Armor of Catastrophe by Reki Kawahara

Author:Reki Kawahara [Kawahara, Reki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction
Publisher: Yen Press
Published: 2017-11-28T05:00:00+00:00

5

The very first thing Haruyuki was aware of upon his return to the real world was not the weight of his physical body sinking into the sofa nor the cool of the air-conditioning, but rather supple fingertips touching his cheek.

His eyes flew open. And stared into the beautiful starry sky he had looked up at in the Castle garden only moments earlier. Except, wait—that wasn’t it. Jet-black eyes filled with particles of light like stardust?

When those eyes blinked once, slowly, the tiniest droplet of water bounced off long eyelashes and disappeared into the air. At the same time came the whisper of a voice. “So you’re back, Haruyuki.”

After staring for a bit at the clear, crisp beauty of Kuroyukihime—swordmaster, leader of the Legion Nega Nebulus, Black King, Black Lotus—who he respected and adored more than any other, Haruyuki replied hoarsely, “Yes, Kuroyukihime. I just got back now.”

The place where Haruyuki awakened was number 2305 on the twenty-third floor of the mixed-use skyscraper condo in northern Koenji, Suginami Ward, in the real world—in other words, the living room of the Arita home. He sat in the center of the sofa set near the southern windows, and directly before him, Kuroyukihime was leaning forward, left hand pushing up against the backrest of the sofa, the fingertips of her right hand gently resting on his cheek. In her palm, she held the plug for the XSB cable, the silver cord that stretched out to the connector panel on the wall.

The panel was for wired connections to the Arita family home server. For this dive, Haruyuki and his friends had connected globally via a wired connection to his home server, rather than wirelessly. Haruyuki and Utai had returned to the real world without using a portal because Kuroyukihime had pulled this cable out of Haruyuki’s Neurolinker.

“That was a long thirty seconds, you know,” Kuroyukihime murmured, fingers still touching his cheek. “While we sat here like this, you and Utai were perhaps being chased by Enemies inside the Castle. Or maybe regenerating and dying over and over and over. I could hardly stand it.”

The instant he became aware that this voice contained the slightest hint of a tremor, something burst open in Haruyuki’s heart. He sat up straight, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth. “Kuroyukihime…That time—When Suzaku shifted its target to me, I’m sorry for disobeying the order to retreat. But—But I had to…” Even though he had so firmly decided that he would apologize properly when he got back to the real world, when it came right down to it, his faculty with words lagged far behind the intent in his heart.

He bit his lip, opened his mouth, and then bit down again. Over and over.

Kuroyukihime took her left hand off the sofa and dropped the cable in her right hand to wrap now-empty hands gently around his shoulders. A smile like the bud of a water lily bled onto her pale, glossy lips. “It’s fine, Haruyuki. It’s precisely because you do such things that I believe I can entrust myself and the future of the Legion to you.

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