Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Household Mother[edit]
My mother
Is a wonderful person
Who is always brandishing a big weapon
Point Allocation (Translated Text?)
●
Naomasa looked to Murayama’s diplomatic port below.
It was exclusive to Murayama and primarily used to receive cargo from the provisionally ruled nations. Engine room workers like her and Musashi residents in general rarely had reason to visit, so she only recalled being here for maintenance and when making an emergency docking.
It was a large place. It currently had walls set up in each block to produce defense barriers and there were no ships docked there. Nevertheless, a 200 meter square space had been created on the outer edge of the ship there.
The defenders were positioned on her side of that space.
Hidamari Genbu was on the farther side, but the black god of war wasn’t doing much. The port was equipped with secondary cannons, but they had stopped firing on the Azuchi.
…Of course they have.
“Unless directly attacked, they want to focus on the duels with our officers, don’t they?”
Naomasa spoke from the transport ship as it began an unmistakable descent.
“Fukushima Masanori is Futayo’s child, Katou Kiyomasa is Mary and Tenzou’s child, Katou Yoshiaki and Wakisaka Angie are Naito and Naruze’s children, Katagiri Katsumoto is Suzu and Toori’s child, and Hirano Nagayasu and Kasuya Takenori are Asama-chi, Mito, and Toori’s children.”
Her eyes stopped on the black god of war.
“But whose child are you, Hachisuka Koroku? No, none of us are your parents. I know who you are.”
She said it.
“You’re Yu, aren’t you?”
●
“You’re you?”
Horizon tilted her head, so Asama turned to her with a smile.
“Um, Horizon? ‘Yu’, not ‘you’. To explain further…”
“Heh heh. Asama, that was a decent retort, but isn’t this trouble? It might be as bad as with your secret child.”
The mention of the power words “secret child” led Horizon to try and tear up a piece of the floor for her “you thief” bit, but Asama was looking to port. Her eyes stopped on Murayama where…
“Masa! Are you saying what I think you are!?”
Smoking Girl: “That’s right, I am. I’ve got this mostly figured out. Yes. That’s definitely Yu inside that Genbu god of war. …That’s my sister who currently exists inside Suzaku.”
●
Koroku sighed in the farmland spread out within Genbu.
When she held her straw hat down and looked back, she saw a house.
Next to it was a large barn for storing farming equipment. All the doors were open wide. The complete lack of caution about intruders may have been because it was midday.
But her eyes fell on a plate sitting atop a gap in the boards below the eaves.
That lunch had been prepared for her at some point. It was likely fried rice or something.
But she didn’t approach it.
She looked up into the sky – a blue sky with nothing but wispy clouds blowing by – and voiced the words in her heart.
“So you found me.”
●
…So that’s how it works.
Avalon was probably the key.
Naomasa’s sister remained within Suzaku’s joining mechanism. In a battle before she arrived on the Musashi, her sister’s body had been so badly damaged she had chosen to join with Suzaku as its startup system.
She had hoped to remain there until some future time when she could be healed, but it had been hard to say whether she was really alive or dead. Naomasa had only been convinced of her survival during the Armada Battle. There, her sister had proven herself to be conscious during the battle against the Byakko.
“Were you taken to Avalon in the future?”
●
“That’s right,” responded Katagiri. In the Azuchi’s 90-degree tilted hall, he sat on the wall-turned-floor and confirmed Musashi’s 6th Special Duty Officer’s suggestion.
“Our External Blessings were sent into the outside world to replenish the ley lines and restore the world. When they came up with that idea, our mothers and their companions provided a wide variety of reasons for recommending different candidates. …At the time, Hachisuka-san had regained consciousness, but the damage to her body was still too severe for her to leave the god of war. But because she could become a data entity like that…”
That was why she had entered Avalon.
“External Blessing production is more efficient in that form. The ether needed to maintain a physical body is included in the consumption equation and, if a threat ever arose within Avalon, she could use her god of war’s reaction speed to respond to it.”
●
Naomasa sighed softly.
Her transport ship had already docked at the port. The defenders there opened the hatch and began receiving the supplies and equipment needed to evacuate, but Naomasa did not leave the deck.
She was viewing the data on her opponent who the Representative Committee Head had gathered and relayed to her through the Musashino bridge.
Hachisuka Koroku.
She was already 12. That age would put her in elementary or middle school, but she had skipped to high school.
…She must have spent three years or so inside Suzaku.
Time had passed since then, so if the girl inside Suzaku had grown, wouldn’t she be older than the one in Genbu?
Or would she?
But based on the information Naomasa had, there was one definite difference between her sister inside Suzaku and the version of her out there as her enemy.
This one had a full, intact body.
She had always sensed something familiar about Hachisuka, but she had figured it was just that they came from a similar part of the Far East. This was why she hadn’t suspected more.
Her body was unscathed. But Naomasa understood why that was now.
“Extracting her from her External Blessings negated the damage to her body, didn’t it?”
“Testament.”
It took a moment to realize the sudden reply had come from Genbu.
She looked up to see her opponent. Naomasa was on the transport ship. Her eye level was a little higher than Genbu’s, but they were far apart. And with that different eye level…
“Is that also why you’re younger?”
“Testament. When I was extracted, the percentage of my body lost was restored by taking some of my age. I’m actually the oldest of us.”
The hint of frustration there was kind of amusing.
…What is that about?
She had barely paid any attention to this enemy, but now she saw her as a member of her family.
She couldn’t deny it now. Because…
“Denying you would be to deny the you inside Suzaku and to deny my own hopes for her.”
“We are different people.” Genbu spoke slowly. “We aren’t…the same.”
●
Koroku moved into the shade of a tree near the house.
The shade was a welcome relief from the summer sun on this large farmland.
It dropped its dry leaves in autumn and the fruits it grew from winter to spring were small but had a powerfully sour accent to their flavor.
She and her sister had often played below and in the tree. She spoke now with her back leaning against that trunk.
“We aren’t.”
Her hands both had all their fingers. She had both arms and both legs. Her body didn’t have holes in the sides or gut large enough for your hand to sink in up to the wrist. Her face was whole and intact.
“We aren’t.”
They weren’t the same. So…
“No.”
●
“No, huh?”
Naomasa replied to the voice coming from Genbu.
She was also thinking “no”. But there was no real reason for her “no”.
She was currently confused by the new information and revelation, so she wasn’t sure what to do.
Hence “no”.
She couldn’t be hasty or superficial. So even if the “no” that came from that was rushed, she thought it was fine.
But Hachisuka’s “no” was different.
She knew it all. She knew everything about her path here and what would come later.
Some aspects of the “no” spoken from that viewpoint had to be hard to articulate. And come to think of it…
…You’re actually older than me now, aren’t you?
●
Horizey: “Could we abuse You-sama’s age reduction to become more or less immortal?”
Smoking Girl: “You-sama…”
Asama: “Oh, looking after Masa’s mental health will have to come later. Anyway, this has only reduced the age of her appearance information. The amount of information in her Blessings is based on the age of her soul, so it could prevent aging but it couldn’t extend your life.”
Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Besides, Ootsubaki spells can combat aging well enough already, so there’s no need to attempt something so risky.”
Circle Be: “Ahhhhhhhh! So much for my plans to use some unofficial channels to get some more details on the Ten Spears!”
Vice President: “Don’t think you can get away with betraying us just because you’re in Kantou!”
●
What now? wondered Naomasa.
She was also at a loss for words over this.
She knew she could think up plenty to say given time, but it was all too sudden and Hachisuka must have been prepared for it.
This wasn’t a future child. It was the future version of a familiar family member. That she had become younger was a weird twist on that, but…
“What would you do if I ran from here?” she asked.
“Then I would give up on you and go help the others.”
“Then I should have just hidden down below and let the others deal with you.”
“You know you can’t.”
Naomasa nodded at the voice coming from Genbu’s loudspeaker.
“Yeah, I can’t. That’s true.”
After hearing all this, she had to go and check.
The two of them had met before all this happened.
“Suzaku.”
That word brought motion behind her.
Wind blew as a canopy draped over the center of the deck rose up. The rainproof canvas had hidden what lay below from the Azuchi, but now that something stood up.
“Suzaku?”
Hachisuka’s confusion was understandable. During yesterday’s battle at Kyou, Suzaku’s limbs had been mostly destroyed, as had its flight device. But…
“The Musashi was carrying various parts to lighten it, remember? Some of those were carried away by the engine room and maintenance department, but most of them were too much trouble to carry away. So, well, we decided to share the more bulky ones and use them up in this battle.”
The canopy was stripped away from within and discarded, revealing Suzaku.
But its shape had changed.
“We had some spare parts for Suzaku, but where we didn’t, we swapped in leftover parts for the Satomi President’s Righteousness.”
Namely, the limbs and the flight device. Because the design was based on theirs, the engine room team had made some last-minute adjustments to make them fit. But…
…Suzaku appears to be moving without difficulty.
That settled it. She had Suzaku reach out a hand and pick her up. The rest was simple.
“Let’s decide for ourselves whether or not this will work, Yu.”
She spoke from Suzaku’s shoulder.
“Let’s go, Jizuri Suzaku!”
●
Kiyomasa raced through the air and heard a striking reverberation.
She recognized the sound. She had heard it countless times during the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.
“Hachisuka-sama has begun fighting then.”
Battle had begun in many different locations across the Musashi.
The clash between the Hashiba warriors and Musashi warriors had already begun, but now the Ten Spears (minus Katagiri who was still aboard the Azuchi) had begun battling their wanted opponents.
Kiyomasa among them.
“Now, then.”
She was on what could be called the starboard main street of the Musashi’s third port ship. Pieces of the city had been purged and she faced her future parents on the deck at the edge of one such gap.
They had briefly clashed and escaped a few times already, but she refused to let them go.
Her opponents had to be the same. After learning of her situation, they couldn’t possibly just leave her, could they?”
“Mary-dono!”
The ninja picked up her mother and began to flee.
…You’re still doing that!?
Kiyomasa reflexively raised the corners of her mouth in a weird smile, but could humans not control themselves when their anger peaked?
She launched one Caledfwlch and used the acceleration of the other to circle ahead of them.
“You will not get away!”
●
This was Tenzou’s first time being targeted by a thrown divine weapon.
…Y-you can throw them!?
Actually, Ex. Collbrande is always flying around and returning to us, but that doesn’t count. Does this just show how skilled our daughter is at using Excalibur?
But she had clearly changed her attitude from before.
Before, she would pursue and then clash with them, but now…
“There!”
More than just use Caledfwlch’s acceleration to get ahead of them, she also moved to stop their escape.
The thrown Caledfwlch had stabbed into the deck and it was easy enough to jump over. In his arms, Mary was accustomed enough to this much movement to fix his slipping scarf.
…Oh, this is going well!
A moment later, Kiyomasa launched an attack toward his face from where she had flown ahead of him.
She didn’t hesitate or hold back in the slightest.
●
Gold Mar: “Oof, I think that family argument just drew blood.”
Art-Ga: “What kind of father is that hated by his daughter?”
Asama: “Tenzou-kun, did you try to show off and do something that got your family cursed for seven generations?”
10ZO: “You would normally have a point, but this time it wasn’t my fault.”
●
…She is quite skilled at swordplay!
Tenzou’s senses and memory told him she used Mary’s style.
She was earnest, accurate, and precise.
She quickly pulled the one Caledfwlch from the floor to wield one in each hand, but without a moment’s pause, she swung them toward him.
…She’s fast!
Due to her mobile shell.
Caledfwlch was providing instantaneous bursts of acceleration, but her mobile shell’s power assistance supported her lower body and allowed her to wield her swords with greater accuracy.
This made sense to him because of Ex. Collbrande.
If Mary were to wield both halves of the split Excalibur at once, she would likely gain a style just like Kiyomasa’s.
That meant, in Kiyomasa’s world, Mary must have split Ex. Collbrande in two and wielded it like that.
In that case…
“––––––”
I must not have been with the Mary-dono she looks up to.
●
Uqui: “I just had a thought. Tenzou, would your position here be better if you failed your love confession and got cut down by the Fairy Queen instead of dying in the final battle?”
Silver Wolf: “But then he couldn’t have had a child. …No, wait. In the future, they only need a single hair for that. Yes, maybe that would have been better.”
Me: “Isn’t that great, Tenzou? You can die at any time and still have a kid. No need to save your game now!”
10ZO: “That would actually mean Mary-dono already adored me by the time my confession came along, so that’s not so bad! Also, I have the text set to never skip Mary-dono’s dialogue and to always skip any dialogue by nudists and other weirdos!”
Horizey: “Okay, Asama-sama. Add a note in the official records that Tenzou-sama was cut down during the England arc.”
Asama: “Tenzou-kun, why do you like this kind of self-abuse so much?”
10ZO: “Is today ‘attack Tenzou over and over and over’ day!? It must be!”
●
Kiyomasa realized her attacks were missing the ninja.
No. It wasn’t that they were missing.
…They aren’t reaching him!?
He knew the exact range of her attacks. The power assistance of her mobile shell didn’t actually extend her arm’s reach, so when she took a step forward to attack, she could only extend herself so far.
He had realized the length of her body like that was the range of her attacks. Which meant…
…He knows mother’s sword style!?
She had heard her mother only began using two swords after the final battle. So this style should have been unknown to him, but…
“Why!?”
She couldn’t reach him. Even though the ninja was staying low and keeping his back to her so her mother wouldn’t be caught in the middle.
He was making a fool of her, but it also hurt seeing her mother occasionally looking at her.
She was worrying the exact person she didn’t want to worry. And all because of…
“You!”
She launched an attack that was only possible with Caledfwlch. Unlike Ex. Collbrande and Caliburn, Caledfwlch was spear shaped. So its greatest attack that hadn’t been taught to her by her mother was…
…The jab!!
She didn’t just send it forward. That was no different from jabbing with a long sword. To make use of its greater reach without sacrificing speed, she rotated the two blades back from the sides, linked Caledfwlch together to restore it to a single weapon, and…
…The thruster!
She used the thruster rather than her own strength to launch Caledfwlch even as she swung it forward.
She aimed at the fleeing ninja’s back.
The blade raced through the air to grant her wish.
●
“She’s not joking around!”
Tenzou felt a chill from Kiyomasa’s attack. After all, she was focusing all her power into the attack, so…
…If I do dodge this, she won’t have any way of recovering it, will she!?
Maybe she would force it back toward her with the mobile shell’s strength.
But her attack and aim were devastatingly bad news. Targeting the center of his back meant he wouldn’t be able to fully avoid it in one direction. And with Mary in his arms, his back would be the last part of him to move. And to make matter worse…
…It’s fast!
The thruster-powered attack was not reliant on Mary’s sword style.
When wielding a spear, one usually gripped the shaft near the middle. When using it all the way back toward the butt, the attack was a lot more like an artillery shot.
Just as he wondered about this case, he saw a silver light.
A counterattack had been launched past his shoulder.
●
A solid clang rang out and sparks scattered.
From Kiyomasa.
She looked to Caledfwlch’s tip with her right hand still holding its butt.
She saw a wall there. The silver barrier was decorated with gold.
That was Ex. Collbrande.
The original holy sword had stabbed into the deck to block Caledfwlch.
That wasn’t all.
Her mother, in Far Eastern uniform and with her braided blonde hair swept back, stood there with her hand on Ex. Collbrande’s hilt.
With the ninja behind her, she slowly pulled Ex. Collbrande from the deck.
Caledfwlch tilted and began to fall, so Kiyomasa hurriedly grabbed its shaft and pulled it back.
And looking to her mother…
…Oh.
Her mother was looking to her with eyebrows slightly raised.
Straight at her.
Her mother had always told her to look people in the eye. She had obeyed that rule, but her mother’s gaze now was just too strong.
“Look at me,” her mother said coldly.
Her mother must have realized how reluctant she was.
Next, her mother breathed in. She shut her eyes gently, nodded once, and lightly gripped the holy sword in her right hand.
“Now listen.”
●
Tenzou heard Mary scold Kiyomasa while holding and waving Ex. Collbrande like it was a spatula.
“How can you do that to your own father!? You shouldn’t be swinging that dangerous thing around!! What if either of you got hurt!?”
●
Gold Mar: “Sorry, I actually nearly fell off of Schwarz Fräulein there.”
Art-Ga: “D-dammit, why am I stuck fighting for air superiority here!? There’s something way more important happening right now!”
Musashino: “I am sorry, Naruze-sama, but you can focus on that more important thing later, so please focus on air superiority at the moment. Over.”
10ZO: “Anyway, I feel like Mary-dono is getting ahead of herself.”
Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. Isn’t Mary swinging around something dangerous too?”
●
Tenzou was yet again moved by his wife’s tolerance, or her guts, as well as her humanity and broad-mindedness, but Kiyomasa scared him a little.
…What if this angers her enough to give her a power boost?
Just in case, he prepared himself to snatch Mary up and make a run for it at a moment’s notice. He decided running past Kiyomasa would be safer than trying to run backwards.
“Why?”
Kiyomasa pulled Caledfwlch back and looked to Mary.
At the same time, tears filled her eyes and spilled out all at once.
“Why do you always, always take his side!? Even in the end, all you left was your letter and that hat!” she said. “Mother, don’t you get that he made you unhappy!”
●
…Yes, that’s true.
Tenzou agreed with Kiyomasa.
He couldn’t blame anyone for saying he had done that to Mary.
Even a child could tell by looking at them. But…
“–––––”
Kiyomasa crouched down. She split Caledfwlch, swung her head down to throw the tears away, and opened her mouth.
“And that is why I will stop you!!”
With that shout, she charged in with the power of her mobile shell.
●
I will stop them, thought Kiyomasa.
Her frustration and anger had gotten the better of her and she had let those unsightly emotions show, but she sensed that this was good enough.
If her tears weren’t enough to get through to her, then this version of her mother was not yet her mother.
If she didn’t convince herself of that, her emotions would continue to weigh her down.
She told herself they could reach an understanding after she had dealt with this.
So…
…I’m sorry.
In her mind, she bowed to the mother before her eyes and the mother in her memories.
She lowered herself in reality too, but here it was to prepare to move. However…
“…!”
After sending a rising strike to the left, she launched an attack toward the ninja.
●
Tenzou predicted Kiyomasa’s attack.
…A jab!
Their previous exchange must have shown her that Mary’s sword style wouldn’t work on him. So now she would attack using Caledfwlch as a spear.
She did. And it was a rising attack targeting his head.
The stabbing strike was more straight than sharp and, oddly, he sensed Mary in it. If she did have a style, Kiyomasa’s swordplay must have incorporated Mary’s movements into every one of her own movements.
…If I am killed, I hope it will be with this sort of swordplay.
He felt like he could kind of accept it then, but maybe that was a dangerous line of thinking.
But just as he leaned back to dodge the single-bladed jab…
“Toh.”
He used his backwards leaning motion to perform a compact back flip.
Because a Caledfwlch blade rotated in from the left.
She attacked with both hands at once.
…Well done!
His praise was for the timing, not that it was a combo attack.
Ordinarily, even if people attacked with both hands at once, few could manage it simultaneously. They would order them as two consecutive actions and use that to drive the enemy to one side or the other.
But not so with Kiyomasa.
She launched a rising and falling attack simultaneously to cut off all path of escape.
Both attacks were serious. Neither was a diversion.
If he ducked or escaped to the sides, he would have his feet sliced out from under him before he made it far.
That was why he moved to dodge the higher attack and then back flipped over the lower attack..
Just jumping up wouldn’t have been enough. In its single-bladed form, Caledfwlch was a half-sickle spear, so…
“Oh!”
By twisting the blade as she jabbed it, the sickle portion raced toward him.
The tip of his hat was sliced diagonally off.
…She has so much control!
●
Me: “Tenzou’s true form took major damage!”
Horizey: “It would be truly horrific if the severed part of the hat started hemorrhaging blood.”
Wise Sister: “Heh heh. Asama, you need to check your sign frame. That family squabble is getting wild.”
Asama: “I-I’m a little busy with my own nerve-wracking confrontation with my future family!”
●
Tenzou was certain his awful classmates were saying something about this, but he focused on evasion.
…Can I get by with only avoiding her attacks!?
Just as he thought that, a view of both half-sickle spears pulling simultaneously toward the center arrived in the center of his vision.
Kiyomasa had pulled back both Caledfwlch blades while moving herself below them.
The precise action was not due to her mobile shell’s control. It was due to her sword technique. But Tenzou gasped at the motion.
…Oh, no!
He had predicted the jab, but he hadn’t predicted her raising the blades overhead as she pulled them back.
And the tip of the pulling blades was directed toward his face.
The center of his vision was obscured by the spear blades.
Kiyomasa vanished behind the blades.
The power came a moment later.
Kiyomasa ducked below Caledfwlch and charged toward him.
●
Kiyomasa trusted her mobile shell.
The autonomous shoulder armor and arm support system had been damaged and worn down during her battle with Niwa.
But the legs were a different story.
They were worn down, but later maintenance ensured they would operate and they had been “worn in” by the battle with Niwa.
The legs didn’t catch and they didn’t produce any noise as she moved them.
…Full power mobility!
She was facing a ninja.
She was a mobile shell samurai.
In a direct clash, her power assisted movement couldn’t keep up with his nimble speed. But what if she obscured his view and rushed in when he didn’t expect it?
The answer was before her.
The ninja was trying to fall back as she targeted his gut with…
“My left shoulder armor!”
She swung her left arm and its armor with the power of the mobile shell’s arm.
This was a shield attack.
She felt the impact as soon as she launched the attack.
She had hit.
With a sound of impact, the shield arm joint’s anti-shock mechanism roared and the ninja flew to her right.
“Master Tenzou!”
●
Kiyomasa remained calm.
…This isn’t over yet!
As soon as her mother pursued the ninja toward the inner edge of the ship, Kiyomasa pulled her right arm back.
Her right index and middle fingers grabbed the blade tip of the Caledfwlch she had pulled back and released. She used the arm’s power assistance to stop the long spear’s momentum and pull it toward her instead.
As Caledfwlch raced past her right side, she caught it below her right arm.
She was approximately twenty meters from the ninja she had launched away. He had fallen onto his back and was trying to get back up.
He was Musashi’s 1st Special Duty Officer after all. A blow like that wasn’t enough to keep him down. So…
“Finish this, Caledfwlch!!”
She shouted and launched the shining attack straight ahead.
●
Mary made the mental switch to allow herself an instantaneous decision.
Just like she had when she chose to cut down the three hundred.
When she was prepared to accept anything that might come at her, she could make any decision.
Recalling her past resolve, she made her move.
She launched Ex. Collbrande’s shining attack on an individual. The Master Tenzou Love Love Home Run would take too long. She did need Master Tenzou Love right now, but as a single precise blast, not a broad swing.
“A penetration!”
She would send a stabbing blow toward Caledfwlch as a counterattack.
She stepped forward as she turned around and, while raising her full body…
“–––”
She attacked.
●
“Azuchi” read the air currents above Osaka Bay and chose a route alongside the Musashi’s northward one.
The sea was below. The ships were more free to maneuver than when there had been land below.
However, it was the Musashi that benefited from that freedom. It was only a further disadvantage for the Azuchi, in addition to its 90-degree tilt.
…Should we secure the Musashi with towing belts?
This would be a lot easier if they grabbed a hold and refused to let go. But when the Musashi tried to break free, keeping the towing belts secure would consume more energy than usual and, if the towing belts snapped, it would hinder any later maneuvering.
While noting that their plan was no different from having no plan, a light entered her field of vision.
Before “Azuchi” could wonder what it was, Hirano frowned.
“Kiyomasa’s Caledfwlch and her mother’s Ex. Collbrande just blasted each other!”
“Which one will win? Shaja!”
“Well,” said Hirano. “You can see for yourself.”
●
Yes, the answer is visible, confirmed Hirano.
The massive light that burst on the battlefield had frozen the atmosphere across all the fighting.
Before, the sky had echoed with the booming of artillery, the crashing of defense barriers, and so many other sounds. Those sounds had come from people walking and moving, the clanking of their gear, and the operation of their weaponry.
But now all sounds atop the Musashi and the Azuchi had vanished, save for those made by the bridges and fire control.
Caledfwlch and Ex. Collbrande both had anti-city class destructive force. When their attacks clashed and burst, which one would emerge victorious?
They looked to see.
Everyone turned in that direction, those in elevated positions could see more quickly.
The top of the Azuchi’s bridge was the best and closest location to see, except possibly for those atop the port side.
The shattered light faded away.
The first thing Hirano noticed was that the inner side deck of the Musashi’s rear port ship had had its surface stripped away.
…By the blast.
There was some noise in a few places, but the holes in the deck left by the purged sections were filling in.
With light.
Two figures could be seen on the split field lit by defense barriers and the dance of lingering light.
One figure was standing, the other had fallen.
“So that’s the result,” Hirano said without thinking.
She looked to the pair of figures. The standing one was…
“Kiyomasa…that is your mother.”
And about 15 meters in front of her, the white mobile shell lay fallen.
That was Kiyomasa.
She wasn’t moving.
●
“Azuchi” quickly used the Azuchi’s sight devices to check on Kiyomasa’s condition.
…She is…
“Azuchi” realized Kiyomasa was moving. She was trembling and breathing heavily, but she was trying to get back on her feet.
She no longer held Caledfwlch. Meanwhile, the English princess held Excalibur at the ready.
Which meant…
“I have determined Kiyomasa-sama is at risk! Someone assist her! Shaja!”
If Mitsunari were here, she could have used a Logismoi Oplo. But…
848: “Ahh! Sorry! I’m currently arranging a transport ship for Sakon-sama!”
She was supposed to be the one in charge, so why was she performing an assistant’s job?
But “Azuchi” heard an unexpected voice.
From Hirano. She nodded once and spoke.
“Stand up, Kiyomasa,” she said. “If you do, you win.”
●
Mary saw what had happened.
…I…
The rupturing of the two Excaliburs’ power had thrown Kiyomasa around a dozen meters away.
Mary honestly felt bad. She knew the girl adored her as an imperfect mother.
So she had held back as much as possible.
She had targeted Caledfwlch instead of Kiyomasa.
She had fired Ex. Collbrande at the same time as Kiyomasa’s attack. She had assumed Kiyomasa would also aim straight ahead. Because she couldn’t have launched a counterattack like this without making an assumption.
Kiyomasa had done exactly that.
So Mary had sent out a Master Tenzou Love Love Thrust as a counterattack.
The two powers had collided, but hers had won out. She didn’t know why, but it had felt like Kiyomasa’s had been “hollow”.
As a result, the blast had gone Kiyomasa’s way, knocking her down, while Mary remained untouched. However…
“What?”
Kiyomasa also looked unharmed.
The blast had hit her and thrown her through the air, but her body and gear were neither injured nor damaged. She must have been hit so suddenly her gear couldn’t adjust in time and her body had been shocked.
Good, thought Mary even as a question occurred to her: would she have been so unharmed if she took an attack like that?
Yes, she would be able to endure it. Because of…
“Ex. Collbrande.”
It would protect her as a divine weapon. It was that sort of blade. But what about with Kiyomasa?
Before she could explore that thought further, she saw something come into view as the lingering light between them cleared.
Something had fallen above and in front of Kiyomasa while slowly rotating.
Mary knew what it was.
Ex. Collbrande produced a tone of resonance.
“Caledfwlch.”
The spear Mary thought she had shot was floating upright as if to protect Kiyomasa.
●
“Caledfwlch…?”
Kiyomasa looked to it as she got up.
…What happened?
Caledfwlch had always been no more than a weapon. It was known as a divine weapon, but it had never shown any sign of having a will of its own and it had never moved autonomously.
That had been true since it was created.
When Ex. Collbrande and Caliburn were combined, she was told their minds had been mixed together, eliminating all such things.
But that hadn’t been a functional problem. It could still be used as a thruster and launch attacks of light. In fact, she had been told it gathered power for those attacks faster than Ex. Collbrande had, which had felt like an advantage to her here.
However, that attack had lost.
Caledfwlch had fired second, even though it was a combination of Ex. Collbrande and Caliburn.
But she did understand why she had lost.
Ex. Collbrande was acting autonomously as a divine weapon to protect her mother and the other one.
Her Caledfwlch wasn’t like that. It was only a weapon. So when the two clashed, Caledfwlch’s simple release of power couldn’t stand up to the power of a blade with a mind of its own.
Or so she thought. However…
“Caledfwlch…”
The weapon created as Ex. Caledfwlch floated in front of her.
It had stood up to protect her of its own will. So…
“…!”
She took it without hesitation. She grasped it in both hands and…
…Kh!
Its power flowed back into her as light and sent flowers scattering.
●
Kiyomasa tingled.
All her senses and her full body could no longer be removed from Caledfwlch’s hilt.
She felt pride that England’s guardian sword – the blade that protected her mother – had accepted her.
…How did this happen?
It came down to Ex. Collbrande. Her mother’s attack must have awoken Caledfwlch. No, Caledfwlch must have been awake ever since it was created.
It simply hadn’t accepted her as its master.
But her mother had Ex. Collbrande.
And she too was trying to protect her mother.
Ex. Collbrande’s attack must have conveyed that to Caledfwlch just now.
Caledfwlch would remain silent no more. If her mother was being protected by Ex. Collbrande in this world, then, as the third Excalibur, Caledfwlch would protect her mother and England in a different way.
So for Caledfwlch, that exchange of attacks had been a parting with its past form and duty.
The holy sword had now accepted her as its master and…
“We now share the same goals, my sword!”
White flowers in full bloom scattered from her hair to cover the area and rattled her mobile shell. A tingling as if from a glowing electric attack shook her arms and the rest of her too.
“Ex. Caledfwlch!”
Let’s do this, she thought. She took a deep breath, twirled Ex. Caledfwlch overhead in both hands, and stopped it ahead of her before raising her voice.
“Please finish this! My holy sword!”
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