kscans

Chapter 821 - Shine Forth, O Chosen One. Art Thou Worthy of Entrusted Love? Part 5

"—'I am he who soars through the sky.'"

I remember it clearly, the day I first saw him through a video.

We hadn't had a chance to meet face-to-face. That's a fact, but… that doesn't mean I couldn't have made an opportunity to meet him.

If I had wanted to go see the face of my long-awaited 'junior,' I could have gone anytime.

"'A single falling star connects all, clad in green, it sways as a hurricane.'"

Even without looking into my own heart now, I know.

I was just scared, that's all.

"You little…!"

I manipulate the threads.

The only thing I can do, the technique that Natsume, the [Thread-Weaver] of this virtual world, wields with pride—a technique that a certain someone looked up to with an innocent smile of admiration.

In the corner of my consciousness, I maintain control of over twenty `threads` connecting the raid members, an act of combat while never letting go. Back and forth, here and there, I gather my far-from-perfect concentration.

"""""──────────!!!"""""

Kicking aside any excuses, I meet the great tsunami of monsters attacking from the front with a wall of white thread and black flame. Only one voice of encouragement reaches me—

"'I am he who seizes the sky'…!"

—the voice of my junior, delivered to my back along with a presumptuously worried gaze.

I understand now. I already know.

There was no need to be scared, no need to feel pressured, no need to hesitate.

This guy, who shattered the image I had eagerly envisioned, who soared to the great heights beyond the clouds in a single breath as if to say he didn't care about others' (Natsume's) expectations—

He's cheeky, energetic, childish, honest, innocent, and still cheeky,

In short, even more than Natsume had hoped for.

"Guh… [Star—"

He's just an endlessly endearing guy who relies on and acts spoiled with his senior (me) so easily.

"—Weave]!!"

If that's the case, it would be a lie not to respond to it all. For her, that is not a heavy shackle (pressure) that binds her, but a driving force (motivation) to step forward boldly.

A moon woven from thread and filled with flame falls.

The earth roars, and the abominations shriek. The 'maximum firepower' boasted by an individual ranker is no joke; the trump card, a wide-range annihilation technique, significantly削いだ the momentum of the approaching tsunami.

However,

"'The fate yet unseen is—"

The chant is still in progress. And yet, the reality is that her ultimate move was dragged out so early. Just as the [Acrobat], the embodiment of chaos, had confessed his limits, Natsume, the [Thread-Weaver], is also a single player before she is a 'ranker.'

No matter how far she deviates from the norm, as long as she is an existence bound by the system, she has her limits. If everything could be achieved with a single thought, a single burst of spirit, there would be no struggle.

Therefore,

"Tch…"

'Without dying'—in order to protect one of the orders, she turned her threads to her own defense, and a fatal blow slipped past her side. That, too, was the logic of the virtual world.

There was no way Natsume alone could hold back the overwhelming numbers that even the two of them together couldn't keep up with. That's why, after more than forty seconds,

After single-handedly accomplishing over eighty percent of what was asked of her and showing her pride as a senior.

"Alright… baton touch."

This time, as a junior herself.

She smiled and entrusted the next turn to the third person who had been on stage for a while, without a hint of hesitation.

◇◆◇◆◇

Run, run, run, run, run, and keep on running.

In the end, that's the only thing I can do. It's the same in both the real and virtual worlds; since I was a child, it's been harder to remember a time when I wasn't running.

A pathological speed holic. From a young age, acquaintances, friends, and even my parents would tell me, 'Don't you dare get interested in vehicles.' When I completely ignored all their worries and became a racer, my mother fainted from worry, and my father almost disowned me.

In all honesty, I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't encountered a world where I could run around as I pleased without worrying about accidents or injuries. I'm not kidding when I say it's not unlikely I would have blown my life away early on.

Running is living. The wind caressing my skin is proof of my existence.

I've lost count of how many times in my life I've been told, 'You're crazy,' and I understand that I'm probably missing a few screws compared to others.

That's why, having lived a life where I was always seen as an eccentric,

The act of being trusted and relied upon feels ticklish and embarrassing.

Such renowned rankers. They couldn't possibly have missed the presence of someone stepping onto their stage—yet, as I began my strange act of simply circling the perimeter, they didn't even give me a questioning or strange look.

They just continued to wield their power with reckless abandon, as if to say, 'Do what you need to do.' After running and watching my two juniors, who were soaring to great heights, from a distance,

As if I were watching my favorite hero movie over and over, I picked up the chant, etched into my memory from the video, with my ears.

"Ahh… what a great era to be born in."

By now, my legs were spinning without any conscious effort. I was a one-trick pony who continued to carve my one and only skill into the world, preparing for the fleeting 'turn' that might come.

"A fool like me, who just causes trouble for his family and ends up being treated carelessly…!"

From the scabbard at my lower back,

"Can become the surprise hero who saves the heroes—that's what this means!!"

With my right hand, fitted with a spiraling crimson ring, I drew a single blade.

The jet-black that dashes becomes a blur, and the brilliant crimson bursts forth.

It was a blade perfectly suited for a fool who could do nothing but run, a blade whose true potential could only be unleashed by running. Its power was limitless, directly proportional to the length of the approach, a single demon-forged blade that did nothing but store power.

""────────""

We passed each other, with no time to even meet eyes, but we surely exchanged wills and smiles.

"[Rabbit Dagger—"

The giver was the [Pyromancer], the receiver was the former fastest.

The name forged upon it was,

"—Impact]!!!"

...a delightfully amusing lineup, befitting a young man who proclaimed himself a fool.

And so, I surpassed the current fastest from behind, who had once surpassed me from behind without even showing his face… and to show off my own petty pride, I carved my speed (blade) into my footsteps.

Thus, a single strike with all my soul. The crimson blade, which in exchange for displaying immense power based on its charge, was fated to self-destruct with a single blow without exception, dissipated into thin air.

It left a sparkle in the trail where the black figure had dashed for an instant, followed by a magnificent blue—the death effect signifying the demise of a vast number of boss enemies.

And so, the ninja who had cut down not only the one chanting but also the one resisting with threads, the fatal threats surrounding his two juniors, in a single blow… thought, if I don't act cool now, when will I?

"Alright… well then."

He turned around, a full-on smug look on his face.

"The rest is up to you, bro."

With his body unable to move a single step due to the recoil and everything else, he gave a clean thumbs-up.

He was crushed by the next wave of death that naturally came bursting through the curtain of death effects, and unceremoniously scattered into red death effects as he made his exit.

"'The swift heavenly storm—"

And what was left behind was,

"—resides in the soul (here) that yearns for the beyond.'"

...a single junior, battered and bruised but at his peak, who had just been shown two of the coolest backs in a row and was now intensely heated up.

And so, the chant was spun,

"[Lightning Gale]!"

And the invincible, fastest star in the virtual world was unleashed.

---

Both of them were surpassed by the junior who appeared so dashingly.

◇ [Rabbit Dagger: Impact] Crafted Weapon: Dagger
A crimson dagger carved from the demon horn of a Ruby Rabbit that guards a crimson spiral.
Within the demonic brilliance that governs the immortality of 'Red' lies a peculiar power—
O foolish one, O proud one, never be content as the second rabbit.

The second Rabbit Dagger, crafted by Kagura the Pyromancer, pretty much exactly as described in the main story.
Its shape is not as bizarre as the [Parabellum], which has been called 'strange' and 'weirdly shaped' many times, but rather a stiletto knife with a slightly twisted base.
A noteworthy point is that the blade part is a disposable component with no durability, and it is guaranteed to be completely destroyed and disappear 0.1 seconds after registering an attack hit in any form.

• [Bullet Stock]
The one and only unique effect of the [Impact]. Its attack power increases infinitely in proportion to the user's continuous, uninterrupted running distance. However, even though it's limitless, the accumulated value of distance equals power is minuscule, and an approach of a few hundred meters or a few kilometers won't produce much power. The strike that Hayagake unleashed this time had a rough approach distance of over forty kilometers to achieve that effect. Also, the stock resets the moment the user stops, so the attack must be performed seamlessly and while still running.

Repairing the vanished blade requires [Ruby Rabbit Demon Horns], not Luna. It's necessary to carefully feed them a considerable number, one by one, so immediate repair and return to the front lines is impossible.
Kagura, who judged that being asked to repair it after every single strike would be a deadly pain, drilled the maintenance method into him, so he'll be diligently repairing it himself later.