Accel World: Return of Princess Snow Black

by Reki Kawahara

  “…I do, at the very least more than you.”

  “Then, what about me? Did you ever think about me? When me and Chii-chan are together just the two of us, she’d suddenly show a sorrowful face…When I know that it was because she was thinking about you, did you consider my feelings, Haru?”

  Momentarily pausing his words and bringing his face closer, Cyan Pile—Takumu spoke the decisive words.

  “Because you’re like that.”

  It was a tone that even seemed to be gentle in some way, but those words pierced Haruyuki’s chest far more deeply than the giant steel stake.

  “Because you’re like that, me and Chii-chan are held back by you, as if we’ve fallen into a muddled swamp and can’t get back out. Just disappear already, Haru. And free me and Chii-chan.”

  THUD.

  This time, he stepped down on Haruyuki’s still-intact leg with the sole of his foot.

  Emphatically raising his upper body and putting his right hand’s launcher tube up high, Cyan Pile drew a complex trajectory with its tip. With that, everything from the launcher tube to his shoulder was wrapped in a vivid blue light.

  Suddenly, the launcher made a deep noise and expanded to about three times its original thickness.

  Sticking out from inside that was a tip that had become flattened, like a huge hammer.

  The striking edge of the hammer was suddenly pointed at Haruyuki, who couldn’t even consider moving anymore.

  “Now then—Let’s end it Haru. Everything.”

  This battle, and our pretend friendship. Cyan Pile’s eyes said that.

  Immediately after, the tip of the hammer emitted a dreadful light.

  “—«Spiral Gravity Driver»!!”

  GYUAAAA!!

  As the hammer shot out while spinning and making mechanical sounds like countless gears turning, Haruyuki desperately tried to avoid it. But his leg was being steadily held by the foot, and he couldn’t escape. Immediately after, Haruyuki was crushed by giant steel.

  An instrumental duo with a high-pitch screech from his silver armor being smashed and a heavy bass from the floor beneath him being crushed.

  Without being able to even cry out, Haruyuki was knocked through the floor and crashed into the hospital floor of next floor below.

  But the hammer didn’t stop there, further digging into both Haruyuki and the floor, and then—

  BOGOH! BOGON! BOGOAH!!

  While making continuous breaking noises, it finally stopped moving after going through all five floors of the hospital and embedding Haruyuki into the ground of the first floor.

  CHIKA. CHIKA.

  Something red flickered within the darkness in the upper left corner of his vision.

  It took several seconds for Haruyuki to realize it was his health gauge, which had decreased to less than 10%.

  As if regretting that it couldn’t finish shaving off the gauge, the tip of Cyan Pile’s hammer ate into Haruyuki’s chest for a while, but soon enough it started spinning in the opposite direction and returned back up.

  After the hammer left while rubble clattered down, what remained before Haruyuki’s eyes was a small hole leading up to the distant rooftop. From inside that hole, Cyan Pile’s voice resounded faintly.

  “Ah, there’s still a little left. Well, it’s fine, there’s only five or six minutes left anyway, the time will run out before I can go look for him and deliver the finishing blow. Besides, I still have to have to challenge the true «final boss» after this. —Now then!”

  The tone of his voice changed. It sounded boastful—or somehow fawning.

  “Did you see that, ladies and gentlemen within the gallery! And everyone from the Blue Legion in particular!! I’m still useful! I can fight properly even in the «Unlimited Field» above this! It’s a waste to throw me away, just because I used up points a little too much, right!?”

  Taku—Takumu…You…

  While rolling over like a broken doll at the bottom of the hole, Haruyuki felt hot liquid go down his cheeks. It was tears. But, he didn’t understand very well what he was crying over.

  Probably, the tears were flowing because something precious had been broken and completely damaged without his noticing.

  Even thought it was a battle he couldn’t lose. Even though he had to absolutely win, for Haruyuki’s own sake, for Chiyuri’s sake, for Takumu’s sake—and for Kuroyukihime’s sake.

  While holding that pain of huge regret, Haruyuki slowly raised his body. Fragments of cracked armor spilled from his entire body like rain, and scattered onto the ground.

  There was no meaning in standing up anymore. In order to accept this decisive defeat and return to his previous self before he knew about Brain Burst, Haruyuki held his knees where he lay and tried to wait just for the moment when the time count reached zero.

  He began closing his eyes—just before he did that.

  In the corner of the dimly-lit room.

  That person’s form emerged like an illusion.

  There was a bed braided with thorns.

  Encircled by countless jet-black petals in full bloom, a delicate form was laying down on it.

  A dress blacker than darkness. Silver frills. A parasol placed beside her. And, spread-out beautiful black hair, and skin shining whiter than snow in the dim darkness. Her long eyelashes were quietly turned down.

  Am I hallucinating?

  While thinking that, Haruyuki dragged along his severed right leg and slowly, slowly approached the thorny bed. But, no matter how much he approached, there were no signs of Kuroyukihime’s avatar vanishing.

  After propping his right hand on the edge of the bed as if falling down on it, Haruyuki finally realized.

  Here, this place is the micro-machine room of the ER, where Kuroyukihime is receiving medical treatment.

  And Kuroyukihime was connected to the hospital’s network. So, as soon as Haruyuki began an accelerated duel, automatic-spectator mode was activated and she was also invited to this stage.

  “…Senpai.”

  While murmuring in a hoarse voice, Haruyuki extended his worn-out right hand and gently touched Kuroyukihime’s cheek.

  Words gushed out of him one after another as if a dam had broken. At the same time, his tears also returned.

  “I…I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t protect your dream, your wish. I couldn’t respond to your expectations.”

  A tear, dripping from a crack of his half-broken helmet, fell down onto Kuroyukihime’s cheek, and then scattered into a miniscule blaze and vanished.

  “‘I can change’…that’s what I thought. I can change through your words, your kindness, and your feelings…But, it’s useless. It’s not my avatar’s fault…probably, this avatar was created as the embodiment of my «resignation». The reasons that this, that Silver Crow was made like this is because of me. I who, without looking at the sky and only facing the bottom, lives while groveling.”

  Haruyuki softly turned over his body, and clung to the tip of Kuroyukihime’s shoulder.

  “I wanted to go there. To the place where you were…To that distant and high sky, where you easily flapped your wing. Higher…faster…escaping this bog-like reality…together with you…”

  With a sob, Haruyuki squeezed out the last words.

  “I wanted, to fly.”

  —TOKUN.

  At that time, as if responding to his voice, a faint sound was heard.

  TOKUN. TOKUN.

  The source of the sound was Kuroyukihime’s chest, which Haruyuki’s cheek was lying on top of. A rhythm that was small and fleeting, but certainly ticked away in the center of her chest. A heartbeat.

  Right now, within acceleration, it was impossible to hear the actual beating of a heart in reality. But it was impossible that it was an auditory hallucination. Desperately straining his ears and listening, Haruyuki suddenly understood.

  This was a sound being issued from Kuroyukihime’s will. Right now, Kuroyukihime was desperately fighting. On the edge of life and deat
h, she was desperately resisting in order to hold on. That strong will had become a heartbeat, and was resounding in the virtual battlefield.

  “…That’s right…”

  Haruyuki murmured. At the same time, new tears flowed out, dripping hot. Inside his ears, he faintly heard the words Kuroyukihime had told him once again.

  —The meaning of strength isn’t about the result of winning.

  I didn’t know the meaning of being strong at all. Without knowing it, I simply envied and gave up.

  “Strength is not about simply «winning»…”

  Even if I’m unsightly. Even if I look ridiculous. Even if I am defeated at the end, fall to the ground, and am covered with mud.

  Kuroyukihime—Black Lotus, after surviving a life-and-death battle with the other Kings, held her breath and continued staying hidden in a small network. But, that wasn’t because she was cowardly, or afraid. It’s because she never gave up. Because she never looked down.

  “…To simply «resist». To still keep looking towards the sky even after falling down…that is the only proof of strength. Isn’t that right…senpai?”

  There was no response.

  But, Haruyuki clearly felt a powerful beating being born deep within his own chest as well.

  His heart’s pulse became a signal and was transmitted to his brain.

  And then once more, the soul, the will, the spirit that confronts adversity accelerated.

  As long as there was this beating in his chest—

  “I can still stand…I can still fight!”

  Haruyuki cried that out to himself, and to Kuroyukihime.

  He grasped the edge of the bed with his right hand, threw all his strength into his left leg, and stood up while staggering.

  Minute fragments fell from his entire body while glittering. But, the beat that had been born from his chest flowed heat all the way to his wounded limbs, and trembled intensely.

  Suddenly—

  Intense white light was emitted from the many cracks in his armor.

  At the same time, the armor on his back crumbled greatly, and a feeling of blowing away came on him. Haruyuki opened his eyes wide and bent his body backwards as he threw back his head.

  There was a big mirror on a wall that was a short distance away in front of him. Perhaps it was a magic mirror that connected with the monitor room next door in the real world. Right now, like the bed, it had changed into a huge full-length mirror bordered by black cast-iron thorns on its edges.

  In the middle of that mirror, the form of Kuroyukihime lying on the bed of thorns, and of himself standing up was reflected.

  His entire body’s armor was in very bad condition. His left hand and right leg were torn off from the middle, and his chest had deep cracks radiating across it. The cracks also reached to his back, and a cracking sound seemed to be resounded from there. Every time a thin spark ran out, small pieces of broken armor scattered about, and—

  “……!?”

  Dumbfounded, Haruyuki watched as some white and shining things started extending out slowly, slowly from the left and right side of his back.

  They seemed to be two sharp oblong and thin pieces of metal. Swords—?

  The instant he thought that, the two extending metal fragments made a clear swishing noise and spread out like a semi-circle. Nearly ten thin folded-up metal fins also respectively unfolded from the tip of the first sword-like protuberance.

  These—weren’t weapons, but…

  ——Wings.

  Haruyuki remained dumbstruck for less than one second.

  Hot!!

  Feeling a terrible heat along his entire back, Haruyuki raised his body as if to repel it.

  He staggered back several steps on his knees while writhing, and shrunk his small body by embracing his shoulder with his arm.

  Rather than hot temperature-wise, it felt more like a cluster of pure energy was crammed airtight inside his back, swirling as it wanted to go somewhere.

  “——!!”

  It’s no good. I can’t hold it down any longer.

  As he bent his body like a bow and faced above, ahead of Haruyuki’s gaze was—

  He saw the huge hole that had been drilled through the building by his body only tens of seconds ago. And also a small yellow light that looked isolated on the other side of that black and deep hole. A corridor leading to the far away sky.

  It’s calling me.

  Moving unconsciously, Haruyuki raised his broken left arm up high, and drew his intact right arm to his side. He felt the energy raging at the tip of his shoulder blades suddenly increase in density and compress.

  After returning his gaze just for a moment to catch sight of the stretched-out form of his beloved person.

  Haruyuki fixed his gaze above once again.

  “——Goooooooooooo!!”

  He stuck out his right arm straight ahead along with that shout.

  DOOO!!

  Along like an explosion-like impact sound, a silver light cut through the darkness.

  In an instant, Haruyuki’s entire body flew straight up like a fired arrow.

  GOH, GOGOGOH….

  Each time he passed by one of the hospital’s floors, the air twisted in his ears.

  Going through the dark corridor in just a few seconds, the silver avatar flew out from the drilled hole to the roof, and then kept flying higher and higher. The metallic fins on his backs vibrated loudly at high-speed. That energy accelerated his small body with overwhelming momentum, easily cutting off the virtual gravity and persistently, persistently pushing Haruyuki upwards.

  Immediately, the swirling black clouds drew near in front of him.

  The instant he touched the thick cluster with his raised right fist, the clouds were pushed away like mere coins with a loud whoosh.

  After having gone through and moreover ascended out of a black tunnel, a pale yellow and dazzling light filled Haruyuki’s vision.

  Immediately after going through that sea of clouds, Haruyuki expanded both his arms and legs, reducing his acceleration. The high-pitched vibrating sound lowered in pitch, and a soft floating sensation like when an airplane has finished taking off came upon him.

  While gently hovering, Haruyuki spun his body around.

  “…Aah…”

  Unconsciously, he leaked out a voice mixed with a breath.

  A view beyond imagination was spread out beneath his eyes. From the breaks in the sea of clouds that flowed and swelled, he could see an unbroken view the huge dull-colored city that continued on as far as the eye could see. The Shinjuku urban center which had changed into leaning spires was there, and a deep forest was over there, and the building that looked like a towering magic fortress was perhaps the Imperial Palace.

  When he looked in the other direction, streets that continued from Suginami to Mitaka to Hachiouji[11] extended out as far as he could see, and over there were the mountains of Okutama, and the steep high peak next to them that towered through the sea of clouds was probably Mt. Fuji.

  Finally looking to the south, Haruyuki caught sight of a grey level surface that shone brilliantly.

  The sea. The Tokyo Bay. And—the Pacific Ocean, which spread on endlessly.

  Infinite.

  “This world…is infinite…”

  While murmuring that, Haruyuki slowly, slowly began to descend.

  Sinking back through the clouds from behind, he went through to the bottom of them and approached the ground.

  Once he had descended to a height where he could start seeing the details of the streets below, he made his fins vibrate strongly again, and hovered once more.

  Just thirty meters below Haruyuki as he regained his posture, was the roof of the hospital.

  That battlefield that he had thought so large and wide now looked small, as if he could pick it up with his hands. And the form of the blue giant, standing at the edge of the big hole in the center and looking up towards him, was still there as well.

  Cyan Pile gazed up at Haru for
nearly a full three seconds, as if his soul had fallen out.

  He weakly raised his left hand, and leaked out a hoarse voice.

  “Ha…Haru…”

  But those words were erased by the loud commotion that suddenly arose.

  Voices. The gallery people, that stood on the roofs of the buildings surrounding the hospital and watched the duel between Silver Crow and Cyan Pile, all simultaneously raised their voices in a squall.

  “He isn’t…he isn’t falling!? He’s completely stationary!!”

  “It isn’t a jump…he’s flying!? No way!?”

  “A «Flight Ability»…it’s finally appeared. Look at those wings!! That’s a «Flight-type Avatar»!!”

  Haruyuki didn’t understand why the gallery was in such a clamor. As he stared down in mute amazement, among the the duel avatars came up to several tens, some moved towards higher positions, while others drove their finger to their consoles.

  “There’s no data on him! Where is that guy from!? What legion does he belong to…who’s his «Parent»!?”

  “F-For now, let’s contact headquarters! You, log out and go tell them!!”

  “Don’t joke around! As if I’m going to miss what happens next!!”

  What calmed down this uproar that was like a prodded beehive—was a terrible shout that was suddenly released.

  “Oo…Oooooooooh!!”

  Spreading his arms and legs, Cyan Pile bellowed. The tremor that rocked the atmosphere like an electric shock reached even Haruyuki far up in the sky.

  “No!! Nononononooooooooo!!”

  As it made a mechanical ‘GASHUU!!’ sound, he pointed his right arm’s launcher tube straight at Haruyuki.

  “Don’t!! Don’t you!! Look down on meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

  A scream as if spitting up blood.

  At the same time, a metallic clang resounded, and the loaded steel stake scattered out many lines of light.

  As Cyan Pile struck a stance of spreading out both legs, dropping his waist and supporting the launcher tube with his left hand, the remaining 40% of his special technique gauge suddenly vanished with a jerk.

  As Cyan Pile aimed what was likely his final attack technique at him, Haruyuki quietly lifted up his right hand while hovering in place and clenched his fist hard.