Solar Battle (2)
But precisely because of that.
This is annoying.
For Shirone to win the Solar Battle meant becoming a user of this world.
Shirone would love everyone.
And I... love Shirone.
It's come to that. There's no choice.
On this planet, the only one Mitochondria Eve could love was Shirone.
I'll take him.
Even if I have to sell my soul.
I won't become one of the things Yahweh loves as if they were infinite.
"Let's go. West."
A user from Ascension Second asked, puzzled.
"We just took the center, didn't we? If we go west it'll be crawling with other users."
Performance in the Solar Battle translated to points, and those points were tallied on the Solar Battle rankings.
That's why holding strong positions mattered.
"I'm going to do it properly. This Solar Battle will be tough. I'll do my best to make the West win."
If Shirone did it, he would too.
"Yes! I'll give my life!"
The little witch—an emblem of free spirit—shouted her resolve and the Ascension Second team burned with zeal.
Words aside...
There wasn't much emotion; she had driven countless people to death in reality.
"All right, let's go! For the West!"
They needed to boost morale to win.
Meanwhile, in the East the Golden Wheel, centered on Shirone, were locked in fierce close combat.
Gunfire cracked and rounds of wildly different types rained from every direction.
Not just fighting—surviving was already hard.
The initial clash was all about firepower.
Since even the dead could respawn at the start point, everyone poured everything they had into the fight.
From low-level users up, both East and West began to fall one after another.
In the Solar Battle, a user's state falls into three categories. First: those who keep fighting without dying.
That described Shirone and the other rankers.
Second: those who die.
They have no effect on the field until they return to the start point.
Third: those who join from the start point.
This last group was the core.
How fast they rejoined, and how many of them did, could completely flip the tide.
Controlling the speed and position of those reinforcements was the skill of the rankers—the ones who stayed alive and kept fighting.
"Heeheehee! Die, die! All of you die!"
A user in the East, indifferent to the war, sprayed bullets at his own allies.
Being an Amara-type meant their level wasn't even close to a hundred.
"Huh? Parts, parts!"
A loot drop on the ground tempted him; he lunged for it and was blown apart by a grenade.
...Fourth: those who act regardless of the war.
Shirone added that category and could roughly sketch the flow of the Solar Battle.
The weight of a ranker's life in this war is enormous. If one ranker dies, a hole opens instantly. Then the number of the second category—the dead—increases...
If reinforcements are delayed repeatedly, the Solar Battle is lost.
It's slowly cooling down.
Deaths had already topped two thousand, and the East-West ratio was an even five-to-five.
That fiercest first clash—the moment when only those who survived the combined firepower remained—was the true prologue of the Solar Battle.
- Vanguard to the eastern wall! Wild West, provide rear cover!
- Guardian Guild Second found! Sending coordinates!
As expected, real-time communications streamed from the Golden Wheel's command center.
When West users over level 400 collided, localized battles finally erupted.
No—don't die. You can't avoid deaths entirely, but at least until reinforcements return...
At that moment she realized.
The Operator.
The legendary streak of High Gear—the path that had never lost—applied even to the Solar Battle.
He's never... died?
A chill ran through her when she grasped how miraculous that record was.
Shirone smiled.
His long-ignored competitive urge flared again.
"Take down the ranker."
Changing tactics, the Golden Wheel pinned everything on Yahweh2.
"Yahweh2!"
Not from the Ascension Guild, but codenames from the ranking board rushed in.
Raphael's heavy gauntlet deflected an armor-piercing round.
They'd practiced duels a few times, but the rankers' skill in real combat was on another level.
In Donatello's panoramic view something translucent shimmered into sight.
Stealth.
He twisted; a real bullet grazed past and the rankers surged together.
"Got—?!"
Jumping the code with battlefield instinct, Shirone activated the metal wing Da Vinci.
He flew at Mach speed and thrust his fist before the stealth user could react. The attack struck the stealth user's High Gear; when stealth cut out and the suit was wrapped in electricity, it erupted in a terrifying explosion.
One down.
Killing a ranker was huge.
Among rankers whose stealth had failed, an alert sounded.
- Attack detected.
Through Donatello's all-around view she saw a chilling flash hurtling toward her.
She shot upward and a shockwave slammed into the spot where the flash had struck.
"Michelan Gun..."
Before Yahweh2, who had just realized the weapon's force, stood members of the Ascension Guild holding their ground.
User codename: Mystic.
Her upper body was a beautiful woman; her lower body was a grotesque mass of enormous spider legs.
Ranked twenty-fourth in the duel rankings, Mystic lifted the Michelan Gun and said, "I saw the footage. Yahweh2, you're famous. But the Michelan Gun is originally from the West."
Light smoke swirled above her palm and compressed rapidly into a sphere.
"Let's see who wins!"
The two users moved in unison, streaking across the field and firing blinding flashes.
Incredible speed.
Mystic's grotesque form excelled in ground combat and tracked Shirone.
"Hohoho! Is that all you've got?"
At output level 307, he couldn't match Mystic's speed—she was over level 450.
He jumped the code, but the ranker's AI locked onto Yahweh2's position in an instant.
Heh heh.
Scores of light spheres fired simultaneously from her Michelan Gun.
Multi-shot?
Mystic, who had blocked the code-jump space, charged forward with a triumphant smile.
They already analyzed it from the footage.
Chain explosions roared, but when the smoke cleared Yahweh2 was gone.
Damn! Da Vinci.
Clicking her tongue, Mystic twisted to fire the Michelan Gun again.
Then something enormous and luminous formed—so vast even those absorbed in the fight stopped.
What... is that?
Yahweh2 held the Michelan Gun aloft. A four-meter-diameter globe of light trembled ominously.
More.
As Shirone's eyes widened, the globe swelled like an expanding explosion.
Users, wondering what that could do, forgot victory and defeat alike.
"Want me to show you what 'original' means?"
The Michelan Gun was a weapon modeled on Shirone.
"This is the Photon Cannon."
He took a step forward and swung with everything he had. A tremendous flash streaked out.
The blast slammed into the spider legs as they folded violently—then an explosion.
Paaaaaaang!
As if it had never been there, no users remained within dozens of meters.
Woof—.
Eastern users who had witnessed that dreadful power fired into the sky and screamed.
"Good, push! This time we win! We'll take the Sun Palace!"
The disappearance of two rankers exposed the West's weakness, and the East surged relentlessly forward.
Aegis confirmed by satellite and sent a message.
- I'll send all reinforcements that respawned at the start point to the east. Push as far as you can.
As Eastern users poured in, Shirone's High Gear beat like a heart.
We win. We're going to win.
Little by little... that thought seeped through.
Meanwhile, in the operators' conference room.
What on earth is that?
Ten operators, excluding the Operator and Number Seven, watched the Solar Battle.
It was the biggest event they'd made for the world, and they were ready to respond to immediate glitches.
Lollipop Mark said, "The Michelan Gun's quantum accumulation function fundamentally equals the world's total photon amount. But difficulty spikes at certain intervals, so accumulation time increases. The current power is clearly abnormal."
Black Circle Mark said, "It took about 2.3 seconds to reach 190,000 force just now. That suggests Yahweh2, aside from any special senses, has an entirely different adaptability."
Cogwheel Mark said, "The main focus of this Solar Battle will be Yahweh2. Well, he's been drawing attention from the start."
Yokai Mark said, "When the Solar Battle ends, a new event will update. Yahweh2 could be poison or medicine for it..."
"By the way, Number Seven isn't here?"
"He's always his own man. Still, he never misses the Solar Battle—especially when the Operator is active..."
Cogwheel Mark summed up, "He's probably busy with the next event. For now, focus on your duties. Getting this Solar Battle to finish safely is the priority."
Their eyes turned back to the battlefield.
The Sun Palace.
Shirone.
The Operator, still kneeling, found Yahweh2 on the satellite feed.
The way he crushed rankers resembled the visions people had seen in their dreams.
But he didn't come.
The world's Yahweh had entered High Gear for only one reason: to duel himself.
If it was to save people in reality, nothing here would matter.
He's fighting in the Solar Battle. Seeing him fight fiercely against so many users, contrary to expectation—
Vrrrm. Vrrrm.
High Gear thumped like a heart.
They're living in the world I made. Her hands clenched without her meaning to.
I want to fight.
Yahweh2, rapidly closing on the Sun Palace, had already taken down seven rankers.
Ascension First, holding defenses, will be different. But I want to fight. Right now, I want to feel you.
In the silence the Operator's machine rose smoothly to its knees.
She opened the Sun Palace gate with cold steps and golden sunlight poured out.
The noise of battle washed over her like reality, and she turned her head east.
The Operator's AI had a search range of over two kilometers.
Yahweh2's coordinates locked in.
"Going."
She leaned forward into a sprint stance, lifted her head, and slammed her foot into the ground.
High Gear output 487.
In seconds she arrived and twisted toward Yahweh2.
By the time users who sensed that inhuman speed turned their heads, only sound remained.
Shirone's Donatello flashed.
He's here.
Before thought finished, the Operator's fist hurtled for Shirone's face.
KRAAAANG!
An appallingly terrible collision echoed.
Users in both East and West turned at the tragic sound.
Yahweh2 had Raphael and Da Vinci both activated and was taking the blow.
But the reason users were startled was different.
W-what is that?
The Operator—
Because a craft that shouldn't have appeared on the battlefield yet was right before their eyes.