Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 1 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 3===

The princess ended up waking two minutes later. Discovering that she had collapsed on the path over the blue reservoir of ectoplasmic fluid, she hastily got up.

Masatsugu was by her side, watching over her.

Furthermore, Shiori's only upper body garment was a brassiere. Masatsugu had covered the unconscious princess with her removed blouse and his own uniform jacket.

"E-Excuse me."

Shiori lowered her head in shame because she had allowed her sleeping appearance to be seen.

She hastily put on her blouse and fastened the buttons with fingers trembling in embarrassment, then fixed up her attire in sequence.

"P-Please stop staring at me while I am dressing. I-It feels very embarrassing."

"Sorry, this feels kind of nostalgic, which is why I..."

"Nostalgic?"

"Yes. I used to watch women dress up after sessions of intimacy&mdash;"

"M-M-M-M-Masatsugu-sama! Do not mention such past experiences in my presence ever again!"

While they were talking, there was a sudden ringing sound in the air.

A pipe fox appeared next to Shiori to report on the battle situation.

"An enemy army from the Fuji tutelary fort&mdash;A total of two hundred Kamuys... A noesis barrier has been deployed at ground level to defend against the enemy attack."

"Two hundred... From one Chevalier?"

"No, the scouting wyvern confirmed four Chevaliers from the Kinai Fiefdom."

"Four of them..."

"Masatsugu-sama, how many Legions are you able to summon after the resupplying just now?" asked Shiori worriedly after Masatsugu listened expressionlessly to the situation report.

Shiori was certainly observant. She knew that the method they had used was merely a "stopgap measure." Feeling truly fortunate for serving such an intelligent princess, Masatsugu replied truthfully without reservation, "Roughly a hundred, which is about half the enemy numbers."

Masatsugu's Chevalier Strength was supposed to be 1000 or so.

Unfortunately, he had not obtained a lot of ectoplasmic fluid. Currently, he was only able to summon 102.

"I see... I am terribly sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Princess?"

"It is my fault that you must fight an uphill battle again, just as in your previous life."

"This is nothing so please don't let it weigh on your mind. You can save the apologies for when we're surrounded by enemies outnumbering us five or ten-fold."

Masatsugu smiled and joked about, but it was not the natural smile he had earlier.

Worried about Masatsugu, Shiori said, "This tutelary fort's ifrit is still in poor shape. If the noesis barrier is breached as easily as it did yesterday, it would be akin to having a great hole in a castle wall&mdash;"

"That's fine. It'll actually be easier if the enemy targets that hole."

"Eh?"

"We just need to set up an ambush at the hole. A collapsed castle wall still has its uses."

Calmly, Masatsugu told his surprised lady liege, "Princess, all you need to do is command me to wipe out the enemy."


The Suruga tutelary fort was located in the mountainous region east of Suruga City.

The surroundings of this fortress were twisting and shimmering like a mirage.

This phenomenon was caused by a noesis barrier. Inside the barrier and above the tutelary fort, a giant image of a blue dragon&mdash;the ifrit Seiryuu&mdash;appeared to face off against the Restoration Alliance army outside the shield.

However, Seiryuu was unable to invoke meteorological decrees tonight.

All power had been diverted to the noesis barrier so that it could hold for as long as possible.

"Fufufufu, a bluff huh..."

The four enemy commanders led two hundred and five Kamuys.

One of them, Chevalier Miura, laughed. His Chevalier Strength was 52.

The remaining three were Maruki, Shinbu, and Doro, whose Chevalier Strengths were respectively 53, 49, and 51. The four of them had petitioned the British Empire's "strategist" to allow them to conduct the attack.

The Black Knight, rumored to be a Resurrectee, had readily agreed.

Prior to their departure, the mysterious English aristocrat had told them, 'From yesterday's battle, we know that Suruga's ifrit does not pose much of a threat. Furthermore, there is more disappointing news. The Akigase Chevalier is injured and unconscious. If the rumor is true, then this will be a boring battle...'

Receiving this news on their departure, the four of them sortied from the Fuji tutelary fort.

...The Kinai Fiefdom they belonged to was composed from the five prefectures of Hyōgo, Wakayama, Nara, Mie, and Shiga along with Kyoto. A total of seventy-two Chevaliers served the fiefdom.

These four would be considered first-rate within the Kinai Fiefdom. They were all men in their forties or early fifties, similar in age and Chevalier Strength. Individually, they were no match for Britain's Knights of Her Majesty, but if the four of them joined forces&mdash;

Confident of victory, the four of them rode blue wyverns to lead their force of Kamuys to attack.

Each Chevalier ordered their own Legions to maintain a spherical formation centered around him.

The area surrounding the Suruga tutelary fort was a lovely hill covered by green grassland and low trees. It was a shame that night had fallen and obscured the beautiful scenery.

The Kinai army went straight for the noesis barrier and Seiryuu at the tutelary fort.

At that moment, Chevalier Miura noticed signs of the enemy.

"Are they Tōkaidō Kamuys!?"

The noesis barrier surrounding the tutelary fort shimmered like heat haze while fifty blue Kamuys appeared in front of the barrier. They had flown into the air from the ground.

Chevaliers were able to sense the noesis from Legions, instantly distinguishing friend from foe.

These Kamuys were identical to the four Chevaliers' Kamuys in appearance but were neither Miura's, Maruki's, Shibu's, nor Doro's.

Surely they must belong to Tōkaidō's Chevalier princess, Akigase Rikka.

" " " "Fire!" " " "

At the four knights' command, the Kinai army's two hundred and five Legions all started firing repeatedly.

In response, the Suruga army's fifty Kamuys deployed their protective barriers and fired back. The two armies clashed but the disparity in strength was too great.

In merely a minute or two, the Kinai army's two hundred and five Legions shot Suruga's fifty to death.

Even at a numerical disadvantage, the battle should not have been so one-sided.

"Merely puppets!"

Chevalier Miura sneered.

The enemy had manifested Legions beforehand and stationed them as defense troops.

Legions would fight autonomously even when their master was absent or asleep. This was a very important way of using them. However, their performance would be much weaker than when receiving orders from a Chevalier nearby. In particular, their agility and barrier strength would be halved.

No wonder Legions in this state were known as puppets.

The fifty Kamuys just now had been positioned ahead of time by the currently unconscious Akigase Rikka.

"Comrades, time to attack!"

Chevalier Miura sent out a pipe fox to inform the other three knights.

The orders were to attack the noesis barrier from four directions and break through.


"Indeed, this method just might work."

Masatsugu and Princess Shiori had arrived at the nation-protecting keep's roof together.

In the elevator, Masatsugu had talked about how to "lay a trap to destroy the enemy." Shiori had expressed strong agreement.

"It could very well turn the unfavorable situation around."

"May I trouble you to issue a command to the ifrit, Princess&mdash;"

"No problem, leave it to me."

It was their first time at the rooftop of the nation-protecting keep. The view was quite expansive there.

It was nighttime. On this forty-meter tower situated on a plateau, one was not only lucky enough to see Suruga Bay under the light of the moon and the stars but also a clear view of the night scenery of Suruga City and Shimizu City nearby.

If this place was not a military installation, it would definitely be the best night viewing spot.

However, war was breaking out close by. The repeated flashes were not lights from cities but came from heat beams fired by bayonet rifles instead. Such light was shot from weapons with the purpose of destruction and slaughter.

Directly above the nation-protecting keep was the hovering image of the ifrit Seiryuu.

The image was seventy meters in total length, a majestic giant dragon. However, the giant dragon roared in pain when the noesis barrier was attacked.

A great mass of air, shimmering like a mirage, surrounded the entire tutelary fort.

The Kinai Fiefdom's two hundred and five Kamuys kept attacking the shimmering barrier with gunfire and bayonets, even colliding with their bodies.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!

The giant dragon ifrit howled many times, writhing its body in pain.

Masatsugu knew that if an ifrit still had the strength to roar loudly, it meant that it was not at its limit yet. He still had plenty of time to put his plan into motion.

As for the Kinai Fiefdom's Kamuys&mdash;

The four Chevaliers were leading roughly fifty Kamuys each. A total of four armies.

These four armies were entrenched east, west, south, and north of the tutelary fort respectively, firing from those four directions. The ifrit Seiryuu was desperately enduring with limbs withdrawn like a turtle.

At this rate, the Suruga tutelary fort would fall before long.

Strangely enough, Masastsugu's cheeks twitched to smile. He had found an opportunity for victory.

The Kinai army of fifty-two on the east were beginning to enter a formation. Rather than a square, it was a scrum.

Yesterday, the British Knight of Her Majesty had combined all troops together for a tackle.

Imitating that tactic, the Kinai army was trying to break the noesis barrier in one go. The situation was going more and more as Masatsugu hoped.

"Princess, please give the command."

"Yes... Masatsugu-sama, please defeat the enemy. Wipe them out."

Solemnly, Shiori issued the order with determination.

She was well aware of the significance behind her order. Even though the opponents were non-human winged giant soldiers, this was still no different from murder. However, those in the position of kingship must issue orders decisively in full awareness of that.

This decisiveness was the rightful responsibility borne by those who sent generals and soldiers to the battlefield.

Masatsugu received the order calmly.

"Acknowledged. I will now take care of them."

Leaving Shiori's side, Masatsugu went to the edge of the roof, stopping in front of the security railing.

The only weapon on him was his sword, Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada, just like yesterday. But tonight, Masatsugu had acquired new power.

"Let's go, guys. Gather under my forgotten name... No." Halfway through, Masatsugu changed his mind and said, "Gather under the noble name of Her Highness."

''My Legions, this is a command to assemble.''

Next to the nation-protecting keep, numerous Legions materialized in the air in front of Masatsugu.

Red-purple Kamuys&mdash;Kanesadas. Masatsugu summoned fifty of them first, all equipped with bayonet rifles. Seeing an army on her side finally appear, Princess Shiori shouted, "The castellan... Rikka-sama's proxy hereby issues a command!"

Shiori transmitted noetic waves, calling to the image of Seiryuu that was enduring painfully over the nation-protecting keep.

"Allow the Restoration Alliance's Kamuys attacking from the east to break through the barrier. Do not stop them. Let them go straight into the tutelary fort!"