Sign of a Crack

Crack.

A faint sound, like an auditory hallucination, was definitely the sound of a crack forming, unless I was mistaken.

Ned Ludd hadn't noticed it yet.

With his eyes, nose, mouth, and entire face stinging and burning, how could he possibly notice such a small sign?

He still swung his katana while screaming with his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Your attacks don't─work on me!"

He was under the Delusion that my previous blade Strike had been aimed at him, and that he had perfectly blocked it.

No, the Attack worked.

It just wasn't enough yet.

There was definitely a split on the inside of Ned Ludd's blade. However, that crack wasn't enough to shatter the katana all at once.

If once wasn't enough, I would do it twice.

I raised the hilt of the sword again, which was now completely embedded in my hand and glove like a callus, impossible to detach.

It wasn't an Easy Target To Strike like before.

Because he wasn't staying still, swinging his katana around wildly.

But when I focused and watched, I could see a pattern.

All that was left was to Step in at the exact time and deliver an impact.

Now.

In my Slowed Vision, I thrust the katana at the perfect timing.

Soon, a heavy recoil transmitted through my entire body. It felt like I was the one who got hit even though I was the one attacking.

Because my arm moved slowly, and because I lacked strength, it ended up looking more like I was receiving his Attack rather than making one.

Clang───scrape.

But it didn't matter. In the end, the intended result was the same. I just needed to stress Ned Ludd's katana in any way possible.

It was a success this time too.

The Plasma on the surface of the heated blade sizzled, and the sound of a crack forming was heard once again.

But outwardly, it still looked the same. It hadn't broken.

Just how solidly was it made for it to hold up so well? I felt like checking who the manufacturer was.

I wasn't going to exhaust all my strength and Collapse just trying to break the sword, was I? That would be a problem.

Gritting my teeth, I moved my trembling arm and swung the katana for a third time.

And this time, it landed properly.

Claaaaaang─!

A resonance that seemed to spread deep into the inside of the blade.

The crack expanded, and the Plasma Heat Ray boiled as if it were about To Explode.

The sword trembled precariously and screamed, as if trying to inform its Owner of its condition.

And that was it. It still hadn't shattered.

It was driving me Crazy.

I felt like just a tiny bit more would do it.

I fell backward and lay on the floor. My clothes scraped against the floor as I was pushed back.

Given the strong impact I had delivered, the repulsive Force was no joke either.

I couldn't possibly withstand it on my two legs, so I had to fall flat on my back like this.

And once I lay down on the floor, I couldn't get up at all. I wanted to just keep lying here like this.

My throat groaned in thirst, craving water and air. My Physical Condition needed rest desperately.

Was there a reason for me to go this far?

Couldn't I just run away now while Ned Ludd was suffering from the Pepper Grenade?

Would breaking his sword even mean I could win?

That Ned Ludd looked like he could fight perfectly well even with a broken katana. Plus, he still had his cyberware left...

"Just wait a little, bar Manager. I think it's getting better."

As if to shatter my weak Resolve, the bastard shouted.

It was too late to give up now.

Sink or swim, I had to do it. Ned Ludd was recovering quickly.

His vicious words were sharp; if a little more time passed like this, his vision would fully recover, and his disrupted senses would return.

The stinging and burning pain would still be there, but stopping a terrorist gang Leader with just that would be absurd.

"Ugh... fu, ck."

Just raising my body made the muscles and joints all over my body scream.

Amidst the sensation of my entire body being crushed as if I had been in a Traffic Accident, I breathed heavily and looked to the side.

The Bar Table was the place where the Bartenders had been until the battle with Ned Ludd began.

Tony and Sey were not there.

Whether they hid in the Rest Area, or escaped using the back door, or whatever... anyway, they weren't here.

Where did all these people go?

Feeling my strength drain for some reason, I weakly swung the blade.

Please just break already. Isn't it about time you shattered...

That silent scream did not reach it.

The result was the same as before.

From Ned Ludd's katana,

Bzzzzzt─

A noise came, and that was it.

The crack widened, the structure inside the blade split apart, and the Plasma Heat Ray flashed and flickered even more dangerously...

I could tell the sword was on the verge of completely breaking down. It was giving off strong signals of being a defective product to anyone who looked.

Ned Ludd would have noticed it immediately if his Attention hadn't been entirely focused on the Pepper Grenade.

But it was a Hair's Breadth. That truly tiny, trivial gap was the problem.

Just as water doesn't freeze at 1°C and doesn't boil at 99°C, this wasn't enough.

It was lacking one percent of something. I needed something to fill that one percent.

At this rate, even if I broke the sword, it would be inadequate to take down Ned Ludd.

I needed a Powerful Impact capable of delivering a Decisive Blow.

A Powerful final Strike that could instantly detonate the seeds of division and Explosion inside that katana, which I had painstakingly sown like a farmer hoping for a harvest...

The problem was that I didn't have anything like that.

I didn't have the strength for it, and the same went for tools.

If I had had such a Powerful weapon, I would have used it already.

My capital ran out with the Pepper Grenade just now.

I thought I had prepared incredibly thoroughly with just this.

A Brand-Name Katana, a Visor Helmet, a Tech Umbrella Gun, a Transparent Portable Barrier, a Pepper Grenade, and even a Super-Vibrating jet engine saw for the Chainsaw Man.

On top of that, I had tightly wrapped the inside of my clothes with Protective Gear.

Wasn't this a lineup that anyone would consider more than enough, even overflowing?

I couldn't prepare any more than this, if only because of time and space constraints. This was the best gear advantage I could muster.

And out of all those preparations, the only things left now were the helmet and the katana.

The helmet was practically useless other than its value as armor, so it was Fine to rule it out.

Only the katana was left.

It was the top-tier Self-defense Katana worth tens of millions of city dollars belonging to the Young Lady Alexandra.

This was the only thing I had left to use...

"...Katana."

My eyes turned toward the Jet-Black Katana.

Looking back, there was one strange thing.

Even though he was the Luddite gang Leader Ned Ludd, the katana he used didn't look like a tremendously high-end product.

At best, it was a high-quality mass-produced item that had undergone various modifications.

And yet─even such an Ordinary Katana was equipped with Plasma Heat Ray Tech that made the blade flash and heat up.

Why wasn't such Technology applied to the Super Luxury Katana I was using?

These are Super-Vibration Technology, Plasma Technology, or Monotech.

Shouldn't a High-End Brand Weapon have at least one of those to be considered such in a Cyberpunk World?

The katana I held was just surprisingly sturdy, not having a single scratch on it yet, and it was light and sharp.

And its black blade, like Vantablack, looked incredibly cool.

That was all. While that Alone met the conditions to be called an excellent weapon, it was Insufficient to unleash the power I wanted.

I needed something more.

It seemed likely that they would have installed such functions...

I narrowed my eyes without realizing it. Along with the feeling of my vision expanding, my perception sped up.

My heartbeat slowed down, and my head buzzed and rang.

I thought it had no side effects unlike the Microchip, but was it just weaker rather than non-existent?

With a Headache that felt like my skull was being pounded, I looked into the inside of the Jet-Black Katana's blade in a State of Super Concentration.

Unlike Ned Ludd's katana, which had a relatively simple shape with a densely packed Alloy Structure and a Plasma Heat Ray laid inside it, this object was distinct.

The inside of Alexandra's katana... was dizzying just to look at.

Countless molecules, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of metal molecules were connected to each other to form a massive polymer.

Crystals linked together to embroider a Wave Pattern smoothly connected in a Spiral Structure.

And beneath that pitch-black Nano Alloy background, a blue light that made my nerves tingle lay Calmly at the base.

Pale blue dots were flickering, densely packed in shapes that looked round from up close and like elongated lines from afar.

The dots connected to draw a halo.

Vwoooom─

It was an incredibly dangerous color.

Like radiation, it felt as if just looking at it would cause problems.

*At the same time, it was mesmerizing.*

My head knew it was ominous, but there was a bizarre attraction that drew me in like a moth to a flame.

The delicate trajectories of light are stretching and breaking, a regularly rotating Movement like looking at a meticulous electrical circuit.

Just as I was gradually being sucked into that bright blue light and losing consciousness, my head rang sharply as if a Safety Mechanism had been activated.

The area where the Microchip was presumed to be embedded hurt as if it were pulling at my soul.

"...Gasp."

My mind returned to its original body once again.

I tore my gaze away from the black universe and the Blue Exostar burning with a green copper light.

My vision returned to normal, and everything looked much brighter.

I calmed my churning stomach, feeling somewhat nauseous.

...I didn't know what I had just seen.

A nuclear reactor, or a fusion reactor. An Optical Particle Energy Engine, or a Plasma Generator.

Whatever it was, a power source with tremendous power was inside the katana.

It wasn't just a matter of having a special function. It was something so Powerful it couldn't even be compared to Ned Ludd's katana.

I didn't know why such a thing was embedded in a sword, or what the true Identity of this sword was.

Let's survive first and think about those complicated problems later.

I had found a Way to Survive.

The firepower I needed was already prepared. And it was inside the very sword I was using, at that.

I was just the only one who didn't know.

There was definitely a way to use it.

There had to be some means to operate it on the surface...

I quickly rolled my eyes and scanned the Jet-black blade Body.

However, only the smooth blade was visible, and hard-to-understand patterns could be read. The information I needed wasn't there.

There was no way there wasn't a switch to press or a button To Pull to Activate it.

Ned Ludd wasn't just going to stand by and Watch me examine it so urgently.

The Luddite Leader slowly opened his eyes wide.

Those bloodshot eyes glared intensely in this direction, not narrowed to slits like before, but fully widened pupils.

The effect of the tear gas had worn off. His senses had completely revived.

"...I felt this before, but you really prepared thoroughly. A Pepper Grenade─ha. I swear you won't die an easy death, bar Manager."

Cheeks trembling with rage, he took a stride that closed the distance between us in an instant.

Ned Ludd was approaching. The moment I was caught, it was death.

...It would have been nice if the effect had lasted just a little longer.

Then again, it had more than earned its keep just by holding out this long. How much time had it bought me?

Hoping for anything more here would be a Thief's mentality.

Should I call it fortunate? Because all his Attention was focused on me, the Culprit behind the Pepper Grenade, it seemed he still hadn't discovered the abnormality in his own weapon.

Of course, even that was only a matter of time.

There was no way a sharp guy like Ned Ludd wouldn't notice, with the blade continuing to tremble unstably and making strange noises.

I had to Finish this before he noticed.

And to do that, I had to figure out the secret of the Black Katana.

As I backed away, I saw something flashing: a white light. The Cyberwatch on my wrist was blinking, delivering a notification.

I was sure I had set almost all notifications to silent.

Thinking it was interrupting at a busy moment, I was going to ignore it, but... the message written on the Display was somewhat unfamiliar.

[Bottom of the handle.]

A short and concise message.

The Sender was...

It is quite a familiar person. If it was this person.

There was no time to doubt.

Without a second thought, I immediately brought my finger to the Blunt part at the bottom of the hilt.

After fumbling a few times, I noticed a part that pressed in.

This was it. This was definitely it. They really hid it where it was hard to find.

As I stroked the inner sensor, I heard a sound like the blade was splitting apart.

It worked. It was done. I didn't know what it was, but it would Activate now.

With a Vwoooom─ noise, I thrust the gradually transforming Black Katana toward the approaching Ned Ludd.

And...

[Bio-ID does not match. Request canceled.]

The sword stopped transforming, fell silent again, and returned to its previous state.

Fuck.

I hadn't thought of this.