Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 8

2015-11-28T05:27:39Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 8: Nighttime Visitor */ partial undo. The original was already correct English

==Chapter 8: Nighttime Visitor==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0291.png|thumb]]
''That which asks yet provides no answer

''Acts for that very reason

''The same goes for that which receives no answer yet asks

A large white space measured one hundred meters in each direction. That dining hall had a single table almost as long as the room and it shined brightly under the lights on the ceiling.

Those lights also illuminated a woman in white clothing.

The black-haired woman was Miyako. She sat in a chair with her legs crossed and her arms folded. Her legs were shaking up and down which produced a comment from Moira 3rd who sat on the ground at her feet.

“Are you nervous, princess?”

“These are nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Honestly, don’t you at least have some toothpicks?”

“Toothpicks?”

Moira 3rd tilted her head at first but then stood up with a sudden idea.

She ran toward the kitchen and the two automatons standing at its entrance moved out of her way. As Miyako watched, she scratched her head in confusion.

The table in front of her contained the standard fork, spoon, and knife, but it also contained chopsticks and a Chinese spoon for some reason.

A close look showed the Chinese spoon was meant for children and it was printed with pictures of characters from the recently popular children’s anime titled “Manga’s First Armored Infantryman”. Namely, it had the protagonist Second Lieutenant Hayato and the mascot armor Bottom-tan.

''Everything’s been mecha recently,'' thought Miyako. ''And they probably set this table based on something they saw in a book.

She felt they were trying to be considerate, but she felt something else even more.

…''Is the food still not ready?

Just as she was thinking it was taking far too long, Moira 3rd ran out of the kitchen. She held up a small container.

“Princess! Here are the toothpicks you wanted!”

“That’s garlic powder, you idiot! I can’t pretend to smoke that!”

She chopped the girl on her blonde head.

“Nwah! I-I was only a little bit off! Right!?”

“A little bit!? Garlic and toothpick rhyme, but that’s it!”

She was not entirely sure why it mattered if they rhymed, but she swiped the garlic powder and placed it on the table.

“I don’t need to take it back?” asked Moira 3rd with a tilt of the head.

“If you serve anything too bad, I can sprinkle this on to mask the flavor.”

“Wow! Low-Gear culture is amazing!”

“Of course it is!”

But the food was very late. Miyako rested her head on her hand and asked a sudden question.

“By the way, Moira 3rd, am I ever going to see 2nd?”

“Hmm. Our middle sister doesn’t like being around people. She didn’t used to be that way, though.”

“What?”

Miyako tilted her head and Moira 3rd groaned and tilted her head as well.

There seemed to be a difficult problem.

…''I see. I shouldn’t have asked that.

She reached out and rubbed Moira 3rd’s head without even looking toward her.

“Wa ha ha. Lord Cronus would do the same thing.”

“Is that so? …Oh, one other thing. Will your master be eating with us?”

The Moirai’s explanation had ended with Rhea’s child returning to 3rd-Gear and Zeus and Cronus entering the Tartaros.

Rhea had not returned, but Miyako assumed that was due to something they were hesitant to speak of.

She still did not know Rhea’s child’s name. Zeus had not made it public because it was an impure name, but Miyako did not even know if the child was alive or dead.

…''This is the kind of suspicion horrible adults tend to have.

But depending how the final battle played out, it was entirely possible that the man named Apollo and Rhea’s child had survived. The figure with long blond hair she had seen may have been one of the two.

“Well?” she asked again.

“He probably will.” Moira 3rd nodded. “Typhon is quiet today too.”

“Typhon? You mean that white robot that grabbed me and carried me away last night?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. We hate it, though.”

“Does your master pilot it?”

“No, no. Lord Apollo is too pathetic for that.”

Miyako’s eyebrows rose when she heard the name.

“Is Apollo here?”

“Eh?” Moira 3rd tilted her head and spoke as if explaining the obvious. “Of course he is. He’s alive. It’s just that he’s so pathetic that he can’t voluntarily fight right now. I guess you could say someone else is piloting Typhon.”

''That’s right,'' mentally agreed Miyako.

She recalled what Moira 1st had said during the kamishibai.

…''He had a younger sister who was turned into a god of war after refusing to be sent to the Tartaros.

The pale blue god of war in the kamishibai was likely Apollo’s.

“Is the other pilot Rhea’s child? Or is there someone else?”

“Well…” Moira 3rd sounded troubled. “That isn’t it either. Lady Rhea’s child isn’t here. Our big sister might not have explained it, but a lot happened and so the one piloting Typhon is-…”

“The food is ready!”

When Moira 1st’s dignified voice filled the room, Moira 3rd’s shoulders jumped and she seemed to intentionally not finish her sentence.

…''They must have their reasons.

As a guest, Miyako did not want to stick her nose in their business. She smiled bitterly at Moira 3rd who was hiding behind her and she turned toward Moira 1st who quickly pushed in a stretcher.

The stretcher contained a large round metal lid. It had a radius of almost a meter and Moira 1st smiled as she brought it over.

“I apologize for the delay. We made this especially for you, so we went all out and used some ingredients Master Aigaion brought in a hurry.”

“What is it?”

“Can you guess?”

Miyako thought about it. It would be something from their culture, so she would never be able to guess. However, there would likely be some similarities, so she guessed the simplest, largest, and most expensive dish she could think of.

“A 250g steak.”

“Hm, not quite.”

“A fried food combination platter.”

“No, not that either.”

“The tempura B meal.”

“Princess, all of your guesses are very fatty. And what does ‘B meal’ mean?”

She wanted to say it was from her school cafeteria, but she resisted. She wondered what would require such a large lid. A whole roast pig seemed too much.

“Hm… I’m not sure.”

Moira 1st’s smile changed to one of obvious joy and she lifted the metal lid. As a large amount of steam escaped, the dish became visible.

“Tah dah! It’s a crab hot pot!”

“H-how the hell was I supposed to guess that!? Not to mention that it’s summer.”

“Do you not like crab? Master Aigaion’s book said it is a famous Japanese dish.”

“I like crab, but… what happened to Greek mythology? And…”

She started complaining and Moira 1st held out a ladle with holes.

Miyako stood up and took the red handle without thinking. The ladle bowed to her and then straightened its back.

…''What a well-mannered ladle.

Suddenly, all the lights but the one above her shut off. A drum roll started somewhere.

“Okay, the princess will now carry out the cutting of the hot pot!”

“S-stop that! I don’t know whose wedding you spied on, but you only do that with wedding cakes! And you can’t cut a hot pot in the first place!”

The lights returned to normal, revealing a disappointed Moira 1st and an automaton holding a drum.

Miyako gave an exasperated sigh.

But then a new figure entered the dining hall. It was a blond man wearing white.

It was Apollo.

He walked through the dining hall while smiling and raising a hand toward the automatons.

His blond hair fluttered around his kindly face.

When she recalled the person she had seen from behind earlier, she knew this was him.

…''He looks a lot like the woman in the hallway picture frame.

That woman was likely his sister Artemis.

''That sounds like a sad story,'' she thought. ''I should stop asking questions.

To change her train of thought, she glanced toward him and whispered in Moira 1st’s ear.

“Will he be able to understand me?”

“If you can understand us, you will be fine. That means the common language concept is functioning.”

''I didn’t exactly understand all of that,'' she muttered in her heart.

Moira 1st may have picked up on how she was feeling because she relaxed her smile and nodded.

“Do not worry. Lord Apollo has been reading and studying the books Master Aigaion brings back. He at least knows the Japanese words that are known around the world: konnichiwa, kore ikura, harakiri, etc.”

“Now you’re disgracing our country!?”

Moira 1st ignored her with a smile.

“At any rate, he is a royal, so he will give the greatest and most polite greeting of your world.”

Miyako froze momentarily when she heard the word “royal”.

But a click of the tongue later, she was back to normal.

She took three breaths. By the time the scent of crab had travelled from her nose to her mouth, Apollo had arrived in front of her.

He was tall. She had always ended up in the back of the class when lined up by height, but he was two levels taller than her. She felt his long blond hair was too old fashioned, but she also felt his slender face was nice.

…''Huh?

A sudden question reached her.

…''Why do I feel nostalgic?

She tilted her head with the ladle in her right hand.

“Ah.”

She noticed the eyes of the young man whose smile could be described as weak or even sickly.

His eyes were the same yellow as the eyes of the white god of war she had seen the night before.

She felt a warm tremble travel up her spine.

“!”

She was not sure what to call that trembling that came with a realization.

But she recalled something as her memories of the previous night grew more distinct.

When she had seen the god of war’s eyes, she had felt an indescribable feeling.

What had that been?

And now Apollo’s eyes had the same color.

…''Will he give me the same feeling?

But her question was not answered.

While she remained motionless, he closed his eyes and gave a smile with a hint of bitterness.

And he spread his arms.

He bowed elegantly in preparation for his greeting.

“Will you marry me!?”

She reflexively slammed the ladle onto his lowered head.

A dignified metallic noise sounded loudly.

3rd-Gear’s headquarters were wrapped in darkness.

The white-walled building glowed palely in the moonlight and a small figure stood at the bottom of one wall.

That figure was the automaton named Gyes.

The red of her suit sank into darkness under the night sky.

“…”

She suddenly looked up toward a light.

Above the giant hangar door behind her, light came from the top level of the four-story residential area.

“How unusual,” she muttered. “That would be the dining hall.”

The Moirai were likely working there for the princess who had been brought in the night before.

She thought she heard a strange metallic noise, but she suspected her hearing devices were malfunctioning because it made no sense for that to come from the dining hall.

Earlier, the princess had been introduced to her, Aigaion, and Cottus in the courtyard.

The Moirai seemed to like this princess. 2nd likely wanted to keep her distance because she had not been at the introduction, but the other maids seemed to have a favorable opinion of her. They liked the commotion surrounding her escape and they liked her attitude.

“She shows no restraint around us.”

She smiled bitterly.

''That is a good thing,'' she determined. ''If only good things like that could continue.

“As always, she will lose her memories and be returned in about three days, but this was a first. If the situation does not change, we may have to dispose of her while the Moirai are not watching.”

The Moirai would criticize the decision, but letting someone leave with their memories intact was too dangerous. That danger took precedence over criticism from the Moirai. After all, the Hecatoncheires were meant to protect that place.

She then heard a noise. She detected movement in a thicket on the slope about ten degrees left of straight ahead. Her eyes could see in the dark, so she easily detected the person’s silhouette and spoke their name.

“Hajji of the Army?”

“Yes. That’s right. That’s exactly right, Gyes. It’s been much too long.”

The thicket parted and revealed a tall elderly man with brown skin and a white cloth wrapped around his head. He was slender, but his shoulders were plenty broad. A hemp jacket was draped over his right shoulder and his hemp trousers were held up by suspenders.

“I have a lot of information for you today. You want it, don’t you? Surely you do.”

“Of course.” Gyes folded her arms and looked at the old man’s left eye which was covered by a black eyepatch. “Say what you have to say and get lost, former 9th-Gear general. We had wondered what you had been up to ever since 9th-Gear’s destruction, but we did not expect you to wander up five years ago with an organization named the Army.”

“My motives are complex. I suppose that is a subtlety of being human. You have stayed in this area all this time, so you don’t know what happened in this country ten years ago or how things have changed since the destruction of the ten former Gears, do you? Hm?”

“I am not interested in that. It was a single hope that allowed us to remain active for the fifty years after 3rd-Gear’s destruction. The hope of 3rd-Gear’s humans surviving.”

Gyes’s words brought Hajji to a stop. He was three meters from her and he stood as if positioning himself directly below the moonlight.

But his one eye did not look toward Gyes; it looked toward the large hangar door behind her.

“Survival, hm?” He brought a hand to his mouth and held a smile in his eyes. “And that hope was answered when I found this place five years ago, was it not? It was thanks to those materials you hadn’t been able to obtain and the philosopher’s stones I had gathered.”

“Do not hope for anything more in return. Five years ago, we made the promise to repay you for awakening our master and we are not the kind of machine that will break a promise.” Gyes took a breath and glared at Hajji. “If we ever no longer need 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core, we will give you the wreckage of Typhon which uses it as its reactor. Not a surprising request for the Army as you barely have any gods of war.”

“Do you think that will be happening anytime soon? With the defeat of Typhon, for example.”

Gyes suddenly raised a hand.

That right hand was wrapped in light. A ring was embedded at the base of each finger.

She pointed the index finger toward Hajji.

“…!”

And he turned back and to the right.

A silver arc cut through the darkness as if following his movement.

The sound of slicing air stopped right in front of his face.

The sound came from a long sword. It was at least a meter long and it floated in midair.

Hajji stared at the tip of the blade.

“How frightening.”

And his expression changed because the sword had cut the string to his eyepatch.

He remained silent as the black eyepatch fell from his face. His expression changed from surprise to a mix between anger and a smile.

“!”

And he let out a quick, sharp shout.

It all happened before Gyes’s eyes in an instant.

Hajji’s left hand grabbed the falling eyepatch and his right shot up.

That was enough to smash her sword. But that was not all. Starting from the location of the sword and moving toward her, everything – including the air – was loudly destroyed.

“Wha-…!?”

Before she could even finish the word, she chose defense.

She spread both hands and six swords flew from her suit’s long sleeves. The blades were made of soft metal and they bent along with the curved surface of her suit, but she used her gravitational control to condense them into a fixed shape. They all transformed into long, hard swords.

“Seyah!!”

She swung down her arms and the six blades swung down toward the destruction of the air travelling down the center.

A metallic noise rang out.

The six blades were instantly smashed into dust, but she did not care. She was facing the man who had managed the attack power of an entire Gear. The attack was not meant to defeat him; it was meant to buy enough time for her to evade.

“What power is this!?”

She tried to determine the power’s identity.

…''Disintegration? No, and it isn’t a concept of destruction either. To eliminate this much…

That was as far as her thoughts got. She realized she would be completely destroyed if she did not evade.

And so she used gravity on her back to forcibly spin herself back and to the right.

Her red heels shot dirt into the air as she fell back. After moving four meters, her back was almost to the white wall, but the warning bells in her head were still ringing.

She jumped to the side.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0307.png|thumb]]

An instant later, it arrived at the spot she had been in.

The destructive attack sounded like multiple attacks.

The invisible power smashed the air and gouged out a large hole in the wall. In quick succession, it created eighteen sounds and scars as if from driving a stake into the wall. The fragments of the wall turned to dust and nothing remained.

“What was that?”

Gyes remained motionless to the left. The hole in the wall looked like fang marks from a giant beast. It looked like someone had jammed a large, twisted, and dull spear into it.

“Sorry.”

Gyes turned toward the voice.

Hajji stood in the same position as before, but his left eye was now covered by a shifted portion of the white cloth hiding his hair. He brought a hand to his mouth.

“I came here for business reasons, but I came so very close to losing you. At least until you lose your battle, we are…how should I put it? Business partners, I suppose. Isn’t that right?”

Gyes did not answer and made sure she could still pull three more swords from her suit.

“What was that power? Was it 9th-Gear’s Concept Core?”

“Is that question related to our business?” Despite the question, he had a smile in his eyes. “Well, I can tell you that much for free. This is purely out of kindness, okay? That is not a Concept Core. It is my concept weapon and its true form is not here.”

He removed his hand from his mouth and lightly tapped the eye hidden by the white cloth.

“To state it another way, it is a grudge.”

He smiled bitterly and then hid that smile with his hand once more. But the smile strengthened and he laughed quietly. He bent forward and laughed even more.

“Sorry about that. I really am sorry. Gyes, I have to thank you and not just for being a business partner. That reminded me what has happened since 9th-Gear’s defeat and why I created the Army. You said you do not understand my motives, didn’t you? Well, there is nothing simpler than this.” He straightened up but left the hand at his mouth. “I will destroy the villains. Those villains pretend to merely be playing the villain’s role so they can avoid facing their own evil, but I will destroy them as a failed villain who never succeeded in his past attempts to destroy the other Gears.”

“What a crazy thing to say. And why will you do this? For a personal grudge?”

“No,” declared Hajji. “Didn’t I tell you before? I will hand this Gear over to those who it truly belongs to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Hajji shook his head without answering.

“If you want to know that, Gyes, you must join the Army.”

“Ha. So it comes back to that? That is impossible and meaningless. All we wish for is a peaceful life. As long as Lord Apollo who we serve is fine, nothing else matters.”

“Oh?” said Hajji. “If you wish for peace, why do you occasionally head out to battle?”

“Well…”

…''So they noticed.

Hajji seemed to read her mind.

“Typhon is powered by half of your Concept Core, but only half. It was designed that way, but you hope that adding in the other half would allow Apollo to-…”

Gyes sensed danger in his words. They were inside a concept space, so his words could not escape outside.

…''But he is using his ability to leak this information as a threat!

She still had three swords left in her suit. Her decision-making ability told her she had a 100% chance of losing against him, but she could sacrifice herself if she cut off her self-preservation calculations.

“Wait!”

Hajji shouted and held forward his right hand. Gyes stopped with her hands reaching for the back of her waist.

As she glared at him, he held forward his left hand as well and lightly waved them.

“Was that a secret? Hm, sorry. I couldn’t help but mention it.”

“Next time, I will take off your head.”

She returned her hands forward and put her self-preservation calculations back in place.

“And you may call it battle, but lately we have been sending out remote-controlled decoys to search for that black god of war. We Hecatoncheires have been doing that without Lord Apollo’s permission. And Typhon acts whether we want it to or not. It seeks the half of the Concept Core it lacks.”

“I see.” Hajji nodded and took a breath. “Then let us get down to business.”

“That lead in was much too long. How can you run an organization like that?”

“I’m good at grabbing people’s attention. It’s the first thirty seconds that really matter. A leader must be a skilled talker. Am I wrong? Hm? And in the ten years since the Army was established, I have gathered the people we need. We will capture UCAT before long.” He smiled bitterly. “Now for why I am here. Typhon flew east yesterday, didn’t it? It could no longer resist not having the rest of the Concept Core, so it flew away from you. And then it was intercepted by-…”

“We know. When Typhon returned, it had been hit by Keravnos. It ran into that black god of war.”

“Yes, and that god of war has met with UCAT.”

“What?”

Hajji’s eyes narrowed.

“This information is new to you, isn’t it? The organization that contained the one piloting the god of war which destroyed 3rd-Gear has contacted the pilot of the god of war that is currently fighting 3rd-Gear. Also, lights have started appearing in UCAT’s training facility at the Seto Inland Sea. They are preparing for someone to arrive there.”

Gyes bit her lower lip.

…''I hope Typhon didn’t leave any traces of its movement last night.

Either way, the black god of war would often attack them. They had been the first to attack, but the other side also seemed to have a reason to fight.

…''Especially that black god of war.

With that thought, she nodded.

“You have my thanks.”

But by the time she looked up, Hajji was nowhere to be seen. Unlike with his arrival, he had not even made footsteps.

And then a male voice came from beyond a nearby thicket.

“He got away. And after I resisted watching that night game to keep an eye out.”

The thicket parted and revealed a large man. He wore a mountain vest and work pants and he had a hand towel hanging from his waist that contained a greengrocer’s logo. He clicked his tongue and looked around.

“I wonder if Hanshin won.”

“This world really has changed you. More importantly, what do you think of what Hajji said?”

“When he was dealing with you, he did not even take a step toward me. If he had, I was planning to crush his limbs with god of war level gravitational strength.”

“Don’t be so mad, Aigaion. He may not look it, but he is the general of 9th-Gear. That is a pure combat Gear where everything is known as a holy war and its people have the divine protection of the god of heroes. They destroyed our land by filling their people with the power of god and using them as bombs. This is the man who calmly commanded them.”

Gyes used gravity to draw the three swords at her waist and had them float before her eyes.

“If possible, I wanted to use these to…”

She trailed off. As Aigaion asked her what was the matter, she held the three swords up on her fingertips.

Only the grips of the swords remained. The blades had been made of soft metal, but they had still been smashed to dust.

“Did he guide that previous attack into them?”

''That was a warning,'' she thought. ''If he had been serious, he could have destroyed me at any time.

“I see,” she muttered. “The Army is not our ally. I already knew that, but I had grown careless. We need to cut our own path forward.”

“What should we do?”

“Once they are finished eating up above, we will ask the Moirai to handle Cottus’s and my shifts. When I saw Typhon yesterday, it had fragments of the black god of war on its fist. That god of war was damaged. If it has contacted UCAT, we need to attack as soon as possible,” she declared. “Early tomorrow morning, we will attack that black god of war and secure it if possible. This is for the sake of 3rd-Gear’s human race.”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume5_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume5_Chapter_9|Chapter 9]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 32

2015-11-25T13:53:33Z

98.186.244.215: /* Final Chapter: That Which the Wind Conveys */

==Final Chapter: That Which the Wind Conveys==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0469.png|thumb]]
''What should you say?

''What should you listen to?

''It is all important

Kashima arrived in Okutama before the first train of the morning.

After leaving the concept space in western Tachikawa, he had met up with the group handling the cleanup and had them arrange a ride to Okutama station.

He was feeling quite nimble. He still felt some pain in his healed right hand, but he felt that pain served to wake him up.

He walked through pre-sunrise Okutama on his way to his parents’ house.

His parents were certain to be awake already.

This was the day they would begin planting the rice, so he had to decide whether he would help them or not.

“Either way, Natsu-san will want to help.”

He gave a bitter smile and remembered all the times he had helped in the past.

…''I would plant the rice with my grandfather back then.

He recalled the sensation of his feet sinking into the wet mud up to the ankles.

…''Maybe I should help.

The development department would essentially be taking the day off and it was the start of May, so he could take a few days of paid vacation with just a phone call.

And once that vacation was over…

…''What will things be like?

Team Leviathan would surely begin negotiating with the other Gears.

He remembered the boy and girl who had descended Susaou hand in hand.

Susanoo and his princess had chosen the windy land of Izumo. He was certain they would acquire several more Concept Cores to present to heaven. And someone needed to make the equipment and weapons that would aid them.

“That’s our job.”

He nodded once, hid that thought deep in his heart, and changed his focus.

…''I need to hurry home.

If his parents were up, Natsu and Harumi would be as well.

Harumi had a way of crying when he was gone, so he hoped she was not causing too much of a problem.

He hurried along the sloped road leading through the forest.

He turned a sharp curve and found the site of the accident before him.

But this was not his destination. He wanted to continue up the hill and reach his parents’ house.

''Hurry,'' he thought as his legs picked up speed.

And then he spotted someone in front of the slope that he had punched the other day.

A woman in a shirt and jeans was sitting on the guardrail in front of it.

It was Natsu.

She held Harumi and her shirt buttons were loosened, exposing her right breast.

“…”

Her narrowed eyes suddenly noticed him.

“Akio-san?”

She trembled and stood up. The ring on a chain around her neck swayed.

“Akio-san.”

She raised her voice and began to approach, but then she blushed with a look of realization.

She looked down and found her visible breast and Harumi’s sleeping form.

Her pace slowed and her expression grew troubled. She was unsure whether to prioritize Kashima, herself, or Harumi.

Kashima approached with a bitter smile.

“Stay still.”

He looked around to make sure no one was around and reached for her chest.

He touched her breast and moved her bra and nursing pad back into place.

She gave a ticklish groan and Kashima gave her a troubled look of his own.

He buttoned up her shirt and then spoke.

“Natsu-san.”

“Um, yes? What is it?”

“I assume you were on an early morning walk, but what would you have done if someone other than me came along?”

“Eh? Th-then I would have taken the situation more seriously. Fortunately, I don’t know anyone here.”

“Then why did you panic so much when I came along?”

“Because I don’t want you to think I’m indecent…”

As she blushed and narrowed her downturned eyes, he sighed.

He was unsure what to do, but she nodded toward him.

And then the two of them began walking.

“Your parents are already awake. They said we would eat after I returned from my walk.”

“But I wanted to eat your cooking.”

“I will prepare the extra meal.”

She narrowed her eyes again and gave a pleasant laugh.

She then tilted her head.

“Are you not going to ask why I’m here?”

“If I asked, would you lie?”

“Yes. I know you will understand even if I do.”

She was a very indirect wife, but her smile contained no ill will.

Kashima thought as he walked alongside her.

…''And you don’t ask what I’ve been doing. Even though you can tell something happened to my hand.

The reason she did not ask had to be the same as the one she had just mentioned.

“We are Yamata Takeru and his princess,” muttered Kashima while he narrowed his eyes toward Natsu.

He wanted to tell her so very much.

About the near destruction of the city visible in the distance.

About his grandfather and his comrades ensuring the destruction they underwent did not happen again.

About his grandfather’s feelings and the engineer who had responded to them.

About how he had sought power and caused an accident while pursuing her.

And about the battle that had occurred the night before.

…''I want to tell her everything I saw, everything I felt, the answers I gained, the questions they brought, and everything else.

But he felt he did not have to tell her.

This was the same as Susaou.

That iron giant stood within the concept space in the city behind him. No one knew about it, but even if it was forgotten…

…''The fact that he saved this world will not be lost.

Even if all of it was forgotten, it would not be lost.

“…”

Kashima used his bandaged right hand to embrace the shoulder walking alongside him.

“Nn,” breathed Natsu as she brought herself close while still holding Harumi.

Suddenly, the wind blew in from behind them.

The wind came from the east. That powerful wind told them it was morning.

“The sunrise,” said Natsu as the morning light appeared behind them.

In the blowing wind, she tilted her head and looked behind her.

Beyond the forest, she should have seen Tokyo’s cityscape.

“Huh?” She narrowed her eyes. “For a moment, I thought I saw a giant figure in the middle of the city.”

Kashima gasped, but then closed his eyes and assumed she had seen wrong.

But he still opened his mouth and chose his words carefully.

“Look carefully.”

“I will.” She nodded and narrowed her eyes toward the rising sun. “How strange. Tokyo is covered in a morning fog, but the sunlight makes it shine gold. It looks like something out of my father’s picture books.”

“Does it?” Kashima took in a breath. “Then Susanoo must be protecting that land.”

“Yes,” she said with a slight smile.

And the wind blew between the two of them.

The easterly wind was still cold that time of year. Not long after the rice was planted, the rainy season would arrive, shortly followed by summer.

The beautifully clear sky would soon become humid and thick.

The wind of Kusanagi that traversed the land and swept across the plants would become the wind of Murakumo that produced the rain of the rainy season.

…''Well, grandfather? Is the wind of this world the same as the wind of the world you lived in?

Kashima did not know the answer, but he had a feeling he understood.

…''Is that how it works?

As he watched the wind leave, he remembered something.

He remembered what he needed to say to the person he was walking with.

He decided to say the phrase which had been on his mind throughout the battle.

He nodded once.

When he turned around, Natsu was looking at him. Her head was tilted and she waited for him to speak.

He opened his mouth and spoke to her and the child sleeping in her arms.

“I’m home.”

…''Easterly wind, wind of Kusanagi that will eventually become Murakumo, are my words reaching you? I am no longer denying the power of 2nd-Gear that you left behind. But…

“I have returned to the two of you.”

As he spoke, Natsu nodded and Harumi opened her eyes.

“Ah…ah.”

Natsu smiled at the small voice.

That smile indicated something important to her and she now turned it toward Kashima.

“Akio-san.”

With slightly damp eyes, she followed his name with two simple words.

These precious words were the reason he yearned for the ever-changing wind that travelled everywhere.

Natsu spoke those words in her quiet yet certain voice.

And he wondered if the wind was listening to her words.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0478-0479.png|thumb]]
“Welcome home.”

<noinclude>
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 31

2015-11-25T13:42:44Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 31: Will of the Dragon of Water Droplets */

==Chapter 31: Will of the Dragon of Water Droplets==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0451.png|thumb]]
''The dragon’s cry is a question to both heaven and earth

''If one is to answer, there is no need to look up

''A response is a type of attack

The instant he awoke from the past, Kashima realized he had just seen what he had always wanted.

Totsuka changed form in his right hand. The metal fragments forming the sword, those metal fragments engraved with names, expanded like a blooming flower. As a whole, they formed a helix.

Meanwhile, his left hand pulled a single piece of Japanese paper from his breast pocket.

This was the paper his grandfather had written on.

He unfolded it and saw the katakana name with a large X drawn over it.

It said Ooshiro.

…''It seems you had terrible handwriting, grandfather.

Kashima thought about what his grandfather had asked forgiveness for.

…''It’s okay, grandfather. He smiled when he saw the name you had written!

He formed the same smile he had seen in the past and attached his grandfather’s paper to Totsuka.

And he immediately pulled Totsuka from the floor.

A spiral blade appeared.

He faced forward and saw Sayama standing with Shinjou.

As if in response to their gazes, a roar filled the air behind Kashima.

It came from Yamata.

Kashima could understand it. Yamata was emitting both joy and anger over feeling the outside air for the first time in sixty years.

The blazing wind approaching from the heavens showed that Yamata was dropping his eight maws and eight sets of fangs toward them.

In less than a minute, the area would be roasted and Yamata would be free.

And…

“Without Futsuno, I can’t cut the heat. But can you answer Yamata’s question to suppress him and then seal him in Totsuka once more?”

As Kashima held out the metal sword, Sayama responded with his actions.

He approached and grabbed Totsuka with Georgius.

…''I see.

There had been no need to ask. Sayama had come here to give his answer.

Next, a girl approached Sayama’s side.

And Totsuka raced within Sayama’s hand.

“Give us the question, speaker of the dragon’s will.”

He moved to the front edge of the bridge where the melted metal formed a cliff’s edge.

That windy precipice was the optimal position for striking Yamata.

Sayama and Shinjou ran over and Kashima opened his mouth as he heard their footsteps.

He spread his arms, looked into the sky, and spoke on behalf of the roar descending from the heavens.

“I…”

He spoke.

“I have a name that I cannot remember in the slightest.”

His voice carried far and wide.

“I ask you! Of Yamata’s two names, Kusanagi and Murakumo, which is the true name!?”

He took a breath.

“Answer this! Which is the truth of 2nd-Gear! Which is the true form of our people!?”

Sayama ran as he looked up at the flame dragon falling headlong from above.

In the heavens, he saw Yamata and the seal made from the countless names.

In UCAT’s cafeteria, Kashima had said that seal had been Sayama’s grandfather’s idea.

That truth brought pain to his chest.

He had trouble breathing and his body threatened to stiffen up.

…''But it is a truth I cannot avoid!

With that cry of his spirit, he ran toward the position from which to strike Yamata.

The eight dragon heads questioned him as he ran.

They roared.

This was the voice he had once heard in his dream. It contained anger and resentment, but it was bound by an even deeper emotion. The emotion could be heard in the sound rather than the words.

He nodded toward Yamata.

…''I understand your cry. It may be conceited, but if you do not believe in yourself…

“You cannot be sincere!”

With that shout, he came to a stop.

He took his position atop the metal cliff where the wind would wash over him most strongly.

As the dragon heads approaching from above filled his vision, he shouted toward those fifty meter wide faces.

“I will give you your answer! I will give you the name that describes the entirety of your world!”

In response, Yamata opened its mouths while not lessening its speed of descent.

The dragon’s roar shook the air as it asked.

What is my name? What is the world I ruled and what are the people who lived there?

And Sayama spoke Yamata’s original name.

His options were Kusanagi and Murakumo, the two names of the wind.

“Kusanagi…”

But he did not stop there. Without looking away from Yamata, Sayama continued to speak.

“…and Murakumo!”

He nodded as he chose his answer.

“You are the one who possessed both names simultaneously!”

Kashima nodded when he heard Sayama’s answer.

But he still asked a question despite the satisfied smile on his face.

“Are you sure that’s your answer? If you’re wrong…”

“Do not mock me, military god! When one with the surname Sayama speaks…his words are absolute!” Sayama’s words reached him from behind. “Listen. Kusanagi is the wind of the earth that dances along with the people of the earth! On the other hand, Murakumo is the wind of heaven that people look up to with respect! They are both wind, they both continue on without end, and they both represent all things as they are formless. That is the name hated by Yamata’s flames! That is the name of the sky dragon that produces water droplets! Yamata, you hold both names and your true identity is a rain dragon!”

And…

“Great dragon of 2nd-Gear, this is no mistake. That world was once ruled by the heavenly and earthly winds you created, was it not? Then, Yamata, take those two different names once more. Name yourself Kusanagi while in the land of men and Murakumo while watching over them from heaven!”

Hearing that, Kashima shouted out with a smile.

“Correct!”

And Yamata roared.

Having heard its name, the dragon agreed and understood, but the residual heat of its anger remained.

As a final test, the dragon tried to burn away the one who bore Totsuka. The same as it had done to Ooshiro Hiromasa.

But Kashima heard Sayama cry out with a smile of his own.

“Old man! That is your cue!!”

The indicated person stood alongside the lake with Izumo.

Ooshiro showed no concern about the roars and movements of the dragon overhead. He simply pulled an object out of the paper wrapping he held under his arm.

It was a glass bottle. The writing on the bottle said…

“Sacred sake. Perhaps we should name it Kashima.”

He pulled out the cork.

But instead of drinking the contents or pouring them into the lake, he tossed the bottle into the air.

As his gaze followed the swing of his arm and then the airborne bottle, he saw the night sky.

There, he saw scarlet light and the eight-headed dragon crammed into the sky within the concept space.

“After Yamata was sealed, the people of 2nd-Gear surrounded Susaou with water on their Kashima’s suggestion. They did so because the great serpent in Low-Gear Japanese mythology was slain using sake.”

The bottle reached the zenith of its flight.

And at that point, something shattered it from above.

It was Izumo’s V-Sw after he jumped up into the air.

The cowling over V-Sw’s blade had been removed and its rear thrusters were deployed in its second form.

After shattering the bottle, Izumo swung the blade of light down along with the sake.

The blade was headed toward the lake’s surface.

“Old man Ooshiro, at times like this, it’s okay to try to look cool.”

“No need. I always look cool.”

Izumo ignored him and squeezed the trigger on V-Sw’s grip.

“I will do my best,” said the weapon’s console.

First, light erupted from the blade.

Then, the thrusters on the opposite face of the blade shot out light like a comet.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

The strike produced by the acceleration and his cry caused the lake surface to explode.

But it did not end there.

Izumo stood on the exposed lake bottom and struck the surrounding water from below.

He struck once in all four directions.

The roar of waterfalls surrounded him and the water around Susaou took in the sake and danced through the air.

Four pillars of water containing sacred sake with the name of a military god had been created and they blasted up toward Yamata as a counterattack.

In the center of the great waterfalls, Izumo shouted up at the dragon in the night sky.

“Izumo! That is the name of the wind that calls in the clouds and it is now the name of one who desires the dragons! Remember that!”

His words played their role.

As the pillars of water rose with great acceleration, they spiraled around each other and formed water dragons filled with sacred sake.

The four water dragons grew to several hundred meters in length.

Their roars combined into a single great roar as they danced up toward Yamata.

And the two types of dragons began their attacks. The water dragons turned to steam and Yamata had holes gouged out by water.

However…

“————!”

Yamata spread out its body in order to avoid a direct strike from the water dragons.

It spread its eight heads to either side and slipped below the water pillar dragons after only receiving a glancing blow.

But something else stopped its movements.

It was light.

Specifically, it was moonlight.

Six thick pillars of light fell from the concept space ceiling and they stopped on either side of Yamata as a cage.

The three pillars of light on either side were the color of moonlight and they restrained Yamata.

Yamata let out a cry while it was held between these pillars while already inside the celestial sphere cage.

At the same time, the sacred sake imbued water dragons reversed direction in midair and struck Yamata.

The sound of impact and the cries of flames filled the night.

The one who had manipulated the moonlight stood by the lakeside.

With Atsuta supporting her back, Tsukuyomi aimed her bow toward the sky.

“I’m sorry, Yamata. But it’s about time that you forgave us.”

“Tch. Quit trying to look good. …And why do I have my arms around an old woman’s ass?”

“Shut up. And don’t try to cop a feel.”

“Of what? No one wants to touch your wrinkly- Ow ow! What the hell are you doing!?”

Tsukuyomi ignored Atsuta’s anger and looked up into the sky. Her expression stiffened.

“Yamata is still moving.”

The flame dragon had been restrained by the pillars of light and struck by the water dragons, but it raised its eight heads and gathered all its strength to accelerate downwards.

The four water dragons evaporated in an instant.

The more it was restrained, the crueler it grew. Its firepower visibly increased.

Everyone gulped and thought this was the end.

They all turned toward the remains of Susaou’s bridge where two people stood.

Sayama held Totsuka low in order to strike upwards against the coming dragon. A girl pressed up against his back.

Everyone saw them there.

And someone cried out to them.

“Go!”

And they responded.

As he stood on the edge of the bridge’s remains, Sayama faced Yamata.

The eight-headed flame dragon descended while struggling within its cage of light.

Even as it lost its power, it produced heat.

“…!”

Sayama trembled as he prepared to swing Totsuka up toward the great roar.

But he felt something even more certain than his trembling.

He heard Shinjou’s words as she pressed against his back.

“Don’t worry. I will be with you no matter what happens. We can cut away any bad destiny!”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Stay by my side, Shinjou-kun!”

He gathered his strength and looked up. The dragon’s faces had already drawn quite close.

But Sadagiri’s name alleviated the heat and light that blew down at them.

They simply had to go for it.

The dragon bared its eight sets of fangs just as Sayama swung Totsuka.

With that single slice, the blade struck the flames. In that instant, a certain change occurred.

As if responding to the strength of Shinjou clinging to him from behind, he felt a vibration in his left hand.

“…!”

It was Georgius. The medallion placed inside that gauntlet emitted a bluish-white light. That light circled around and enveloped Totsuka.

“What is this?”

Sayama did not answer Shinjou’s surprised question.

If Yamata was what had been left behind by 2nd-Gear, this was what had been left behind by his mother.

''Is this light Georgius’s question?'' wondered Sayama. ''Just as Yamata asks for his name, is Georgius asking something of itself?

“It is sentimentality!” he shouted.

Despite the slight pain in his chest, he recalled a certain fact.

During his battle with Atsuta, he had dug up this moment in the past to escape the man’s synchronization.

Back when his parents had been alive, had his father been the person Ryouko had said he was?

And did his mother look the same as in his memories of her?

…''The answer is…

He hid the answer in his heart and completed the swing of Totsuka that would seal Yamata.

“Everyone!” he shouted.

As everyone in the concept space watched, an explosion of flames appeared in the sky.

The fire burst eight separate times at an altitude of five hundred meters and eight blasts of wind flew in separate directions afterwards.

Amid the great noise, a voice could be heard.

The voice belonged to Sayama Mikoto.

And as his name would suggest<ref>Mikoto is spelled with kanji meaning “honorable words”.</ref>, his words were powerful, carried through the sky, and permeated the earth.

“Everyone! Once this battle is over, we will trust in the misunderstanding known as understanding and welcome 2nd-Gear!”

The flame dragon burst in the sky and a voice reverberated from the center.

“Everyone, listen to the voice of your neighbor. Look your neighbor in the eye. Look upon the truth of 2nd-Gear and upon the form of those who will be with you from now on. The surname of Sayama states it here: 2nd-Gear is the same as us!”

As if in response to his last statement, Yamata’s entire body burst.

“The divine sword Totsuka will take Yamata and produce Kusanagi in man and Murakumo in heaven! We will welcome them. And to the people of the ever-changing wind and of the divine sword that possesses the will of both heaven and earth, do not fear your power for we are with you!”

He paused for a moment.

“Where is your response!? Tonight is the night for a pleasant celebration!”

Countless voices rose as one in response to his question.

“Testament!”

The people’s voices joined the final bestial roar filling the sky.

It was a dragon’s cry.

The voice of the beast scattering in the fiery explosion filled the concept space.

But this cry was different from before.

It was a higher-pitched cry of joy.

As proof that the dragon had regained its form, its song raced through the sky as wind and reverberated through the high heavens.

The Concept Core was sealed inside Totsuka.

And in response, everything within the concept space changed.

First, the spray of flames covering the night sky vanished.

Next, the celestial sphere of names disappeared instantly and the wind at the center of the blast raced across the concept space.

A great wind shook the forest, blew across the rough lake surface, and climbed the walls of the concept space.

As the wind approached the peak of the concept space, it collided with itself.

The impact of air called in lightning.

And then rain arrived.

After taking in the breath of Kusanagi, the wind of the earth produced the rain of Murakumo which poured down below the moon.

The rain soaked the trees, the land, the people, and even the iron giant standing at the concept space’s center.

Everyone stared at Susaou.

As the rain poured down on it, it almost seemed to be crying.

Sayama and Shinjou stood on the remains of Susaou’s bridge as the rain hit it.

Sayama faced forward with Totsuka’s normal form in his left hand and Shinjou to his right.

To the back of the bridge where a wall still remained, Kashima stood alone.

He simply let the rain cover him.

Sayama was equally soaked as he looked up at the man.

“Shall we head down?”

“No. I want some time to think.”

“I see.”

Sayama then tried to hand him Totsuka, but he raised his left hand with a rain-soaked smile.

“You can take it. It can act as evidence of everything that happened.”

Sayama’s only response was to nod.

He pushed Shinjou’s back with his right hand and began to walk.

Shinjou brushed up her wet bangs and followed.

Now that the battle was over, the bridge seemed quite small. They arrived at the stairs in no time at all.

As they did, Sayama saw Kashima sit on the bridge’s floor.

He held Futsuno’s hilt after Sayama had destroyed the blade.

But Sayama said nothing.

Shinjou glanced over at him.

“Will he be okay?”

“He came here to make sure he would be.”

“Really?”

Shinjou tilted her head and then smiled bitterly when she realized she was questioning his words.

“We’re as opposite as ever.”

“That is how it must be, Shinjou-kun.”

Sayama removed his coat and placed it over Shinjou’s shoulders.

She looked troubled but did not reject it.

She merely clung to his right arm.

She was a girl at the moment and she gave a questioning expression.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Feel free while a boy as well. …It is still you either way.”

“I’m still normal enough that I can’t quite get over that part, but…um… A lot has happened over the past few days, so…uh…”

She mouthed the words “I’m sorry”, but then smiled and said something else.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“Maybe I really should apologize, but thank you. I haven’t said that yet, have I? I’ve always been apologizing.”

“So will you be saying that instead now?”

“Yes. As long as I am with you, I want to say that. If I apologize, then you will only be with me because you have no choice. So…”

She nodded and let go of his arm.

On one of the staircase’s landings, she held out her right hand which had a ring on it.

After thinking for a moment, Sayama suddenly moved one step down from her.

“This is my dominant hand.”

He moved Totsuka to his right hand, freeing his left hand.

“Isn’t this how one should take a princess’s hand?”

He took her right hand as if scooping it up from below.

The ring on his left hand clinked against the one on her right hand.

After blushing and nodding, she stepped down alongside him.

The sound of her footstep was followed by more footsteps as they descended the staircase together.

They descended toward the pier and the people awaiting them beyond the pier.

As they descended, the rain gradually let up.

Soon, only the moonlight would remain overhead.

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
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| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume4_Chapter_32|Final Chapter]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 11

2015-11-25T05:34:27Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 11: Corpse Princess of the Dark Sky */

==Chapter 11: Corpse Princess of the Dark Sky==
[[Image:Horizon4A_0257.jpg|thumb]]
''Where does one

''Look down on someone from?

'''Point Allocation (The Heart)

A male voice fell to the nighttime snowy plain.

“Hey, Toshi. Now that we’ve crushed most of them and are getting a break, I’d like to say something you might not like.”

“Then I’d really rather you didn’t say it, but I guess I’ll hear you out. …What is it, Na-chan. Are you feeling lonely?”

“No, it isn’t that.” Narimasa used his chin to gesture forward because his hands were in his pockets. “They’re retreating right now, but I’m betting they have reinforcements coming.”

The aftermath of a battle covered the vast snowy field in front of them.

The sky was dark and the ground was mostly white. The white of the Sviet Rus demon warriors’ uniforms colored the figures collapsed across that large space.

Far in the distance near the surrounding forest, figures could be seen retreating or recovering their allies.

But…

“You can see that, right? Shibata did a terrible job of checking how many there were.”

Narimasa was referring to the new white color he could see.

At the base of the mountains far to the northeast were five white transport ships measuring about five hundred meters long. They were halfway through their landing process and countless figures were approaching on land.

“It’s time for the Ikkou-Ikki to leave, but those unmarked troops from Uesugi’s provisional border guard are here. It looks like that’s five thousand more to deal with.”

“Another five thousand demons really is a lot of trouble. …Of course, I can get by if I pay an extension fee.”

“Where will you get the money?”

“I can get that from Shibata for missing this when he checked on our enemies.”

“In that case…”

Narimasa gestured with his chin again. This time, it was toward a color in the northwest sky.

That color was black, but it was not the color of the night.

“Hey.”

He raised his eyes a little.

“How many do you think will be coming from there?”

A city floated in the northwest.

The giant floating island was approaching with the emblem of Sviet Rus on its side.

It was Novgorod.

Toshiie saw the city approaching.

…''That previous battle was just the opening act, so they’re only making an appearance now.

“It took some time to draw them out, didn’t it?”

“So this is Russia’s oldest city that chose to be purged by Sviet Rus because they wanted more independence as a trade city. …And they didn’t give any help to Sviet Rus’s forces while we kicked their asses. They’re probably a lot of trouble to deal with.”

The two of them looked into the sky and saw a giant bowl there.

The shallow hemisphere appeared to have been directly scooped up from the earth’s crust. That table was at least ten kilometers across and it contained earth, hills, a river, and the buildings of a city on top. However…

“There aren’t any lights. Just like the rumors said.”

“Shaja. That isn’t surprising. The city is primarily populated by the dead, which is rare for Sviet Rus. And most of them are Living Dead who have no wills of their own.”

Toshiie also controlled the dead, but he did not know if that made him a good match for this opponent or not. But he did know one thing.

“Not only is it Russia’s oldest city, but it was nearly driven to extinction by that great purge. When they opposed current Sviet Rus Chancellor Ivan IV aka Uesugi Kagekagtsu’s purge, sixty thousand out of a population of eighty thousand were killed. It’s said the nearby rivers and lakes were covered in a layer of corpses. Of course, in the history recreation, they all committed suicide on the orders of Mayor Marfa. And then all of the residents were allowed to ‘live on’ because she turned them all into Living Dead with a spell of hers. …Only the outside trading portions of the city are still functioning. The residents require no food, education, or entertainment.”

“Hey,” said Fuwa from behind them. “Are we going to be okay here? Novgorod was one of the cities belonging to the Hanseatic League, right? They’ve grown more obedient after the purge, but their strength and willpower are still far from average, right? After all…”

“Yes, we know, Michi. Novgorod is indeed a strong city. They were purged, but since Marfa handled that via suicide, their weaponry and defenses were untouched. Some forces thought about invading after the purge, but they realized Novgorod was far more trouble than they had imagined when they saw the Living Dead working in the trading facilities like normal the day after the purge. Novgorod is now a city of warriors who do not fear death.”

“Keh.” Narimasa turned to the side and looked up at the floating city. “So you’re saying all of the residents are as courageous as us? Why’s that?”

“Didn’t Maeda just explain it? Novgorod is Russia’s oldest city.”

Narimasa turned back and found Fuwa had approached within arm’s reach. She took a breath before continuing.

“From their point of view, they are either the true rulers of Russia or an independent trading city. They have their pride as well as the history and economic power to back it up. That’s why Russia purged them and tried to completely annex them.”

“Or so it says in the Testament descriptions. Right, Michi?”

“Shaja,” replied Fuwa as she spoke to Toshiie as well. “But we have our own thoughts on that matter. Novgorod is indeed a trading city, but they restrict their diplomacy and trading to the outside edges of the city. No one ever gets inside the city center.”

“Isn’t that normal? P.A. Oda places stealth barriers over central or important regions and only lets authorized people inside.”

“Yes, but Novgorod has been like that ever since it appeared halfway through the ninth century. And when Ivan the Terrible claimed he was going to conquer the entirety of the city…”

Toshiie looked up at the floating city sitting motionless in the sky.

“Novgorod announced they would self-destruct if they were invaded. During the following negotiations, Novgorod chose to have all of their residents commit suicide and have thus essentially parted ways with Sviet Rus. …Of course, that was probably partially because they were in charge of the history recreation for Uesugi Kagetora, the rebel side of the Uesugi clan’s Siege of Otate. That forced Sviet Rus to keep their distance from Novgorod.”

“But what’s inside that bowl that they’d want to protect that badly?”

“Who knows. Demanding to be left alone to preserve one’s independence isn’t exactly uncommon. But there is one thing we can say about this.”

Toshiie’s breaths were not colored white, but he still took a breath just for show.

“Novgorod has continued on like this for a long, long time without even knowing who it was they let in back then.”

From his shoulder, Matsu pressed her cheek against him.

''Oh, Ma-chan! That’s what I’m talking about!!'' he thought while watching Novgorod.

Several ships were beginning to leave its outer edges.

A moment later, a great noise and light burst in the sky.

“…!!”

It was the noise and light of a hammer striking Novgorod diagonally.

An eight hundred meter P.A. Oda ironclad ship had rammed into it from the southern sky.

“We did it!!”

Fuwa watched the full-speed attack from behind the two boys.

She had asked Shibata to make this recreation of Hashiba’s attack on Magdeburg, which Hashiba had described as, “Make an attack like this: Ei!”

It had definitely hit the floating city, and…

“The second and third ones are on their way!!”

Her words were backed up by two additional strikes.

The total of three attacks shook the night sky and created waves of frosty mist.

An avalanche of smoke was descending the slopes of the distant mountains and even the demons on the snowy plain stopped their approach at the great noise.

The additional hammer strikes had been made, but to Fuwa…

…''My ears hurt!!

She had arranged for it herself, but she had not expected it to be so loud.

She had never heard anything that reverberated below her navel and not just in her gut.

…''How are Maeda and Sassa fine? Because they’re crazy? Oh, that must mean I’m normal…

“Hey, Fuwa, quit plugging your ears and explain this. Did you arrange for that?”

“Shaja. By which I mean, I asked Shibata. I could predict that Novgorod would have anti-air firepower, so I had some of the ships that flew south slip away and lie in wait. All three scored a solid hit, so even a city of that size will have-…”

That was when the mist overhead cleared.

The first thing she saw was the south face of Novgorod after taking three direct hits.

However…

“Hey,” said Narimasa. “It’s just fine.”

“You’re kidding…”

Fuwa pushed up her glasses as she viewed the enemy.

Her three strikes had definitely hit the trade port on the southern end of Novgorod.

She could accept that attack not doing any damage if it had hit the bedrock on the side or bottom, but as the wind blew the ether light out of the way, she got a better view which revealed that…

…''It isn’t even damaged.

“That was aiming for the city, so does it have a defense barrier on the same level as Magdeburg?”

As if to confirm that for her, a dull groaning sound came from above.

The wreckage of three ironclad ships scattered into the sky south of Novgorod like they were being brushed off.

“Novgorod has a fully-functioning barrier activated…?”

She knew all too well that it was her naiveté that turned her words into a question, but Toshiie smiled bitterly.

“I think that was the best possible timing for the attack. After all, Novgorod was in the process of sending their warriors out by ship.”

“That’s right. If they activated their barrier then, any ships caught in the middle would’ve been badly damaged and those outside the barrier would’ve been hit by the shockwave of our ships hitting the barrier. Either way, they wouldn’t have fared well.”

Sure enough, a few black fragments were visible in the shadow cast directly below the floating city.

When the three ships had hit, Novgorod’s vanguard had been caught by their own city’s defense barrier or destroyed by the shockwave.

“They abandoned their own warriors?”

“Hashiba would call it ‘the best possible decision’, Michi. Of course, she’d worry over it a bunch too.”

The scene and Toshiie’s tone of voice allowed her to imagine it all, so she closed her eyes.

She brought a hand to her brow, relaxed her eyebrows, and opened her eyes again.

''I need to pull myself together,'' she thought.

In the sky ahead, Novgorod was sending out more boats. The speed of departure had not slowed, as if to say what had just happened was only to be expected.

''In that case,'' thought Fuwa. ''I can’t let myself feel surprise or anger over what the enemy considers normal.

Everything that happened to the enemy before her eyes was that enemy’s problem, so she did not have to worry about it. She needed to keep her emotional reactions directed toward her allies.

“—————”

She raised her head.

Beyond Novgorod, the three ironclad ships fell from the sky after being brushed off of the barrier.

Even if they had been unmanned, that was three ships destroyed for nothing. And the blame fell on her naiveté. As the local treasurer, it was her duty to eliminate waste and increase the profitability of their battles. She had planned to accomplish that by bringing an early end to this battle, but she had failed.

“I’m not cut out for this. …Anyway, Maeda, Sassa, I’ll start checking on the number of enemies.”

Based on the size of the port on Novgorod’s southern side, there were seven thousand enemy warriors descending. And…

“Michi, Sviet Rus is sending some additional ships too. You should add another six thousand to your figures.”

“Don’t worry. More importantly, Maeda, Matsu, and Sassa. Will you protect me?”

“If your estimations are correct, then I might have my hands full protecting myself.”

“Coward,” said Matsu.

“Oh, shut up! You try taking all of them on!”

Just as Sassa’s shout echoed across the snowy plain, a wave ran across that plain.

A new line of enemies faced them from that vast field of white snow.

Toshiie checked the battlefield again.

Before, the remaining demon warriors of Sviet Rus’s Ikkou-Ikki had been moving north to fall back, but they had been made into the rear guard as a new vanguard formed with double the numbers.

These demon warriors were the provisional border guards who had arrived from the northeast.

Plus, wooden ships were descending from the sky in the northwest, bringing…

…''The dead warriors of Novgorod.

The oars of those hundred-man ships were rowed by Living Dead. Their bodies were covered in a white inner suit that prevented decomposition and they wore masks and helmets over their heads.

They all looked human yet inhuman.

Some had shoulders a size too big, some had lower arms a size too big, and some had arms or legs twice the normal length.

Fuwa gulped once and slowly spoke.

“For the history recreation of the population being purged to a quarter the size, four people were combined into a single Living Dead. Apparently, a lot of them are made from a single family…”

“Three cheers for human resources, huh? Do they think they’re mocking us with those easy physical buffs?”

“Well, one hundred of my ghost warriors combine into one, so I’m still better.”

“Better!” added Matsu.

“Yes, yes.”

Fuwa placed a hand on her forehead and looked into the sky, but then she stopped moving.

It was obvious why. The air was shaking as something pushed a great wind toward them.

“Novgorod is descending!”

There was no point in asking why. It would partially be to let the wooden ships descend more quickly, but more importantly…

“There she is.”

Fuwa could see someone standing on a pier sticking out from Novgorod’s southern edge.

She had pale skin and white hair. Her Sviet Rus girls uniform had been dyed pitch black and modified into a dress with decorative wreaths. That uniform was currently whipping in the wind.

Fuwa spoke her name while checking her telescopic ''insha kotob''.

“Marfa, the mayor who oversaw Novgorod’s purge!”

With the sound of the sky being moved, Novgorod descended toward the snowy field. The wind blew, the forest shook, and the giant mass came to a stop just barely above the northern forest.

The mayor looked down on her three thousand warriors as they descended.

A thin smile covered her lips as she opened them and raised her right hand.

A moment later, a giant ''sankt okno'' opened in the sky above the snowy plain.

The Orthodox-style screen appeared as a giant window two kilometers across and it displayed Marfa’s face. She kept her right hand raised as she looked clearly at Fuwa and the others.

“Perhaps I should say welcome, P.A. Oda.”

She had a low voice for a woman.

“I am Novgorod Mayor Marfa ‘Vedma’ Boretskaya. I also have the Uesugi clan’s Uesugi Kagetora as a double inherited name. In other words, I’m nothing but trouble for Sviet Rus.”

Marfa spoke to the group down below with a smile on the corner of her mouth.

“P.A. Oda, you did well to take step after step into the territory of the demon warriors of the Ikkou-Ikki and the indigenous religion. …Well done, living warriors. Demonic Shibata’s troops have done a thorough job of this invasion.”

She lowered her right hand.

“Now, how about I show you something neat as a reward?”

Novgorod began to shake as it turned to the side.

The giant floating city was being pushed by something: a group of shells racing through the sky toward their target.

Cannon fire rang out hundreds of times and light sprayed from Novgorod’s upper edge as firing control spells took effect.

Marfa described the high-speed armor-piercing rounds as follows:

“I hope this small sideshow is enough to satisfy you.”

Without leaving a single shell behind, Catholic acceleration spells opened in midair and applied further acceleration to them. The atmosphere was split apart as they flew toward their target.

However, these piercing strikes were not aimed at P.A. Oda’s main fleet.

Every last shell scored a direct hit on the five transport ships that had only just finished carrying down the additional demon warriors.

“To ensure the Ikkou-Ikki and border guards fight to their fullest, I will be rudely interrupting to sink those ships.”

With those words, sounds of destruction rang through the sky.

Five transport ships bearing the crest of Sviet Rus were sunk.

Wind, the light of ether fuel, and flames burst from them all as they fell.

“I see you did not allow your aim to stray. Well done, comrades. …And the light is a free bonus.”

After the smoke and light of the explosions, five burning flames illuminated the snowy plain from diagonally above.

Down below, the demon warriors saw it happening.

“…!!”

They raised cries of protest and anger, but Marfa’s expression did not change. The smile on the corner of her mouth remained in place.

“What’s the matter? They were empty ships, weren’t they? If you need ships to take you home, I will provide them. Or…are you saying you need to leave right away?”

So…

“You are the demon warriors who originally fought P.A. Oda under Suleiman’s command. Surely you aren’t thinking about what happens if you lose here. So I have simply made it easier for you to choose between fighting and living or fighting and dying. …It takes firepower to provide this kind of favor. And…”

She continued while looking to the three young P.A. Oda members standing on the other end of the snowy field.

“M.H.R.R. obtained their spell to control the dead by watching my ancestors, but I am impressed you’ve managed to bring that spell so far. Once again, well done.”

The spell’s user, the one in a red uniform, bowed toward her.

Marfa nodded back, lifted the corner of her mouth even further, and raised her left forearm.

“It couldn’t have been easy fighting this far so you could challenge Novgorod as the gatekeeper of Sviet Rus, so I, ‘Vedma’ Marfa, shall test you.”

Meaning…

“If you can cut your way through my warriors and arrive for an audience with me, Novgorod shall leave Sviet Rus and declare its independence.”

As soon as she lowered her left arm, a wind blew along the earth.

It came from much closer to the P.A. Oda camp than the snowy field. It blew toward the area behind the three standing there.

“…!!”

Figures in white rushed from the forest on either side.

Snow was kicked into the air as a group rushed toward those three and the P.A. Oda camp.

“With my dead warriors and the demon warriors, the only stylish thing to do is to have them burst from the forest with the invisibility spells of the dead. There are two thousand of them. …Now, how will you cut through them?”

Fuwa was the first to react as groups of white charged their way from ahead and either side.

“Waaaaah! Matsu, what are we supposed to do!?”

“Calm down.”

“…Michi, why didn’t you rely on Na-chan or me first?”

“Hey, if Shibata’s really not gonna make an appearance, then I’ll take care of them all myself. Is that okay?”

''Yes,'' thought Toshiie as a tremor ran through the snowy field.

…''Shibata might be planning to stay out of all this.

In that case, what were they supposed to do? He of course felt he had the power needed to handle this, but…

“…Isn’t this weird, Toshi?”

“You think so too, Na-chan?”

“Shaja.” Narimasa nodded and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “Even if they’re planning to leave it all to us, shouldn’t the camp at least put up their guard? That guy’s probably not letting anyone head out and I think I know what that means.”

“Eh? Eh? What do you think that means? Maeda, Sassa, what is it?”

“Oh, well, it means that Shibata trusts you, Michi. Or rather, that he trusts us to follow through for you.”

“…Eh?”

Even in the dark, Fuwa’s face visibly paled.

“You don’t mean…”

“I do. I really do, Michi. Shibata is having fun using us as bait to lure out all of the enemy’s forces. And…”

Toshiie turned around.

“And he knows that we can deal with whatever might happen.”

A single figure was visible in the camp back there.

It was a feminine figure. She was slender and she wore a Sviet Rus coat over her M.H.R.R. girls uniform to protect against the cold. She raised her hand and shouted over to them.

“Maedaaa, Sassaaa, Fuwaaa! Dinner’s ready!”

“Is that…?” asked Fuwa. “Lady Oichi!?”

“That’s right.” said Oichi as she continued waving their way. “What’s the matter? Why are you just standing out there?”

Study
[[Image:Horizon4A_0276.jpg|thumb]]

Battlefield Diagram

Toori: Sis! Sis! I’m not quite sure why we’re explaining a P.A. Oda battlefield, but it must be destiny! It’s destiny, ain’t it!?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. Destiny brother, hogging all the appearances for yourself is one of the perks of being a winner. And that kind of winner loves being brought some sake to celebrate. …I’m talking about myself, of course.

Toori: But to get serious, what’s going on here?

Top right of map: North

1: Novgorod

2: Sviet Rus Demon Warriors

3: Novgorod Dead Warriors

4: Toshiie and Fuwa

5: Sviet Rus Unit that Moved Ahead

6: Narimasa

7: Oichi

Kimi: That pretty much sums it up. The main Sviet Rus force is pushing in as a solid wall while another unit has moved on ahead. That unit could have either made a pincer attack on the three in the middle or continued on to the P.A. Oda camp, but then Oichi showed up.

Toori: Oh, that Narimasa guy who ignored my porn game recommendation is there… That guy’s a terrible friend…

Kimi: Hey, now. You don’t know if he sees you as a friend or not.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
}}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 27

2015-11-24T05:53:55Z

98.186.244.215:

==Chapter 27: Your Name==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0335.png|thumb]]
''What is good and what is bad?

''The answer only lies within yourself

''Give that fear the name of expectation

Those who had escaped unharmed gathered in a small forest clearing.

Including Team Leviathan, a total of approximately fifty people had gathered.

Through the forest, the people of 2nd-Gear were visible in the field which had been destroyed by moonlight.

But they showed no sign of moving.

Both sides needed some time to regroup before they could attack or fight back.

And Shinjou spoke in front of those who sat in the clearing.

With Sayama next to her, she lowered the ends of her eyebrows and brought her hands to her chest.

“That’s the truth. That’s the kind of body I have.”

So…

“I’m sorry for not telling all of you.”

Sayama watched as she lowered her head.

''She is very diligent,'' he thought.

That diligence would sometimes be a negative thing for her.

…''But what about now?

Shinjou slowly raised her head.

Her slender body was examining the group. Most of those looking at her merely looked confused.

…''That is not surprising.

Shinjou had made this sudden confession on the battlefield.

They would not truly understand what she meant until later.

And amid those confused looks, someone stood up.

“I don’t fully understand, but excuse me a moment.”

It was Kazami.

She pushed G-Sp2 and its shield toward Izumo and walked over.

Her expression was calm and she said nothing. In exactly ten steps, she arrived in front of Shinjou.

There, she sighed and lowered her shoulders a bit.

“Sayama, support her.”

Her words were accompanied by a high-pitched noise from Shinjou’s cheek.

Sayama supported Shinjou as she trembled a bit.

In the follow-through pose of a right-handed slap, Kazami spoke.

“That should settle that. But let me give you a piece of advice. If you apologize for something like that again, I’ll slap you again. That’s all there is to it.”

“…Are you sure that’s all?”

Shinjou’s probing question produced a sigh from Kazami.

“Y’know, our job here isn’t to reveal everything about ourselves. It’s up to you whether you tell us something or not. And the responsibility that brings is yours, Shinjou.”

Shinjou did not nod or shake her head. Instead, she thought.

As Sayama supported her back, he realized Kazami had glanced over at him.

“I of course do not have a problem with Shinjou-kun keeping silent about this.”

“See? I don’t remember ever finding it to be a problem either. …And if the idiot who’s always with you took no damage from it, do you even need to ask those who are more distance with you?” Kazami turned back toward Shinjou. “But you can’t just apologize. You apologize when you have done something wrong. And if you apologize when you haven’t done anything wrong, it means that your very existence is wrong. You told us this because you didn’t want that to happen, right?”

“R-right.”

“Then that’s fine. Sorry for slapping you. I held back, so please forgive me.”

“Sure.”

Shinjou gave a large nod and something red dripped from her nose to her mouth.

“W-wah! S-Sayama-kun! Give me a handkerchief or something!”

“Heh heh heh. Shinjou-kun, you look beautiful even with a nosebleed.”

“Th-this is not the time for that! Give me something to wipe up the blood.”

“Wait just a moment. …Kazami, what happened to your restraint?”

Everyone turned criticizing looks in Kazami’s direction.

“Eh? Eh?” said Kazami as all those cold eyes turned toward her. “Th-that was only 1/10 of what I always use on Kaku.”

“I’m always receiving ten times that?”

“Come now, you two. This is no time for a lovey-dovey couple’s conversation.”

“There’s nothing lovey-dovey about her violence!!”

Everyone ignored Izumo’s opinion.

Sayama pulled Baku and a handkerchief from his breast pocket.

He placed Baku on his head, used the handkerchief to wipe the area below Shinjou’s nose and around her mouth, and found the bleeding had already lessened.

Her expression seemed to say “is it okay?”, so he nodded. Kazami gave a sigh of relief before speaking again.

“By the way, why were you two so late?”

“Well, Shinjou-kun wanted to convince me of her body’s value, so she got on the bed and showed me-…”

“Waaaah!!” shouted Shinjou while grabbing his collar.

Either because they had been unable to hear Sayama’s words or because of Shinjou’s strange shout, Kazami and the others stopped moving and turned confused looks toward them.

Kazami tilted her head and spoke as a representative for them all.

“What? I didn’t catch that. She wanted to convince you of her value, so…what?”

Sayama looked at Kazami and everyone else over Shinjou’s head and nodded.

“So I spread her-…”

“You can’t tell them that!!”

As soon as he started speaking, Shinjou shook him by his collar.

As his vision shook, he had a certain thought.

…''I see. So this is what it means to be lovey-dovey. Heh heh. I have never experienced anything like it. Flirting like your average person is…

“Wonderful…”

''Bring on the lovey-dovey. Shake me even harder,'' he thought just before his necktie tightened.

“W-wait, Shinjou-kun. If you keep this up, my nirvana meter will enter the red zone!”

“I’ll stop those words at the source!”

Sayama tried to stop her, but Shinjou was showing no restraint this night.

Kazami nodded as she saw the look of anger on Shinjou’s face and their struggle over their arms and the collar.

“I see. So you’re in that kind of relationship.”

“K-Kazami-san, please don’t make strange, indecent assumptions!”

“Sayama, do this properly, okay? She isn’t used to it.”

“Do not worry. I am always gentle with Shinjou-kun. I treat everyone else equally, though.”

“S-stop making misunderstandings over my head! And Kazami-san! Why did your indecent conclusion lead you back to your original position!?”

“That’s right,” said another voice. Sayama glanced over and saw Ooki. “As your teacher, I cannot allow an impure relationship with the opposite sex!”

“Calm down, Ooki-sensei. Shinjou-kun is both sexes. As both a boy and a girl, the impurity cancels itself out.”

“Oh. Um… Is that how it works?”

“Someone tell her,” whispered the rest of the group, but she did not seem to hear them.

“B-but I’m relieved,” she said with a smile. “I realized Setsu-kun was Sadame-san from the moment he arrived.”

After a one second pause, everyone shouted out in unison.

“You’re kidding!!”

“I-I am not kidding. Any normal person would have figured it out.”

“Even if a normal person would have, I still have my doubts that you would.”

Hearing everyone’s comment, Ooki proudly puffed out her chest.

“Heh hehn. But I did figure it out. And I never thought Shinjou-kun – or would it be Shinjou-san? – was causing any trouble. I even sympathized. I have to hide my ears at school, but I would tell people if I could. I have to think about the age we live in and the world we live in, but I have my own personal feelings as well. And what matters is getting those two things to mesh.”

Sayama felt Shinjou relax in his arms.

“But,” said Ooki while obviously feeling satisfied with her previous words. “Coming out and getting rid of those worries is a good thing. For example, Kazami-san has shown her violent tendencies to everyone and- Hyaaaah! That was fast!”

A few hands reached up from behind Ooki and dragged her into the group of sitting people.

Sayama ignored the screams in the background and released Shinjou from his arms.

After she moved a bit away, she turned a troubled look in his direction.

“Was this really the right thing to do?”

“You can ask that again once we have seen the full result. The process is not over yet.”

“You’re right.”

Shinjou nodded and remade her expression.

That was when they heard a voice from the south where the main unit had been.

Sayama looked over and saw Yonkichi running over with someone following him. He wore a flight jacket and waved his hand.

“W-we’re in trouble, pi! The headquarters really were destroyed by the moonlight, pi! …Gwoohhh!!”

Yonkichi flew to the side for some reason. Soon thereafter, an old man in a lab coat, Mitsuaki, ran up.

“I apologize for our foolish younger brother’s out-of-place ‘pi’ gag! H-his older brothers will severely punish him later.”

“That fascinating introduction is nice, but please get to the point.”

Mitsuaki ran over to Sayama and slowed his pace.

“All of our supplies have been lost. In other words, we must fight the battle with only the personnel and equipment we have here!”

Everyone stood up and looked over their equipment.

They recalled what they had done as the moonlight fell and during the fighting just before that.

“We released the limiters on our concept weapons,” muttered Kazami. “We’re almost out of philosopher’s stone fuel.”

“That’s right, Chisato. The enemy got us good.”

Izumo’s complaint was followed by the remaining members of the headquarters arriving behind Mitsuaki.

The people looked like bluish black shadows.

They included Ooshiru Itaru with his metal cane, Sf, Diana, and…

“Brunhild Schild is accompanying me as a special inspector from 1st-Gear,” explained Diana.

A girl in black clothes and a three-cornered hat had a bird on her shoulder and a cat at her feet.

“You are the ones who spoke with the dragon of 1st-Gear, so what kind of battle will you show us here?” asked Brunhild. “We can’t exactly have you lose here. I never thought I would be attacked in your headquarters while drinking tea. I spilled my tea.”

“I see you are hoping for a tea-filled battle. That is quite appropriate for such a historic fight.”

Sayama then saw someone behind Brunhild and the others.

“Old man.”

“The star player has arrived.”

Ooshiro wore his usual lab coat and he held both a metal case and something long and narrow wrapped in paper. He raised his right thumb as he approached.

“I’ve brought Georgius and what you asked me for, Mikoto-kun. But it looks like you are having some troubles.” He smiled bitterly. “What happened?”

Atsuta’s voice reverberated across the still lake surface.

“There’s nothing Team Leviathan can do now.”

He was in the center of the concept space. Specifically, he stood on the southern shore of the artificial lake where Sayama and Tsukuyomi had held the preliminary negotiations.

The thirty meter square area was created by a clearing in the forest and it was covered in weeds.

“Team Leviathan has stopped moving,” said Kashima who was there with Atsuta. “That shows that the moonlight bombing hit their headquarters as planned.”

“Weren’t the inspectors there? Won’t that give them a bad impression of us?”

“Isn’t that what you would want, Atsuta?”

“That’s for sure.”

Atsuta smiled bitterly and Kashima looked toward the lake.

A floating pier made from rotting wood stretched out over the lake surface.

It continued to the center of the lake where a giant mass of metal stood.

“It’s so big…”

The moon provided the backlight for a five hundred meter iron giant.

That was Susaou.

Its arms were made quite long to help it balance while walking and those arms were held out into empty air as if carrying something.

The remains of the bridge sank into the chest and the convection of the wind wrapped thin clouds around them.

Kashima stared up at Susaou.

…''I’ve come here again.

But would the others make it?

Atsuta asked that question while casually swinging around Futsuno.

“Heh heh I wonder if they’ll make it here. I actually have a legitimate reason to punch that guy. You just can’t have a kid accepted by a grown woman. It doesn’t work that way.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds like a personal grudge.”

“Yeah, but what’s wrong with that? You need some kind of justification for fighting. This means I don’t have to worry when I punch him. …I think I’ll sing a song once I win.”

“Sorry, but I think you should probably lose.”

“What are you talking about?”

Atsuta spun Futsuno horizontally over his head.

Darkness suddenly fell over everything below the path Futsuno had taken.

It was a bluish darkness.

There was only one possible explanation.

Futsuno had cut the moonlight.

As Atsuta stopped swinging Futsuno around, the darkness thinned and finally vanished.

He then held Futsuno up and looked into the sky.

“I wonder how much that Sayama guy can do.”

“Are you listening? I will now give you the basic method for defeating 2nd-Gear.”

Sayama held up two handguns. As the guns hung down from his right hand like fruit, everyone formed a semicircle and watched.

He showed them the two guns.

“I had these handguns delivered to me on a certain condition. They are both nothing more than standard models from American UCAT. You can see that, right?”

Everyone silently nodded.

“And my sword has a name. Needless to say, that name comes from someone’s surname.”

Some people in the crowd raised her hand.

It was Kazami who stood with Izumo, Sibyl, and the others.

“But your sword cut the moonlight, didn’t it?” she asked. “Why? Even with sword names like Muramasa or Masamune, they’re still just Low-Gear names, right?”

“An excellent question. I will now show you what this means.”

Sayama tossed the two handguns into the air.

And…

“…!”

With a backhanded grip, he drew the sword hanging on the back of his waist.

And in the same motion, he swung it.

Two sounds rang out an instant later and three objects fell to the ground.

He looked down at his feet.

“The handgun the sword struck first deflected the blade, but the other one…”

He picked up the destroyed handgun which was now nothing more than a piece of metal sliced in half. The cut was sharp and it almost looked like a sliced vegetable.

But when he picked up the other one, it was unscathed.

“Now, does anyone know the difference between these two handguns?”

Everyone fell silent for a few seconds.

As they exchanged glances, a hand rose on the left side of the group.

It was Boldman. He pointed at Sayama and the handguns he held.

“Sayama…or should I call you commander? Anyway, let me see the side of the unharmed handgun.”

Sayama held up the left handgun.

The moonlight descending through the trees illuminated the side. This revealed something there.

When he saw it, Boldman let out a quick laugh.

“Whose gun is this?”

His answer came from right next to him.

A gray-haired elderly soldier from the standard division raised his hand. Boldman immediately looked over.

“What exactly is this carved into the side?”

“Chris. It’s my daughter’s name. She is always watching over me from heaven.”

As everyone gulped a bit, Sayama nodded.

“I apologize for treating your daughter so roughly. But does everyone understand now? That is what it means for names to hold power.”

Kazami tilted her head.

“So is power given by nicknames as well as the name you’re born with?”

“Correct. The question is how that name is perceived. If you think about it, it is obvious. For example, 2nd-Gear’s sword god is named Atsuta. The name Atsuta has nothing to do with swords, but they all perceive it as the name of a sword god.”

“Does that mean names have…?”

“Yes, names have two meanings: the literal meaning of the characters and the perception people have of the name itself. And in this concept space both of those meanings provide power.”

Sayama indicated the sword at his waist and the handgun in his hand.

“This sword was intended to defeat evil, so it was given a name that symbolizes an evil-defeating sword. And this gun was given the name of a woman who cares for her father, so it provides protection for that father. Names are a reflection of people’s feelings. A name many people care for will provide power for many people and a name an individual cares for will provide power to that individual.”

Sayama turned toward the elderly soldier.

“Your daughter is indeed watching over you.”

The old man nodded and Sayama nodded back before returning the handgun.

“Those of you with attachment to your weapons should trust in them. I also had the old man bring five more swords just like the one I have. Those who specialize in close-quarters combat should take them.”

“Oh, but, Sayama-kun? What are we supposed to do if we have no skills or weapons like that?” asked Ooki.

“I will explain that now.”

He beckoned Boldman over.

The crowd parted to allow the large man through and Sayama gestured for him to sit in front of him.

“The enemy will use the power of their names to advance on us. Tsukuyomi and her control over the moon is their cornerstone. She is their shrine maiden who can use the power of the moon and she will use that power to aid her allies.”

Sayama saw Boldman sit.

“We will use a similar method. We have a certain Greek goddess.”

“Cybele. Read it just a little different and it becomes Sibyl.” With a smile, Sibyl spoke from next to Kazami. “Sayama-sama, are you asking me to play the role of goddess in order to oppose Director Tsukuyomi?”

“Yes. And Sibyl-kun? You will also help with our equipment. If anyone has a nickname for their weapon, act as our shrine maiden and carve that name into it. And for the weapons that do not have a nickname, carve your own name to provide a goddess’s protection.”

A buzz ran through the young male personnel when they heard that.

“We can get Sibyl-san’s signature.”

“This is great. Just great. While we’re at it, I want her to sign my back too.”

“Now I want to avoid using my weapon as much as possible.”

The men excitedly lined up in front of Sibyl.

Ooshiro stood at the end of the line.

“Okay, this is the end of the line. Only one per person. Cutting in line gets you sent to the back.”

As Sayama watched the people lining up, Boldman looked up at him from the ground.

“So why am I sitting here?”

“Oh, my apologies. I forgot to explain that. Anyway, I will start with the most important information.”

He took a breath.

“We are currently surrounded.”

Everyone gasped and looked around.

The enemy was there.

At some point, some figures had appeared inside and outside the forest. They formed a wide circle around the group.

This was a different unit from those on the grassy field with Tsukuyomi.

The groups attacking the left and right units had continued on and slowly surrounded them.

“It would seem the enemy has completed their preparations. I am hoping we can hurry up as well.”

Sayama looked at the figures surrounding them. They stood in the forest without fear.

…''How brave.

“But due to their history, 2nd-Gear has not realized the full possibilities of their concepts.”

“Eh?”

Everyone around him tilted their heads.

“What exactly is a name?” he asked them.

Shinjou supplied an answer.

“It is a proper noun, isn’t it? It is a noun associated with something specific. It is a type of symbol used to distinguish people and things from other people or things.”

“Yes, and that is where the problem lies. In fact, I would say there are two problems there,” explained Sayama. “The first is quite simple, so let us test it out immediately.”

He grabbed Boldman’s head in front of him.

And then he looked to the west.

His gaze stopped on three figures approaching through the forest.

After a moment, they stood up.

Sayama estimated they were fifteen meters away. All three of them wielded swords in the darkness.

Sayama used a hand to stop those who wanted to take action.

“Now, let us have a language lesson. Are names given only to physical objects?”

As he asked his question, the enemies crouched down and prepared to dash forward.

As soon as they took their first step, Shinjou’s voice rang out.

“N-no! They are also given to physical phenomena and abstract theories!”

In the very next moment, roaring voices and countless footsteps filled the forest.

2nd-Gear had begun to move.

And as Sayama waited for them, he had a smile on his face.

He watched the blades of the approaching enemies.

“Precisely, Shinjou-kun. 2nd-Gear has grown so fixated on the names they give themselves that they have lost sight of everything else. And that is why this never occurred to them.”

The enemy left the forest and entered the clearing.

At the same time, Sayama shoved Boldman’s head toward the enemy.

“Attack names will give form to the attack itself!” he shouted. And then he raised his voice even further. “Baldman – Bald Flash!!”

With a roar, light shot from Boldman.

After a light appeared in the center of the forest and pointed to the west, its power took effect instantly.

It looked less like a sphere of light and more like an expanded version of Boldman’s face.

The giant face made of light had its teeth bared and it expanded even further while devouring the trees, the earth, and the air.

In the blink of an eye, it became an explosion of light with a radius of two hundred meters.

The light sounded like spraying water.

It produced enough of an impact to blow everything away.

“…!”

The western side of the forest was blasted into the distance without time to breathe.

The attacking members of 2nd-Gear were not even able to cling to the ground. The expansion of the sphere of light ripped them up and into the air.

The light produced destruction.

But it disappeared an instant later.

However, even that slight time had been enough to leave its mark.

It had whipped up a wind which rustled through the remaining trees. Below that, the crust was exposed on the ground.

The people and trees that had been blown away flew into the distance in a parabolic arc. Once they landed and stopped rolling, they did not move.

Everyone who saw that destruction froze in place. That was especially true for the 2nd-Gear members who were trying to surround Team Leviathan from all directions.

They turned toward the source of the destruction and the whirling wind. There they saw a boy.

Sayama Mikoto held the head of a large black man.

Nothing was moving except for the wind and the leaves of the trees.

Amid it all, Sayama turned toward his group.

“This was a bit of a gamble, but it appears to have worked well. It appears that it must be based on a common perception that no one can deny.”

“Y-you idiot!”

Boldman stood up in front of Sayama.

Sayama looked up at him.

“Hm. I am not sure why you look so angry. That was very useful, was it not?”

“Y-you may be my commander, but there are some things you just don’t do! …Ah.”

Boldman’s knees then collapsed out from under him.

Sayama understood why the man was shaking his head in confusion.

“It seems using this power takes away physical strength. That may have shortened your lifespan by about 100 days.”

“Y-y’know… Kh!”

Boldman tried to stand up but let out a strange cry and toppled forward.

Rather than catch him, Sayama let gravity take over. As he collapsed, Kazami appeared behind him with her hand up in a chopping pose.

“Kaku, tie him up,” she said with a serious expression. “We can have someone without a weapon use him.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen a better living weapon.”

“But try not to fire randomly. You do not want to hit one of our own people. …What is it? Is something the matter?”

“I don’t care if it’s a joke. Can you at least say you’re worried about me?”

Some men arrived with a rope which they used to tie up Boldman and turn him into a weapon.

“Now, then. I am sure you have something similar in your own fantasies. As close-combat specialists, you must have given it at least some thought. You must have felt the attack you thought up is unbeatable. If you have an idea and you believe in that idea, then shout it out. If your feelings are real, the attack will follow.”

“I see,” said Izumo as he tightened the ropes restraining Boldman.

He gently grabbed Kazami’s breasts so as to lift them up.

“Kazami Boob Bea- Gwoh!?”

“I’m not letting you fire anything from there!!”

After jabbing her elbow behind her, Kazami frowned.

“We have weapons already, so we don’t need to bother with that. …Hm? What? Why do you look so unhappy?”

As everyone nodded in agreement, the circling wind of the Bald Flash finally escaped into the sky.

Sayama watched everyone as they watched the wind leave.

His gaze met Ooshiro’s and the old man held up Georgius’s case.

That was when someone raised her hand. It was Shinjou.

“U-um, Sayama-kun? I was so overwhelmed by the Bald Flash that I forgot to ask something.”

“Mh? What is it?”

“What is the other problem regarding 2nd-Gear’s names that you mentioned? You never told us.”

“Oh, that is simple, so I was planning to explain it last.”

Sayama nodded and looked around.

2nd-Gear’s forces were beginning to move after being stopped by the previous attack.

But instead of rushing in, they were now approaching slowly and cautiously.

As Sayama watched them, he spoke.

“Think of the names Susanoo, Takemikazuchi, and Tsukuyomi. From a Low-Gear perspective, they are all missing something. Something everyone in Low-Gear has. …Can you tell me what that is?”

“Eh?” asked Shinjou as she furrowed her brow.

“Think about it, Shinjou Sadagiri-kun.”

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| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume4_Chapter_26|Chapter 26]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume4_Chapter_28|Chapter 28]]
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</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 08

2015-11-12T03:43:42Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 8: Natives of the White Plain */

==Chapter 8: Natives of the White Plain==
[[Image:Horizon4A_0187.jpg|thumb]]
''What is forever white

''Forever black

''And exists between the plain and the sky

'''Point Allocation (Atmosphere)

A white surface existed below the night.

It was a snowy plain. The snow reflected the moonlight and most of it was melting and refreezing.

“It’s early summer, but we have to fight in a frigid Harmonic Territory? Musashi’s having a vacation by the Pacific and we’re stuck here in Sviet Rus. …Isn’t being a student tough, Toshi?”

“Why would you want to go to the beach when you can’t even swim, Na-chan? Besides, last year you insisted you preferred the mountains to the beach. That’s why Shibata brought you here.”

“I think you mean dragged me here! My attendance is bad enough already and that newlywed moron had to stop by my classroom with that fake smile saying, ‘Naru-Naru-kuuun? You can take a bit of time off, right? So get going, idiot.’ ”

The dark-skinned boy wearing a black leather coat turned to the boy in a red M.H.R.R. uniform standing next to him. They both had a white “4” on their clothing and the red one was a ghost with vanishing feet.

“Your Shibata impression really isn’t that good, Na-chan.”

A small ghost girl nodded in agreement on his shoulder.

“It sucks.”

“Shut up. I’m no good at reporting on the battlefield progress either.”

“I know. When you reported on how we broke through the mountain pass the other day, all you said was, ‘I charged in like this, used Lily Flower, and – kaboom – the end.’ How are we supposed to draw up a diagram based on that? You’re lucky I was there to help explain, so you can treat me to something at the cafeteria sometime. Anything but curry.”

“No curry? Not even tandoori?”

“I can’t let my guard down, so I’m banning all curry at least until the Warring States period ends.”

“Then we’ll have to end it sooner rather than later.”

“No, later works for me. We’ll be traveling around the north for a while anyway.”

The boy in the red uniform smiled bitterly, the girl on his shoulder gave a deep nod, and someone stepped up behind them.

“Oh, there you are, Maeda, Matsu, and Sassa.”

Maeda Toshiie turned around to see someone in a girl’s uniform and glasses.

She wore a large boy’s coat over a P.A. Oda girl’s uniform and she held up an ''insha kotob'', but Toshiie looked to the few trails of white cooking smoke coming from the black P.A. Oda ironclad ships behind her.

“Michi, you don’t seem too worried, but should we really be doing that?”

[[Image:Horizon4A_0191.jpg|thumb]]

“Not worried.”

The girl nodded at Matsu’s comment from his shoulder and sighed while lifting up the armband saying “Hokuriku Region Treasurer – Fuwa Mitsuharu” that had slipped down.

“Shibata said doing this from time to time would let them know how big our army is.”

“I see,” said Toshiie.

…''He hasn’t changed.

Their upperclassman, P.A. Oda Vice Chancellor Shibata, had great skill and a large group of warriors at his disposal, but he still did not get careless. And he tended to focus in a certain direction.

“Keh. So he’s just showing off.”

“How about you focus on whether it puts any pressure on the enemy instead of whether he’s showing off?”

Fuwa took a breath while ignoring Narimasa’s groan at her words. She then looked to the distant cooking smoke and the deer drawn from the surrounding forests by the scent.

“This method does seem a lot like something he would do.”

“Yes, he does like festivals.”

“Do wars count as festivals now, Toshi?”

“Shaja. You can view them as a festival used to decide political matters. …And that’s what makes them so troublesome.”

Toshiie followed up on those words in his heart.

…''But I wonder.

He gave an inward sigh.

…''How long will this festival last?

Just as he wondered that, Fuwa stepped forward. She first looked to the black ships lined up like a mountain range far behind her and then she turned around to look at the white mountains far to the north.

“Sviet Rus’s harmonic territories sure are cold.”

“You make it sound like you haven’t been outside until now. Have you been holed up working on some additional skills?”

“Yeah, this is my first time outside. Ever since I got here, I’ve been calculating out the events of the Hokuriku region all the way up to several steps ahead. But I just saw you two out the window, so I decided to step outside.”

“You work too hard.”

“No, you do, Matsu. I haven’t even gone to the front lines.”

Fuwa let out a long, white breath.

“It really is cold.”

“Hey.”

Toshiie saw Fuwa point to the white mountain range to the north.

“Sassa, something’s moving over there.”

“What? Oh, that’s not something for the office-working, indoorsy, treasurer who nearly failed PE to worry about.”

“Did the local treasurer really just get lectured by someone who nearly failed math, modern Far Eastern, and music? …Oh, but you aced art, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… Na-chan has some surprising redeeming features, so it’s hard to know what to do about him.”

Toshiie turned toward Fuwa while ignoring the sunglasses glaring at him to ask what he meant by that. He then glanced northward just like her.

“Now that I’m here, I need to be a little useful.”

His head was filled with the battlefield knowledge he had gathered before coming here, so he matched the topographical map, territorial map, and road map to the surrounding terrain.

“I doubt Sviet Rus would take any meaningful actions where we could see them. But then there’s that.”

A giant cloud floated high in the sky to the north-northwest. The cloud seemed to be wrapped thickly around something there, but at the top…

“You can see that destroyed city, can’t you? It’s still a dozen kilometers away, but it has quite the presence. That western Sviet Rus city is Russia’s oldest city, Novgorod.”

“Oh, great. This idiot’s started talking again.”

“Hooray!”

…''Nice one, Ma-chan!

Toshiie and Matsu clenched their right fists and Toshiie looked up toward Novgorod in the distance.

“In accordance with the Testament descriptions, that trade city was purged eight years ago. Do you know how great a purge it was? …Out of a population of eighty thousand, sixty thousand were killed.”

“What’s the point if you’re going to answer it yourself? …But that’s more than died at Magdeburg, right?”

“Shaja. That massacre was ordered by Sviet Rus Chancellor Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible. He had also inherited the name of Uesugi Kenshin, but he used that incident to split up the Siege of Otate, a conflict over inheritance, and to inherit the name of the clan’s next ruler, Uesugi Kagekatsu. He purged Novgorod’s female mayor Marfa and the city’s dead residents as his rival Uesugi Kagetora and Kagetora’s followers. That was how he reported it to the Testament Union.”

“What an awful thing to do… But it shows that Ivan the Terrible was looking to the future.”

Fuwa had a good point.

“That’s right. …Qing-Takeda’s Takeda clan fell incredibly quickly, but when that was going on, Lord Uesugi Kenshin should have died, creating a civil war known as the Siege of Otate. But Ivan the Terrible recreated half of that in advance and made an immediate switch after Qing-Takeda’s fall. He had the old Uesugi Four Heavenly Kings step down and made ‘Man of Love’ Naoe Kanetsugu the new Vice Chancellor and Vice President. Honjou Shigenaga who had been moving from battlefield to battlefield was made 2nd Special Duty Officer and everything was shifted to a state that is clearly preparing for Sekigahara and beyond. And they fortified their western defenses while we were finishing Magdeburg and making our way here. But…”

Novgorod was slowly approaching them in the night sky. The dark wrapped clouds carried a slow but deep rumble.

“Mayor Marfa is a difficult person. She herself arranged for the purge eight years ago and had all of the city’s people commit suicide to become Living Dead. The city may look like ruins now, but the trading areas on the outer edges are still functioning and the city still acts as the western entrance to Russia.”

“I wonder if she’s lonely.”

“Who knows. But after negotiating with her by letter, Hashiba said she was sure to protect Novgorod.”

“Hashiba did? She has to get involved in everything, doesn’t she? I swear she’s gonna overwork herself so much she disappears one day.”

Toshiie answered Narimasa’s question with a bitter smile and a “shaja”.

“From what I’ve heard, the floating city of Novgorod had its foundation built in the prehistoric age. In other words, the Age of Dawn. The center has been protected by each historical manager of the city and apparently not even Marfa has opened it up.”

“You sure that isn’t all made up to make themselves sound more impressive? And even if they did open it, I doubt they’d find much. Besides, there are plenty of floating lands these days with IZUMO and England. Oh, and in Aki too.”

“True. But Novgorod is Russia’s oldest city and it apparently already looked like that inside the Harmonic World. We also have a good guess where it came from, but that answer might be a bad one.”

“What answer is that?”

“Let’s just say it’s a resistant part of the Far East. And it doesn’t matter much to us in modern times. It’s only worth knowing because it’s still sided with Sviet Rus after being purged by them and being made an enemy by Uesugi over their inheritance issues.”

Toshiie then heard a sound behind him.

A few of Shibata’s transport ships were ascending and turning to the southeast.

“To Kantou?”

As Toshiie watched the transport ships, he realized Fuwa was looking in the same direction.

Next to him, she pushed up her glasses and spoke.

“They’re going to support Takigawa who’s managing Houjou. And I mean the one from the Edo region. This is going to be a troublesome time for Takigawa.”

“Keh. Let’s see her overcome this with that personality of hers. …But Edo, huh? If that’s where she is, can’t she get help from there? I mean, you know what’s there to deal with Oushuu, right?”

“That’s getting into Hashiba’s territory, Na-chan. And you know how depressed Hashiba was about two weeks ago, right?”

Narimasa glared at him for just a moment, but…

“Sorry.”

“Say that to Hashiba, not me. She was bothered by what you said.”

“She takes on too much responsibility.”

Narimasa spat out another “keh”, but Fuwa and Matsu both smiled.

“She’s such a cute underclassman. For now, at least.”

“I sometimes don’t get her,” said Narimasa. “It’s the same for the rest of you, right? At the very least, she corners herself to some ridiculous level like she’s trying to crush herself. She’s says it’s for us, so I want to tell her to stop because that’s just creepy.”

“Someone who would stop because they were told to would never be left with the Five Great Peaks and the Six Heavenly Demon Army. Personally, if I have no real regrets when Hashiba’s end comes…”

When he noticed Fuwa and Narimasa’s gazes, Toshiie trailed off and Matsu patted his cheek.

“It’s okay.”

He was not sure which way she meant that, but he decided it did not matter as long as it was okay.

So he said “that’s right” to Matsu and saw Fuwa smile.

Then Fuwa seemed to remember something.

“Oh, come to think of it…”

She held up the ''insha kotob'' she had brought with her.

“We’ve received word from the observation team. The Date clan has started taking action concerning Musashi. Apparently, one of their higher level people went alone for a meeting with Musashi.”

“Keh. That means we have to pick up the pace too.”

Toshiie thought a bit about what Narimasa said.

…''I see.

“That would explain why we were told to take on an important guest on our way here from M.H.R.R.”

“A guest? Who?”

“Lady Oichi. She brought a refrigerated container filled with three years’ worth of boxed meals for Shibata. Sassa, she came to greet us earlier. Were you asleep?”

“Shut up. That’s exactly what I was doing, you idiot. Anyway, are you serious? Lady Oichi’s here? On the front line?”

The look on Narimasa’s face changed when Fuwa nodded. His eyebrows rose and he turned to look at the black ships stopped to the south.

“I doubt she’ll actually make an appearance, though. This should be interesting. Is Shibata gonna be giving this his all?”

“This is probably going to be a fierce battle regardless,” began Toshiie. “After all, Sviet Rus’s Uesugi clan is made up of demons that have no trouble with this frigid land. Normal weapons aren’t enough to get through their armor, and yet…”

He faced the northern snowy plain as he spoke.

“This is what we find as soon as we arrive.”

A gentle breeze flew across the snowy plain, but it was more than a mere wind.

“Personal stealth spells using a partial spatial transition.”

A group of moonlit shadows spilled from the gently wrapping movement of the air

This was the enemy. Sviet Rus’s demon warriors suddenly dropped from the air and onto the snowy plain.

The enemy group continued to grow. Fuwa watched as their numbers exceeded one hundred, two hundred, and finally a thousand.

“Eh? W-wait? Three thousand…four thousand…ehhh? There’s still more!?”

It was an unexpected development, but Fuwa gasped when she realized it was very real.

…''An attack by thousands of enemies!?

She decided to raise her voice to contact the main unit behind them, but the scene before her eyes was too intimidating.

They were coming.

The appearing shadows slowly moved forward as if peeling back or casting off the wind. They were all over two meters tall and many of them had more than four limbs.

They were demons.

Normally, an office worker like her would never have directly faced anything like this, but now thousands of them had appeared only about one hundred meters away and their numbers were continuing to grow.

Each and every one of them wore a Sviet Rus uniform.

Toshiie and Sassa stood in front of her and they were the ones to explain exactly who this enemy was. Toshiie was counting their numbers on his fingers as he did so.

“This is the Ikkou-Ikki, a group given territory in a southern buffer region in Sviet Rus. They were originally desert demons that served Mlasi Chancellor Suleiman, but now the Orthodox Church accepts them as an indigenous faith.”

“Why couldn’t it have been the main Uesugi forces? This is a pain-in-the-ass enemy for me.”

“Pain in the ass,” agreed Matsu.

Fuwa could not even nod in agreement. Even her legs refused to move now that she had suddenly found herself on the front line.

…''Wow.

The information on the enemy that she had gathered as the local treasurer appeared in her mind.

…''Um, in the international standardized testing the Testament Union holds every year…

The average speed for the hundred meters among students from Kasuga Gora Kremlin, Sviet Rus’s primary academy, was around five seconds without spell assistance. That came out to about seventy kph. With demons that weighed more than three hundred kilograms, that speed alone was enough to break through a formation of human warriors.

…''Meanwhile, I weigh fifty-two kilograms and my hundred meter time was – sorry – twenty-one seconds. That’s slow.

But she used her skill as treasurer to calculate out what was about to happen.

…''If I make a mad dash from here to the main unit…

“Now, then.”

…''In how many seconds will Fuwa turn around, in how many second will she start running, in how many second will they catch up to her, in how many second will they trample her, in how many second will they do all sorts of awful things to her, in how many second will she make a double nirvana sign, and in how many seconds will the footage be spread all over the divine network? (Point Allocation: Making things more exciting)

“Hey, Fuwa, why are you wiggling around with your hands on your cheeks? Is your brain working fruitlessly again, you idiot?”

“I-if you call someone an idiot, it means you’re an idiot! More importantly, what are we going to do about this!?”

“Oh, right.” Toshiie sounded entirely calm. “Michi, could you stay right where you are?”

“Eh?”

Fuwa tilted her head at Toshiie’s request.

…''How am I supposed to stay right where I am with this going on?

But Toshiie was not paying attention to her. He was looking down at the fingers he was using to count the enemy.

“Yeah, I don’t want anything messing up my calculations. …Oh, you can charge right on in, Na-chan. You’re not in my calculations, but you can dodge anything that almost hits you, right?”

“You’re coming up with some random strategy again, aren’t you?”

Sassa glared at Toshiie and Fuwa asked a question.

“Strategy?”

“Shaja. We knew something had been detected on this snowy field…thanks to Shibata. And since we’ve joined all of you for the first time in a while, Shibata told us to ‘use these small fries to show off to our men how hard we’re working’. In other words, he left us in charge of intercepting the enemy. Although I have to admit I didn’t expect for Shibata to lure in the enemy with cooking smoke.”

“Um, then, I…”

“Shaja.” Sassa shifted his glare from Toshiie to Fuwa. “That’s why Toshi commented on how you didn’t seem too worried when you showed up. Did Shibata not tell you anything?”

“Think about it, Na-chan. Normally, the local treasurer would never go outside.”

“B-but I saw you two for the first time in forever…”

“Reunion,” added Matsu.

“That’s right.” Fuwa nodded with the small ghost girl and felt some tension leave her. “But Maeda…you promise I’ll be okay here, right?”

“Ha ha ha. Have you forgotten who competed with you for the main treasurer position?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“God, you two are annoying.”

With a bitter smile on his face, Narimasa took a step forward and rolled up his coat’s sleeves.

“Let’s do this.”

At that moment, the snowy field exploded in front of them.

The demons had suddenly started dashing toward them.

''An excellent decision,'' thought Toshiie.

As the entire front row of demons began a dash, their feet kicked up the snow and created a reverse cascade of snow in front of the row behind them.

“They’ll probably be attacking and taking detours behind that wall. But…”

Toshiie turned his smile toward the approaching front line as well as the gunfire and charging demons following from behind.

“This is the night, parade of the living. It is time you learned the realm to which you belong.”

Something burst up from below and destroyed the wall of snow the enemy was kicking up.

It was a crowd.

This crowd of the dead crawled up from the earth with massive numbers.

“I guess I’ll go with fifty thousand for now.”

When he dropped money, the dead appeared. Human bones had been distorted and combined to form the army of dead bones that all held weapons.

“———!!”

The charging enemy was powerful enough to smash them to pieces, but the bones still advanced in great numbers.

They collided and were swallowed up. Toshiie opened his smiling mouth as he watched the destruction and approaching wave.

“Okay, Na-chan, head on out. I’ll be back here.”

“You don’t mind if I break those, right?”

“If you break them in groups of ten, they can transform to the next level, so I would actually appreciate it.”

“Now I’m stuck doing odd jobs?” complained Sassa as he began running.

By the time a pillar of snow had been kicked up next to Toshiie, Sassa had already torn through three demons with his leaping attack.

“Sassa’s as crazy as ever.”

“Yes, but I’ve recently learned that we’re actually relatively calm as things go. So I need to push myself to the forefront some more.”

Matsu nodded on his shoulder and he dropped some silver coins from the hilt of the coin roll sword at his waist.

“So…” Toshiie took a step forward while giving the charging enemy a fearless smile. “For now, I think I’ll add some more. I need to do my best here.”

After all…

“Musashi is starting to act again. And this time, with the Date clan.”

“The clash in Hokuriku between Sviet Rus and P.A. Oda has begun?”

Masazumi spoke to Mitotsudaira inside a largescale lift along the Ariake’s inner wall. The torii-style lift was only carrying Naomasa, who was operating it, and the rest of the chancellor’s officers and student council, so she did not need to worry about what she said.

“We’re just about to meet Date’s Vice Chancellor up top, so this is sudden. …Where did this information come from?”

“The M.H.R.R. Protestants.”

''That must mean it traveled through Hexagone Française and IZUMO,'' decided Masazumi. Information from Kantou IZUMO would first reach Mitotsudaira, the Mito ruler and one of the Special Duty Officers. Mitotsudaira would tell Tenzou and then it would reach everyone, but…

“Given the situation, the 1st Special Duty Officer will wait until you give the go-ahead to tell everyone.”

“Judge. I need to thank Hexagone Française’s Vice Chancellor for the information.”

“A-all my mother did was relay it.”

'''Still Got It:''' “Oh, dear. Nate, are you at the age where your mother’s kindness embarrasses you? Heh heh. I’ll have to contact a nice restaurant over there and have them send you some red meat as a stand-in for red rice.”

“Why can you send us divine transmissions!? And you were spying on us, weren’t you!?”

'''Still Got It:''' “Oh, my. Spying? Who would ever do that? Your father and I can only hear what you say.”

“I-I can’t believe this! These divine transmission settings are just plain awful!!”

''Well, Mito is where her inherited name comes from and it has some connection to Hexagone Française,'' rationalized Masazumi.

Masazumi moved next to Mitotsudaira who opened a sign frame and accessed the settings page.

'''Vice President:''' “Anyway, I appreciate the relayed information, Hexagone Française Vice Chancellor. Pass my thanks on to IZUMO’s Chairman and M.H.R.R.’s Secretary.”

'''Still Got It:''' “Oh, dear. I only passed on some local rumors to my daughter, so I don’t recall doing anything worth your thanks.”

'''Vice President:''' “Then I would like to have our treasurer send you something as thanks for the red meat you are sending Mitotsudaira. How about a refrigerated container you can use as a Mouri-side interpretation? Cooling techniques have come a long way recently, so you should be able to store some excellent meat.”

'''Still Got It:''' “Testament. But with a large container, I’ll need to think of a place to put it.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Um, mother? You’re planning to use it at home?”

'''Still Got It:''' “Yes, it is being sent as thanks for your ‘red rice’, after all. …Now, Nate, I’m sure you are going to take part in the coming meeting, but don’t do anything careless, okay? I have a busy night planned using your father, but you need to work hard so you too can grow up into a wonderful adult with a busy life.”

Masazumi wanted to ask what the woman meant by “a busy night” and “using your father”, but she decided against it when she saw Mitotsudaira’s shoulders drooping and her head hanging at nearly ninety degrees.

Naomasa turned around while operating the lift’s torii-style information terminal.

“We’re about to reach the top. It’s cold up there, so…”

She pointed to her neck hard point. Mitotsudaira began operating a sign frame containing her divine protection settings and Masazumi’s anteater Mouse did so on its own from her shoulder.

“Maa.”

A warmth reached the back of her waist like someone had placed their hand there.

“I see you’ve gotten used to that,” commented Naomasa.

“That’s because I’ve had to deal with too much already. For now, I’ll add in one of the defense spells Asama gave me.”

“Judge. That should be enough for here. …I’ll be waiting down below, so call me if something happens. I’ll make sure the Suzaku is ready to go.”

“Judge. Please do. Especially since it’s Date’s Vice Chancellor instead of Vice President. …Although it’s because she’s as cautious as we are that we’re holding the meeting on the Ariake’s roof.”

…''In fact, that’s probably why they sent their Vice Chancellor.

Even if something did happen, a Vice Chancellor had the authority to make decisions for their nation and had good odds of making it back alive.

“…Date Narumi, hm?

Masazumi knew Date Clan Vice Chancellor Date Narumi as the military leader of the Date clan. The historical figure had been the younger male cousin of Masamune, head of the Date clan, but a girl filled the role in the history recreation.

…''If I’m remembering right, Date has a lot of blood relationships which makes things more difficult.

She did not want to get involved in another clan’s business, but some of that could not be avoided when it came to the Testament descriptions. They had already interfered with Mary and Elizabeth in England and Mitotsudaira’s presence on the Far Eastern side was enough to create a connection with Hexagone Française. But…

'''Still Got It:''' “Oh, I forgot to tell you one thing.”

'''Vice President:''' “What is it, Reine des Garous?”

'''Still Got It:''' “Testament. Since you called me that, I’ll tell you. …It’s about the Date clan. Do you know what happens to them in their conflict over inheritance?”

“Judge,” replied Masazumi as this had come up at their previous meeting.

'''Vice President:''' “The conflict occurred between Masamune and his brother Kojirou. They had lived as brothers, but Masamune killed Kojirou because their mother decided Kojirou would be a better head of the clan.”

But…

'''Vice President:''' “I believe that history recreation had yet to be carried out.”

'''Still Got It:''' “But they would have been forced to advance their history…thanks to a certain nation losing a certain battle.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Mother!”

Masazumi gestured to Mitotsudaira, telling her not to worry about it.

…''Based on the way she’s saying this, I doubt the Reine des Garous has any real proof either.

That was why she had lured them in to continue the conversation for her. That way, she avoided saying anything careless. ''In that case,'' decided Masazumi.

'''Vice President:''' “Thank you for the warning, Reine des Garous. …You’re saying recent events have already caused the people of Oushuu to lose what they had been hoping for from us, aren’t you?”

They were not accepted as a source of peace or as a barrier against P.A. Oda. All they had were the promises of the Testament descriptions and…

“Now, then.”

A giant ship was being remodeled inside the Ariake down below.

…''That is everything we have.

'''Vice President:''' “Reine des Garous, it’s about time for us. We can celebrate together afterwards.”

She looked up just in time to see Naomasa stopping the lift. Their speed gently dropped and the ceiling hatch began to open overhead.

The white ceiling split apart and the dimly-lit canopy of the stealth space came into view.

The wind blew in, but it did not feel cold.

Masazumi refocused her mind as she felt the gentle shaking of the lift resuming its ascent.

…''We’re beginning again.

This was an unofficial meeting with the Date clan, but at the same time…

“Let’s take the first step of a small but definite new beginning.”

[[Image:Horizon4A_0211.jpg|thumb]]
Date Narumi waited on the armor of the Ariake’s upper surface.

Her false arms were lowered at her sides and her feet were planted at shoulder-width with the right one shifted a bit forward. This stance allowed her to move at a moment’s notice while she also analyzed the information reaching her through her mechanical legs.

…''The shaking of the lift has stopped.

The lift hatch was about to open.

She felt a vibration with a set frequency produced by the stopping lift and the distortion in the vibration told her eight people were onboard. There were four girls and four boys…no, one was a girl with a false arm. Most likely, Musashi’s 6th Special Duty Officer.

She read the Ariake’s internal structure in the same way and discovered the top was divided into four sections and the bottom was divided into eight. Of the backyards used to hold supplies, there were sixteen large ones and one hundred twenty eight small ones.

The remodeling activity was light on the front and heavy on the middle.

…''Most likely, the first port and starboard ships have so little remodeling activity because they were already completed.

They had remodeled those two ships which acted as transport ships so warehouses for materials and lodgings for workers could be built. They were likely focusing their work on individual ships instead of working on everything at once. In that case…

“Perhaps the Musashi is getting more than armor. Perhaps each ship is getting something unique.”

Narumi spoke under her breath and suddenly noticed the gazes of the Far East Guard Unit surrounding her at a distance as her “escort”.

“Oops.”

A smile had reached the corner of her mouth without her realizing it.

''I’m hopeless,'' she thought with a self-deprecating smile before facing forward.

Someone stood about thirty meters ahead. Their Far Eastern uniform was a mixture of a boy’s and girl’s summer uniform.

“I am Musashi Ariadust Academy Student Council Vice President Honda Masazumi.”

“Testament. I am Oushuu Sibir Sendai Date Academy Vice Chancellor Date Narumi.”

''Now, then,'' thought Narumi. ''I wish Vice President Katakura hadn’t given me so much to do.

But there was one thing she had to do for sure.

…''Position Date favorably for the future.

To do that, she moved her lightly lipsticked lips.

“It may be unofficial, but let us begin this meeting between Date and Matsudaira.”

Masazumi had Mitotsudaira stand to her right. The other girl got down on one knee, placed her silver chain obelisk case on the floor, and faced forward with shallow strength in her eyebrows.

Date Narumi was about twenty meters away, and…

'''Asama:''' “Oh, I’ll set up a soundproofing barrier.”

All sound immediately vanished from their surroundings.

'''Asama:''' “Um, do you not want anyone reading lips? I could cover your mouths with a god mosaic, god gaze, god steam, or god frosted glass plus voice alterations.”

'''Silver Wolf:''' “Why are there so many options?”

'''Scarred:''' “Judge. But there is generally no need to hide anything. …Isn’t that right, Master Tenzou?”

'''<The Divine Network has stalled due to congestion from a sudden surge of posts.>

…''This is not a good start for the meeting. And doesn’t that mean everyone can see this?

While wondering that, Masazumi instructed Tsukinowa to record the minutes of the meeting. She then faced forward where Narumi stood in the same stance as before.

“Sorry about leaving you with nothing to do.”

“No, I can gain quite a bit of information just by standing here. But…” Narumi tilted her head. “Where is your president?”

“He’s a lost cause.”

Narumi frowned at her immediate response and finally asked another question.

“What about your chancellor?”

“He’s a lost cause too.”

''In fact they’re one and the same for us. In other words, he’s a double lost cause.

Masazumi nodded in her heart but then came to a sudden realization.

…''Eh? Double? Isn’t that actually pretty bad?

'''Vice President:''' “Hey! Everyone! I know this is late, but I just realized we have a pretty big weakness!”

'''Me:''' “Eh!? What is it? Is it something bad!? I’m busy fixing the position of my crotch supporter, so can it wait until later?”

'''Vice President:''' “It’s you!!”

She saw sign frames from the others telling her to calm down and she saw Narumi tilting her head beyond the transparent panels.

“Your president and chancellor are a lost cause?”

''Oh, no. There’s been a misunderstanding. The Far East is used to hopeless presidents and chancellors, but they tend to be useful in other nations. Although now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve met very many that were.

But…

'''Vice President:''' “Oh, I get it. That means Date’s chancellor’s officers and student council are actually useful.”

'''Gold Mar:''' “Aren’t we a lost cause as a whole if that news is enough to excite us?”

'''10ZO:''' “And you mustn’t show off our weaknesses, Masazumi-dono!!”

''I suppose not,'' she thought while checking some things on her sign frame and facing Narumi again.

“Sorry, there seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

Masazumi chose her words carefully.

“It isn’t that our president and chancellor are a lost cause. What I meant is…”

A sign frame arrived showing the smiling idiot in a Tres Españan girl’s summer uniform.

…''I’m going to kill him!

As Masazumi grew expressionlessly angry, Narumi nodded to urge her on, so she reworded her previous statement.

“He never had a cause to lose in the first place.”

She ignored the others as they shouted at her.

…''Don’t blame me. Everyone has their limit.

At any rate, Date President and Chancellor Masamune was apparently a proper leader. And in that case, things would probably go well if Masazumi did a proper job of negotiating.

That meant she needed to focus on handling this meeting with Narumi in order to draw out Masamune.

…''Our goal is to build a relationship with Date that has a future!

After confirming what she needed to do, Masazumi spoke.

“Now, I would like to ask what you wish to accomplish in this meeting.”

“Testament. Very well. To sum it up…”

Narumi spoke with a smile.

“The Date clan wishes to cut all ties with Matsudaira. Is that okay?”

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 07|Chapter 07]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 4A Chapter 09|Chapter 09]]
}}
</noinclude>

Clash of Hexennacht:Volume1 Chapter 16

2015-11-04T20:00:14Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 16: Then What Should I Do? */ a small typo

==Chapter 16: Then What Should I Do?==
[[Image:Hexennacht_v01_345.png|thumb]]
''I know that

It only took Hunter an instant to fire.

She was flying over the ocean south of Japan.

The Seventh Fleet’s Silent Service had searched out this spot that avoided detection by the Shinto guardian deities.

So once she was in position, she only needed to align herself with the swing-by satellite passing by overhead and then fire.

An explosive blast filled the air and the bullet seemed to skip thrice as it flew east.

That was all.

Her comrades would guide it for her. They knew Horinouchi’s location, so they would precisely guide the bullet to her.

Unlike with Kagami, Horinouchi’s Magino Frame could not avoid taking damage, so this would win the battle.

Even if the girl did try to defend, she was over a foreign sea and she did not know where Hunter was. Even if the Horinouchi Group had a wide reach, they would not have reached the ocean quite yet. She might have managed over land, but the sea was a different story.

The bullet was fast enough that it would all be over by the time she saw it.

The battle was already settled if Horinouchi really did not know the direction Hunter was firing from.

“Which means I just have to wait for it to hit.”

Hunter was not sure if she should breathe a sigh of relief just yet, but the sun had already risen to the height of “early morning” rather than “predawn”.

As if following the sunlight, she looked to Japan with a telescope spell.

“Ahh, ahh…”

The base of Mount Fuji had a large black crater torn into it. That was the result of her attack on Kagami.

Seeing it discouraged her a little.

She felt bad for doing the same thing as the Black Witch. At the same time, she recalled Kagami’s rebuke and smiled bitterly.

…''That’s right.

She did believe her actions had an individual form of justice behind them, but how long had it been since someone had scolded and tried to stop her instead of accepting and supporting her?

It was a nostalgic feeling and it brought a song to her lips.

“And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,

“That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

“A home and a country shall leave us no more?

“Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.

“No refuge could save the hireling and slave.

“From the terrors of flight or the gloom of the grave.

“And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave.

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

That was the third verse of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Once she finished releasing her song into the sky, a morning breeze seemed to blow in response.

“Representative Hunter! The bullet will hit in twenty seconds!”

The view from the satellite above reached her spell circle.

Even from the sky, Akerindou’s great form was visible over the sea. A digital line was added arriving from the west and that straight line and arrow were labelled with the word “bullet”.

“Oh.”

The footage revealed an explosion of ether light and a giant pillar of water.

Just as she thought it had been a direct hit, an unexpected color filled the spell circle.

'''<Warning>

Hunter gasped at what that must mean.

Something was moving inside the spell circle.

“The enemy Magino Frame…has survived!”

“It missed!?”

What did that mean? It should have been impossible to intercept that bullet without knowing what trajectory it was taking, but the satellite footage zoomed in on the enemy.

Akerindou was pointed straight up at her eye in the sky. And…

“Horinouchi!”

The girl was looking straight up at the satellite in orbit.

'''<Closed>

A moment later, Horinouchi’s cannon blast destroyed the satellite, but…

“Don’t tell me she could see where I was.”

Hunter had supposedly left the range of her Shinto detection.

“Oh? What do you think you are doing there?”

A voice reached her from behind.

It was several kilometers away, but a Magino Frame was approaching with the shimmering heat of acceleration light enveloping itself. The great sword was definitely damaged, but…

“Over here. This is no time to be distracted.”

“Kagami!”

Hunter wanted to ask how this was possible.

…''She shouldn’t have been able to catch up!

Hunter had used several swing-by pathways to reach this point. The only way to track that would be to follow the remnant ether light, but that method had to be done immediately.

Kagami would have needed a means of gaining speed rivalling the swing-by method.

“How did you catch up during all that?”

Hunter spotted some vanishing light on the back of Kagami’s Magino Frame, but it was not the light of a thruster. There were eight of them and they had clearly been stabbed in after the fact.

…''Horinouchi’s arrows!?

“Don’t tell me you had her shoot you to accelerate you!”

“Precisely!”

''She really is an honorable sort of insane,'' thought Hunter.

What kind of idiot would have their partner shoot them just because they needed some speed? The kind right in front of her, apparently. But she had relied on her defenses to “eat” the hard hit. The arrows had pierced into the Magino Frame, but Kagami must have absorbed them and their speed.

…''This is the problem with that craft-style power of hers!

Kagami pointed at the dumbfounded girl.

“Hunter!”

The obvious idiot smiled.

“This is where things get interesting!”

Kagami had Dikaiosyne charge forward.

Hunter immediately opened several spell circles around herself.

…''Are you trying to escape!?

Those spells were likely meant to coordinate her swing-by movement with her mainland, so the girl was about to take high-speed flight. And…

“I will not let you escape!”

To accelerate, Kagami used Horinouchi’s acceleration arrows remaining on Dikaiosyne’s back end. The great sword charged forward like it had been kicked.

It struck the center of the giant Magino Frame’s stern as if gouging into the seam there.

“That was not enough to reach the bullet formation area, was it!?”

Hunter immediately began her flight.

“Dammit!”

But she missed the swing-by.

The massive Magino Device had lost its powerful acceleration method, so now it was Kagami’s turn.

She was using her Normal Device to control Dikaiosyne, so she pushed it forward toward the stern of Hunter’s Magino Device.

“Charge!”

Hunter realized she was being pushed.

She could see a few of Horinouchi’s acceleration lights vanishing from the back of the great sword. There had been eight to begin with, but now there were only five.

Her opponent was losing the source of her speed, but the speed she did have was enough.

…''It rivals my swing-by method!?

Horinouchi had focused and refined that power in order to tear into the moon. Meanwhile, Hunter’s comrades informed her of the next swing-by point, but…

…''I won’t make it!

As each new point arrived, she failed to arrive in time and missed it.

Kagami was predicting her actions perfectly. The Horinouchi Group was most likely observing from the surface and determining what satellites Hunter was primarily using. If so…

“Secondary cannons!”

A shootout began from point-blank range.

She prepared every last cannon and fired on the great sword stabbing into her from behind.

She hit.

A shock ran through her own Magino Device, light struck at random, and warning lights indicated damage on the rear thrusters and elsewhere, but she did not care. With each tremor, Kagami’s Magino Device shook and nearly threw her off.

That may have been why Kagami accelerated and plunged her blade even deeper inside.

…''Is this how you want to decide this!?

But it was not enough.

Hunter’s secondary cannons continued tearing apart Kagami’s Magino Device. She had an overwhelming advantage in number of cannons. When a close-range barrage would work, the Hedgehog would be the one doing the pushing.

But then she realized Kagami was only using her secondary cannons to intercept while raising the speed of her charge.

…''Why!?

Even this speed was not enough to break Hunter’s armor. Hunter was accelerating as well and the Hedgehog was sturdy.

''Then why?'' she wondered.

“Representative Hunter! We’ve secured a point location, so please wait a moment! Also, we’ve confirmed your current heading! The enemy is accelerating you toward…”

There was someone behind her by the rising sun in the east.

“The other enemy, the Rank 4!”

Hunter realized what Kagami was trying to do.

“A pincer attack!”

This was not a normal pincer attack. Kagami was accelerating Hunter toward Horinouchi so the third girl could fire on Hunter with all her strength.

It was a forceful use of physics thanks to their relative speeds.

…''Just how much does she worship attack power!?

''What is this? Does it have to do with the Japanese love of giant breasts? I remember everyone laughing about that when we stayed up all night that one time.

''Wait, that’s not the point!

This method was completely insane, but it did make sense. After all, Hunter’s own Hedgehog gained enough speed from its swing-by method to destroy another Magino Frame with only that. If she was hit at these speeds, it was possible it could sink her in a single blow.

Plus, she was up against a unit of two. Even if she destroyed Kagami or made sure Kagami was caught in her own destruction, they would still win if Horinouchi survived.

…''In which case…

She pushed herself in a straight line through the morning air while leaving several vapor trails behind her.

“Representative Hunter! You are now in range of the Rank 4!”

That was exactly when Kagami raised her voice while pushing Hunter forward with her powerful acceleration.

“Fire!”

Horinouchi viewed her enemy through a telescope spell.

A giant form in the west was being pushed and accelerated toward her.

She must have noticed Horinouchi directly ahead because she had opened her shield instead of using her cannon form.

…''I need to break through that armor.

Hesitating would be meaningless. She had only one chance and, even from this distance, the acceleration light from Kagami’s rear thrusters could be seen weakening.

She would begin slowing soon.

Once that happened, it was all over. Once Hunter could escape with her own acceleration, she would change course and destroy the two of them individually. So…

…''It has to be now!

As soon as she thought that, she saw an explosion over the western sea.

“What!?”

It was the white explosion of water vapor created when something collided with the atmosphere at high speed.

…''Their Device’s exploded?

No, the white was nowhere near large enough for that. And soon, Horinouchi’s telescope spell revealed what had happened.

“Hunter purged the front starboard side of her Magino Device, didn’t she!?”

Air resistance caused the entire Device to groan, but Hunter did not hesitate.

Her secondary cannons were lodging their shots in Kagami’s Device, and…

…''Turn!

She purged her front starboard armor. The thick multi-layer armor became fragments of ether in the air, lightening her starboard side, but that left the frame and transformation structure exposed.

“Air brake!!”

As soon as water vapor audibly exploded, the Hedgehog creaked to the right as it was pushed.

While still moving horizontally, she collided with the air to the front and right. Next, the wind poured inside the armor and internal components halfway along the starboard side, blasting away the central starboard armor.

But that damage eliminated the excess stress. The starboard side skidded along the air and the port side flowed forward.

“Ohhh!”

She turned her starboard rear thruster to the right and applied the maximum pressure.

She made a turn and no longer seemed to care about Kagami behind her.

She used their great speed to make a full 180 degree turn with the great sword still piercing her stern.

That thrust Kagami’s Magino Frame toward Horinouchi and…

“Representative Hunter!”

A swing-by point was coming, so she raised her right hand to activate the spell. Meanwhile, she heard Kagami’s voice from behind.

“But there was not supposed to be another point around here! Could it be…!?”

“That’s right. I told you I had the support of the US military, didn’t I?”

It was obvious what she had done.

“I had one of the satellites alter its orbit to come this way.”

A point of light was moving east in the sky above.

The forcible change of orbit meant it was now falling out of orbit, but Hunter only needed to pursue that shooting star.

“Here I go!”

That swing-by would take her east, toward Horinouchi’s cannon blast.

“You said this is where things get interesting, didn’t you!?”

Horinouchi understood the situation.

The other two were starting to lose speed, but they began charging toward her with new acceleration. And now Kagami’s Dika-whatever was being held forward instead of pushing from behind.

Kagami was likely doing her best to resist, but most of her secondary cannons had been destroyed and there was no more light in her rear thrusters. Also…

“Now!” shouted Hunter. “Are you willing to shoot your own partner, Horinouchi!?”

U.A.H.F. of NORAD was filled with excitement.

They were doing their best to direct the falling satellite directly over the Rank 4’s head. At the same time, they were sending the optimum course to Hunter and having her make course corrections with the Hedgehog’s accelerators.

“Damn, I didn’t think she would actually pull off that 180!”

“Yeah, I kind of thought she might as well just try to escape!”

Everyone sent back their confirmation work, stood up, and looked to the spell circle main monitor.

The commander spoke over the communicator.

“Representative Hunter, your armor cannot be pierced even if it comes down to a shootout after your approach.”

“I know.” The witch they supported replied with a ring of dignity in her voice. “Victory to America!”

“Now, it’s time for you to lose, Horinouchi!”

Horinouchi inhaled at Hunter’s words.

She was hesitant. Of course she was. But…

…''Yes.

She recalled her actions concerning her rank, her own displeasure, and Kagami’s tears over her mother.

…''Mother.

The scene from ten years ago grew clear in her memories.

That had been her last time to speak with her mother.

She had known what was going to happen to her, but she had cried and asked her not to leave her all alone.

But she remembered clearly what her mother had said.

“Don’t worry. The god of this world seems to have trouble with loneliness, so I’m sure you will find someone important to you as well.”

“You mean…?”

“Someone who – like me – will smile when you smile and cry when you cry. And because of that, you will be able to trust them and continue on with them.”

She had wondered where someone like that could be.

She had not wanted anyone else to feel the way she did, so she had intended to remain isolated.

But…

…''Elsie Hunter.

Even someone ranked higher than her felt the same way.

And someone had rebuked that girl.

It had felt like a rebuke against this entire world, yet it had been spoken as a simple observation.

“Horinouchi!” shouted Kagami’s voice. “Trust in me, Manko!”

“Don’t call me thaaaaat!”

She shouted back and fired at the same time.

Kagami smiled at Horinouchi’s attack.

…''I would expect no less!

There was no hint of hesitation or restraint. The high-speed shot produced five explosions of water vapor as it flew in from far to the east.

It was definitely coming, so…

“Charge!”

Kagami used her last acceleration to drive the tip of her great sword into Hunter’s Magino Frame.

Hunter frowned on top of the Device up ahead.

“You’re wasting your effort!”

“Are you worried for me, Hunter!? But…”

Kagami raised her right arm.

“Dikaiosyne, firing form!”

“That won’t accomplish anything!” shouted Hunter.

Kagami was digging into her armor, but…

“Your attack will at best only damage my rear thrusters!”

“What are you talking about? Attacking is Horinouchi’s job.”

She operated Dikaiosyne as if to prove that.

She poured every last ounce of power into the acceleration pathway and white light shined from the pathway meant for the shell to travel down.

“Shell formation area…purge.”

Hunter realized what was happening.

…''Did she transform the pincer attack into an acceleration cannon!?

Kagami stood before her. Below her, the great sword’s acceleration pathway was exposed after losing the rear shell formation area.

Horinouchi’s arrow arrived there.

Technically, that was probably due to Hunter’s own course corrections.

The flying arrow stabbed into the acceleration pathway of Kagami’s great sword and raced through it.

“Open shell acceleration spell inside the barrel!!”

Kagami’s voice was followed by the destruction of her sword-shaped Magino Device.

The Device itself could not withstand the power creating the acceleration pathway.

But it only needed an instant.

The relative speed of the swing-by, the acceleration provided by Horinouchi, and the additional acceleration provided in exchange for Kagami’s Magino Device joined together.

“Kh!”

The power itself burst inside the heavy armor.

The destruction only took an instant.

The servant managing the Device prioritized protecting Hunter, its master, so when the massive amount of kinetic energy exploded inside, the armor, motors, and transformation system were all abandoned. To make sure nothing obstructed the dispersal of the energy, it was all given over to the destruction and explosion, leaving only the main frame and the base where the servant’s master stood.

“…!”

Magino Frame Hedgehog exploded and fell silent.

A great noise and clouds of ether light filled the morning sky. Even its giant framework came apart as it slowly fell toward the sea.

Atop the crumbling Magino Frame, Kagami stood before Hunter who had fallen to her knees.

Both of their Magino Frames had been destroyed and neither of them could continue fighting. Hunter must have known that because she fell backwards onto her butt, stroked her servant’s spell circle, and put it away.

“Damn, I lost! Do you have anything to say!?”

“I have not lived a life worthy of saying anything here. But…”

Kagami took a breath before speaking to Hunter.

“Lend us your strength, America. Burning yourself away in a grudge is not what you should be doing. You need act as the world police and lend your strength to those who lack it. And…”

The hand she held out had lost its power arm, but that did not matter.

“How about you start by accepting my help here, Elsie Hunter?”

Hunter looked up into the sky as she slowly fell.

The moon was beginning to vanish there and she could only see the morning sun.

Of course, that was only because the moonlight was hidden by the sunlight, but…

“You’re such an idiot.”

She took Kagami’s hand with a bare hand that no longer wore her Magino Form.

“Why would you go this far to tell me something even elementary schoolers understand?”

She felt the same applied to herself, but she left that unsaid.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht:Volume1_Chapter_15|Chapter 15]]
| Return to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Clash_of_Hexennacht:Volume1_Chapter_17|Chapter 17]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 11

2015-11-03T01:28:33Z

98.186.244.215: typo fixes

==Chapter 11: Falling Sounds of Rain==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0313.png|thumb]]
''In the rain

''In a cage

''In a lie

Kashima returned home through the rainy night.

However, he was not on the path back from his workplace and he was not alone.

He was returning from the supermarket where Natsu worked part time.

Natsu stood to his right with an umbrella and he held Harumi in his arm.

Harumi was held within a bucket bag meant to hold babies. The child was contained within the cylindrical cloth bag and a vertical strap wrapped around his back to hold her in front of his body.

It was meant for Natsu who had poor grip with her left hand, but Kashima currently had the strap around his neck. Harumi was asleep while wrapped in a towel inside the bucket bag.

Kashima held her and hummed as he walked, but Natsu’s head was lowered and she seemed unenergetic.

When she opened her mouth while looking down, she spoke the same words in the same tone she had several times already.

“I’m… I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Someone mistakenly took your umbrella is all.”

“It still isn’t acceptable. Not only did I not make it home in time for the head of the household, I had him come get me,” she said decisively with her head lowered a bit.

Even in the dark, he could tell the movements of her white denim shirt lacked energy.

Kashima watched Natsu as she kept to the center of the umbrella and stared at the ground.

''She looks like a scolded puppy,'' he thought.

A small smile appeared on his face just as Natsu turned toward him with a troubled look.

“That isn’t acceptable, right?”

“Right, right. Now, which umbrella was taken?”

“I brought the cheap plastic one because I didn’t want it to get stolen. …But I think someone thought it had been left behind.”

“Maybe we should get one with a nametag.”

“Oh, I know a store in Asakusa that makes excellent umbrellas. We could-…” She trailed off and shook her head. “We need to stick to our budget.”

“Don’t say that with such disappointment. You can spend a bit of money.”

“I shouldn’t. Also, my parents always go to that store.”

“I see,” said Kashima with a nod.

He thought about pulling her toward him by the shoulders, but unfortunately, his hands were full.

As he lamented that fact, Natsu spoke up again.

“But how did you know I was still at the supermarket, Akio-san?”

“Well, to be honest, I was looking around everywhere.”

“Hee hee. Were you worried?”

“Yeah,” he said.

Natsu looked a bit surprised and Kashima was not entirely sure what to say.

“I was pretty worried. It’s been a while since the front door didn’t open when I got home.”

“That hasn’t happened since I was rushed to the hospital to give birth, has it? Sorry.”

“Maybe we should carry cell phones.”

“It might be useful for you, but I’m fine. And I have a bad habit of spending too much time on the phone. I think the charges would be ridiculous if I had a cell phone.” Natsu smiled and looked toward their daughter. “She really is sleeping well. She never cries when you’re around. Did you know that? It’s like our family’s great god Kashima gives us peace.”

“You’re part of the Kashima family now, too. I think it’s when the two of us are together that Harumi doesn’t cry.”

“Thank you very much.”

''Is that really something you respond to with a smile and your thanks?'' thought Kashima as he looked at her.

Something glittered at her neck. It was a ring hanging from a short silver chain.

He suddenly felt a tug on his right sleeve, the same arm holding the umbrella.

Natsu’s left hand had grabbed the sleeve of his lab coat. The three fingers of that hand held on weakly.

She remained facing forward and her eyebrows were a bit relaxed, but she spoke.

“I really was happy when you came for me even when I didn’t call for you.” The ends of her eyebrows lowered. “You always come to save me.”

“I…” began Kashima, but he could think of nothing to say.

Should he agree or disagree with her use of the word “save”?

He did not know which was the correct answer for her and which was the incorrect answer for himself.

…''I just don’t know.

His uncertain thoughts naturally produced silence. Natsu smiled a bit with the ends of her eyebrows still lowered.

And then Harumi’s small body began to tremble in Kashima’s arms.

The instant he stopped, they happened to be approaching an intersection.

And he saw a light to the right. It was a car’s headlights.

It was turning their way as if scraping the inner corner.

“————”

Natsu dropped her umbrella in the rain.

Rain fell on UCAT headquarters which was disguised as a transportation administration building.

The spray striking the ground was visible from the first floor lobby.

Shinjou sat in the sofa by the window which was the optimal spot to view the rainy night.

Ooshiro sat on the other side of the sofa in a lab coat and they both watched the white rainy road jump up into the darkness.

“Amazing…”

“Spring is coming to an end. This is the rain of the changing season. Not long after the rain ends, it will be time for the farmers to plant rice.”

Shinjou heard Ooshiro sigh.

The sigh sounded meaningful, so she turned from the window and looked at him.

“Why are you giving me a thumbs up, Ooshiro-san?”

“Well, Shinjou-kun. I hear you were alone in the men’s locker room with Mikoto-kun.”

“We didn’t do anything inappropriate,” she said almost too quickly. “There is a rumor spreading because of Diana-san, though.”

“Oh, my.” Ooshiro exaggeratedly covered his face with his hands. “When did you learn to snap back at me like that?”

“You don’t have to wiggle around like that.”

“You’re no fun. You need to play along, Shinjou-kun.”

“How about you go back to your room and play more of that game with girls in it? Was it called Osaka Nanba Street? You said you quit early from the shock of falling for a transvestite, right?”

“Wow, and now it’s a cement-like opinion that exposes a secret!?”

Shinjou ignored him and looked out the window while resting her head on her hands. The window reflected the painting of the Virgin Mary on the opposite wall. She had thought seeing herself reflected below it while looking at the rain would make her look like a heroine from a novel or something. However…

“I just look sleepy…”

Shinjou heard Ooshiro sigh again.

''Not again,'' she thought as she turned toward him.

“…”

He was sitting on the sofa and staring at her.

“Did you tell Mikoto-kun your lie?” he asked.

Shinjou slowly shook he head.

“But I told him Setsu and I both have the lie.”

“I see.” He nodded and once more said, “I see.”

He said nothing more, so Shinjou tilted her head.

“What should I do?”

“I think you shouldn’t ask me.”

“Why not?”

“Asking someone will give you the answer right away. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, but isn’t that why you ask people?”

“If you want, you can ask me here and I will give you a hint. But isn’t Mikoto-kun thinking about your lie without asking anyone else for help?”

She thought on that. She thought again. She thought a third time. But…

“Yeah… He would never ask someone else.”

So…

“Are you telling me not to rush this?”

“You need to give him time to prepare. He needs to prepare to accept you.”

She trembled a bit as she recalled what Sayama had said in the locker room.

…''He wants to face me properly.

She placed the meaning of those words deep in her heart.

“Shinjou-kun, you can think alongside him. Even if your physical location and coordinates are different, you can think alongside him in time. You can decide what to do after that.”

Shinjou nodded and Ooshiro sat shallowly in the sofa and spread his legs a bit.

“Sadame is the sister and Setsu is the brother… That idiot Itaru comes up with the most unnecessary things.”

“But that name has always protected me.”

“And it is why you are troubled now, isn’t it? It sounds like more trouble than it’s worth to me.”

“D-don’t act like you’re not involved in this.”

“But I’m not, not, not!”

“Ah, that really ticks me off!”

“Wa ha ha,” laughed Ooshiro as he raised his right thumb and looked out the window.

The rain had grown more intense than before.

Shinjou saw his expression change for just an instant.

She tilted her head at that hint of harshness.

“Does the rain bring back some bad memory? Do you melt when it hits you?”

“What am I, a Youkai? …Anyway, do you remember the night eight years ago when there was a collapse three mountains over?”

“I…think I do. Wasn’t that when everyone went out to help because it was an emergency, but you slept through it all and Itaru-san beat you up afterwards?”

“Y-you don’t have to remember that second half.”

“I don’t remember much about the accident, but I do remember Itaru-san grabbing you by the collar and delivering a barrage of body blows while Sf-san made tea to the side. The cookies were good. As a child, I think the fun part left more of an impact than the disaster.”

“You think it’s fun that I had my ribs broken? My left side always starts to ache on rainy days like this.”

Ooshiro’s shoulders drooped and Shinjou apologized twice.

“It was a horrible collapse, wasn’t it?” she continued. “Wasn’t a bus heading into the mountains caught in the collapse?”

“Yes. The only passenger was badly injured. She was a college student on her way to view some relics from the Jomon period that were being excavated in the mountains. At least I think that’s what Itaru said.”

“What happened to her?”

“Broken glass injured her left hand pretty badly. But the worst part was that the mud trapped her in the bus. She couldn’t move at all and was stuck with the rain hitting her for about two hours. I heard she couldn’t go out on rainy days anymore and that she dropped out of college.”

Shinjou realized her expression changed as she listened. The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she tried to say something, but Ooshiro spoke before she could.

“What would you think if I told you UCAT was actually responsible for that collapse?”

“…Eh?”

“At the time, UCAT was being reorganized. The development department was almost completely switched out, so they had to get the hang of things. As that department is primarily made up of 2nd-Gear people, they were investigating Susaou which had sealed Yamata, 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core. But when they saw the damage to Susaou’s bridge, they realized there was nothing to gain.”

“A-and what happened then?”

“2nd-Gear is full of engineers, so they began researching powerful concept weapons. …At the time, we were already assuming we would be fighting concept weapons powered by Concept Cores. They wanted to create a weapon as powerful as Izumo-kun’s and Kazami-kun’s.” He took a breath. “And their testing ground was…”

“Y-you don’t mean…”

“Yes, the site of that accident. 2nd-Gear had created a prototype Cowling Sword made up of only the necessary parts, but the tester couldn’t control the power and sliced the mountain. It had probably already been softened a bit by the rain, but that would still require as much power as the second form of Izumo-kun’s V-Sw.”

Shinjou gulped.

That man named Atsuta had not seemed afraid of Izumo and Kazami at all.

…''They’re aiming to make weapons like the ones those two have.

“B-but UCAT wasn’t blamed for it, were they?”

“No. It was an accident and we’re an organization the public can’t know about. All we can do is provide indirect financial support.”

“Th-that isn’t what I meant.” Shinjou stood up without thinking. “Did you ever make up for what you did?”

“That’s a good question.” Ooshiro tilted his head. “But after that, 2nd-Gear’s concept weapon research focused on usability rather than power. V-Sw, G-Sp2, and your Ex-St are exceptions. Also, the engineer who caused the accident stopped developing weapons and instead researched output control. And…”

“And?”

“The woman injured in the accident was apparently an acquaintance of his from college and they married after the accident. According to Director Tsukuyomi, he hasn’t told her about UCAT, but they had their first child this year.”

“So he took responsibility for the accident?”

“Responsibility? What responsibility?” asked Ooshiro. “He can’t tell her about UCAT, so she still doesn’t know the truth about the accident. Do you see any responsibility there?”

“Well…”

Shinjou started to say something, but Ooshiro raised his hands and said “calm down”.

She then realized she was oddly stuck on this topic.

…''It’s because we’re similar.

She was lying and revealing the truth could hurt Sayama.

That engineer was lying and he continued to live with the victim without revealing the truth.

“…”

She remained silent with a hand on her mouth and Ooshiro sighed.

“I think Mikoto-kun would have this to say: he is trying to make up for his crime, but isn’t he simply prolonging it?”

Shinjou was not so sure. She wondered what she would do in his place.

…''Wait. Is that engineer…?

“Who is this engineer?”

“Kashima Akio.”

“…!”

She knew him and Ooshiro nodded to affirm it.

“You met him in the cafeteria, didn’t you? He is 2nd-Gear’s negotiator.”

Shinjou suddenly felt strength leave her legs and she sat limply on the sofa.

In the cafeteria, she had asked him if he was lying about something.

…''He is continuing to lie for the sake of someone he cares about.

He had remained by her side for so long while hiding the fact that he hurt her.

That was his decision. And…

“I…”

She could tell her face had grown pale.

She saw Ooshiro nod.

“Duty and humanity. It is very like 2nd-Gear and very like Japan. It’s a tricky thing, Shinjou-kun. 2nd-Gear is the world of Japanese mythology, but did you know there are two contrasting heroes in that mythology?”

“Susanoo and Yamato Takeru, right?”

“Yes.” Ooshiro smiled and nodded. “Japanese mythology can be very deep. One hero was hated for being violent, but he lived an honest life. Another hero was praised for being beautiful, but he lived a life of lies. However…”

“However?”

“After Susanoo became a hero, he continued his life as Storm God Susanoo. Yamato Takeru on the other hand was originally named Ousu, but when he destroyed Kumaso, he was given the name Takeru by Kumaso Takeru. …You can think of that as the distinction between them.”

Those words surprised Shinjou.

But after she thought for a moment, she nodded.

Thoughts of those two heroes of the past raced through her mind.

One hero stuck with his own methods and lived without changing his name while the other hero changed.

…''What if…?

What if the two of them met?

As that idea entered her head, she felt as if she could not see. She could hear the rain as white noise, but Ooshiro’s voice suddenly cut in.

“Anyway, it is time to go home for today. You can have Sf-kun bring out the car to take you where you belong.”

Kashima listened to the rain in the darkness of the night.

He could feel the breathing of his young daughter in his left arm and he could feel the rain striking the umbrella in his right hand.

And he could feel the pulse and trembling of a woman in his right arm.

It was Natsu.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0329.png|thumb]]

When the headlights had approached, he had pulled her close with the arm holding the umbrella.

She was now clinging to him from within his arm.

The car had passed with no sign of noticing them and he could not even hear it any longer.

But Natsu was still clinging to him so close he could feel her pulse.

“It’s okay.”

Kashima squeezed with his right arm to put her at ease.

But she did not calm down even in his embrace.

“Nn…” she groaned and clung to him even tighter.

It was as if his embrace had given her permission to approach him further.

Her right hand wrapped around his left arm which held their child.

“…”

Her left hand grabbed at the back of his lab coat as if scratching at it, let go, and then grabbed a different spot.

She repeated the clumsy action again and again, but she did not stop.

With the weak grip of that hand, she must not have felt she was gripping tight enough.

Kashima was holding both the umbrella and their child, so he could not hold her hand.

“I hate the rain…” said Natsu suddenly.

Kashima was a bit surprised to hear her trembling voice spoken into his chest.

“Natsu-san.”

“I hate it…”

She began to cry.

“I hate it…”

The way she trembled, clung to him, and looked down toward the ground looked just like a child. He bent down to bring his head closer to hers.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

Natsu shook her head, breathe in, and scratched harder with her left hand on his back.

“Akio-san…”

“I’m here. So is Harumi.”

Kashima looked around for Natsu’s umbrella.

…''There it is.

The red umbrella had been blown away by the car, so it had rolled into the middle of the road.

The streetlights illuminated its silhouette. It was lying upside down and its round form had collapsed. Two or three rods of the frame had broken, so it was useless.

''This isn’t good,'' he thought.

They had only one umbrella and he could not let the rain hit Natsu or Harumi.

Natsu’s shoulders trembled and they rose and fell with her breathing.

Had she calmed down a bit?

As he leaned over, the cold rain soaked his back. That chill was the complete opposite of the warmth coming from the two lives in his arms.

But…

…''This is my responsibility.

He would give them what they wanted.

If they were at peace, he would leave them be. If they were trembling, he would stop it.

He recalled that rainy day eight years before.

…''I underestimated my own power.

That had led to a certain instant back then and what lay before his eyes now.

For an instant, he had been drunk on his own destructive power, but that had quickly changed to panic when he realized what he had done.

It had taken hours for help to arrive through the rain.

When he had dug through the mud, he had found the incomplete hand of his old classmate.

He could not hold that hand now, so he called out to her.

“Natsu-san.”

Back then, he had called her family name from their time in college.

He had used the name “Takagi” which was a common surname in Tokyo.

But now that they had the same surname, he used her given name.

“Natsu-san.”

…''She does not know the truth.

“Natsu-san.”

…''She does not know about UCAT.

She slowly raised her head.

…''She does not know about 2nd-Gear.

She was still crying.

…''She does not know about me.

He nodded and loosened his embrace around her.

…''But…

She trembled and he held Harumi out toward her.

…''I will do anything for her.

She looked back and forth between him and Harumi, nodded, and chose Harumi.

She supported the bucket bag with her right hand and he removed the strap from around his neck.

She attached the strap around her own neck and wrapped her arm around Harumi and the bag.

Harumi opened her eyes and looked up at Natsu’s teary eyes.

“Ah,” said Harumi with a smile.

Natsu finally smiled within Kashima’s arm.

She gently moved Harumi up and down to settle the baby’s breathing.

“Ah,” said Harumi again.

She went on to make several light laughs that sounded similar to “ah” or “hyah”.

Natsu looked down at Harumi and nodded.

“What a good girl,” she said with a sigh.

She was back to normal.

…''Except for the flush in her cheeks and the dampness in the corners of her eyes.

With that thought, Kashima took a mental sigh of relief.

…''Thank goodness.

“I’m going to grab the other umbrella and head home. Can you continue on ahead?” he asked.

Natsu looked up at his face and the umbrella held above their heads.

“When you lean over to match my height, your back sticks out.” She suddenly realized something. “Y-your back is already wet.”

“But I can’t have the rain hitting you or Harumi.”

“Thank you. B-but I can’t have the rain hitting the head of the household.”

Natsu looked troubled, but she soon crouched down while holding Harumi and looked up at him.

“Um…”

“Do you want me to carry you?”

She blushed but did not deny it.

She was quite a troublesome wife, but Kashima did as she wished.

He blushed too, but he had enough of an excuse to do this.

He had decided he would do anything for those two.

Kashima crouched down with the umbrella in his right hand and wrapped both arms under Natsu’s back and butt while she held Harumi.

And he picked her up.

“Kyah.”

She was light. He had thought that before. He had happily done this during their wedding and when she was pregnant with Harumi.

Back then, he had held her in his arms and realized how light she was and how important she was to him.

She was like a bouquet of flowers.

The umbrella in his right hand covered the sky above their heads and protected all three of them from the rain.

The bigger of the two held against his chest smiled and spoke.

“We should have brought the video camera. We won’t be able to do this once Haru-chan grows up.”

“I’d be too embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry. No one but us would watch it.”

“I suppose so,” he said with a nod.

Now they only had to hurry. Once he had Natsu reach out and pick up the other umbrella, it was only about three hundred meters to their home. His arms would last that long.

He began to walk with two smiles in his arms.

He looked back at them with a smile of his own and he thought to himself.

He thought about the Leviathan Road.

…''Should I be involved in it?

In the cafeteria, Atsuta had said it looked like he had already made up his mind.

Atsuta may have been right.

While listening to the rain, he thought back to that accident and to his own power which had created the sword that caused it.

That was his true power.

…''That is the power I need to deny.

But Kashima had another thought as he gave an inward sigh.

…''Why can’t I forget about that power?

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_10|Chapter 10]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_12|Chapter 12]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 7

2015-10-27T02:38:58Z

98.186.244.215: /* Chapter 7: Lying Neighbor */

==Chapter 7: Lying Neighbor==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0171.png|thumb]]
''The question of something unseen produces a feeling

''One’s heart moves because that feeling resides within it

''Like the scent of flowers carried on the wind

After parting ways with Tsukuyomi, Sayama entered the training facility in UCAT’s third basement.

He was currently in the locker room. It was one location of several layers created by a concept space.

The room was about twenty meters long and bordered a shower room.

Tall lockers made of a dry white substance lined the wall.

On the way here, Sayama had picked Ooshiro up from the floor in the corridor and told him the following:

“After meeting up with Kazami and the others in the training room, I wish to decide whether we will perform the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear.”

But despite saying that, he already intended to go ahead with the negotiation.

…''I am interested. What type of negotiation should we use?

He still had not seen how 2nd-Gear viewed the Leviathan Road.

That was one thing he wanted to learn.

“There is also that technique Director Tsukuyomi used…”

What had that been?

Sayama understood pursuing something out of curiosity was dangerous.

However, he could not stop the feeling of curiosity.

The reception desk informed him Kazami and the others had already entered the training room. They all wanted to finish training as quickly as possible to have more time to exchange their ideas on the different issues.

While thinking about various things, Sayama placed Baku on his head and changed.

“I wonder if the others have all finished their Brazilian gymnastics warm up.”

The only names on the lockers were Izumo, Boldman, and Sayama.

This locker room was exclusively used by Team Leviathan and Kazami said the girls had a similar arrangement. However, Kazami also said Shinjou alone was treated differently.

Shinjou used the ninth women’s locker room, but that was meant for the people UCAT referred to as “VIP Level”.

“From what Kazami said, UCAT must really treasure her.”

It was true she was quite sheltered and had almost never left UCAT.

''They must have their reasons,'' thought Sayama as he finished changing.

He now wore a thin armored uniform colored primarily white and black. It was made up of a shirt and tights that covered almost his entire body, a vest, and pants.

His eyes stopped on the ring on his left middle finger as he equipped his arm band.

“They still will not give me Georgius.”

Ooshiro had given him that gauntlet during the battle with 1st-Gear.

That mysterious concept weapon had allegedly been found by his mother, but Ooshiro and the others had taken it back after the battle.

With all the unknowns surrounding it, Sayama felt that was the proper way of handling it.

He stared at the ring on his left hand for several seconds.

But then he shook his head.

He endured the pain in his chest and cut off that train of thought.

There was something else he needed to think about now.

Officially, he had to think about how to handle the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear.

And personally…

…''Once my left hand is fully healed, Setsu-kun will leave me.

Both were issues he would have to face eventually.

Suddenly, he recalled his conversation with Shinjou before leaving school.

In that afterschool classroom, Shinjou had hung his head down, hesitated, explained he was trying to write a novel, and said he resembled Yamato Takeru.

All of those actions had been signs of his desire to say something.

…''If Shinjou-kun grows serious about this, I must face him.

“Yes.”

Sayama nodded and stopped thinking. He then walked forward.

After a few steps, he reached a white automatic sliding door. The training room lay beyond it.

The door emitted an electronic tone and he heard a voice.

—'''People do not overestimate their power.

The power one believed one had was not an overestimation; one had that power.

That concept linked the locker room with the training room and both became the same.

Then the door opened.

Beyond lay the white walls, floor, and ceiling of a thirty meter square space.

Instead of the large space, Sayama first saw something odd.

It was a body contained within a white armored uniform.

This person was lying on their back in midair. It was a large man flying toward Sayama.

Sayama took an instant to look closer and realized this was Izumo.

“Oh? Have your natural eccentricities grown so great you can finally fly, Izumo?”

“Sayama!? Wait! This is dangerous! Stop saying stupid things and catch him!”

''Oh, it is Kazami,'' thought Sayama. ''Kazami is always the one to use violence against him, so why does she want me to catch him?

Was Izumo’s flight not her doing?

On second glance, Izumo was not flying through the air the way he usually did.

“When Kazami sends him flying, it is more…how should I put it? Rich and dense?”

“The way he’s flying is dangerous, so catch him! Do you want me to send ''you'' flying!?”

Sayama caught on immediately.

“It is not my style to catch a guy like Izumo, but if I must.”

Sayama prepared himself to catch Izumo and watched him fly closer.

Izumo’s trajectory was a bit high, so Sayama had to catch him from a bit below.

To spread his legs backwards, Sayama took a large step back.

As soon as he did, the door’s sensor lost sight of him and the door closed in an instant.

“Oh?” he muttered.

“Gbh!?”

The closed door shook as Sayama heard a pig-like squeal and a sound of impact on the other side.

The noise shook the lockers and produced a creaking that made one’s skin crawl.

“…”

Sayama remained motionless. He stared silently at the door while still in the pose to catch Izumo.

He had several thoughts, but he drove them all out of his head with a single sigh.

“Some things are simply outside of human control. What a pain.”

He stepped up to the door and it immediately opened once more.

He found Izumo standing there with blood running from his head.

“Oh, so you are fine. Such a disappointment for humankind.”

“D-damn you! Do I look fine to you, stupid Sayama!”

“Anyone with that much energy is doing well enough. And with you, anything short of death counts as fine, Izumo.”

“And if I do die?”

Sayama thought on that question. Finally, he clapped his hands together and Baku imitated the action on his head.

“A light wound?”

“Okay, you idiot. Do you mind if I say something? It’s for your own good.”

“What is it? If you are going to praise me, I would prefer you wait until after I complete some large job.”

“You belong in a hospital.”

“You do enjoy saying rude things, don’t you? Ha ha ha. You are a bastard at unprecedented levels.”

“Wa ha ha. I’m nothing compared to you, you cruel bastard. And more importantly…”

Izumo stood up and turned toward one corner of the training room.

From Sayama’s perspective, it was the back left corner. Kazami and three others stood there.

The first was Sibyl who wore a white armored uniform with skirt and everything else included.

The second was Shinjou who wore a white armored uniform and held a large metal staff.

And the third was a woman wearing a black armored uniform, a skirt, and a black three-cornered hat.

Sayama recognized this woman who held a bamboo broom and whose sleeve swelled out at the shoulders.

“Diana Zonburg.”

“Oh, are you finally here? From what I hear, you met with Director Tsukuyomi of 2nd-Gear. Have you already decided to negotiate with them?”

“No, not yet. After training here, I thought I would discuss it with the old man.”

“I see,” said Diana in a relieved voice. “Then do you still only have some small questions about 2nd-Gear?”

“Does that matter?”

“Yes. I have one thing to teach you to ensure you do not take this negotiation lightly. This is something very important for the Leviathan Road you are about to head down.”

On the first floor of Taka-Akita Academy’s third general school building, the setting sun filled the hallway through windows with no glass.

Ooki was stooped over by the wall and sweeping.

Behind her, Siegfried held a broom as well.

“Is this good enough?” she asked.

Siegfried stopped sweeping and ran a finger across the window frame.

“This is still fairly dirty…”

“That isn’t from the fight just now!”

Ooki let out an exhausted sigh and looked around.

She saw windows with no glass and a scorched hallway.

She changed how she looked at the situation and spoke her thoughts out loud.

“Siegfried-san, who was that Diana woman?”

“My niece.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Ooki looked around at the glass shards in the dustpan. “Who is she to Sayama-kun and the others?”

The ends of her eyebrows lowered as she asked and Siegfried initially remained silent.

Ooki turned around and tilted her head at his silence.

Finally, he replied with a question of his own while looking down at her.

“Why do you ask that?”

Ooki smiled and gave an answer.

“Because they are my students,” she said as if that was only natural. “It worries me.”

“I see.”

Siegfried’s expression changed.

He smiled slightly.

Without showing any more of his true feelings, the sorcerer spoke.

“I do not know the details either, but Diana arrived in Japanese UCAT during the 1980s. She was a consultant in magic spells. And…she remained until the end of ’95.”

“You mean… she stayed until that earthquake?”

“Yes,” replied Siegfried. “Just like the original UCAT members had the Eight Great Dragon Kings, it seems the old UCAT leading up to the earthquake had a group known as the Five Great Peaks. Diana is one of them. …At the time, they were apparently trying to learn and use the combat techniques of each Gear. Why, I do not know.”

“In that case, this was not her true strength.”

Ooki looked across the hallway. The windows were gone and portions were scorched, but there was no more destruction than that.

Siegfried nodded and spoke.

“She may have seen a user of 1st-Gear’s true power as a chance to test the power of hers which is not borrowed. But I doubt she was taking this seriously.” He took a breath. “Before she left the school, she told me she had something to teach those who would be following in our footsteps.”

Shinjou's eyes opened in surprise as she watched the mock battle being used as training.

Sayama was fighting, but…

“He can’t do anything…”

As she watched, Sayama continually back stepped as he moved along the training room floor.

He was pursued by a woman in a black armored uniform and a three-cornered hat. She was the woman named Diana from German UCAT.

Today was the first time Shinjou had seen her.

Just as Shinjou had finished changing in the women’s locker room, the woman had surprised her by suddenly entering.

…''She has a really nice figure.

Shinjou had immediately continued on into the training room, so she had not spoken with the woman as she changed.

However, the nod the woman had given in lieu of a greeting had seemed nice enough.

Shinjou did not think the woman was an evil person. But perhaps that was due to her naiveté.

At any rate, the woman was definitely giving Sayama trouble.

She moved by walking and her weapon was a broom.

Diana would walk up and try to sweep Sayama’s feet out from under him with the broom.

That was all she did. She swept the broom with a wide motion and her walking pace was relaxed. She was not using any kind of spell.

And yet…

“Sayama-kun! In front of you! She’s coming!”

Diana approached from directly in front of Sayama, but he did nothing despite wielding a sword.

Once again, he only took action a moment after she cried out.

“…”

His eyes suddenly focused on Diana who stood directly in front of him.

Diana tilted her head.

“What is it?”

Sayama’s eyebrows rose slightly and he leaped to the left.

An instant later, Diana swept her broom along the spot he had been in a moment before.

Shinjou heard the bamboo brush scrape cross the floor.

Kazami stood to Shinjou’s left and she finally spoke.

“Kaku was taken out by that broom. She knocked someone as big as him flying with one sweep of a broom. Who is she?”

Sibyl, who stood to Kazami’s left, tilted her head.

“That woman came from the locker room Shinjou-san always uses, did she not? In that case, I assume she is close to either Ooshiro-sama or Itaru-sama.”

“Probably,” said Kazami as she folded her arms and looked back across the room.

Shinjou followed Kazami’s gaze and saw Diana walking toward Sayama once more.

Kazami clicked her tongue at the scene.

“Why can’t Sayama do anything?”

“Hmm… Do you think she’s using some kind of ability? Like some kind of martial arts.”

“You mean martial arts instead of magic?”

“Yes. I don’t know how to say it exactly, but she isn’t using any spells or concepts. In that case, I think she has to be using some kind of deceptive martial art.”

As far as Shinjou could see, Diana was walking normally.

However, Sayama would lose sight of her.

“And he notices her again when she stops.”

Exactly that happened and Sayama back stepped away.

As she watched that scene play out again and again, Shinjou recalled what she had just said.

Diana would stop just before Sayama noticed her.

…''It looks like Sayama-kun is noticing Diana-san and then moving out of the way, but what if that isn’t what’s happening?

“Is Diana-san stopping to purposefully let him notice her?”

“If so, she’s quite the odd person. She’s waiting for Sayama to give up.”

Hearing Kazami’s comment, Shinjou could not help but shout out.

“Stick with it, Sayama-kun!”

As if in response, Sayama leaped toward her.

From a distance of approximately five meters, Sayama called out to Shinjou.

“Shinjou-kun.”

Shinjou did not know how to respond when he suddenly called her name.

“Shinjou-kun,” he called again.

“Eh? Wh-what is it?”

Sayama nodded.

“It seems I am a bit confused right now. I could use some help calming down, so-…”

“No repeating a joke by telling me to stick out my butt, okay?”

“…”

“Wh-why are you lost in thought now?”

''She is a surprisingly strict person,'' decided Sayama. ''Anyway…

“Shinjou-kun, let us talk about this battle. You called out to me to tell me Diana is approaching, did you not?”

“Yes. …It didn’t look like you could see her.”

“I could not see her.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou. “H-hey, Sayama-kun, what do you mean? Has the twisted wiring of your brain finally affected your vision too?”

“I see we have much to discuss after this is over, but I will overlook it for now. …So you are saying you could see her, Shinjou-kun?”

“Y-yes. Kazami-san and Sibyl-san could as well.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

He understood something now.

The technique Diana was using was the same one Tsukuyomi had used.

He still did not know what it was, but he had begun to analyze it.

“The effects are limited to me, so she is not actually hiding somewhere. Does that mean she is preventing my senses from detecting her?”

And…

“Kazami, one quick question. How did Izumo lose?”

“Well… Um, he turned his right side toward her and…”

“And he attacked straight ahead the instant she began to move?”

“Yes, but she easily evaded and…well, you saw what happened.”

“I see,” said Sayama with another nod.

Shinjou then asked a question from behind him.

“Is there anything you can do, Sayama-kun? You don’t see her when she approaches, right?”

“It is not that I am not seeing her. I think I am being made so I cannot see her.”

He sent a self-deprecating smile toward the floor and thought.

He still did not know on what principle this technique functioned. However…

“There is still a way of defeating an unseen enemy,” said Sayama.

He held his Cowling Sword to the right with his left hand.

He lowered the tip in an iai stance.

He faced forward at Diana’s smile ten meters away.

She had said she had something to teach him.

Was that this technique?

…''Or is there still something more?

Shinjou saw the atmosphere around Sayama change.

His back tensed a bit as he focused.

She did not feel comfortable speaking to him now because the slightest stimulus would cause him to move. However, she heard Kazami speak quietly next to her.

“This is bad. This is the same as when Kaku was defeated. The only difference is his stance.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Kaku stopped moving and took an offensive stance, remember? Do you know the way to attack something unseen?”

Shinjou thought, but a glance at Sayama and Diana told her she had no time.

So she said, “Sorry, but just tell me.”

“Sure. I’m betting Kaku’s idea was to attack his enemy when he lost sight of her.”

“So… When she disappeared, he knew she was coming in for the attack?”

“Testament,” replied Sibyl. “But look. Diana-sama disappears from Sayama-sama’s vision when she is approximately seven steps away from him.”

Shinjou mentally converted the distance of seven steps and her expression stiffened.

“Do you get it now, Shinjou? Seven steps is about four meters. At that distance, she can easily circle around or stop where she is. But since her opponent can’t know what she will do, he can only attack blindly. That’s why Kaku swung V-Sw like a bat.”

Kazami glanced over at the right corner of the training room.

A giant blade was stabbed into the white wall.

It was V-Sw. Its console was still active and a short sentence was displayed on it.

“So lonely.”

“What a pain,” sighed Kazami. “He should have expanded it to its second form.”

''What should I do?'' wondered Shinjou.

Like before, she could tell Sayama what Diana was doing. However…

…''Sayama-kun said he had a way.

Shinjou stared at Sayama’s back.

He remained perfectly still and waited for his opponent.

And so Shinjou decided to remain silent and wait.

Just like Sayama, she waited for it all to begin.

Diana tilted her head when she saw Sayama’s stance.

His stance was different than Izumo’s when she had swept him away.

Izumo had held his Cowling Sword in both hands like a bat, but Sayama held his Cowling Sword at his right hip in his left hand.

That iai stance reminded Diana of a backhand in tennis.

He had obviously thought this through.

''But,'' thought Diana. ''That will not work.

She had a reason to think this.

And if Sayama knew that reason, he would not have done nothing but run this entire time.

And so Diana thought, ''Your way of thinking about this is fundamentally flawed.

“I will not give you a warning.”

…''The inexperienced show the most growth after defeat.

Izumo sat in front of the door behind her. He saw no value in his defeat and instead felt only frustration and confusion.

That was fine.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0191.png|thumb]]

Those who did not glorify defeat and instead tried to oppose it were the most frightening when one saw them again.

Diana suddenly looked down at the chest of her own armored uniform.

“The insignia of German UCAT.”

The badge displayed Germany divided to the left and right with a cross binding the two halves.

She spoke as she looked down at that image.

“Sayama Mikoto-kun, you are facing a few different question right now, aren’t you? You want to know how you should face 2nd-Gear as the Leviathan Road’s negotiator. And…

“And?”

“You want to know how to relate to someone named Shinjou.”

Sayama’s expression remained unchanged and he said nothing. However, that lack of reaction gave an eloquent answer.

Diana took a breath and spoke.

“I will now bring defeat to you.”

Sayama’s response was a simple one.

“That is impossible,” he declared.

“Heh heh. That sounds promising. Will you still say that if I knock you around a bit?”

“I have been knocked around countless times by my grandfather and others in the past,” he said expressionlessly. “And on the psychological side, nothing pains me more than the past. …That is why I will never admit defeat even if I die. As long as you allow me the qualifier of ‘eventually’ I can confidently declare my victory.”

“Herrlich.”

A slight smile appeared on Diana’s lips. This smile came from her heart.

“Then instead of giving you defeat, I will leave it with you for the moment. Is that good enough?”

“Yes. In that case, I suppose I should say Testament. Do I need to pay it back with interest?”

“Testament. But please send that payment to your enemies. And while I leave this defeat with you, please think about why this happened. If you do, I think you will come to understand something interesting.”

“Something interesting? Is this related to my questions concerning 2nd-Gear and…Shinjou-kun?”

“Searching for those answers is your role. And this is my test.” She nodded. “Team Leviathan is too inexperienced to see through my technique, but you may show some promise. …I will be testing you on that now.”

Her smile deepened and she deemed it an excellent smile.

Everything that produced a smile would result in a cheerful conclusion.

As she thought on that, Diana held her broom forward.

“Questions. They form tests, doubts, riddles, truth seeking, searches, and definite displays of resistance.”

She walked forward.

“Think and ask questions. Send a question mark to yourself so that you can fight back.”

As she spoke, Diana continued toward Sayama.

Sayama watched the witch approach.

With her current gait, she was twelve steps away.

A footstep quickly reduced that to eleven. A heel cut it down to ten.

Once he counted down through nine, eight, and seven, she would be in her territory.

With a natural pace, she made that seventh step.

At the same moment, Diana disappeared from Sayama’s senses.

''No,'' thought Sayama.

He was seeing Diana a bit to the right.

He was seeing her, but his mind could not sense her.

Her footsteps and presence were both there, but his senses would not accept it.

…''What is this?

His perception was out of sync with his senses. With a smile, Diana approached to a distance of six steps.

Sayama felt a chill.

This was when he had made his back steps previously.

Diana had stopped here and his perception of her had returned.

But she did not stop this time.

She continued on.

For an instant, he was not sure if he should evade or not.

This urge to evade was what Izumo had transformed into an attack earlier.

Sayama felt it was commendable that Izumo had been able to resist evading.

But Izumo’s attack had been evaded and he had been blown away.

Seven steps or about four meters was far enough to evade almost any close quarters attack.

Faced with that fact, Sayama knew he had to grasp Diana’s location directly in front of him.

While wondering what he should do, Sayama had found a certain method.

Shinjou saw Sayama suddenly step forward toward Diana.

An “ah” escaped her lips.

She realized what Sayama was doing.

“He’s going to fight even though he can’t see her.”

Just because he could not see her did not mean she had disappeared.

She was there.

If his opponent would circle around outside his attack range, he just had to fill that gap himself.

That was the method Sayama chose and he continued to move.

As Sayama stepped forward, he held his right hand out ahead of him.

Diana had been walking straight toward him, but his outstretched hand stopped her.

No longer able to walk forward, Diana chose to evade. Her body moved to the side as she began to step out of the way.

At the same time, Sayama’s Cowling Sword shot out in his left hand. It formed a white arc from his right hip to directly in front of him.

“…!”

Even if he could not see his opponent, he could guide her with a few different movements.

If he stopped her from moving forward, she would definitely move either left or right.

And a sword swung from the right hip would extend the farthest to the left. In that case...

…''She’ll evade to the right!

Diana circled outside the range of the sword and to Sayama’s right.

The witch calmly evaded the blade.

However, Shinjou saw another smile. This smile was on Sayama’s lips.

Shinjou could guess why he had that smile. Sayama’s primary weapon was not his sword.

“Seh!!”

His right leg shot toward Diana in a high speed kick.

He put his hips behind this kick in a way only one trained in hand-to-hand fighting could.

It all happened in an instant.

The sharp trajectory of his leg struck the witch and a sound of impact rang out.

Sayama felt the blow in his leg. However…

“It was not a direct hit!”

“No, it was not. You think too much of yourself, but you did well for someone at your level.”

He could see Diana.

The black witch showed no sign of pain and no sign of having taken a blow.

He noticed his leg had not struck her.

She was holding her broom in front of her in her left hand. His leg had struck the broom’s handle.

“…”

She had not taken any kind of stance. She had simply held the broom forward. It was almost as if…

…''It looks like my leg struck the broom she had held out in advance.

“I knew what you were doing,” she said.

“You knew?”

“Sorry. I could have knocked you away before you even attacked, but you would not have accepted that result. I needed to show you that your chosen method would not work.”

Diana went on to describe Sayama’s strategy.

“You chose to forestall my movement and lead me as you saw fit, didn’t you? But that does not work against someone who knows how you think.”

Diana drew back the broom and Sayama lowered his leg.

They both took a breath, and…

“!”

Sayama suddenly threw a left kick.

It was fast and he had chosen a moment when her guard was down.

However…

“How naïve.”

Sayama’s kick was blocked by the handle of Diana’s broom as if that was the natural result.

Sayama frowned and Diana smiled.

“Do you understand now?”

He did. At some point, her broom had moved from her left hand to her right hand.

Just like her walking, he had been unable to perceive that movement of the broom.

What was happening?

The one thing he understood was that he did not understand.

“If you are faced with an enemy who can do this, you and those behind you are done for,” said Diana.

Sayama listened to her and uttered a grinding question through his clenched back teeth.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why can I not see you even though I am seeing you?” he asked as if throwing away the breath.

“Testament.”

Diana raised her head. Her eyebrows returned to normal and strength left her expression as she showed a true smile.

“That contradictory question is a very Japanese. I believe a man in Japanese mythology named Yamato Takeru used a method like this to defeat an opponent. He kept his opponent from suspecting anything, approached, and attacked.”

“…!”

Sayama recalled what Shinjou Setsu had told him afterschool.

…''What if I was Yamato Takeru?

He had thought that meant Shinjou Setsu had some lie.

And he had given a certain response to those words.

He had made a certain promise to Shinjou Setsu.

…''When Shinjou-kun gets serious and tries to tell me something, I will face him.

He focused on the idea of “facing” him.

Sayama realized a new meaning for that word.

He realized a new way of thinking about his promise with Shinjou, his training with Diana, 2nd-Gear’s acclimation to Low-Gear, and how he should carry out the Leviathan Road.

It was all the same.

If he did not properly face those things, he would lose something.

And so Sayama nodded.

He opened his mouth and rephrased his previous question into a new question.

“Why am I not seeing you even though I should be seeing you?”

That question would allow him to face his opponent’s true form. His question was based in conviction.

Naturally, Diana had no way of reading his thoughts.

But even so, she nodded in response.

“Testament. Think on this. Face everything that stands before you so that you do not lose sight of them. …Struggling against that sort of question is a good deed for you and your comrades.”

He heard her speak.

And as soon as he realized that, Sayama saw something white.

It was the ceiling.

He did not even know when he had been knocked into the air.

''Is even that a question I must ask?'' thought Sayama.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_8|Chapter 8]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 6

2015-10-27T00:26:44Z

98.186.244.215:

==Chapter 6: Former Admiration==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0147.png|thumb]]

''The world’s entrance is surprisingly close by

''Will you turn around or look upwards?

''The easiest boundary to accept is at your feet

When Ooshiro Itaru awoke, it was the afternoon.

Instead of his usual private room, he was on the roof of the UCAT building.

He had been sleeping in a cloth reclining chair and a blanket while below a large parasol.

Next to him was an astronomical telescope and…

“Sf, what are you doing with that notebook?”

“Tes. I am recording the heavenly bodies we saw last night.”

“Oh? I only remember showing you dark parts of the sky and saying ‘Look, dark matter’.”

He sat up and noticed Sf was filling the entire notebook page with the color black.

“Wait. Are you saying this was my fault?”

“This was what you wanted, Itaru-sama.”

Itaru brushed up his hair and placed a hand on the telescope.

“Wanna look at the stars during the day?”

“Tes. Thank you very much. Now I can use a different color of colored pencil.”

“What color are you going to use now?”

“Tes. Only the color blue.”

“So you think you can only see the sky, is that it? It’s time I taught this ill-tempered German machine that the stars do exist.”

Sf tilted her head in response.

“Are you sure you want to talk about the stars?”

“For me at least, they’re meaningless. But I have an interest in that kind of thing. Remember that.”

“Tes,” said Sf with a nod.

“Did anything happen since I fell as asleep last night?” asked Itaru.

“According to the business division, Sayama-sama wishes to meet with the 2nd-Gear representative.”

“Ha. They haven’t even agreed to a mutual contract and he’s already here for a preliminary investigation? Any sign of him coming to me?”

“Tes, none at all. Kazami-sama and Izumo-sama arrived ahead of him and were let inside the Second Reference Room along with Sibyl-sama. I predict he will meet up with them.”

“I see,” said Itaru with a happy look. “He can dig up the past with his friends and trick himself into thinking he knows everything.” He gave a bitter smile. “2nd-Gear is a lot like us, but that means they won’t open up to us.”

Sayama walked through a corridor in UCAT along with Ooshiro.

He was on his way to a meeting with 2nd-Gear.

He had chosen to carry out the meeting alone because Kazami and the others were focused on inspecting documents.

“Most of the development department is asleep right now because they work through the night and the Leviathan Road representative has yet to arrive? It sounds like I will not be able to meet with them.”

Ooshiro nodded in response as they walked down the corridor.

“I can still introduce you to the director of the development department. And you need to experience 2nd-Gear’s concepts for yourself, don’t you?”

“True.”

They both created a loud footstep as they came to a stop.

They stood before the Standard Division’s 1st Armory on UCAT’s 2nd basement.

When the automatic door’s camera spotted Ooshiro, the door opened.

“Did you see that, Mikoto-kun? I’m a total VIP. You should show me more respect.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. …Is that enough?”

Ooshiro ignored him and stepped into the darkness before their eyes.

Sayama followed.

He heard a voice.

—'''Names provide power.

Sayama checked the red text scrolling across the watch on his left wrist.

He stared forward and saw that a dimly-lit storehouse had appeared at some point.

The ceiling emitted a bluish-white light and endless rows of steel shelves were covered in swords.

Countless swords were displayed while affixed to the shelves, scabbard and all.

“Listen. While in here, we gain power simply by having our names.”

“I see. Then what does Sayama give me?”

“Hmm… One theory says the name Sayama refers to a certain territory. Instead of giving you a special ability, it gives you the social status of owning that land. My name of Ooshiro means I am sturdy.<ref>Ooshiro means “great castle”.</ref>”

Ooshiro pulled a box cutter from his pocket.

He pressed it to his wrist and drew a line.

“See? Nothing happened.”

“Oh, now that is a surprise. But I am not sure I like the idea of an organization of which the leader walks around with a knife. Should I report you to the police? Also, old man, there is a flaw in your theory.”

Sayama took the box cutter from Ooshiro.

He immediately traced the blade along his own arm.

“Ahh! Mikoto-kun is going along with the latest fad!”

For some reason, Ooshiro raised his right thumb as he shouted out. Sayama showed him the right arm he had cut.

However, the arm was unharmed. The only mark was the slight redness of pressing something up against it.

“This box cutter is mass produced, so it has no inherent ‘name’.”

Sayama pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote the word “blade” on the knife blade.

“In 1st-Gear, this would have made it a blade.”

He did not hesitate to stab Ooshiro in the gut.

“Wahh! Wh-what are you doing, Mikoto-kun!?”

“Stop shouting. It only cut your clothes. It unfortunately did nothing to what lies within. Do I have to name it the ‘something-or-other knife’ for it to work? …This restriction is fairly strict.”

As he spoke, someone was staring at him with half-lidded eyes, but it was not Ooshiro.

He received a response from an amused female voice coming from further back in the armory.

“That’s more or less it. …You are a crazy person, bearer of the Leviathan Road.”

The voice held a bitter tone and Ooshiro scratched his head as he looked around.

“Hey, Director Tsukuyomi, could you come out to help us study 2nd-Gear?”

“Sure, but wait a moment. I need to put on some makeup with a young boy present.”

“Why bother?” asked Ooshiro.

As soon as he spoke, the old man flew backwards.

A sound of impact rang out.

''What was that?'' thought Sayama just as he spotted a light.

A bluish-white light had knocked Ooshiro beyond the automatic door.

However, it quickly disappeared.

“What was that?”

“Curious? You have excellent focus. Of course, that could cost you your life someday.”

The female voice suddenly came from quite nearby.

Sayama turned to the left and saw someone standing there.

An elderly woman in a lab coat stood in the dim light. Her narrowed eyes were turned toward him.

“You are here out of interest in 2nd-Gear, I take it?” She took a breath. “I am Tsukuyomi Shizuru, director of the development department. I will teach you a thing or two about 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

The Second Reference Room was large.

Between two of the gray bookshelves on the white floor, Kazami wandered around with a few bundles of copy paper in her arms.

The sides of the lined up bookshelves gave the subject their documents were classified under.

“And the bookshelves covering the same subject are divided up by year and other subdivisions.”

Kazami was currently looking at the employee histories.

That was where she would find the data on the 2nd-Gear members working in UCAT.

The documents on the shelves were the master copies and a copier within the room was used to make copies that could be taken out.

However, some concept seemed to be in effect because some of the documents would have a portion blacked out on the copy.

“The truth lies in unseen places, hm?”

Also, it seemed there was some information they could read but would immediately forget and some they would interpret as entirely different text when they tried to read it.

Supposedly, a man had once snuck in to steal some income and expenditure reports, but when he arrived at home, he realized he had instead printed out 26 chapters’ worth of a story featuring a sick younger stepsister.

Kazami guessed that man had been Ooshiro.

“I get the feeling that would actually make more people want to sneak in… Anyway, you can’t take anything out at all unless you can alter its string vibration. And we only have permission to take out what we print onto the designated copy paper.”

…''I wonder if Sayama could find a hole in the concept’s rules and take out any information he wanted.

“He probably could…”

She smiled bitterly.

''That underclassman of ours can be a bit of thief and he tends to let the ends justify the means,'' thought Kazami. ''But what if Shinjou was with him?

The Shinjou siblings acted as a stopper for Sayama’s eccentric actions.

Sadame had filled that role during the battle with 1st-Gear, but at school, Shinjou Setsu had often acted in Sayama’s place and warned or stopped him concerning his speech or actions.

Kazami did not know much about Shinjou.

She had first met Sadame when Team Leviathan had been put together and had first met Setsu during spring break. Before that, she had only heard that there was someone named Shinjou who UCAT was protective of.

The one thing Kazami really did not understand was why Sayama made no effort to look into who those siblings were despite having both by his side.

…''He must have some reason and he must be satisfied just having Shinjou with him.

Her relationship with Izumo was similar.

They knew each other’s families, but the details about the other’s parents were mostly unknowns.

They were okay with not knowing and that might have meant what they already had was enough.

“I don’t know, though,” muttered Kazami as she thought. “Even if you’re fine not knowing about the other, you still want them to know about you. And that desire grows stronger the closer the two of you get.”

…''And Shinjou’s secrets are probably larger than ours.

For those sheltered siblings, the desire had to be even stronger.

“But will Shinjou be able to reveal her secret?”

Kazami just hoped Shinjou would not feel guilty if she continued keeping quiet about this important secret.

As she thought, she heard Sibyl’s voice in the distance.

“Chisato-sama.”

Kazami shrugged and turned toward the bookshelf.

Unfortunately, she had yet to gather the documents she had been tasked with finding.

…''Sibyl is way too fast.

She had no intention of feeling bad about being slower than Sibyl, but it made her stomach ache how Sibyl continued to call out her name.

“Um, uh, Chisato-sama…”

“Yes, yes. Wait just a moment.”

''That doesn’t even buy me a minute,'' thought Kazami as she looked forward.

The employee histories were lined up before her by department.

She glanced along the filing numbers on the edge of the clear file folders holding the documents and reached for the file she wanted.

But Kazami suddenly noticed a certain fact.

“There’s…”

“A missing period, right?”

Kazami turned around when she heard Izumo’s voice to her right.

He had a ten centimeter stack of copied documents detailing the development of 2nd-Gear concept weapons, but he tilted his head as he looked at her.

Kazami looked first at the blank spot on the shelf and then at the documents in Izumo’s hands.

“There is a blank period…but what’s with those documents?”

“Oh, Sibyl helped me gather th-…ow ow! Why would you start kicking me out of the blue?”

“Shut up. Guys who take the easy way out will never be good for anything.”

Sibyl’s skill was amazing, though.

“She is a master of information. The name Sibyl is based on a goddess, right?”

“Yes, Cybele. I wonder who named her that.”

“It was probably someone connected to UCAT, but I couldn’t say who.”

“Chisato-sama!”

“Oh, sorry. I ran into a distraction, so wait just a bit longer.”

“A distraction?”

“A terrible distraction. …Kaku, why do you look so upset?”

Despite Izumo’s expression, Sibyl called out again.

“Chisato-sama, how about I help you search?”

''Now there’s a good idea,'' thought Kazami. She almost agreed but swallowed the words. ''No, no. We asked her to help, so I can’t have her help any more than this.

Sibyl was always bringing tea and snacks during training.

In fact, Kazami had a feeling she would occasionally bring them bentos too. Bentos Kazami had taught her how to make.

…''Not good. She’s surpassing me and I never noticed until now. What do I do?

“Chisato, you look really conflicted, but some things are easier if you just give in.”

“Shut up. That comment settles it.”

''That’s right. I can’t rely on her. I need to stubbornly refuse her,'' she thought.

“I’m on my way,” said Sibyl.

Kazami’s shoulders drooped and she looked up at the ceiling.

''Dammit,'' she thought as Izumo spoke up next to her.

“Sibyl’s the type to not think too much about our feelings. But now you’ve been dragged into the same world of laziness as me. Wa ha ha! Give in to the laziness beam and just laze around until you die.”

“I’ll ignore that, but was it the same when she ended up helping you?”

“She walked up next to me and began pulling out all the documents I was after and piled them up with a smile. There was nothing I could do.”

“Sibyl really likes helping people, doesn’t she?”

“The scary part is how it’s like an indiscriminate bombing. Some people hate that kind of thing and there are some things people have to do themselves, so try to drag her away at times like that.”

“Sure,” said Kazami. “But, Kaku, what’s the deal with that blank period?”

“From the few bookshelves I saw, there are some shelves that really are empty. There’s nothing but a few abandoned documents remaining. I wonder if there’s a Third Reference Room where the really important stuff is-…”

“It was not moved anywhere like that,” said Sibyl as she walked up from behind.

Kazami turned around and saw Sibyl circle around a bookshelf while her high heels produced loud footsteps.

“Judging by the maintenance department’s concept space facility maintenance records, UCAT has no other concept space of this same type,” continued Sibyl. “I looked through most of the shelves and it seems the blank period exists here in the Second Reference Room as well.”

“As well?”

“Testament. UCAT has a past that is kept hidden from everyone.”

In the dim armory, a scarlet light appeared before Sayama’s eyes.

The light came from the sword in Tsukuyomi’s hand. The matte black blade was spewing red flames.

She turned toward him with a confident look.

“This is a piece of equipment used by the standard division. It is a Cowling Sword named Hinokagutsuchi. With a philosopher’s stone, it can produce high enough heat to cut through metal. In this concept space, its name gives it the ability to shoot out fire.”

“Can you control that fire?”

“Someone with the name of a sword god or someone with great skill would likely be able to.”

Tsukuyomi showed him the blade. The fire it produced illuminated the name “Ichiroumaru”.

“We number them like this so it’s still a name.”<ref>The name Ichiroumaru can be interpreted as the number 160.</ref>

“That is very thorough. But isn’t it inconvenient to call in power using names? Compared to 1st-Gear’s writing concept, it seems a lot more restrictive.”

“Didn’t 1st-Gear’s lack of restrictions prevent them from leaving behind many written records?” Tsukuyomi gave a bitter smile and returned the sword to its scabbard. “In 2nd-Gear, the bearer of power was determined properly. The different powers were controlled by those who possessed them and were used to their fullest when released. 2nd-Gear was a Gear of specialization in skills and ability.”

“Then 2nd-Gear’s representative for the Leviathan Road is…?”

“Yes, a man with great power. Kashima Akio is 2nd-Gear’s greatest military god and swordsmith.”

“He will negotiate with me?” asked Sayama before asking another question that floated up in his chest. “Did you make a military god your representative because you expect the Leviathan Road to involve combat?”

“It is a distinct possibility, isn’t it?” Tsukuyomi’s expression changed. The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she looked up with a troubled expression. “But it may not happen. I just hope he can face the Leviathan Road seriously.”

“Does he feel no desire to negotiate because 2nd-Gear is already on the same level as Low-Gear?”

To test the waters, Sayama threw out the question he and the others had raised earlier.

However, Tsukuyomi did not give him an answer.

“Kashima has his reasons. But that is exactly why I chose him. Sayama-kun? Do you have some time?”

“I intend to train with my comrades and exchange information on 2nd-Gear. Afterwards, I plan to tell the old man you knocked outside whether I would begin the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear or not.”

“I see. Then there is no need to hurry. But it would be best if you met Kashima soon. If you do, you should be able to face the question you have about 2nd-Gear.”

Sayama replied to the slight smile in her voice.

“Director Tsukuyomi, may I ask you one thing about that question?”

“What is it?”

Before he spoke, Sayama thought back once more to what Ooki had said.

“The people of 2nd-Gear are supposedly little different from the people of this world. But what do you think? Have you and the others been fully naturalized to Low-Gear?”

“Well.” Tsukuyomi thought for a beat while returning the sword to the shelf. “Those of us who do not know about 2nd-Gear and know nothing of concepts likely have no doubts they belong here. My daughter is like that.”

“I see. Are you saying you and the others here are different?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Everyone is different. We have a certain power, but we all view that differently. Personally, I have no intention of passing that power on to my daughter, but I still think it is useful.”

Tsukuyomi then added another answer to her statement.

And the smile on her lips deepened as she did so.

“How about you learn firsthand just how useful the power of 2nd-Gear’s ‘names’ is?”

Tsukuyomi snapped the fingers of her right hand.

In the next moment, Sayama sensed something coming from overhead.

He looked up and saw light. It was the beam of bluish-white light that had knocked Ooshiro away earlier.

Sayama took a defensive stance against the falling light and he heard Tsukuyomi speak.

“The name Tsukuyomi means to ‘read the moon’, so it lets me control moonlight. The dim light here is modeled after a moonlit environment, so the light here is my ally. This is the power of the name belonging to 2nd-Gear’s former imperial family.”

Meanwhile, the light arrived.

Sayama moved on reflex. He moved back to distance himself from Tsukuyomi. However…

“The light…”

The light should have fallen to the floor, but it suddenly bent and curved.

The light shot by across the ground and jumped up toward Sayama’s stomach.

Sayama stood in the narrow area between shelves, so he could not evade.

Tsukuyomi stopped smiling and spoke.

“If you make it through this, I will admit you understand a bit about us. And if you do, I will show you a certain technique as a reward.” She took a breath. “It is an anti-foreign world combat technique we can use without relying on the concepts of our Gear.”

Sibyl spoke to Kazami and Izumo in front of the rows of document shelves.

“A portion of the documents have been removed from the freely available First Reference Room as well. The period seems to span from 1985 to about 1995. Half of ’96 is missing as well.”

Kazami recognized one of those years.

“So it’s the ten years leading up to ’95 when this Gear’s negative concepts began to activate?”

“Testament. It is the ten years leading up to the great Kansai earthquake. …I am sure you have heard that information on UCAT was nearly exposed when we lost so many people in that earthquake. To avoid inspections and whistleblowers, the documents were destroyed. Some people refer to it as UCAT’s blank period.”

“So they decided it was safer for the important documents to not even exist, is that it? It is true the security here is ridiculously tight.”

“Is it?” asked Kazami with a hint of uncertainty.

“Yeah,” said Izumo with a nod. “I was looking at a porn magazine I found with the confiscated documents and none of the contents would reach my brain properly.”

“…Could you stop talking about that kind of nonsense so seriously?”

“Chisato-sama, that is just who Izumo-sama is. I would be more surprised if he said something worthwhile.”

“Hey, you two? Are you denying something about me?”

The other two ignored Izumo’s refreshing statement.

“Anyway, Sibyl, thanks for the help. …We really gathered a lot.”

“You are going in to train next, right? I will organize it all by the time you are done.”

“Thanks,” said Kazami again before sighing. “Sibyl, even ignoring the blank period, there’s still a great divide between us and the higher ups. Both Sayama and Kaku’s grandfathers died before they could learn about them.” She turned toward Izumo. “And he couldn’t find any documents on his father.”

“…I wasn’t looking for anything about him.”

“Fine, fine. If you say so. I saw you wandering around on your own, though.”

Kazami stroked his head as he glared at her and then she took a document from him.

The copied document described 2nd-Gear’s past concept weapon development.

She read the top of the fairly old-looking paper.

“A god of war?”

Printed at the top of the A4 piece of paper was the title Overall Diagram of the Humanoid Machine.

Sibyl peered over Kazami’s shoulder at the blurry lines of the paper.

“That is a very unrefined design. It is not a direct descendent of the ones from 3rd.”

“Well, it’s really old. Look, it says 1945…”

Kazami gasped when she realized what her own words meant.

“That’s the year Japanese UCAT was founded!”

Sayama took a certain action as the moonlight attack approached.

He looked up at the line of bluish-white lights on the ceiling.

Those lights produced the “moonlight”.

After checking on the faint lights filling the armory, Sayama faced forward.

Tsukuyomi looked a bit surprised.

“You plan to receive the attack? It’ll blow you away!”

“I will not let it!”

Sayama stared at the beam of light that was just about to strike him.

And he swung up his left arm.

With that single motion, he removed his coat and transferred Baku from the coat pocket to his head.

“If this is moonlight…”

Sayama placed the coat over his head as the beam of light approached from the front.

It all happened in an instant.

“If the moonlight is cut off from the moon, it cannot reach me!”

When the coat cut the beam off from the lights on the ceiling, it visibly weakened.

At the same time, Sayama kicked the moonlight up into the bundled-up coat.

The sound of the strike resembled a splash.

Particles of moonlight scattered from below the coat.

And finally, the light disappeared.

The coat fell to the ground, but Sayama left it there and continued moving.

He took another step toward Tsukuyomi.

…''Show me 2nd-Gear’s anti-foreign world combat technique!

He stepped forward with his left foot and threw a kick with his right. He aimed low down at her feet so it would be difficult to avoid.

He did not hold back because his opponent was a woman or because she was elderly.

“That is what it means to fight.”

Sayama kicked.

In the next instant, an unthinkable change occurred.

Tsukuyomi disappeared from before his eyes.

“!?”

His foot flew through empty air and he took a defensive stance.

Wondering where she was, he began to turn around.

“A negotiator should not drop his coat.”

Hearing that voice behind him, he hastened his turn. He found his coat held out toward him.

He slowly took it from Tsukuyomi who was holding it.

Based on the timing with which she had held out the coat, Sayama calculated the time it took her to move there.

“After I threw my kick and lost sight of you, you walked behind me and picked up the coat?”

During that time, she had vanished from his sight.

''What happened?'' he wondered while Tsukuyomi showed a bitter smile.

“Mysterious, isn’t it? 2nd-Gear developed techniques like this that we can use without concepts. That way we can win no matter when someone wants a fight,” she said while looking extremely pleased. “You will be looking into our past now, right? I hope you can bring us an excellent negotiation afterwards.”

Kazami looked at the humanoid machine drawn on the diagram in her hand.

It was a metal giant that seemed to be made by connecting together the bodies of warships using giant cylinders and bolts. The torso was a simple T-shape, but the arms and legs were very thick just like a toy.

Even the modern gods of war UCAT had started sending out into battle more closely resembled humans than this.

“The Yamata Sealing Humanoid Machine named ‘Susaou’. Jointly developed between Low and 2nd. …The central format is listed as Mikage format?”

Kazami thought she heard Sibyl gasp at the word “Mikage”.

However, Kazami did not ask about it. If Sibyl wanted to talk about it, she would.

She gave a bitter internal smile and continued looking through the blurry words of the copy.

How advanced a machine could they have made when Japanese UCAT was first established?

“The project to construct it was proposed March 12, 1945 and completed August of the following year. So they started this about half a year before the end of the war. …I’m amazed they could do that while Japan was undergoing tons of air-raids.”

“It was developed along with 2nd-Gear, so it most likely works under 2nd-Gear’s concepts rather than those of 3rd-Gear, the world of gods of war. That must be why it is called a ‘humanoid machine’ instead of a god of war.”

“I see.”

Kazami nodded and checked the measurements given around Susaou. She read off the blurry writing.

“Crew size: approx. 200 people. Total height: approx. 500…”

She trailed off. Her head was unable to keep up with what she read.

“…What is this? A height of approximately 500 rice? Like, five hundred grains of rice?”

“No, Chisato-sama. That means 500 meters. Meter used to be written with the character for rice.”

“Um, Sibyl. Even in a concept space, that’s too big to be real.”

“But these documents mean it is real,” said Izumo. He took a breath and met her gaze. “Are your thoughts bound by common sense by any chance?”

“O-of course they are.”

“Well, this huge thing exists somewhere in Tokyo along with Yamata. And there’s something even more surprising on that copy.”

Izumo moved in closer to her and pointed at one line on the copy.

It listed the names of Susaou’s captain and second in command.

“The captain was Ooshiro Hiromasa and the second command was Kashima. …Do you see the UCAT connection now?”

“I don’t recognize the name Kashima, but Ooshiro…”

“That’s right. …It’s all connected between sixty years ago and today.”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 2

2015-10-15T14:03:44Z

98.186.244.215:

==Chapter 2: Lesson from the Past==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0065.png|thumb]]
''A driving force is needed to gain something

''Is that force desire?

''Or is it guilt?

Kashima’s trip home required riding both the train and the bus.

The yellow train from the Yamanote Line’s Takadanobaba Station to the Seibu Line’s Tanashi Station took approximately half an hour.

With early morning gone, he left through the south entrance of that white-walled station sitting in the morning sun.

Riding the bus heading to Mukoudai Park and getting off near Shakujii River left him almost at his home.

The single-story house sitting in the slightly chilly air with Shakujii River and a small thicket behind it was Kashima’s home.

“I guess I’ll head to UCAT after getting a bit of sleep.”

He stood before a red-roofed house with a metal fence surrounding it.

A tiered platform displaying flowers was visible in the small yard within the fence.

Kashima walked up to the front door, stopped, and sighed. He looked down and fixed his collar.

And he suddenly saw movement in front of him.

The door made a small noise and opened.

A single woman stood within the entrance which looked dim compared to outside.

The first thing Kashima saw was the colors.

He saw the black of her short hair, the white of her shirt, the black of her jeans, and the white of her skin.

Her small black eyes looked at him and smiled in conjunction with her lips.

“Did you hear my footsteps? …You’ve had a perfect track record on identifying people by their footsteps since our college days, haven’t you?”

A smile naturally formed on Kashima’s face when he saw her.

“I’m home, Natsu-san,” he said with a nod.

“Welcome back, Akio-san.”

The woman, Natsu, took a step back and welcomed in the head of the household.

“The night shift must be exhausting. Are you going in again today?”

“After I eat, I’ll get some sleep, but then I have to go in. I’m a terrible husband.”

“You’ll gain weight,” said Natsu while closing her eyes in a slight smile.

She gave a small laugh from her nose. This laugh was evidence of her good mood and Kashima found it amusing enough that he smiled a bit.

When he entered the house, he naturally let out a sigh.

“Your own house really is the most relaxing place. …Natsu-san, where’s Harumi?”

“Asleep. If you want to see her, do it after your bath. The water is ready, but do you want to eat first?”

“Yes, I’ll eat first. …Do I have to change?”

“This isn’t your workplace,” said Natsu decisively while still smiling. “It’s thanks to your job that we have this wonderful house, but that’s all the more reason to distance yourself from that job while you’re here. …I’m sure Haru-chan would say the same.”

“You know I can’t win if you bring Harumi into it.”

He admitted defeat and decided change out of his work clothes. He settled on changing into a track suit or something.

“Your track suit is next to the dresser. Just wait a second. I’m heating up the miso soup.”

Without forgetting to say thanks, Kashima opened the frosted glass sliding door leading from the entranceway to the living room.

The large window looking out to the yard on the left was open and the bright light filling the room seemed to wake him up.

A low table sat in the center of that light.

The dresser was on the right and a bookshelf sat on the left wall between the window and the sliding door to the bedroom.

The television to the left of the entrance was playing the news.

The news was discussing technology.

Kashima had a feeling that sort of news had grown more common lately.

All the recent technological advances may have been a side effect of the activity in the various Gears’ positive concepts in order to oppose the negative concepts.

“But reality still isn’t that rich.”

Kashima began changing with a bitter smile on his face.

He heard Natsu speaking from the kitchen.

“Come to think of it, some Nappa cabbage arrived from your parents.”

“Then we need to take care of what’s in the bowl on the table today.”

“I’ll pickle them, so don’t worry. I also used some in the miso soup. The part-timers seem to really like our pickled vegetables. They call it super good and nasty good… Slang these days is really confusing.”

Kashima heard a sigh from the kitchen.

“But I feel bad always receiving vegetables from them and never doing anything in return.”

“Yes, but my parents do it because they like to. They really like you, Natsu-san. If it was just me, they would never send anything.”

“You sound serious, so I won’t comment on that. But vegetables are expensive these days. …Do you think they’re just trying to be considerate of me? My parents still haven’t…”

“I said they’re doing it because they like to, Natsu-san.”

“Okay. But I am thankful. Oh, and I’m thankful for this knife I’m using, too.”

“Knife?”

When Natsu-san replied, a hint of confusion had entered her voice.

“Yes, um, this knife I’m using. A blade your father worked on just seems different somehow.”

“Well, my dad is wired a bit differently than most people. My mom too, actually.”

“I won’t deny that, but…um, that isn’t what I meant. I can use it without being afraid. Ever since your father gave me this knife when we married, I haven’t hurt my hand with any kind of blade. Not even when using a needle or anything else. …It’s like this knife is a protective charm.”

It had been altered by a man with the name of the military god Kashima and a philosopher’s stone had been added, so that was only natural.

A blade altered by the hands of a god would become a charm and its owner could not be injured by lesser blades.

However, Natsu knew nothing of 2nd-Gear, so Kashima could only play dumb.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0071.png|thumb]]

“Akio-san, your family really does suit the name of the heavenly god Kashima, doesn’t it?”

“My dad would love it if he knew you were comparing him to a god.”

“But when I visited your parents’ home, there was no connection to the heavenly god. …I researched the great sword of the heavenly god Kashima in college, so I got excited when I heard your father sharpens blades.”

Kashima heard a sigh followed by a line he had heard many times.

“It’s a lot different from my maiden name.”

“I think Takagi is a great name. It means you can reach up to heaven.”<ref>Takagi literally means “tall tree”.</ref>

Natsu gave no reply.

…''Should I not have said that?

As he thought that, Kashima looked toward the bookshelf in front of him.

The top shelf had a sticker labeled “Natsu”. It contained studies on Japanese mythology, all of which were remnants of her college days.

Kashima spotted a nostalgic title among them.

…''I was an engineering student, but I attended a seminar on ancient civilization research so I could learn about 2nd-Gear.

He had written a report based on the same book on that shelf.

“And that’s where I met Natsu-san…” he said too quietly for anyone else to hear. “I’m plenty happy now.”

He glanced over to make sure Natsu had not left the kitchen and then removed the book from the shelf.

Two thin books were pressed up against the back panel of the shelf.

They were picture books.

Those worn out antiques told the legend of Susanoo and the legend of Yamato Takeru. The author’s name was…

“Takagi Masamichi.”

…''Will she ever appreciate that name?

Kashima finished changing, opened the curtain, and sat on the floor.

He heard the sound of clanking ceramics coming from the kitchen.

“Did Atsuta-san not come with you again, today?”

“He’s been heading home on the train recently. He doesn’t have enough points left on his license. In fact, he said he only has one left.”

“I see. …Maybe this is thinking too much into it, but does Atsuta-san ever intend to get married? He hasn’t even been coming here recently.”

“He has feelings for someone. Apparently, she was a classmate in high school and is the president of a security company now. And he says the reason he hasn’t been coming here is that he dislikes babies.”

“How childish of him.”

“I don’t think he’s even reached the level of a child. Or a human, for that matter.”

“You shouldn’t talk about your friend like that.”

“That doesn’t deny that he’s on the level of an ape…”

“R-really?”

With that troubled comment, Natsu entered the room.

The large tray in Natsu’s hands contained two teacups, two bowls of miso soup, and two rice bowls.

And the deep platter held…

“It isn’t a cabbage roll, but I stuffed some of the Nappa cabbage with the mincemeat left over from last night. You should be able to use chopsticks.”

Kashima saw a boiled water soup with two long and slightly pale green bundles inside.

“Did you not eat this morning?”

“I knew you would return, Akio-san. And I already gave Haru-chan milk, so don’t worry.”

Natsu’s eyes narrowed in a small smile and she sat next to him.

“Or did you want to see that?”

“I did,” replied Kashima and Natsu blushed a bit.

A restless atmosphere filled the air.

At the same time, the news on the television reached the weather forecast.

According to the weather map, that evening would have…

“Rain? But it’s so sunny outside right now.”

“I’ll hurry home. I can’t leave you alone on a rainy night.”

Kashima turned to Natsu to find the smile gone from her face.

Her hands remained motionless as she stared at the weather map predicting rain.

She did not move.

Kashima silently removed the fly-net cover from the table.

The slight movement of the air and the whiteness of the fly-net cover caused Natsu to tremble slightly.

“S-sorry.”

She quickly opened the cover of the small bowl and prepared a small plate.

Her expression was back to normal.

“I’m fine. I can even go outside now if I have an umbrella. Anyway, let’s eat.”

The weather map on the television was replaced with rural footage.

It showed a paddy field in the mountains. They were preparing to plant the early-growing rice.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it. She picked up a rice bowl and spoke.

“They really plant rice early these days. Your parents should be beginning soon, too.”

“I had enough of helping them last year.”

With a weak smile, Natsu held the rice bowl out toward him.

“Thanks,” said Kashima as he reached out to take it.

The bowl contained rice from the Okutama farm of the Kashima family. And…

“But I liked having rice we helped make. If possible, I’d like to do that again this year.”

As she spoke, Kashima touched the hand holding the bowl.

Natsu’s left hand was missing something.

It had no little finger or ring finger.

As noon drew near, Taka-Akita Academy entered fourth period.

Even though classes were in session, it was also preparation time for the spring school festival known as the All Holiday Festival.

Students excused from class could be seen preparing for battle throughout the school.

From the road to the sports grounds, from the dorms to the cafeteria, and even on the paved and gravel pathways, members of various groups were running around carrying materials or ingredients.

A few people were looking down over all of them.

These people sat on the second floor of the second year general school building’s emergency staircase.

Sitting on the landing were Izumo with his coat removed to show off his well-built body through his shirt and Kazami who was spreading out a homemade triple-layer bento on a sheet.

And another girl sat in front of them.

This platinum blonde girl wore her winter uniform below the springtime sun.

Kazami called the name of this girl who had a small bird on her shoulder and a black cat next to her.

“Brunhild, do you have the form for the art club?”

Brunhild handed her a single sheet of paper.

It was the form for the art club’s stand at the festival.

Kazami picked up a binder with a pile of papers inside and compared Brunhild’s paper to an example.

She checked to make sure everything was filled out and stamped.

“The form looks in order, but what’s with this name? Avant-Garde Art Grilled Chicken ‘Cadmium 2005’? Is that toxic?”

“We had a vote and decided on this. It’s amazing.”

“Amazing?”

“Yes.”

“How exactly…?”

“Well, the seasoning is green like this and it’s apparently a guaranteed one-hit kill.”

“Hey, Chisato. If you ask about this anymore, we’ll be caught up in a crime.”

Kazami almost fell forward, but she straightened up and Brunhild gave a bitter smile.

“The underclassmen said they would give you a feast if you come by.”

“That won’t be necessary. …But, Brunhild, isn’t it painful to serve grilled chicken while raising a bird?”

“Yes, but we decided by vote. It may be a problem for me as the head of the club, but I plan to stay away from buying supplies and preparing the food. I will only handle the finances.”

“That might be difficult. …But grilled chicken tends to make outrageous amounts of money, so I hope you make a good amount.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“My dad likes this kind of thing. He always has a stand at the neighborhood association festival. He sells them for 50 yen a piece while the cost price is only 20 yen. He makes around 30,000 yen in a day, so he takes it way too seriously and grills and grills like a monkey or something.”

“I see. What kind of person is your father, Kazami? Is he like a monkey?”

“He’d be easier to deal with if he was.”

“What’s with that exasperated sigh?”

“Well, my mom was a Showa era idol who could sing really well but wasn’t selling due to being terrible with the business side of things. My dad had known her since their schooldays and he worked as her manager for a while.” Kazami gave a bitter smile. “But I’ve never actually heard my mom sing. It embarrasses her, so she hides all of the photos from back then and changes the channel whenever a show about nostalgic songs comes on.”

“Why don’t you just watch it while over at my place? You always change the channel yourself.”

“I can’t just watch something she’s trying to hide.”

“So that’s how it works,” said Izumo with a nod.

“I see,” said Brunhild as she lowered her head.

Kazami placed Brunhild’s form in the binder and changed the subject.

“Anyway, how are things going with 1st-Gear?”

“The reservation is set to be expanded.”

“Really? They finally made up their mind?”

“This is still inside information, but it seems a place in German UCAT is being set up to take some of us in. The European UCATs will be taking on some of the maintenance expenses on the condition that we share our techniques with them. They’re only accepting second generation members and onwards, but that’s plenty.”

“I see. A German forest would be a great place for 1st-Gear.”

“Unfortunately, I am a first generation member, so I can’t go even if I am naturalized.”

“Oh, sorry. …I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“It’s fine. Once the concepts are released to seal the negative concepts, 1st-Gear’s concepts will slowly permeate this Gear. Once that happens, we should be freed from the small reservations.” She gave a slight smile. “Of course, we’ll still have to live in areas where the normal people of this Gear can’t find us.”

Brunhild’s final comment caused Kazami to freeze in place.

Silence fell over them.

Kazami tried to find something to say, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, something lightly struck Kazami’s thigh.

It was Brunhild’s black cat.

The cat gave a mew, tilted his head, and looked up at her, so she smiled back.

“Were you giving silent consideration?” she asked.

The cat narrowed his eyes and began to climb into her lap.

However, Brunhild wordlessly stopped him.

She grabbed the cat’s tail and dragged him away.

“You don’t need to feel sorry for me, Kazami.”

“Um, no. I wasn’t. It’s just that the cat-…”

“Forget about the cat. …Anyway, that was just what I thought.” Brunhild held the cat up by the tail and smiled slightly. “So let me tell you this: We think our situation has improved. I want you to at least remember that.”

“Fasolt is working hard because he thinks so too, right?”

“Yes, but he seems to be on poor terms with Fafner lately.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” said Brunhild with a nod. Her tone grew thoughtful. “Half-dragon fights are a sight to behold. Their shells are really hard, so no normal attack is going to do any damage.”

“Um…Brunhild? I thought this was a fight between father and son. Why are we talking about ‘doing damage’?”

“Oh? Isn’t that normal?”

“Chisato, I think 1st-Gear might be your kind of place.”

“What do you mean by that!? Take this! And this! And this!”

“Yes, Kazami. I think that’s about normal.”

“I don’t think so. Ow, ow, ow. My arm isn’t supposed to bend like that!”

Brunhild smiled bitterly as she heard Izumo scream.

She had a small bird on her shoulder and a cat dangling upside down from her hand.

As soon as she stood up, a chime rang, indicating the end of fourth period.

“Lunch break… After stopping by the library, I will go help build the stand.”

“Do all of your club’s members have class excuses?”

“Yes, but you need to put more effort into making them. They would be ridiculously easy to counterfeit.”

“Th-that’s the special right given to those smart enough to come up with the idea,” said Izumo while trapped in a double arm lock.

Brunhild gave a small laugh and reached for the emergency exit door next to him.

“I hope you can stay that calm as you work on the next Leviathan Road,” she said.

At the same time, a boy entered through the door she had opened.

It was Sayama.

He swept his left hand up once to brush back his hair and spoke.

“Hm. This is an unusual combination.”

“Are you alone? Shinjou Setsu isn’t with you?”

Sayama gave a sigh and began speaking in an admonishing tone.

“He is not always with me. I told him I have student council work, so he said he would head on to the cafeteria and buy my lunch as well. I am most grateful.”

As he spoke, another figure suddenly appeared behind him.

“Hi! How is everyone doing?”

It was Ooki with a smile filling her face.

“Oh, is everyone here? If only we all had our lunches with us.” She nodded. “How about we talk about the next Leviathan Road? Sayama-kun, you’re here because you’ve decided which Gear to do next, right?”

<noinclude>
===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Owari_no_Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari_no_Chronicle:Volume3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Clash of Hexennacht:Volume1 Chapter 13

2015-10-15T04:26:05Z

98.186.244.215: Unless Hunter has some strange speech pattern that only shows up rarely, this was a typo considering the following text.

==Chapter 13: Battle in the Witches’ Sky==
[[Image:Hexennacht_v01_285.png|thumb]]
''The warm welcome of a Shinto bombardment

Horinouchi felt there were a number of subtleties to this battle.

She was over the sea, about fifteen kilometers south of the Uraga Channel. Her altitude was approximately three thousand meters. The sun was out and clouds formed as the temperature rose in the early morning.

The bottoms of the clouds were flat and she was firing on Hunter below that sea of clouds.

…''Everything is going well so far!

Hunter was primarily a close-range fighter. With her stability spell, her attacks were just as powerful in midair.

But the sky had no obstacles and an absolute floor like the surface of the earth. When running, there was a great difference in the behavior of someone actually stepping on the floor and someone setting up an artificial floor with a spell.

On the other hand, Hunter’s spell acted just like a real floor, so she was even more stable than when on the ground itself.

Her movements were rough, but each individual step was accurate.

And Horinouchi was aware of all that as she pursued her.

She repeatedly fired Akerindou from a dozen meters away.

“Kh!”

She sealed off her opponent’s movements.

…''And then I settle this with my Normal Frame!

That was the best strategy she could think of.

Hunter’s Magino Frame had a powerful cannon, thick armor, and great mobility. But while her Normal Frame still had powerful armor and the close-range pile bunker was dangerous, the secondary cannon that used the same power source was not all that powerful.

And even if she could make quick straight-line dashes through the air, her flight spells were slow.

Horinouchi on the other hand could fire rapidly and powerfully even with her Normal Frame and she had excellent mobility. She would not be outdone in anything but armor strength.

…''So I can win this if I don’t let her use her Magino Frame.

But how was she supposed to do that?

She had a reason to be in a hurry.

Hunter had been falling back to the east and attacking whenever Horinouchi drew close.

Horinouchi had hit her a few times with counterattacks.

Her speed would immediately drop and Horinouchi would gain more ground. To prevent Hunter from charging at her, Horinouchi defended herself with projectiles and moved forward once more.

She was wearing Hunter down by repeating that pattern.

But there was some resistance and she did not like how the Suzaku would give a strange cry every time Hunter was hit.

…''Does it have to shout “weeeeeeeeird!” like some kind of weird bird? Is this thing really the Suzaku?

She decided to mute it and concentrated on firing, but she was more worried by the fact that her hits did not seem to be affecting Hunter much.

…''This is dangerous.

She understood that these hits were heating up the girl’s Phlogiston Heart.

Which meant…

“Has she calculated out the damage from these hits versus her natural divine protection recovery so she knows the exact amount of heating needed to summon her Magino Frame?”

If so, she was in trouble.

A Phlogiston Heart came down to willpower, but the amount of heat was influenced by the quality of one’s emotional excitement.

It was important to have a gap.

Even if one was emotionally excited, it would provide little heating if the emotion came from mere conceit or selfish joy.

It was the struggle against an opponent or the desire to fight despite the damage one had taken that heated up the Phlogiston Heart.

Adversity would heat up the heart.

In that way, even if Hunter was intentionally taking these hits, it would be providing her Phlogiston Heart plenty of heat.

…''I may be gaining ground, but I still need to seal off her every movement!

During the battle with Kagami the day before, Hunter had rapidly heated her Phlogiston Heart. She had appeared with her Magino Frame already summoned, but that too had to be the result of some kind of Phlogiston Heart heating technique.

Horinouchi had wished for an official ranker battle because she did not know what that technique was.

An official battle would set any rank changes in stone and prevent her from escaping any possible drop in rank, but it also meant the heat of their Phlogiston Hearts both began within standard ranges.

Hunter had not immediately summoned her Magino Frame in those conditions, so she had to have some trick for rapidly summoning it.

Horinouchi needed to seal that away.

She could not let Hunter escape on the Magino Frame almost immediately and settle this from afar.

But if the girl managed to build up the heat like this, the result would be the same.

She knew she had to hurry, but…

“You’re distracted, Horinouchi!”

She did not care. She continued firing, made sure the other girl could not escape, and circled around her while firing some more.

“—————”

She hit Hunter again. The pattern remained unchanged.

But Hunter had intentionally taken the blow.

She had done the same to defend several times already. She would use her stability spell to take the blow on the Hedgehog’s armor and fully deflect the attack.

But this was different.

Hunter was blasted diagonally down and to the left.

She made no attempt to hold her ground.

…''She switched off the stability spell!?

…''You only get one shot at a surprise attack!

First, Hunter heated up her Phlogiston Heart by getting hit while also learning about the attacks from Horinouchi’s Akerindou.

She of course defended, but learning through her body was the fastest way.

So she ended up taking more hits than expected.

The damage could suppress her Phlogiston Heart’s heat, so she used the stability spell to let the damage escape through the Hedgehog. But…

…''That hurts!

She found it odd that getting hit and letting the damage escape hurt more than absorbing the damage. But after doing that a few times, she learned just what kind of damage it was.

Horinouchi’s attacks were a fusion of penetrative power and a solid impact.

At the moment it hit, the arrow-shaped bullets would act like armor-piercing rounds, but as soon as they dug into the opponent’s armor, they would permeate the inside of the opponent using kinetic energy and reinforcement spells.

With just penetrative power, the arrow might pierce straight out the other side.

With just a solid impact, the arrow might be blocked by the armor.

To achieve both, the power she fired was longer than otherwise necessary.

The tip contained the penetrative power and the back contained the impact power.

That was the true purpose of the arrow shape.

These were not bullets or shells and they were not shaped that way just to follow the shrine maiden theme. They had gained that shape as she sought the perfect form to bring her victory.

“And that’s why she goes all-out on offense instead of defense. This is no laughing matter!”

Horinouchi’s full-power blast was probably the only thing that could compare to the pure power of the swing-by cannon blasts fired by the cannon form of the Hedgehog’s Magino Frame.

The only flaw was the difficulty of maintaining the initial speed. Unlike Hunter’s swing-by method, Horinouchi’s shots did not accelerate or maintain their speed midflight, so Hunter had the advantage at longer ranges.

But even so…

…''She can act alone as a gunner with no backup.

Hunter understood what that meant.

This fighting style was meant for the Black Witch.

When the Black Witch descended toward Earth, Horinouchi would fire on and defeat her from the surface.

…''Yes, I understand quite well.

Firing on an enemy from a safe location was not the only advantage of long-range attacks.

When one had something to protect behind them, a long-range gunner could defend it all.

Most witches had realized that fact.

But who took part in Hexennacht was determined by the ranker battles, so they had all obtained armor and mobility to achieve victory against other witches. Even the gunners were skilled in close-range attack methods.

If all they had to do was fire on the Black Witch from afar, that would not have been necessary.

But what was this before Hunter’s eyes?

Even if Horinouchi could fly, she had little armor and her only close-range support weapon was an ether sword.

That girl had ranked at #4 with something solely designed to face the Black Witch.

Each and every shot hurt.

But that was exactly why Hunter would push her aside here.

She would defeat Horinouchi to tell her this method was not enough. She would completely crush her and make sure she never looked up again. After all…

“I also have something behind me to protect!”

Hunter had a plan.

She had been using her stability spell whenever she defended or was hit, but she would deactivate it for just one hit.

And she did so.

She received the blow on the Hedgehog, but she did not let the damage escape. She angled the armor linked to her left arm toward the sky and took the blow there.

…''Down and to the right!

She was blasted through the air.

It happened suddenly and Horinouchi would be unable to keep up after sensing the resistance of Hunter’s armor each time. Thinking that Horinouchi would have lost sight of her, Hunter looked to the figure up above.

…''Here I go!

She rapidly swung her body left and right as she raced upwards through the sky.

The Hedgehog was in its pile bunker form. The attack was nothing compared to the Magino Frame canon, but at close-range, it would break through the enemy’s defense barrier and then destroy the Frame with a solid blow during the reverse permeation that followed. The concept was similar to Horinouchi’s arrows, but…

“——————”

As she ascended, she saw something there: Horinouchi.

But the girl overhead was not looking down at her.

She was looking up at the heavens.

She was looking up at the yellowish sky of early morning that had not quite grown blue yet.

The moon floated in the center of it.

Horinouchi aimed Akerindou straight up while looking to the moon.

She was positioned to fire on the moon and her power arm’s fingers were on Akerindou’s bowstring.

“Akerindou – Activate Firing Barrier.”

The bowstring rang several times in the sky as if being plucked.

At the same time, a great celestial sphere appeared below the shrine maiden’s feet.

It had taken form by pointing the bow downwards and rotating it several times. It all looked something like an umbrella’s framework and it covered the 180 degrees around the shrine maiden’s feet, but Hunter noticed a certain fact.

An arrow was not being fired from Akerindou’s acceleration pathway with each plucking sound.

And after one more shot, a great sound rang out.

“Barrier sublimation.”

As soon as she spoke those words, all of her actions came to fruition.

Arrows were fired in all 180 degrees from the hemisphere opened below her.

She did not need to find her opponent.

She simply fired a massive number of arrows.

Horinouchi had trouble with surprise attacks.

Part of it had to do with her personality, but even if she had difficulties there, she could not stop her enemies from using them. So she wanted a countermeasure, but her defenses were not quite enough for that.

She had her three-arrow shield and some variations, but the most effective method was offense.

A wall was not enough to convince her enemy they could not get close.

A wall could be taken away.

That left offense.

A barrage was the only option.

She had to fire everywhere at once. She had a few difference variations for that and multiplying her rapid-fire shots was one of those. She had used that type against Kagami the other day because it was effective in a fluid battlefield with an enemy that moved a lot at long-range.

But this was different. This was for when the enemy was making a surprise attack from an unknown location.

As long as she knew the general direction…

…''I just have to fire everything in that direction.

If she had the time, she could set it up for all 360 degrees, but it was hard to know how long it would take the enemy to approach and she had seen Hunter jump downwards. Her time limit for constructing the barrier had been until Hunter entered her warning range.

That had given her 180 degrees and she fired that barrage.

“How about that!?”

The arrows of light flew toward the sky and ocean below.

She saw her opponent beyond that light.

Would Hunter evade or defend? Horinouchi would make the finishing blow once she saw which action Hunter took.

She aimed Akerindou downwards and drew the bowstring. The Suzaku was in top form on her shoulder, so she muted it.

She saw Hunter make her move, but it was neither defense nor evasion.

She stood still in midair and she did so horizontally as if to face Horinouchi.

…''Is she…?

Horinouchi realized what she was doing. The Hedgehog on her left arm was in pile bunker mode and she was preparing to swing it.

“Ohhh!”

She dashed up toward Horinouchi in midair and thrust the Hedgehog out toward her.

“…!”

Horinouchi could predict what would happen, so she fired without waiting to see.

Hunter was impressed by Horinouchi’s decision.

…''She fired again? She really is crazy about offense!

Hunter was currently dealing with the barrage.

She had to hurry. The barrage had yet to spread out much and the arrows had yet to draw out all of their power.

The firing barrier was scattering and some ether light remained.

“Hedgehog!”

She slammed the pile bunker in.

The ejected stake was an ether spear. It was fired from the acceleration pathway at the extreme close range of five meters, but its tip could pierce through anything and then strike it with a solid blow.

And since it was made of ether…

…''It can permeate the ether barrier and arrows!

The barrier had yet to fully scatter and the arrows had yet to fully expand, so what would happen if she struck now?

“I can detonate them!”

Normally, she would have pulled the spear back, but she did not.

She purged the spear.

A moment later, she supplied a certain technique to the ether spear tip: her stability spell.

The barrier was made to synchronize with a “surface” located elsewhere. Normally that surface was the ground or the swing-by satellite, but here she used…

…''This airspace itself!

She created a “surface” by capturing the empty space up ahead in a barrier.

The spear pierced through it and tore into the barrage.

In that instant, the tactile feedback in her left arm felt the fleshy sensation of penetrating that surface.

The spear struck the arrows and the ether light of the barrier binding them together. The arrows and barrier were treated as one and the same.

As a result, her blow permeated every last one of Horinouchi’s arrows.

After a brief moment, everything exploded.

The arrows had yet to spread out, so their power turned to light and scattered in 180 degrees around.

“Ohh…”

Hunter formed a new ether stake inside the Hedgehog and leaped straight up.

The explosion, the intense noise, and the roar of scattering wind were all left behind as she continued upwards with a single task in mind.

Targeting the enemy came first, but…

…''She’s already firing at me!

As soon as she passed through the space taken up by the barrage, she found something right in front of her: Horinouchi’s arrow.

The attack had been drawn to the limit and fired with perfect accuracy.

Horinouchi nocked the next arrow.

She did so on reflex, but it ended up saving her.

She had fired her best shot down toward Hunter.

It had been a perfectly aimed shot from close range and it was the best possible shot using her Normal Frame.

But she knew one thing for sure.

…''Someone on my level will find a way to deal with it!

And that was exactly what happened.

Hunter reacted to the arrow that flew straight toward the very center of her chest.

It scored a direct hit, the solid sound of impact rang out, and Hunter’s Normal Frame was destroyed.

Hunter used the Karate-style, so even though her jacket and suit appeared to be made of cloth, they were actually ether. So they all shattered like glass and scattered as fragments of light.

But that was not all.

Ether light burst from the Hedgehog Device’s dividing lines and it exploded.

It broke apart.

But Horinouchi knew that Hunter had previously taken her attacks intentionally to heat up her Phlogiston Heart.

Hunter most likely had a defense spell to allow the damage to escape.

…''In that case…

Horinouchi’s arrow was meant to pierce Hunter’s armor and permeate its damage through her.

But what if Hunter had destroyed her own armor just beforehand?

She could see the answer before her.

Hunter’s left hand grabbed something amid the fragments of light.

It was the stake of light that had been loaded inside the Hedgehog.

Its presence meant her Normal Frame had not been fully destroyed. And…

“She’s repairing it!?”

A series of instants followed. Her left arm came first, next was the power arm that connected to the Hedgehog, and then came her left shoulder. The jacket, inner suit, the other arm, and the Hedgehog’s base all appeared at the same time.

Finally, the sensor headwear took its position and reset itself with a spray of light.

“You used your accumulated heat to repair it!?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’ll delay summoning my Magino Frame, but it was worth it!”

After all, she had reconstructed her Normal Frame from extreme close range.

“I’m close enough to reach you!”

Hunter attacked with a shield bash using the Hedgehog.

The stake inside had yet to fully form, but the attack still reached.

…''It hit!

Horinouchi defended, but it was still a solid blow. The clash of metal on metal sounded loudly.

“Kh.”

Horinouchi groaned and fell back.

She was fast and it seemed unfair to move that fast when retreating, but complaining would not help. She most likely had that speed because she was using the Suzaku as her servant. This time, it was Hunter’s turn to pursue.

She ran through the air after her enemy.

Arrows flew her way, but they were clearly not meant to hit. They were meant to hold her back long enough for Horinouchi to regain her position. In other words, Horinouchi was not ready for a proper attack.

But Hunter was.

And so she said the same thing she had before.

“You’re distracted, Horinouchi!”

''Calm down,'' Horinouchi told herself.

The battle had turned in Hunter’s favor and Horinouchi had been forced into the kind of defensive battle she had trouble with. Panicking would not help and she could not simply put up with this.

…''I need to calm down, stop her, and fight back!

After speaking those words in her heart, she was reminded of where her weaknesses were: close-range battles, defense, and assaults.

If she had the power to handle those things, she could likely win.

But of course, that was impossible. After all, she was not perfect.
…''But if I had an attacker to work with me…

She knew who that would be, but…

“…!”

''I’m asking for the impossible,'' she told herself while attempting to maintain her rhythm of evasion and retreat. By moving at her own pace, she could draw her opponent’s movements into that pace and draw the battlefield toward herself.

She had to win here. After all…

“I’ve already received some help.”

The spell circle next to her face contained a certain report.

Koutarou had sent it and it came from Kagami.

Koutarou had given it to her the night before after picking Kagami up. At first glance, it was the same as the battle opponent report put together by Koutarou and the maids, but the contents were different.

It did not simply inform her of the opponent’s combat ability. It contained the reality of fighting against that opponent. In other words, the opponent’s movements, reaction speed, ether consumption rate, and idiosyncrasies.

“What is this?”

She had been surprised by the detailed information the night before and Koutarou had bowed and said the following:

“I am embarrassed to admit we were not the ones to produce this report.”

“Then who did?”

Without raising his head, he had placed a hand on his chest.

“Before the battle, Lady Kagami asked me to record this information.”

“Why?”

“She said it would come in handy when you fought Lady Hunter.”

Koutarou’s immediate answer had likely been Kagami’s immediate answer.

In the battle so far and in the current defensive battle, Kagami’s information had come in handy.

Horinouchi managed to catch her breath and swung her legs in midair to stabilize her movements. Hunter’s attack was coming, but…

…''This is my chance!

''Hunter used the heat of her Phlogiston Heart to remake her Normal Frame,'' thought Horinouchi.

The girl had been building up the heat needed to construct her Magino Frame, so the amount consumed to redo her Normal Frame would not buy Horinouchi much time.

''But,'' she thought. ''She can’t summon her Magino Frame just yet.

So if Horinouchi shifted to offense here…

…''I didn’t waste any ether, so I will be able to summon my Magino Frame first!

Their positions were reversed.

Hunter’s only option was to attack.

But Horinouchi did not have the defenses needed to fight a defensive battle when that girl was on the attack.

So it all came down to how she fought. Could she endure Hunter’s attacks long enough to summon her Magino Frame?

If she made the wrong move, Hunter could build up her heat again and summon her Magino Frame first.

“It all comes down to this!”

Just as Horinouchi made up her mind, Hunter charged right in front of her. Light was already building up inside the Hedgehog.

That light created an ether stake.

The other girl was also ready to end this here.

<noinclude>
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