Accel World Vol 8 Chapter 5 (2/2)

“Uh, unh…”

Ash Roller pointed the index fingers of both his hands straight at Haruyuki, who had been completely overwhelmed.

“All right, got it you Crow b.a.s.t.a.r.d, duel with me today for real! And then, if I lose, I’ll listen to what you have to say. But if I win, you listen to one of my requests! That’s a mega even condition!”

“What? R, request?”

“Besides that, if we continue two times in a row with no duel, the boys and girls of the gallery who took the trouble to register to watch our duels will be mega let down!”

To the remarks emitted from below the skull design s.h.i.+eld of the helmet, suddenly cheers of “That’s right, that’s right!” and “Today we want to see something exciting!” followed. Hurriedly Haruyuki looked around at his surroundings and saw the silhouettes of spectators sprinkled on the roofs of the buildings along Loop 7.

He couldn’t say there were very many, but almost everyone registered on the matching list seemed to have appeared in this stage. Among the Burst Linkers whose homes where west of s.h.i.+njuku, there were many who knew that Silver Crow and Ash Roller were closely connected fellow rivals, and since their fights tended to become showy due to the fact that both of their avatars’ performances were too peaky and extreme, a duel of the two seemed to be treated as quite a good match. To add, both were level 5.

Giving a glance at the time count, which showed that sixty seconds had already elapsed, Haruyuki thought quickly.

Different from the day before yesterday when they had fully talked for close to thirty minutes, today what he had to transmit to him was just the single message «If we want to remove Bush Utan’s ISS Kit, now’s our chance». Surely it would not take thirty minutes. If so, in order also to make the most of his one point that he had gone to the trouble of spending, it wouldn’t be bad to duel with Ash Roller in earnest for the first time in a while. Besides that, at tonight’s «Imperial Palace escape strategy», or depending on how Sunday’s «Seven Kings’ meeting» unfolded, this would become his last duel with him, which he could not deny…

“—Understood.”

Nodding deeply, Haruyuki opened his mouth.

“I will accept it on a condition. If I win, listen properly to what I have to say – just a momennnnnt!”

However, without being able to speak to the end, he changed the end of his sentence into a scream and jumped aside to the left. The reason was that Ash Roller’s large-cla.s.s bike had charged ferociously without warning.

“Ah, isn’t that dangerous! I’m still chatting…”

“Quiet shut u—p! The duel’s already begun bo—y! My bad but today, you’re gonna let me have a giga co—ol victory!”

While shouting that, Ash Roller made another spin turn. While being aware that his rotation radius had become far sharper than that of the time when they had met, Haruyuki also indomitably retorted back.

“I, I’m going to get a tera gorgeous perfect win myself! Rather than that, to begin with even if I win you’ll only listen to what I have to say, while if you win I have to listen to your request; somehow the conditions seem unbalanced…”

“Su—ck it! If you’re fussin’ over the details you won’t get used to the wind!”

Spouting exhaust flames from its fat m.u.f.flers, the American bike made its third mad dash.

Ash Roller was an abnormal Burst Linker who had invested the majority of his duel avatar’s potential in his Enhanced Armament, his large-cla.s.s bike.

The rider himself had almost no fighting power regardless of whether it was close-range or long-range. In return, his bike was furnished with both high mobility power and high endurance power. A «Vehicle Enhanced Armament» itself was relatively rare, but within them one could probably say its capacity was top-cla.s.s.

If one were forced to name its weaknesses, it would be that it was less adaptable than a living avatar and that it lacked covertness due to its size. If one were to attack the latter point, a «long-distance firepower concentration attack» would be effective, but Haruyuki did not possess red-cla.s.s attack power at all.

Therefore, if he were to fight with Ash Roller on the ground, he would carry out «life-risking close-range attacks». Concretely, he would dodge the bike’s charge by a paper-thin margin to the right or left and shower either Ash the person himself or his bike’s engine parts with attacks.

It would be best if he used Silver Crow’s mobility power to jump straight overhead and to aim for the head of the rider himself, but the other party knew that. The instant Haruyuki entered a vertical jump position he would make the bike wheelie and with a high-speed revolution of his back wheel would use his «anti-air technique». His jump attack and the anti-air attack, like the game of rock-paper-scissors, had one-way compatibility; if he took the hit he would not be able to avoid great damage. An unmeasured dive would be suicidal action.

“Yeeee—haw—!”

Haruyuki concentrated all his nerves on the huge front tire of the onrus.h.i.+ng bike, whose rider was coming with a sharp war cry. The other side was also estimating Haruyuki’s dodge; he would probably minutely adjust his path left or right just beforehand. It would be all right if Haruyuki attacked in the opposite direction; if he evaded in the same direction, he would unmistakably meet an accident with bodily injury.

—Which one…right, or left… It’s not the tires but the incline of the bike frame I have to watch…

Activating his «super-concentration power limited to the middle of gameplay» that had been polished from the time before he had become a Burst Linker, Haruyuki focused on the actions of the entire body of the bike with all his nerves.

—And then, at that time.

The winker on the side of the bike that was on the right from Haruyuki’s view flickered with an orange color.

“Heigh…”

While leaking out his voice, he reflexively dived left.

However, at the same time the bike had also tilted to the left, and the rugged tire pressed in before his eyes—.

A fearsome impact as if he had been whammed by a humongous hammer. His entire view of the stage whirled round. No, the one revolving round was Haruyuki. While exhibiting a high-speed backward somersault body stretch not acted out nowadays even in gag anime, Silver Crow was blown off several dozen meters and pierced one of the craggy mountains on the east side of the Loop 7 road headfirst.

Knocked unconscious for a bit, he thrust his arms against the bare rock and deeply pulled his helmet out. As soon as he jumped down on the road, beside himself with rage, he shouted.

“Y, y, you turned in the opposite direction of your winker! Violation of road traffic laws! Two hundred million yen fine!”

After Haruyuki had done so, while chasing him and charging at him even more, the scarface rider roared with loud laughter.

“Hyahahahaa—! I, Ash-sama! My existence itself is a violation of road traffic laws—!”

That was the truth. Currently in this age, if one burned fossil fuels on public roads and tried to emit even a cubic centimeter of carbon dioxide, one would be handcuffed on the spot. Furthermore, the explosive roar from the m.u.f.fler easily broke safety standards, and there was no number plate on the rear. However, of course in the field of the Accelerated World, there were no motorcycle cops who would crack down on him.

While being showered in the magnificent cheers given off by the surrounding gallery instead of a siren, Ash Roller came rus.h.i.+ng, no doubt to knock Haruyuki flying again.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…”

While raising a cursing voice, with a glance he checked the upper left hand of his field of vision. Silver Crow’s health gauge had two-tenths sc.r.a.ped away with the damage of a little while ago. In opposition, his special technique gauge had acc.u.mulated to the extent of three-tenths, but it was still undependable to activate his «flying ability» and claim a win.

He would fly after clas.h.i.+ng one more time on the ground. Resolving to do that, Haruyuki dropped his waist and lay in wait for the large-cla.s.s bike. He had involuntarily fallen for the feint using the winker since it was the first time he had seen it, but he would not fall for the same trick again. In his mind, he shouted that this time for sure, he would barely dodge the charge and hammer him with a special technique counter.

However, somehow it seemed that Ash Roller also thought that the same feint would not work twice. Instead of causing his winker to blink—

“Tuo!”

With that shout he jumped vertically from his bike and stood upright with his seat and handle as footing. Like that, while manipulating the bike just like a surfboard he charged. It was Ash’s so-to-speak «hidden secret», also by the name of «V Twin Fists».

Its naming as well as its appearance could only be thought of as a joke, but as a matter of fact it had a concealed power that could by no means be belittled. Even if one dodged the bike’s front tire, the kick of the rider himself would come, so it was difficult to get the right timing for a counter. Although Haruyuki had already experienced this technique a number of times, he was still unable to find an effective countermeasure.

“Yaaaaahoo—!”

Haruyuki stared as hard as he could at the incoming bike slaloming left and right and the rider on it raising a war cry. It was possible to evade him with a large jump, but with that he would not be able to counterattack. Sky Raker, Ash’s master and parent, had destroyed that V Twin Fists with the superhuman feat of «gripping the bike’s brake lever while making a back dash», but imitating that was still impossible for Haruyuki.

Were there no other weaknesses, something, somewhere, someplace—

“..!”

Abruptly, a flash of insight.

Would Ash Roller be able to make the bike wheelie from that stance as well? No, it was probably impossible. If he did that, he would tumble from the bike. Basically, what he had to aim for was,

“The top!”

The instant the huge tire drew close, filling his vision, Haruyuki stooped over and immediately kicked the ground with all his might and leaped up.

“Towaa!?”

The minute he slammed into the rider himself, who had let out a strange voice, he held on for dear life. The two were separated from the bike and dropped to the road with a thud. The American bike, which had lost its proprietor, ran away as it was to Loop 7.

“You, you, hold-me-tight…no, let go of me you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

With all his might, Haruyuki tried to pin Ash Roller down, who was kicking and struggling while bellowing. He could not miss this chance.

“No way! Ash-san without his bike is f.u.kujinzuke4 without curry!”

“What did ya just say! I’m a hardcore fan of j.a.panese leek with curry!”

At the sight of the two rolling on the ground and grappling, the gallery again became excited. However, in a hand-to-hand battle between their fellow main bodies, Ash Roller did not have the power to pierce Silver Crow’s metallic armor at all. Without even minding the fists flailing around hitting his face and chest, Haruyuki forcefully got behind him and tightly held his chest from the back.

“Gyah! Wait, y-y-y-you, don’t hug me!”

“I-it’s not that I want to hug you that I’m hugging you!”

“Don’t say hug you suck-it b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

“You’re the one who brought it up first…right!!”

At the same time he shouted back, Haruyuki deployed his wings in one go. Investing in his special technique gauge, which had been charged to the extent of another tenth with the hand-to-hand fighting of right now, with all his strength he made his ten metal fins vibrate.

With a doh! impact sound, Silver Crow and Ash Roller took off vertically like a rocket.

“Gya—! What the heck, we’re flying hi—gh!”

No longer keeping company with his emitted strange scream, with all his energy Haruyuki continued to ascend. In an instant, he pa.s.sed the rocky mountains where the gallery was standing, and at that rate he reached an alt.i.tude as high as one hundred—two hundred—three hundred meters.

“No, nooooo! I can’t be high up, don’t like it, no thank you—…”

The shrill shouting voice suddenly broke off into a mumble. Ash Roller stiffened his body, which had been thras.h.i.+ng about in Haruyuki’s chest, and he asked something in a hoa.r.s.e voice.

“Uh, um, Crow-san? Surely not me from here? Not like a streak of a shooting star twinkling in the night sky?”

“Yes. Like some s.p.a.ce debris whose trajectory has fallen.”

Nodding, Haruyuki released his hands mercilessly.

By making use of Silver Crow’s flying ability in combat, Haruyuki had devised some tactics. What he had continued to use from the very beginning was a kick or punch at an extremely high speed from a high, high alt.i.tude—«Dive Attack». Furthermore, recently he was also in the middle of practicing the technique «Aerial Combo», which applied the use of his wings’ instantaneous thrusts in close-range hand-to-hand fighting on the ground.

However, in reality, rather than those two a more surefire and effective way of using it existed. Holding his duel opponent, carrying him as far as the high skies, throwing him, and dealing damage from a high-alt.i.tude fall. It was difficult to use on large-cla.s.s avatars, and he would not be able to hold opponents with a high fighting capacity in the first place, but once fixed, a large amount of damage was almost certain. Why Haruyuki did not really use this technique was because on the contrary he tended to suffer a regrettable counter when his opponents realized he was aiming for close contact, and since there were plenty of avatars who had high resistance against falls even if they couldn’t fly, there was no way not to aim for the situation like this time where it had become a scuffle with the spontaneous flow of things. If Ash Roller fell from this height, the largest value of fall damage would probably be applied to him, whose avatar’s main body’s armor was without the ability to lightly hover or to move in three dimensions.

Haruyuki had completely forgotten that day’s goal and had become set on victory, but Ash Roller, who was in a desperate plight, was also not a manly opponent to the extent where he would be done in without a peep. On the brink of being separated from Haruyuki’s hand, he grabbed it and at the same time shouted.

“If it’s gonna be like this, then me and you are goin’ to h.e.l.l in tandem! «Flying Knucklehead»~!!”

—A special technique!?

Haruyuki reflexively stiffened his body. He had surely not thought that Ash Roller’s main body would have a special technique.

However, even after some seconds pa.s.sed nothing happened. Judging that it was a bluff simply to gain time, Haruyuki had been opened his mouth and had been about to say a complaint out of Ash’s not knowing when to give up, but he immediately changed his words to a shout of surprise.

“Wait a moment Ash-san, there’s limits even to useless struggling—awaaaaaaah!?”

What had surprised Haruyuki was not Ash, whom he was still embracing in his arms—it was two rays of light rapidly approaching from directly below. Narrow, long cylindrical objects closing in while spurting orange flames. Four small wings near the area of their tails and a red lens on their heads. No matter how he looked at them, they were:

“M-m-missilesss!?”

With a scream, he rapidly launched forth in the air. However, the two missiles somehow seemed to be equipped with homing functions; they made their aims follow him. No matter how much he flew zigzag, he couldn’t outrun them at all.

Come to think of it, before Ash Roller had certainly said something like “I loaded missiles on my bike.” Basically what had fired those was the American bike supposedly fallen on the ground of Loop 7. Even if he were separated from his Enhanced Armament, instructions through voice commands were possible. However.

“A-a-at this rate you’ll be blown up too right!”

“Heh, it’s better than just being dropped right booooy!”

Sure enough there was that too. Haruyuki tried with all his might to discard his burden, but Ash, who was aiming for a double kill, at that critical moment was also clinging on with his two hands and feet. Due to that, he couldn’t even put out half his normal speed, and within a few seconds the missiles were barely closing in on his toes—.

“Key Shoooo—p!”

At the same time as Ash Roller’s yell of unclear meaning, they exploded spectacularly.

What was fearsome about the explosion-type attack was even more than its power and range, if one took its blow, for a while «one wouldn’t be able to understand anything». From an alt.i.tude of three hundred meters, Haruyuki, who was falling head over heels while being knocked unconscious, had his ability to think restored right before piercing the ground, spread his wings, and suddenly applied a braking motion.

Where he crashed simultaneously with Ash Roller, who was still tangled up with him, was originally the center of the intersection between Loop 7 and Ome Highway. Peeling off Ash Roller, who was clinging to him even more, he thrust him several dozens of centimeters away and then asked without delay.

“…Um, Ash-san. What’s the «Key Shop» you just mentioned?”

The bike rider, who seemed to have regained consciousness slightly more slowly, answered in a subdued voice while shaking his skull helmet bit by bit.

“Well, um…when there’s fireworks, you shout «Tamaya» and «Kagiya»5 right. For the moment I tried translating them to English…but maybe you’re better able to understand «ball shop»?”

“…From the bottom of my heart I don’t care either way. In fact, either one’s impossible to understand.”

While mumbling, he checked both their health gauges. Before the missile had directly hit, Haruyuki’s had been less, but his metal armor seemed to have somewhat reduced the explosion damage; at present either one of them only had a trifling ten percent left.

If one side dealt two, three more clean hits, it would be a situation where a conclusion would be reached, but as they lay on the road surface their faces met, and without knowing it both spoke.

“…Do you want to call it a draw?”

“…Let’s make it a draw, shall we.”

Mutually nodding, they simultaneously stood up with a heave-ho.

Looking round at the surrounding gallery, whose members were silently riveting their gazes on the two, Haruyuki strained his voice and shouted.

“Excuse me, we’re sorry! With this, please let us call this match a draw!”

He had thought that voices of discontent would come, but contrary to his expectations—.

“Good game!”

“Next time also entertain us again~~”

The spectators individually shouted that, left a grand round of applause, and burst out. While gazing at them, Haruyuki was abruptly self-aware of some sort of deep emotion filling his chest.

This was a «duel». Even if there were thrill or excitement, hatred and anger did not exist. Even if the duelists were vying rivals, they were not enemies to be hated.

If one considered the cool-headed Brain Burst system, perhaps this world’s creator had envisioned a much more savage survival. However, the players had refused the creator’s intentions with their own will. Undoubtedly that feeling had been put into the name «Burst Linker», which had not been prescribed by the system. They were «comrades».

The ones trying to destroy that world were the «ISS Kit» and the Acceleration Research Society.

Both Bush Utan, who had fought with Haruyuki some number of days ago, and Tak.u.mu, whom he had fought yesterday, did not seem to be enjoying themselves at all. No, the Research Society’s members Dusk Taker too and even Rust Jigsaw were people to whom the enjoyment of duels was irrelevant.

That was wrong. Absolutely wrong.

With a slap, a hand wrapped in a leather glove tapped the left shoulder of Haruyuki, who was clenching his fists and standing still.

“Good fight, you Crow b.a.s.t.a.r.d. The weakness of my «V Twin Fists», you saw through it nicely.”

“…I’m sure, next time the same trick won’t work anymore though.”

To Haruyuki, who had replied, Ash Roller let out a laughing “heh” voice.

“Of course. You’d better watch out, ‘cause next I’ll be doing a wheelie while standing.”

The scarface, which seemed to have boasted that, glanced upward. He had checked the time count. Six hundred seconds remaining. It wasn’t enough, but there was some leeway to talk.

Ash Roller, who had sat down on one of the handy-sized rocks dotting the inside of the intersection, jerked his chin up in a way that seemed to be telling him to start talking. Haruyuki sat on an opposite rock, nodded, and opened his mouth.

“Um…what I have to say is about Bush Utan.”

He was unable to say as far as the details concerning Tak.u.mu to Ash, who tentatively belonged to an enemy legion, but despite that Haruyuki made his maximal efforts to convey information to the limits of what he could convey.

That the ISS Kit possessed a colony-like nature and linked with so-to-speak «genetically close» Kits. That the equippers were guided to that link each time they slept at night and connected with the main body of the Kit. That Haruyuki and his legion comrades had attacked that main body in a data-like way and had dealt it considerable damage—.

“…That’s why, if we do it now, it might be possible to destroy the ISS Kit parasitizing Utan in the middle of a normal duel. However…to do that, there are two problems.”

Staring straight at the face of Ash Roller, who was listening attentively and mutely, Haruyuki spoke.

“The first is that we probably can’t deal damage to the ISS Kit without Incarnate techniques. And then the second is that Utan experienced firsthand the large-scale Incarnate technique of «Rust Jigsaw», who was riding in the tenth vehicle in the recent «Hermes Cord Race», and has been harboring a large distrust of the veteran Linkers, who have been hiding the existence of the Incarnate system…what he calls «IS Mode». And then I believe that feeling has given birth to the impatience that even if he relies on whatever dubious power, if he becomes stronger that’s fine with him; if he’s not strong there’s no meaning. If that’s not resolved, even if his current ISS Kit is destroyed, he’ll undoubtedly search for a new Kit again…”

“…Aah, that’s true. I think that too.”

Nodding, Ash Roller tipped up his skull-design s.h.i.+eld with his right hand.

The face mask within that in some way gave the impression of a science boy looking at the yellow-tinged sky of the «Wilderness Stage». A voice with a faded voice effect and an unexpectedly delicate tone flowed quietly.

“I already talked about how that guy Uu’s «parent» lost all his points right. It’s probably obvious, but it seemed to have been a big shock to him. Since then, there’s been a huge frightfulness and…something like discontent or irritation always staying inside his heart. Doing something about him was probably the responsibility of me, who acted as his older brother…the losing-all-your-points system, I still haven’t, how d’ya put it…come to terms with it. What I should’ve done for Uu, I didn’t know…”

“Come to…terms with it?”

Ash nodded slowly at Haruyuki, who had asked that back, and turned his pale green eye lenses at him.

“«If your Burst Points become zero, the Brain Burst Program itself will be forcibly uninstalled, and you can’t return to being a Burst Linker again.» I was taught straightaway by Master Raker that that was the Accelerated World’s biggest rule. Crow, the same goes for you right?”

“Uh…yeah. I was distinctly warned as well by senpa…Black Lotus the first day I became a Burst Linker.”

“I know right. Now that I think very closely about it, until now I’ve never once really been cornered to the brink of losing all my points. If I were forced to say it, maybe just the time I rose to level 2 my margin was kinda small, and losing immediately afterward to you, level 1 at the time, made me somewhat get the chills.”

At his sharp glare, Haruyuki reflexively shrank his neck.

Now that he looked back, this Ash Roller was the opponent with whom Haruyuki had first fought as a Burst Linker and to whom he had first lost. After that, he was lectured by his parent Kuroyukihime about various things, and after having preparing all his tactics when he challenged him again, somehow in just in one day Ash had become level 2 and with the thanks of his newly acquired «wall climbing ability» his tactics had gone to waste.

Though he had given up on the match there for a moment, he had desperately used his head; that one fight where he had pinpointed the old-type bike’s weakness that «only the rear wheel had motive power» and had achieved a come-from-behind victory became Haruyuki’s starting point of tactics.

The «margin» in Ash’s remark was a word arising from the uniqueness of the «level up» in the Brain Burst game.

In regular RPGs, at a point where one’s experience points reached a certain value one would automatically level up. However, in this Brain Burst, in order to raise one’s level, one must exhaust one’s acc.u.mulated experience points, namely Burst Points. Concretely, the required amount of points to rise from level 1 to 2 was no fewer than 300. Basically, if one carried out the level up operation from the system menu called the «Install Menu», at that instant one’s points would drop by 300 in one go. Therefore, one would need sufficient leeway—namely, a «margin»—just to settle the matter so that when one leveled up, even if one lost a number of times continuously after that one would not fall into the pinch of losing all one’s points. If one thought about it a little, it seemed obvious, but—.

In response to Ash Roller’s words, while making a pitiable smile Haruyuki confessed.

“In, in reality, in the past I too got worked up when I had barely saved up 300 points and accidentally leveled up, nearly losing all my points.”

“…Are you serious, really? At that time Suginami wasn’t Nega Nebulas’ territory yet right? Until you recovered it as a safety zone.”

In response to his stunned voice, he shrugged.

“Uh, yeah that’s true. My buddy…Cyan Pile saved me, somehow…”

Though he had begun to speak, he was unable to remember well at the time how in the world he had recovered his points. Instead, Haruyuki corrected the topic beginning to stray away to its original route.

“By, by the way, what did you mean by «coming to terms with losing all your points» a little earlier?”

“Aah…basically, well. To me, the system in which you lose all your points and have it forcibly uninstalled, it seems like a ridiculously harsh and cruel rule…however in one respect, there’s the feeling too that as a Burst Linker if you’re gonna receive the blessing of «accelerating» that much is probably a due risk. Frankly, I can’t make head or tails of either one. Because you see, it’s easy to say that it’s harsh, but…behind the scenes while you and I are becoming as far as level 5 like this, there also must be a number of guys who’ve had that number of points stolen from them and have lost all their points. You could also say that indirectly, the points I acquired and spent nonchalantly are the points that somebody stole from that guy Uu’s parent the time when he lost all his points…”

“…”

Hearing remarks whose image differed slightly, no, quite a bit from the usual “hyahahaa” end of century rider, Haruyuki was involuntarily speechless. Possibly having read his thoughts, Ash snorted, turned away as if embarra.s.sed, and continued.

“However, on the other hand I think that if you’re a Burst Linker, from the start you should at least be prepared for someone to lose all their points. Both the side who’s causing it and the side who’s getting it. In that sense, I respect your parent…the Black King Black Lotus. It’s quite something for me, who’s entered the green legion Great Wall, to say, but…that person’s amazing. In the way of her countenance of resolution, without question she’s number one in the Accelerated World. I want to carry things through mega cool like that too, but…but you know…for instance Crow, when I’m dueling with you, if I were let known that you’d lose all your points with one more loss, whether I’d be able to strike the final blow mercilessly and in a cool way then…honestly I have no idea. At the least, I’m not confident that I wouldn’t hesitate…”

“—Ash-san.”

Being truly surprised this time, Haruyuki staringly turned his gaze at him, and the bike rider returned a slightly dangerous voice.

“Oi you, you look like you’d say ‘I’d normally cause you to lose all your points though,’ don’t you.”

“N, nonono, no way! I’d hesitate too, I’d super-hesitate!”

“Oi hey there, you look like you’d say ‘Even if I hesitated I’d really cause you to lose all your points after all though,’ don’t you.”

“W, well Ash-san weren’t you saying that you’d just look like you were hesitating!”

After causing his two hands and face to undergo furious high-speed horizontal exercise and evading Ash Roller’s cross-examination, Haruyuki added something quickly.

“I mean, it’s natural to hesitate to do that. My parent…Black Lotus is surely hesitating. Because no matter how spiteful her opponent is…at their roots they’re similarly Burst Linkers. —Back then, I troubled you too, Ash-san, but…I was irreconcilable with the guy who stole my «flying ability» this spring to the bitter end…from the bottom of my heart he was an «enemy» whom I thought I loathed. Despite that, when I beat him in the «sudden death duel», I hesitated a little. I thought, wasn’t it perhaps possible to have met him differently and dueled with him differently…Now, I also have the feeling that as long as we’re Burst Linkers, that hesitation might be something that’s absolutely indispensable…”

“…”

This time Ash Roller was silent.

At last, while dropping his gaze to the reddish-brown ground between his legs, he murmured in bits.

“That’s possible. But well…, due to that hesitation, I wasn’t able to say anything to that guy Uu. If I were acting as his older brother, in truth I should’ve plainly said one or the other. ‘I’ll never forgive the guy who caused your parent to lose all his points; I’ll definitely get revenge on him.’…or, ‘Everyone’s fighting with the risk of losing all their points; don’t keep blubbering,’ one of those two… However, I was unable to say either one. That’s why only anger and fear grew inside Uu…he yearned for «power» other than his own. I’m the one who created one of the reasons for him to run to the «ISS Kit»…”

To Ash Roller, whose feet had trampled the ground with a sharp tap, Haruyuki could not immediately find the words he should have said.

Before he opened his mouth, there was something blinking red in the top of his vision. The time count had dropped below the remaining one hundred seconds.

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