Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 2===

Slightly earlier...

"We should head to Nagoya too."

It was the morning of November 7th when Tachibana Masatsugu had asserted that.

It was 9:13am at the time. Several hours earlier, he had just defeated the thousand Legions led by King Richard the Lionheart to invade Suruga.

Today, Richard was originally supposed to attack Nagoya too.

However, the Suruga side had succeeded in provoking his passion, setting his heart ablaze. With less than half a day before the Nagoya operation, he went straight for Suruga, unable to suppress his urge to go for a "secret snack"...

The two sides had fought a nocturnal battle.

Fighting bravely throughout the night, the forces of the Suruga tutelary fort won at last.

While everyone was celebrating the hard-earned victory, they received news that "the Restoration Alliance was beginning to march on Nagoya." As soon as Masatsugu heard it, he expressed his view.

Suruga's castellan, Akigase Rikka, tilted her head in puzzlement and asked, "You mean we will go to participate in the battle at Nagoya?"

"Precisely."

"Masatsugu-dono, to be honest, there isn't any point, is there?"

All of Suruga's Chevaliers had gathered this morning for a war council.

The ones present were respectively Masatsugu, Rikka, Tachibana Hatsune, as well as the two Chevaliers from Yamanashi, Habuna and Maike, with the additional presence of Alexis Yang, the military adviser sent by the Eastern Roman Empire.

Of course, the noble princess of Imperial Japan, Fujinomiya Shiori was present too&mdash;

House Akigase's Chevalier princess address the group calmly, "Last night, we lost a great number of Legions. My Kamuys are down to a hundred or so. I suppose Masatsugu-dono's Kanesadas are not available in decent numbers either?"

"Rikka-sama," Hatsune spoke up timidly. "What you mean is going there will be useless?"

"...Something like that. Given the current circumstances, if the Restoration Alliance&mdash;or rather, the British forces&mdash;were to get serious, there is no way for us to reverse the fate of Nagoya's fall no matter how we struggle. Should any of us fall in battle, it would be far worse than losing Nagoya."

Nagoya was Akigase Rikka's hometown and Nagoya Castle was her home.

However, she spoken with great detachment to explain why they should not head to the rescue. Her extraordinary qualities as a general were what allowed her to suppress her personal feelings regarding the matter.

Hatsune looked sadly at her senior knight.

Remaining calm and indifferent, Rikka continued to analyze. "Nagoya is quite far away from Suruga. Moving across a long distance in one go will be very draining on Legions. Masatsugu-dono, why don't we observe the situation for now instead?"

Just as Masatsugu was about to reply, Shiori spoke first, "Indeed... Rikka-sama, you make a firm case."

The noble and intelligent Shiori was well-versed in politics and strategy.

The bloodline of Lord Tenryuu the sacred beast had given her a head of platinum blonde hair as well as outstanding special powers.

As a result, every Chevalier here would listen to her seriously and consider her opinion. However, Alexis Yang was staring at Shiori's pretty face in amusement.

"Suruga currently lacks usable troops, an expedition to Nagoya would impose a heavy burden on Suruga, and we do not have sufficient power to turn the tide in the overall situation. However..."

Shiori's clear eyes gazed at Masatsugu.

This was a steadfast gaze with deep faith in her subordinate's abilities.

"Masatsugu-sama, you believe that... doing so will produce definite benefits, don't you?"

"Yes, ''in order to make effective use of the opportunity before us'', we must make a trip to Nagoya."

Masatsugu's tone was calm without any zeal.

However, the word "opportunity" had caught everyone's attention. The other Chevaliers leaned forward, waiting for Masatsugu to speak.

"I see now," Alexis Yang said with delight after listening to Masatsugu's explanation. "I believe that this excellent idea is worth a try. Say, rather than an opportunity, I'd call it a challenge instead."

Several hours later, Rikka led an army of a hundred Kamuys and charged into Nagoya.


"To think he came up with something this outrageous so quickly after last night's battle..."

This morning, Masatsugu had provided a battle plan.

Rikka could not help but smile wryly at the thought of that plan. The staff officer from the Roman military was right. Making effective use of ''this shred of luck that could barely be called an opportunity'' would require a challenge as risky as walking on thin ice.

The first challenge was the expedition to Nagoya.

First of all, Rikka must sortie in secret.

The Restoration Alliance's scouts would notice if she openly marched out of the Suruga tutelary fort.

Rikka summoned a hundred Kamuys, applied stealth noetic techniques on them, then sent them underwater into Suruga Bay in batches of ten.

Flying in the sky without cover would be extremely easy for the enemy to spot.

After that, her army entered the mountains from Suruga City's outskirts and went upstream along the Abe River.

Then flying at low speed along the mountain ridge of the Southern Alps, they secretly made their way to Nagoya. Rikka accompanied them on a wyvern.

In fact, movement through deep mountains was quite draining on Legions.

The local earth spirits in the mountains would entangle Legions, trying to assimilate them into becoming "companions." Eliminating interference from earth spirits required expenditure of mystic power.

In any case, Rikka's army moved west while consuming ectoplasmic fluid.

Fortunately, Rikka was able to reach the outskirts of Nagoya without being detected by scouts or noetic reconnaissance. This was probably due to the Restoration Alliance devoting their resources to their large-scale operation.

Hence, it was around 16:00 on November 7th.

A group of Crusades had broken through Nagoya Castle's noesis barrier. At the same time, Rikka's army had also entered the battlefield.

"Avoid unnecessary fighting. We will rush straight to the castle!"

Rikka rode her wyvern and led her army personally.

Aerial fights were taking place in the sky all over the metropolis of Nagoya.

Despite their disadvantage, the Tōkaidō provincial army had held their ground against the Restoration Alliance's Kamuys and Crusades. Neither side was using formations anymore.

The Legions were skirmishing, acting according to their own judgment.

Amid this chaos, Rikka's army entered a wedge formation and flew straight for Nagoya Castle.

Doing so would inevitably stand out. Lady Chevalier Rikka was also standing gallantly at the forefront of the formation ''as a means of attracting even more attention''.

"Sing for me and let everyone know that I, Akigase Rikka, have returned to Nagoya!"

Her hundred Kamuys responded to her command and roared.

&mdash;Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

&mdash;Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This was the War Cry, where Legions emitted shouts and mystic power from behind their masks.

As soon as the friendly forces of the Tōkaidō Kamuys and Chevaliers heard this fierce song of magical effect, they would instantly understand that House Akigase's eldest daughter had returned.

What Rikka was doing was alerting ''allies'' of her presence&mdash;

This was her true aim.

She gently kicked her wyvern's belly, ordering her mount to speed up. Having flown at low speed along the mountain ridge earlier, it had been a while since she last sliced through the wind.

The refreshing feeling made her smile. Advancing without impediment was exhilarating.

Currently, Rikka's hundred Kamuys were in a packed formation, flying through the sky as a giant wedge. Her army sliced through the battlefield and Nagoya Castle was within sight.

In order to block Rikka's army, the enemy would need to muster a packed formation too.

However, for the Crusades led by the Knights of Her Majesty, immediately organizing themselves in a formation during a chaotic battle would be quite difficult.

"My patience was worth it. This is precisely the situation I had hoped for."

Rikka grinned. She could have rushed into the battlefield earlier, but chose to bide her time instead. She was well aware that reinforcements of a mere hundred Legions would not turn the tide of battle.

Nagoya Castle&mdash;Almost there.

Rikka's conspicuous act worked. Nagoya Castle immediately disengaged the defensive noesis barrier.

"They're letting me through? Thank you so much!"

Leading a hundred Kamuys, Rikka charged into Nagoya Castle's premises.

She gazed down upon the golden carps on central keep's roof, the inner citadel, the outer citadel, the government office, the Akigase residence, the majestic Japanese garden, etc. She had finally "returned home."
[[image:ChronicleLegion 03 BW01.jpg|thumb]]

The noesis barrier activated again. Rikka ordered her Legions.

"Scatter. Defeat any trespassing Crusades inside the castle. Your mission is to make a last stand and guard Nagoya Castle with your lives."

The hundred Kamuys behind her broke out of formation and scattered to look for signs of the enemies.

There were twenty-odd wyverns mixed in the group, carrying personnel with special skills, such as noetic officers, all of them brought here from Suruga intentionally.

They were tasked with an important mission too.

Rikka nodded and emitted noesis, issuing further orders to her Kamuys.

"Call out to the comrades of the Tōkaidō provincial army and have them assemble here. Summon all Legions and Chevaliers to return to the castle by my command."

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

The blue samurai scattered throughout the castle.

The singing from their distinctive voices, with a relaxed and pliable tone color akin to ripples on the surface of water, was gradually spreading through Nagoya City.