Accel World: Dusk Robber

by Reki Kawahara

  “Stop... stop it, you coward!!”

  It was Haruyuki who shouted. If he was not just a gallery, he might have went for a straight line punch.

  Duel Avatar, was born from its owner’s wound of heart. It was something that any Burst Linker would know.

  However, that was exactly why, no matter what kind of opponent, thus far Haruyuki especially avoided bringing out that conversation topic. As for Takumu and Kuroyukihime, he was cautious of even guessing what’s inside their heart. To be sure, Cyan Pile’s «Pile» should be a representation of some kind of wound that Takumu is holding. However, Takumu is using that openly as a weapon. That would mean, he is continuing to fight with his own wound daily.

  “Noumi! You too... your avatar also, is the shape of some kind of «Wound» that you don’t want to talk about either!!”

  Hearing Haruyuki’s sharp words, while Dusk Taker kept facing the front, he sneered with ‘Kuku’.

  “That’s no good, Arita senpai. Didn’t I already say it? My wound is «Being Robbed». That means this Dusk Taker has the power to «Rob». It’s pretty clear, about the same as your Silver Crow... right!”

  The end of that speech, was mixed with air being cut sound.

  The three tentacles dangling on the ground flashed snake like, and the thing held in each tip some time ago, were thrown in a direct line towards Takumu. Tiny legs wiggling as they flew through the air, were metallic insects belonging to the geographical effect of the «Purgatory» stage. They were mostly just unpleasant and harmless imitations, but when various kind of them are crushed, different poisons spill out.

  The three insects that Noumi threw, were all bright red and green colored. Without taking his eyes off Cyan Pile who was closing in for even an instant, and able to talk to Haruyuki at the same time as he grabbed and threw the poisonous insects, was not a feat that could be done without considerable far-sight.

  ‘...That guy, is unexpectedly familiar with fighting.’

  At the time that Haruyuki’s eyes opened wide as he thought that, Cyan Pile’s left arm moved in reaction to slash away the metallic insects. With egg crunching sounds, the insect shells broke, and poisonous looking mucus was scattered. Different parts of the blue body armor that were showered by the flying liquid gave out white smoke.

  “Kuu...”

  The HP bar decrease was just a bit, but the unexpected attack made Takumu lean his upper body back. Not letting that moment escape, Dusk Taker’s body moved forward like a black lightning bolt.

  The tentacles that were extended with a whine, restrained Cyan Pile’s pile driver in the blink of an eye. Continuing, the right hand bolt clipper thrust out towards his throat.

  His neck is going to be sandwiched —— before that was shown, at the last moment Takumu’s left hand grabbed one of the cutter blades.

  However, the thumb that went between the blades without any choice, did not go unnoticed by Noumi. He instantly pinched that thumb, and as if to extend the pain, gradually munched on it.

  “U... Guu.”

  To Takumu’s low moan, Noumi sneered from the low position.

  “Aah, didn’t your mother teach you not to grab opened scissor blade? See, it becomes like this.”

  With a ‘Bachin!’ frightful sound echo, Cyan Pile’s left hand thumb danced in the air. His HP gauge was again cut by a gulp, and at the same time his special skills gauge increased with a glop ——.

  “...You also, did no one tell you that my right hand is not my only attack power?”

  Right after saying so with suppressed sound, Takumu tensed up his chest, and shouted.

  “—— «Splash Stinger»!!”

  With a cutting sound, from staggered holes lined up on Cyan Pile’s chest, the face of small missiles poked up, and fired all at once.

  Dusk Taker showed impressive reaction, and took a both arms crossed guard stance, but even so he was hit at point blank range with one needle missile after another, and flower of explosions bloomed. While his gauge decreased in gulps, he was blown straight backwards, and this time the blackish purple avatar crashed into the school building, half buried in the metallic wall.

  “...Oooo!”

  Not letting that chance escape, Takumu started a fierce charge. With the dash that shook the ground, his left shoulder forcefully smashed into Dusk Taker. The school building wall crumpled towards the inside, and the two avatars were thrusted inside the school like that. Haruyuki hurried ran, since he could not damage the stage himself, he went in from an entrance a bit far away.

  The long first floor hallway, was transformed to a weird shape like the schoolyard. The slits carved in the wall wiggled sinuously, occasionally spitting out steam. From pipe bundle like things sticking out, mucus hung down, and dripped down the hallway in drops.

  In that hideous scene, were the shapes of those two that already moved apart. The remaining gauges, Cyan Pile had more than 80%. On the other hand, Dusk Taker’s was decreased down to 60%.

  “...Noumi, you have already lost.”

  Takumu’s low sound announced.

  “...Huh? Is that so?”

  “That’s right. With your power, you cannot destroy the Purgatory stage walls. The exit is behind me. And then in this narrow space, there is no chance of winning for you as a speed type.”

  Actually, he thought it was like what Takumu said. Haruyuki himself, had already fought Cyan Pile in a building hallway like this before. At that time he desperately avoided Cyan Pile’s attacks, escaped to the roof and somehow found a way to win. However right now, behind Dusk Taker were many dead end hallways.

  The two reddish purple eyes made a tiny blink —— abruptly, the slender avatar sped forward without any starting motion. Maybe he was doing it for spite of Takumu’s first dash, his left hand tentacles had grabbed hold of the wall pole sometime ago, and coiling that threw his body forward.

  With his posture lowered to the limit, and not wanting to give up, he planned to slip pass Cyan Pile’s feet and escape from the blind alley.

  But, Takumu remained calm. His right foot stepped on the floor with a ‘Blang!’, and created a vibration wave specific to heavy class avatars, that caught Dusk Taker’s feet. To the stumbling opponent, his left foot kicked forward to attack. Noumi guarded it, but he was once again blown back towards the depth of the first floor hallway.

  Holding his arms out wide to stop anyone passing, Takumu added.

  “It’s useless, you can’t get around behind me. If the fight started inside school, the winner would have been decided earlier. After this, if you don’t want me to challenge you during tests, return those wings to Silver Crow. If you do that, then I will at least not interfere with you. So... how about it?”

  Noumi who was hit with that condition, while holding his wounded body with his right hand, continued to be silent for a while.

  Eventually he took a breath, and said while shaking his head left and right.

  “...If it is Mayuzumi senpai, then he would probably keep this idiotic verbal promise with honor. Geesh... in this world, no, in the same school, there are people with this much different sense of values...”

  After he spread both hands wide in exasperation, Noumi whispered a short command he had not heard of before.

  “«Remove all equipment».”

  And then, his left hand tentacles and right hand bolt clipper, melt into space and disappeared. Equipping and removing enhanced armament can be done with voice commands recorded previously in the «Install Menu». Those frank words that were said, were probably keywords chosen by Noumi.

  ‘—— Does that mean, he acknowledge defeat, and plan to return the wings —— that Noumi Seiji would?’

  Haruyuki became speechless, and while looking at Takumu like he was going to checkmate in the next move, he was once again impressed.

  “Taku...”

  ‘You did it!’, when he was going to shout that, at that time ——.

  Noumi’s empty hand and wounded avatar took a low posture. And at the
same time causally said.

  “Not really, I am not surrendering. Just, with both hands full, I can’t use this «Trick», only that.”

  “...Tri... ck...!?”

  To be sure, before also —— right before his first duel with Haruyuki ended, he also said that. At that time, Haruyuki thought it was just an insult —— does he really, have something else...

  At the same time that Haruyuki took a deep breath, Takumu quickly aimed his right hand at the enemy.

  “...If you still want to continue, then I won’t hold back, Noumi! I will take any chance I have to fight you. And then knock you down. Is that fine with you!!”

  The response, was the most calm and no feeling sound up till now.

  “...Geesh, I don’t like that. Being that serious. I don’t want to pronounce the special skill... but, well, I guess there’s no choice when it came to this...”

  Dusk Taker made a small triangle in front of him with his hands. Continuing, incantation —— or curse like words were quietly released.

  “...Toru. Eru. Tsukamu. Kezuru. Ubau. Ubau, Ubau, U, Ba, U[13]...”

  An ‘iiiiIIIIIN’ vibration sound was created, and that soon changed to a high frequency metallic type. And then Haruyuki saw it. Noumi’s two hands, were covered by thick blackish purple wave.

  It even shook the air in the hallway, with sparks running in a wide range. ‘Special Skill!?’ He thought that for one instant, but soon canceled it with not that. With this much effect being created, the special skill gauge should be decreasing even before any attacks start. But Noumi’s gauge, with over half charge, did not move even slightly.

  The logic for this kind of phenomenon appearing other than special skills, Haruyuki only learned of it recently.

  That was —— image type control. Overwriting events with imagination.

  Its other name was ——

  “Ta.. Taku! Don’t worry about me anymore! Defeat him, right now!!”

  Haruyuki screamed.

  “—— «Lightning Cyan Spike»!!”

  After Takumu hesitated for an instant, he sharply shouted.

  Cyan Pile’s half full special gauge disappeared in one gulp, and at the same time aura like back flare spilled out from the «Pile Driver»’s rear end ——.

  The air was burned with a ‘Shaa!!’ sound, and the iron pile that became a ray of light was released towards Dusk Taker.

  At that distance, it would be impossible to evade Taku’s level 4 special skill —— it should had been. However.

  ‘Snap’.

  With that dense gas being popped sound, the tip of the shining iron pile stopped without penetrating anything.

  What stopped it, were just two fingers.

  Dusk Taker’s purple wave covered left hand index and middle fingers, held and stopped Cyan Pile’s greatest special skill as easily as if it was a cylinder made with paper.

  “...Wha...”

  Right after Haruyuki’s raspy sound leaked out, with the sound of hot metal being dipped into water, the shining light pole itself was sucked into the pulsating wave, and disappeared without a trace.

  Lowering his hand listlessly, Noumi lifted up his head slightly, and looked at Cyan Pile who stood while dumbfounded.

  Up till now, this would be a scene where words full of insult would be released with suppressed laughter.

  But, while Dusk Taker remained silent, the fingers of his both hands were curved to like claws, and producing even stronger purple vibration, kicked the ground.

  It was a fearsome high speed dash that made his legs fuzzy. About double the speed of when he used the tentacles earlier. The over ten meters of distance between him and Takumu was closed with less than an eyeblink, and Dusk Taker who came close, his left hand with fingers opened wide drew a large arc from bottom up.

  The purple crescent moon carved in the air, cut diagonally across Cyan Pile’s thick chest armor. And then, Haruyuki saw something impossible. The blue armor, like clay —— no, like pudding, was deeply gouged out.

  From the wounds left by the five claws, after one instant of delay, with a ‘Splash!’, bluish white sparks bundle sprayed out like blood.

  “Guu...”

  Even though the moaning and leaning back Takumu himself was probably more shocked than Haruyuki, he immediately counter attacked.

  Towards Noumi’s undefended left flank as his left hand was swung to near his right shoulder, Takumu’s thrust out the tip of his piledriver strongly ——

  ‘Clank!’

  That sound of firing echoed, however, Noumi’s body itself was no longer there. After a short teleport like speed right slide to easily evade the pile attack, this time his right hand thrust straight out, and caught the base of the iron pile that was extended the furthest right after firing.

  Again, with that strange wet sound echo, the pile was crushed.

  No, to be exact, the part grasped by Dusk Taker’s purple shining hand instantly disappeared. While showing mirror like smooth cut surface, the iron pile heavily fell to the ground.

  ‘—— So, I was not mistaken.’

  It was the «Mind Power Attack». The image from Noumi Seiji’s consciousness interfered with the system, and made various objects grasped in his hands disappear. Denial of existence. Overwriting event.

  Takumu probably did not know about the existence of the «Incarnate System». While showing shock in his whole body, he still bravely tried to counter attack. Maybe he saw that Noumi’s hands can cut various things, he made a big jump to distance himself, then released a kick attack.

  It was an awesome right roundhouse kick that seem to burn the air. If hit, even a heavy type avatar would be blown flying.

  However that kick, calculated with the avatar weight, plus armor strength, plus muscle parameter, only contained numeric data.

  On the other hand, faster than Takumu’s kick power reached him through the motion control type system, Noumi overwrote the event with his image type control. The result ——

  ‘Thud’.

  With that dreadful sound, the kick was again stopped by only the left hand. The force that should had caused damage, were all swallowed by the purple wave, and canceled. That wet echo, was the sound of Noumi’s five fingers stabbing almost all the way into Takumu’s right leg shin portion.

  “Ua...!”

  Takumu’s suppressed painful sound leaked out.

  As if he was tormenting him, while moving the fingers buried in the leg with wiggles, here Noumi finally released his whisper.

  “... Mayuzumi senpai. Earlier, did you say it? Something about me not able to destroy this stage’s walls?”

  And then, dragging Takumu who was down on his left knee while his right leg was caught, he walked towards the south wall.

  Dusk Taker’s right hand that was thrust out casually, buried up to his wrist in the Purgatory’s metallic wall that shone a metallic green color without making any sound.

  Like that, as if pushing aside jelly, a large circle was drawn on the wall.

  “Honestly, I did not want this to be seen. Well, even though you would not understand it by just seeing. This skill’s logic is known to six... no, seven kings and their aides, and then only us, it should be. But, you are a smart guy. After experiencing this much of a difference in power, you should have understood...”

  While the words flowed, a close to two meters diameter trench was carved in the wall. With one kick from Noumi, the wall fell inside with a clank, and the outside light shone in.

  “That you people no longer have any choice, this means. While I am enrolled in this Umesato middle school, your destiny is determined to be working as my dogs for the remaining school period, this also means.”

  After finished saying what he wanted, Noumi swung his left hand, and dropped Cyan Pile’s huge body out of the hole. Without giving Haruyuki even a single glance, he also moved out to the schoolyard.

  The inside of his head was numb, and while Haruyuki shoulders shook in small spasms, he stood in the dim hal
lway for a while.

  ‘—— Why. Why did that guy like Noumi have «Incarnate System». That should not be something that you could find the existence of by yourself. It should be a technique that could not be learned without being directly guided by someone.’

  What pulled Haruyuki back from his stupor, was Takumu’s low moan echoed from far away.

  Haruyuki quickly lifted his head up, and hurriedly started running. Going through the hole that Noumi opened, and after shivering from the scars carved by fingers while sliding, he also jumped outside.

  Almost in the exact center of the wide schoolyard, were the shadows of two intertwined avatars.

  However they were not fighting. That should already be called one sided ravage.

  Cyan Pile who was spraying large amount of sparks from his chest and left leg wounds, even had trouble standing. Even so he still continued to bravely attack with both hands, without even scratching Dusk Taker. The dusk colored avatar avoided the punches with dance like jumps, while his claws carved shallow scraps from the opponent’s armor.

  Cyan Pile’s HP gauge was cut to only 20% left. With his broken pile driver machine not fixed, the special skill gauge that was gained shone emptily.

  “Ta... Taku...”

  Haruyuki wrung out a broken sound.

  What he should say to his best friend who was not giving up under overwhelming disadvantage, he could not find the words for it. Probably against Noumi’s mind power attack that could erase objects including physical attacks, the pure «Close Range Blue» Cyan Pile would not have the skill to counter it.

  After tens of wounds was carved on his mask, Cyan Pile eventually fell down to his knees.

  In the normal duel field, the pain created by damage was half of unlimited field, but even so, if many small wounds added up, the total amount was not something that can be endured. Noumi without doubt went after that, and deliberately repeated small attacks.

  Takumu who was trying to stand up again while resisting the virtual pain torturing his nerves, was kicked by Noumi with full force fell rolling.