Accel World: Dusk Robber

by Reki Kawahara

  Eventually —— from the deep darkness, a ‘DoKo DoKo’ kind of bold motor sound was heard.

  For a machine type armament, it was approaching at a very fast speed. That meant it was a moving force type, then this sound should be from an old style internal combustion engine, which not many Burst Linkers own...

  Thinking up to that point, Haruyuki finally raised his head.

  ‘Sparkle!’ kind of round headlight shot into his eyes. With front and back brake rotors giving out red sparks, the American bike that did a showy spin turn, stopped with its chrome parts reflecting the surrounding bonfires.

  “Hey hey hee —— y!!”

  The skull faced rider that swagger in the seat, pointed index finger from both hands straight at Haruyuki.

  Even without looking at the name displayed in the upper right of his view, the old familiar bike user that appeared, was without a doubt «Ash Roller». That meant the stage and opponent was exactly the same as half year ago, in his first accelerated duel after being reborn.

  “Mega longtime huh, YOU! Oh, fell in love with me and came all the way to Bitter Valley huh, YOOOOU!?”

  “...Huh?”

  Being taken aback, Haruyuki forgot about greeting and returned an inquiry.

  “Bi, Bitter Valley, what is that?”

  “Hey hey heey, know it, understand it! It is Yashibu of course, Yashibu!”

  “...”

  After thinking for about another second, Haruyuki finally guessed that it was Shibuya.

  “...Umm, Ash-san. Bitter is not «渋い(Shibui)», it’s «苦い(Nigai)» I think... Then that would not be Shibuya, it would be Nigaiya.”

  “...For real?”

  “...For real.”

  Being pulled along by Ash Roller’s mood, even though he could not be anymore depressed, Haruyuki made the correction, and from the buildings surrounding the road, laughter from the gallery boiled over. Ash Roller looked up at them, and shook his middle finger from both hands.

  “Don’t LOL, Ma —— n! I will soon knock you away, wait for it!!”

  The skull face soon returned to Haruyuki, and in a low sound.

  “...So, what’s Shibui in English?”

  “Th, that is... Rough, I think.”

  “I see. That should be Rough Valley huh. ...Hey, that kind of thing, doesn’t matter!!”

  “Y, you asked...”

  “Quiet Shut Up! Having a bit more total wins, don’t be so full of yourself, YOU! Look at this and tremble!!”

  With that sound, he pushed the button on the side of the handle, and from the mysterious tubes equipped on both sides of the front fork, evil looking red cone faces peeked out. ‘No way’, he thought, no matter how you look at it, it could only be that, and Haruyuki whispered while dumbfounded.

  “Th... those, missiles?”

  “Yes right! Missiles, with homing attached, you flying bastard!”

  “B, but, American bike with missiles, for design point... or aesthetic point, how about that...?”

  “Say what! It’s End of Century kind of mega co —— ol!! Hey quickly go fly! Then you will cry!!”

  While shouting that, Ash Roller finally noticed the anomaly with Silver Crow, and extended his head.

  “...Hey, you, why is your wings closed up. The duel had already started, take it out already.”

  Haruyuki shook his head slightly, then quickly said.

  “There was some kind of circumstance. Today, I will face you on the ground.”

  “...Hmm. Well, do as you like but... if you underestimate me, I will really make you cry, get it?”

  With a quick glance to check the time, he opened the throttle once, then yelled in high pitch.

  “Lets Daaa —— nce!!”

  With the rear tire giving out intense white smoke, Haruyuki stared at the bike that dashed to the right side.

  For his recent duels with Ash Roller, the bike that could freely run on straight walls, was usually scored by Haruyuki’s rapid descent attack kind of development. But of course, he could no longer use that tactic. He could only dodge the charge, and try to damage him little by little from behind.

  The bike made a sharp turn at a distance away, then charged in a straight line. He lowered his waist, and concentrated to find that trajectory.

  With his gamer spirit, when the duel started his body and feelings moved in reaction, but of course he could not forget about Dusk Taker robbing away his wings. In his heart, there was still a huge hole that was opened up. Right now, Haruyuki felt that he was sticking his hand in that hole, trying to find if there was anything.

  “...Kuoo!”

  Staying till almost the last moment, he jumped right with a psyche. The front wheel tread grazed his leg a little.

  —— Here!

  Haruyuki spun his body like that, then thrusted a fist towards the rider.

  However.

  “TOOOoo!”

  With that sound, the boot that suddenly flew in from the side, caught Haruyuki’s helmet. While he was blown away, he saw standing on the seat, the shape of Ash Roller pulling back the leg he kicked out.

  Soon he dropped his waist down, and accelerated again. After a turn in about 20 meters, he again stood up on the seat. Somehow he was controlling the accelerator with his right foot.

  “See that, YOOOU! This is my new skill, V-twin fist!!”

  Forget about the naming, that was a spectacular technique, and Haruyuki was impressed while standing up.

  The huge bike being controlled like a surfboard with only two legs. Not only attacking with the vehicle body, the rider also has attack power, then the gap after dodging was filled.

  ‘...This is, impossible huh.’

  Haruyuki whispered that inside his chest.

  If it was just a simple contest of hits, then Ash Roller with the bike’s rush power has overwhelming advantage. Even if they hit each other, the damage Silver Crow take would be far higher. Trying to hang on anymore would be a waste of time.

  After lowering both hands loosely, Haruyuki who just stood there was bounced flying by the bike’s front tire.

  He danced in the air like a stick, then crashed onto the road surface, and bounced two, three times. With a loud noise, he smashed into a rubble mountain, and finally stopped.

  While unsightly laying there, Haruyuki thought in a daze with his wobbling head.

  ‘...As I thought, it was empty inside the hole. I who lost the wings, have nothing remaining.’

  From now on, he could only continue to go after and fight lower level, and furthermore better compatible Burst Linkers. Earning just a few points with each fight, and pay Noumi with them after saving up. Always for two years. Till the day that his wings were returned.

  Suddenly, a ‘Dorun’ low engine rumble sounded right by his head.

  ‘Hurry and finish me off’, he thought that and waited, but the hard and hot tread attack did not come as seconds went by. In exchange, came a sound from a high place.

  “That was so —— bad. Hey Crow, you, why not flying.”

  Haruyuki slightly raised his head, with the edge of his eye capturing the skull face, answered in a small sound volume that could not be heard by the gallery.

  “...I can’t fly. My wings are gone. That’s why I can no longer, win in same level duels. Today was just to verify that. ...It’s okay, to just finish me like this.”

  Again, only the ‘DooDokooDoo’ V-twin engine sound echoed.

  The sound that eventually arrived, contained a calm that was not in Ash Roller thus far.

  “...Finish it? What does that mean?”

  “What else can it mean... sink that tire into me again and again, to finish the duel.”

  “Fuun. That means like this huh. You can no longer fly. So you can’t win. So you want to throw the fight, and lay there without resisting.”

  His behavior, was not something a dueler should be praised for, Haruyuki also realized that. However, if he wrung his intelligence here, and win through some clever scheme, tha
t would not have any meaning. It was not about leaving some kind of advantage for the continuous fights that will come. The important thing was just that, and he also understood that was not possible anymore. That was why ——

  “...Already, standing is useless.”

  After whispering that while laying down, Haruyuki waited for Ash Roller’s condemnation.

  However, what was returned, was even more quiet —— could be said to be calmly controlled words.

  “...Hey, do you remember? Long ago, you and my second «Duel»... the time when you, held up the rear end of my bike.”

  “...”

  There was no way he could forget. That was Haruyuki’s first victory, and a fight that needed to be commemorated. But Haruyuki did not say anything, not even a nod, he just waited for the continuation of the words.

  “That was troublesome. With the rear up, no matter how much I stoked the bike did not move at all. That’s why if all I did was sit there, then I would just eat headbutts from behind. That was really checkmate for me. But...”

  With a flash of light from both eyes inside the helmet skull shield, Ash Roller let out a strained low voice.

  “At that time, did I throw the fight? Give up like you now, and lost while being beat up?”

  —— That was not it.

  With most of his potential put into the «Enhanced Armament» that was the bike, the rider himself at that time was almost equal to a Burst Linker with zero fighting power. He left the seat, and started attacking the metallic armored Silver Crow with his flesh and blood body.

  The result, Haruyuki beat up his opponent one sidedly, and won.

  But, till his HP gauge was shaved to the last dot, Ash Roller did not give up. While yelling dirty words, he stood up till the moment of the KO punch, and continued to swing his fists.

  “...No.”

  Haruyuki denied with a sound small enough that he himself could not hear.

  At the same time, under his helmet, he felt that tears flowed from his eyes for however many times today.

  “...But. But. I am... my wings, will no longer return. You won’t understand. You who always continued to fight together with that bike.”

  Once again, long silence.

  From the surrounding buildings, the gallery had indeed started a commotion. However without seeming to mind that, Ash Roller shook his head, and spit out something small.

  “...Suck. Giga suck. No it’s terra. Terra sucking bastard, you are. Becoming level 4 already, without knowing anything. ...At the time of our third «Duel», when I saw you suddenly flew, how much I... no, not just me. All the Burst Linkers that found out some guy who could fly appeared in this world, how much we had being blown away, how much at you...”

  What was ahead did not come out of his mouth, instead he thrusted his face forward, then the skull rider inquired with whispering sound.

  “Hey. Right now, where are you?”

  “...What?”

  Not able to understand the sudden question, Haruyuki blinked his tear filled eyes.

  “Where are you diving from, I am asking.”

  —— Asking about the physical body location during a duel, was an improbable question normally. However somehow Haruyuki did not even think about the danger of reality intrusion at all, and answered while being engulfed.

  “Ko... Koushu Road... riding the bus.”

  After a short tongue click curse, Ash Roller said something else that did not make sense.

  “Then, return home immediately when this is over. Go to toilet then into bed, and dive «Above».”

  “Ab... above...!?”

  “Idiot, your voice is too loud, the gallery will hear it! As for above, is there anything else other than «Unlimited Neutral Field»? After you dive in, come to the crossing between Seven Ring Road and Inokashira Road. The dive time... let’s see, 9pm just. Don’t miss by even one minute.”

  After ordering the dazed Haruyuki like that, Ash Roller lifted up his body, and ran his finger in the air. In front of Haruyuki’s eyes, a Draw Offer window opened.

  “Come on, hurry up and acknowledge it.”

  Being pushed by that momentum, Haruyuki pressed the OK button without understanding.

  After the «Duel» ended in a way that he could not think of, he returned to the real world inside the bus that was moving on a road, then Haruyuki immediately canceled his Global Net connection.

  As the bus stopped at that moment, Haruyuki got off it by almost tumbling down the boarding ramp. After looking left and right, he ran to the closest crosswalk, went to the opposite direction side of Koushu Road, and this time jumped onto a bus heading for Kouenji.

  After collapsing into a seat, while breathing heavily, Haruyuki thought about Ash Roller’s intentions.

  —— Is he going to perform the last rites? In order to forever retire the worthless Silver Crow from the accelerated world, calling him to the Unlimited Neutral Field that has no instant logout, to rob all his points?

  No way, that could not be possible. The degree of danger is same for the other side as well. There is no guarantee that Haruyuki would not appear with a large group of comrades. However if that is the case, then what goal —— .

  “Well... whatever.”

  After muttering that, Haruyuki simply gave up thinking. Probably the enemy he fought the most in the accelerated world, but he never dislike Ash Roller himself. For that opponent to finish him off, it would be fine, he felt it like that.

  After returning to the Kouenji overpass intersection bus stop, the time was already past 8:30pm. Haruyuki desperately ran home, used the toilet as told, drank some oolong tea, stuff a slice of the leftover pizza from yesterday into his mouth, then rolled into bed.

  —— Maybe, this will become his last «acceleration».

  Then, just once more, he wanted to see the person who invited him to this world —— Kuroyukihime. Even if he could not explain the situation, he wanted to exchange even just one word with her.

  After that sudden thought, far away in Okinawa, Kuroyukihime would be busy with responsibility for the 120 students there, so he hesitated about calling her. Even so, while the time display on his view’s edge neared 9pm, he waited while thinking if she would call him, but the call receive icon did not lit up even once.

  When the digital number was at 8:59:58pm, Haruyuki shut his eyes tight, and took a deep breath, then whispered the command.

  “...Unlimited Burst.”

  Chapter 10

  The eternal world constructed above the Normal Duel Field, the Unlimited Neutral Field. This was only the second time that Haruyuki visited there, and the first time that he dived in by himself.

  Under the pale yellow sky, the display of huge reddish rocks lined up told him that this was the «Wilderness» attribute. However this world has a system called «Transition», that changed the attribute in a certain amount of time. Thinking that he should get to the meeting point while the footing is still good, Haruyuki desperately ran across the dry ground.

  No matter what kind of attribute, the accelerated world's geography itself is based on the real world Tokyo. The Seven Ring Road exist as a dry valley sandwiched between huge rock formations. He avoided the center of that, and selected to run under the shade of rocks, while being careful to check left and right.

  In the Unlimited Neutral Field, there are monsters called «Enemy» created by the system, moving around and living there. Haruyuki had only seen the large type once, and had no experience fighting one. Individually they are stronger than high level Burst Linkers, so if he got attacked by them, then he would easily be slaughtered since he could no longer fly now.

  He saw a number of cow and snake like ones moving slowly in nearby wastelands, but Haruyuki fortunately did not get targeted as he reached the border between Suginami and Shibuya, around Daitabashi.

  Just in case, he searched the surrounding rock shades, but there did not seem to be a large number of people in hiding.

  —— Instead of saying that.


  At the moment he peeked in the crossing between two wide valleys, Haruyuki relaxed in a snap. There he was, on top of the American bike stopped right in the middle of the area, leaning back with his arms crossed. The very flashy skeletal helmet rider jumped into Haruyuki's eyes.

  “Too —— late! You made me wait!!”

  Seeing Haruyuki approach, Ash Roller swung his right hand and shouted.

  “S, sorry. I ran here...”

  “You probably moved sneakily while being scared of «Enemies». You don’t have to worry. On this kind of trunk road, only ultra large ones appear.”

  “Th, then, please tell me ahead of time! So, then what do you do when ultra large ones appear?”

  “Cry and run away of course.”

  Haruyuki sighed under his mirror face, and shook his head to change the topic.

  “...So, why did you call me out to this place? To continue that from before?”

  “Fool, even if I win 10 points from you, I dived using 10 points so I ain't not earnin' it back.”

  ‘That was a double negative’, He gave up correcting that, and Haruyuki opened both hands wide to stop him.

  “Then, why are we here?”

  “Well, get on.”

  Being talked to in such a quiet like this made Haruyuki's jaw drop.

  “...Huh?”

  “Ride on the back. A helmet... you won’t need one.”

  With ‘Hihihi’ laughter, he pointed to his back with his index finger, and while Haruyuki felt like an idiot for being wary of traps and whatnot, he got on the seat with uneasy movement.

  “Okay, hold on tight. My machine’s acceleration is violent, you see!!”

  Around the ‘ent’ place, the throttle opened fully, and the front wheel was raised up high, making Haruyuki teeter around dangerously. He steadied himself quickly with both hands, and the deep black bike, roaring and rumbling deeply, headed straight east —— on the Inokashira Road towards central Tokyo, and started riding fast.

  “U... waa.”

  With the wind hitting his face, and the g-forces making his whole body whimper, Haruyuki let out an awkward sound.

  The engine’s groan became more high-pitched, and while he was wondering if this was the highest speed, Ash's right boot kicked the pedal into a higher gear, and the speed started to become dramatic. The red road's surface melted into numerous streamlines, and the rocks approaching from in front were blown behind one after another.