Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

The water shrine was located between a hundred to two hundred meters beneath the nation-protecting keep.

Compared to the nation-protecting keep's ground floor hall above the surface, the water shrine was ten times more spacious. One could call it an extremely vast space. Simply stated, it was a "wide open space enclosed in stone," built entirely from white marble.

The ceiling was very tall, at least twenty meters high.

Dozens of round pillars were distributed evenly within, every pillar identical in size with a diameter of six or seven meters. The style was reminiscent of ancient Greek temples.

There were no signs of humans in this serene environment.

Conversely, there was a great quantity of "blue water" on the ground.

As far as the eye could see, it was a marine-blue surface, similar in color to the beautiful southern seas. The water was crisscrossed by narrow pieces of stone, presumably to use as paths. They were not numerous but people could walk on them.

This place, filled with blue holy water, was a sacred temple of water.

There was one corner connected to this network of paths over the blue water surface.

A certain girl dressed as a shrine maiden was standing there, unmoving. It was the image of the genie Sakuya. However, her outline was even more blurred than before.

Her current condition was very weak, not even able to sustain a projection.

(Invading, Le, gion... Seiryuu, sustain, failure&mdash;)

Sakuya was pondering blankly.

Despite her young appearance, Sakuya was actually a genie that had lived for close to a century. Her soul had accumulated much fatigue. Her personality was also "timid" and "fragile."

For delicate girl like her, the invasion of Crusades has been a painful trial.

Coming into contact at close range with noetic waves from the fighting spirit, bloodlust and offensive intent exuding from the two Chevaliers and many Legions had subjected Sakuya's soul to severe damage, as though she had been physically attacked.

Contact with the outside world was currently a heavy burden for her.

Just now, she had driven away an unwelcome pipe fox. That being said, she still wanted to fulfill her duties.

(Attempt to re-summon Seiryuu... Failure. Calling reinforcements... Attempting noetic communication&mdash;)

Sakuya dutifully engaged in several tasks slowly.

Progress was as slow as a turtle. She patiently waited for the tasks to complete. She noticed a certain task had finished, the status of friendly forces had been verified.

(Chevalier Kamamoto... Killed in action. However, the battle continues...)

Normally speaking, when the commanding Chevalier died in battle, his Legions would also vanish completely.

However, the Kamuys were obeying the old man's final will on this occasion and refused to give up fighting.

Imperial Japan's Legion, the Kamuy, was noted for its utmost loyalty to their lords. The secret to the current inspirational story probably stemmed from these Kamuys' decades-long bonds with the elderly knight in addition to their loyal dispositions.

However, reality was harsh after all. An army that had lost its commander could not possibly be in strong position.

The Kamuys valiantly resisted the enemy's thirty-odd Crusades but that was the limit. Most likely, in a few more minutes, the army of Kamuys were going to be wiped out. Or perhaps the final will's effects would weaken and they were going to disappear on their own.

It was during these few minutes...

The situation changed. Two Crusades broke through the defensive line, freed themselves of the Kamuys obstructing them, and successfully invaded the tutelary fort.


Together with Princess Shiori and his distant cousin Hatsune, Masatsugu was within the tutelary fort's premises.

Two British Legions, Crusades, had finally descended from the sky. The Kamuys guarding the side gate had rushed over to intercept the enemy.

Imperial Japan's two blue samurai fired consecutively while approaching the Crusades.

Naturally, the British forces shot back. Both sides deployed protective barriers while exchanging fire. In terms of numbers, they were evenly matched two against two.

However, having lost their commander, the Kamuys moved sluggishly and were easily shot and killed by the Crusades.

Pierced by beams in the abdomen, they vanished like morning mist.

"Princess!? Those two gate guards were easily dispatched by the enemy!" Hatsune shrieked in alarm, but there were also others fighting against the British Legions.

Neither Chevaliers nor Legions, they were the soldiers of the Suruga tutelary fort.

Driving a number of lightly armored vehicles, they approached the two Crusades. One soldier opened the top hatch and exposed his upper torso. He was carrying an anti-tank rocket launcher on his shoulder.

This weapon fired 110mm rocket-propelled grenades, specialized for countering heavy tank armor.

Furthermore, there was a small military truck carrying a small surface-to-air missile launcher platform.

Using the weapons of conventional forces, they attempted to oppose the Legions.

Ten-odd grenades and missiles were shot in succession at the invading Crusades.

Every projectile met its mark. Explosions and shockwaves produced a raging storm to ravage the two British Legions. Unfortunately, their white armor suffered no damage at all.

Witnessing this scene, Shiori sighed, "Attacks without mystic powers have a 90% chance of having no effect. This is a property shared by all Legions. Without a massive stroke of good fortune, it is impossible to defeat them using conventional weaponry..."

After that, the sound of propellers arrived at the scene.

Two combat helicopters were flying at the Crusades in a pincer attack.

Anti-tank missile launchers were hanging beneath the helicopters, and of course, the pilots launched them, but it was pointless.

The two Crusades fired indiscriminately in merciless retribution.

Armored vehicles, trucks, and helicopters were all shot and exploded. This could not be helped. Even a tank division with heavy armor and superior firepower would not be able to handle a single Legion...

"Good heavens!"

Hatsune gasped. Fortunately, these brave soldiers did not sacrifice themselves in vain. While they were holding the Crusades' attention, another four Kamuys arrived from the sky.

Sensing Shiori's noetic waves earlier, the Kamuys had rushed to assist in defense of the tutelary fort.

The Blue Samurai and the two Crusades were no more than ten meters apart. This was a distance where the bayonet part of their weapons would play their role, engaging in close quarter combat with a clash of blades.

...However, the two Crusades were more agile than the four Kamuys.

Whenever the Crusades swung their rifles, the vicious blades fitted on the tips would tear through the Kamuys' blue armor and uniform, splattering blue blood.

Indeed, the blood coursing through the veins of Legions was blue. More precisely, it should be called ectoplasmic fluid.

This blue liquid was the source of all kinds of mystic powers, for things as small as automatons possessed by spirits or entities as large as Legions or water shrines. Such was the purpose of ectoplasmic fluid.

"Princess, Onii-sama! Look!" Hatsune pointed to one of the Crusades and yelled.

The winged giant soldier of white was holding a Kamuy by the neck with its right hand. The Kamuy was raised up and tossed far away.

The Kamuy's exhausted and giant body flew through the air under the setting sun's rays.

Following a parabolic trajectory, the eight-meter body was about to fall upon Masatsugu's group...

"Hurry and run! Immediately!"

Shiori issued orders swiftly. Hatsune and Masatsugu reacted just as quickly.

Hatsune dashed as speedily as a gazelle and was the first to escape the Legion's likely crash site. Of course, Masatsugu did not fall behind by much.

As a fellow youngster of the Tachibana clan, Masatsugu was just about to demonstrate his explosive acceleration when...

"Kyah...!"

Unexpectedly, the girl beside him fell. The ground was clearly flat with no obstacles nearby, yet the girl tripped while running, falling flat on the grassy lawn.

Masatsugu halted just as he was about to sprint.

He forcibly interrupted his dash. The gigantic Kamuy was about to hit the ground in less than five seconds.

He did not have enough time to pick up the fallen girl and run away at full speed.

"......!"

Having just been appointed as the girl's bodyguard, Masatsugu felt inclined to rescue her. Even if he were not a bodyguard, there was no way he could leave a girl to her own devices in the face of imminent death.

Based on these thoughts, his body executed a certain action, but definitely not out of pure recklessness.

He believed with certainty that he could save the girl this way and that ''he himself'' would definitely survive.

"Masatsugu-sama!?"

Masatsugu threw himself on top of the stunned Shiori.

He supported himself on his arms and legs as though performing push-ups to avoid resting his weight on the princess. Thus, Shiori was positioned in the small space between Masatsugu and the ground.

Immediately, a strong impact struck Masatsugu's back.

"Guhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The Kamuy weighed several hundred tons.

Masatsugu clenched his teeth, enduring the impact and the weight of the fallen Legion. He held on, painfully, excruciatingly... A minute or two passed. his push-ups posture did not collapse.

Weighing on Masatsugu's back was the giant's chest area.

The fallen Kamuy was lying face down.

"Masatsugu-sama, Masatsugu-sama!?"

Hearing the princess crying out anxiously under him, Masatsugu breathed a sigh of relief.

The fact that Shiori could still speak meant that she was unharmed. He noticed that Fujinomiya Shiori's surprised but beautiful face was just in front of his eyes, extremely close to him.

Now that he thought about it, this posture was like he was pinning the princess down to have his way with her.

Naturally, they were not embracing each other. Neither was he experiencing the lovely softness of a woman. Nevertheless, because they were in close proximity, Masatsugu noticed something.

Despite the princess' slim figure, she was quite mature and sexy as a woman.

The curves of her bust and hips were quite voluptuous. If she and Hatsune were to stand side by side in their swimsuits, it would definitely be a close competition.

"Masatsugu-sama... Masatsugu-sama! A-Are you unharmed!?"

"I'm fine. By the way, Your Highness, may I ask you a question?"

"P-Please proceed."

"You tripped over just as we started running... Do you happen to be very bad at sports?"

"Th-This is one of my secrets and an especially important one at that. I cannot tell you easily!"

"Since it affects my work as a bodyguard, I have to make sure. However..."

Pinned under a Legion's massive body, Masatsugu was lying on top of the imperial princess. One hour ago, never in his wildest dreams would he have expected this to happen. However, Masatsugu was calm to an unbelievable degree.

Indeed, this trivial situation was no crisis.

"No need to answer the question. I already understand from your response just now."

"What!? Oh, by the way, Masatsugu-sama, this strength of yours&mdash;"

Masatsugu did not wait for the princess to finish speaking.

Mustering all his strength, he slowly pushed himself up.

"Gu... uhh... G&mdash;uhhhhhhhhhh!"

Using his back, Masatsugu slowly lifted the several-hundred-ton Kamuy and tried to stand up from the ground.

He finally managed a half-crouching posture. Currently, Masatsugu was acting like a human industrial jack, lifting the several hundred ton weight of a Kamuy's chest by a height of eighty or ninety centimeters.

Next, he finished his action in one go.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Accompanied by a violent shout, Masatsugu straightened his posture, standing up with an imposing form.

Finally, he pushed the Kamuy off his head as though flipping a pancake on a griddle. This monstrous strength was truly ridiculous.

Spinning half a circle, the blue giant fell on the ground again.

Previously, the Kamuy was lying face down, but this time, its back hit the ground, producing a heavy impact sound at the scene.

Standing next to the Kamuy, Masatsugu relaxed his shoulders casually.

He was bleeding somewhere on the top of his head and the blood slid down his forehead. Masatsugu felt deeply impressed. To think that he only suffered this bit of injury. An ordinary human could not possibly be this strong and sturdy.

Thanks to this power, he had protected the princess. Lying on the ground, the princess looked at him blankly.

Over to the side, Hatsune was frozen on the spot. She asked Masatsugu in astonishment, "Onii-sama... Th-Thank goodness you're okay. No wait, what the heck did you just do!?"

Turning his back to the two girls, Masatsugu moved forward. A detailed discussion would have to wait until things were settled.

He slowly approached the two Crusades. Of the Kamuy that had been fighting, only one remained while the rest were all lying on the ground as corpses. (As a side note, the lone survivor was the Kamuy that had been lying on top of Masatsugu and Shiori just now.)

The white Crusades of Britain no longer had opponents to fight for a while already.

However, they halted simultaneously.

Staring at the tiny mortal, they acted as though they had met a terrifying enemy.

The Crusades lifted their rifles and aimed at Masatsugu on the ground.

Masatsugu himself walked leisurely at the Crusades and merely issued a simple order. Againt such ''small fry'', there was no need for him to get his hands dirty.

"Finish them."

The Kamuy lying on the ground behind Masatsugu reacted after almost crushing the princess and Masatsugu to death earlier. Eyes lighting up, the samurai crawled back up to its feet in fluid motions.

The Kamuy's method of getting up was reminiscent of a beast's speed and agility&mdash;

The Kamuy then flew over Masatsugu's head, charging at the two Crusades like a leopard.

Thrusting its bayonet rifle with lightning speed, the Kamuy pierced a British Legion in the chest with the blade. However, the assault was far from over.

Pulling out the bayonet rifle, the Kamuy slashed upwards at a slant.

This slash severed the other Crusade's carotid artery.

The battle had ended. The Kamuy's swift offensive struck vitals with precision, easily slaughtering the two Crusades.

"Red-purple...?" muttered Masatsugu to himself.

The Kamuy following his orders had quietly changed color.

Originally blue, its armor and military uniform had turned "a shade of purple mixed with the color of blood." Neither plain nor glamorous, it was quite a striking shade of red-purple, however.

...At this moment, the loud noise of propeller blades resounded in the air over the tutelary fort.

A military helicopter had flown in from the west, flanked by ten-odd blue Kamuys. Reinforcements had finally arrived.

"It should be Rikka-sama from House Akigase. Leave the rest to her."

By the time Masatsugu noticed, Shiori had come to his side.

"Masatsugu-sama... Have you finally awakened? A ''legatus legionis'' at last&mdash;A true Chevalier."

The princess had spoken unfamiliar words.

Imperial Japan's princess was gazing at Masatsugu's face.
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