Accel World Vol. 21: The Snow Sprite Read online

  Copyright

  ACCEL WORLD, Volume 21

  REKI KAWAHARA

  Translation by Jocelyne Allen

  Cover art by HIMA

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  ACCEL WORLD Vol. 21

  ©Reki Kawahara 2016

  Edited by Dengeki Bunko

  First published in Japan in 2016 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2020 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Kawahara, Reki, author. | HIMA (Comic book artist) illustrator. | bee-pee, designer. | Allen, Jocelyne, 1974– translator.

  Title: Accel World / Reki Kawahara ; illustrations, HIMA ; design, bee-pee ; translation by Jocelyne Allen.

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2014–

  Identifiers: LCCN 2014025099 | ISBN 9780316376730 (v. 1 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316296366 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316296373 (v. 3 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316296380 (v. 4 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316296397 (v. 5 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316296403 (v. 6 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316358194 (v. 7 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316317610 (v. 8 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316502702 (v. 9 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316466059 (v. 10 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316466066 (v. 11 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316466073 (v. 12 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975300067 (v. 13 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975327231 (v. 14 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975327255 (v. 15 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975327279 (v. 16 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975327293 (v. 17 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975327316 (v. 18 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975332181 (v. 19 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975332716 (v. 20 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975332730 (v. 21 : pbk.)

  Subjects: CYAC: Science fiction. | Virtual reality—Fiction. | Fantasy.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.K1755Kaw 2014 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2014025099

  ISBNs: 978-1-9753-3273-0 (paperback)

  978-1-9753-3274-7 (ebook)

  E3-20200310-JV-NF-ORI

  Contents

  Cover

  Insert

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Afterword

  Yen Newsletter

  Download all your Fav Light Novels from Just Light Novels

  What was strength for a Burst Linker? The answer to this question, of course, depended on the person. If you took a thousand Burst Linkers, you would find a thousand kinds of strength.

  The Black King had cutting power, the Red King, fire power, and the Green King, defensive power. Sky Raker had flight power. Blood Leopard had running power. Ardor Maiden had purification power. And while there were some with idiosyncratic powers such as Ash Roller’s motorcycle power and Chocolat Puppeter’s chocolate power, every single Burst Linker worked and fought every day toward a strength that was theirs and theirs alone.

  For Haruyuki, speed was his strength. His only focus for a period after he first became a Burst Linker was moving faster, flying faster. He believed he would be stronger if only he were faster. But from his fights with powerful enemies and friendly rivals, he had learned that speed came in different forms, too.

  When it came to simple duel avatar movement speed, he could probably hold his own against Kuroyukihime and Pard, who were also fighting types. But he was under absolutely no delusion that he could beat either of them in close combat. In the do-or-die moment, both displayed extraordinary reaction speed. Even if Haruyuki glued himself to them, throwing punches with his full weight behind them, they could easily handle his attacks and hit him back with powerful counterattacks.

  And then there was a kind of speed that was more big picture, fundamental. This was the speed of thought—instantaneous force and reaction speed. For all the high rankers Haruyuki knew well, no matter how unexpected the situation, they would never freeze in surprise for more than a fraction of an instant. Where Haruyuki would gape for a full three seconds, they were able to reassess the situation and take appropriate action immediately. Of course, this was partially due to the many long hours they had spent fighting in the Accelerated World, but more than anything, Haruyuki felt the difference was in their mental readiness, an awareness that anything and everything could happen in Brain Burst and that if they didn’t handle things right in the moment, it could bring about fatal results.

  If Haruyuki had had that readiness and power of instantaneous thought, he might have been able to deal with Dusk Taker’s special attack Demonic Commandeer the first time he’d seen it, managed to not be parasitized by the Armor of Catastrophe, and rescued Ardor Maiden from the Castle’s Suzaku gate according to plan.

  Looking back on it all, though, he could see that his many failures had turned into the seeds for his growth. But that was only because so many people had helped him, and he’d managed to solve those problems in the end. It was plenty possible for it to have all turned out in the worst way and for him to have never gotten the chance to learn from and move past his failures.

  Which was exactly why Haruyuki had decided in his heart that the next time he was in an unexpected situation, no matter how surprising and how impossible the phenomenon confronting him, he wouldn’t let the gears in his mind stop turning. He wouldn’t stand there dumbfounded and wait for someone to give him instructions. He wanted to be the fastest; he needed to move instantly and do what had to be done.

  And that “next time” was this moment.

  1

  “Paradigm Breakdown.”

  From the roof of a distant building, a mysterious Burst Linker from the White Legion appeared and called this unfamiliar name. Pale-pink light rained down, and Haruyuki instinctively knew it as an Incarnate technique—not a simple special attack in-line with the game, but a supernatural power that twisted the Brain Burst system by overwriting it.

  Suddenly, an impossible dawn came to the stage, and the timer vanished altogether, alongside every health gauge other than his own. There was only one place in the Accelerated World like that: the Unlimited Neutral Field. But this was the Territories, at best an expanded version of the Normal Duel Field.

  The Incarnate technique had forcibly transformed the Territories stage into the Unlimited Neutral Field.

  For Haruyuki and for the third Nega Nebulus formed from the merger with Prominence, the T
erritories battle that day—July 20, 2047—was one that absolutely had to be won. A victory would allow them to take control of Minato Area No. 3, the headquarters of the White Legion, Oscillatory Universe, and the other Legion would be then stripped of their right to block the matching list. If the names of Acceleration Research Society members appeared on the list as a result, they could prove that Oscillatory and the Society were flip sides of the same organization.

  Until a few seconds earlier, Haruyuki had wanted to stand up and fight honorably, following the rules of Brain Burst and his pride as a Burst Linker. He had made the decision to obey Kuroyukihime’s teaching that Incarnate must only be used when the opponent attacked with it first. However, this shadowy Burst Linker had activated an Incarnate technique a mere ten minutes after the start of the Territories. And there was no way that she was on Nega Nebulus’s side.

  Therefore, he could only assume it was the enemy—someone from Oscillatory Universe—and worse, anything was possible now that this person had used an Incarnate technique. If he didn’t mobilize every scrap of power he had to respond, his Legion might even be so badly damaged they could never recover.

  If you’ve got the time to stand here shocked, you’ve got the time to start moving!!

  Haruyuki forcefully rebooted his numb mind and focused on responding to the situation before him. That said, however, he wasn’t charging in recklessly or attacking the enemy. What he needed to do now was gather information. He didn’t have the luxury of a leisurely stroll around the area, but there was one other way to investigate, and he was probably the only one on the battlefield with access to it.

  He focused his mind and sent his thoughts flying. “Please come, Metatron!!” The instant the golden spindle and wings of the three-dimensional icon appeared before his eyes, he continued his prayer. “Take me to the Highest Level!!”

  Skreeeeee!!

  The sound of acceleration ripped through Haruyuki, and his mind alone was carried to a higher dimension.

  An infinite empty space. Haruyuki tried to tune his mind to the one thing in the dark world where light, sound, and even the physical senses of his avatar did not exist: an infinitesimal dot before his eyes, blinking regularly. If his synchronization with this meager light was disturbed, his consciousness would be instantly repelled from this field. He still hadn’t reached the level where he could freely come and go from the Highest Level, the ultimate, purest part of the Accelerated World.

  But at the very least, he didn’t have to panic anymore when he heard the sound of acceleration for the second time. Time was essentially stopped in this space; all he had to do was calm his mind and focus solely on the golden dot blinking faintly.

  Fwoom! The pinpoint opened up into countless fine lines that flowed off into the darkness to produce an elegant silhouette. A girl with a noble profile, clad in a thin dress, two wings extending from her back. Her eyes were closed, and the shining ring of light above her head generated a beautiful shadow.

  The instant he touched the splendor released from the ring, golden particles also drew out from his own previously nonexistent body. He was half-relieved, half-apologetic that this was not his real-world self, but the form of Silver Crow.

  Eyes still lowered, the girl—the fifteenth member of the third Nega Nebulus and Haruyuki’s self-proclaimed master, Legend-class Enemy Archangel Metatron—purposefully raised a hand and brought her slender middle finger up against her thumb…

  Plink!

  …and then snapped them both against Haruyuki’s helmet.

  “Ow-ow-ow!”

  Even Metatron, one pillar of the Four Saints, could not interfere physically in the Highest Level, so the impact and the pain were both illusions, but he nevertheless pressed a hand to his forehead reflexively.

  “My servant! Silver Crow!” came the stern, scolding voice. “How dare you leave your master’s side for such a lengthy period of time!”

  “S-sorry. There was just a lot going on…”

  “Well then, you will explain all of this ‘a lot’ in chronological order and great detail!”

  “R-right. Um.” Cocking his head to the side, he went back over his memories of the last few days. The last time he’d summoned Metatron had been the day before yesterday (Thursday evening), when he’d entered the Castle with Fuko. Inside, they’d encountered Trilead and his master/parent Graphite Edge, and the four of them had discussed the reason for the birth of Brain Burst and the conditions for clearing it.

  Actually, he had met with Metatron one more time that day, in the middle of the night. But he had been asleep in bed; i.e., dreaming. So there was a good chance that he hadn’t really met with her then. Either way, he decided to start his explanation at the merger meeting with Prominence.

  But Metatron raised her hand once more, and instead of flicking his forehead this time, she touched Haruyuki’s helmet with her palm. The slender hand slipped through his visor to touch the naked body of the avatar inside—and then further still to the inside of his mind itself.

  Crack!

  He felt something like a spark.

  “…I see.” Metatron removed her hand. “There was indeed ‘a lot,’ hmm?”

  “H-huh?!”

  You know from just that?!

  He started to ask but then finally remembered: On the Highest Level, Metatron could reference Haruyuki’s memories directly. So he figured the opposite was probably possible, too, and he started to reach his own hand out toward Metatron’s head. But the Archangel’s eyes abruptly flashed, so he hurriedly pulled back.

  Metatron looked down on him with golden, half-open eyes. “In other words, although your battle with the White army began in the Low Level, you suddenly shifted to the Mean Level. Is that the situation?”

  The Mean Level Metatron was referencing was the Unlimited Neutral Field, so he assumed that the Low Level was either the normal duel stage or the Territories stage. “Y-yeah. That’s basically it. Although I don’t really get that yet. Did we move from the Territories stage to the real Unlimited Neutral Field? Or did it just look and feel like it?” If it was the latter, then there would still be a way to deal with it.

  “No.” The Archangel shook her head crisply from side to side. “The coordinates where you and your comrades are located is the genuine Mean Level. The little warrior you saw probably moved you with your ‘Incarnayte’ System.”

  Haruyuki was speechless for a moment or two before he asked hoarsely, “I-is something like that even possible? There’s a level restriction on who can enter the Unlimited Neutral Field, and it also costs ten Burst Points.”

  “Hmm.” Metatron turned and gently moved her left hand.

  Faintly shining points of light appeared far below the infinite darkness. Their number increased as he watched until they were a colorful sea of twinkling stars. Lost for a moment in the complicated patterns traced out by the stars, Haruyuki realized it was the terrain of the Minato area. The place where countless stars came together and shone remarkably brightly was Shinagawa Station. The lines that stretched out above and below this were the Yamanote Line and the Tokaido Main Line. Immediately to the north of Shinagawa Station was Takanawa Station, and the west side of that was comparatively dark.

  The stars they were looking at—nodes, to borrow Metatron’s wording—were social cameras in the real world, so there were naturally more of them at stations, in shopping districts, and along the main roads, and fewer at historic sites and parks. The darkness on the west side of Takanawa Station was Sengakuji Temple, the stronghold in the Territories stage. And where Haruyuki and his friends in Nega Nebulus were facing off against Glacier Behemoth and his companions on the Oscillatory Universe defending team.

  Haruyuki’s subjective time was basically stopped at the moment, but the instant he returned from the Highest Level to the Unlimited Neutral Field, the battle would recommence. He had to gather as much information as possible before then. He narrowed his eyes at the Sengakuji area.

  “There are traces
of an abnormal space fluctuation in one part of the Mean Level,” Metatron murmured, sounding slightly more serious.

  “Wh-what does that mean?”

  “Come now. Look closely.” The Archangel pointed to a place a short distance from Sengakuji, the object of Haruyuki’s attention.

  When he stared hard, he realized that the stars were flickering the tiniest amount, almost like a small wave rippling outward on black water. “What is that…flickering?”

  “I’ve seen this same phenomenon just once before. When a large-scale interference occurs in the Mean Level, it leaves a tremor like that in the nodes. Most likely, that little warrior cut the space you occupied out of the Low Level and shifted it to the same coordinates in the Mean Level—or rather, caused it to be in sync.”

  “S-so, like, cut and paste?” Haruyuki muttered, stunned, as he continued to gaze at the rippling stars.

  He suddenly remembered the old games he always used to play back when he was in elementary school and didn’t yet know of the existence of Brain Burst. In one classic masterpiece of a puzzle-solving action game released nearly fifty years earlier, when the player used an item in a particular way before entering a warp zone, a bug would send them flying to a map they normally couldn’t access. The type and number of items corresponding to the map warped, too—in other words, the place itself might have been far away in the world of the game, but there was only a single digit’s difference in the program, a fact that had shocked young Haruyuki considerably.

  Brain Burst 2039 was several million times—no, several tens of millions of times—the capacity of that old game, but its basic nature was the same. The Territories stage and the Unlimited Neutral Field seemed endlessly far apart, but the physical distance similarly held no meaning. Incarnate techniques could overwrite any phenomenon in the Accelerated World. So it was possible in principle to overwrite an address given on a certain map with that on a different map.

  But how much imagination exactly—how much image power would be needed to do that? An Incarnate technique that interfered with the Accelerated World itself would have the ultimate range.