(What Kuroyukihime's sister looks like is more than likely 99% not canon. The same goes for her duel avatar's attacks and personality.)
The alarm from my Neuro Linker went off and woke me up. It was a loud buzz that only I could hear, so I didn't disturb anyone else in the hospital. I accelerated to see if Kuroyukihime was still a Burst Linker. Thankfully, when I looked at the matching list, Red Hero and Black Lotus appeared. I sighed and returned to the real world.
Although it still wasn't opening hours, I continued to be on the lookout for any people that may enter. I accelerated every five minutes in case they entered through a side door. It was fortunate that I sat on a bench that had a direct view of the front door.
Soon enough, eight o'clock rolled around and people started to come in, slowly at first. The news of Kuroyukihime being hit by a car must have spread throughout the entire school by now, as well as the entire city. Car accidents were extremely rare nowadays. However, this was no accident. Her sister, White Cosmos, was the one who planned all of this.
Just before noon arrived, I saw a girl who looked almost exactly like Kuroyukihime. She was about the same height, slender, and beautiful. Her hair, however, was almond brown and her eyes were pitch-black, the complete opposite of Kuroyukihime. If I had to guess, this was her sister. Before I could give her the chance to connect to the hospital's network to finish off Kuroyukihime, I accelerated.
I looked through the matching list but did not find White Cosmos! It seems like she wasn't connected to the Global Network! I gritted my teeth in irritation and returned to the real world. She was tapping her virtual windows, probably attempting to connect to the hospital's network.
Before I knew it, I accelerated!
What the hell?! I didn't even say the command!
Then I realized that someone had challenged me. Was it one of White Cosmos' henchmen? There was only one way to find out. The hospital didn't disappear, but was instead remodeled into a more sinister stage, the Purgatory stage. I returned to the Accelerated World as Red Hero once again and looked up at my HUD to figure out who my opponent was.
It was none other than White Cosmos herself. But how? I didn't see her say the command to accelerate!
A tall and slim figure appeared before me and pulled out a small ball of light.
"Hello, Hero-kun. Are you here to protect my sister?" she asked cynically.
"I am, but you challenged me first," I replied.
"I thought you would be faster. After all, speed is a Burst Linker's best weapon."
"Are you mocking me?"
"What if I am? There's nothing you can do even if you beat me, you know."
"Is that so?" I said, getting rid of my red coat. It would only get in the way here, so I put it into my inventory.
I pulled out my Hero Sword and dashed straight at her. She threw the ball of light up and it expanded in size. It continued to rise and destroy the ceiling, allowing White Cosmos to jump to the rooftop. I chased after her, trying to land a clean hit with my beam saber. I couldn't hit her since she kept jumping out of the way every time I swung my blade. Soon, we made it to the rooftop and I found a big surprise waiting for me.
At the top of the hospital was a flat battlefield surrounded by thick wires that had thorns on them. On both ends of the building were elevators. On the wires and on top of the elevators were Burst Linkers from every Legion, including Nega Nebulous. I saw Sky Raker, Silver Crow, and two other Burst Linkers standing next to him. One was a large blue one with a pile driver and the other was a green one with a bell-like weapon and a wizard hat. Those must have been his friends and probably the newest members of Nega Nebulous.
"How did they all get here?" I asked.
"I was just connected to the Global Network and told quite a bit of people to auto-spectate you. I want everyone to see the famous Red Hero kneel to the White King," she laughed evilly.
"I see."
I even saw the Four Guardians and X in the spectating area! This was a battle I wasn't going to lose. No, I had to win in one go. But how? If she loses the fight, she'll just lose some respect from all of these people. That didn't mean anything when her ultimate goal was to be the world's queen. So I had only one option left.
I opened up the menu and opened up the point management screen. The system said that I was able to level up to level 8, so I hit the option to and accepted it. I lost four thousand points instantly.
"W-What are you doing?" White Cosmos asked.
"Leveling up to level 9," I said calmly.
"You don't have enough points! You haven't even been a Burst Linker for a year yet!"
"After the defeat of Omega, who stripped Burst Linkers of all their points ruthlessly, I gained all of the points he had in possession. Before I leveled up to eight, which was just a few seconds ago, I had a total of 13,478 points. Now I have a total of 9,478 points."
"Level 9 costs eight thousand points..." she murmured.
"And I plan to use eight thousand of that nine thousand I currently have."
And so, I leveled up one more time to level 9. The system told me about how to get to level 10 and the rewards of getting to level 9, which was the Physical Full Burst command and other things. I spent my two level-up bonuses on my close quarters combat efficiency, maxing it. I was now the deadliest close quarters fighter in the Accelerated World. I felt confident in a battle even against the Blue King himself.
"And now that I'm level 9, I can defeat you and completely eliminate your presence in the Accelerated World," I said.
"A-Are you really going to do that?" White Cosmos asked.
"Do I sense fear in the White King?" I asked mockingly.
"I don't fear anything!" she snarled.
I laughed and waved my Hero Sword around. "Then let's fight to the death. Black Lotus would never back down from a challenge like this. Rather, she would be eager to fight another level 9 Burst Linker."
"Don't compare me to her!" she roared.
I switched to Active Form and appeared behind White Cosmos in a flash. I was going to take full advantage of my overpowered abilities and destroy White Cosmos. Her eyes probably widened with shock as I reappeared behind her and stabbed her abdomen. She threw a ball of light at me and I stepped to the side, avoiding it entirely as it expanded. I kicked it away and then smashed my fist into the back of her head, sending her flying forwards.
"Spectral Light!" she yelled.
A portal appeared and rays of light shot out and homed in on me. I was struck by a few rays and 20% of my HP bar went down, no thanks to my Active Form's weak defense. I was a flash of orange on the battlefield, dodging the rest of the rays and attacking White Cosmos in the process with incredible speed.
"Speed is a Burst Linker's best weapon, right White Cosmos?" I said.
She growled and attempted a kick, but I sliced her leg off without mercy. She screamed in pain and I kicked her into the wall. I switched to my Hero Gun and shot multiple shots of energy at her, dealing a good amount of damage. I then used Double Shot Wave to finish it off and all three hits landed. However, only 50% of her HP was gone, which was unfortunate for her, since that meant I could hurt her some more.
I dashed into the hole in the wall and pulled White Cosmos out by her head. I wasn't sure if white-colored duel avatars were susceptible to decapitation, so I didn't attempt one. Instead, I just stabbed her with my Hero Sword again and threw her back onto the battlefield.
"Some King," I muttered.
"I'll kill you!" she roared.
Orbs of light appeared around her and shone brightly. I looked away quickly, being careful to not blind myself. Although she was as bright as the sun, I couldn't stare at it directly without hurting my eyes. It was also hard to tell what she was going to do in this shield. How did X manage to defeat her defense?
I was hit in the back of the head and was flung forward. My head hit the ground as I switched to Defense Form to survive the barrage of hits. I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded by her radiating light that began to surround me as she grabbed my body. I felt something sharp puncture my abdomen and I gasped out in pain.
I was thrown aside and stomped on by the White King. I had only lost 50% of my HP so far thanks to my Defense Form. To retaliate, I switched to my Shield Boomerang and threw it in her direction. It hit a few orbs of light and her blinding light became dimmer. I grinned in response and returned to my normal form, throwing my Shield Boomerang to take out more lights.
A spear that was made of the same material as a Rekkoha pillar pierced my right arm and rendered it unusable for the time being. Despite the pain, I caught my Shield Boomerang with that hand and dodged the incoming spears that were being hurled at me.
"Orbit Shield!" I commanded as I threw my Shield Boomerang.
My shield revolved around me and blocked all of the spears that were thrown at me. Thanks to my shield, most of her orbs of light were gone and I could see her without blinding myself. I took this opportunity to dash up to her and threaten her with my Shield Boomerang. She backed off and avoided me as much as possible.
I switched to my Hero Gun and used Double Shot Wave, surprising White Cosmos. Although this was a move that Omega Zero used constantly, I didn't use it much and White Cosmos never expected me to use it. She was hit by all three shots and was disabled for the time being. She had about 25% of her HP remaining after all three hits landed.
"Rekkoha!" I said as I pounded my fist to the ground.
Pillars of light came down and crushed White Cosmos, depleting the rest of her HP gauge. The duel was over. I finally ended the nightmare that White Cosmos started for Kuroyukihime.
Unfortunately, the duel was not over. It was like my first fight with Omega, where I assumed the duel was over and a victory message would pop up. None of that happened here.
As the dust cleared, a dark-winged object appeared above White Cosmos, sprinkling black and purple dust on her.
"What... is that?" I asked.
"Dark Elf! Give me the power to crush that Hero!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
The thing that she called the Dark Elf slowly floated down and merged with White Cosmos. Her HP bar refilled back up to 100% and her form changed, much like Omega. Was that the reason why he could revive himself? Because he had White Cosmos' revival power within him plus this Dark Elf? He also had something called the Disaster Armor as well. Why didn't I talk to Kuroyukihime about that? I sighed at how easily distracted I was.
White Cosmos' slender body quickly morphed into an uglier, bulkier form. Her fingers became claw-like and her feet became pointed. She sprouted black and red wings that were nothing like Silver Crow's. Rather than beautiful and majestic white wings, these were malignant and unattractive black ones. Her clear colored glass was now a dirty grey, tainted by the Dark Elf.
"Let's end this, shall we?" she asked in a distorted voice.
"Let's do it!" I replied, hiding my fear.
She pulled out a black sword from her waist and thrust forward. I dashed forward and our blades met with a loud ring.
(Once again, I don't know how many points it costs to level up from 8 to 9, so I made up a random amount. 8000 is a lot, though. Around 900 wins if you calculate it correctly, I think.)