Story Reader / Collab / Blazing Simulacrum / Story
The battle rages on for God only knows how long.
Their blades cross and clash with each other like interlocking lightning.
The standoff lasts only a moment. Alpha shifts her posture, sliding forward to the left in an attempt to throw the girl in black off balance.
The girl in black, however, quickly adjusts herself, rotating her left foot backward to stabilize her stance and aiming her sword at Alpha once more.
...
...
They're now both visibly strained. A faint excitement flickers in Alpha's eyes.
The last time she had to go all out in a fight was when she was in Fort Winter.
...You're tough.
The girl in black suddenly blurts this out during their standoff.
Well, thank you?
Alpha is more soft-spoken now, except she's grown more alarmed.
Alpha can't seem to figure out who this girl is. There is no telling how strong she is, and Alpha doesn't think Babylonia could suddenly come up with a Construct as powerful as this.
During their standoff, Alpha doesn't sense any trace of the Punishing Virus in her, which rules out the possibility of her being an Ascendant.
All those "conflicts" you've been through have made you who you are today. I can just tell.
...You sure like yapping, huh?
Unfortunately... you're an "outsider" just like them, so I can't let you walk away a winner.
"Them"...?
Alpha's body, however, acts on its own before she snaps back.
She spins around and slashes her sword through this "thing" that approaches her from behind, splitting it in half.
A Hetero-Creature?
The bisected Hetero-Creature, half dead, struggles to crawl toward Alpha. In the distance, more Hetero-Creatures and Corrupted emerge, their target evident.
Why in the world are these Hetero-Creatures...
Even after the emergence of the Hetero Tower and the changes in Hetero-Creatures, it still makes no sense for them to actively attack Ascendants stronger than themselves.
Not to mention that there are ordinary Corrupted among them.
Is someone controlling them?
Alpha turns around, only to see the girl in black also fighting the Hetero-Creatures rushing coming at her.
The girl pierces a Hetero-Creature with her black greatsword. Another flock of bird-like Hetero-Creatures dives from the sky—only to meet their bitter end when she shoots them off.
The shockwave from the cannon fire lifts the hood off the girl, revealing uneven black twin tails.
She glances at Alpha, who's distracted by the Hetero-Creatures, her bright blue eyes blinking, as if in thought.
...?
The girl aims her cannon at Alpha, a cannonball shattering the Hetero-Creatures behind Alpha.
...Lend me a hand?
She signals Alpha with her eyes, seemingly asking for her help to clear out the immediate threat.
...You've got to be kidding me.
Frustrated by the girl's capricious attitude, Alpha raises her sword all the same, deciding to first get rid of these Hetero-Creatures that are behaving less than normal before she does anything else.
Silence returns to the street when the last Hetero-Creature is slashed and lets out a final screech.
The girl in black looks at Alpha, standing beside a pile of Hetero-Creature corpses, ponders for a moment, and then plants her sword into the ground.
...BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER.
What did you say?
It took Alpha a moment to realize the girl was answering the question she asked at the very beginning.
Even so, Alpha doesn't easily let down her guard. Her hand rests on the kodachi at her waist, her gaze sharp.
But the girl ignores her hostility, approaching Alpha as though she can't take the hint.
I thought you were one of them because you smell just like "them."
She points at the Hetero-Creatures on the ground, clarifying her reason for attacking Alpha.
Because of the "Punishing Virus"? You've got to be joking...
But, it seems you have no idea what the "Punishing Virus" or "Ascendants" are...
The Punishing Virus... wasn't something that "this world" had to begin with, so it makes perfect sense that I don't know what it is.
"This world"...? What exactly are you talking about?
Don't you remember how you got here?
...
Faced with the girl's retort, Alpha is somewhat baffled.
She was just on the surface scouring like she always had, looking for a way to sever Luna's deep connection with the Ascension-Network.
Then, out of nowhere, she was attacked by this girl. Even now, she still doesn't quite understand what happened.
So, do you remember that castle?
...What castle?
Alpha turns her head toward where the girl is pointing.
With it, Alpha finds herself a little dumbfounded.
She has borne witness to countless inconceivable creations and wonders, but none of those has prepared her for what unfolds before her.
It's a castle standing in the distance, towering into the clouds.
Surrounded by ruins, the black-and-white castle looks incredibly majestic.
Thinking her visual terminal might be malfunctioning, Alpha closes her eyes and shakes her head, but the castle remains when she reopens her eyes.
Something like this can't just pop out of the ground overnight, but Alpha has no choice but to believe the castle is not an illusion seeing it stand before herself.
Did this exist in your world?
...
The answer is, of course, no, but judging from the girl's attitude, Alpha is starting to contemplate another idea—one she finds hard to accept at the moment.
This is not the world she knows, not the earth being ravaged by the Punishing Virus.
Alpha stares at the mysterious girl. As if confirming Alpha's thoughts, the flame in her left eye burns on quietly.
