s this?”

  “Um, ISS kits.”

  The instant she heard this from Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime threw her head back and then retreated with a hovering movement. A moment later, everyone else—other than Chiyuri—also got some distance, almost flying back. Takumu’s sliding step was particularly large.

  “Huh? What…Wh-what’s the matter, Kuroyukihime? And Taku, you too?” Haruyuki took a step toward them, cards still in hand.

  “D-don’t come near me, Haru!” Takumu shouted, leaping back again. “I made a decision not to come within two meters of those things!”

  “But you just said you were okay now. It’s fine; they’re in a sealed card state.”

  “Th-they’re still dangerous!”

  Getting this violent of a reaction, Haruyuki was suddenly seized by a childish urge to gradually close in on Takumu, cards thrust out in front of him. But you’re almost in high school, he told himself, and he gave up on the idea.

  “C-Corvus, why do you have those things?” asked Fuko, who stood to his right.

  “Um.” Haruyuki turned to face her. “After the fight was over yesterday, Magenta Scissor gave them to me.” The looks on everyone’s faces grew more severe, so he quickly added, “But it wasn’t like she was expecting me to use them or setting a trap that would just activate them on their own or anything.”

  “But I heard you can’t replicate the ISS kits unless you fight and cultivate them. So then for Magenta, the ISS kits should be quite precious. Why would she hand them over to you, C?”

  Utai’s question was a natural one. Haruyuki had said it wasn’t a trap, but he still couldn’t even guess at Magenta’s intention.

  “Sh
e said something about how the ISS kits had been tainted by true feelings or kindness or something,” Chiyuri murmured, and everyone turned their eyes on her. “But I don’t think that’s the real reason. I mean, she knows my power is to rewind. So like, she had to understand that the kits she got back after I rewound things were in the state they were before she parasitized Mint and Plum.”

  “I see. She could have used them to parasitize other Burst Linkers, and yet she gave them to Haruyuki, hmm? Excellent. Fuko and I shall take them.” Kuroyukihime nodded once and then hovered over to him as she reached out the sword of her right hand.

  Secretly relieved, Haruyuki moved one of the black cards to his other hand and offered them up simultaneously. With the tip of her sword, which had the function to adhere to small objects, Kuroyukihime took one, while Fuko took the other with a fairly wary look. Together, they held the cards up.

  “Uh, um, they—” Haruyuki unconsciously called out a warning as he watched intently. “If you activate them with a voice command or use them in a pop-up menu, they’ll parasitize you, so please be careful, okay?”

  “Mmm. Understood. However, the idea that you could have two Incarnate techniques, short- and long-range, just by using one of these…” Kuroyukihime sighed, as if it were hard to believe.

  “Honestly, you know?” Fuko nodded beside her. “How on earth did they make such an item? At this stage, we don’t have the slightest—”

  At that moment, a small gap opened up in the rows of cirrus clouds filling the sky of the Wasteland stage, and the slightest red sunbeam reached the ground. The light hit the backside of the cards Kuroyukihime and Fuko held up, and the dense matte black grew a tiny bit lighter.

  Instantly, stunned cries came from both girls.

  “Wha—?”

  “Th-this crest?!” Kuroyukihime appeared to be the more surprised of the two. The card moved away from the tip of her sword and fell spinning to the ground.

  Haruyuki quickly reached out his right hand to catch it in midair and then held it up to the light himself. On the jet-black surface, “Incarnate System Study Kit” was inscribed in crimson roman letters. And then the red light that hit the back of the card brought out a small mark in the center of the row of text.