Horizon:Volume 9B Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Flower Blossoming in Position

I want to say it

Because I can’t say it

I can’t say it

Because I don’t want to say it

Point Allocation (Self-Indulgence)

●

Yasuke stood in the center of a white passageway.

The passageway was around 20m wide and 80m long.

Ranmaru stood behind him. And behind her was a large door leading to the passageway they had previously been in.

Far out in front of them was another large door, which the enemy was working to open.

“Ranmaru-kun. How do you think they will do this?”

“They have made it this far, so they will instantly check the passageway and then go all out right from the start.”

“Then we’ll have to do the same.”

The large door opened a crack even as they spoke.

The door opened to the sides, creating a vertical gap that eventually grew wide enough for someone to pass through.

“Here they come.”

The one accelerating out in front was Musashi’s Vice Chancellor. And behind her, repeatedly adding to her speed was…

“Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer!”

●

Futayo accelerated. Her Soaring Wings spell was accumulative. The greater the distance she used it over, the more acceleration it provided. So she started by cutting diagonally down the 20m-wide passageway and…

“Here I go!”

She ran diagonally up the wall and ran along the ceiling to gain more distance.

She hurried. Her upside-down vision saw Mitotsudaira accelerating along the floor.

…She really is fast!

In theory, Futayo had the higher top speed, but Mitotsudaira had the greater initial and instantaneous acceleration. The way she built up her acceleration in quick bursts was similar to Muneshige’s method, but Futayo honestly thought it looked cool.

So I want to try it out myself.

…I-is this how it’s done?

She tried it out and failed immediately, shattering Soaring Wings.

●

…Huh!?

Ranmaru had activated her gear to intercept the enemy, but she heard a shattering sound and saw ether light scattering before she saw Musashi’s Vice Chancellor fall toward her from the ceiling.

The girl had not jumped.

She was falling.

This was not an attack. It could generously be called an accident. Ungenerously, an error. But when Ranmaru’s mind switched out of combat mode, it arrived at the following response first and foremost.

“Sh-she needs assistance?”

“Ranmaru-kun! Don’t let her get to you!”

“She is not ‘getting to’ me. I made a perfectly valid decision. But more importantly, Yasuke-sama, the Musashi Vice Chancellor is falling this way.”

The girl fell.

●

…What is she doing!?

Armed with Excalibur, Mitotsudaira had to collect Futayo.

“Futayo!” she called, grasping Excalibur with her silver chains and tossing it upwards.

Futayo was falling in a pose much like someone falling from a Fosbury flop. That she had braced herself for landing on her back showed she had kept her cool.

Mitotsudaira moved Excalibur to prop Futayo up from below. It worked. She felt Futayo’s weight on the sword and lowered it at just the right speed to absorb her momentum without actually stopping her fall.

In that moment, the biggest threat was an enemy attack. Because Excalibur was otherwise occupied.

…I’m wide open.

Wondering if she should guard or dodge, she looked out ahead and noticed something.

The enemy half-dragon was running away with the automaton held under his arm.

●

“Ranmaru-kun! Ranmaru-kun! Return to combat mode immediately! Please!”

“Yasuke-sama, why are you incapable of resolving matters on your own?”

“Because I have you with me!”

“Yasuke-sama, you can make statements that statistically could be interpreted as love confessions all you like, but I have no emotions and am unable to provide the response you want.”

“As a reminder, we only have 20m until the next door!”

●

Futayo felt support below her back as she fell.

…Is that Mitotsudaira-sama!?

This help from the Mito Lord herself was much appreciated. She sat up atop Excalibur and made a seated bow towards Mitotsudaira. Then, still seated, she turned in the direction she was moving.

“Oh, there are two enemies there.”

She sent out a slicing attack with Tonbo Spare.

●

Mitotsudaira saw an explosion of ether light.

…Huh!?

At first, she didn’t understand what had happened. It had looked like Futayo exploded, so she thought maybe an enemy attack had hit her.

But that wasn’t it.

Futayo was still sitting on the sword. She was holding Tonbo Spare out in front in a familiar way.

“Futayo! You still can’t use powerful ether attacks here!”

“Oh, I forgot!”

At least this demonstrated what happened if you did use one. Mitotsudaira didn’t have any such attacks herself, but now she wouldn’t panic if it happened to any of the others.

Several sign frames popped up around Futayo. Probably from Gin lecturing her. Mitotsudaira was certain of it.

But then Futayo stood up and leaped.

She launched an attack on the enemy fleeing up ahead.

●

Futayo made a great leap.

…Hassou Tobi!”

She focused the center of gravity below her feet on a focal point and released her strength there. She made a long, narrow jump.

She intended to attack the enemy from behind, but…

“Oh?”

Ahead and below, the enemy suddenly vanished.

There was nothing left. Only the floor.

…Where could they have gone?

As she wondered this, she landed on the next big door. She was now parallel to the floor. At 10m up. She took a look around and saw Mitotsudaira running her way.

“At your feet!” shouted Mitotsudaira.

Futayo immediately jumped. From the wall to the floor. Her course would have her flip three times on the way down, but during the first flip she realized what Mitotsudaira had meant.

A black blade was jutting out from her own shadow on the wall.

As she left the wall and her shadow faded, the blade also vanished.

“An illusion!?”

●

Tachibana Wife: “No. The shadow walker half-dragons who have the specialized abilities of the direct bloodline are true ‘shadow walkers’. Ordinarily, shadow walking refers to the ability to move within connected shadows, but the direct bloodline can ‘jump’ between shadows that aren’t connected.”

Novice: “Question! Are you saying the ordinary ones can’t ‘jump’!?”

Tachibana Husband: “They can, but only over short distances. And if they fail a jump, they will fall out into the light, so it is a risky move.”

Silver Wolf: “That means we’re in a lot of trouble, doesn’t it!?”

●

Horizon reflexively stabbed Akedia Katathlipse between Toori’s legs in its inactive form. The blade stabbed into the floor with a tearing sound in a position only 3cm from his crotch.

“That was a close one, Toori-sama. The half-dragon’s blade was peeking out from your crotch.”

“You mean it!? You’d better not be lying! That actually happened!?”

“Toori-kun, try to be more positive.”

“Yes, Asama-sama is correct. Here, Asama-sama, you can have Lype Katathlipse as a prize.”

“Thank you, but I should really be preparing a barrier.”

She had a point. But before anything else could happen, the enemy reappeared.

Behind them all.

Behind the officers group and the warriors following them. The previous automaton was there as if she had suddenly emerged from the floor.

Six rifles hovered around her. Courtesy of her gravitational control.

Everyone was in danger. Only Horizon had noticed since she had looked back.

So she fired Lype Katathlipse’s normal drive in firing mode.

“Watch out, everyone!”

●

Mitotsudaira sensed a few gunshots.

But at the same time, she saw an even greater ether light explosion than before.

…What is she doing!?

She understood Horizon was responsible. She had also seen Lype Katathlipse for a moment. If she was to interpret this as generously as possible…

“The enemy must have appeared there!”

“Judge! I sensed danger, so I very cleverly triggered an ether light explosion which was very much on purp- gah!”

Horizon had obviously been trying to shoot the enemy. And that she told everyone to watch out only after firing was especially impressive.

But the enemy was gone now. Just as Horizon fired, a dark hand had emerged from the shadow on the floor, grabbed Ranmaru’s leg, and yanked her into the shadow.

There was no mistaking it now. They were dealing with a shadow walker half-dragon. And…

“He can bring other people into shadows too!”

●

“Yikes! Who was that girl!? She only warned her allies after firing!”

“She must have prioritized her combat mentality, which told her to eliminate us. We are living in the aggressive world of the Warring States period after all. Anyway, Yasuke-sama, were you under the impression it is acceptable to grab a woman’s leg and drag her around by it?”

“But you couldn’t have fired on them with all that going on!”

●

Mitotsudaira heard a metallic sound from behind her.

She had turned toward her king and the others when Ranmaru suddenly appeared, so behind her meant toward the next door. And from there, she heard…

…A bullet being loaded!

She reflexively activated a spell shield spell. She grabbed it with the silver chains and launched it straight back.

Only then did she turn around.

At the same time, Futayo landed next to her while facing the others.

“Behind you!”

Ranmaru had appeared in front of the next door and she fired the six rifles hovering around her.

None of them were as powerful as Gin’s Arcabuz Cruz, but they were still meant for use against gods of war. Mitotsudaira’s shield stopped seven or eight shots before shattering. But the hits had told her where the six rifles were aiming. So she started deflecting the bullets with her silver chains.

“Futayo!”

The Vice Chancellor silently nodded and leaped backwards. She deflected more of the bullets with the bottom of her spear and…

“Here goes!”

She raised her voice and suddenly disappeared.

●

…Eh?

Mitotsudaira had lost sight of Futayo.

Where had she gone? Had she vanished into the shadows like Ranmaru had earlier?

No, Mitotsudaira could smell her. The bamboo charcoal shampoo scent of her hair was coming from…

“The left!?”

While deflecting bullets with her silver chains, Mitotsudaira looked left. There she saw Futayo had landed on the wall again.

She was not leaping toward the enemy. She must have leaped there to dodge something.

And while looking this way…

“Mitotsudaira-sama!”

Only then did Mitotsudaira notice it. So…

“––––––”

She too launched her body into a leap.

●

…Wh-what are they doing!?

To Tenzou, it only looked like the two on the front line had suddenly leaped to the side.

Futayo to the left and Mitotsudaira to the right.

They took positions crouched on the wall and looked back this way with caution on their faces.

Something had happened to them.

But what? he wondered just before seeing it himself.

A blade.

A black knife was targeting Naito. But it was not coming from her shadow cast on the floor.

“Naruze! There!”

This was the danger Futayo and Mitotsudaira had sensed.

The blade raced out from the overlapping shadows in Naruze’s wings.

…He can attack from the shadows cast on your body!?

●

Naruze didn’t understand what was happening.

A black knife swung up from her back and over her shoulder.

Its target was her partner.

What should she do? The attack appeared to be coming from her body, so she figured it must have come from her wings. So…

“Kh!”

She couldn’t be certain, but she flapped her wings in the hope it would accomplish something.

Between her main wings and secondary wings, the main ones formed more shadows.

When she swung them upwards, the arm holding the black knife moved with them. She let the momentum take over, swinging her main wings up so hard they angled forward. And the blade raced forward with them.

…I kept it from reaching Margot!

Success. Then she noticed this had directed the blade toward Tenzou.

“Oh, whoops.”

Her words were drowned out by a metallic clang. Tenzou had blocked the attack with his yoroi-doshi.

She saw the knife, and the arm holding it, vanish.

Tenzou quickly left his defensive stance and…

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing, Naruze-dono!?”

“What, are you saying you would prefer Margot was stabbed?”

Meanwhile, the next attack arrived. This time from Margot by her side. The black blade emerged from Margot’s wing.

“Oh, whoops.”

Margot flapped her golden wings and Tenzou blocked the blade, making another metallic clang.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing, Naito-dono!?”

“What, are you saying you’re not even willing to let Margot stab you?”

“You’re not making any sense.”

Suddenly, Kimi lifted Asama’s breasts from behind.

“I saw it! It was there! A knife was emerging from the shadow here! I’ll stay here protecting everyone, so you all keep your eyes on our surroundings!”

“H-hey, Kimi! I can’t manage our spells like this!”

“Don’t complain, Asama! You could call this national defense! Here, foolish brother! I’ll give you this spot, so you grope them a bit! Each grope will protect Musashi even more!”

“But wouldn’t the blade come from my hand’s shadow then?” asked Toori.

“R-right? Right? This doesn’t change anything. It’s still dangerous. Yes!”

Gold Mar: “Does the Chancellor’s line mean he would’ve started groping if nor for that?”

Asama: “H-hey, that’s enough analysis!”

Naruze made sure to make a note of that one. But the other enemy was still firing.

“Behind you!” shouted Mitotsudaira.

Everyone gasped and turned around.

Behind them, the door into this section had shut.

They had been been chased in here and then shut in. And Ranmaru stood before the closed door.

…When did she get there!?

Naruze understood it was the shadow walking, but…

“Where was there a shadow!?”

Ranmaru fired before Naruze could get an answer.

●

…The Far East is quick at raising their defenses.

A few of the warriors had been hit, but the defense barriers were automatically activated, which the warriors held out to block the rest of the bullets. Still, it was enough.

The door behind them slammed shut. They were trapped in here. And…

“Yasuke-sama,” called Ranmaru.

She fell into her own shadow. She was carried to her original location, by the next door, where she emerged.

“I will now resume firing.”

●

Naito was confused by the enemy returning to her original position and then firing.

…Why did she move behind us just now?

Naito understood the enemy had wanted to close that door. So was that meant to prevent them from stopping her?

Since she had moved behind them at the beginning too, she would probably also do it the next time and the time after that. But…

…Oh, that line of thinking is dangerous.

Then they would be too afraid of an enemy ambush to move anywhere. So…

“Hey, Kimi-chan, did you really see a blade coming from below Asama-chi’s boobs?”

“Heh heh. A woman’s body is one of her weapons! So a heart-piercing attack coming from below her boobs or below her butt should hardly be a surprise!”

“So the enemy could come from places like that?”

“Hm, the boys will have a hard time responding if they do.”

“Huh?” said the Chancellor, deciding to join the conversation. He had his head tilted. “So…what? Can this shadow walking stuff let you look up at people’s skirts and boobs all you want?”

“If you can look out from the shadows, then that would be the logical conclusion.”

“Then I could get all the reference photos for my art I could ever want! No fair!” protested Margot.

“It’s just something his species can do, so it’s not really about being fair, is it?” said Naito. “Anyway, if that’s true, then the next attack will probably come from the shadow between my legs, the shadow between Asama-chi’s hair and back, or something like that.”

“Heh heh. I know what you mean. Asama is blessed with so many curves she makes an excellent launch point for the half-dragon.”

“Asama-sama, your body really is a weapon, isn’t it?” said Horizon. “But I was not aware this damn half-dragon was such a horny bastard.”

“I wouldn’t do that!”

“There he is!!”

Everyone pointed in the same direction and Persona-kun slammed his morning jizo into a spot on the floor.

●

Tenzou’s knowledge told him a morning jizo was a religious weapon.

It was Buddhist and it was based on the morning star used in Europe during the Harmonic Unification War. The morning star was a metal ball attached to a handle by a chain and it could be used to snag weapons or as a repeat-use mid-range weapon, but a morning jizo was invented when someone tried applying Buddhist spells to one.

The end result was big, heavy, and intimidating-looking, but for large attackers, it was a favored weapon in group battles or for an initial attack.

This was a good example. Persona-kun held the chain near the jizo and sent a swift attack into the floor.

This produced a solid sound, telling everyone it had hit something.

Of course, a shadow walker would only emerge from the shadows for a moment. Tenzou doubted this battle could be settled so easily. But if the enemy had to be on the lookout for another attack like that one…

“Here it comes!”

Tenzou’s warning was immediately followed by the attacking arm arriving.

From the shadow on Noriki’s flank, the shadow on a warrior’s armor, and a shadow on Naito’s Schwarz Fräulein.

…Three at once!?

Tenzou didn’t have time to wonder if there were three enemies here. The three blades were immediately swung.

“…!”

Fortunately, everyone had been on guard. Three high-pitched clangs of deflected knives rang out.

But the enemy didn’t stop there. It kept happening. Blades and hands swung from their shadows on the floor or from the shadows cast on their bodies and equipment.

“Ohh!”

Each target dodged and deflected with their weapons and martial arts. But after a few times, a limit was reached. Their positions interfered with each other, their shields or weapons colliding.

But the enemy didn’t stop. Almost like this confusion was his intent.

…Is it coming!?

Tenzou saw a trio of blades rise within the group. They were rapidly swung, and…

“Not happening!!”

Two figures dropped from the ceiling and intervened while still deflecting bullets.

They were Mitotsudaira and Futayo.

●

Asama received a sign frame from Mitotsudaira.

…What is this?

It was a simple diagram of this section of the passageway. But several marks had been added to it. After reading the written explanation, Asama nodded.

“Everyone, look to the floor!”

Asama immediately projected images onto the floor to display the marks provided by Mitotsudaira. The horizontal warning screens flashed red and indicated…

“It’s the bullets Ranmaru is firing! Their small shadows are what they are using to move along the floor! So stay away from them!”

●

Futayo worked at eliminating them.

She intercepted and pushed back the attacks coming from her classmates, their subordinates, their equipment, and the floor.

..Naito-dono’s hint was correct!

Naito had noticed the bullet shadows. She had realized something after considering why Ranmaru had moved behind them and why she had shut the door.

It was all about the shape of the shadows on the floor.

They were currently in a passageway. The primary lighting was lined up on the ceiling with secondary lighting positioned low on the walls. There were a lot of lights, so it felt like the light was coming from every direction. That made each individual shadow weak.

There was a way to strengthen those shadows.

Create a wall.

The door’s white color reflected light. The excess light from the earlier part of the passageway was blocked out and the light reflected from the closed wall darkened the bullet shadows on the floor, giving the half-dragon space to move.

Ranmaru’s gunfire and movement were not just an attack. They created shadows for the half-dragon and disguised that fact.

So what Futayo had to do was obvious.

“Mitotsudaira-sama!”

“Judge!”

The two of them pushed back the enemy. They felt a slight response when they struck the enemy blades, which meant they were pushing them back. So the wolf used more chains and Futayo held Tonbo Spare horizontally to attack with both ends. She added some kicks in as well.

“Away!”

They focused the direction of their counterattacks to push the enemy out of the markers on the floor.

They pushed all at once, creating repeated loud impacts.

“There!”

They sent their power toward the blank space outside the markers. And in that moment…

“Kah!”

Ether light scattered and he appeared with an explosive exhalation.

It was a black half-dragon. But there were three of him. Literally. All three were identical. Which meant…

“Did he split himself into three physical copies!?”

●

Mitotsudaira arrived at a belated understanding.

How had the enemy managed to attack while also transporting Ranmaru? And how had he made multiple attacks simultaneously? This was the trick.

Silver Wolf: “He used three physical copies?”

Me: “How many can Tenzou use again? Wasn’t it two?”

Horizey: “Deep in enemy territory and he’s still losing.”

10ZO: “T-two was enough to protect Mary-dono earlier, so it’s enough!”

But the half-dragon worked to recover from their attacks. He regained control of his center of gravity, and…

“This isn’t over yet!”

He began to sink into his own shadow. But…

“Ha ha ha! We won’t let you get away with that now that we know your trick!”

That was Itoken. He transformed from his humanoid form to his gaseous form.

“Don’t worry! This is ordinary gas and not obscene gas! And you know what happens if I gently envelop everyone, don’t you!?”

Mitotsudaira did. A pale, mist-like gas surrounded them all.

…Which dims the light!

The shadows vanished. No, the shadows were technically still there, but the shadows cast on their bodies or on the floor faded until the edges blurred.

Those could not be traveled through or emerged from.

The half-dragon could no longer interfere.

Novice: “Now! The time for a counterattack is upon us!”

The Secretary shouted to them all from the Musashi where he was monitoring the situation. But at the same time…

“Then we shall counter your counterattack.”

Ranmaru swung her arm.

…What is she doing?

Everyone held their breath, assuming an attack was coming.

But that wasn’t what happened. The first thing to arrive was a sound. A bubbling sound and a wind arrived in the sealed space.

Then something was released from high above. Ranmaru swung her hand toward a ventilation duct on the wall and a white liquid erupted from within. With a pulsing sound, it splattered onto the floor while more cascaded forth with even greater speed.

“This is the quick-dry cement used to fortify the outer wall and other key points. My subordinates had extra prepared, so I will make use of it here. I kindly ask that you all be buried alive.”

●

Asama saw the floor rapidly turning white.

This covered up the shadows of the bullets fired into the floor, so there was no point in keeping the warning marks in place. Instead, she needed to activate a spell and quickly.

“Clap!”

Hanami raised her eyebrows cautiously and a spell sign frame circled around the entire group just once.

“That was a purification spell! I can’t do anything about the weight, but this disconnects you from the concrete, so it won’t stick to you or catch you. And just in case, this should make you more buoyant if it floods the area!”

“Eh? Hold on. Um, Mitotsudaira.”

As the white concrete started to puddle up on the floor, Kimi splashed some of it onto Mitotsudaira.

“Hey! What was that for!?”

But she was a Loup-Garou with a grooming protection. The white concrete slid and rolled off of her clothing, falling to the floor in pearly drops.

“Hey, what’s the deal!? And I thought we could play by splashing it on you so you could revel in having ‘my king’s white stuff’ on you!”

“Doing that with concrete would damage my skin!”

Gold Mar: “So you’d be okay with it if it wasn’t concrete?”

Silver Wolf: “H-hey, stop that! No more putting words in my mouth!”

Asama was once again fascinated by how entertaining this was when someone else was the victim.

Anyway, Tenzou quickly checked their surroundings.

“The vent must be their escape route. The duct will open onto the other passageways, allowing light in, so they can travel through the shadows and reach the next area over.”

Horizon judged the width of the vent by eye. She spread her hands to that width and then placed those hands against Asama’s chest.

Her hands pushed into Asama’s chest a bit. The extra width of Asama’s chest made Horizon frown, but then she lowered her hands straight down.

And held them against Asama’s hips. After a bit, she hung her head and stood back up.

“Asama-sama, I fear you will be unable to escape.”

“I doubt your hips would fit either, Horizon. And that vent is only 15cm tall, so not even Mito’s flat chest evasion would work.”

“Do you have to drag me into this!?”

That aside, what were they going to do? The water level was rising unexpectedly quick.

10ZO: “If we do not eliminate the half-dragon and automaton, they will interfere with any escape attempt we make!”

Gold Mar: “Are you sure they haven’t already escaped themselves?”

Silver Wolf: “I could still use Excalibur to open the door. They will want to hold us here at least until the concrete has started to harden.”

In that case, thought Asama.

“Yasuke-sama!”

Ranmaru opened fire on them.

Asama understood why. The soaring bullets tore into the wall. That created new footholds. Ranmaru’s gunfire created a path around the inner walls. Those bullets were also a sign to regroup.

Of course, the Musashi group was kept safe by Itoken’s mist, but…

…This won’t be fun if he carries Ranmaru around while she fires on us!

But the enemy wasn’t here to make this fun.

The half-dragon was already moving. The three copies were headed toward the nearby wall, their bodies swaying.

“…!”

And they dropped into their own shadows.

●

It all came down to instantaneous movements.

Mitotsudaira saw Kimi suddenly move.

She activated an acoustic spell and kicked back with her right heel as it started to sink into the white liquid. She leaped forward immediately afterwards.

That meant leaving Itoken’s protection, but…

“Heh heh. The rest of you can deal with that white stuff. I will teach them a lesson in the blink of an eye.”

When Kimi landed, she did not sink. She stood on the white liquid’s surface and began to walk. This liquid was denser and heavier than water, but ordinary walking still couldn’t accomplish this. And Mitotsudaira also noticed…

“Kimi…where’s the half-dragon?”

After vanishing into the shadows, the half-dragon had not regrouped with Ranmaru.

Kimi must have already noticed that because she made a quick turn toward Ranmaru on her toes.

“Right here. In my shadow.”

A “heh heh” of laughter rang out.

“They were too obvious about it, so I restricted their course and snatched them up. All three of them.”

●

“You will not escape. Not when you think hiding makes you superior.”

Kimi gestured toward the wall next to her. Mitotsudaira looked there and saw the line of bullet shadows formed in the wall by Ranmaru’s gunfire. But a few of those regularly-spaced bullet holes had lost their shadows.

…Concrete!?

Yes. Before she got moving, Kimi had kicked back with her right heel. That had looked like a beginning to her forward leap, but it wasn’t.

She had kicked the sticky concrete back to cover the bullet holes. The white liquid filled in the thick bullet holes and, while it did drip down, there was no more shadow cast on the wall.

With that, the copy deflected by Futayo had lost his path.

And when Kimi jumped forward, she had kicked concrete onto the wall to eliminate another copy’s path.

That left just one, the copy taking the shortest route, so the other two had joined him on his path.

The rest was simple enough. Kimi only had to place herself along the path the last one was taking. With a path of dot-like shadows, the shadow cast by Kimi’s body must have been like a floating island or a wall.

And this led to a certain result.

While Kimi walked along the liquid’s surface, black blades emerged from the shadows on her body and swung down toward her.

The three physical copies all launched attacks from her shadows.

“Kimi!?”

“She’s fine, Nate. Stay, stay.” Her king crossed his hands behind his head. “Sis told us to do our job here, right? You get that door open. …You get it, don’t you? Sis is willing to play. Cause she knows she’s the one who can help us get past the final barrier. And my sis knows how to get the job done.”

A moment later, the three blades stabbed toward Kimi.

●

…What is going on!?

Ranmaru could not comprehend what she was seeing.

A gaudy girl was walking along the rising surface of the concrete while blasting something horrendous with an acoustic spell. But Yasuke was attacking her.

Not just with each step she took. Desperately, Yasuke’s black arms and knives tried to stab into and slice through every last part of the gaudy girl. And when it looked like those attacks would hit…

“Heh heh.”

All the girl did was laugh quietly and shake her body a bit and the attacks failed to hit.

…This makes no sense.

The attacks were happening simultaneously. Some of them were pincer attacks. Yet none of them were hitting.

During the Battle of Mikawa, this girl had used some kind of evasion spell against the current Musashi Vice Chancellor. But she wasn’t using any kind of spell now.

Was she dodging with pure martial arts?

“Kh!”

Ranmaru wanted to fire on her, but Yasuke was in the way. She would definitely hit him. And while each step was light, the girl was approaching.

“Now. Heh heh. How would you like me to end this?”

●

Yasuke was panicking.

…What the hell is this!?

It made no sense.

He didn’t understand why his attacks weren’t hitting. He was attacking from her shadows. That was like attacking your own body, so why couldn’t he hit?

He sent the blades out from the shadows of her sleeves, arms, legs, skirt, chest, fingers, and chin, but nothing happened.

He attacked from her hair, yet couldn’t even cut away a single hair.

It wasn’t right.

All she was doing was walk. Or so it seemed. So why couldn’t he hit?

He was so confused, he decided to try leaving her shadows. So he tried to jump to the shadow of a bullet Ranmaru had fired into the wall nearby.

“Heh heh. Ohhh, no you don’t. No, no, no.”

She gave a light twirl. Like an actor showing herself off while walking up onto the stage, she made a twisting turn that spun him around.

It wasn’t a fast movement. But he couldn’t keep up, so it was like tumbling.

…Damn!

He tried to attack with both arms. That wasn’t something he should have been doing with an ordinary non-name inheritor. But…

“What is going on!?”

●

“Heh heh.”

Kimi walked along the white concrete, her shoulders swaying and her head held high.

Black blades were emerging from the shadows she cast on herself and hands were reaching out to grab her.

None of them could reach her.

…Yes, you can never reach me.

Of course they couldn’t. So she wasn’t evading those attacks.

“Heh heh. Silly boy.”

Her hair fluttered in the wind of a blade passing by her cheek.

“You have never walked hand-in-hand with a girl, have you?”

●

The enemy girl’s question scored a critical hit on Yasuke.

…It’s true!

The opposite sex? What’s that? The academy is a place for classes and training for me. When I leave, I work a delivery job, go drinking with the guys serving under me, and then enjoy a nice meal at home. Got a problem with that?

Yes, there never was a member of the opposite sex in my everyday life.

But the enemy wasn’t done talking.

“Girls and boys are completely different. They have different skeletal structures, different muscle distribution, and even different organs. Those differences lead to different ways of carrying yourself, different clothing and hairstyles, different ways of walking, different ways of balancing yourself, and different ways of moving your eyes. And all those differences lead to differences in ways of thinking, daily physical conditions, thirsts, longings, enjoyments, and disinterests.

“But what were you trying to catch just now? It looked like you were going to catch me, but your actions found nothing. Yet all I was doing was making the movements I knew you would enjoy.”

That won’t work.

“If you want to catch me, you need to match your movements to me.”

●

Kimi held her head high and walked step by step along the liquid’s surface as if showing herself off.

“Silly boy.”

She shook her body, let her body and hair sway, yet always kept her face visible for emphasis.

She displayed her mood with her body and opened her mouth to laugh. The black blades raced out and the hands seemed to crawl around her body as they tried to grab her, but they could not reach. They could not even touch her.

“You don’t understand, do you? You were confident in your abilities because you had always managed to catch anyone you set your sights on, so now you don’t understand why it doesn’t work on me.”

It was a simple matter.

“Because I am a more wonderful woman than my shadow.”

Do you understand?

“You thought you had always caught anyone you set your sights on, but that isn’t what happened. You only ever caught their shadows. But I come to you with a question: what can you understand about someone if all you do is chase their shadow?”

She walked. She twirled. The shadows emerging from her shadows tried to escape from her, but her turn carried them with her.

“Silly boy. Does a shadow have a skeleton? Does it have muscles? What about organs? Does a shadow have a way of carrying itself, clothing and hairstyles, a way of walking, a way of balancing itself, a way of moving its eyes, a way of thinking, a daily physical condition, thirsts, longings, enjoyments, or disinterests? The answer is no. No, no, no, no! Oh, my. Listen to me speak Spanish! But if the shadow lacks these things, where do you find them?”

Still walking, she gestured to the center of her chest with her hands.

“Right here.”

How about that?

“After chasing shadows for so long, you wouldn’t understand my tempo and my mood. You don’t understand my bones, my flesh, my guts, my heart, my tongue, my clothes, my thoughts, my condition, my feelings, or anything else. But I will tell you what all of those things create when brought together.”

It was simple. She left a bladed pincer attack behind just by walking.

“The tempo of my pulse. It changes depending on the day, the time, my partner, and the words spoken. But it points to everything about the current moment. That is what we call…my mood.

“Well?” she asked. She left behind a simultaneous attack from all six blades with a light step at the same time.

“Your current mood seems quite different from mine. How are you feeling? I am in a truly superb mood as I single-handedly clear the way for my foolish brother and my new sisters. Do you think your mood as you only view my shadow and fail to reach me is anything like my mood as I look forward to a luxurious night of treats, a late-night meal, and a massage once all this is over? I am looking ahead to the future and living my best life without shame. All I am thinking about are the good times ahead. …What about you?”

●

Yasuke gnashed his teeth.

…What about me!?

He was from the Dark Continent. The history recreation of the slave trade had run rampant there, but his people had used that to increase the standing of their homeland and boost their political value. They had used the history recreation to travel to Europe and make a living there.

But everything had changed after Hashiba arrived in Kyushu. Various political matters had been brought into order, the infrastructure had been maintained, and they no longer had to reduce themselves to using the history recreation to make a living away from home.

Those who lived in poor areas or areas that were hard to leave were able to move to better places and join other groups. The entire Dark Continent improved, not just for his species.

He had told Ranmaru about this.

But there was one thing he hadn’t said out loud.

“My home village…is gone.”

●

He had had a family, neighbors, and friends. Everyone had helped each other out. There hadn’t been much to talk about, but they had all understood each other. Whenever he would walk into town for a bit, he would end up bringing food back home.

But that had changed.

His parents had moved to Shimazu and worked in the market there. Because they knew so much about mountain crops.

His friends had gone to Tres España and his neighbors now worked as janitors at an IZUMO research facility on the coast of Shikoku.

They were all a lot more wealthy and lived happier lives.

But he hadn’t left his home so it could happen in that way.

He had left in order to protect that village, those people, those relationships.

But his home had changed while he was away. It had gone away. He had heard he would only find a big field if he went there now.

So had he left home for that field? Had he left because he wanted his friends and neighbors to be separated?

No.

His parents occasionally sent him divine mails asking him to visit. But he told himself he was a P.A. Oda name inheritor and this was an important time, so he couldn’t.

He was afraid to go. He was afraid of seeing his family smiling as they lived in an unfamiliar land with unfamiliar neighbors. He was afraid he would accidentally speak ill of their current lives.

That was why he wanted it. Wanted the Genesis Project.

To end it without letting it end. Yes. He wanted that for himself and for everyone else.

That was what he wanted now.

So what was this?

“Looking ahead to the future!? …The ground below my feet is all I have left anymore!”

Without the shadow he cast, he would have nothing left.

If he looked ahead, he could no longer see any of the things he had loved.

“I have no future!”

“Silly boy.” His opponent spoke beyond the attacks. “I understand.”

Understand what?

“You are a combat expert who has never held hands with a girl. You love hiding and you want to avoid conflict and live a quiet life if you can. …In other words, you are alone.”

“So what!? You don’t understand me!”

He punctuated that question with a blade strike, but it didn’t hit. However, she did suddenly stop moving.

And he heard her voice.

“If you are alone and have no one to share your time with, then you need to raise your head and look ahead. If nothing can bind you, then whatever direction you face is ahead.

“Right?” she added while moving once more.

She grabbed the hand swinging a knife, matching the swinging motion to grasp it in her fingers.

…W-wow.

It’s so soft, he thought just before…

“There are shadows ahead as well. And if you find a shadow in the direction you’re looking, then look past the shadow and find the mood of the person creating it. That is what you can seek out beyond yourself. That is the place you need to go.”

With a “now”, she made a rapid spin to throw him out of the shadow.

“Create your own shadow and smile in the light.”

●

Ranmaru saw Yasuke thrown from the enemy’s shadow with only a movement of her hand.

This all happened less than 5m away. The motion was little more than a light toss, yet a half-dragon measuring more than 2m tall was thrown through the air.

He flipped seven times in midair before crashing upside-down into the big door.

The door shook and Yasuke’s limp body slowly fell into the cement below. His size meant this created a wave rather than a splash, but he still didn’t move.

“That was well done at the end. I sensed your feelings gathering into one instead staying split as three.”

“What are you talking about!?”

Knowing Yasuke had been defeated, Ranmaru aimed her rifle at the enemy.

But then she realized something.

“If you think you can hit me, you must be an unhappy person.”

She was right. Based on Yasuke’s exchange with that girl, she wasn’t certain her bullets would work on her. But…

“Then I will be buried here with him.”

If Yasuke could not recover, then she would be buried alive along with him. She gathered her resolve as an automaton.

However, the enemy tilted her head.

“You are a truly unhappy girl. Hadn’t you noticed the cement has stopped rising?”

“Eh?”

She checked and found it was true. The white cement has not moved past her lower shins. But so much cement had been cascading from the vent on the right.

…Then why?

She viewed this section of the passageway and noticed something odd on the wall past the approaching Musashi group.

It looked like a white pillar, but it wasn’t. It was more like a translucent pipe.

“Wh-what is that thing sucking up the cement!?”

The pipe turned toward her. It was a slime.

“Ha ha ha. My name is Nenji! I exist to prevent girls like you from seeking suicide! I analyzed the composition of the cement being expelled from that vent, realized my digestive fluids will act as a neutralizer, and got to work. You will find that burying yourself alive is quite impossible!”

After grasping what he meant…

…Oh.

When she realized this had all been meaningless, she just about switched herself “off”.

But she resisted and poured new strength into her knees.

“Heh heh. I am glad to see you have chosen not to die. My foolish brother will be delighted.”

The gaudy girl turned around toward the approaching Musashi group. She looked to the Musashi Chancellor at the front of the group and she asked him a question with a note of laughter in her voice.

“Foolish brother, do you have anything to say?”

“Yeah. Thanks a whole bunch.”

His response put a smile on her face. Is that really enough? wondered Ranmaru, but those two had probably communicated a lot more than the plain words.

“Then let’s go!” said the wolf, stabbing Excalibur into the closed door.

In that moment, Ranmaru realized that her history recreation had just ended.

●

“Honnouji’s inner security was breached?”

That information had arrived at Shizugatake by two routes.

The first was to the Hashiba forces via Mitsunari.

The second was to the Shibata forces via Maeda Toshiie and Fuwa.

Both sides had decided to take a half hour break, after which Hashiba would challenge Shibata and Oichi.

That was a short break and it would be followed by a duel between representatives of both sides. Those representatives’ subordinates made preparations, grabbed a bite to eat, visited Shibata to greet him, and otherwise spent their time how they liked.

The news of progress at Honnouji created a few different kinds of tension.

For the Hashiba forces, the tension came from concerns that they wouldn’t return there in time.

For the Shibata forces, the tension came from concerns that Hashiba would make their move early for that reason.

But Takenaka hurriedly sent a timetable for Fuwa to check over and they established a hotline between the two of them. While the Shibata forces remodeled Kitanosho Castle for the showdown, the Hashiba forces debated who would do the fighting. Both sides were waiting for the battle to resume.

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