Using this, Kuroyukihime’s Neurolinker could execute administrator privileges for essentially all systems connected to the global net. She could even overwrite name tags verified by the basic residents’ register, one of the country’s most critical systems. The only places SSS Order couldn’t interfere were the social camera network and the Brain Burst central server.

Why had Graphite Edge given Kuroyukihime this incredible power? She hadn’t understood at the time. But once the Legion had collapsed, a bounty had been put on her head, and she’d moved from Minato to Suginami, she’d finally thought it made sense.

Anticipating the future, Graphite Edge had given Kuroyukihime a way to survive as a Burst Linker. In fact, it was because of SSS Order that she’d been able to freely manipulate the in-school net at Umesato Junior High and discover the true identity of her random attacker, Cyan Pile. She’d also been able to look up the name of the player who’d gotten that incredible high score in the squash game, as well as set up a remote access gate so Fuko, Utai, and the others could connect to the Umesato Junior High local net.

But she avoided using SSS Order for anything other than her main objective of defending the Umesato space—except for the time when she tested out overwriting name tags. One reason for this was that the power it contained was simply overwhelming, but part of her reluctance to use it stemmed from her frustration with Graph’s overprotectiveness.

She could forgive herself for breaking that self-inflicted prohibition now, however. For Megumi’s sake. And the sake of her Legion comrades.

“Sheesh. No matter how deep ya dig, you’re a woman of many secrets,” Niko remarked.

“Well, keep digging. Maybe you’ll get to the bottom one day,” she replied, looking out ahead of them. She caught a glimpse in the distance of a large green vehicle—the bus that carried Megumi Wakamiya.

The Brain Burst area boundaries were naturally invisible in the real world, but the majority of Burst Linkers had customized the navigation functions in their Neurolinkers so that the lines would be displayed in AR. Haruyuki was no exception; he could clearly see the approaching red line through the bus’s large front window. The intersection at Tengenjibashi where Meiji-dori and Gaien Nishi-dori crossed…once they went through it, the bus would be in Minato Area No. 3.

His heart kept trying to pick up speed, and Haruyuki did his best to be calm. In the end, he turned to Fuko through the gap in the headrest behind him. “Master, when will we start?”

“Hmm.” Fuko tilted her head slightly to one side, and her smooth long hair swung back and forth as she spoke. “Our initial location in the Territories is always somewhere on the edge, regardless of location in the real, so it’s not an issue to start the instant we cross the boundary. But it wouldn’t be a waste to get a sense of the area for a little bit on this side. Since we’ve come all this way, how about we start once we’ve reached the intersection at Furukawabashi, the start of Meiji-dori?”

“Understood.” Nodding, he looked forward again.

A minute or two later, the bus crossed the bright red line that only Haruyuki and his friends could see and entered Minato Area No. 3. He wasn’t actually expecting anything to happen right away since their connections to the global net were still off. Nevertheless, he felt as if the color and temperature of the air had changed somehow, and he grabbed hold of his seat tightly.

The group of three elderly women got off at the next stop, Korinjimae, leaving only the fourteen on the attack team inside the automatic bus. Takumu and Rui were sitting in the seat in front of Haruyuki and Chiyuri, with the three former members of Petit Paquet across the aisle with Rin. Fuko and Utai were in the seat behind him, and Akira was across from them. And then, on the bench seat in the very back of the bus, was the former Prominence’s Triplex—Pard, Cassis Moose, and Thistle Porcupine.

Meeting these last two in the real for the first time, he’d found that they matched their images in the Accelerated World fairly well. Cassis was a large and artless ninth grader, while Thistle was a small, seemingly clever seventh grader. Haruyuki’s usual shy-person mode had immediately been activated, so he hadn’t really talked to them, but Akira, Utai, and the others had been exchanging information with them during their trip. Once the mission was over, they were supposed to return to Suginami and have a meeting—the venue being, naturally, the Arita home—so he would have the chance to talk to them then.

The fight that was about to start was the biggest mission Haruyuki had been on since becoming a Burst Linker, but it definitely wouldn’t be the decisive final battle. It was merely the first step in revealing the evil deeds of the Society, taking back Niko’s Enhanced Armament, and freeing Wolfram Cerberus.

Hang on, Cerberus. I will free you from the Catastrophe that’s tormenting you. So many people helped me when I ended up Chrome Disaster, and now it’s my turn to help you.

“Next stop, Furukawabashi,” a synthetic voice announced. “Furukawabashi. Passengers traveling to Shirokanetakanawa Station, please change here.”

The speaker had no sooner gone silent than Fuko stood up in the seat behind him and shouted resolutely, “Everyone, get ready to connect globally!”

All present touched their Neurolinkers.

“Once the connection’s complete, I’ll accelerate immediately and challenge Oscillatory Universe to a territory fight. Now that we’ve come all this way, there’s only one thing I can say to you…We’re going to win!”

“““Yeah!!”””

The whole team responded at a shout, and Fuko lowered herself into her seat. Haruyuki pressed his back firmly against his own seat and readied himself to accelerate.

The bus made a gentle left turn and approached Furukawabashi. The sunlight, starting to incline, reflected off the countless windows of the skyscraper condo rising up in front of them and made them glitter.

“I’m starting the count!” came her voice. “Five, four, three, two, one…connect!”

Haruyuki pushed down on the physical switch on his Neurolinker, and an icon flashed in his field of view to inform him that he was connected to the global net.

“Burst Link!!” Fuko called.

Skreeeeee!! The cold, dry sound of acceleration chased Haruyuki from behind and sent him flying to the fateful battleground.