Accel World - Volume 6 - Chapter 10

10

The plan to purify the Armor of Catastrophe that Kuroyukihime had put together was apparently made up of three phases. The first was to contact Utai Shinomiya in the real world and somehow drag her into talks. The second was to persuade Utai to help them and rescue her avatar from the unlimited EK state in the Unlimited Neutral Field. And the third was to eliminate the element of Chrome Disaster parasitizing Silver Crow with Utai’s purification ability.

At 7:20 PM on Tuesday, June 18, in the living room of Haruyuki’s apartment, when asked by Fuko when the second phase was to begin, Kuroyukihime replied immediately, without the slightest shred of doubt, This very instant, of course.

Once the six Burst Linkers had moved to the sofa set and sat down again in relaxed positions, they attached five XSB cables to their Neurolinkers to form a daisy chain. In general, it wasn’t necessary to go so far as to connect directly when diving into the Unlimited Neutral Field, but this time, they had to set up the aforementioned disconnection safety. Thus, they all turned off their wireless connections to the global net, their host, Haruyuki, deciding instead that they would go in via a direct connection to the Arita home server. This way, if some unforeseen accident did occur and someone ended up in an unlimited EK state, the first person to return through the portal could yank out the cable connecting to the home server, and at that moment, they could all burst out.

Of course, this would be the worst outcome—not rescuing not only Utai but her would-be rescuers imprisoned alongside her—but they had already passed through the stage of fearing this. At the moment, after making every possible preparation, they could only march forward, convinced of their inevitable success. Or rather, this was what Kuroyukihime said at the end of the real-world meeting.

UI> ALL RIGHT, THEN, EVERYONE. I’M GRATEFUL FOR YOUR HELP.

Kuroyukihime, Fuko, Haruyuki, Takumu, and Chiyuri nodded firmly together. The plan was for the five of them to dive first and then have Utai dive once all the preparations inside were complete. Sitting on the sofa, they closed their eyes and took a deep breath. Kuroyukihime started the countdown from ten. When she hit zero, they all shouted the command to fly to the true Accelerated World, permitted only to Burst Linkers at levels four and up.

“Unlimited Burst!!”

His first view in a while of the Unlimited Neutral Field was of a world frozen a snowy white, all the way to the horizon in the distance—an Ice stage. The sky was blanketed with leaden clouds, tiny snowflakes glittering as they danced on the cold breeze.

“Good. A fortunate omen to start,” Kuroyukihime—the Black King, Black Lotus, said, the tips of her sword legs loudly piercing the thick ice covering the ground. “A Drizzle or a Storm would have been ideal, because of the hindered long-distance visibility. But given that we’re aiming for a single moment, this might actually be quite good.”

“You’re right. And this much sleet’s not going to block our view.” Standing next to her, Fuko—Sky Raker—nodded, her sky-blue hair swinging.

Unable to immediately understand what they were talking about, Haruyuki cocked Silver Crow’s round, helmeted head and asked timidly, “Um, why is Snow or Drizzle lucky?”

“Because it weakens the power of the God Suzaku, which is affiliated with fire, right?” The prompt response came from the large, close-range avatar standing to Haruyuki’s right, Cyan Pile—Takumu.

Followed by Lime Bell—Chiyuri—wearing her pointed yellow-green hat and with a large bell equipped in her left hand. “So then we’d better hurry, huh? We don’t know when the Change will come.”

Takumu was one thing, but the feeling that he was lagging in understanding even behind Chiyuri, who had only become a Burst Linker two months earlier, was practically tangible in his hands. Haruyuki hurried to open his mouth. “S-so then I should fly us there. Four people’s tough, but I could just barely—”

But before he had even gotten to the end of his sentence, Kuroyukihime was shaking her mask lightly. “No. I don’t want to be disturbed by any other Burst Linkers who might be around. The possibility of being close to someone who dived at the same time is low, but flying makes us conspicuous. We’ll run to the Chiyoda Area.”

“Oh. Y-yeah, you’re right.” He hung his head.

Kuroyukihime took a few steps toward him before adding in a softer tone, “And you’re the key player in this strategy. You can’t tire out your wings before we get started, not even a tiny bit.”

“R-right! Understo…”

Huh? Me? The key player?

Freezing halfway through his reply, Haruyuki felt Fuko pat him gently on the back.

“We’re counting on you, Corvus. I know you can do it.”

“That’s right, Haru. No matter who you’re up against, you can’t be beat when you’re in the sky.”

“You’ll just make it happen, Haru!”

Takumu and Chiyuri added their own encouragement, and everyone except Haruyuki nodded deeply all at once. They walked toward the opening in the exterior wall of the ice tower that had once been his skyscraper condo.

Key player? What am I supposed to do? It can’t be; no way…Maybe I’m charging into the territory of the invincible super Enemy alone or something?

A cold sweat pouring from every part of his metal body, Haruyuki felt as though something like this had happened before, and he fumbled around in his memory. Six months earlier, a time he would never forget, when they had similarly sallied forth into the Unlimited Neutral Field from his house on the mission to subjugate the Armor of Catastrophe, he had been stunned at abruptly being ordered into an air-raid role.

It’s true I’ve gotten stronger in my own way since then, but even still, why is it always, always me getting the scary jobs…He let his thoughts run in negative circles for a few seconds and then came back to himself with a gasp. He hurried to catch up with his companions, who were already jumping one after another from the balcony of ice protruding from the exterior wall of the tower. As he joined the end of that train and headed toward the surface, he tried somehow to psyche himself up.

I mean, sure, it’s a God, but in the end, it’s just a bird, right? I just saw a real owl—I mean, horned owl—I mean, snow-faced owl before, didn’t I? I was totally fine being in the same hutch as a real bird of prey, so I don’t need to be afraid of a virtual Suzaku or sparrow or whatever. And it’s not like I’m gonna fight it and try to win or anything. All I have to do is fly full speed, get Shinomiya’s avatar, and then get out of there. That’s totally a breeze, right?

“Yeah! I’m gonna do it!” Haruyuki cried in a whisper beneath his helmet as he landed on the ground and started running with the others south through the large, icy valley.

The direct distance between Suginami and Chiyoda Wards was nearly ten kilometers. If they were in their real bodies, it would have been completely impossible to run all the way there at full speed without resting. But their duel avatars had no conception of fatigue, as long as they didn’t go beyond a certain limit. The five fell into a wedge formation with Black Lotus at the tip, hovering at high speed, and ran intently on a route through Shinjuku starting at Kannana Street and then along Tokyo Tokorozawa Route 4.

Along the way, the shadows of large Enemies appeared countless times, but they used side roads to avoid them all. Unlike in a Primeval Forest or a Factory, there were almost no obstacles in an Ice stage, so they could use central Tokyo’s dense network of roads essentially as is. However, because this also meant that there were few objects that could be destroyed, no breakable lump of ice they set their eyes upon was left unsmashed in the effort to charge up their special-attack gauges.

About forty minutes later, they had just climbed the hill continuing from Yotsuya to Kojimachi on Shinjuku Boulevard when a new scene abruptly spread out before Haruyuki’s eyes.

Splendid. Magnificent. Gorgeous. No matter how many adjectives he piled on, it wasn’t enough.

Several spires, like the enormous lances used by Beasts, shot up into the sky. Enshrined within, as if protected by these, was the fiercely beautiful Imperial Palace. Thick walls rose up tall all around, and these were further encircled by a deep, broad palisade. All the walls and pillars were made of ice colored a deep indigo; inside, countless red torches flickered. There was no sign of anything moving, but it most certainly wasn’t an abandoned building or some kind of ruins. From the depths of the palace came the definite and intense sense of the presence of something, someone.

The Imperial Palace in the Unlimited Neutral Field—

“The Castle,” Haruyuki said in a trembling voice, slowing his pace.

Before him, Kuroyukihime slowed similarly and came to a stop, carving out sharp ruts in the ice. “Yes,” she replied. “The alien world in the center of the Accelerated World. The impenetrable sanctuary the former Nega Nebulus challenged with its entire force, only to be smashed to pieces in a mere two minutes.”

Haruyuki’s whole body shuddered at her words as he strained his eyes once more.

The castle walls, around thirty meters high, carved out what was essentially a perfect circle. The layout should have been the same as the Imperial Palace in the real world, so he assumed it was about 1,500 meters in diameter. Shinjuku Boulevard, on which they stood, stretched out ahead, becoming an ice bridge over the infinite palisade encircling the Castle. On the other side of the bridge, thirty or so meters wide and five hundred meters long, stood an imposingly massive south-facing gate, the door closed to repel all comers.

“Master, that’s the west gate, corresponding to the Hanzomon Gate in the real world, isn’t it?”

Kuroyukihime nodded again in reply to Takumu’s question. Chiyuri jumped up onto her tiptoes and, glancing back and forth at the gate area, said doubtfully, “But Kuroyukihime…The Four Gods…That’s what they’re called, right? There’s no huge Enemy anywhere?”

“Bell, here, look over there.” Fuko walked up to stand beside Chiyuri and extended her left hand straight ahead. In the plaza beyond her fingertips where the ice bridge and the large gate connected was a slightly raised, perfectly square platform-like object. Pillars decorated each of the four corners, and the platform emanated the somehow severe air of an altar. “The instant anyone steps onto the bridge, the God pops up there. Their territory is the entire bridge, five hundred meters long and thirty meters wide. Incidentally, the palisade areas other than the bridge generate an unsuitable, abnormal gravity, making it impossible to jump over, even with my Gale Thruster. Immediately after flying out over the ravine, you’re dragged into the darkness at the bottom and die instantly. In this case, you regenerate on the outside edge.”

Forced to imagine falling into an infinite darkness, Haruyuki and his childhood friends were pushed into silence.

“Two and a half years ago,” Kuroyukihime began speaking softly, “Raker and I commanded one squad and challenged the God Byakko, who was guarding this west gate. We had previously taken down Legends countless times with essentially the same number of people, so we were ready to fight, inwardly boastful that the super class of Enemy was nothing. But as you know, the result was an atrocity. To be honest, just standing here now and looking at the gate…my knees go weak.”

“K-Kuroyukihime…” Her name slipped out of Haruyuki, and the inky black, mirrored goggles shook shortly from side to side.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Of course I have no intention of pulling back now. But, well, I want you to etch at least this into your hearts: A God is not something a person can fight. Whatever reason you might have, you absolutely must not attempt to face it. When I give the instruction, or when you personally feel that the situation has taken an unexpected turn, at that moment, use every bit of strength you have and retreat beyond the bridge.”

“Th-that’s—of course, we’ll try to, but…”

As Haruyuki attempted to indicate his compliance, Kuroyukihime met his eyes through his helmet dead-on and said in a much more severe tone, “‘Try’ is not enough. This is an order. Listen. When I say run, you run. Even if I, or Raker, or even both of us are about to be killed by Suzaku.”

“That’s…!” Instantly, Haruyuki inhaled sharply and raised his voice. “I’m the one who’s supposed to charge the bridge! You and Raker said that before, didn’t you?!”

Kuroyukihime and Fuko exchanged glances, then grinned with a deep warmth that could be sensed even through the mechanical masks of their avatars. They began talking at Haruyuki from both sides, switching off with each other.

“Ha-ha! Silly Crow. I would never send you on a solo special attack.”

“That’s right, Corvus. Bell and Pile would get mad at us if we did.”

“We’ll keep Suzaku focused on us. We won’t let it turn its eyes on you for even a second.”

“Please, the only thing you should be thinking about is rescuing Ardor Maiden.”

At this unexpected barrage, all Haruyuki could do was stare in turn at the faces of the two older Burst Linkers. The truth was, he wanted to shout, I’ll go by myself! just like he had worked himself up to do when they left his condo. But at that point, he was utterly convinced that he could never go up against a God alone, an Enemy that made even Kuroyukihime tremble. When it came to battle ability, Haruyuki didn’t even measure up to the ankles of these two older Linkers. He could insist on going, but it would be nothing more than empty posturing.

The one thing he could do was fly with all his might. That was the current Haruyuki’s actual ability and limit.

Unable to say anything, he hung his head, and Chiyuri, standing to his left, patted his shoulder lightly. “Sister, I’m sorry!” she said brightly at the same time. “I thought we were all just going to cheer Crow on when he charged into Suzaku’s nest alone! I wouldn’t get mad, no way.”

The minute she spoke, Haruyuki’s knees buckled. “H-hey!” he said reflexively. “You could at least heal me!”

“Naah, that’d just make the Enemy’s Hate grow.”

Takumu, Kuroyukihime, and Fuko all burst out laughing.

Right, there’s one other thing I can do, and that’s believe. In my friends’ abilities, our bonds, and the miracles they make happen. Murmuring to himself in his heart, Haruyuki clenched both hands tightly.

Kuroyukihime brandished the sword of her left hand in the sky. “Now we’ll run for a bit more. The south gate where Suzaku and Ardor Maiden await us is to the right, down Uchibori Street.”

After they had run a few minutes more, gazing at the majesty of the Castle on his left and the government district of Kasumigaseki transformed into frozen skyscrapers on his right, the second large bridge that was their destination came into view. It was exactly the same size as the one in the west: five hundred meters long, thirty wide. The perfectly square altar on the other side and the enormous castle gate beyond that were also exactly the same. In the real world, this was called Sakuradamon, the Castle’s southern gate. The sacred space protected by one of the Four Gods, the fire bird Suzaku.

They proceeded forward, encountering no obstructions, and when they finally reached the foot of the icy bridge, all five pulled up in an easy stop.

Sakurada Street in the south intersected Uchibori Street stretching out east-west, creating a large junction. On the land immediately to the southwest, a large building with sharp angles soared upward. He was pretty sure that this was the National Police Agency, nicknamed Sakuradamon after the adjacent palace gate. But naturally, there wasn’t a single police officer in this version of the building.

Standing in the center of the junction, Kuroyukihime pulled up the system menu from her own health gauge and checked the time. “It’s been exactly an hour since we dived. So far, everything’s going as planned.”

That meant that 3.6 seconds had passed in the Arita living room in the real world. The amount of time it would have taken Utai waiting there without diving to take two breaths or so. But he was sure it felt several times longer than that.

Kuroyukihime whirled around. “All right, then,” she said in a clear, echoing voice, looking at each of their faces in turn. “Now we carry out phase two of the Armor of Catastrophe Purification Plan: Rescue Ardor Maiden.”

The other four shouted, “Yes!” together.

Nodding once, the Black King continued, radiating a dignity befitting her title. “Let’s confirm the details of the plan one last time. The initial positioning is me, Black Lotus, at the very edge of the bridge base. Immediately behind me is Lime Bell. Farther behind, about two hundred meters down Sakurada Street, will be Sky Raker and Silver Crow.” She paused to allow everyone to draw out these positions in their minds. “I advance, signaling the start of the operation. I proceed to the center of the bridge and make Suzaku appear. When it does, Raker takes off with Crow on her back, using the Gale Thruster. She flies full speed toward the gate at an altitude of thirty meters. During this time, I hit Suzaku with a long-distance Incarnate attack and make myself its target, then immediately start to retreat. Is everything clear so far?”

“Yes!” the four responded.

Kuroyukihime nodded once more before looking at Fuko and Haruyuki. “Immediately before Raker in flight reaches the space above myself in retreat, Crow disengages. Adding the propulsive power of your own wings, you pass above the advancing Suzaku at full speed, aiming for the south gate. Raker lands in my position and deploys a defensive Incarnate. We retreat together while guarding against Suzaku’s fire breath. I intend to keep a minimum distance of a hundred meters from Suzaku’s position, so we shouldn’t die immediately, but we will likely take a considerable amount of damage. Bell will heal this from behind us on the bridge with her Citron Call Mode One. When Raker and I have retreated to a point near the foot of the bridge, Crow should have reached the altar of the Four Gods directly before the south gate. Ardor Maiden will appear in the center of that, so you pick her up, then a sudden ascent and a reversal of one hundred and eighty degrees. Go south over the bridge again, overtake Suzaku, and escape outside its territory. That’s all.”

The unfaltering explanation complete, Haruyuki expelled the breath he’d been holding.

This was the optimal solution, after careful consideration of the situation and their fighting abilities. Simple, ingenious. Once the operation began, there was no need for them to check in with one another any further. But there was one step and one factor missing.

The step was how they were going to coordinate Haruyuki’s full-speed charge with Utai’s dive when she was still in the real world. And the factor was one name that she hadn’t mentioned in her instructions.

Having reached these questions, Haruyuki still couldn’t bring himself to say anything, but almost as if she had read his mind, Kuroyukihime said, her voice dropping noticeably, “I’m sure you’ve all already realized this, but for this strategy to work, we need to control Utai’s appearance in the Unlimited Neutral Field down to the second. And the only way to do this is for someone to leave the field and tell Utai the timing. For that role…Cyan Pile, I’d like to ask you.”

“Understood, Master,” Takumu replied promptly. But Haruyuki noticed that this reply was just the tiniest bit delayed compared to his usual swift reaction time.

Takumu’s role of messenger to Utai in the real world was an essential element of the operation. But it was undeniable that the person selected for this would be the “last man standing.” Clever Takumu must have guessed this long before Haruyuki, probably even before Kuroyukihime had begun to explain. That he alone would not be able to remain on the battlefield where their lives were going to be risked against a God.

Haruyuki wasn’t sure if he should say something or not. But he understood that no matter what he said, he would just be hurting Takumu’s pride. Chiyuri, who always smoothed things over at times like this, was similarly silent.

“Our opponent this time is a flying type, right?” Takumu broke this momentary quiet with his own words. “I secretly thought this might be a bit tough for me, given that I’m so rigidly a close-range type. I gladly accept the role of messenger. But, Master, when we challenge Genbu or Byakko or some close-range type in the future, please give me a chance to fight, too.”

“Yes.” Kuroyukihime nodded, calm as usual. “At that time, I’ll name you leader of the shock corps, Pile. I’m counting on you. Get strong enough to beat them down.”

“Yes, I will. I definitely will,” Takumu replied, as if trying to convince himself, and nodded deeply.

Kuroyukihime turned back and took a deep breath. “Now then, any questions? Anything you want to say? Anything is fine. We do have plenty of time. I told Maiden that we’d likely make her wait five minutes at most, so if we felt like it, we could chatter away here for three days.”

“What? We can’t make Miss Mei wait that long. It’s sad, Kuroyukihime!” Chiyuri cried. Apparently, she had settled on that nickname for Utai in the Accelerated World. She would no doubt soon come up with a name full of fondness for real-world use as well.

Lucky. I wish I could call her a cute nickname instead of Shinomiya. Wonder if she’d get angry if I called her “Ui” like Niko…These thoughts flitted through his mind, but Haruyuki hurriedly brushed his mental chatter aside.

There was one thing he should probably take this opportunity to say to everyone there. Something that was likely equally, if not more, important than the plan to purify the Armor of Catastrophe. Naturally, this was the matter of the mysterious parasitic object that was quietly spreading throughout the Accelerated World—the ISS kit. However, after struggling with it for a few seconds, he decided not to say anything.

At that moment, they needed to focus solely on rescuing Ardor Maiden and muster up every bit of strength they had to do so. He couldn’t bring up something that was not directly connected with her and carve away even the tiniest bit of their concentration.

And he wasn’t the only one who had seen the ISS kit close-up. Utai, who had exchanged Incarnate attacks directly with Bush Utan, the owner of a kit, was actually closer to the true nature of that parasitic object than he was. In which case, discussion on this matter should happen after they rescued Utai’s avatar and Nega Nebulus was completely restored.

Thinking this way, Haruyuki kept his mouth closed, and Chiyuri, Takumu, and Fuko similarly did not move to speak.

“Good.” Kuroyukihime nodded sharply, slowly looking at all of their faces. “It seems that you’ve all made your mental preparations. Now, before the start of the operation, I have just one instruction for Lime Bell. If some unexpected situation should occur and everyone on the bridge is defeated by Suzaku, you absolutely must not try to save us. You have to return to the real world via the nearest portal and pull out the cable connecting Crow’s Neurolinker and his home server. Understood?”

A possibly cruel order. If they were forced to rely on this final safety, that would mean that not only Utai, but also Kuroyukihime, Fuko, and even Haruyuki had fallen into a state of unlimited EK.

But Chiyuri lifted the brim of her pointed hat resolutely and nodded firmly. “I understand, Kuroyukihime.”

“We’re counting on you. All right, then, shall we get started?” Kuroyukihime said casually, as if they were about to dive into the weekly battles to protect their territory.

She then turned to Takumu. “Now, Pile, there’s a portal immediately after the main gate of the police station there,” she instructed smoothly. “As the starting gun for the start of the operation, shoot off one blast of your Lightning Cyan Spike toward the sky before leaving for the real world. On the signal of your awakening, Utai will immediately dive. This relay will take approximately a second of real time, so the calculation is that sixteen minutes and forty seconds will pass here. During that time, Crow and Raker will drop back two hundred meters south on Sakurada Street and prepare for takeoff. A minute before Utai’s appearance, I will enter the bridge. When you see Suzaku appear, Raker, take off. From there, we proceed as planned.”

“Understood, Master. Okay, Raker, Bell, Crow. It’s up to you now.”

Instead of replying, Haruyuki thrust his right fist into the air, and Takumu met it with his left before whirling around. The blue avatar ran off without looking back and disappeared through the gates of the police station.

A few seconds later, a single bolt of lightning rose up toward the sky heavy with snow-filled clouds. Beyond the station was the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and beyond that, a forest of large buildings and the Tokyo High Court, so this light shouldn’t have been visible from any position other than that of Haruyuki and his companions.

With that, in sixteen minutes and forty seconds, Utai Shinomiya—Ardor Maiden—would appear on the other side of the large bridge. Whatever happened, Haruyuki had to grab her and escape to this side of the bridge.

“Well, Crow. Shall we get moving? Bell, Lotus, good luck,” Fuko said, and patted Haruyuki’s shoulder.

“R-right! Kuroyukihime, um, uhh, I’m gonna do everything I can.” He managed to push these few words out of a throat tight with nerves, and Kuroyukihime stared at him with violet-blue eyes.

“I know you will,” she replied briefly.

The following fifteen minutes felt almost infinite and yet incredibly fast, like a raging river.

Standing next to Sky Raker equipped with her Gale Thruster, Haruyuki intently tried to focus his mind, but he couldn’t even tell if he was succeeding in that or simply drowning in the random noise of his brain. Snowflakes danced down in the now-silent Unlimited Neutral Field; time itself seemed to have frozen.

Even at this distance, the massive castle gate to the north of Sakurada Street, enshrined another seven hundred meters beyond the length of the bridge, had lost almost none of its imposing presence. It obstructed Haruyuki’s view almost as if it locked away the world itself.

“Two and a half years ago, you tried to break that gate down,” he muttered, almost unconsciously, and Fuko immediately next to him let slip a faint smile.

“Not just the gate. We tried to attack the castle on the other side.”

“Oh, r-right.”

There was no doubt that the first Nega Nebulus had been a much more fearsome group than it was now. Haruyuki sighed at the thought and then gave voice to the question that abruptly popped up in his mind.

“But during the fight then, why did you decide to take on all four of the Gods? I know Kuroyukihime said yesterday that the Four Gods are four parts of one body, but there are four gates, so wouldn’t it have been better for the entire Legion to attack one of them?”

“That’s exactly what some people thought a long time ago, and so they tried it. And what they learned was that the Four Gods are linked to one another. Whenever one of them alone is attacked, the other three send healing spells and it ends up being quite the battle. But today, we’re not trying to defeat it, so that doesn’t matter right now.”

“Oh, th-that makes sense.”

Thinking about it, if Haruyuki could come up with that idea, then it was only natural that it had already been tested. Bobbing his head up and down, he continued. “Right. There must be a ton of Legions who’ve challenged the palace. And not just the Castle. They dug around in unexplored areas; they came up with all kinds of battle techniques. They’re lucky. If I had become a Burst Linker sooner—”

“Hee-hee-hee, what are you talking about, Corvus?” Fuko cut him off with a smile and words like a sigh, and suddenly hugged Haruyuki tightly. He froze, while a somehow playful whisper reached his ear. “It starts now. Your Brain Burst—all of it starts now, Corvus. For me and Lotus as well. The road we thought was ending really goes on and on. It spreads out infinitely. And you’re the one who made me realize this.”

The hands circling around his back held him even more tightly. The voice that rose up in his ear also was tinged with a warmth to melt the chill of the Ice stage. “In your silver wings is the power to open the world, Corvus. Your future spreads out in every direction. I want to see where those wings take you. I’m sure Lotus and Maiden feel the same way. Now then, shall we go rescue her? It’s time.” Gently, she released him from her embrace.

At some point, Haruyuki’s mind had become completely clear, filled with a single, firm purpose.

Fly. He would simply fly. That ability was the reason for the existence of Silver Crow, this avatar that Haruyuki’s heart had given birth to.

“Yes!” Haruyuki assented firmly.

Sky Raker kneeled down, back turned to him. He set his knee down in the center of the two rocket boosters of her Enhanced Armament Gale Thruster, and grabbed tightly onto her shoulders.

“I’m ready.”

Fuko nodded and stared intently at the large bridge before them.

There were two small shadows at the foot of it: Black Lotus and Lime Bell. Ten seconds later, Lotus brandished high the sword of her right hand and brought it down sharply.