Editing City Series:Volume8b Chapter19 (section)

===Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park===

'''<Aoe’s Over Reload>

They exchanged blows and Aoe took a few as the battle accelerated.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe saw the sky and the massive structure, saw the forest and the beach, saw the lake and the amusement park’s lights, and saw his enemy.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

An impact knocked Aoe flying.

“Gh!”

He sent out his remaining striking power to stay in the fight. He pulled his right knee to his chest while in midair.

That was to ensure he could throw a kick at a moment’s notice.

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo was coming.

He was fast.

Algo tore through the wind and aimed for the left leg Aoe intended to land on.

Algo crouched low and threw his hips forward. He slid forward and swept his leg around in front of him.

Airborne Aoe responded by pulling his left leg up to avoid the leg sweep.

Just beforehand, Algo’s sweeping leg accelerated and Aoe’s right leg swung down.

Aoe’s right heel stabbed into the beach.

“Oh.”

Aoe’s attack had missed and Algo threw himself forward. Algo kicked off the ground with his right foot and lifted his butt while jabbing his left heel upwards.

He performed a heel kick from the ground.

Aoe pulled his left knee up to block with his shin. Algo’s left heel struck it from below.

The impact sounded explosive.

Aoe’s left leg strained and a rupture of air sent spray everywhere.

Aoe was launched backwards.

Meanwhile, Algo used the returning force of the kick to roll forward. He kicked at the sand and put some distance between them.

But Aoe didn’t let him go. He forced his left leg up even with the previous impact still affecting it.

He moved to catch Algo’s fleeing left leg with his toes, but he also kicked up at Algo.

“Oh,” said Algo as the rotation of his body sped up.

He had twisted forward in a roll, but the extra force turned the roll into a tumble and he landed hard on his side.

Aoe’s feet slid as he landed, sending sand spraying out in front of him.

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

They faced each other from about 4 yards away. Aoe took a fighting stance and let out a breath.

He bounced on his feet with his sweat forming a white steam in the chilly wind.

Algo did the same. He took a fighting stance with sweat on his brow.

Alternative was visible past his shoulder.

Aoe looked down and noted the kick mark left on Algo’s white pants.

“I hit you.”

“You did.”

Algo shook his head to fling the sweat from his brow and nodded.

Seeing that nod, Aoe checked his own body.

He had taken hits to the limbs, torso, back, face, and neck and he still felt the strain.

He had only hit his opponent once. Nevertheless…

“I can do this,” he told himself.

Algo smiled bitterly.

“You’re a tough one.”

“Little late to be noticing that,” said Aoe. He took a breath, adjusted his fighting stance, and listened to the waves of the artificial lake. “I gave up on defeating you once.”

He nodded with a smile on his lips and shook the sound of the waves from his ears.

“But no longer.”

Blood dripped down his lips.

A finger wiped away the blood. A slender hand had reached in from behind him.

That was Yuo.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her lick the blood from her finger.

Her face was a bit pale, but she had plenty of strength in her eyes and eyebrows.

After licking the blood away, she removed the finger from her lips and let out a heated sigh.

And she quietly asked a question.

“This isn’t all you can do, is it?”

Both men answered.

“No,” said Aoe. “It isn’t,” agreed Algo.

Alternative followed up Algo’s words by shutting her eyes and shaking her head.

A moment later, Aoe and Algo clashed in an explosion of sand.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

This battle felt familiar to Aoe on a level deeper than conscious thought.

He had fought like this with Algo before.

That was back when they were at Ungyou’s Kobayashi Dojo. In the early mornings, they had descended the mountain and sparred on the coast of the port village.

In this fake world, Aoe felt some familiar emotions.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Out of the corner of his eye, Aoe saw Yuo feed Monkey a program trigon.

<Senpai!>

Her window popped up and his speed increased.

The speed boost was a variable thing. He could choose to boost his speed anywhere from x1 to x10.

He understood why she had done this.

His enemy – no, his opponent named Algo – was speeding up.

Algo’s fist was coming. A fist with divine speed.

Aoe ducked, digging his feet into the sand to dodge his opponent’s fist barely enough that it tore through his hair.

This new speed brought fresh sweat to his skin, but the wind pressure dried that up in an instant.

His surroundings looked dimly lit. That meant their actions were distorting and shifting the wind.

In that dark scene, Algo’s white clothing and golden hair stood out against the waves behind him.

…''And I must be really hard to see.

''Because I’m wearing all black,'' thought Aoe.

He could sense his movements once more. His opponent swung his hand on a downward arc toward his head, but he moved to dodge that.

He moved left, digging his left shoulder into the barrier that was the air.

He broke through that barrier.

The air audibly split and then his evasion went quickly.

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He narrowed his vision, focusing only on Algo’s movements.

His surroundings grew blurry, but he could see the white attacks clearly.

A kick flew rapidly toward him.

Algo’s kick was so fast it visually skipped forward through the air. DT’s visuals could not keep up with the speed.

Aoe considered the situation.

…''Since he’s joined with sis, the Words Warn will only give him a few more minutes to live.

''Why?'' he wondered while taking evasive action.

…''Why is he wielding all this power to fight?

'''“Why?”

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

His question took the form of a fist.

Algo’s left was coming. Aoe’s instincts launched his right fist in a motion baked into his body.

He swung his arm, threw his entire body forward, and sent all his motion directly into his fist.

The dense attack power crashed into its target.

The two attacks canceled each other out. The impact of deflecting Algo’s fist traveled back up his arm, through his shoulder, up his neck, and into his cheek.

Aoe considered the tremor he felt racing throughout his body.

…''Why does he need so much power?

He knew why.

<No matter how great your opponent’s anxiety or fear…>

'''“There is a power that can destroy that and save them!”

He shouted.

'''“To save them…

'''“I must use my own power to surpass their anxiety and fear!”

Shattering glass sounds came from Aoe’s arms.

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom – Full Sight Open>

<–––––!>

His thoughts grew clear.

He raised his head, sweat flew from him, and he faced forward with his renewed vision.

He saw Algo and the background so much more clearly.

This was the beach in front of Babel. It was fake sand alongside an artificial lake.

A massive structure split the sky overhead.

The false sky.

The fake sky.

The Minus sky.

The wind blowing below the clouds and the night was chilly, but even that was created by a weather program.

His own body was fake in the same way, even if he had Loaded into it.

He knew all that. But…

<nowiki><I</nowiki> can surpass it!>

The things he felt within all these fake things were no lie.

He looked to Algo as they exchanged blows. He looked to Alternative.

Why Algo fought was obvious.

It was just as clear why he wanted to win.

So there was only one way to defeat him.

Algo carried an anxiety telling him he had to bring all of this to an end.

Telling him he had to summon the great god.

Telling him to fear Words Warn and the Plus world. Telling him to purify it all with the great god.

'''“I must overcome it all!”

Aoe shouted his will and jumped back to put some distance between them.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> will surpass everything you have.>

'''“Because that is the only victory you will accept!”

If he only had to win from his perspective, there had to be better ways and other strategies.

But that wasn’t what he wanted.

What was the strongest power? He already knew the answer.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> must believe in myself, think about my opponent, and use the decisive power that gives me!>



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo’s afterimage smiled at the window reconfirming Aoe’s will.

<Yes, the strongest power is gained by thinking about your opponent. And that is the only power you can safely use against your opponent.>

Aoe nodded in response.

…''It’s a power that can’t be put to words and that will make your opponent accept defeat.

He understood something now.

He understood how Algo had managed to use the strongest power in the battle that had killed Ungyou.

<Death was a result the old man could accept.>

Algo sped up as he viewed that window.

<Yes. I was too inexperienced, so he couldn’t teach me the strongest without accepting that fate.>

Algo’s expression changed for just a moment. He looked close to tears.

<So let me make this clear: if you hope to defeat us, prove that you can surpass us!>

'''“Can the two of you surpass the divine symbolism we chose in order to conquer our fears!”

Blood sprayed from Algo’s skin as he broke through the wind and approached.

The heat burned his skin and his blood vessels and nerves appeared on the surface like knots on a rope.

He sped up and reached the limits of his control.

He couldn’t eliminate his momentum and he briefly entered the water.

But even as a pillar of water erupted from the lake, Algo kept charging toward Aoe, the water failing to catch at his feet.

It all happened in an instant.

“This all ends here!” shouted Algo, his white afterimage kicking up the sand as it rushed in.

Alternative raised a fist while seemingly supporting his movement from behind.

Their movements were synced and she used her Load Emblem to assist his actions.

Aoe sensed Yuo moving behind him.

<Algo and Alternative are boosting themselves even more!?>

That window disappeared nearly instantly. She eliminated her doubt and produced a different window instead.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> will boost us as well!>

Aoe heard a song from behind him.

In their high-speed motion, her hands produced a circular grid keyboard from her key guarders and began boosting Aoe.

But her song also created a program to support his movement.

She sang to keep his body intact and whole.

He answered her song with movement.

The movement felt almost slow within the high speed of the imminent clash.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe pulled his right fist back at eye height.

He inhaled.

He tensed and relaxed his right fist.

He tensed and relaxed his right wrist.

He tensed and relaxed his right arm.

He tensed and relaxed his right shoulder.

Same for his chest, back, hip, butt, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, and big toe. He gathered strength in them all before relaxing them again. It traveled in a straight line from his arm to the foot planted behind him.

“…!!”

His entire body told him to roar, so…

'''“Oh!!”

He released a biting roar.

His entire body shot forward.

All 175cm of him tore through the wind as he leaped.

Power exploded below his feet, blasting the sand behind him.

On his way forward, he gathered his strength in the opposite direction from before. From the foot to the fist.

The foot, the ankle, the shin, the knee, the thigh, the buttocks, the hip, the back, the chest.

And finally the right shoulder, the right arm, and the right wrist.

He poured forward-directed power into them all and clenched his right fist.

All the strength in his body concentrated there.

If he sent that fist out, it would form a straight line from his foot to his fist.

'''“Mh.”

He sharpened the straight line running through his body and placed the knuckle of his middle finger at the leading edge.

All of his speed and weight were there.

He took a powerful step forward, toward his opponent. He ducked low from the head.

A great sound rang out.

It came from his feet digging into the sand.

He also heard the waves and the wind rushing by his ears.

He heard his breath leaving his throat and joining the air.

All of those sounds were fake.

They were no more than sound effects created by DT.

The sand below him was also fake.

…''Yes, that’s right.

The beach was fake.

The waves washing up to his feet were fake.

The lights of the amusement park visible past the waves were fake.

Even the sky above all those fake things was fake.

<That’s DT’s sky.>

''That’s right,'' his racing mind muttered.

The darkness in the sky above was fake.

The clouds blowing through it were fake.

The wind blowing the clouds was fake.

Everything he could see when looking up from this fake land was just as fake.

The heavens and the earth were fake in this city.

But he was just as confident that he really was there.

<Ohh!>

He viewed the distant amusement park lights, heard his own breaths, heard the waves blowing in the wind, and felt the sand beneath his feet.

He faced forward as he ran and saw his enemy there.

So he gathered strength in his fist.

'''“This ends here!”



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo did not dodge.

He sent his raised left fist into Aoe’s fist.

He went all out.

He showed no hesitation.

He sent out the fastest attack, which was also a killer attack.

Just as their two attacks collided, their powers reached an equilibrium and nearly exploded.

The impact traveled back through Aoe’s fist and up to his neck. The sound rang in his ears and rattled his brain.

In the brief moment of collision, Aoe had a thought.

…''How…

He had a realization.

'''“How is any of this fake!?”

It was all there.

The familiar things.

The things he wanted.

Even the things he had forgotten.

And that wasn’t all.

'''“Yuo.”

Something so important remained by his side.

He could sense it all. And…

…''Look.

He thought to himself.

…''Look at it all now.

But that was when his vision distorted.

Thinking there was something wrong with his sense of sight, he shouted his will to correct it.

'''“I will never exchange blows with this man again!”

His Downloaded vision remained distorted.

There was nothing wrong with his sense of sight. The distortion came from the tears in his eyes.

His great speed scattered the tears into the air and he poured strength into his arm to push on his colliding fist.

But the tears weakened that strength.

And just as he sensed his own weakness, he sensed another strength and a voice.

A gentle strength grasped his upper arm and a powerful voice rang out.

He sensed the strength tactilely, but the voice rang out as a will.

'''“Don’t give up!”



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

It was Yuo.

She leaned out over his right shoulder and swung out her own right arm.

Monkey and the ferret clung to her right shoulder and stared out ahead of his fist.

The Mice watched as her Load Emblem linked with his.

He realized the hand on his right arm was Yuo’s power.

It was a gentle thing that did not supply any additional attack power. Her voice also had no actual effect.

But they were both crucially important to him.

He knew in that moment that he had everything he needed.

He gave a roar.

'''“I will surpass you!”

[[Image:DT02_419.jpg|thumb]]

His will moved his body.

He shook his head, brushed away the tears, and shouted his thoughts.

'''“Go.

'''“I will no longer give up!”

The Son of God emblem on his right arm and Yuo’s back shined and they gained a renewed awareness of themselves. Text strings audibly emerged from the emblems.

'''■Type-Origin – God-class – Ultima■

The strongest Plus power shot out with no fear of the Minus.

It all happened in an instant.

Algo smiled when he saw Aoe and Yuo on his right shoulder in that moment.

'''“So the child of god has indeed arrived at the right hand of god!”



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo’s left arm could not counteract Aoe’s strength, so it shattered.

Aoe’s fist continued on to strike Algo in the center of the chest.

“…!”

The impact produced a great heat that scorched the air.

The sandy beach split apart and water erupted from the artificial lake.

Algo himself was launched backwards.

'''<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>