Js06: Created page with "==Chapter 32: Pair at the Pledge Ground== thumb ''Power and speed ''Willpower and stubbornness ''Position and relationship '''Point Allocation (Victory and Defeat) ● During her duel with her mother, Kasuya saw a supposedly impossible second blast. …''What is happening!? She understood Kiyomasa’s life must have entered a bonus mode and hit the jackpot. …''With a successful confession and with Excalibur taking a liking to her,..."

2026-04-27T20:03:35Z

Created page with "==Chapter 32: Pair at the Pledge Ground== thumb ''Power and speed ''Willpower and stubbornness ''Position and relationship '''Point Allocation (Victory and Defeat) ● During her duel with her mother, Kasuya saw a supposedly impossible second blast. …''What is happening!? She understood Kiyomasa’s life must have entered a bonus mode and hit the jackpot. …''With a successful confession and with Excalibur taking a liking to her,..."

New page

==Chapter 32: Pair at the Pledge Ground==
[[File:Horizon10B_p0283.jpg|thumb]]
''Power and speed

''Willpower and stubbornness

''Position and relationship

'''Point Allocation (Victory and Defeat)

●

During her duel with her mother, Kasuya saw a supposedly impossible second blast.

…''What is happening!?

She understood Kiyomasa’s life must have entered a bonus mode and hit the jackpot.

…''With a successful confession and with Excalibur taking a liking to her, all the pieces were in place.

Caledfwlch had reacted to Kiyomasa. Or was it lending her its power? Kasuya wasn’t sure.

Either way, the emitted light had burst. And…

“With even more power than before!”

●

A shout was raised before the incoming light.

By Tenzou. He got up and took a single breath to shake off the effects of the previous hit.

“Mary-dono!”

Mary intended to fire Ex. Collbrande again to intercept. But…

…''That’s wrong!

Kiyomasa was aiming elsewhere. She had been aiming at him before, but not this time.

“She’s targeting the Musashino’s bridge!”

A moment later, the lights intersected.

The Ex. Collbrande and Caledfwlch blades clashed at a height and trajectory that brought them together.

●

The light split and the sound boomed.

The great sword of light was answered by the slash of another sword of light that shattered it in its entirety.

Ex. Collbrande’s blade was destroyed by Caledfwlch’s blade, which could be seen as the improved version.

It was a clash between a jab and a slash.

Collbrande’s blade had been on course to bisect its opponent, but it failed to reach.

The blade of light grew to several hundred meters before shattering.

The explosive blast sounded like a roar and Caledfwlch’s blade continued its diagonal strike toward the Musashino’s bridge.

“Open defense barriers! Over!”

They had been ready for this since Kiyomasa arrived on the ship.

Musashino, Okutama, Tama, and Murayama worked together to open the quadruple digit number of defense barriers estimated to be necessary to defend against Excalibur.

Ex. Caledfwlch’s blade pierced through them all.

The defense barriers exploded into ether light a beat later and their pressure did weaken the racing blade, but…

“I got through!” shouted Kiyomasa as Musashino shook.

The diagonal strike stabbed into the upper aft end of the portside support for Musashino’s bridge.

●

An alarm began blaring as soon as the defense barriers were shattered.

“Musashi” transmitted all the incoming reports to shared memory, opened processing sign frames, threw them in folders, and turned to look at Sakai.

“I apologize for the trouble. Over.”

“Hey, you’re not used to this sort of thing, ‘Musashi’-san. Over.”

“My closest experiences would be Lord Shibata’s boarding and the Reine des Garou’s ‘take this, and this’, but I understand those to be special cases. Over.”

Meanwhile, light was bursting below.

Ex. Caledfwlch’s blast had weakened enough it broke apart on its own.

A moment later, more reports and processing sign frames opened, so she threw them into folders again. The relevant automata were already shutting down the severed conduits and rerouting.

“I have determined it is good this happened on Musashino. As a central ship, the surrounding ships can provide support. We should recover in only two or three minutes. Over.”

●

'''Asakusa:''' “Musashino…was this…a good thing? Over.”

'''Musashino:''' “Well, uh, from an overall damage control perspective, I can determine it is acceptable… Over.”

'''Okutama:''' “Wait, doesn’t that mean it could have been me too!? From a damage control perspective! So you can send some of that work my way! Over.”

'''Tama:''' “No, we wouldn’t want to place that much of a burden on you. Over.”

'''Okutama:''' “Wait!? Are you saying Okutama can’t stand in for the Musashi’s central core!? Over.”

'''Almost Everyone:''' “…”

'''Okutama:''' “Wh-what is that silence supposed to mean!? I can handle it! I swear! Over.”

●

In a world full of endless light, a few movements could be seen.

The dazzling explosion of the two holy swords floated down from the sky while Kiyomasa pulled back Ex. Caledfwlch and ran.

Mary took another breath, faced forward, and readied Ex. Collbrande once more.

The figure running behind her was Tenzou.

He rushed out ahead of Mary and threw a kunai toward Kiyomasa’s approaching feet.

Kiyomasa immediately jumped.

She poured Caledfwlch’s excess power into its thruster to leap over the kunai and Tenzou too.

She flew toward Mary as if to tackle her.

“Excuse me, mother!”

She slammed Ex. Caledfwlch toward…

“That sword can no longer protect anything!”

Mary swung Ex. Collbrande in to block.

They both made direct attacks, but their powers differed.

The two blades clashed, sparks flew, and that crimson color contrasted the azure of the ether light falling from the sky.

Then one blade burst. With a weak sound, it shattered in Mary’s hands.

It was destroyed.

The blade split as if succumbing to the pressure.

“––––––”

Ex. Collbrande’s blade collapsed like glass thrown against the wall.

●

“Mary-dono!”

Tenzou turned around and ran to Mary.

He ran toward Mary while she stared in shock at Excalibur’s broken blade in her hands.

He ran toward Mary while she held the hilt in her left hand and tried to gather up the blade’s shards as they spilled through the air.

…''Excuse me!

He wrapped his arm around her and snatched her away with no thought to her posture.

Then he spun around, rested Mary on his waist, and rotated her around to bring her back to her usual position.

“Mary-dono!”

He grabbed her as if catching her to hold her in the usual way.

Mary didn’t seem to know what had happened. She briefly reached into the sky as if still trying to gather the shattered blade from the air, but…

“Eh? U-um, Master Tenzou?”

She looked ill as she stared up at him. Her tension was plain to see.

…''It is unusual to see her looking this badly shaken.

He didn’t think he had seen her like this since he first saw her true form and when they had faced her family in front of the Tower of London. But…

“Master Tenzou, um…”

“Mary-dono,” he said. “What you are thinking now is a mistake.”

Mary looked up into his face and opened her mouth. But then she nodded deeply.

“Yes.”

She looked relieved but she also smiled with her eyebrows lowered. Seeing that made him want to confess his love all over again, but he resisted the urge.

He had her hold Excalibur’s hilt close and this was not the time for collecting the pieces. They had to focus on something else right now.

“…!”

Ex. Caledfwlch’s half blade stabbed in from behind.

Courtesy of Kiyomasa.

“What do you mean it is a mistake!?”

●

Tenzou protected Mary and slid to the left to avoid the blade, but the half-sickle pursued him. The mobile shell’s power assistance allowed Kiyomasa to swing the blade outwards even as she jabbed it forward.

A human might be able to pull that off, but not with consistency and accuracy.

After seeing his action, she had change the direction of her attack in progress. He had been able to predict it because he had gotten a look at the full field of view beforehand, but…

…''How much training does it take to do that!?

Like this, battling in such a wide open space with so much light illuminating everything was a bad idea.

This battlefield gave their opponent an advantage, and…

“You!”

Kiyomasa’s eyebrows were raised as she launched another attack. He held Mary to his chest and did his best not to let her see Kiyomasa, but the things Kiyomasa was saying still bothered her.

She wanted to say something, but she remained silent and focused on the space behind her while finally looking up at Tenzou.

…''That must mean she chose to believe what I told her.

They were in an unprecedented situation here.

…''A child from the future? Ex. Collbrande broken? And swords drawn among family?

He felt like he was entirely responsible for that last one, but if anything happened, they had decided they would face it together, talk it out, and overcome it.

He wouldn’t prevent Mary from making a hasty statement here, but they didn’t need to make up their minds based on that.

That would be a mistake.

They couldn’t rush this. He believed they should wait until they weren’t in the heat of the moment and could gather their thoughts on the matter. Mary had agreed with him, but…

“You were always ruling over mother!! She always had your hat sitting by her side!”

'''Me:''' “So his true form survived.”

'''Art-Ga:''' “So there wasn’t a problem after all.”

'''Laborer:''' “Tenzou can do some crazy things!”

'''10ZO:''' “My hat is only a hat.”

But he had a thought. Even if Mary had adored him to that extent, that was no reason to neglect Kiyomasa.

…''She must have turned her thoughts to me to try and distract herself from the pain of saying goodbye.

He knew it had been a misunderstanding, but he also know Kiyomasa wouldn’t listen.

It was true he had been with Mary. So…

“If you had only released mother…!”

What would have happened then? Kiyomasa screamed the answer.

“She would have smiled and talked with me!”

●

…''Oh, this isn’t good.

Tenzou had honestly thought something he couldn’t afford to think here.

He had felt that Kiyomasa was right.

It didn’t come from guilt. Because he wasn’t the one who had wronged her.

But he did imagine what it would be like if it were him.

And so he felt that way.

…''I’m sorry.

It felt right.

That acceptance briefly erased his will to resist Kiyomasa, delaying his evasion.

He heard the loud step of a mobile shell behind him and felt the wind rush in.

That was Kiyomasa.

By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

Thinking the greatest risk was at neck height, he slid his head the left. Then a blade jabbed past his right cheek from behind.

…''A half-sickle!

Just as he swung his head down, the half-sickle blade shot past overhead.

But another part of him was slower.

His feet.

Kiyomasa had launched two simultaneous attacks as she approached from behind.

“Kh!”

Lifting his left foot and skidding his right foot to the left was the most he could manage.

The downwards strike of the spear tip grazed the outer ankle of the right foot he couldn’t manage to get up off the deck.

It wasn’t a direct hit. He was wearing shin armor. But the blade split the metal greaves and briefly stroked his ankle bone.

“Master Tenzou!”

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

…''Wow, I’m going way too far pretending like that was nothing!

He had done so on reflex because Mary was here. If the nudist or one of the others were here instead, he would have dashed away. ''I know how to match my behavior to the situation.

But this had done damage. He was starting to bleed, blood in his shoe would make his footing less sure, and, worse, it would hinder his focus.

…''This is dangerous!

And just as he thought that…

“Oh?”

The foot he had moved to evade began to float unnaturally.

He thought he had stepped on some sand, but no. This was…

…''The deck was stripped away when the two Excaliburs clashed earlier!

It had happened over a wide area, so he shouldn’t have had to worry about it when it came to his own footing. But if the damage was even worse here and his foot slipped…

“That is directly below the location of our second clash!”

He had lost track of that because the light had covered the deck and he had been so focused on the enemy behind him.

Thinking back, Kiyomasa’s rapid approach had been accomplished using Ex. Caledfwlch’s thruster.

She had realized how badly damaged the area was, but she had used the thruster to keep him from noticing.

…''Was she luring me here!?

Then the next attack came.

“Kh.”

His carelessly placed right foot was injured and unreliable.

He considered how to dodge using just his left foot, but then a power arrived from the side.

“Excuse meeeeee!”

Just as he realized he didn’t recognize the voice, he took a kick straight to the face.

●

Kiyomasa watched as the enemy she was about to attack took a kick to the face from the side, flipped twice through the air with her mother in his arms, and managed to actually land on his feet.

…''My.

''Was that pure martial arts? It was well done,'' she thought before returning to her senses.

…''He is my enemy!

But she recognized the voice that had kicked that enemy away. The voice continued to speak to her enemy.

“Whoa! Are you alright!? I thought I could provide some assistance and picked up some speed, but then I couldn’t stop myself! I tried to apply the brakes, but the footing is so bad here I slipped and kicked you in the face!”

But her enemy didn’t react.

Puzzled, she watched as her mother touched his cheek from within his arms.

“Um, Master Tenzou?”

“Oh, yesss!? Um? What? Do you need something?”

“Ahhhhh! Did I knock you out!? I’m so sorry!”

“No, wait, who even are you!?”

The sudden intruder bowed toward Kiyomasa’s enemy and mother. It was an impressive action that brought her head down to hip height.

And she named herself.

“I’m Uni!!”

●

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Eh?”

'''AnG:''' “What’s happening now?”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “Um, well, someone I know is using a name I don’t know.”

'''Tsurugi:''' “What’s the matter, Kiyomasa. That’s Kani there.”

●

Kiyomasa thought for a moment and then tried asking.

“Um, Kani-sama?”

“No!”

She was instantly denied.

“I’m Uni!”

●

'''Kiyo-Massive''' “…”

'''Black Wolf:''' “K-Kiyomasa!? You mustn’t let anything that happens on the Musashi surprise you! Our mothers always told us it was that sort of place, remember!?”

'''Kiyo-Massive:''' “But, um, does it have to happen right in front of me?”

'''The Boy:''' “Act rather than think! That’s the best strategy!”

●

Tenzou shuffled his feet to move around 5 meters away on the poor footing.

…''W-we should be safe from here!

He felt bad for Mary who looked baffled by it all, but he did not put her down. And…

“You,” said Kiyomasa with her back to him. “Take my mother away from here so she does not come to harm.”

“Your request…will be granted.”

“Testament,” she replied.

So he turned his head to face…

“Um, Uni-dono.”

“Testament! No, I mean judge! I’m here as Uni from Akechi!”

''She’s the athletic type for sure,'' he thought and then recalled that the Azuchi had sent them someone to assist them as part of the Akechi forces when they were leaving Mikawa Bay. But…

…''Wait, I thought she was called Kani?

Futayo had gone to check on her when she arrived. Futayo was probably busy at the moment, but he tried asking.

'''10ZO:''' “Futayo-dono, do you have a moment?”

'''Tonbokiri:''' “Judge! I do indeed! …Time out!! Noooo cuuutting!”

She was at it again.

''I don’t know who she’s fighting, but I am so very sorry.

And after a few seconds…

'''Tonbokiri:''' “What do you want, ninja? If you want to stand out more, there is nothing I can do to help you there.”

'''10ZO:''' “That joke would have worked better back at Mikawa, so has your opinion of me not changed at all since then? But anyway, I had a question. Remember how the Azuchi sent someone over to help us?”

“Right,” replied Futayo. She must have known what he meant.

After a pause, she continued.

'''Tonbokiri:''' “You mean Ebi-dono! How is she doing!?”

●

Tenzou decided this was a problem he could put off until later.

…''She may be a species that changes names from time to time.

He didn’t understand all cultures or customs, so it was best to leave these things be. So…

“Uni-dono, take care of things here!”

“Judge, I’ll do my best!”

…''Oh, she’s serious.

He would sometimes take a command role as 1st Special Duty Officer, so he could tell how serious someone was from a single response.

This girl would make a fearsome opponent.

He could tell she didn’t question dedicating her full strength to a battle, just like the combat Special Duty Officers, Futayo, and Narumi.

If she had still been on the other side, she would have been one of the ones boarding them.

He felt mildly threatened by that thought, but the opposite was happening instead. And…

…''That would be why Kiyomasa-dono abandoned her pursuit of us.

''In that case,'' he thought with a nod and picked Mary up again.

“Excuse me!”

He began a hurried run.

“Master Tenzou! Where are we going!?”

He already had a destination in mind.

“Okutama’s bow deck. Where Toori-dono and the others are.”

●

Kani took a light step to confirm her footing.

Her surroundings were filled with light, spacious, and provided nowhere to hide. And her opponent was Kiyomasa.

“Getting to duel you is like a dream come true, Kiyomasa-senpai!”

“It’s a more complicated feeling for me.”

“Why!?”

“Because we’re clearly wearing down our own forces here.”

“No, we aren’t!”

She knew that was wrong.

“You’re with Hashiba and I’m with Akechi!”

“But we’re both originally from Hashiba, right?”

“That’s not the point!” she insisted. “You’re still with Hashiba, but I’m with Akechi now!”

●

“Not the point, huh?”

Kiyomasa could win this. But the most beneficial way to get through this was…

…''For me to admit defeat.

She knew that was the best option.

Then neither she nor Uni would be harmed and they could move on to another battle or return to the Azuchi.

But that was wrong.

…''Honestly.

Uni was saying she was being too thoughtful and too conceited.

“You were given that role with Akechi, so your pride demands you follow through, doesn’t it?”

To view her as Hashiba and try to help her out would be an insult.

But Uni responded with a smile.

“No!!”

What was wrong now?

“Hashiba and Akechi need to fight with everything they have!”

Because…

“That must be how it was in the Age of the Gods! We have to respect that!”

●

Uni saw Kiyomasa ready Ex. Caledfwlch in both hands.

…''Wow.

Most people couldn’t manage such an intimidating aura without speaking a word. Her hair swayed silently in the lingering light falling all around her as she finally spoke.

“Testament, you have a point. …And the origin of my name fought in the Battle of Yamazaki.”

“I know! Hashiba-sama already expected great things of him and he had already done some great things like entering the enemy castle first during the attack on Mouri!”

“Did you know Fukushima-sama was here too?”

“Judge! So are Ootani-san and Hachisuka-san!”

“Then why are you here?”

“Judge,” replied Uni. “I wasn’t sure where to go, but then I saw a big light burst in the sky! I knew whoever had done that was giving it everything they had! And when I showed up, I found you here!”

●

Kiyomasa gasped. But this wasn’t an accusation.

…''I see.

Everything she had.

Now that Uni mentioned it, she realized it was true. But…

“Uni-sama.”

“Judge! What is it!?”

“I was just fighting a terribly dirty battle.”

“You were!?”

“Testament. I was throwing long years of self-righteousness at my opponent, trying to cleanse myself of those things, shouting things I am not proud of, and lashing out.”

“You were!?”

“Are you sure you want to duel someone like that?”

Uni didn’t hesitate to answer.

“I am! Because…”

Uni raised her hands overhead and stretched up as if trying to touch the light scattering in the sky.

“Because this was your all, wasn’t it!?”

“Yes, it was.”

“Then I can leave everything else to someone else!”

Kiyomasa was at a loss for words.

Did Uni have a clearer mind on this, did she think about it differently, or what? But…

“–––––”

Kiyomasa realized how much easier it would be if she had an actual division between her reasons for fighting and her personal issues.

…''Uni-sama.

She knew she had been playing dirty before. But…

“Will you duel me?”

“Judge! That’s why I’m here! Give it your all like you did just now!”

“Eh?”

She wasn’t sure how she had worked herself up to the point of doing that, but should she try to reproduce the performance?

Uni sent her an expectant look.

“I can’t do that! Everyone I’ve fought has been like that! They all had amazing power! I was no match for them no matter how hard I tried and I knew I’d lose even if I did reach their level!”

But…

“I love figuring out just how far my strength can take me and just how great that strength is!”

“You love it?”

“Testament!” she replied. And, “It would be a lie if I didn’t go all out! So…”

So…

“I don’t think your full power just now was a lie!”

●

Kiyomasa sighed inwardly.

…''That’s probably true.

She felt a lot better now.

She had a variety of feelings regarding her parents and she doubted she could resolve them in a single night.

But the power those feelings had produced wasn’t a lie.

So now the question was how to interpret those feelings.

Whether she viewed that power as a bad thing or not was up to her. So…

…''I will accept it.

That was her decision.

All this time, she had been carrying around feelings powerful enough to draw out all that power.

Maybe she had played dirty, but it hadn’t been a lie. Knowing that changed how she viewed it.

So now…

“Uni-sama.”

“Judge, what is it!?”

“Shall we begin the Battle of Yamazaki?”

“Judge! I would love to!”

With that, Kani swung both hands.

And along the course taken by her swiftly racing palms…

…''Large spears!

Eight Sasamura cowling spears appeared. They were already accelerating.

“I’ll do my best!”

Kani charged toward her.

<noinclude>
{{HorizonNavbar
| [[Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 31|Chapter 31]]
| [[Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 33|Chapter 33]]
}}
</noinclude>

Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 32 - Revision history