EP.1 The Butterfly's Dream

"Hahahah! Did you see his face earlier?"

The road to the Nexus Port ran through the great cavity, and around the five pathfinders trudging through the dark ruins, an unexpected clamor of idle chatter bubbled away.

"He looked like he'd just chewed on a turban of pure crap!"

The ones doing most of the ruckus were Jack O'Lantern and Dullahan. Though since Dullahan communicated entirely through text output rather than speech, the loudest voice in the ruins was, in the end, Jack O'Lantern's.

But Jack wasn't heckling alone. Every so often, Akina would chime in to egg him on.

"Hmph! You didn't believe it at first, did you?"

The petite girl shot a sidelong glance.

"What was it you said? 'Looks like he's outmatched'? Outmatched, my ass! Who's outmatching who? You said our mister was the strongest, didn't you? Didn't believe a word of it then, but now that you've seen it with your own eyes!"

At Akina's tattling, Jack O'Lantern scrambled to clamp a hand over her mouth — but one glance at Ash standing tall right beside them, and he didn't even dare reach out.

"Ah, ahaha... well, about that, you see..."

Watching the two men wilt on the spot, Akina wore a smile of quiet triumph. To any onlooker, she might well have just walked away victorious from a formal duel.

"Ugh, you're all so loud! What happened to keeping watch, did you eat your vigilance for breakfast? The expedition isn't over yet. Focus!"

At Ifrit's sudden bark of command, the three of them shut their mouths. But it didn't last long. As if nothing had ever happened, they huddled back together and resumed whispering about the duel from moments ago.

Needless to say, the duel had ended in Ash's victory. Siren's strength had drained away at some point, and she'd failed to fully block Ash's final strike, tumbling backward and out cold. Yet judging by the smile frozen on Siren's face even as she lost consciousness — crushed in an utterly one-sided defeat — the duel must have been quite something for her.

And so the short duel ended, and Team Elementary Girls' expedition pressed on. That had been barely thirty minutes ago.

"Leave it. Lady Hero. I can spare a little more attention for keeping watch."

Ash spoke up just as Ifrit was about to snap at them again, and at his words, she let out a sigh. Ash was reading their surroundings faster than even Dullahan, whose entire chassis was specialized for reconnaissance — there was nothing she could say to that.

They walked on in silence for a while, until Ifrit suddenly spoke to Ash.

"Hey. Ash."

"Speak."

"Can I ask you something?"

At that, Ash turned his head. When those teal optical sensors fixed on her, Ifrit flinched despite herself — she, too, hadn't quite shaken off the lingering weight of that duel.

The monster who had utterly crushed Halloween's number-one ranked fighter. For some reason, the gaze of such a monster carried a pressure that was hard to bear.

"Go on."

Ifrit drew a short breath. Fighting off that strange pressure, she asked her question.

"That wagered duel. Why did you do it, really?"

It was an ordinary question. And yet, astonishingly, Ash lowered his head at hearing it.

"I owe you an apology."

"What? Why are you suddenly—"

"Did I not delay our journey?"

The woman, who had been staring at him with a dumbfounded face, shook her head.

"No. I'm not looking for an apology, I'm genuinely curious. As far as I know — okay, I don't know you that well, but still — that's not your style, is it? Isn't squeezing credits out of people Akina's department?"

Ash chuckled low at that.

"Well spoken indeed. You have sharp eyes, Lady Hero."

"Spare me the flattery. Anyway, what was the real reason?"

"...The reason."

After a moment's pause, Ash continued.

"Hmm. Thinking back on it now... I suppose I was a little angry."

At those words, Ifrit made an utterly bizarre expression. So bizarre that the LED hearts glowing within her eyes seemed to crumple out of shape.

"Don't tell me... it wasn't because of me, was it?"

"...Why do you suddenly appear in this?"

"Well, I mean, isn't it? That Siren brat pulled her stunts, so you got mad — isn't that what you're saying?"

Ash stared at her evenly.

"Lady Hero."

"What. What now."

"You are overthinking this."

Ifrit's face went red.

"You could've just said no, instead of standing there all dignified. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— whatever. Is the anger gone now?"

"Completely."

"Well, yeah, I guess. Three million credits went straight down the drain. That ought to soothe anyone's temper."

There, the conversation ended.

Or so Ifrit believed. But Ash did not.

His next words stopped her mid-stride.

"About that arm of yours."

"...Hm?"

"If it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠comes back to you someday, what do you intend to do with it? Attach it yourself?"

He asked in a matter-of-fact tone, the way one might ask whether she'd eaten lunch. But Ifrit found she couldn't answer easily.

"...Honestly? Never thought about it. There's no guarantee that witch would ever give it back, anyway. Every time, she cusses me out and demands I hand it over this instant — but honestly, if I were her, I wouldn't return it either. Do you know what that thing is worth?"

"I see."

Ash asked nothing more. He only added one quiet remark.

"Then it would be wise to start thinking about it now."

And there, the conversation truly ended. With nothing more to say, Ash turned his head away.

"...What was that?"

She turned the cryptic remark over in her mind for a moment, then shook her head a couple of times.

"Focus!"

Clapping her hands for emphasis, she drew out her data pad. Above it floated a holographic map, marked with the coordinates where the unknown idol had died.

"We're here. It's right on top of us now, so let's get serious."

At her command, the three chattering pathfinders scattered at once — Dullahan to the vanguard, Akina to the center, Jack O'Lantern to the rear. The search formation they'd agreed upon at the start.

And so the five pathfinders pushed once more into the deepest reaches of the ruins.

Their journey was anything but smooth. The countless threats lurking in the depths of the ruins harried the pathfinders in their own ways, and in a short span of time, a great many things happened.

While they were crossing a narrow corridor, ceiling panels split open and dozens of turrets sprang out all at once. The distance was awkward for sword work, so Ash resorted for the first time to his own ranged weapon — the Bloody Heart Mk.7.

His marksmanship was astonishingly, catastrophically bad.

So bad that one had to wonder how a human being could miss that thoroughly — and even amid the desperate firefight, Ifrit couldn't help doubling over with laughter.

They say the ten thousand streams of the world all return to a single source — but apparently, marksmanship had been exempted from Wanliu Guizong, the Grand Confluence of All Rivers.

Past the trap-riddled alley, next to make an appearance were fellow pathfinders — an idol group arriving from another direction.

"Hey there, you f—ing bastards! We are Sha!"

"i!"

"ning!"

"Star!"

"Hey, hold up. Isn't that humanoid over there Ash?"

"Ash? You mean, the one who threw down with Siren?"

The glimmering male idol group Shining Star, for all their dazzling entrance, bowed their heads almost immediately. They had apparently been monitoring clips of the Ash versus Siren duel.

They shot furtive glances at one another and awkwardly backpedaled — until the member who'd shouted the first syllable, Sha, hesitantly stepped forward.

"I-I'm actually a huge fan, so... would you possibly be able to give me an autograph?"

"A fan? Did you not just call us f—ing bastards?"

"We didn't recognize you! I'm so sorry!"

The man bowed deeply, then quickly fished out a data pad and held it out to Ash. Ash looked between the pad and the man, shrugged, and set his hand moving in a blur.

From his fingertips swept a script so fluid and vigorous that no one would have believed it came from a machine — strokes flowing across the holographic pad like living calligraphy.

"There. It is done."

"Thank you so— ...huh?"

Receiving the result, the man was badly thrown. It was an eccentric script he couldn't read at all.

"Wh-what is this...?"

"My name."

Ash answered absently and simply turned away. The members of Shining Star stood there for a long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while, staring blankly at the pad bearing that bizarre signature.

Even after that, their journey saw no shortage of large and small commotions. Running into traps. Beating down Sentinels. Occasionally, more idols.

How much time had passed? At last, they arrived at the very place they'd seen in that video on the PDA.

"...So this is it?"

It was a place like the altar of some colossal temple. Dust lay in layer upon layer across the floor, and massive stone pillars stretched up toward the ceiling. Over the entire space hung an indescribable sanctity, one that no weight of years could ever bury.

And there, at the very center of the altar — suspended in midair — floated the golden, diamond-shaped crystalline structure they had sought for so long.

"The Nexus Port...!"

Ifrit's eyes lit up. Having confirmed the Nexus Port, she hurriedly scanned their surroundings.

Despite being packed with complex structures, the space was far larger than the cavity where they'd faced the Wraithcraft. But that spatial scale meant nothing to Ifrit. Only one thing mattered.

That no one else was here but them. That was what mattered.

"Niiice!"

Starting with her whoop of joy, Jack O'Lantern and Dullahan threw both arms high into the air.

"Haha, hahahah! I honestly didn't dare hope, but we actually pulled it off!"

"Jack! Get the stream up! Let's show the whole world the moment of first discovery!"

From that point on, the three of them began bustling about.

"Hellooo, my Ifrities! You've waited so long, haven't you? Aw, don't be like that! It's because I've prepared a gift this enormous just for you!"

Ifrit blew a kiss at the broadcast drone and played to the camera, while Jack O'Lantern gathered up the steel plates strewn about the ruins and hauled them to the center of the chamber. Akina would soon be entering Deep Dive — and building a makeshift barricade against the Sentinel counterattack that was all but guaranteed to follow.

—Kzzzt!

Sparks of welding flame leapt from Dullahan's fingertips in a flash of light. Wherever his hands passed, molten metal flowed into every gap.

Amid all that bustle, Ash's gaze rested on one place only.

The technomancer about to enter Deep Dive. Akina.

From the moment they'd first entered this space until now, she had been staring holes through the Nexus Port — biting at her nails as though anxious, or nervous, or both.

Ash quietly approached and rested a hand on her shoulder. Akina flinched and turned her head.

"...Mister."

"Feeling nervous?"

The girl shook her head.

"H-heheh! As if! Who do you think I am? I'm a genius technomancer, aren't I? Th-this much is... it's a piece of cake!"

The stumbling speech, the trembling hands. Her words and her body said completely opposite things.

But Ash didn't call it out. Instead, he knelt on one knee to meet her at eye level.

"True enough. This young miss is a finer technomancer than anyone I have ever known. That I can guarantee with confidence."

"...Mister, the only technomancer you know is me, though?"

Ash chuckled low and took hold of the hand she'd been gnawing at.

"That includes everyone I am yet to know."

Perhaps his words helped. The girl's finely trembling hand gradually steadied itself, and her wavering blue eyes calmed along with it.

"Hey, mister. Um... could you say that thing one more time? The one from before?"

"Which words do you require?"

"Th-the ones you said my first time in a Deep Dive..."

Ash fell silent for a moment, recalling his memories of that first expedition. He soon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠understood what she wanted to hear, and repeated it without changing a single syllable.

"Go, and return. I shall be here the whole while."

"...You have to keep that promise, okay?"

"Most assuredly."

At Ash's steadfast vow, a faint smile finally bloomed across the girl's face.

Meanwhile, the welding had stopped. Jack and Dullahan, who'd finished their work at some point, nodded toward her from across the chamber. Ifrit, who'd been in her element chatting with viewers through the drone, likewise looked over and nodded.

"Now then, young miss. Are you ready?"

Ash asked, and Akina answered not with words, but like everyone else, with a nod.

She hesitated no longer. Every step of their long journey had been nothing more than the road that brought her here, before the Nexus Port.

Akina drew a deep, deep breath, then walked straight toward the great altar — toward the golden-glowing Nexus Port. When she reached it, the girl swept her hair up into a single bind without ceremony and connected a cable between her head and the crystal.

In that brief moment, Akina's eyes met Ash's. And so she gave him a composed smile.

"See you in a bit."

"I shall await you."

That was all the farewell they exchanged. Akina closed her eyes and let her consciousness flow out into the sea of information that no ordinary human would ever dare imagine — cyberspace itself.

The petite girl's body floated gently into the air, and soon tendrils of something like blue haze swirled around her.

—Kugugugugung...

The instant she entered Deep Dive, the entire altar — no, the entire ruin — began to tremble faintly. Red warning lights dormant in the walls everywhere blazed to life at once, drowning the world in crimson.

A dry, mechanical voice rang out through the ruins. A declaration announcing the bloodbath to come.

"Ready yourselves!"

The four pathfinders ringing Akina each gripped their weapons anew.