Haruyuki, as the duel avatar «Silver Crow», landed on top of a water storage tank that jutted out from the roof of a building.
The rows of stores that spread out in all directions on the streets below were colored with countless neon signs just like the scenery he had seen before he Dived. Numerous lights and laser illuminations shined from below up onto the clouds that hung low in the night sky. A blimp that was shining with a huge advertisement panel on it soared above their heads, and commercials in a strange language were being emitted from all the streets.
But this, of course, wasn’t the real world Akihabara. This was a 3D field that was reconstructed from the images captured by the Social Camera network. The attribute here was «Shopping District».
Haruyuki quickly bended over his body and first checked the HP gauges in the upper corners of his vision.
To the upper left was his own gauge. The smaller gauge of his tag partner, Blood Leopard, was visible right beneath it.
And the gauge that was shining in the upper right corner had, just as expected, the name «Rust Jigsaw» attached to it. Haruyuki’s breath caught beneath his silver helmet, and he glared at the small light blue cursor that had appeared in the center of his vision. The enemy should be in that direction. Fortunately or unfortunately, since the Shopping District stage prohibited entry into building just like the End of the Century stage, it seemed that they had been relocated some distance away from their original position.
Now then, first I have to link up with Pard-san—
Immediately as Haruyuki thought that, he heard a quiet voice from behind him and he turned around with a start.
“K. He’s taken the bait.”
Although he hadn’t heard any footsteps or sensed her presence, a tall and lean avatar now stood quietly behind him before he noticed it.
Her whole form bore a strong resemblance to the leopard-headed rider avatar she had used at the bar. But, she no longer had a leather suit, but instead non-glossy dark red armor that covered her entire body. Since her mask had a form which sharpened to a point like a bullet shell at the front and tapered into ear-like points at the back left and right tips, she resembled a savage beast of the feline family.
Within her long and slim silhouette, she had greatly swelled-out thighs that were extremely conspicuous. This truly nimble-looking avatar sat down next to Haruyuki, and the Level 6 Burst Linker belonging to «Prominence», «Blood Leopard», continued speaking in a whisper.
“You and I are close range types, while the enemy we’re facing is a mid-to-long range type. He will first try to split us up with long-range attacks and then take you down. Therefore, you mustn't irrationally try to counterattack, but instead give priority only to not separating from me.”
“…R-Roger.”
Haruyuki nodded, and then a half-second later.
*JIIIII!* As a jarring vibrating sound quickly approached from the direction the cursor was pointing towards, Haruyuki jumped aside reflexively.
A short time lag passed, and then the water storage tank that they had been standing until then was cut apart into two equal pieces. The water that flowed out with a splosh spread out across the rooftop. Trying not to step on it, Haruyuki hurried over next to Leopard, who had already jumped much further away than Haruyuki and had her back against a ventilation duct.
“That just now should have been that guy’s long range technique, «Wheel Saw».”
While remembering Rust Jigsaw’s abilities that they had heard about beforehand from Matchmaker, Haruyuki also responded back as fast as possible to Pard-san’s staggeringly fast-paced commentary.
“A technique that shoots out a jigsaw ring. But in this darkness, we can’t see the saw’s form at all.”
“We’ll have to make do with sound. Since it seems he can’t shoot them in rapid-fire, we’ll move closer after dodging the next attack.”
“K-K[1].”
Without the time for him to nod, another spinning ‘JIII!’ sound approached.
He looked, no, listened for the source of the sound, and then jumped forward diagonally to the right. The high-speed rotating super-thin ring passed by to his left, where his body has just been. The ventilation duct was cut apart and fell down behind him.
But Haruyuki didn’t look back at it and instead desperately ran after Blood Leopard who was running right in front of him.
The speed of the deep crimson avatar wasn’t just average, as expected. Seeming to leap and jump rather than run, she reached the end of the building in only a few steps—and then jumped into the air without any hesitation.
It was a simple 20 meters from the building they were on to the building that faced it on the other side of the wide road. Leopard easily flew across that empty space colored by neon lights.
…I also have to jump!?
—Don’t waver, jump!!
Putting that instantaneous thought into his right leg, Haruyuki also jumped across with all his strength. The air rang in his ears with a ‘BYUUU!’ sound, and the rooftop of the next building rapidly approached.
Haruyuki’s legs landed at a point ten centimeters away from the edge of the concrete. But there was no time for him to let out a sigh of relief. Because, on the rooftop of the next building over that was connected to theirs, the enemy’s figure could at last be seen. An upright silhouette which stood out with its rust color among the stage’s illuminating lights.
—Rust Jigsaw!
Haruyuki cried out sharply in his mind.
—Are you Noumi’s…Dusk Taker’s ally!? Do you use the same method to intercept the list!? Just what the hell is the truth of that secret!?
As if ridiculing Haruyuki’s impatience, Rust Jigsaw spread out his arms wide and then nimbly turned his body around. He then retreated to the next building at an unexpected high speed.
“…Think you can escape!?”
Haruyuki shouted that out in a low town and fiercely dashed forward. Even if he had no wings, for him to fall behind in speed against a long-range type was…
“Stop.”
If Haruyuki hadn’t slowed down his speed slightly in response to that sharp order, his head might had gone flying.
Suddenly, a violent impact hit his throat. A feeling of something thin eating into it. A ‘BIIIIN!’ vibration attacked his throat, and orange sparks scattered about just like blood. At the same time, his HP gauge grinded down along with his neck’s armor.
“Guh…”
While gritting his teeth, Haruyuki shook his body with all his strength and escaped from the thing that was eating into his neck. As he was in the midst of falling down backwards, he certainly saw it. In the air—was a super thin thread that was floating horizontally at the position where Rust Jigsaw had spread out his hands several seconds ago. A jigsaw.
As Haruyuki lay collapsed on the rooftop, Blood Leopard’s hand grasped his arm from behind. Immediately after she pulled him up with all her strength, a circular saw that came flying at them from the other building torn apart the spot where he has just been laying.
After dragging Haruyuki to the shade of a huge signboard, Leopard spoke as if amazed.
“Good thing you’re a metal color.”
“I…I’m sorry, I forgot…about that guy’s other technique that we were told about before…”
“«Still Saw». A technique that places a jigsaw on a fixed location in the air.”
Narrowing her golden eyes sharply from inside her tapered mask, Leopard continued.
“Close-range attacks are stopped by the fixed saw, and he continues his long-range attacks with the circular saw. Certainly, he is a natural enemy to close-range types.”
“…W-What should we do?”
Thinking for just an instant, Leopard spoke.
“Let me have your special technique gauge.”
Then, without giving time for Haruyuki to react, she suddenly opened up her mouth hidden beneath her mask and bit into Silver Crow’s shoulder with sharp fangs.
“Hii!?”
Crying out, Haruyuki was further surprised by the phenomenon that happened next. Haruyuki’s special technique gauge, which had filled up to 30% due to the damage taken just now, started to vanish, and Blood Leopard’s gauge increased at the same pace.
Once she had taken his entire gauge, Leopard detached her mouth and shouted.
“«Shape Change»!!”
Putting her hands down on the concrete ground, her avatar shined crimson for an instant, and then—
She instantaneously changed from a «person crawling on all fours» to a «perfect four-legged beast». Her back extended out long and slender, her shoulders swelled strongly, and her hind legs folded into the shape of the letter ‘Z’, holding huge power.
“……Wh-Wha…”
As Haruyuki became shocked for the third time, Blood Leopard spoke to him in a voice whose effect intensity had increased.
“Get on.”
At any rate, it was certain that if he remained gaping like a fool here, he would only get bitten again, so Haruyuki climbed onto the huge leopard’s back while still in a daze. Bending her body low, Leopard next jumped to the side in order to avoid a «Wheel Saw» that came flying at them, and then jumped into the neon-sparkling night air in a straight line.
“……Kuu!”
Haruyuki unconsciously cried out at the back of his throat as they dashed out at a speed that couldn't simply be called ‘fast’.
With just a single jump, they certainly crossed 10 meters. Countless neon lights melted into a thin line and flowed by on both sides of his vision.
All at once, the silhouette of Rust Jigsaw, who was running on the roofs of several buildings ahead, stood out blackly. He was running while repeatedly carrying out the action of opening up his arms countless times without looking back. In the spaces he went through while doing that action, there should be a lethal saw thread suspended in the air there, but by moving at this fast speed Haruyuki couldn’t see them at all—
Just as Haruyuki was having misgivings, Leopard jumped far diagonally to the right.
She landed on her hands and feet on the back side of an advertising signboard that was illuminated by spotlights, and then jumped towards the left. She kicked off the neon-lit tower there and went towards the right once again. Although she avoided the spaces where the «Still Saws» probably were with great zigzagging jumps, she was definitely shortening the distance between themselves and the enemy who was running in a straight line.
When caught up after three, no, two more jumps, Rust Jigsaw turned around and displayed an action that was different from what he had done until then.
After drawing a big circle in the art with his right hand, he swung it straight at Haruyuki and Leopard.
*JIIII!* That vibrating sound. It was a «Wheel Saw». But Blood Leopard, who was in the middle of a jump, could not avoid it—
“I leave it to you.”
Hearing that from the body below him, Haruyuki reflexively responded with a “K”.
The cutting power of the circular saw was overwhelming, but even so it had a blind spot. That is, since what was flying towards Silver Crow’s neck right now was a jigsaw in the form of a ring, the inside of the ring should not have a jagged edge. And most importantly, it was slower than a bullet.
Of course, if he couldn’t see the motion of the projectile, he probably wouldn’t be able to get the timing right. But, Haruyuki’s eyes caught the super-thin line at the last moment as it crossed the color-filled nightscape. Just before it touched Blood Leopard’s right shoulder—he stuck out his right hand with all his strength into the inner portion of the ring from the side.
*CHUII!* A sharp sound resounded, and sparks flashed from his fingers. But, without cutting his thin fingers, he caught the ring that was probably fifty centimeters in diameter, changed its trajectory and parried it off to behind him. A hint of slight shaking and agitation spread through Rust Jigsaw at having his great technique parried away at hitting distance.
“GJ[2].”
Giving just that brief comment, Blood Leopard then gave one last jump through the air.
She pounced on Rust Jigsaw from the front as he was spreading out his arms in order to set another jigsaw in the air, and then—
She opened her jaw wide and deeply embedded it into his shoulder.
Thrown off from Blood Leopard's back from the shock of the crash, Haruyuki watched dumbfounded at the spectacle of the battle, or rather hunt, that was unfolding before his eyes as he lay on his backside.
“Guh……”
While letting out a low groan from his avatar whose form was joined together with its steel frame, Rust Jigsaw desperately pummeled the deep crimson Leopard bending over him with his left fist. However, the huge fangs that were deeply eating into his right shoulder firmly dug into him like a vise and wouldn’t let go.
If Jigsaw were a close-range type, he might have been able to reverse this situation as well. Leopard’s HP bar also definitely decreased whenever his punches hit their mark, but the pace at which Jigsaw’s HP was disappearing was far faster. A damage-generated light effect was periodically emitted from his bitten shoulder, looking red like real blood. Even when Jigsaw forcibly twisted his body and escaped from her fangs, Leopard, as if having already decided that on no account would she let him escape, immediately jumped froward and thrust her fangs back into the exact same place.
Immediately after receiving the biting attack for the nth time—
“U…GUA!!”
That cry of pain was emitted from Rust Jigsaw’s mask, as if he could no longer hold it back.
At the same time, a terrible metallic ‘BAKIIN!’ sound resounded, and Jigsaw’s right arm was torn off from his shoulder and rolled onto the floor.
His HP gauge itself was also blown away from that body-part loss damage. Along with a familiar sound effect like breaking glass, Rust Jigsaw’s avatar turned into countless fragments and disintegrated. Even as the flaming characters of [YOU WIN!!] blazed up in the center of his vision, Haruyuki was not able to stand up.
…Too strong!!
That was the only thought that whirled through his numbed mind. The huge leopard that had slaughtered the enemy with a single bite quickly raised her head, look at Haruyuki with her golden eyes, and spoke a brief comment.
“GG[3].”
And then, the accelerated world ended.
Even when the momentary dizziness passed and the sensation of his entire body returned, Haruyuki was not able to immediately remember where his real self was or what he was doing.
Therefore, right before he tried opening his eyelids, he was unable to guess what on earth the sensation that was rich in elasticity and was squished against his face actually was. Reflexively closing his eyes once again, he stiffened his body as he thought ‘What was that just now?’, and then the nape of his neck was pulled back along with a sharp voice.
“Get up.”
He immediately jumped up and found himself, of course, on top of the reclining chair in the single-person booth within the Dive Café on the fourth floor of the Quadtower. Since Brain Burst, in its default settings, also canceled the Full Dive along with the acceleration once a duel ended, they had naturally returned to the real world instead of the Akihabara BG’s bar.
The girl in the maid outfit that had Dived in the same seat as him had already stood up and disengaged the booth’s lock. As soon as the door opened, she poked her head out slightly and quickly checked left and right outside.
Getting off from the chair while thinking ‘What is she doing?’, Haruyuki felt his consciousness go cold at once as he heard her next words.
“We’re leaving the store. If it’s now, we may be able to identify him.”
Identify. Identify who? —Of course, it’s Rust Jigsaw’s real self.
But, he shelved aside the question ‘How on earth do we do that?’ and followed after the braid which swayed on the back of her maid outfit.
Blood Leopard headed towards the elevator at a fast walk while paying close attention to their surroundings. As soon as she pushed the Down button and they got into the lift, she talked on rapidly in a low voice.
“Earlier, I inflicted continuous damage to the right side of Jigsaw’s neck. When the sensation of pain has been stimulated on a single point for such a long time, its effect will remain for a long time even after doing Burst Out. We’re looking for a person who is displaying behavior that indicates such pain in the vicinity of the shop’s entrance.”
“……U-Understood.”
That was a very terrifying marking method. But certainly, that may be the only possible method to strike some kind of mark onto an enemy’s real body while within Accel world.
Once the elevator stopped on the first floor, Haruyuki walked out while gulping among the boys and girls amusing themselves with realistic battles on arcade machines. His gaze flew left and right with minimum motion, but he didn’t see any such behavior. Everyone was engrossed as they stared at the old-fashioned screen monitors.
Haruyuki and Pard-san escaped from this floor, and stepped outside of the building into the busy congestion of people on the street. After quickly exchanging glances, they silently separated left and right.
Heading left down the street, Haruyuki concentrated all of his nerves on the dozens of people passing by in his field of vision.
A woman distributing holo-leaflets and dressed up as a game character. Three young men stopping at the roadside and absorbed in their chatting. A man carrying many multi-colored paper backs and walking hurryingly—
Haruyuki’s eyes were drawn to the back of a boy that was visible just for a moment on the other side of the crowd.
The reason for that was because he could see the boy’s white neck without a Neuro Linker equipped to it. As Haruyuki focused his eyes on him with a start, the boy strongly pressed his raised left hand down on the right side of his neck.
—Is that him!?
Quickening his pace, Haruyuki ran after the boy who was receding away from him. A gray stadium jacket. Faded-colored jeans. A leather cap on his head. Overflowing hair that was a dark brown.
The boy was hanging his head downwards and heading in the direction of the station at a quick pace. While applying his left hand to his neck, he suddenly swiped out his right hand through the air in order to push aside a passerby.
Haruyuki looked over his shoulder for an instant in order to call out to Blood Leopard, but her maid outfit was blocked by the crowd and couldn’t be seen. The instant he reluctantly turned to look forward again—
“Please come to our shop[4]!”
Along with that cute-sounding voice, a palm was thrust out right before his eyes and his path was obstructed. As he raised his head with a start, he saw in front of him an onee-san wearing a full-blown smile who was advertising a shop somewhere. She was probably distributing holo-leaflets, but Haruyuki couldn’t see any of them since he wasn’t connected to the Global Net.
Haruyuki shook his head with a ‘No thank you’, and pushed forward in order to avoid her palm. However.
“Ah…Huh…?”
He couldn’t see him. The back of that gray stadium jacket had disappeared.
He picked up his pace while biting his lip with the thought of ‘Damn it!’ going through his mind, and desperately ran his gaze in every direction. But, the boy appeared to have turned down some corner, and no matter how far Haruyuki went, he couldn’t see him. He retraced his steps in a panic and this time looked down the narrow alleyways on either side, but he couldn’t find him as expected.
“……”
As Haruyuki reluctantly stopped and bit his lip, the passerbys pushed him aside as if he was in the way. But their expressions didn’t register in Haruyuki’s eyes either. Only the self-reproach and regret of having lost the clue that he had finally grasped spread bitterly through his chest.
“It’s still a good job even if you only saw his back.”
Although Blood Leopard told him that once they joined up together, Haruyuki was not able to raise his face for a while as he leaned against the wall of a building.
“…I’m sorry, after all that hard work…even though you did so much, Leopard-san......”
Self-loathing over not being useful at all during both the duel and the subsequent pursuit weighed heavily on Haruyuki’s shoulders.
Then, Haruyuki felt a hand get placed on top of his ruffled hair.
“You also worked hard.”
“…Eh…”
As he unconsciously raised his head, this older woman, who had worn a perfectly expressionless face until now, gave something similar to a very slight smile on her face, and whispered to him.
“That was a splendid battle…I’ll tell the characteristics of the person whose back you saw to the Matchmaker. If we can identify his real self when he comes next time, we may be also to find out the secret of the list interception through surveillance of him after that. Once we confirm the logic of how it works, I’ll immediately send the information to you as well.”
“…Y-Yes…”
If I consider it like that, a ray of hope has been connected…Is it okay to think that?
While comforting himself in this way, Haruyuki also finally returned a smile, though it was perfectly pitiful. Pard-san moved her hand from Haruyuki’s head to his shoulder, and then returned his expression and added something else.
“Jigsaw will definitely not appear again today. Besides, it’s time for children to go home soon.”
Though she said that, Pard-san also had to be in the eleventh grade at the most, but he still obediently nodded.
“Yes.”
Then, Blood Leopard brought this night’s adventure to a finish with her usual abbreviated way of speaking.
“K, let’s return.”
The time had reached 8 PM, and after they left the electronics district which getting increasingly bustling and got onto the bike in the parking lot, the two of them headed west along the same route they had taken coming here.
After suddenly returning to the Loop 7 from Mejiro Street with her usual dynamic driving, Pard-san then took him all the way to Suginami.
After he got her to let him off by saying “Here is fine” once they could see the overhead structure of the Chuo Line[5] and he returned the helmet to her, Haruyuki once again bowed deeply.
“Umm…Thank you very much, really…I made you come with me this far for the problem of another legion…”
Then, Blood Leopard similarly removed her own helmet, and lightly shook her head.
“Since Akihabara BG is an important place to me, this is already my problem as well. Also…”
After she stopped speaking and looked away for an instant, the Burst Linker wearing a maid outfit continued with a somehow shy-looking expression.
“…I wanted to give my thanks to you at least once. For protecting Rain during the Chrome Disaster incident…for protecting my «King», thank you…”
“Eh……”
“I want you to always stay as her friend from now on as well.”
And then, Blood Leopard gave a clear smile for the first time since they met, before quickly covering herself with her helmet. As the motor groaned with a ‘KYUIII!’, the large bike suddenly made a U-turn to the opposite lane and left towards the north with a frightful energy and vigor.
After seeing her off until her bike’s taillight was indistinguishable from the other cars, Haruyuki bit his lip hard with a welled-up feeling that had been delayed by a time lag, and once more bowed very, very deeply.
When he returned to his empty home, Haruyuki dropped his bag on the floor of his room and laid down on the bed as if throwing himself down.
—I wonder how things went on Taku’s side.
As he thought that, he considered moving his right hand to make a call, but moving it was also tough. The physical and mental fatigue that was gushing through him heavily weighed down on his back.
He remained motionlessly like that for a while, but his eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier, so he shook his head hard and got up. He couldn’t sleep here. He needed to talk with Takumu while memories from Akihabara were still clear, and the homework he’d been given today was completely untouched as well.
For the time being, after removing his uniform and taking a shower while he was at it, he warmed up a frozen seafood casserole in the microwave. While waiting for it to cook, he connected his Neuro Linker to the Global Net, and made a Voice Call to Takumu.
‘Hey, Haru.’
The voice that replied back was no different from usual, so Haruyuki let out a relieved breath for the time being.
‘Hi…Are you okay? Did perfectly learn and acquire the thing today?’
When he timidly asked that with thought speech, a hint of a bitter smile flowed through the connection.
‘Hey, hey, whatever the circumstances may be, I couldn’t Dive there for such a long time. Although I say that, I did stay there for a full week, though…’
‘T-Then, did you successfully acquire mind power…?’
‘Hmm.’
A short mumble.
‘It's still far from enough to use in actual battle, is what the Red King said. Even so, I’ve grasped the gist of it.’
‘I see. Since you follow the principle of perfection, you would probably dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field alone and self-train for many years!’
Haruyuki said that while letting out a sigh of relief, and Takumu also smiled again.
‘I really don’t have that kind of energy left. More importantly, what about on your end? Did you manage to grasp something about the secret of Dusk Taker’s list interception?’
‘There was kind of an unexpected development on that…’
Haruyuki recounted the series of events that occurred after he left the cake shop’s radio-wave interception room, while summarizing the portion concerning Blood Leopard as simply as possible. Even so,
‘……Hm-mm. So while I was training all by my lonesome, you were once again on a date with an older woman.’
After Takumu said that as his first words, Haruyuki protested agitatedly.
‘I-It wasn’t like that at all! B-Besides, even you were together with Niko for an entire week…’
‘Sorry, but she only coached me at the beginning and the end, and after making me go through great pain, she told me to earn points by hunting the Enemy and then disappeared on me.’
‘Is…Is that so…’
Before the conversation went in an even stranger direction, Haruyuki forcibly returned to the subject at hand.
‘More importantly, back to the topic of the list interception. Since I blundered in those circumstances and missed seeing the real form of «Rust Jigsaw», now we can only wait for information from «Akihabara BG»’s manager.’
‘The holy place of duels…huh. I’ve heard rumors about it, but it really exists, that underground playing field.’
‘Neither the amount of money nor the fight money are at very high underground prices, though.’
‘If it weren’t for this situation, I’d also like to go there and fight, but…’
Pausing a little, Takumu then sent over a sympathetic voice.
‘Regardless of the result, I think you did well, Haru. Good job today. Now, we just have to hope that the manager over there will identify the method Jigsaw uses soon.’
‘That’s…right. Thank you.’
‘Since I brought Haru’s umbrella home with me, right? Then, see you at school tomorrow.’
Letting out a sigh as the communication was cut, Haruyuki took out the casserole that had finished heating and ate it by himself.
He then tidied up the table and began doing his homework in his room, but as usual he wasn’t able to concentrate on it right away.
After having defeated Noumi’s list interception system in a single day yesterday and then dueled right away the next day, he was completely crushed and exhausted along with Takumu who had mastered mind power. He had expected—no, anticipated such a development somewhere in his heart.
However, regrettably, taking time to rest was impossible. If he neglected the situation for a single day, just that would increase the time that Noumi was connected with Chiyuri. It was unbearable for him to imagine those two conversing with each other, even if it were only a conversation of a few words.
Haruyuki shook his head repeatedly and tried to focus his mind on only the holo-window in front of him. But, as he translated the English words with great pain and trouble, the thing that was weighing heavily on his heart wouldn’t go away.
As if mocking Haruyuki’s impatience—
That day, on the evening of April 17th, the tag team of «Dusk Taker» and «Lime Bell» achieved their full-fledged debut in Accel World. Haruyuki was told about it the next day by Takumu.
The two of them had suddenly launched an attack not in Suginami, but instead in the Shinjuku area, the mecca of «duels» in western Tokyo. This tag team, which added Lime Bell’s «healing ability» to Dusk Taker who possessed the ultimate combo technique of «flight ability» and «long-range firepower», was literally invincible and crushed all types of duelers one after another.
Noumi’s tactics were the logical type that actively used Chiyuri who was inferior in offensive power as bait and then the enemies that approached to take her down first were slaughtered by his flamethrower. There were no blind spots in his cold-heartedness as he didn’t mind dragging his partner into his wide-range attacks sometimes either, and the Burst Linkers that first dueled them were all burned out without being able to do a single thing.
After two of the main force members of the Blue Legion that challenged them last were also defeated as a tag team, Dusk Taker’s name became famous in Accel World with a shock that exceeded the appearance of Silver Crow half a year ago.
Haruyuki, as the duel avatar «Silver Crow», landed on top of a water storage tank that jutted out from the roof of a building.
The rows of stores that spread out in all directions on the streets below were colored with countless neon signs just like the scenery he had seen before he Dived. Numerous lights and laser illuminations shined from below up onto the clouds that hung low in the night sky. A blimp that was shining with a huge advertisement panel on it soared above their heads, and commercials in a strange language were being emitted from all the streets.
But this, of course, wasn’t the real world Akihabara. This was a 3D field that was reconstructed from the images captured by the Social Camera network. The attribute here was «Shopping District».
Haruyuki quickly bended over his body and first checked the HP gauges in the upper corners of his vision.
To the upper left was his own gauge. The smaller gauge of his tag partner, Blood Leopard, was visible right beneath it.
And the gauge that was shining in the upper right corner had, just as expected, the name «Rust Jigsaw» attached to it. Haruyuki’s breath caught beneath his silver helmet, and he glared at the small light blue cursor that had appeared in the center of his vision. The enemy should be in that direction. Fortunately or unfortunately, since the Shopping District stage prohibited entry into building just like the End of the Century stage, it seemed that they had been relocated some distance away from their original position.
Now then, first I have to link up with Pard-san—
Immediately as Haruyuki thought that, he heard a quiet voice from behind him and he turned around with a start.
“K. He’s taken the bait.”
Although he hadn’t heard any footsteps or sensed her presence, a tall and lean avatar now stood quietly behind him before he noticed it.
Her whole form bore a strong resemblance to the leopard-headed rider avatar she had used at the bar. But, she no longer had a leather suit, but instead non-glossy dark red armor that covered her entire body. Since her mask had a form which sharpened to a point like a bullet shell at the front and tapered into ear-like points at the back left and right tips, she resembled a savage beast of the feline family.
Within her long and slim silhouette, she had greatly swelled-out thighs that were extremely conspicuous. This truly nimble-looking avatar sat down next to Haruyuki, and the Level 6 Burst Linker belonging to «Prominence», «Blood Leopard», continued speaking in a whisper.
“You and I are close range types, while the enemy we’re facing is a mid-to-long range type. He will first try to split us up with long-range attacks and then take you down. Therefore, you mustn't irrationally try to counterattack, but instead give priority only to not separating from me.”
“…R-Roger.”
Haruyuki nodded, and then a half-second later.
*JIIIII!* As a jarring vibrating sound quickly approached from the direction the cursor was pointing towards, Haruyuki jumped aside reflexively.
A short time lag passed, and then the water storage tank that they had been standing until then was cut apart into two equal pieces. The water that flowed out with a splosh spread out across the rooftop. Trying not to step on it, Haruyuki hurried over next to Leopard, who had already jumped much further away than Haruyuki and had her back against a ventilation duct.
“That just now should have been that guy’s long range technique, «Wheel Saw».”
While remembering Rust Jigsaw’s abilities that they had heard about beforehand from Matchmaker, Haruyuki also responded back as fast as possible to Pard-san’s staggeringly fast-paced commentary.
“A technique that shoots out a jigsaw ring. But in this darkness, we can’t see the saw’s form at all.”
“We’ll have to make do with sound. Since it seems he can’t shoot them in rapid-fire, we’ll move closer after dodging the next attack.”
“K-K[1].”
Without the time for him to nod, another spinning ‘JIII!’ sound approached.
He looked, no, listened for the source of the sound, and then jumped forward diagonally to the right. The high-speed rotating super-thin ring passed by to his left, where his body has just been. The ventilation duct was cut apart and fell down behind him.
But Haruyuki didn’t look back at it and instead desperately ran after Blood Leopard who was running right in front of him.
The speed of the deep crimson avatar wasn’t just average, as expected. Seeming to leap and jump rather than run, she reached the end of the building in only a few steps—and then jumped into the air without any hesitation.
It was a simple 20 meters from the building they were on to the building that faced it on the other side of the wide road. Leopard easily flew across that empty space colored by neon lights.
…I also have to jump!?
—Don’t waver, jump!!
Putting that instantaneous thought into his right leg, Haruyuki also jumped across with all his strength. The air rang in his ears with a ‘BYUUU!’ sound, and the rooftop of the next building rapidly approached.
Haruyuki’s legs landed at a point ten centimeters away from the edge of the concrete. But there was no time for him to let out a sigh of relief. Because, on the rooftop of the next building over that was connected to theirs, the enemy’s figure could at last be seen. An upright silhouette which stood out with its rust color among the stage’s illuminating lights.
—Rust Jigsaw!
Haruyuki cried out sharply in his mind.
—Are you Noumi’s…Dusk Taker’s ally!? Do you use the same method to intercept the list!? Just what the hell is the truth of that secret!?
As if ridiculing Haruyuki’s impatience, Rust Jigsaw spread out his arms wide and then nimbly turned his body around. He then retreated to the next building at an unexpected high speed.
“…Think you can escape!?”
Haruyuki shouted that out in a low town and fiercely dashed forward. Even if he had no wings, for him to fall behind in speed against a long-range type was…
“Stop.”
If Haruyuki hadn’t slowed down his speed slightly in response to that sharp order, his head might had gone flying.
Suddenly, a violent impact hit his throat. A feeling of something thin eating into it. A ‘BIIIIN!’ vibration attacked his throat, and orange sparks scattered about just like blood. At the same time, his HP gauge grinded down along with his neck’s armor.
“Guh…”
While gritting his teeth, Haruyuki shook his body with all his strength and escaped from the thing that was eating into his neck. As he was in the midst of falling down backwards, he certainly saw it. In the air—was a super thin thread that was floating horizontally at the position where Rust Jigsaw had spread out his hands several seconds ago. A jigsaw.
As Haruyuki lay collapsed on the rooftop, Blood Leopard’s hand grasped his arm from behind. Immediately after she pulled him up with all her strength, a circular saw that came flying at them from the other building torn apart the spot where he has just been laying.
After dragging Haruyuki to the shade of a huge signboard, Leopard spoke as if amazed.
“Good thing you’re a metal color.”
“I…I’m sorry, I forgot…about that guy’s other technique that we were told about before…”
“«Still Saw». A technique that places a jigsaw on a fixed location in the air.”
Narrowing her golden eyes sharply from inside her tapered mask, Leopard continued.
“Close-range attacks are stopped by the fixed saw, and he continues his long-range attacks with the circular saw. Certainly, he is a natural enemy to close-range types.”
“…W-What should we do?”
Thinking for just an instant, Leopard spoke.
“Let me have your special technique gauge.”
Then, without giving time for Haruyuki to react, she suddenly opened up her mouth hidden beneath her mask and bit into Silver Crow’s shoulder with sharp fangs.
“Hii!?”
Crying out, Haruyuki was further surprised by the phenomenon that happened next. Haruyuki’s special technique gauge, which had filled up to 30% due to the damage taken just now, started to vanish, and Blood Leopard’s gauge increased at the same pace.
Once she had taken his entire gauge, Leopard detached her mouth and shouted.
“«Shape Change»!!”
Putting her hands down on the concrete ground, her avatar shined crimson for an instant, and then—
She instantaneously changed from a «person crawling on all fours» to a «perfect four-legged beast». Her back extended out long and slender, her shoulders swelled strongly, and her hind legs folded into the shape of the letter ‘Z’, holding huge power.
“……Wh-Wha…”
As Haruyuki became shocked for the third time, Blood Leopard spoke to him in a voice whose effect intensity had increased.
“Get on.”
At any rate, it was certain that if he remained gaping like a fool here, he would only get bitten again, so Haruyuki climbed onto the huge leopard’s back while still in a daze. Bending her body low, Leopard next jumped to the side in order to avoid a «Wheel Saw» that came flying at them, and then jumped into the neon-sparkling night air in a straight line.
“……Kuu!”
Haruyuki unconsciously cried out at the back of his throat as they dashed out at a speed that couldn't simply be called ‘fast’.
With just a single jump, they certainly crossed 10 meters. Countless neon lights melted into a thin line and flowed by on both sides of his vision.
All at once, the silhouette of Rust Jigsaw, who was running on the roofs of several buildings ahead, stood out blackly. He was running while repeatedly carrying out the action of opening up his arms countless times without looking back. In the spaces he went through while doing that action, there should be a lethal saw thread suspended in the air there, but by moving at this fast speed Haruyuki couldn’t see them at all—
Just as Haruyuki was having misgivings, Leopard jumped far diagonally to the right.
She landed on her hands and feet on the back side of an advertising signboard that was illuminated by spotlights, and then jumped towards the left. She kicked off the neon-lit tower there and went towards the right once again. Although she avoided the spaces where the «Still Saws» probably were with great zigzagging jumps, she was definitely shortening the distance between themselves and the enemy who was running in a straight line.
When caught up after three, no, two more jumps, Rust Jigsaw turned around and displayed an action that was different from what he had done until then.
After drawing a big circle in the art with his right hand, he swung it straight at Haruyuki and Leopard.
*JIIII!* That vibrating sound. It was a «Wheel Saw». But Blood Leopard, who was in the middle of a jump, could not avoid it—
“I leave it to you.”
Hearing that from the body below him, Haruyuki reflexively responded with a “K”.
The cutting power of the circular saw was overwhelming, but even so it had a blind spot. That is, since what was flying towards Silver Crow’s neck right now was a jigsaw in the form of a ring, the inside of the ring should not have a jagged edge. And most importantly, it was slower than a bullet.
Of course, if he couldn’t see the motion of the projectile, he probably wouldn’t be able to get the timing right. But, Haruyuki’s eyes caught the super-thin line at the last moment as it crossed the color-filled nightscape. Just before it touched Blood Leopard’s right shoulder—he stuck out his right hand with all his strength into the inner portion of the ring from the side.
*CHUII!* A sharp sound resounded, and sparks flashed from his fingers. But, without cutting his thin fingers, he caught the ring that was probably fifty centimeters in diameter, changed its trajectory and parried it off to behind him. A hint of slight shaking and agitation spread through Rust Jigsaw at having his great technique parried away at hitting distance.
“GJ[2].”
Giving just that brief comment, Blood Leopard then gave one last jump through the air.
She pounced on Rust Jigsaw from the front as he was spreading out his arms in order to set another jigsaw in the air, and then—
She opened her jaw wide and deeply embedded it into his shoulder.
Thrown off from Blood Leopard's back from the shock of the crash, Haruyuki watched dumbfounded at the spectacle of the battle, or rather hunt, that was unfolding before his eyes as he lay on his backside.
“Guh……”
While letting out a low groan from his avatar whose form was joined together with its steel frame, Rust Jigsaw desperately pummeled the deep crimson Leopard bending over him with his left fist. However, the huge fangs that were deeply eating into his right shoulder firmly dug into him like a vise and wouldn’t let go.
If Jigsaw were a close-range type, he might have been able to reverse this situation as well. Leopard’s HP bar also definitely decreased whenever his punches hit their mark, but the pace at which Jigsaw’s HP was disappearing was far faster. A damage-generated light effect was periodically emitted from his bitten shoulder, looking red like real blood. Even when Jigsaw forcibly twisted his body and escaped from her fangs, Leopard, as if having already decided that on no account would she let him escape, immediately jumped froward and thrust her fangs back into the exact same place.
Immediately after receiving the biting attack for the nth time—
“U…GUA!!”
That cry of pain was emitted from Rust Jigsaw’s mask, as if he could no longer hold it back.
At the same time, a terrible metallic ‘BAKIIN!’ sound resounded, and Jigsaw’s right arm was torn off from his shoulder and rolled onto the floor.
His HP gauge itself was also blown away from that body-part loss damage. Along with a familiar sound effect like breaking glass, Rust Jigsaw’s avatar turned into countless fragments and disintegrated. Even as the flaming characters of [YOU WIN!!] blazed up in the center of his vision, Haruyuki was not able to stand up.
…Too strong!!
That was the only thought that whirled through his numbed mind. The huge leopard that had slaughtered the enemy with a single bite quickly raised her head, look at Haruyuki with her golden eyes, and spoke a brief comment.
“GG[3].”
And then, the accelerated world ended.
Even when the momentary dizziness passed and the sensation of his entire body returned, Haruyuki was not able to immediately remember where his real self was or what he was doing.
Therefore, right before he tried opening his eyelids, he was unable to guess what on earth the sensation that was rich in elasticity and was squished against his face actually was. Reflexively closing his eyes once again, he stiffened his body as he thought ‘What was that just now?’, and then the nape of his neck was pulled back along with a sharp voice.
“Get up.”
He immediately jumped up and found himself, of course, on top of the reclining chair in the single-person booth within the Dive Café on the fourth floor of the Quadtower. Since Brain Burst, in its default settings, also canceled the Full Dive along with the acceleration once a duel ended, they had naturally returned to the real world instead of the Akihabara BG’s bar.
The girl in the maid outfit that had Dived in the same seat as him had already stood up and disengaged the booth’s lock. As soon as the door opened, she poked her head out slightly and quickly checked left and right outside.
Getting off from the chair while thinking ‘What is she doing?’, Haruyuki felt his consciousness go cold at once as he heard her next words.
“We’re leaving the store. If it’s now, we may be able to identify him.”
Identify. Identify who? —Of course, it’s Rust Jigsaw’s real self.
But, he shelved aside the question ‘How on earth do we do that?’ and followed after the braid which swayed on the back of her maid outfit.
Blood Leopard headed towards the elevator at a fast walk while paying close attention to their surroundings. As soon as she pushed the Down button and they got into the lift, she talked on rapidly in a low voice.
“Earlier, I inflicted continuous damage to the right side of Jigsaw’s neck. When the sensation of pain has been stimulated on a single point for such a long time, its effect will remain for a long time even after doing Burst Out. We’re looking for a person who is displaying behavior that indicates such pain in the vicinity of the shop’s entrance.”
“……U-Understood.”
That was a very terrifying marking method. But certainly, that may be the only possible method to strike some kind of mark onto an enemy’s real body while within Accel world.
Once the elevator stopped on the first floor, Haruyuki walked out while gulping among the boys and girls amusing themselves with realistic battles on arcade machines. His gaze flew left and right with minimum motion, but he didn’t see any such behavior. Everyone was engrossed as they stared at the old-fashioned screen monitors.
Haruyuki and Pard-san escaped from this floor, and stepped outside of the building into the busy congestion of people on the street. After quickly exchanging glances, they silently separated left and right.
Heading left down the street, Haruyuki concentrated all of his nerves on the dozens of people passing by in his field of vision.
A woman distributing holo-leaflets and dressed up as a game character. Three young men stopping at the roadside and absorbed in their chatting. A man carrying many multi-colored paper backs and walking hurryingly—
Haruyuki’s eyes were drawn to the back of a boy that was visible just for a moment on the other side of the crowd.
The reason for that was because he could see the boy’s white neck without a Neuro Linker equipped to it. As Haruyuki focused his eyes on him with a start, the boy strongly pressed his raised left hand down on the right side of his neck.
—Is that him!?
Quickening his pace, Haruyuki ran after the boy who was receding away from him. A gray stadium jacket. Faded-colored jeans. A leather cap on his head. Overflowing hair that was a dark brown.
The boy was hanging his head downwards and heading in the direction of the station at a quick pace. While applying his left hand to his neck, he suddenly swiped out his right hand through the air in order to push aside a passerby.
Haruyuki looked over his shoulder for an instant in order to call out to Blood Leopard, but her maid outfit was blocked by the crowd and couldn’t be seen. The instant he reluctantly turned to look forward again—
“Please come to our shop[4]!”
Along with that cute-sounding voice, a palm was thrust out right before his eyes and his path was obstructed. As he raised his head with a start, he saw in front of him an onee-san wearing a full-blown smile who was advertising a shop somewhere. She was probably distributing holo-leaflets, but Haruyuki couldn’t see any of them since he wasn’t connected to the Global Net.
Haruyuki shook his head with a ‘No thank you’, and pushed forward in order to avoid her palm. However.
“Ah…Huh…?”
He couldn’t see him. The back of that gray stadium jacket had disappeared.
He picked up his pace while biting his lip with the thought of ‘Damn it!’ going through his mind, and desperately ran his gaze in every direction. But, the boy appeared to have turned down some corner, and no matter how far Haruyuki went, he couldn’t see him. He retraced his steps in a panic and this time looked down the narrow alleyways on either side, but he couldn’t find him as expected.
“……”
As Haruyuki reluctantly stopped and bit his lip, the passerbys pushed him aside as if he was in the way. But their expressions didn’t register in Haruyuki’s eyes either. Only the self-reproach and regret of having lost the clue that he had finally grasped spread bitterly through his chest.
“It’s still a good job even if you only saw his back.”
Although Blood Leopard told him that once they joined up together, Haruyuki was not able to raise his face for a while as he leaned against the wall of a building.
“…I’m sorry, after all that hard work…even though you did so much, Leopard-san......”
Self-loathing over not being useful at all during both the duel and the subsequent pursuit weighed heavily on Haruyuki’s shoulders.
Then, Haruyuki felt a hand get placed on top of his ruffled hair.
“You also worked hard.”
“…Eh…”
As he unconsciously raised his head, this older woman, who had worn a perfectly expressionless face until now, gave something similar to a very slight smile on her face, and whispered to him.
“That was a splendid battle…I’ll tell the characteristics of the person whose back you saw to the Matchmaker. If we can identify his real self when he comes next time, we may be also to find out the secret of the list interception through surveillance of him after that. Once we confirm the logic of how it works, I’ll immediately send the information to you as well.”
“…Y-Yes…”
If I consider it like that, a ray of hope has been connected…Is it okay to think that?
While comforting himself in this way, Haruyuki also finally returned a smile, though it was perfectly pitiful. Pard-san moved her hand from Haruyuki’s head to his shoulder, and then returned his expression and added something else.
“Jigsaw will definitely not appear again today. Besides, it’s time for children to go home soon.”
Though she said that, Pard-san also had to be in the eleventh grade at the most, but he still obediently nodded.
“Yes.”
Then, Blood Leopard brought this night’s adventure to a finish with her usual abbreviated way of speaking.
“K, let’s return.”
The time had reached 8 PM, and after they left the electronics district which getting increasingly bustling and got onto the bike in the parking lot, the two of them headed west along the same route they had taken coming here.
After suddenly returning to the Loop 7 from Mejiro Street with her usual dynamic driving, Pard-san then took him all the way to Suginami.
After he got her to let him off by saying “Here is fine” once they could see the overhead structure of the Chuo Line[5] and he returned the helmet to her, Haruyuki once again bowed deeply.
“Umm…Thank you very much, really…I made you come with me this far for the problem of another legion…”
Then, Blood Leopard similarly removed her own helmet, and lightly shook her head.
“Since Akihabara BG is an important place to me, this is already my problem as well. Also…”
After she stopped speaking and looked away for an instant, the Burst Linker wearing a maid outfit continued with a somehow shy-looking expression.
“…I wanted to give my thanks to you at least once. For protecting Rain during the Chrome Disaster incident…for protecting my «King», thank you…”
“Eh……”
“I want you to always stay as her friend from now on as well.”
And then, Blood Leopard gave a clear smile for the first time since they met, before quickly covering herself with her helmet. As the motor groaned with a ‘KYUIII!’, the large bike suddenly made a U-turn to the opposite lane and left towards the north with a frightful energy and vigor.
After seeing her off until her bike’s taillight was indistinguishable from the other cars, Haruyuki bit his lip hard with a welled-up feeling that had been delayed by a time lag, and once more bowed very, very deeply.
When he returned to his empty home, Haruyuki dropped his bag on the floor of his room and laid down on the bed as if throwing himself down.
—I wonder how things went on Taku’s side.
As he thought that, he considered moving his right hand to make a call, but moving it was also tough. The physical and mental fatigue that was gushing through him heavily weighed down on his back.
He remained motionlessly like that for a while, but his eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier, so he shook his head hard and got up. He couldn’t sleep here. He needed to talk with Takumu while memories from Akihabara were still clear, and the homework he’d been given today was completely untouched as well.
For the time being, after removing his uniform and taking a shower while he was at it, he warmed up a frozen seafood casserole in the microwave. While waiting for it to cook, he connected his Neuro Linker to the Global Net, and made a Voice Call to Takumu.
‘Hey, Haru.’
The voice that replied back was no different from usual, so Haruyuki let out a relieved breath for the time being.
‘Hi…Are you okay? Did perfectly learn and acquire the thing today?’
When he timidly asked that with thought speech, a hint of a bitter smile flowed through the connection.
‘Hey, hey, whatever the circumstances may be, I couldn’t Dive there for such a long time. Although I say that, I did stay there for a full week, though…’
‘T-Then, did you successfully acquire mind power…?’
‘Hmm.’
A short mumble.
‘It's still far from enough to use in actual battle, is what the Red King said. Even so, I’ve grasped the gist of it.’
‘I see. Since you follow the principle of perfection, you would probably dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field alone and self-train for many years!’
Haruyuki said that while letting out a sigh of relief, and Takumu also smiled again.
‘I really don’t have that kind of energy left. More importantly, what about on your end? Did you manage to grasp something about the secret of Dusk Taker’s list interception?’
‘There was kind of an unexpected development on that…’
Haruyuki recounted the series of events that occurred after he left the cake shop’s radio-wave interception room, while summarizing the portion concerning Blood Leopard as simply as possible. Even so,
‘……Hm-mm. So while I was training all by my lonesome, you were once again on a date with an older woman.’
After Takumu said that as his first words, Haruyuki protested agitatedly.
‘I-It wasn’t like that at all! B-Besides, even you were together with Niko for an entire week…’
‘Sorry, but she only coached me at the beginning and the end, and after making me go through great pain, she told me to earn points by hunting the Enemy and then disappeared on me.’
‘Is…Is that so…’
Before the conversation went in an even stranger direction, Haruyuki forcibly returned to the subject at hand.
‘More importantly, back to the topic of the list interception. Since I blundered in those circumstances and missed seeing the real form of «Rust Jigsaw», now we can only wait for information from «Akihabara BG»’s manager.’
‘The holy place of duels…huh. I’ve heard rumors about it, but it really exists, that underground playing field.’
‘Neither the amount of money nor the fight money are at very high underground prices, though.’
‘If it weren’t for this situation, I’d also like to go there and fight, but…’
Pausing a little, Takumu then sent over a sympathetic voice.
‘Regardless of the result, I think you did well, Haru. Good job today. Now, we just have to hope that the manager over there will identify the method Jigsaw uses soon.’
‘That’s…right. Thank you.’
‘Since I brought Haru’s umbrella home with me, right? Then, see you at school tomorrow.’
Letting out a sigh as the communication was cut, Haruyuki took out the casserole that had finished heating and ate it by himself.
He then tidied up the table and began doing his homework in his room, but as usual he wasn’t able to concentrate on it right away.
After having defeated Noumi’s list interception system in a single day yesterday and then dueled right away the next day, he was completely crushed and exhausted along with Takumu who had mastered mind power. He had expected—no, anticipated such a development somewhere in his heart.
However, regrettably, taking time to rest was impossible. If he neglected the situation for a single day, just that would increase the time that Noumi was connected with Chiyuri. It was unbearable for him to imagine those two conversing with each other, even if it were only a conversation of a few words.
Haruyuki shook his head repeatedly and tried to focus his mind on only the holo-window in front of him. But, as he translated the English words with great pain and trouble, the thing that was weighing heavily on his heart wouldn’t go away.
As if mocking Haruyuki’s impatience—
That day, on the evening of April 17th, the tag team of «Dusk Taker» and «Lime Bell» achieved their full-fledged debut in Accel World. Haruyuki was told about it the next day by Takumu.
The two of them had suddenly launched an attack not in Suginami, but instead in the Shinjuku area, the mecca of «duels» in western Tokyo. This tag team, which added Lime Bell’s «healing ability» to Dusk Taker who possessed the ultimate combo technique of «flight ability» and «long-range firepower», was literally invincible and crushed all types of duelers one after another.
Noumi’s tactics were the logical type that actively used Chiyuri who was inferior in offensive power as bait and then the enemies that approached to take her down first were slaughtered by his flamethrower. There were no blind spots in his cold-heartedness as he didn’t mind dragging his partner into his wide-range attacks sometimes either, and the Burst Linkers that first dueled them were all burned out without being able to do a single thing.
After two of the main force members of the Blue Legion that challenged them last were also defeated as a tag team, Dusk Taker’s name became famous in Accel World with a shock that exceeded the appearance of Silver Crow half a year ago.
