On top of this, there was also the fact that over forty days had passed in the Unlimited Neutral Field. He hadn’t been able to see the missing Urocyon and Complicator from the Highest Level, but it was unclear if this was because they had returned to the real world, or because they had the ability to completely mask themselves. If it was the latter, it was possible that they had settled on a target Being by now and were in the middle of attacking that dungeon…
Overcome with that anxiety again, Haruyuki hung his head, and Kuroyukihime’s voice reached his ears.
“Due to an Unlimited EK that lasted for several weeks, more than a hundred members of Exercitus faced total point loss. There is no doubt that this is the greatest tragedy in Brain Burst history. And it seems that this itself has triggered a new anomaly.”
Hearing this, the members groaned. Haruyuki listened closely and heard them whispering words like “final stage” and “Dread Drive.” So it seemed that a fair bit of information had indeed spread.
Kuroyukihime waited for the commotion to die down somewhat before getting into the heart of the matter.
“…At about five seconds past eight this evening, I was cleaning up after dinner in the real world when a BB system message was displayed in my field of view. I’m sure that you also received this at the same time, Rain?”
Niko shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”
“I thought so. No doubt the text was the same, but if there is anything different, please say so.”
The system message Kuroyukihime spoke from memory after this preamble was word-for-word the exact same as the one the White King had recited on the Highest Level.
If four or more of the seven were destroyed, then Brain Burst 2039 would lose, and the trial would end. The instant Kuroyukihime added “that’s all” to the last words of this mechanical declaration, the meeting participants erupted in shock all over again, several times louder than the previous clamor.
That was no wonder. For the majority of Burst Linkers, the top-ranked Beings, including the Four Saints, were boss monsters waiting for invaders in the depths of the Great Dungeons. They wouldn’t be able to shift gears so easily when suddenly told to protect the targets for subjugation they had seen as final missions for the game Brain Burst.
But this commotion, too, died down again in a few seconds. It wasn’t that they had all processed the situation, but rather because a small avatar had leapt forward rather forcefully from the Red faction side.
Wide-brimmed hat on his head, long cloak draped over his body. His face mask wasn’t visible at all, but Haruyuki knew who it was. The person who had cast the lone vote in opposition at the Nega Nebulus and Prominence merger meeting, “Stronger Name,” aka Iodine Sterilizer.
Dine produced just his right hand from inside of his cloak, raised the brim of his hat slightly, and spoke. “Lotus. You are now our Master, so I do not wish to cast aspersions. But a mere two hours previous, we were thinking this and that about what would happen to the Accelerated World. And then rumors of Exercitus started going around, and just when the fellows in Ovest and Night Owls were all ‘If we’re doing it, then let’s do it,’ suddenly, we’re talking about hundreds of people losing all their points and Tezcatlipoca destroying itself… My head’s already spinning, and then you’re telling us about this wild message, and it’s not going down the old gullet at all.”
His manner of speaking was as ostentatious as ever, but the content of his speech was exactly right. Even Haruyuki, who had seen it all play out himself, from the annihilation of Exercitus to the destruction of Tezcatlipoca and the appearance of the Drive Linkers, couldn’t completely grasp the situation, so he could understand why Dine and the others would be confused.
“Mmm.” Kuroyukihime deftly crossed the blades of her sword arms in front of her and nodded slightly. “To be honest, I myself have only secondhand information outside of this system message. And my personal experience is not weighty enough to convince you all. And thus.”
With the fulcrum of the tip of her right leg, she spun her body around lightly.
“I’d like to leave the detailed explanation to the Burst Linker who most likely has the most firsthand information of any gathered here today. Silver Crow, if you would.”
Whaaaaa?! Haruyuki wanted so badly to shriek and run away, but he had foreseen this development. Naturally, he was nervous, but this was still better than when he’d marched into the student council office at Eternal Girls’ Academy, and he didn’t really want to pointlessly be flustered and waste time.
“…Understood,” he replied, stepping forward. When he passed to the left of the motorcycle-less Ash Roller, he realized that the usually arrogant fin-de-siècle rider was excessively meek today, but he figured this was because Centaurea Sentry was standing to his right and Aqua Current to his left. Ash tended to get nervous around “strong women,” maybe because his parent was the Sky Raker.
Ash Roller, Olive Grab, and Bush Utan had transferred from Great Wall to Nega Nebulus in order to crush the Acceleration Research Society, the masterminds behind the ISS kit incident—to be more precise, in order to shore up Negabu’s forces in the Territories against Oscillatory Universe, the prerequisite to that mission. But they had no sooner put in all the work and unmasked the Acceleration Research Society when Haruyuki had transferred to the Oscillatory they’d just gone up against, so he was certain that Ash, Olive, and Bush felt a certain amount of resentment, too. He wanted to look for a chance to apologize, but he first had to fulfill this duty.
He slapped the arm of the stiff Ash Roller lightly as he passed to at least convey something of his feelings and stepped out into the center of the ring.