The Black Dual Swordsman

by Reki Kawahara

  “Huh?”

  “Corvus, you believe in Trilead, right? You believe he would overcome great difficulties to break all the seals just to meet in the Castle again?”

  “Yes.” He nodded without the slightest hesitation.

  Fuko returned the nod. “And Trilead believes in you. That you’ll come see him again, even if it means courting the risk of Unlimited EK. In which case…I shall also believe in the Corvus who believes in Trilead.”

  “Huh?” Haruyuki asked, unconsciously leaning forward. “S-so then, you’ll lend me Gale Thruster?!”

  Fuko leaned forward as well and just barely poked at Haruyuki’s cheek with the outstretched index finger of her right hand. “I said yes right from the start, didn’t I? I was undecided about another matter.”

  “Huh? Wh-what does that mean?”

  “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” With the smile full of affection that Haruyuki had dubbed Vacuum Smashing Raker Smile rising up on her face, Fuko declared in a tone that promised to brook no objection, “I will come, too. I will lend you Gale Thruster together with the Sky Raker package.”

  “Wh-whaaaat?!”

  “Listen, Corvus. Anyone planning to go alone into the Castle without talking to anyone else has no right to be that surprised.”

  “W-well, I guess that’s true, but…” Haruyuki twisted his index fingers together, and Fuko’s smile took on a hint of bitterness.

  “Well, it’s not that I don’t understand how you feel.” She shrugged lightly. “You can’t tell Sacchi, and if you said anything to Uiui or Akira, or Chiiko or Mayuzumi, they’d obviously all say they would come, too.”

  “Yeah. They totally would. But if things go wrong, there’s the risk of Unlimited EK…”

  “You’re not exempt from that, though?” She stared at him, her smile vanishing.

  Haruyuki shook his head, both hands on his knees. “No, I’m definitely going to the Castle and coming back.”

  The smile returned to Fuko’s face, and she nodded deeply.

  It took them about ten minutes to rehydrate, take turns using the washroom, sit down beside each other on the love seat, and set the automatic disconnect safety.

  “Um, so I’ll put the circuit disconnection for seven seconds from now in real-world time.”

  “That’s about right. Inside, that’ll be one hour, fifty-six minutes, and forty seconds. Even if we do end up in Unlimited EK, we’ll die, at most, twice.”

  “No, let’s make that zero!” Haruyuki declared, connecting the XSB cables stretching out from his and Fuko’s Neurolinkers to the network terminal of his home server. He checked that the global connection icon flashed again and then glanced at Fuko, sitting to his right. He wanted to apologize for having dragged her into this plan of his, but before he could, she squeezed his hand.

  “Corvus, I’m going because I want to. Now then, countdown, please.”

  “Okay!” He manipulated a holowindow with one hand and brought his finger toward the OK button of the other, which was set to cut off their global connection in twelve seconds. Like that, Haruyuki took a deep breath. “We dive on the count of five.”

  He pressed the button and started the count.

  “Five, four, three, two, one…”

  ““Unlimited Burst!””

  9

  Night. The enormous full moon, motionless in the center of the heavens, illuminated the earth with a pale light. The buildings had all been transformed into chalky gothic structures and cast black shadows on roads made up of packed white sand.

  “That was a close call,” Sky Raker murmured as she looked up at the stars shining delicately in the night sky.

  Haruyuki bobbed his head in agreement. “No kidding. For a second, I was wondering what we’d do if we got the Space stage.”

  Silver Crow couldn’t fly in space since there was no air, so all they could have done was wait for the automatic disconnect and then dive again, spending another ten points. Fortunately, however, this was not a Space stage, but rather Moonlight. It was lovely to behold, and there were no troublesome terrain effects. The special feature of the Moonlight stage was that sound traveled long distances, there were few Enemies, and it was extremely dark in the shadows, making ambushes easier.

  “But I did sort of want to see what the Enemies are like in the Space stage,” Raker finished, turning around.

  “I—I don’t.” Haruyuki shook his head in a panic. “They’ll definitely be some kind of creepy space creatures.”

  “Oh my! They might be cool space kaiju, you know? The kind they fight with Mobile Suits, or something.”

  “Makes sense. In that case, I guess…”

  “I was thinking that might be the case, but you know, something more alien-y would be more atmospheric. Parasitizing, vomiting acid, stuff like that.”

  “Urgh. Spare me the acid.” Shaking his head once more, he glanced over at Raker.

  She was in her usual white hat and dress, but her wheelchair hadn’t been summoned. Her high-heeled feet were firmly planted on the roof of the condo, and the evening breeze made her bluish-silver hair dance.

  “Listen, Corvus.” Fuko dropped her voice slightly, so Haruyuki took a step closer. Looking down on the silent ivory-white town, Fuko began to speak slowly. “I also heard more or less about Sacchi’s situation. Naturally, I don’t want to part from her, either. In fact, I even invited her to take the exam for my high school any number of times. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get her to agree.”

  “Huh? Why not?”

  “Perhaps because it’s a girls’ school,” Fuko replied, smirking briefly at Haruyuki’s bafflement before turning her madder-red eye lenses up toward the full moon above.

  “When I learned that there was the possibility we would end up far apart…all I could think about was how to keep things the way they are. Just between us, I even thought about how Sacchi might stay with us in Tokyo if the issue with the White Legion and the Acceleration Research Society dragged on for a long time… But you were different, hmm, Corvus? You decided that if your time was limited, you wanted to take Sacchi as far as you could go. Until the end of the infinite time flowing in the Accelerated World.” Fuko’s gentle, rich intonation hid a hint of sadness.

  “No.” Haruyuki shook his head any number of times. “I’m the same. I mean, I want to be with Kuroyukihime forever. I don’t want her to go far away. But…when she first told me about the old days, I said to her, ‘If Brain Burst’s a game, then it’s only natural to try to clear it.’ I don’t want to make those words a lie. That’s why…I…” Here, he choked up.

  “It’s all right.” Fuko wrapped her arms around him gently. “You’ll find a path forward as long as you keep looking for it and pushing ahead. Your efforts definitely won’t be in vain. I’ll lend you whatever modest strength I might have. For Sacchi’s sake, for the Legion’s…and for yours as well, Corvus. Now…Shall we go to the Castle?”

  Having smashed the walls and beams of his own condo to charge his special-attack gauge, Haruyuki flew off the highest floor with Fuko tucked under his arm.

  He headed east, gliding occasionally to conserve energy. Once they passed Nakano, the skyscrapers of west Shinjuku appeared ahead of them. He slipped through the tips of the shining towers bathed in the moonlight, crossed the Yamanote line, and flew on, looking at the vast expanse of Shinjuku Gyoen to his right.

  Finally, an incredibly massive structure came into view off in the distance. A snow-white palace surrounded by a pitch-black, bottomless gorge. Dreamily beautiful, nightmarishly frightening, the furthest end of the Accelerated World, which sat right at its center.

  In the sky above the ravine, a perfect circle five hundred meters across, there was an invisible boundary wall of supergravity at all times that permitted no flight to the other side. The only roads across the valley and into the castle were the large bridges to the north, east, south, and west, and the main gates that soared up on the other side of them.

  Fuko stared for a while at th
e Castle that slept protected by these four gates, and then looked up at Haruyuki abruptly. “Have you decided which gate to charge yet?”

  “Oh. Yes.” He nodded and gained a little altitude. “At first, I thought about going in through the north gate, since I’d heard that Genbu is the only one of the Four Gods that doesn’t fly.”

  “That is exactly right,” Fuko agreed.

  “But there’s kind of a problem in terms of terrain with the north and east gates, and the west gate, too.” Haruyuki hovered for a moment at an altitude from which all four gates were visible and explained to Fuko what he’d spent a full day thinking about.

  The north gate of the castle, guarded by the God Genbu, was called Inuimon in the real world. Likewise, Seiryu’s eastern gate was Sakashitamon, Suzaku’s southern gate was Sakuradamon, and Byakko’s western gate was Hanzomon, all of which had their defenses. The roads before the gates at Inuimon, Sakashitamon, and Hanzomon all had serious bends in them and didn’t lead directly to the building, so their prospects there weren’t good.

  But at Sakuradamon, Sakurada Avenue stretched out from the foot of the bridge to the intersection at Azabudai Itchome in basically a straight line for about 2.2 kilometers. His previous approach run had been about two hundred meters, so this was, in fact, eleven times longer.

  “I’m going to accelerate as much as I can again before charging into the God’s pop area—the bridge in front of the gate. But since my flying power’s gone up at least a little since last time, I want to get the biggest preliminary boost possible.”

  “I see,” Fuko said. “That means the south gate is optimal, hmm?”

  “Yes. What do you think, Master?” Haruyuki asked.

  Fuko thought a bit. “The Four Gods all have their own characteristic abilities. Genbu has gravity attacks, Seiryu has Level Drain, Byakko has quick movement, Suzaku, flight and fire. They are all fearsome powers, but I think that your flight ability is actually least compatible with Byakko and Suzaku. Byakko can move so fast, it’s like teleporting. Slipping through its claws would be a near-impossible task. And charging Suzaku’s Flame Breath head-on would be extremely reckless.”

  “Right.” Haruyuki nodded, remembering the mission to rescue Ardor Maiden on June 18th, exactly a month earlier.

  Using Fuko’s Gale Thruster as a booster, Haruyuki had shot across the large bridge, and the reason he hadn’t been hit with the God Suzaku’s Flame Breath was because Kuroyukihime had made herself a target with her Incarnate technique Vorpal Strike. But this time, they would have no comrades to cover them. He and Fuko had to somehow reach the gate alone.

  “Last time, it was about three seconds from the time Kuroyukihime charged onto the bridge until Suzaku finished appearing. If we can break through the five hundred meters of the bridge in those three seconds, we won’t be attacked by Suzaku.”

  “I see. Five hundred meters in three seconds. So that means a speed of six hundred kilometers per hour, hmm?” Fuko nodded, showing off her impressive mental calculation abilities.

  “That’s…right,” he answered, catching up. “My flying ability alone has a maximum speed of five hundred kilometers, and if I use my Incarnate technique Light Speed, I can get up to a thousand kilometers. If we add your Gale Thruster to that, Master, I think we can surpass the speed of sound—twelve hundred kilometers per hour.”

  “But we need to factor in our combined weight and the air resistance as well. If we assume our speed is halved to simplify the calculation, then we’ll just barely be able to do six hundred kilometers per hour. But I’m not going to let you go alone just because of this, you know?” Fuko said, as if in warning.

  “R-right. I know.” He bobbed his head. “Actually, there’s a possibility we could add some speed. But it’s a bit of a wild card.”

  “Mm-hmm?” Fuko cocked her head to one side.

  “Um, I’ll explain in detail once we reach the takeoff point!” Haruyuki said, starting to move again.

  He took off to the southeast, heading around Yotsuya, and flew with the Castle in sight on his left. They passed the government buildings of Nagatacho, now transformed into solemn temples, and after they slipped through the luxurious mansions from Akasaka to Roppongi, their target, Azabudai Itchome, came into view.

  Haruyuki landed in the center of the wide intersection and gently set Fuko down on the ground. They stared silently at Sakurada Avenue, stretching out toward the north. Off in the distance down the 2.2 kilometers of road and five hundred meters of bridge beyond that, he could faintly make out the silhouette of the Castle.

  “So then, what exactly is this possibility you mentioned?” Fuko turned her gaze back toward him.

  Haruyuki cleared his throat. “Right. Okay, well anyway, I’ll try calling her.” He closed his eyes beneath his goggles and focused his mind.

  He called her through the fine link that stretched from him in the Mean Level of the Unlimited Neutral Field to the Highest Level, the very top world.

  Can you hear me? I need your help. If you can hear my voice, could you please show yourself…?

  Rrrrring! The core of his duel avatar resonated with a bell ringing, fell in tune with it, and finally, the sound melted into him, and he could no longer hear it. Raising his hands in front of his chest, he slowly opened his eyes. A white flickering was born in the palms of his hands, and this instantly became a ring and a spindle and wings, a small 3-D icon.

  “Hey, Metatron. Thanks for coming out,” Haruyuki said to the icon who was the terminal for the Legend-class Enemy Archangel Metatron.

  Fuko’s eye lenses flashed.

  “…Um…Metatron?” Haruyuki said again, moving the index finger of his right hand to poke her.

  Metatron flapped the wings of her icon to brush his finger away. “It has been quite some time, Silver Crow,” she snapped.

  “Oh. S-sorry. I got busy with stuff…”

  “There is no need to apologize. However, given that you have not shown your face in such a long time, why must I help you now?”

  “I-I’m really sorry.” Haruyuki bowed his head deeply, trying to somehow put her in a better mood.

  “Your pet is as annoying as always, hmm, Corvus?” Fuko asked, exasperated.

  “Who are you calling a pet, you insolent creature?! Sky Raker, or whatever your name is, I demand that you prostrate yourself before me this instant!!”

  See? Haruyuki couldn’t keep himself from murmuring in his mind. The wild card’s on a rampage.

  It took three minutes to finally pacify Metatron. Since it took just a little over twenty minutes for them to travel there, they had an hour and a half until the automatic disconnect safety was activated. Considering the time they would need to secure a safe location within the Castle, they couldn’t spend too much time preparing.

  “So what exactly is it you would have me do, Silver Crow?” Metatron finally seemed willing to listen.

  “So, um, I want to borrow your wings again,” he hurried to explain.

  “What? Is that all? Those wings are still on loan to you. You have no need to come to me every time and ask for permission to equip them.”

  “System-wise, that’s true, but they aren’t actually mine, after all. And there was one more thing I wanted your help with,” he said.

  The icon blinked the ring above her head in irritation. “How many times must I tell you before you understand? My body right now is in the middle of restoration. If you are to battle that Acceleration Research Society, then I would gladly join you, but unfortunately, I still do not have that power.”

  “N-no, that’s not it. We’re not taking them on today.” As he brought the icon to face the north so Metatron could also see, he began to explain the details of the day’s impromptu mission. “Um. We’re going to charge into the Castle.”

  The icon’s wings stopped dead. She descended into Haruyuki’s palm before flapping her wings to rise up again. Whirling around, she flashed her ring with ferocious intensity.

  “Say that first, y
ou fool!”

  “Aah! S-sorry.”

  “Area Zero Zero. You are well aware of how strongly I desire information about what you refer to as the Castle, are you not?! If you are going to enter it, there is no reason I would not join you. In fact, if you had not called me, I would have evaporated you ten times in succession once my powers returned!”

  “Oh, ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha…” All Haruyuki could do was laugh awkwardly, while behind him, Fuko murmured in an exasperated voice, “You really are an irritating little person.”

  Sky Raker, equipped with Gale Thruster, and Haruyuki, equipped with Metatron Wings, faced each other in the center of the intersection at Azabudai Itchome. In the last Castle mission, Haruyuki had ridden on Fuko’s back, but that was because her role had been as a catapult, breaking away at the foot of the bridge. This time, they would both be going in, so they needed a more stable formation for their avatars.

  Instinctively, Haruyuki knew this, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be hard to keep his wits about him when he embraced Fuko from the front. His heart pounded, and he fixed his arms ahead of him at a strange angle.

  Fuko giggled. She took a step toward him and wrapped her arms around him. “You never change, do you, Corvus?”

  “I-I’m sorry. I haven’t grown…”

  “Some things are better unchanged.”

  “What are you dawdling about?” the 3-D icon on Haruyuki’s right shoulder snapped in irritation. “If your preparations are complete, then fly immediately.”

  “R-right.” Haruyuki slipped his own arms through the space between Fuko’s back and Gale Thruster and pulled her close.

  “We have to be more tightly fixed in place,” Fuko noted, strengthening her embrace, so Haruyuki followed her example.

  Although they were both duel avatars in hard armor, the pressure he felt had a softness to it somehow, making the gears of his thoughts slip, but he shook his head and got back on track. There was no room for error here. He had to focus his entire being on flying.