Chapter 28: Wavering

Their mental domains expanded, clashing and intertwining in a chaotic dance of repulsion. At the edges of the space, concrete was reduced to mere silt, pulverized by the sheer pressure, while waves of electrons caused the surface of the virtual sun to glitch and warp.

"..."

The Balancer—Violet Themis—attempted to resist the Transcendent Acceleration of Tachyon by deploying the World of All Things: Dotland. However, she aborted the process midway.

She had judged that the Shadow of Sin alone would be more than enough to finish the job. Consumed by a torrent of power, she allowed everything but her thoughts to be frozen as she watched the final struggle unfold.

"Hah!"

"..."

Crack-snap! The sounds of energy colliding rang out in rapid succession.

It was a duel beautiful enough to be called a dance of the gods, yet it was filled with a frigid, lethal intent—like an iron dagger exposed to a frozen river, a sight so cold it felt sinful even to describe.

Skreeeeeeeeee!

Sparks flew as the Hero’s Shadow, Cleuseus, ground against a mass-produced, blunt light-sword. These sparks were preserved in the frozen time of the domain before they could vanish from the world.

Within this space, while a Heart Domain is active, special abilities are normally unusable. This forces a confrontation of pure, raw strength.

The reason a piece of mass-produced junk could trade blows with a legendary weapon was simple: a hundred years of refinement that the Shadow possessed in technique, but lacked in spirit.

The Shadow of Sin perfectly traced the subject’s experiences, habits, and prowess, recreating them at the absolute peak of their power. However, there was one thing even a power bordering on the divine could not replicate: the wavering of the heart.

Asuna was a Lica-series model. She was supposed to be a doll without emotions, merely a vessel for orders.

But for a fleeting moment—a fraction of a second, a mere thousandth of a millisecond—Asuna possessed a distinct, undeniable fluctuation in her heart. It was something absent in A03, the oldest of the Lica-series Phantasm Girls, and unique only to Asuna.

The existence of a family worth loving.

That bond sharpened her Trauma Attribute. Simultaneously, she deployed Tachyon to crush any future where she might lose to cheap tricks, betting everything on this kill.

"Hyaaah!"

She aimed a wrist-drop at the hilt of the Shadow's blade. Seizing the opening, she unleashed an eight-fold barrage followed by a heavy strike intended to blow the opponent away.

Slowly, ever so slightly, Asuna began to shift her movements.

It was a feint, a change in rhythm, an offensive maneuver... and a lure.

She intentionally feigned a break in her stance. The shadow version of Asuna watched with cold detachment, preparing to strike at the most devastating moment.

Move beyond my own consciousness!

Normally, this was a technique involving thrusters to take the high ground and decapitate an enemy whose center of gravity was too low. Instead, Asuna forced the air into a chaotic swirl, moving with such reckless aggression that she slipped behind her double by a fraction of a millimeter.

A flash of the blade followed from her irregular posture. It wasn't a clean hit; the Shadow managed to block it with a delayed defense.

But that, too, was part of the plan.

"Void-Sever!"

She sliced through the very trail her sword had left when she bypassed the shadow a moment ago.

"---!?"

Under normal circumstances, abilities cannot be used while a Heart Domain is active. Attempting to create a new heart within one’s own domain—a heart within a heart—carries a risk of multiple personality disorder so high it is practically guaranteed.

Except for her.

The memories of growing up and dying as a young man, combined with the memories of a life spent on the battlefield as a Lica, turned this impossible demand into a reality.

"Whew..."

Asuna had won. It was a victory so narrow it could barely be called one.

"Haa... haa... phew..."

She was gasping for air, the toll of the death match weighing heavy on her lungs.

"Heh... sorry, Newbie. Looks like I might not be able to keep our promise after all."

Standing behind the Balancer she had just faced were more than a dozen other versions of herself.

"Well then... time for a smoke."

She took a cigarette from her breast pocket and lit it using her light-sword. She let the smoke fill her battered lungs, a final act of defiance against her own exhaustion.

"Let’s go."

".........Tachyon."