Accel World Vol 8 Chapter 11 (2/2)

And then, in the center of the six people lined up in a circle was a single Burst Linker who had curled his body up and was cowering.

A sleek leather rider suit. Gaudy protectors on his shoulders and knees. And on his head, a full-face helmet equipped with a s.h.i.+eld that imitated a skull—.

“Ash, san…?”

Haruyuki squeezed out a voice unlike one from his chest.

Deep scars were carved lengthwise and crosswise into Ash Roller’s whole body. However, why he was not trying to move was not because of the damage he had received. He was trying to protect the small light floating above the road with his avatar’s whole body as a s.h.i.+eld.

That point of light, which flickered gra.s.s green, was the «marker» left at the spot where Burst Linkers died in the Unlimited Neutral Field. It was probably the owner of the death effect Haruyuki had felt a mere number of dozens of seconds ago. He recognized the hue of the light. That was—Ash’s friend who was like a younger brother to him, «Bush Utan», without a doubt.

In a moment, Haruyuki intuitively realized what had happened here while he and Utai were fighting hard to escape the Imperial Palace.

It was probably like this.

Ash Roller, who had been waiting for their dive time of seven in the evening inside the car parked in the underground of the real-world apartment house, had partic.i.p.ated in the gallery of someone’s duel while standing by. In that stage, he had run across Bush Utan, who was either a duelist or likewise a spectator. There, he had persuaded Utan and instructed him to meet up at the same time in the Unlimited Neutral Field. In order for him to convey something that needed to be conveyed to Utan as his big brother.

That rendezvous place was probably in the direction of s.h.i.+buya. For that reason, before joining the four members of Nega Nebulas at seven in the evening sharp in front of the apartment house, he had dived early and headed for s.h.i.+buya to bring Utan along.

However, the place and time had somewhere—probably in the duel field where he was part of the gallery been leaked to one of the equippers of the ISS Kit. They had lain in ambush in front of the Meiji Shrine in order to hunt Ash and Utan as prey. Ash, who had taken a surprise attack from an Incarnate technique of darkness, had gotten away this far with all his might even while his bike was receiving damage, but in the end his beloved bike had been destroyed. No, that was not all. If he had dived into this world slightly earlier than seven o’clock in the evening, then Haruyuki guessed that over ten hours had already elapsed. Basically—undoubtedly, at this place he along with Bush Utan had died and been resurrected repeatedly no few number of times.

In the Unlimited Neutral Field, Enhanced Armaments that had been completely lost once did not regenerate unless one carried out a relogin4 into the field. Even if Ash Roller lost all his health gauge, died, and resp.a.w.ned one hour later, the American bike in which he had invested nearly all his potential as a duel avatar would not be brought back.

In short, the Burst Linkers standing in that place had surrounded Ash Roller, who had lost practically all his combat ability, with six men and furthermore were tormenting him to death with the strength of the Mind Power of darkness the ISS Kit produced.

Again and again. Again and again. Again and again and again and again—…

“W…a, ah…”

From the throat of Haruyuki, who was hovering, a husky voice leaked out.

Without the sign of even noticing that, one of the six walked up to Ash Roller, who was crouching on the road surface. His middle-cla.s.s form was rather unremarkable, but there was a slight sense of volume in his hands. Haruyuki also had the feeling that he had caught sight of him somewhere, but he could not remember his name.

“Next…it’s my turn right. I wonder…does he still have points remaining?”

The avatar who had lazily put that into words clutched Ash’s helmet with his large right hand from which a dusky aura was being discharged. A dull crack! sound reverberated, and his trademark scarface was splintered into smithereens.

The aggressor seized anew the exposed neck of the duel avatar who gave off a delicate impression considering his character and who in some respects seemed like a young boy.

With all his strength, he dragged Ash Roller, who was still trying to defend Utan’s marker light, up from the road. The eyes of Ash, who had been forced to face upward, sighted Haruyuki, who had frozen on the roof of a building.

His pale green eye lenses opened wide for an instant—following that, they seemed as if they were weakly laughing. In Haruyuki’s consciousness, his normally reckless and boisterous voice reverberated in a manner that tended to cut off.

-…Heh heh…I made, a blunder. My bad, Crow…I made the feelings of you and Master…go to wast…

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Glug. That blunt sound resounded; the a.s.sailant’s left arm had deeply penetrated the middle of Ash’s chest.

A pillar of gray light towered, and the thin avatar burst and scattered, rider suit and all.

While being showered in his scattered fragments, the attacker, perhaps looking at his own Install menu, slightly tilted his head and spoke.

“Oh, with one more time I’ll be able to level up. It’d be nice if he remained till my next turn, huh.”

Haruyuki’s whole body trembled so strongly that it seemed as if it would disintegrate. His limbs, tense to their limit, creaked with a grinding sound, and underneath his helmet his teeth rang repeatedly. The voice that leaked out from his throat had collapsed and was cracked in a tone so low to the extent where he himself had never heard it.

“Ah…a, a, aaah…AAAAH…”

From head to foot, it seemed as if he were filled with liquid of quite a low temperature. No, it might have even been the super-intense heat of melted iron. At the very least, it was unmistakable that a vast emotion had been compressed and was running through his entire body in place of blood.

Rage.

Anger. A fury so great it made his view red hot. Blackish hatred. And then the impetus to destroy.

“AH…AA, A, AAAAH…!”

s.h.i.+ng.

That sharp metallic sound rang out from Haruyuki’s hands. Silver Crow’s slender ten fingers had sharpened, curved, and been enlarged like the claws of a bird of prey. At the same time, his armor color changed too. From a s.h.i.+ning mirror silver to a chrome silver like a shadow.

…You mustn’t!

…You mustn’t entrust yourself to that emotion! You will disappear…!

Someone had shouted far away, very far away. However, that faint voice no longer reached Haruyuki’s consciousness.

The metallic sound did not stop; Haruyuki’s two arms were covered in chrome supplementary armor. Both his legs too. That form, whose edges were so effective they were atrocious, was far more sinister and looked more like that of a demon than when it had previously materialized at Hermes Cord.

Instead of the girl’s voice, a voice distorted by a metallic quality resounded throughout his mind.

—I am thee. Thou art me.

—Pa.s.sing through a time of eternity, now at last have I been resurrected. I am «disaster». I am «demise». I be the one who makes the sound of the bell of the end ring out to the world.

It was exactly the same as the voice he had heard after school today in the real-world Umesato Middle rear garden, but different from that time he felt no pain whatsoever. Basically, this was not negative Mind Power’s «overflow». Haruyuki himself had called that awake and had yearned to fuse with it.

At the same its voice rang, Haryuki called its name.

——My name is——

“……«Chrome Disaster»——!!”

That yell, which had ferociously surged forth, was the very howl of a beast that hungered for blood and desired ma.s.sacre. Purple system font traversed the upper left hand of his field of vision from left to right like a flash of lightning in one go.

【YOU EQUIPPED AN ENHANCED ARMAMENT: «THE DISASTER»】

While releasing a violent metallic sound, armor resembling a demon’s fangs heavily covered him from his stomach to his breast. A sharp tail lengthened out in a slithery way from his back, and his two wings changed into a silhouette like some sort of weapon.

A visor in the imitation of the jaw of a beast swallowed up his smoothly round helmet from the top and bottom without leaving a gap. His view was wrapped up in a thin gray additional layer.

In the skies overhead, the dark clouds of the Demonic City stage were making an enormous whirlpool. From its center, a jet-black thunderbolt poured down together with a thunderous roar. Haruyuki received that with his outstretched right hand.

The thunderbolt stayed in his hand as it was, changed shape, and produced an object. A long sword possessing a hilt that shone black and a blade that was fiercely sharpened. A high ranking Enhanced Armament called by the name of «Star Caster» in the distant past.

That very thing was the binary star of destiny that twinkled in a bewitching manner and nestled close to the side of the sixth star «Kaiyou», alias the original of the Disaster Armor, the Divine Weapon «The Destiny». The eighth star of the Big Dipper—.

Brandis.h.i.+ng the cursed sword high, Haruyuki howled.

“GR…AAAAAAAH!!”

That war cry was filled with rage and hatred, but as if weeping in some way, it resounded throughout the sky of the Accelerated World.

(To Be Continued)

References:

1. ^ Also called Yoyogi-koen (Kouen, 公園, means park).

2. ^ The suffix -dori means “street” or “avenue.”

3. ^ Like Yoyogi-koen, it is also referred to as Miyas.h.i.+ta-koen.

4. ^ Written as “leave and dive again” (離脱・再ダイブ) with “relogin” in furigana.

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