Snow White’s Slumber

by Reki Kawahara

  “Th-that so? ’Kay, I’ll think about it. Anyway, thanks. Seriously.” Niko offered her thanks once more.

  Takumu cleared his throat. “Red King, I also don’t mind whatever you’d prefer to call me.”

  “I already got a great one for you, Professor.”

  “…C-certainly. That’s that, then.”

  Chiyuri started to laugh out loud at this, and the air in the place eased up the slightest bit.

  Haruyuki also let his shoulders relax and looked down at the bottom of the crater once more. Wolfram Cerberus had left the Unlimited Neutral Field through a forced disconnection, still equipped with the last of the parts that made up Invincible. Which meant that although the majority of the Incarnate energy accumulated in the Armor of Catastrophe, Mark II, had dissipated into the air, it would still continue to exist as an item in Cerberus’s storage.

  Had the darkness already disappeared from the thruster block, just as Mark I, aka the Disaster, had been purified and returned to the Destiny? Or was the evil transferred from the ISS kit main body still lurking, weakened, in the Enhanced Armament? He had no way of knowing that right now.

  Cerberus. And Niko. I promise. I’ll completely eliminate Mark II and return the final part to where it belongs. Absolutely.

  At almost the same time as Haruyuki made this vow in his heart, a cry slipped from Takumu’s mouth. “Ah!” Under the collected gazes of his comrades, the large blue avatar took a step toward Niko. “Th-that reminds me. It’s not just Cerberus. The Red King should also be disconnecting soon.”

  “Me? Why?” Niko sounded baffled, but Chiyuri and Pard exchanged looks that said, Now that you mention it…

  “Because Master, Raker, and the others were returning to the real world through the portal at Midtown Tower to pull out the Red King’s cable. On Haru’s instruction.”

  “Th-that’s okay now,” Haruyuki hurried to interject. “I think. Kuroyukihime and them are on their way from Midtown. They must have seen Mark II’s attack and decided to come here.”

  “How do you know that, Haru?” It was only natural for Chiyuri to ask the question, but he couldn’t answer it so simply. Because he’d seen Kuroyukihime’s team moving when he was looking out over the entire Accelerated World after Metatron brought him to the Highest Level. The only one who could explain properly was Metatron, but she would never tell the story again. Pushing back the painful sensation that welled up in his throat once more, Haruyuki said, “I’ll explain later. At any rate, they should be here soon. They’re coming from that direction.” He indicated the northern edge of the crater, and everyone turned their eyes in that direction.

  At basically the same time, a black silhouette rose over the edge carved smoothly out of the ground. One, two, three, four…five, six, seven…Staring dumbfounded at the shadows that continued to grow in number and surround the crater, Haruyuki remembered that he’d seen something similar once before.

  It had been five months earlier when they were headed to the Ikebukuro Area in the Unlimited Neutral Field with Niko, who had asked them to help catch the fifth Chrome Disaster, aka Cherry Rook. Crypt Cosmic Circus, led by the Yellow King, Yellow Radio, had ambushed them and put Haruyuki and his friends into serious danger.

  It can’t be…He swallowed hard and then suddenly noticed that not only were nearly all the silhouettes shaped differently from duel avatars, but some among them were rather large for avatars. In other words, they were…

  “No way. Are those all Enemies?” Chiyuri murmured, and belatedly, Haruyuki remembered.

  It hadn’t been just Kuroyukihime and the others heading for this crater. Enemies of varying sizes were converging from all directions, drawn in by the “sound” of the Incarnate techniques. They were mainly Lesser class with only two or three larger Wild class, but there were far too many to be able to fight all at once.

  “Aah, well. Only natural given how everyone was using Incarnate left and right,” Niko commented.

  “NP.” Pard, now back to human form, spoke for the first time in a while. “Crow will fly us all out of here.”

  “L-leave it to me!”

  Wait, what? I mean, Metatron Wings…They don’t exist anymore. Each time he remembered his parting with the Archangel, loneliness made his heart heavy, but this was not the time for sniffling.

  Even though he hadn’t even been equipped with the Metatron Wings for a full hour, his back felt so much lighter without them. He put his strength into it and spread his two silver wings. He should at least be able to get four people out of the crater with his own flight ability.

  “Everyone! Grab on!” Haruyuki cried, spreading his arms, and just like when they had dodged Mark II’s laser, Pard and Niko leapt onto his left arm while Takumu and Chiyuri grabbed his right. He revved his wings with enough force to use up the last of his special-attack gauge, and— “Nngh!”

  Too heavy.

  No, it wasn’t because of his burden. He wasn’t getting any lift with his wings. In addition to the damage the silver fins had taken in the many fierce battles, his mental exhaustion also dulled his flying ability. It wasn’t quite the Incarnate System, but Silver Crow’s flight ability mainly used imagination circuits for its control, so for better or for worse, his mental level affected it at the extremes. Even so, he managed somehow to ascend about ten meters, but there were more than a few Enemies with long-distance attack abilities. They would need to fly three times that high to safely escape the crater.

  “Unh…Aaah!” Howling, he sincerely tried to get some thrust in his wings. But he merely used up his special-attack gauge; he couldn’t get more altitude.

  And perhaps the unstable high frequencies his wings were emitting stimulated the Enemies; over twenty of various sizes surrounding the crater began to run, letting out curious cries.

  “Y-you okay, Haru?” Takumu asked uneasily.

  “You can do it, Haru!” Chiyuri cheered.

  Normally, the encouragement of his two childhood friends gave him more energy than anything else, but right now, the gaping hole in his heart sucked all the vitality out of it. Belatedly, he realized the reason he couldn’t fly wasn’t only the damage to his wings and his mental exhaustion. It was no good. He couldn’t fly anymore. At least, not until he could be by himself and cry out loud.

  “…Guys, I’m sorry…” Apologizing weakly, he helplessly dropped back down.

  And then, a crimson light poured down from the sky. Countless fiery beams shot down to surround Haruyuki and his friends, and they had no sooner landed inside the crater than pillars of pure-red flames were jetting upward.

  Outflanked by the flames, the Enemies lost sight of their prey and moved about in confusion, howling.

  His surprise made him forget his defeat for the moment, at least, and as he continued to just barely hover, he turned his head back up toward the sky and saw a pale-blue light flickering and flying across the evening sky dyed its madder-red.

  “Strato-Shooter,” Pard murmured, hanging on to Haruyuki’s left side. There was no mistaking it. That light was the jet of Sky Raker’s Enhanced Armament, Gale Thruster.

  As the five stared upward, the shooting star abruptly split into two. The newly born light was a deeper red than the twilight. Falling in a straight line toward Haruyuki and the others, the light soon revealed the form of a duel avatar. Armor patterned after hakama trousers and a white robe. Adornments resembling long hair. A large bow in the right hand.

  Testarossa Ardor Maiden drew her longbow Flame Caller as she fell and shouted the name of the technique loud enough for Haruyuki and the others to hear. “Flame Vortex!”

  This time, a single flaming arrow was released. But this instantly grew enormous—into a lance of whirling flames—and plunged down right in front of the Wild-class Enemies about to recommence their charge from the southern side.

  Of course, it was no match for Mark II’s nihilistic laser, which had created the crater itself, but even so, it brought about a massive explosion like an air-to-ground
missile, and at the same time as it pushed Haruyuki and the others to the north side, it knocked the massive Wild-class bodies back.

  Ardor Maiden used the blast she had produced to kill the force of her descent and land gently in the bottom of the crater. She looked up at Haruyuki and the others seven meters in the air and shouted, “C! Please escape that way!” The small hand gestured toward the northern edge of the crater. But there, too, five or six Enemies, including a scorpion-shaped Wild-class, had leapt over the initial flames to approach them. The scorpion’s tail was brandished high, and even if they got moving, it didn’t look like they’d be able to escape its sinister stinger.

  But the instant Haruyuki heard Maiden’s instruction, his wilting vitality was stirred, and he flew to the north. Even if he couldn’t ascend, he might be able to manage a horizontal half glide—now that Utai and Fuko had come to help them.

  Holding Takumu tightly on his right and Pard on his left, he charged forward with all the speed he could muster. Ardor Maiden raced along on the ground beneath them with nimble steps befitting her form.

  The scorpion Enemy ahead of them sensed the approach of its prey and boldly readied its large tail and claws. Utai drew her bow and launched a series of flame arrows. True to their aim, they plunged into the scorpion’s body and enveloped the Enemy in flames, but it didn’t stop moving.

  “Crap. That thing’s shell is fire resistant,” Niko groaned, reaching out for the handgun on her hip. But before she could draw it, a flood of water poured down from behind the scorpion, hit the red-hot carapace, and instantly evaporated.

  The white steam that puffed up blinded the scorpion and the small Enemies around it. Maiden didn’t hesitate to plunge into the steam, and Haruyuki flew in earnest to take advantage of this chance to slip above the scorpion. Body swinging from side to side, he tried nevertheless to somehow get through the circle of Enemies.

  The scorpion’s tail rose furiously, piercing the white steam directly below. Perhaps the tail itself had a homing function; the darkly glistening stinger closed in unerringly on Haruyuki’s chest. He couldn’t avoid it or defend against it. He’d be beaten down. No, his health gauge would be emptied.

  And then, beneath the steam, a crimson-red light flashed brightly. At the same time, a clear and powerful call to pierce the depths of his heart:

  “Death By Embracing!!”

  The scorpion Enemy’s tail was cut off at the base, and the stinger shattered fleetingly as though made of glass before it could plunge into Haruyuki’s chest. The Wild-class Enemy let out a high-pitched shriek before pulling in the Lesser-class Enemies around it and causing collateral damage.

  As he cut through the countless fragments dancing through the air to keep moving forward, Haruyuki strained his eyes to look directly down. He saw Ardor Maiden nimbly dodging the scorpion’s legs as she advanced—and running alongside her, a jet-black avatar. The Black King, World End, Black Lotus.

  In which case, the water that had come pouring down to produce the steamy smoke screen had been launched by The One, Aqua Current. The four Legion members they’d left behind at Midtown Tower had probably fought the ISS kit main body, crushed it, and without taking even the briefest of breaks, had advanced on the ruins of this school. All to save Haruyuki and the others.

  As Kuroyukihime ran seven meters below him, he saw that the sword tips of all her limbs had been smashed, and her armor was covered in damage. Utai, Fuko flying far up in the sky above, and Akira, waiting on the edge of the crater, were no doubt also ferociously exhausted.

  “Kuroyukihime…Master…Mei…Curren…!” By calling their names, he stirred up a power in him on the verge of being exhausted. Following a gentle diagonal, Haruyuki earnestly ascended, and his friends called out to him from either side.

  “Just a little farther, Haru!”

  “Haru, you can do it!”

  “Crow, I know you can fly!”

  “WTG, Crow!”

  Their cheers were drowned out by the shaking of the earth. The group of Enemies were regrouping from the damage and chaos and chasing after them. Another thirty meters until they were out of the crater…Twenty…

  “Unh. Ah! Aaaah!” With a cry, he dug up the last of his strength and flew the remaining distance.

  The instant he passed the sharp edge of the earth, like a knife had gouged its insides out, and found himself above the wide road, his special-attack gauge and his mental energy depleted at the same time. Even his field of view grew dim, and without the leeway to take on a landing posture, Haruyuki leaned forward and fell. But as he was on the verge of plunging into the ground face-first, powerful arms pulled him back from either side. Takumu and Pard had hit the ground with their own feet and propped Haruyuki up.

  “GJ.” Pard was supposedly glued to him, but her voice sounded far away for some reason.

  His body was heavy, like he had no strength in his limbs. But this wasn’t the time to collapse. More than twenty Enemies were also quickly climbing the slope of the crater. They had to get as much distance as they could now, while they were temporarily out of the Enemies’ sight.

  Haruyuki desperately tried to stand up, when a hard, sharp, and somehow gentle hand patted his shoulder.

  “You did well, Silver Crow.”

  “…Kuro…yuki…,” he said hoarsely, managing to turn his face to see a hazy, jet-black avatar with broken arms stretched out before him.

  Takumu and Pard held Haruyuki up while Kuroyukihime stepped forward and hugged him to her tenderly. “Leave the rest to us. Rest. You fought your battle magnificently.”

  “But. From behind. Enemies…”

  “Don’t worry. I couldn’t help you in your most trying time. Let me open a path of retreat at the very least,” she insisted.

  “Thanks to how hard you fought, C, we still have plenty of energy!” Utai agreed, having climbed the slope with their king.

  “We’ll take care of everything else.” Akira had also appeared from somewhere.

  Finally, Fuko danced down from the sky with a light propulsive sound to finish up. “Corvus, you sit back and rest now.”

  The shaking of the earth caused by the charging Enemies would be upon them soon enough. Kuroyukihime left Haruyuki to Takumu and whirled around with a sharp tak to stand on the edge of the crater. Utai, Akira, and Fuko stepped forward to either side of her. The four were just as injured as Haruyuki and his team, or even more so. To the point where Fuko switched from Gale Thruster to her wheelchair; both her legs were gone from the knee down. But there was not a hint of fear or cowardice in the Black King and the Four Elements.

  “Honestly, just can’t be beat,” Niko murmured very close to him.

  Right, they really can’t be beat, Haruyuki agreed in his heart.

  All they could do was fight. Kuroyukihime and the others would never give up on this Burst Linker basic, this deepest secret and condition. As long as there were enemies standing in their way, as long as they had hands they could clench into fists, as long as they existed, they would fight.

  They would keep fighting.

  But that’s me, too. There’s still an enemy I need to fight. The Acceleration Research Society. They ran off with the last of Niko’s Enhanced Armament; they still have Wolfram Cerberus. And the Society leader who not only uses so many Enemies, but also toys with the memories of Burst Linkers who’ve lost all their points.

  It’s all I can do right now to stay on my feet, but I’m going to keep fighting them. And then someday, I’ll break through the Castle gate, attack the Shrine of the Eight Divines, and reach the last Arc. To learn about the end of the world that Kuroyukihime—and Metatron—have sought.

  With the injured scorpion in the lead, the rampaging Enemies crested the crater edge and danced forward.

  A fierce light jetted from Kuroyukihime, Fuko, Utai, and Akira. Their massive, joint technique knocked the Enemy group flying. Howling, the various forms tumbled back into the crater and kicked and struggled for a few seconds, but even after t
hey got back to their feet, they seemed to have lost their fight; they didn’t move.

  Kuroyukihime whirled around and announced crisply, “Today’s battle appears to have ended here. The closest portal is in the Metropolitan Central Library a kilometer ahead. Now…”

  She turned the sword of her right hand due north.

  “Let’s go home. To the real world.”

  5

  The total time in the Unlimited Neutral Field for the missions to rescue Aqua Current and destroy the ISS kit main body, along with the surprise mission to get the Red King back and destroy the Armor of Catastrophe, Mark II, was approximately twelve hours and thirty minutes. In other words, when Haruyuki slowly opened his eyes after returning to the Umesato student council office in the real world, the analog clock hanging on the wall in front of him had only advanced fifty seconds from 12:20:10, when the mission had started. Considering that they had reaccelerated after the mission to rescue Current, this was a fairly high-speed clear.

  He’d had dives this long in the Unlimited Neutral Field before, but he’d never really felt the density of this flow of time, sped up a thousand times, like he did now. He’d been accelerated, true, but it felt like several days had passed in the real world.

  When he took his eyes off the clock, he could hear a commotion coming from nearby. He blinked, wondering what all the fuss was about, before he remembered. Today—June 30—was Umesato Junior High’s annual school festival. Only that morning, he’d eaten a crepe at the booth on the track, gone around to the different classrooms, and watched the kendo team’s samurai dance, but those memories didn’t immediately come back to him. He was pretty sure he’d met up with Takumu in front of the kendo dojo and had lunch in the cluster of booths in the courtyard before they all went out into the front yard and then—

  Rin Kusakabe had collapsed.

  “……!”

  His memory finally completely awakened, Haruyuki threw himself forward from the sofa backrest. Around him, the comrades he had fought with were blinking and stretching, but he was the first to stand—or he was about to be, when Fuko pushed him back.