Armor of Catastrophe Page 4

  An utterly enormous worm-type monster then leapt out of the pit with a wet sound, scattering droplets of mucous. The hell snake Jormungand, a Legend-class Enemy, the strongest beings in the Accelerated World outside of the Four Gods that guarded the four gates of the Castle.

  This type of Enemy appeared only in stages that were in part organic, such as Purgatory, Plague, or Corroded Forest, and if a player happened to stumble across one, their fate was essentially sealed. However, since its Territory as a Legend was only a small crater, thirty meters in diameter, even if you were killed by it once, it was possible to get away in the ten or so seconds before Jormungand appeared again after you were regenerated. As long as something—or someone—wasn’t deliberately blocking your movement.

  Jormungand approached the head of Saffron Blossom hung up on the black cross, completely unable to move. Beneath lens-like red eyes, neatly arranged in two rows for a total of sixteen, there was a circular mouth—a predation hole—surrounded by long tentacles. It was filled out by layers of sawlike teeth, and a viscous fluid dripped unceasingly from the bottomless hole as it shot out toward the slender avatar. Saffron’s body shuddered momentarily; her head sagged even farther.

  “Stop…Stooooooop!!” But there was no reason the inhuman Enemy would even hear the hoarse, unconscious cry from under Falcon’s helmet.

  The snake’s meter-wide mouth stretched open above Blossom’s head. The mucous it secreted continued to ooze out without pause, and white smoke puffed up from the golden yellow armor it fell upon. The fluid had the effect of temporarily and significantly reducing an avatar’s physical defense power. The silver armor Blossom was clad in suddenly lost its sheen. As if waiting for this, Jormungand swallowed her torso wholesale with the cross.

  Before his eyes, his view dyed a light red with the scorching heat of his emotions, the partner he had lived a lifetime with shrieked in endless agony.

  The power of the Enhanced Armament Destiny far exceeded his expectations.

  It rendered physical attacks essentially ineffective—slicing, hitting, piercing, shooting, exploding, all of it. When it came to energy attacks as well, it reflected laser types. Resistant against cold, heat, electricity. Only corrosion, the natural Enemy of metal armor, could not be repelled, but there were basically no duel avatars with that kind of attack anyway. Invincible, without exaggeration; its defensive power was almost frightening.

  However, when he thought about it, in theory, only someone who had broken through the absolutely invulnerable superclass Enemies, the Four Gods, could obtain this armor, so it was probably the final item in this game Brain Burst. Aided by chance and luck, and some system flaws, he had managed to acquire it now, when the game was likely still in the opening stages. So it wasn’t strange at all that it would exhibit such overwhelming power.

  Even its owner herself, Saffron Blossom, was afraid of the power of the Destiny, so great that it could destroy the balance of the game itself. At any rate, the full-charge special attacks of red and blue types, which had up to that point taken essentially all of her health gauge in one blow, now carved away only the merest hint of damage, even with a direct hit. After she had appeared in just a few general duels, talk had raced around the Accelerated World, and Blossom had gotten a flood of offers to buy the armor and invitations to join powerful Legions. And of course, much cursing about how it was a fraud, she was a cheat, et cetera et cetera.

  If this had been back when she had just been fighting tag-team duel after duel with Falcon, Blossom would probably have sealed the armor away or disposed of it.

  But she now had an impossible dream. She wanted to start up a cooperative Legion to prevent total point loss, remove the brutal death game elements from the Accelerated World, so that everyone could have fun fighting—or, better yet, she wanted to make a place where they could live.

  Given that Saffron had been sentenced to die before reaching adulthood and had accepted that destiny within herself, perhaps this was her own secret struggle. She wanted to scatter seeds over the desolate land of the Accelerated World and make flowers bloom. Maybe this had been her dream all this time, since the moment she’d become a BB player.

  To actually make the burst point–lending system that was the heart of the cooperative Legion work, she first needed a sufficient points pool. And the fighting power to keep in check those participants of malicious intent planning to skip out on the bill who were sure to appear.

  For Blossom, the Destiny and its overwhelming power, plenty even for Enemy hunting, never mind duels, was nothing other than a ticket to the realization of this dream. Although wearing the armor did cut back on the number of challenges from outside, Blossom and Falcon repulsed without exception the many warriors who did come at them.

  On the day that they had managed to crush even one of the Pure Colors, said to be the strongest in that world—albeit two against one—Blossom finally announced her own plan to the broader Accelerated World. At the same time, she started widely recruiting people wishing to join the new Legion.

  And then yesterday. More than thirty BB players had jointly signed and sent a message saying that they wanted to hear more of the details.

  The pair was delighted, but they felt a hint of unease. Because those players had requested the Unlimited Neutral Field as a place to meet and talk. They wanted to confirm that it was really possible to safely hunt Enemies, and Blossom and Falcon basically agreed with their reasoning, but they couldn’t know what would happen in that field. In the worst-case scenario, all thirty of the signatories would attack at once.

  But even assuming they did, equipped with the Destiny, it was unthinkable that Blossom would be killed with one blow. So they gave themselves some insurance by specifying a meeting place near a leave point. If it was a trap, they could immediately leap into the portal.

  Still, they couldn’t say this plan was foolproof. Direct attacks weren’t the only abilities duel avatars had. If anyone gathered at the meeting had some kind of obstruction attack like Blossom herself did, such as freezing legs or stealing vision, there was a possibility that they would be prevented from escaping through the portal. However, they dared to overlook this risk. Among the names in the message were more than a few old acquaintances. They couldn’t really believe that all these people were conspiring together to set a malicious trap. They didn’t want to believe it.

  Just in case, they checked the place for the day’s meeting—a portal in a building corresponding to the Shibaura parking area on the north side of the Rainbow Bridge in the real world—from afar first. Among the more than thirty avatars already gathered were indeed the faces noted in the message.

  As Blossom and Falcon stepped out from under the elevated Shuto expressway and started walking, heaving sighs of relief, two thin black panels suddenly appeared from beneath their feet.

  An incredible pressure held them categorically in place.

  “Stop…Please stop! Why…Why would you…!!”

  The screams poured out of him unawares as Chrome Falcon stared at the terrifying snake, worlds removed from the fabled image of the romantic concept of a legend, burying its countless fangs in his beloved partner.

  The question was addressed to the dozens of BB players standing along the edge of the depression that was the snake’s nest.

  The majority were faces he knew, and there were several he was friendly enough with to make amiable conversation with if they happened to be in the Gallery together. Naturally, he had dueled them any number of times, but his wins and losses were about fifty–fifty. He couldn’t remember doing anything that would cause anyone to hate him so much as to set up a trap this cruel.

  But they maintained their silence, not even glancing in the direction of Falcon pinned to the ground. Their attention was focused completely on the tragedy unfolding at the bottom of the basin. A similar awe and shuddering fear colored all their face masks. But that wasn’t the whole of it. Falcon felt strongly that the terror on their faces masked something very,
very unpleasant underneath.

  Suddenly, he heard a low, smooth voice from behind him to the right. “Sorry, Falcon. I at least will respond on their behalf.”

  The owner of the voice that so vividly reminded him of some schoolteacher somewhere was the very person controlling the two thin panels and the cross, restraining Falcon and Blossom. Falcon didn’t know his name. He had never seen him before in the Accelerated World, not even once, this duel avatar and its bizarre form—pieces of a black sheet cut out and stood up in the shape of a person.

  “The power of that Enhanced Armament is too far beyond the norms of this world, given that it is still in its dawn. You no doubt experienced this fact directly yourself via the duels you’ve fought these last few days?”

  Even the oldest BB players could only be in second grade in the real world. Having worn a Neurolinker continuously from immediately after birth was a requirement for the installation of Brain Burst, and consumer Neurolinkers had gone on sale the year that Falcon and the others in the “first generation” had been born.

  However, the tone of the jet-black layered avatar could hardly be thought to be that of a child. It sounded even older than the young man in his twenties who was Falcon’s homeroom teacher in the real world. Fighting back against the pressure of the thin panels, Falcon focused on pushing his voice out.

  “Then…we’ll dispose of the armor in the shop. All the points we get for it, we distribute equally to everyone. That’s gotta be good…There’s no need to do all this. There isn’t, right…!!”

  “Unfortunately, with that method, the Enhanced Armament will remain in the shop. We very well might see someone come forward to obtain it and once again destroy the balance of the game. That armor must be returned to where it was originally. The only method of achieving that end, Falcon, is for a power other than that of a player to eliminate the owner.”

  At the same time as the infinitely calm voice related all this to him, Saffron Blossom’s avatar crumbled into countless tiny pieces in Jormungand’s mouth and was smashed to bits. A pillar of golden yellow light rose up high into the sky, drawing out a momentary grave marker before disappearing.

  The hell snake, having butchered the intruder in a single bite, slithered back into its nest, waving its tentacles in a seemingly satisfied manner. The jet-black cross also sank soundlessly into a thin shadow on the ground.

  And then all that was left was a small saffron yellow light. According to the rules of the Unlimited Neutral Field, Blossom would regenerate in that location after being placed in a ghost state for an hour. She should have, at least.

  But to his left, from a place Falcon couldn’t see, his view blocked by a black panel, a stealthy voice whispered, “Resurrect By Compassion.”

  Riding on a voice so pure and clean it almost couldn’t belong to a human being, tiny particles of light flowed out into space and danced down to the bottom of the basin. The instant they touched the golden yellow “embers,” a pillar of dazzling white light poured down from the sky, contracted and condensed to take shape as a lone avatar: Saffron Blossom. The cross appeared at the feet of the slender silhouette as she very nearly crumpled to the ground, to hold her in place once more and stand her up right next to the snake’s nest.

  They had already been through the same process countless times. The number of burst points a player lost in death in an Enemy fight was fixed at ten, so the points she had built up through successive wins this last little while weren’t so easily exhausted. A never-ending cycle of cruel death and even crueler rebirth.

  There were other instances before this of an avatar plunging deep into the territory of a Legend and being killed over and over, unable to escape, until they lost all their points. BB players fearfully called this phenomenon Unlimited Enemy Death. However, the layered black avatar and the others who had set this trap for Falcon and Blossom were deliberately bringing this phenomenon about with the black cross and the white light. As a result, it wasn’t death, but rather a passive execution. Unlimited Enemy Kill.

  …Please, just stop already. Having lost the power to even raise his voice in supplication, he simply prayed beneath his silver surface.

  In the Unlimited Neutral Field, the sensation of pain from damage was increased, so that it was essentially the same as in the real world. Each time Blossom was killed by Jormungand, she would have experienced intense pain equivalent to her body actually being ripped apart. Even if there wasn’t a scratch on her real body, the memory of the pain carved into her consciousness—her soul—would never disappear.

  No…

  Perhaps the source of the pain she actually felt was not the monster’s fangs, but rather the stares of the dozens of players standing around the basin. These people who were once friends, who’d called Blossom out with a fake message, dropped her into this trap, and simply watched as she was killed over and over again by a horrific snake.

  More than just terror and panic, Fal could definitely catch hints of a vague excitement in their face masks. Part of it was that childish element of I saw something scary. But an ugly emotion much more real hid behind that, the exact same thing that bled through when a group in elementary school tried to expel someone different from them.

  And simultaneously, in the exact same position as the student who simply watches from a safe distance, unable to do anything for the person being expunged, was Chrome Falcon.

  If only he hadn’t snuck into the Castle; if only he hadn’t brought out the Enhanced Armament Destiny. If he hadn’t given it to Blossom, none of this would be happening. He had caused all of this, and yet he was simply staring at the suffering figure of the person he loved, not a scratch on him.

  The snake, detecting the forcefully resurrected Blossom, came slithering out from the depths of its nest once again to approach her. The shuffling vibration shook the ground, but the golden yellow avatar no longer even flinched. She hung lifelessly from the black cross, waiting for death for the nth time. Or else the total loss of points, the loss of memory that came after these deaths, under the name “the end.”

  I…

  I’m making the same mistake again.

  I won’t pretend not to see anymore. I’m never going to avert my eyes again from someone hurt and alienated and about to lose their place. I promised myself that. And yet I can’t do anything. I’m just losing someone important like this again…

  “…No.” His mental energy almost entirely exhausted, he squeezed a voice out. “No more. I’m sick of being the one left behind.”

  The two thin plates that held his avatar communicated to his senses an absolute weight, as if the world itself were fixing them there. Falcon had already been made quite aware of the fact that, no matter how much strength he mustered up, he could not move them even a millimeter. But there was still just one possibility for escape.

  Break his own metallic armor instead of the jet-black panels.

  “Unh…Ah…Aaaaaah…” Focusing on his creaking groan, he mustered up the last of his strength and pushed at the panels on either side with both arms. Pushed.

  The chrome silver armor shrieked, unable to withstand the pressure. Up to that point, this was where he had given up. But now he ignored the feeling that he would be crushed and pushed harder.

  “Now stop that, Falcon,” the layered avatar murmured, sounding genuinely concerned. “We have no intention of eliminating you. Once our plan is complete, we intend to properly release you. It’ll likely only be one or two more times, so perhaps you could please sit quietly until then.”

  “Shut…up…!!” He turned his revolt at the selfish remarks into physical power and hit at the black panels. Thin cracks finally began to race along the armor of both arms. A pain resembling sparks. But this was not enough. It was most certainly not enough.

  “…Ngh…!!”

  With a soundless howl he released as much force as he could, and in an instant the armor of both arms crumbled away with a hard metallic sound. A damage effect resembling fresh blood gushed
out from his dark-gray basic-construct body, and a pain so intense it stopped his breath raced along his nerves. And then, along with a serious drop in his HP gauge, his special-attack gauge was charged about 20 percent. He shouted hoarsely, “Flash Blink!”

  The avatar of Chrome Falcon transformed into substanceless quanta and finally escaped the restraint of the thin panels. At a speed that was basically teleporting, he charged forward and materialized fifteen meters away.

  Before his eyes was the crucified Saffron Blossom and the head of Jormungand ready to bite into that slim body.

  With the last ounce of his strength, he beat at the enormous snake with the sharp toes of his right foot, smashing one of its many red eyes. The injured eye oozed a viscous fluid, and the two-tiered HP gauge of his Enemy dropped a depressingly minuscule amount. But, perhaps caught off guard and surprised, the snake released Blossom and shook its head wildly.

  As they were bathed in the enraged thundering roar of the Enemy, a faint voice weakly disturbed the air.

  “Petal Shelter.”

  Several massive green petals were generated from the base of the cross to create a round bud that enclosed them both—Saffron Blossom’s level-five special attack. The tough flower petals protected the interior completely against any and all attacks. Effect time: thirty seconds.

  Inside the sphere full of a peaceful light-green glow, Falcon caught Blossom as she fell from the now-vanished cross with his armorless arms.

  He crouched down with her and stared intently at the face of his beloved partner. These thirty seconds were the final moments given to them.

  Once the petals disappeared, the cross would reappear to restrain them both. And then there was no doubt that Jormungand would follow its instincts and continue to butcher its prey, now increased in number.