Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 3 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 5===

A few days ago, Tachibana Hatsune was lectured by someone she met for the first time, criticizing her for lacking know-how on selecting alcoholic beverages.

The trouble was that Hatsune was still a minor. She had not the slightest clue how to judge the quality of alcohol. She also did not know how drinkers thought. Hence, she decided to use the simplest solution of "outsourcing."

One after another, Hatsune phoned her Tachibana relatives who were living in the Suruga area.

"Hello, Uncle? Please send all the 'fine wine' you've got at home to the Fuji tutelary fort. The princess needs them. Don't even think about withholding the good stuff, or else I'll report you to the princess and tell her to condemn you!"

As a result, Hatsune received her alcohol the following day.

The Tachibana clan had no lack of ruffians and were hearty drinkers whose alcohol tolerance matched their martial strength and valor. The fine liquor treasured by these men was all shipped over to the Fuji tutelary fort by military transport vehicles for Hatsune.

In total, there were at least ten big crates.

This included limited-production local beers, sake of all varieties from standard up to the rare stuff of dreams, imported whiskey that would be a rarity anywhere in the world, thirty types of "Grand Vin" that had been snatched from a wealthy household's cellar, and an extremely rare collection of shouchuu. Everything was of the finest quality, coveted by discerning drinkers.

Previously, Rindou-sensei had declined Shiori's repeated invitations to come to Suruga, citing "too much of a bother" as her reason.

Precisely due to having such a personality, Rindou-sensei moved directly into the Fuji tutelary fort's barracks and "could not be bothered to leave" after seeing so much fine liquor, spending her days locked up in the barracks, savoring the alcohol alone.

After that, the day to attack Hakone arrived.

By her protege's side, Rindou-sensei paid extra attention to Shiori than usual.

Rindou-sensei had accompanied them to Ogawarajou too. Along the way, she was drinking from a stainless steel hip flask containing a phantom sake of limited availability called "Godslayer!"

The slightly tipsy mentor had stayed in the castle. She was supposed to simply see the princess off from there.

However, she unexpectedly appeared at the second tutelary fort, Suzaku Gate, to intervene between Eleanor and Shiori.

"Rindou-sensei..."

Shiori breathed a sigh of relief and called out her mentor's name.

This young girl, who looked like she belonged in elementary school, with a blue kimono and blue hair, was undoubtedly Rindou-sensei. As for her unanticipated arrival, Shiori was not surprised.

Rindou-sensei was capable of teleporting like pipe foxes or sprites if she wanted to.

Elusive and wielding powers of great potency and versatility were precisely Rindou-sensei's traits.

"Hmph."

Rindou-sensei glanced at the immobilized Hatsune and said, "Charm noesis that captures Chevaliers, turning them into servants&mdash;You are using quite an interesting technique. Nevertheless, it is useless against the princess and me, since ''we are not knights'', after all."

"You found out at a glance... Yours are truly discerning eyes of wisdom."

Eleanor smiled then acted swiftly and deftly.

She raised her right hand and suddenly shot, clearly very used to handling guns. The deadly bullet flew at Rindou-sensei's young face&mdash;

But it was deflected before it could hit.

"A noesis barrier..."

This time, it was Eleanor's turn for surprise to fill that pretty face of hers.

Rindou-sensei's petite body was glowing white faintly, and the light deflected the bullet. Furthermore, a snake was coiled around Sensei's blue kimono.

The silver-white snake flickered its tongue while atop Sensei.

The snake was two meters long with sharp eyes the color of rubies.

"A little snake that activates a noesis barrier... This pet wouldn't happen to be an ifrit, would it? From what I can see, you are something like a spirit, aren't you?"

"Hmph, stop wasting time on such inane matters."

Rindou-sensei conjured a fan into her hand as though performing a magic trick. Opening the closed fan, Rindou smiled and declared haughtily, "Though I am a very lazy person, I happen to be diligent at telling others to do my bidding. O daughter of lions, let my proxy punish you, go!"

"Good grief~ You're such a slave driver, Sensei!"

Immobilized all this time, Hatsune suddenly sprang into action.

Just now, the instant when Sensei had opened her fan forcefully, the noesis binding the novice Chevalier had vanished like a puff of smoke. This was due to Rindou-sensei's magical powers.

With a great swing of her arm, Hatsune threw something at Eleanor.

"But at least it was worth it for me to offer so much fine liquor as a gift!"

"Guh!"

Eleanor jumped away reflexively to dodge the blue object that Hatsune had thrown.

It was a blue scroll. For the sake of haste, Hatsune had thrown the physical manifestation of Kurou Hougan Yoshitsune's Appellation, the blue scroll, at Eleanor.

Last time, Hatsune had used the same attack to distract the witch Eleanor when she showed up at Suruga.

Unlike last time, Hatsune still had other measures available.

"Kurou!"

A winged giant soldier standing behind them also moved. One of the two Kurou Hougans. Its gigantic body, almost eight meters tall, raised its bayonet rifle with lightning speed like a tengu.

The muzzle instantly released a beam, firing ten shots in an instant.

"Father, grant me the power of your blessings!"

Just as the Kurou Hougan opened fire, Eleanor transformed into ''a black eagle''.

The beautiful maiden swiftly turned into a bird of prey. She had used this transformation skill at Suruga too.

Eleanor flew into the air, dodging the ten consecutive flashes of light. Immediately, ten pillars of water shot up violently in the water shrine with great splashes.

The ten flashes of light had shot the water surface of the artificial ectoplasmic fluid.

Turned into an eagle, Eleanor flapped her wings and soared, escaping the water shrine through the opening in the ceiling and into the underground tunnel that Shiori and her entourage had used to enter.

Only Japanese girls, utterly drenched, were left at the scene.

"That girl reacts so quickly, just like last time."

Hatsune sounded disappointed. The other party's reflexes were like a beast's. As fellow princesses who had inherited the blood of sacred beasts, Eleanor's reflexes and athletic ability was far superior to Shiori's.

"Thanks to her swift escape, we are saved."

Rindou-sensei stuck out her tongue, trying to get the last drop of liquor from her upside-down hip flask.

"To be honest, my magic is about to run out."

"Why, Sensei?"

"Without alcohol, I have neither mood nor magic. When I no longer feel tipsy, this thing will disappear too."

"...So basically, it's like the drunken fist?" Hatsune asked in puzzlement.

The silver-white snake, coiled around Rindou-sensei until now&mdash;the miniature manifestation of the ifrit Fukuryuu&mdash;vanished spontaneously.

Now that there was no one to disturb her, Shiori focused her mind to enhance her senses.

After concentrating for around sixty seconds, she noticed signs that the divinity baseplate was hidden in a certain pillar. Next, she was going to try out the enchanted ceremony Sensei had taught her.

"Gold does not fear trials of flame. Heroes do not fear trials of hardship. Abandon all hope, ye who enter this door."

Shiori recited the mantra as an imperial princess.


Today, Hakone's sky was gray and dim.

On clear days, it was possible to see Mount Fuji in the northwest, thirty kilometers away. Currently, dark clouds were shrouding the sky, with sounds of rumbling thunder.

These were warning signs of a cataclysm about to rock the heavens and the world.

The three-eyed phoenix in the air over Suzaku gate&mdash;

The eyeball on the phoenix's head was proof of Morgan le Fay's control. However, the third eye suddenly vanished, replaced by a "皇" character, which had meanings of "emperor" or "imperial."

Hakone's second ifrit had turned to the Japanese imperial family's control.

"I hereby order you, Suzaku, subordinate kin of the sacred beast, Lord Tenryuu. Take what I, Fujinomiya Shiori, say as the decree of my grandfather, Lord Tenryuu, and swear absolute allegiance."

Transmitting noetic waves from the underground water shrine, Shiori commanded Suzaku.

Her body became drained and her legs lost strength. She was about to collapse and faint on the ground any moment.

This was probably the price of invoking the master-servant enchanted ritual by borrowing the mighty name of her grandfather, Lord Tenryuu. The vitality she had lost was perhaps equivalent to a year's lifespan.

...In fact.

Ever since the descent of sacred beasts upon the world, similar transactions have been taking place all over the world.

Starting from the latter half of the nineteenth century, the world underwent momentous changes. Women who had been wedded to sacred beasts, or their children who inherited the bloodlines of sacred beasts, would consume their life in exchange for obtaining mystical powers for their country.

Examples included Legions, artificial ectoplasmic fluid, ifrits, retainer beasts, noetic control, water shrines, fluid reactors...

Presently, Princess Shiori had taken control of the giant phoenix that protected Hakone.

She commanded, "O Suzaku, release all your noesis and go to sleep. I grant you special permission to give up your mission of protecting Hakone for the time being."

In the sky over Suzaku Gate, the golden phoenix howled loudly.

At the same time, its gigantic body, with a wingspan of seventy meters, released a golden aura.

This light was noetic energy, which was originally colorless and intangible. Excessively powerful noesis would exhibit color visible to the naked eye.

The golden noesis rushed into the sky that was filled with dark clouds, expanding like a display of aurora borealis.

The noesis presented to the heavens dispersed and vanished like smoke. The formerly golden phoenix changed color too, turning into a vivid fiery red.

Vermilion was precisely the rightful appearance of the ifrit Suzaku.

This change precipitated a chain reaction. Shiori spoke solemnly, "The trump card defending Hakone, the Four Gods, was born by merging the noetic energy of Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu. Now that the noetic energy of one of the divinities, Suzaku's, has returned to the heavens, the Four Gods can no longer be sustained... Hakone has finally lost all its walls now."

These words constituted an oracle delivered by the Saiguu, the supreme shrine maiden of the Japanese nation.

At the first tutelary fort in the east, the three-eyed golden dragon turned back into the original Seiryuu.

At the third tutelary fort in the west, the three-eyed giant tiger with golden fur turned back into Byakko.

At the fourth tutelary fort in the north, the three-eyed golden turtle with a snake for a tail turned back into the black Genbu.

The noetic energy of the four-in-one union collapsed.

Of course, the British could no longer use ultra durable noesis barriers or meteorological decrees. The Four Gods Union had been disengaged forcibly, even making it impossible to keep the ifrits manifested.

The four ifrits vanished suddenly.

Hakone Checkpoint instantly lost its castle walls.

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