1

“You absolutely cannot say a single word.”

“You absolutely have to be quiet right up to the end.”

“You absolutely must stay quiet.”

“You absolutely cannot get mad no matter what happens.”

Haruyuki had received these detailed instructions from his Legion head and its three executive members, but still, the instant he saw a certain someone, he had to fight the powerful urge to leap up, grab his collar, and send a right straight punch slamming into the other avatar’s face with all the power of his body behind it.

Sunday, July 7, 2047: The year’s third meeting of the Seven Kings opened with Cobalt Blade and Manganese Blade of the Blue Legion starting the match for the rest of them to attend, just as it had the previous two times.

From the Leonids, the attendance included the Blue King, “Vanquish” Blue Knight, and these two, his close warrior aides. From the Green Legion, Great Wall, there was the Green King, “Invulnerable” Green Grandé, and his lieutenant, Iron Pound. From the Purple Legion, Aurora Oval, there was the Purple King, “Empress Voltage” Purple Thorn, and her deputy, Aster Vine. From the Yellow Legion, Crypt Cosmic Circus, there was the Yellow King, “Radioactive Disturber” Yellow Radio, and a small F-type avatar Haruyuki had never seen before. From the Red Legion, Prominence, there was the Red King, the “Immobile Fortress” Scarlet Rain, and her deputy, Blood Leopard. From the Black Legion, there was the Black King, “World End” Black Lotus, her deputy, Sky Raker, a bonus Silver Crow, and one other person. And then from the White Legion, Oscillatory Universe, there was Ivory Tower, the full proxy of the White King, “Transient Eternity” White Cosmos.

Haruyuki himself had never directly exchanged words with the sorcerer-like Ivory Tower. He’d only ever heard his voice a scant few times at the previous meetings. Regardless, the instant that the excessively thin silhouette of that avatar appeared soundlessly in the meeting venue, he burned with an overwhelming rage at his very core, and he couldn’t stop himself from clenching his hands into tight fists.

Because it was clear to him now that Ivory Tower was a high-ranking member of the Acceleration Research Society, the group he’d been fighting for three months that had done so much to sow malice and chaos in the Accelerated World.

Seven days earlier, Haruyuki had discovered the terrifying truth: The Acceleration Research Society lay within the White Legion. The majority of the Legion members were probably completely unaware of this, but given that Ivory Tower was ranked highly enough to be here as the king’s proxy, there was no way he couldn’t be aware of the dark reality.

At the first meeting of the Seven Kings on June 16, when they had discussed the matter of the Acceleration Research Society’s Black Vise and Rust Jigsaw interfering in the Hermes’ Cord race, Ivory Tower had, with a straight face, voiced the doubt, “Who on earth is this Burst Linker who released the Incarnate in the middle of an event and pulled even the Gallery into the Space Corrosion, and what is their objective?”

Haruyuki knew now the massive deceit that colored that declaration. Because Ivory Tower had to have known only too well both Rust Jigsaw’s name and the objective of that attack. And yet he had so magnificently feigned innocence; perhaps Haruyuki should instead admire the nerve that it took to lie. In fact, this very moment once again proved that Ivory Tower was not in possession of anything less than exceptional mental strength.

The White King, White Cosmos, had to have told the executive members Black Vise, Argon Array, and Ivory Tower that she had made it clear to each member of the Black Legion that she was the leader of the Acceleration Research Society. Which meant that Ivory Tower had to have known that his own secret had been exposed to Haruyuki and his comrades, and yet he continued to sit calmly in one of the seven chairs.

As usual, the duel avatar’s sense of presence was weak, and Haruyuki felt not a hint of nervousness or mental perturbation coming from him. In fact, Haruyuki couldn’t sense anything of the consciousness or thoughts of the real-life Burst Linker that should have lived within the avatar. He was almost like a human-shaped Enemy or a sculpture made of marble.

“Looks like we’re all here, so how about we get started?”

The affable voice of Blue Knight made Haruyuki shiver. Next to him, Fuko touched Silver Crow’s fingers lightly. He felt like he could hear his master’s voice telling him Calm down, and in his heart he replied, Okay. Because, unfortunately, they couldn’t censure Ivory Tower or the White Legion here now.

Kuroyukihime had reported the following three points to the kings in advance: The Archangel Metatron guarding Midtown Tower had been crushed using the anti-laser ability Silver Crow had acquired; the ISS kit main body on the forty-fifth floor of Midtown Tower had been destroyed; and with the destruction of the main body, all kit terminals had at present been rendered powerless.

All of which was to say, she had not mentioned a word about the other fight that had taken place at the girls’ school, which they presumed was also the White Legion’s headquarters. The reason for that, of course, was they didn’t have a shred of evidence that the White Legion was actually a front for the Acceleration Research Society. If they weren’t careful, they could end up on the stand instead and be slapped with a penalty for slander.

We’re going to get them by the tail at some point. We just have to hang on until then, Haruyuki told himself, while on the opposite side of the circular meeting space, the Blue King stood up, his armor clanking.

“First of all, how about we hear the investigation reports from each Legion? …Actually, maybe I should put it like this instead: Has there been any confirmation of a Burst Linker still able to use the ISS kit this past week?”

No one raised a hand. This was only natural, given that Kuroyukihime, Fuko, Akira, and Utai had smashed the kit main body after a fierce battle, but even so, Haruyuki let out a sigh of relief beneath his goggles.

The Blue King nodded slowly and then softened his tone slightly. “Then there’s no need to hear individual reports. The eyeballs—the ISS kits—all disappeared when the main body was destroyed; there’s not a single one left now. I would like to say one thing to the Black King, however. She went on a special mission to Midtown Tower without telling us; although, well, it’s not like this is the first time Lotus has acted arbitrarily on her own authority.”

“I’m surprised you would say that, Vanquish.” Kuroyukihime spread her arms lightly, seated on her impromptu seat. “At the previous meeting, we agreed that Silver Crow would obtain the Theoretical Mirror ability and use that power to defend against the laser of Archangel Metatron. Or at least, that’s what I thought. I hadn’t heard we required your approval for the actual mission.”

“True—no one said you did.” The Blue King smiled wryly. “But normally, a person wouldn’t think of going up against that monster with six or seven people.”

“She was just greedy and wanted to stand out,” the Purple King interjected in a thorny tone. “She thought that if they managed to defeat that monstrosity all by themselves, her Legion would be all the more highly valued, and they could have the Burst Points and drops all to themselves.”

“Heh-heh! It’s true that there’s no precedent for defeating that thing outside of a Hell stage, right?” the Yellow King interjected. “It probably dropped a mighty fine item, hmm?”

“Prooollllyyy!” the small girl-type avatar on standby behind him said, her enunciation unclear. Her posture was unstable because she was sitting on top of a gaudy-colored ball. With her lemon-yellow leotard armor, plus the triangular hat and its large pom-poms, her duel avatar’s motif seemed to be a circus girl on a balancing ball.

Haruyuki was outraged at the contempt they displayed for his swordmaster, but not so much that he forgot himself and shouted a rebuttal. Half his mind was consumed by another concern.

“Um, could you all please not say monster and monstrosity and thing, though?” he thought desperately at the kings.

A female voice, pure as a heavenly chime and cool like a blizzard in Hades, echoed inside his head. “It seems that the blue one, the purple one, and the yellow one do not value their lives.”

The owner of the voice was the “other person” in their meeting contingent. The small icon riding on Haruyuki’s left shoulder was about five centimeters long, with a spindle-shaped body, thin ring, and a single pair of wings—the topic of conversation herself, the Legend-class Enemy, one of the Four Divines, Archangel Metatron.

“My servant, Silver Crow. Strike those insolent beings down immediately.”

“D—” He very nearly spoke out loud before switching to neurospeak and yelling, “D-d-don’t ask the impossible! Those people are superstrong!”

“You say they are strong, but that is, at best, strong on the level of you little warriors.”

“W-well, I am one of them…”

“Aah, how vexing. If I had my original power back, I could burn them to ash in an instant.”

“That would turn the Accelerated World into a warring state! So stop it!!”

Even as this cold-sweat-inducing conversation took place in his mind, Haruyuki felt a hazy warmth deep in his heart at the exchange with Metatron, the first in a few days.

It had already been a week since the fierce battle with the Acceleration Research Society at Tokyo Midtown Tower and the girls’ school in Minato Ward. Thanks to the guidance of a mysterious voice that said it was “somethingterasu,” he had managed to revive Metatron, thought to have disappeared protecting Haruyuki from the Armor of Catastrophe, Mark II’s final, most powerful attack. But because she had pushed herself to her limit to transform herself into light energy in order to counteract Mark II’s immense nihilistic power, she had lost essentially her full battle power. It was all she could do now to manifest as a tiny 3-D icon, and she couldn’t appear unless Haruyuki established the link from his side. He had called her to this meeting because he wanted her to see the kings—and Ivory Tower in particular.

Currently, Metatron’s actual self as an Enemy existed in her first form in the deepest level of the massive labyrinth beneath Shiba Park in the Unlimited Neutral Field, also known as the Contrary Cathedral. Metatron’s real body was her second form, with her massive first form apparently being something like an Enhanced Armament with automatic battle functions. The latter was still easily able to greet with fire any Burst Linkers that challenged the dungeon to confront her, the last boss. However, if they managed to clear the secret requirement of defeating her first form outside of a Hell stage, they would next have to fight Metatron’s true form.

In her current state, having lost the majority of her power, she said she wouldn’t be able to fight much beyond her first form. Which meant that the terrible damage from the battle at the girls’ academy had been deep enough to cut through to even her main body.

When they died, Enemies regenerated with the Change. But the regenerated Enemy was at best a different individual of the same species; it was thought that the memories from their previous life were not passed on. The Metatron that had eight thousand years of continuous thought, referred to herself as a Being, and created a bond with Haruyuki would have been completely extinguished.

It was very close to impossible to defeat her first form without taking advantage of the weakening effect the Hell stage had on her. And now that the Arc, The Luminary—the treasure at the end of the Contrary Cathedral—was gone, he couldn’t believe any Burst Linkers were heading in to take on that challenge anyway.

But the possibility was not zero. Haruyuki himself had proved the week before that it was possible to defeat her first form outside of a Hell stage as long as you had some method of reflecting the massive laser Trisagion. And that fact was also known to at least the kings and their executives gathered there today.

Of course, he would never tell the other Legions the requirements to make Metatron’s main body appear. He’d also asked the Red Legion’s Niko and Pard, who had both fought alongside them in the battle that day, to keep this a secret. But the high rankers were also veteran gamers at the same time as they were strong warriors. It wouldn’t surprise him if some among them managed to figure out that something might happen if they defeated Metatron’s first form outside the Hell stage.

Right. The Acceleration Research Society might know about those requisites to produce the second form of Metatron, given that they tamed her first form with the power of The Luminary and dragged her out of the dungeon. There was the possibility that they would try to tame her again to use her, or even defeat her while she was in a tamed state.

We have to hurry and do something. It’ll be too late after Metatron vanishes. This time, I’ll protect her. I will…Absolutely.

Perhaps sensing Haruyuki’s feelings, the icon on his shoulder stopped flapping its wings to express its indignation. “You, a servant, dares to fear for my own self? You might as well have been born yesterday.”

The voice that echoed in his mind was curt as always, but it was missing the thorny edge.

“It’s only natural for a servant to worry about his master,” he retorted immediately, feeling embarrassed that she had read his mind.

“Your manner of speaking is impertinent.”

Even while they were having this conversation, the Seven Kings continued their discussion in the meeting venue.

“Either way, there’s no doubt that the ISS kit outbreak was cut short on the verge of a pandemic thanks to the distinguished service of Negabu,” the Blue King said. “I think we can all agree on this.”

“Although that doesn’t erase the betrayal of three years ago,” the Purple King assented while also offering a warning, and the tension in the venue eased the slightest bit. The Yellow King also appeared to have no further interest in jeers.

The Green King was silent as always, practically a large rock in a chair, while the Red King, who knew the truth about the whole situation, had her arms crossed in front of her as if to say she had no intention of making any unnecessary statements.

Just when Haruyuki thought the debate over the ISS kits was done, the ivory-colored avatar sitting silently in the front stood slowly and raised his right hand. “Um, may I speak?”

The tone of the full proxy of the White King, Ivory Tower, was lazy. His voice was essentially featureless, communicating nothing but the fact that he was probably male. When the Blue King nodded, he continued, slowly turning the tapered tower of his head.

“I understand that the ISS kit main body at Tokyo Midtown Tower was destroyed by the Black King, and all the kit terminals have now been rendered inactive. But there is nothing to celebrate here. What kind of measures shall we take for the ones pulling the strings behind these incidents, the Acceleration Study Group—er, no, Research Society, wasn’t it?”

Haruyuki was forced to use every spare bit of his mental energy to control himself once more. How can you say that?! He at least managed to calm himself down somewhat by shouting in his mind. A moment later, he asked Fuko quietly, “What exactly is he planning?”

Fuko, too, was aware that Ivory Tower was almost certainly an ally of the ARS. “Perhaps a challenge to us,” she murmured, still facing forward, so quietly he could just barely hear her. “I think he’s trying to make us call out the White Legion and then use that against us.”

“Like demand proof? Ugh, I wish we had some definitive evidence we could just slap down right now.”

“When the White King interrupted our meeting, I thought about using a replay card to record it, but unfortunately, she was in a dummy avatar. And it would’ve been difficult to get a card out of storage without her noticing.”

A replay card was a card item for recording video. The memory of how the Yellow King had used one to upset Kuroyukihime during the fifth Chrome Disaster incident six months earlier was still fresh, but not only had Haruyuki himself never used one, he didn’t even know how to get one.

“Um, how do you get a replay card?” he asked, even more quietly.

“At the shop, of course.” Fuko smiled faintly.

“Oh! R-right.”

“But you are forbidden from entering any shop for the time being, Corvus.”

“R-right…”

In the Unlimited Neutral Field (aka the Mean Level), the shop was a place that sold items…apparently. Given that Haruyuki’s hobby was going around to retro game shops, he was immensely curious about this shop. But Kuroyukihime and Fuko reasoned that he would clearly spend needless points there and had forbidden him from entering one. And given that he had once nearly used up all his points carelessly leveling up, he couldn’t say their concern was unwarranted.

“If this ‘shop’ you are prattling on about is the item vendor that exists in the Mean Level, I’d do the utmost to stay away,” Metatron’s voice echoed in his mind. “I have never visited one.”

“Huh…Wh-why not?”

“Because that is another device to classify you little warriors.”

“To classify…us…?” Haruyuki longed to one day go to this shop he’d still never even seen and buy all the treats he expected were inside, so Metatron’s words surprised and puzzled him. But the icon on his shoulder fell silent, so with no other choice, he turned his focus back to the kings’ conversation.

“Now listen, just because you’re a proxy, don’t talk like this has nothing to do with you,” the Purple King snapped in response to Ivory Tower’s question, slamming the butt of her staff—The Tempest, one of the Seven Arcs—loudly against the floor of the stage. She continued to speak, her voice as sharply edged as her name of Thorn. “To begin with, the ISS kit main body was found in Tokyo Midtown, and that is within Oscillatory territory. In which case, shouldn’t you have done something about it in the first place? And yet you left the reconnaissance to GW and the attack to Negabu. And now, on top of that, you intend to have us take care of this Acceleration Research Society or whoever they are?”

The King Purple Thorn was the most antagonistic toward Black Lotus, but at this moment at least, Haruyuki couldn’t help himself from cheering her on, internally shouting for her to keep telling the ivory avatar off.

It was only natural that the White King did not try to get on board with the Midtown Tower attack. Because the very person who had set the ISS kit main body in that place and captured Metatron’s first form for guard duty was the White King herself.

But there was no way that Ivory Tower was going to tell them that. Haruyuki focused his gaze on the mage, wondering exactly how he would dodge the Purple King’s questioning. If he revealed a single weakness, Kuroyukihime would immediately take to the offensive.

When he did speak again, finally, it was, however, in the same unhurried tone. “That’s all fine and good to say, but this did take place in the Unlimited Neutral Field, where we cannot see the area borders. Unlike Aurora Oval, we do not assert our right to rule in the Unlimited Neutral Field. In fact, we have not interfered in any way in the activities of Great Wall or Nega Nebulus within the Minato Area, yes?”

“That just means you haven’t done anything. And the reason we prohibit unauthorized entry into our area in the Unlimited Neutral Field is because so many idiots frequent the many high-class shops in Ginza until their point balance is tottering on the edge, and then they get caught by an Enemy on their way home and end up in total point loss.”

“So you’re saying to enter at your own risk? Overprotection is an obstruction to the growth of the younger ones. We want you to understand that doing nothing is also a contribution, Purple King.”

Ivory Tower was disdainful, and deputy Aster Vine standing by behind Purple Thorn took a step forward, reddish-purple armor reminiscent of a military uniform clanging.

“You would mock us?! You’re the one who asked what we should do about the Acceleration Research Society. So in that case, how about instead of being all slippery and evasive, you actually offer up a constructive solution?!”

“I would love it if I could. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information on this Acceleration Research Society or what have you, so there is no way for me to offer anything in the way of a solution.”

Shameless. Haruyuki also considered jumping out in front of Ivory and giving him a piece of his mind, but he resisted the urge, telling himself that this was probably exactly what Ivory wanted.

Blue Knight shook his head in exasperation at the bickering; there had long been issues between the White and Purple Legions, simply because of the proximity of their territories. Meanwhile, Yellow Radio sneered, and Niko and Kuroyukihime watched wordlessly.

The voice that broke the heavy, tense silence could only be heard by Haruyuki.

“That little warrior…is strange somehow,” the 3-D icon on his shoulder murmured.

“Strange?” he replied in his thoughts as he glanced over at Aster and Ivory. “Which one?”

“The white one. Despite the fact that his battle power is numerically much lower than that of the blue or the purple warriors, the amount of information alone is extremely large…”

“Amount of information?”

This was probably the “information pressure” Niko talked about. Again, he looked hard at Ivory Tower, seated in the impromptu chair, but he didn’t sense anything along the lines of the pressure he was getting from the kings. In fact, it seemed like Tower’s presence was much fainter than Aster Vine or Cobalt Blade or any of the executive Linkers in each camp.

Still, given that he was a top member of the White Legion/Acceleration Research Society, it was obvious that he was no ordinary Burst Linker. Haruyuki focused his mind to try to feel something.

“If you could see that little warrior from the Highest Level,” Metatron murmured, “you would understand all kinds of things.”

“I—I would? Then let’s just go—”

“Why are you so foolish?” she chastised sharply. “This is the field below the Mean Level, the so-called Low Level. It is impossible even for me, which means you could never reach the Highest Level from here, no matter how many hundreds of years you spent attempting to do so.”

“O-oh, okay.”

The Highest Level that Metatron spoke of was the highest tier of space, but it was only possible to reach that space by further accelerating from the Unlimited Neutral Field, or the Mean Level. All the information in the Accelerated World was laid out there in a galaxy-like 3-D dot matrix, showing observers the truth about their digital world.