"Well, I did say that, but…"

Haruyuki looked around his house, as always feeling uneasy about inviting the whole legion.

"…I don't know if there'll be enough space for everyone!"

"Come on, Haru, stop complaining! There's already plenty enough space here!"

It was currently 5:05 pm, just about an hour after the Territory Battle.

Haruyuki arrived back at the Arita residence twenty-five minutes after it concluded. Chiyuri and Takumu followed soon after loading their stuff in their houses. From Chiyuri's side, she also had to bring in food for a nice dinner after their mission that she prepared with her mother, so she took slightly longer.

Haruyuki and Chiyuri were bickering over whether this place would continue to fit all of Nega Nebulas.

"Our Legion keeps expanding and expanding. I just think… it would be better to switch to Senpai's place soon."

"Yeah… that's not gonna happen. Even Senpai likes this place. She left something here just for you… or at least that's what Nee-san said."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and a clear voice was heard.

"Karasu-san?"

"Ah, speak of the devil!"

"M-Ma-Ma-Ma-Master! Good to see you!"

Haruyuki, after stuttering for a brief moment, quickly opened the door to see Fuuko, with Kuroyukihime resting on her shoulder. Utai and Rin came in after her, probably being picked up by her along the way.

"Senpai…"

With no time to waste, Haruyuki and Fuuko lay Kuroyukihime's cold body down on an empty corner in the living room.

"She named herself after Snow White, but… she kinda looks like the Sleeping Beauty right now."

"Unfortunately, that's what she is, Karasu-san. And do not go thinking that a kiss will work."

"R-Right."

Haruyuki quickly forgot any weird thoughts he was about to have.

A few minutes after, two new visitors came onboard. For them, this was their first time visiting the Arita residence since joining Nega Nebulas in early August.

The first was Wakamiya Megumi. She was a close friend of Kuroyukihime ever since joining Umesato Junior High. The second was Koshika Tsubomi, a so-called 'sister' to Megumi, sharing the same 'parent' in Brain Burst, Saffron Blossom. This was an occurrence limited to Originators who had the ability to make multiple 'children'.

"Hime…"

Megumi looked at the sleeping face of her friend, breathtakingly beautiful as it was. As she did, she was remembering how she was in a similar predicament back in July, and she was then told by Kuroyukihime how Haruyuki and Tsubomi had saved her.

Akira and Seri arrived next, followed by Niko and Pard who came after getting some dessert from their cake shop in Nerima.

The last ones to arrive were the three members of Petit Paquet: Nago Shihoko, Yuruki Yume and Mito Satomi, with Odagiri Rui escorting them as usual.

Everyone managed to seat themselves in the living room an hour after the first person's arrival. They had all set their Neurolinkers to connect to the Arita local net in order to dive into Haruyuki's VR space. Fuuko then briefly explained the details:

"Right, let's go over what happened. Currently, Sacchan is imprisoned in Brain Burst and we need to find some answers to bring her back to this world."

UI: But how do you plan on getting them, Fuu-nee? To begin with, this is already an irregular event, isn't it?

"Perhaps, but Graph might know something. He was the one who set the terms for today's Territories after all."

Fuuko, feeling confident that she caught the Burst Linker she just mentioned, who was as elusive as a rabbit, continued:

"I've already contacted him to appear in our VR space soon. Everyone, are you ready?"

"Yes!"

"""DIRECT LINK!"""

Haruyuki looked around and only saw a sky wrapped in the darkest of night, with a few twinkling stars and a moon that shone really bright. There was grass stretching as far as the eye can see, almost like a miniature paradise. In the distance stood a giant maple tree in full bloom.

He walked towards this tree, until he tripped and landed on its trunk. A black butterfly appeared before him, seemingly admonishing him for his silliness before showing an expression akin to giggling.

"I see… so this is… Senpai's spirit.", Haruyuki thought.

Following the Dusk Taker incident, Haruyuki had his fourteenth birthday. Back then, Kuroyukihime gave him this object set to use in his VR space, which she called 'a reflection of herself', so he wouldn't feel lonely without her. When he asked her what that meant, she began to speak strangely as if she were narrating a fairy tale:

"Long ago, this tree used to receive the warmth of the sun. Soon, lovely flowers blossomed under the tree, wanting to get close to her, but she kept pushing them away with her thorny roots. She grew bigger and bigger by absorbing the soil of the world, until one day, the sun was obscured by clouds, as if masking her true intentions. Angered, the tree cursed the sun, changing the blue sky into black, which ended up claiming the flowers' lives. She fell into despair, guilty over what she did. But then she saw something twinkling. It was stars. Those were the souls of the flowers that were once by her side, calling out to her a second time. But the tree could not reach them, as she was helplessly stuck on the ground. With the help of the gentle spring breeze however, the leaves separated from the tree, fluttering like butterflies, aiming for the stars where her dear friends are."

Haruyuki was confused as to what she was talking about, to which she simply replied: "You'll understand when the time comes.".

Now he realized she was talking about her sister's betrayal, as well as the destruction of the old Nega Nebulas and how it was scattered in those stars. The butterflies must've been her longing to return to them.

He kept this object set since then as a precious memento from her, hiding it in between his own object sets hoping that his mother would not find out. Though it seems Fuuko knew about this as well, as she had just sent a message to "prepare the set that Sacchan made" for today's meeting, which she called "a tranquil resting ground for Nega Nebulas".

"Karasu-san, how long do you intend to trample on Sacchan's sacred grounds?"

Just then, Fuuko arrived in her schoolteacher avatar, admonishing Haruyuki for lying upside down in Kuroyukihime's special object set. He quickly got on his feet and apologized.

"Huh? S-S-Sacred grounds? I'm sorry, I never thought of it like that, I'm truly sorry!"

The butterfly came close to him, appearing to enjoy this little banter. Haruyuki thought it was consoling him and tried to catch it, but then it flew away, as if playfully teasing him.

"Not you too, Senpai…"

It finally landed on his face to apologize for that prank.

Soon, everyone appeared in their usual net avatars and sat down in a circle next to the tree. The only newcomers here were Megumi, who was in a squirrel avatar, and Tsubomi, who was in a rose-like avatar, similar to that of her duel avatar. The others wondered if it was even safe to expose your Brain Burst identity like this, to which Tsubomi replied that there was no legion as closely knit in the real world as Nega Nebulas, so it wasn't a problem.

Fuuko made a sudden request to Haruyuki:

"Sorry, Karasu-san, but it seems our guest of honor needs a gate to come here. Can you open it up for him?"

"Y-Yes!"

Haruyuki opened a gate to the address he was told. This resulted in the appearance of a bizarre avatar, which had a pig-like face inside a turtle shell. As Haruyuki himself had a full pig avatar, he was not sure what to make of this.

The turtle-pig's voice suddenly broke out in a carefree tone:

"Hi, everyone. As always, quite a lovely day, isn't it?"

Fuuko flashed a cool Raker smile to this new avatar, looking as if she was about to interrogate him.

"Alright Graph, why don't you start explaining yourself?"

"OK, OK, Rekka-sensei, you don't have to get so angry. Ahem. Well, how do I say this… Two entities have finally appeared after sleeping on the Highest Level for so long. It is now your job to stop them. The End."

"That didn't really explain anything…", Haruyuki thought. "That's like giving the premise of a story without the plot."

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easily. When those beacons appeared, Karasu-san and Lotus managed to feel something directly intruding into their Fluctlights, almost like a form of Incarnate."

From the expression he showed, he must have expected where this was going.

"There's more.", Akira explained further. "You knew how to awaken them, and even betted on impossible factors like Sentry's revival. You wanted to create a hole in the system for them to enter here using her Omega Style. You even made sure to include her name in today's Territory conditions."

"So that's what this is about.", Seri realized. "I thought you just wanted to settle our rivalry, but clearly you had a different goal in mind with those ripples."

"Tell us, Graph, just who and what are they?", Fuuko pressured Graph.

Graph, having seemingly run out of excuses, scratched his head and said:

"Ahh, got me there. True, I am indeed related to them, and so are Lotta and Crow."

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh? W-W-What do you mean related?", Haruyuki screamed out of his lungs. He had no idea who they were even though he had indeed thought the power they emitted was vaguely familiar.

"Calm down, Crow!", Chiyuri smacked him in the head with a warning. "Let Graph explain everything first."

Graph continued after that brief interruption.

"But… I highly doubt those two know the whole story as their memories have been blocked one way or the other. If you ask them, they'll only be able to respond vaguely based on feelings, so… sigh, I've got no choice. I'll have to start from the beginning."

"Memories… feelings…", Haruyuki repeated these words, even more confused than before.

And so, the Burst Linker more mysterious than any other sat down and began to tell his tale.

"Have any of you heard the names… Kirito and Asuna?"

The names were vaguely familiar to veteran Burst Linkers who have only heard legends about them. They ended up nodding, but could not do anything else.

"Asuna…", Tsubomi interrupted. "For some reason, Saffron used to say this name. When I asked her what it meant, she simply said… 'the one who gave me a new life'."

"Oh, so even the great Saffron Blossom knew her? I'm quite surprised myself.", Graph replied. "But anyways, I shall tell you. They were once… the world's greatest VR players."

"The greatest… VR players?", Haruyuki thought.

"Twenty years ago, they were champions of a certain floating castle that claimed many lives. They had cleared that game with a strength that transcended the very system itself. After that, they travelled to many VR worlds, making their name known to many."

The 'floating castle' Graph spoke about referred to a game of death that operated for two years from November 2022, reporting around four thousand casualties for one reason or another.

"That's great, but what do they have to do with this?", Niko asked.

"Right now, they work in RECT as the researchers Kirigaya Kazuto and Yuuki Asuna."

Everyone had a lightbulb switch on their heads the moment they heard these names. They were once known as the pioneers of the piece of technology that was commonplace in today's world, the Neurolinker. To Fuuko, RECT was also the place where her prosthetic legs were produced.

"Kiri… Kazu… A…"

Haruyuki on the other hand, suffered a massive headache trying to remember them.

"Are you ok, Crow?", Chiyuri asked in concern.

"For some reason, it feels like I have almost no memory of them. Or rather… my head gets all fuzzy whenever I try to remember them."

"Hmm… Crow, where did you get your Neurolinker?"

"…According to my dad, I seem to have gotten it from RECT, but… I don't really remember any other company from back then. Though Senpai told me a while back that KAMURA co-developed the first generation…"

"Then you may need to ask about the details when you meet them."

Graph made his answers more and more roundabout with each sentence he spoke, as if that were a special trait of his.

"Alright, we have determined that something's wrong with Karasu-san.", Fuuko smoothly glided the conversation to the main topic. "But what about Lotus?"

"Unfortunately, Lotta's case is… a little more complicated."

Graph awkwardly tried to explain a difficult matter to them.

"She… has been a part of their goals from the beginning. The Sword Skills I taught her: Vorpal Strike, Starburst Stream, The Eclipse… they seem to have all been used by Kirito back when he was still in that floating castle. And the reason I taught Lotta those is because… well, I was instructed to. You see, she used to be from another world, one that those two spent 200 years in, quite an unimaginable time even to us Originators. That world is gone now, but it seems they really cherished her and wanted to bring her back somehow."

At first, everyone was confused as to what Graph was talking about. One side drew attention to the 'other world' he spoke of. Yet another was shocked when he mentioned a play time greater than even the long-term Burst Linkers who have been there since the beginning.

But on the flip side, Fuuko knew better. She surmised that the two mentioned names must have given rise to Graph and Kuroyukihime, two of the most powerful Burst Linkers with a ridiculous amount of play time as is. She had long suspected that her friend was truly inclined to the VR world and wanted to see what lay beyond it, hence her desire for reaching Level 10.

A long time ago, she once said to her amidst a sunset on the Desert stage:

"Sacchan, you love this world, don't you?"

"No, that's not…"

"Though it is less glamorous than the real world, you get to see everyone's true selves here."

"Well… that is certainly true, but…"

"Don't worry, for in truth, that is the beauty of this world. I understand, Sacchan, why you are so devoted to this place."

"B-but isn't it obvious? Any Burst Linker would start hating the real world."

"No. There's no other person I know who has a strong inclination towards this place, a yearning to see what lies beyond. You are… a product of the VR environment, aren't you?"

Though Fuuko had said those things back then, she hadn't learnt about Kuroyukihime's past until recently. But she could immediately tell that her and Graph were way above the average Burst Linker, even above most of the Level 8's and 9's themselves who had sweated blood and tears to get to where they were.

They had what was called a 'VR sense'. And that VR sense had to have come from someone who had a deep and profound understanding of it.

"Graph, are you perhaps-"

Graph sensed what Fuuko was about to say and immediately stopped her.

"Whoa, let's not go there just yet, Rekka. That is currently classified info."

"Oh, come on, that's no fuckin' fair!", Niko screamed, irritated by Graph's dodging of the question. "But still, this is quite a shock. Are you saying they have intruded on Kuroyuki's sealed memories?"

"Well, the possibility is there. They're really persistent for some reason. Unfortunately, I don't quite know how she is connected to them, but they did ask me to keep an eye on her since the time she joined Brain Burst. As I did, I seem to have found a strange sense of familiarity with her. Probably why she picked up those Sword Skills so easily."

"Hmm… quite reasonable statements.", Akira spoke up. "But you seem to be forgetting two things. Currently, Kazuto-san and Asuna-san are approaching forty years in the real world. There should be no adult who knows about Brain Burst. This application is too dangerous to just hand out to young people willingly. They should know that, having survived that game of death. Secondly, you say they entered from the Highest Level, right?"

"Right.", Graph replied with a single word.

"That is equivalent to accelerating. They clearly do not fulfill the first condition to be Burst Linkers either, which is to wear a Neurolinker since birth. Therefore, given these two holes in your explanation, there exists only one possibility."

Akira stopped to stare at Graph, forcing him to reveal everything.

"Teehee, you got me there, Cureent.", Graph replied coyly. "Yes, Kazuto is the Developer B I mentioned long ago."

Everyone all let out surprise reactions.

"…Amazing."

"He's been close to a power of authority in Brain Burst all this time, and refused to tell us anything about it…", Haruyuki thought.

"But it's not like I know everything they know. You still have to seek them for answers, hahaha…", Graph laughed awkwardly, trying to get out of the tight situation he had placed himself in.

After a thirty-minute dive call, they returned back to the real world, seemingly discontent.

"As usual, he left out some important details!", Niko blurted out in anger. "Will the day ever come when we can peel all of that man's secrets?!"

"NP. We'll just have to make use of what we can."

Fuuko, Pard and Niko quickly planned out their next plan of attack. Once that was done, Fuuko spoke to everyone present.

"Alright everyone, I know I'm asking too much of you, but please, I need your help on this mission. Sacchan's life is slowly withering away, and we need to return her soul to her body as soon as possible."

Chiyuri suddenly stood up and declared:

"You don't have to ask us for a thing, Nee-san! After all, we wouldn't be together without Kuroyuki-senpai. Right, Haru?"

"Y… Yes…"

"Come on, what's with that weak voice?"

Everyone had a hearty laugh and proceeded to set their Neurolinkers chained in a circle of seventeen people, starting from one end and going counter-clockwise: Haruyuki, Rin, Chiyuri, Takumu, Shihoko, Yume, Satomi, Rui, Fuuko, Utai, Niko, Pard, Akira, Seri, Tsubomi and finally, Megumi. Haruyuki and Megumi's Neurolinkers were connected to Kuroyukihime's from both ends, and Fuuko's Neurolinker had one end connected to the Arita home server as she set the disconnection time for today's mission.

"Ok, Graph sent us the destination to where they are. It is somewhere near… Kinuta Park."

"Isn't that near…", Shihoko commented.

"Yes, it is. Should I call Avo?", Rui swiftly asked, wanting to bring her friend, Avocado Avoider, who was in a hospital nearby.

"No need for that.", Fuuko responded. "If they really are the developers, we don't know what kind of power they'll have. Maybe a ground shattering ability that puts Avocado at a disadvantage."

She went over the mission plan once again with the people present.

"We have set the timer for one minute. That should give us around sixteen hours and forty minutes in accelerated time to complete Operation SKS. Any questions?"

"Umm, what's SKS?", Haruyuki asked.

"Sacchan Kyuushutsu Sakusen (Sacchan Rescue Operation)~", Fuuko replied with a beaming look on her face, proud of the name she seemingly came up with on the spot.

"What a weird abbreviation… and it also sounds a little redundant.", Haruyuki thought, but refrained from saying it aloud.

"If there are no further questions, is everyone ready?"

"Yes!", everyone shouted in response.

"Y.", Pard gave affirmation in her usual manner of speaking.

"Then, let us go. Five…"

Before the countdown finished, Haruyuki and Megumi turned over to look at Kuroyukihime one last time, her white body in a state of ephemerality, and whispered these thoughts in their heads:

"Four…"

"Don't worry, Senpai. We survived many other hurdles before, no matter what they were. I promise, we'll bring you out of this one as well!"

"Three…"

"Hime, you once saved me from my own prison. Now it is my turn to save you from yours. Together with your beloved Arita-kun."

"Two…"

Megumi flashed a wink at Haruyuki afterwards, making him surprised momentarily, though he quickly snapped out of it and focused on the countdown that was nearing its end.

"One…"

"""UNLIMITED BURST!"""