Horizon:Volume 9B

Front Cover
Full Cover
Installation 1
Installation 2
Title Page
Illustration 1
Characters 1
Characters 2
Table of Contents
Character Introduction 1
Character Introduction 2
Character Introduction 3
Glossary 1
Glossary 2
Glossary 3
World 1
World 2
Study
Page 019
Page 045
Page 073
Page 097
Page 107
Page 125
Page 149
Page 171
Page 185
Page 203
Page 235
Page 257
Page 291
Page 317
Page 341
Page 379
Page 397
Page 419
Page 441
Page 472-473
Page 499
Page 505
Page 545
Page 577
Page 601
Page 605
Page 641
Page 675
Page 707
Page 719
Page 739
Page 765
Page 785
Page 799
Page 835
Page 851
Page 873
Page 913
Page 947
Page 957
Page 981
Page 990-991

Cover Flap[edit]

Kawakami Minoru:

Born on January 3, 1975. From Tokyo. He is demonstrating his usual vitality by working through this book’s tight schedule and reaching the climax of the social media game project while also finding himself preparing for a doujin event. He really does work year-round.

Satoyasu:

Born in Yamagata and raised in Tochigi. “I often put honey on bread. The acacia kind has the smoothest flavor and tastes great.” Come to think of it, he used to have an Axia cassette tape. Not that has anything to do with anything.

Installation[edit]

Oda Nobunaga

Such a major daimyo that I doubt anyone hasn’t heard of him.

Probably because Hideyoshi and Ieyasu worked for him and because he’s often seen as the leader of Japan’s unification.

A reformer. His ambitions were unfulfilled due to betrayal. A figure skater. Okay, not that last one.

But historically, you can see opinions about him changing frequently. Opinions on Nobunaga began immediately after the Warring States period, at the beginning of the Edo period. At that time, he was seen as the warlord who Hideyoshi and Ieyasu worked for. (The modern unification of terminology and language didn’t exist back then, so opinions were more story-like.) He was seen as a skilled person, but because he was betrayed for granting favors, there was a tendency in the Edo period to avoid granting favors to the powerful.

But in the middle Edo period and after, people had higher opinions of Hideyoshi and Ieyasu for actually unifying Japan, so their opinion of Nobunaga dropped comparatively.

This began to change when he was spoken highly of by the emperor-led Meiji government because Nobunaga had protected the imperial court and he began to be worshiped at a shrine as an imperial supporter.

That said, Hideyoshi was also an imperial supporter and Ieyasu was kept at a bit more of a distance, so Hideyoshi became really popular.

At the same time, Nobunaga was seen as careless for letting himself be assassinated in an uprising and he had prevented Shingen or Kenshin from unifying Japan instead, so opinions of him trended downwards.

After World War Two, history was consumed as entertainment in the form of movies and novels and research into Nobunaga was advanced along with research of Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, gradually revealing that he had been anything but simple and had been a reformer.

When it was learned he wasn’t just a hired imperial loyalist and had heavily influenced Hideyoshi and the others, he went through a revival like with Shiba Ryotaro’s Kunitori Monogatari and Nobunaga’s Ambition, leading to the creation of the modern image of Nobunaga. (Now, Shiba’s novels had such a profound influence on people’s image of the daimyo and warriors of that time that I think you can divide the general image of them into a pre-Shiba and post-Shiba era. He was like the Hajime Katoki for designing the modern image of the Warring States period.)

Views of history and historical figures change from era to era, but the interesting thing in Nobunaga’s case is how early Edo opinions and modern opinions are so similar. Mainly that he was skilled and gathered a lot of great people, but his more severe aspects made him do some regrettable things. I think he was skilled and an optimist and he trusted his own people to a fault. He allowed an uprising, but he also never forgave incompetence. That suggests that he believed he could change a treacherous heart but he couldn’t fix incompetence. Stopping a traitor requires charisma, but since he also used the “profits” of his reforms and ambitions to that end, his followers must have really adored him.

I think that may be why Hideyoshi and Ieyasu mimicked him after his death.

For the design, I flipped things around by having Nobunaga mimic the designs of Toori and Horizon, who are Motonobu’s successors. Wearing her hair up is about the only thing I did to fit my vision of Nobunaga and she otherwise has a lot of Toori influence. The decorative chains form a circle over her head to give her a holy look.

(Kawakami Minoru)

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere - 9B[edit]

—Stay away.

Characters[edit]

Festival Pamphlet[edit]

Top (white): Honnouji Festival

Top lantern:

Attraction 1

Antique Self Market

Various abandoned items people use to form their sense of self will be gathered and the right to display them or not will be auctioned off! Now, how much will you pay to keep your cringey past from being revealed!? “No! Stop!” Will be held on the main stage without warning.

Middle lantern:

Attraction 2

M.H.R.R. Food Banquet

Our guests from M.H.R.R.’s Schau Essen unit will be running a food stand. Delicious! And fast! Watch your weight grow in only 5 minutes! Now, want to try fattening yourselves up and going for a freefall in the sky!?

Bottom lantern:

Attraction 3

Target Shooting

Oda is the place for guns, so we have a lot of prizes. A headshot is 100 points, a torso shot is 50, and a limb shot is 10! What? No, Magoichi-san will be doing the shooting. Where’s the confusion? Your job is to run away! The game begins at 6PM across the entire festival grounds.

Bottom right:

August 2

Honnouji

Supported by Lake Biwa Azuchi

Characters[edit]

● Musashi

Aoi Kimi: Toori’s older sister and worshipper of the god of eroticism and dancing. Fundamentally high-tension and selfish in practice.
Aoi Toori: Protagonist. Musashi Ariadust Academy’s chancellor and student council president. Mr. Impossible.
Asama Tomo: Daughter of the Asama Shrine, Musashi’s main shrine. Childhood friend and overall victim of Toori and Kimi.
Azuma: Child of the emperor and a half-god. All his abilities have been sealed and he lives on the Musashi.
Adele Balfette: From a vassal family that arrived from France. Glasses girl.
Itou Kenji: Cheerful incubus. Nude, bald, and muscular. Known as Itoken.
Ohiroshiki Ginji: Gourmet otaku with a Heart-sama style build.
Kiyonari Urquiaga: 2nd special duty officer. Flying half-dragon. Hopes to be an inquisitor. Known as Uqui.
Shirojiro Bertoni: Treasurer. Young leading member of Musashi’s commerce and industry guild.
Tenzou Crossunite: 1st special duty officer. Ninja and errand-runner who always covers his face with his hat.
Toussaint Neshinbara: Secretary. Loves history, wants to be an author, and writes doujins.
Naomasa: 6th special duty officer. Older sister type who works in the engine division. Smokes and laughs loudly.
Nate Mitotsudaira: 5th special duty officer. Member of a knight family and inheritor of the Mito Matsudaira name. Half werewolf.
Nenji: Slime with about 3 HP. Manly.
Noriki: Laborer boy who supports his family. Clumsy martial artist. Silent and unsociable.
Heidi Augesvarer: Treasurer’s aide. Shirojiro’s partner. Has a white fox named Erimaki.
Hassan Furubushi: Calpis logo-style Indian. Lives while eating and drinking only curry.
Persona-kun: Super macho man with a bucket helmet. Silent, strong, and kindhearted.
Horizon Ariadust: Toori’s childhood friend and current ruler of Mikawa. Currently an automaton. Her emotions were taken as parts for the Logismoi Oplo.
Honda Futayo: Former Mikawa student. Honda Tadakatsu’s daughter. Uses a strongly old-fashioned speech pattern.
Honda Masazumi: Vice president of the student council. Diligent exchange student who arrived from Mikawa the previous year. Has various issues with her family.
Marga Naruze: 4th special duty officer. Black-haired six-winged Weiss Hexen. Member of the manga club.
Margot Naito: 3rd special duty officer. Blonde-haired six-winged Schwarz Hexen. Always smiling.
Miriam Poqou: Girl who stays in her room because she lives in a wheelchair.
Mukai Suzu: Blind but always gives it her all. Acts as everyone’s stopper.
Tachibana Muneshige: Former Tres España 1st special duty officer. Amore. Currently working to regain his inherited name.
Tachibana Gin: Former Tres España 3rd special duty officer. Muneshige’s wife and possessor of cannon-style false arms. Fifty times.
Mary Stuart: Half-sister of English Queen Elizabeth. Well-endowed blonde. Living with Tenzou as his future wife. Owner of Ex. Collbrande.
Mishina Hiro: Granddaughter of the engine division’s chief. Loves mechanical things. Naomasa’s underclassman. Her name is pronounced Hiro, not Dai.
Mishina Shouichi: Mishina Hiro’s father. Taizou’s son-in-law. Head of Kantou IZUMO.
Satomi Yoshiyasu: Satomi Academy’s student council president. Small but does not cry. Uses the god of war Righteousness.
Ookubo Tadachika/Nagayasu: A rare Far Easterner with a double inherited name. A second year and head of the representative committee. Speaks in a fake-sounding Kansai dialect.
Kanou: Ookubo’s maid. An automaton. Head of the public morals committee. A second year.
Date Shigezane [Narumi]: Masamune’s cousin. Vice chancellor of the Date clan and uses a mobile shell named Unturning Centipede. Confident elder sister type.
Yagyuu Munenori: A 1st year ninja samurai who serves Ookubo. Hunterrrrrrr chaaaaaaaaaaance!
Houjou Ujinao: Chancellor and student council vice president of the Houjou Association of Indian States. A demonic long-lived, but has an automaton body.
Nagaoka Tadaoki: He’s super scaryyyyyyyyyyyy! His dick’s pitch blaaaaaaaaaaack!

● Academy Officials

Oriotri Makiko: High-speed battling teacher. Always wears a track suit.
Sakai Tadatsugu: Musashi Ariadust Academy’s president. Used to be a very able person but was demoted.
“Musashi”: Automaton that supervises the Musashi and overall commander. Her sharp comments are hard to put up with.
Yoshinao: King of Musashi who was sent from Hexagone Française. Has a veto right toward the academy and has the authority to manage Musashi.
Sanyou Mitsuki: Class 3-Bamboo’s homeroom teacher. Looks up to Oriotorai. Somewhat sensitive and unlucky.

● Hexagone Française

Reine de Garou: Turenne. Hexagone Française’s vice chancellor. Mitotsudaira’s mom. All-around giant breasts.
Mitotsudaira’s Father: The Reine des Garous’s husband. A victim who is full of happiness and readily cries. Not so much passive as always under attack. 24 days.

● Tres España

Felipe Segundo: Chancellor and student council president. Hard-working middle-aged man.
Juana: Vice president of the student council. Female teacher type. Logismoi Oplo user.

● P.A. Oda

Niwa Nagahide: #2 of the Six Heavenly Demon Army and Five Great Peaks. A dancer and quick to adapt.
Mori Ranmaru: Nobunaga’s page. An old-fashioned automaton who originally belonged to the Imperial Palace, but was sent to P.A. Oda.
Shibata Katsuie: One of P.A. Oda’s Six Heavenly Demon Army and Five Great Peaks. Athletic type. Very troublesome after his recent marriage.
Oichi: Shibata Katsuie’s wife. Gentle berserker.
Fuwa Mitsuharu: P.A. Oda’s local anti-Sviet Rus treasurer. She, Toshiie, and Narimasa are known as the Triumvirate.
Mori Nagayoshi: Manliest young fellow in P.A. Oda. His head spins at the instant of impact.
Sassa Narimasa: One of P.A. Oda’s Six Heavenly Demon Army and Five Great Peaks. Delinquent and assault type. But methodical.
Yasuke: Half-dragon working for Nobunaga. Works with Ranmaru, but tends to be the victim.

● M.H.R.R.

Hashiba Toukichirou: M.H.R.R. Vice President and monkey-masked automaton girl. The nervous bomber type.
Olimpia: Innocentius’s older and younger stepsister. Current Pope-Chancellor.
Matthias: Representative of M.H.R.R.’s Catholics. Student Council President. Younger brother of Chancellor and Emperor Rudolf II. Being a puppet is fun!
Maeda Toshiie: Catholic representative. Treasurer. Samurai attendant that has become a ghost and is peacefully spending his days with his wife Matsu.
Fukushima Masanori: Under Hashiba’s direct command. Ten Spears #1. Speaks in an old-fashioned way.
Katou Kiyomasa: Under Hashiba’s direct command. Ten Spears #2. The busty blonde type and speaks politely.
Ishida Mitsunari: An earnest but inexperienced data entity who is often troubled. Ten Spears #3.
Katou Yoshiaki: Ten Spears #4. Gold-haired, gold-winged Weiss Hexen. Speaks sharply, but surprisingly tends to act as a mediator.
Wakisaka Yasuharu (Angie): Ten Spears #5. Black-haired, black-winged Schwarz Hexen. The carefree type, but she truly is carefree.
Hirano Nagayasu: Ten Spears #6. Representative of the Tsurugi Shrine, Oda’s main shrine. Busty. Launches swords instead of arrows and drinks a lot. Loves unreliable people.
Hachisuka Koroku: Shouroku. God of war pilot of the Hidamari Genbu. The cool kid of the Ten Spears.
Kasuya Takenori: Ten Spears #8. Black wolf. Close-quarters fighter who defeated Takigawa. Has a chest.
Takenaka Hanbei: Ten Spears #9. Hashiba’s tactician. Carefree long-lived girl. Has also inherited the name of Kuroda Kanbei.
Katagiri Katsumoto: Ten Spears #10. An earnest boy who can also negotiate.
Kani Saizou: Extremely high probability of people misreading her name. The energetic aide to the Ten Spears. Fukushima’s underclassman. Nickname: Kanitama.
Ootani Yoshitsugu: An earnest, hot-blooded, sincere, and honest virus with a strong sense of justice. Liked by cats.
Nabeshima Naoshige: Kani’s childhood friend who moved to the Ryuuzouji clan. The big sister type. A mechanical dragon pilot who bosses the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji around.
Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji: “The five of us!” “Are the Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji!” “There’s five of us!” “But we’re the Four Heavenly Kings!” “Get outta the way!” and so on.
Asano Yoshinaga: Kani’s childhood friend and the type to get good grades. Tallllks with a weird intonaaation.
Ikeda Terumasa: Kani’s childhood friend and a builder. Is doing a lot of stuff with the Shirasagi Castle.
Shima Sakon: 3m tall, held back 5 times, and can regenerate. But it makes her go yowch. Uses the mobile shell Onitakemaru. Kohime.
Onitakemaru: A Shogun. A mobile shell. Real easy to get worked up. I’m a mobile shell now, but you got a problem with that!?
Komaoumaru: Kiso no Yoshinaka. Tomoe Gozen’s former husband. Fires beams from his mouth even after resurrecting.
Ishikawa Kazumasa: Teacher of the Ten Spears and other related students. Originally lived on the Musashi, but left for P.A. Oda after losing to Oriotri.
“Azuchi”: Captain Automaton of the Azuchi aerial ship. A lot has been asked of her lately, but she learned how to really get into the interception fire from atop the bridge.

● Mogami Clan

Mogami Yoshiaki: Betrayal-loving daimyo known as the Fox of Ushuu. Shrewd leader who unified frigid Mogami in a single generation.
Shakenobe: The Mouse that follows Yoshiaki-sama, mon!

● Other Forces

Tomoe Gozen: M.H.R.R. Protestant with Luther as a second inherited name. A ghost. Uses a Testamenta Arma and this people with a Testament copy hammer.
Christina: Lady Nagaoka. Fully prepared to die. Lives on the north end of Nördlingen.
Masaki Tokishige: Satomi’s current representative. A fairly hard worker who serves Hashiba. Uses the god of war called Integrity.
Deer: Began traveling with Fukushima due to reasons. A great buck racing toward his ideals. Adieu.

Glossary[edit]

A[edit]

Academy: An educational facility. Used as the center of political and military power. Tend to have many branch schools.
Academy Rules: The basic laws upheld between academies. Agreed to by the Testament Union.
Age of Dawn: The age before the Testament was established.
Amako clan: Former IZUMO land. Destroyed by Mouri and Hexagone Française.
Anti-Decline Pro-Tuning: The action taken during the Age of Dawn that led to the creation of the Testament and Harmonic World.
Apocalypse: The end of the world. 1648 when the Testament’s history descriptions end.
ArchsArt: England’s primary corporation.
Ariake: Floating dock for the Musashi provided by Kantou IZUMO.
Armada battle: A naval battle fought between England and Tres España. Tres España planned to land on England but their fleet was destroyed.
Artificial Apocalypse: A compressed ley line distortion created in England’s Avalon to research the Apocalypse.
ATELL: The smallest unit of ether. Used for spells.
Avalon: A space created in England to research the artificial Apocalypse.
Azuchi Castle: P.A. Oda’s giant aerial warship.

B[edit]

Blessings: The amount of ether needed for a human to exist for one hour. 3600 ATELL. Conversion unit for a spell’s ATELL consumption.
Bunroku Campaign: Hashiba’s invasion of Korea. The first one.

C[edit]

Catholic: The old mainstream version of Tsirhc.
Chancellor’s Officers: An organization led by the chancellor which leads the academy and performs work such as defense.
Change of Rank: Having one’s clan taken away.
Contradiction Allowance: The foundational ability of the world. Allows the simultaneous existence of all sorts of physical laws.

D[edit]

Destiny: A concept that can be seen as the ley lines themselves. Given a personality during the Age of Dawn to prevent the destruction of humanity.
Divine States: Former name of the Far East.
Divine Weapon: A weapon that, unlike a normal weapon, has a unique ability.
Divinely Ordained Prayer Academies: The original academies that existed during the Age of Dawn. More a guiding frontline base than a place of learning.
Dragon Line Reactor: A bomb that uses a runaway ley line reactor to destroy a wide area.
Dragon Races: The dragons. There are Celestial Dragons which are spirits and Terrestrial Dragons which are beasts and the Celestial Dragons are of a higher level. They dominated during the history recreation of the Germanic invasions, but ultimately lost. They are now scattered across the land.
Dunhi: A religion. Focused on reincarnation.

E[edit]

Edel Brocken: Magic brand. Location of headquarters unknown.
Eisenritter: Primary corporation of M.H.R.R.’s Protestant principalities.
Emperor: A divine individual who is said to control the ley lines using the Imperial Regalia in Kyou. Does not interfere with the world.
England: Uses a floating island and does not control any Far Eastern land or Far Eastern daimyo.
Ether: Component that makes up contradiction-allowing space.
Ether Engine: An engine that uses ether’s space-altering ability. The effect changes based on the internal crest.
Ether Fuel: Ether that has been purified into fuel. Used as External Blessings or for ether engines.
Ether Reactor: A reactor that extracts and purifies ether from the air. Has a lower output than a ley line reactor, but is relatively safe.
Europa: Hexagone Française’s primary corporation.
Excalibur: Has a first and second version.
External Blessings: Blessings accumulated outside of oneself. Ether fuel is an example.

F[edit]

Fan Gang: Qing brand. Durable but a bit rough.
Far East: Name of the Divine States after the Harmonic Unification War.
Fino Alba: K.P.A. Italian brand. Their use of springs is their selling point.

G[edit]

God of War: A giant humanoid machine that people combine with to move.
Graduation: No limit for nations other than the Far East. Far Easterners must graduate at 18.
Grande y Felicísima Armada: Tres España’s fleet for the Armada battle. Made up of cutting-edge ships.
Great Return: When Hashiba returned with all his troops while attacking Mouri during Nobunaga’s assassination. The rushed march covered about 200 km in less than ten days.

H[edit]

Harmonic Territory: Locations where the fallen Harmonic World Divine States unified with the real world while breaking apart.
Harmonic Unification War: A war between the harmonic world residents and the real world (Divine States) residents after the destruction of the harmonic world. The harmonic world residents won and began a provisional rule over the Divine States.
Harmonic World: A former alternate space that copied the Divine States. Preserved through ley line control.
Hexagone Française: Mouri clan + France.
Hidetsugu Incident: Hidetsugu, Hashiba’s nephew who was going to be left in charge during the next generation, earned Hashiba’s anger and was forced to commit suicide. The reason is unknown, but his concubine Komahime had to commit suicide with him.
History Recreation: Recreating the Testament descriptions to maintain the path the world takes.
Holy Spells: Tsirhc spells. The Catholics are related to the Testament and holy individuals while the Protestants derive power only from the Testament.
H.R.R.M.: Holy Knights Ironworks Guild. Primary corporation of M.H.R.R.’s Catholic principalities.

I[edit]

Imperial Palace: Where the Emperor lives and governs from in Kyou. It is said the three Imperial Regalia are used to control the ley lines, but the details are highly classified.
Inherited Name: The name of a historical figure given to an appropriate individual for the history recreation.
Internal Blessings: blessings stored within oneself.
IZUMO: The Far East’s largest corporation. The headquarters for Far Eastern shrines and the corporation that built the Musashi.

J[edit]

Judge/Judgment: Means “understood”. Used by criminals.

K[edit]

K.P.A. Italia: Association of Aki States + Union of Italian City States.

L[edit]

Laws for the Samurai Clans: Laws established after the Matsudaira clan established the Edo Shogunate. It determined the status of the samurai clans, but it centralized power by declaring a ‘Change of Rank’ if a clan or castle had no heir.
Ley Line: The thicker of the pathways through which ether flows.
Ley Line Reactor: A reactor that extracts and refines either from ley lines. Can easily cause lay line mutations and destroy everything within several kilometers if they explode. Due to their instability, they are banned by the Tsirhc religion.
Logismoi Oplo: Weapons of mass destruction created on the motif of the seven deadly sins.

M[edit]

Magic: Folk spells currently under persecution in Europe.
M.H.R.R.: Hashiba clan + Holy Roman Empires.
Mikawa: Destroyed by the collapse of Lord Motonobu’s ley line reactor.
Mito: South of Oushuu and north of Edo. Mitotsudaira’s territory.
Mlasi: A later non-Tsirhc religion that also worships the Testament.
Mouse: A spirit beast device to act as an intermediary between the Shinto religion and its musicians. Other religions use different names.
Musashi: Aerial city ship. The sole independent territory allowed for the Far East.

[First Starboard Ship – Shinagawa/Second Starboard Ship – Tama/Third Starboard Ship – Takao/First Central Ship – Musashino/Back Central Ship – Okutama/First Port Ship – Asakusa/Second Port Ship – Murayama/Third Port Ship – Oume]

Musashi Ariadust Academy: The Far East’s representative academy which exists on Okutama of Musashi.
Musician: A religion’s worshiper.

N[edit]

Novgorod: A large trade city on the western end of Russia. It is a floating city, but became a city of the dead after Ivan IV the Terrible’s purge.

O[edit]

Oat: A religion based on China’s sages.
Offering: Providing a god with something they will enjoy or Internal Blessings.
Official Events: Refers to the ceremonies, exams, etc. that an academy must complete during each term. If these are not completed, the academy may not take part in any external politics.
Orei Metallo/Nero: Ore or water containing ether. Can be used as ether fuel.
Orthodox: The Orthodox Concerto religion. Sviet Rus’s unique branch of Catholicism.
Oushuu: The Tohoku region. The Date clan rules the east and the Mogami clan rules the west.
Oushuu Fujiwara (Hiraizumi): A hidden village of the long-lived in southern Oushuu.

P[edit]

P.A. Oda: Oda clan + Ottomans.
Peace of Westphalia: The peace treaty that ended the Thirty Years’ War.
Protestant: A new style of Tsirhc created to escape the corruption of Catholicism and to adjust to the new age.
Provisional Council: Group of adults who act as bureaucrats toward Musashi’s student council, chancellor’s officers, and student committees.

Q[edit]

Qing-Takeda: Combination of China and the Takeda clan.

R[edit]

Religion: Organizations or groups that worship a god or the Testament.

S[edit]

San Mercado: Tres Españan brand.
Shaja: Used in Mlasi regions and means “understood”. Originally meant “courage”.
Shinto: Far Eastern religion. Worships the Far Eastern gods and uses divine music spells.
Shirasago Enterprises: IZUMO’s shrine brand.
Siege of Otate: Conflict over the succession of the Uesugi clan after Kenshin’s death. Uesugi Kagekatsu and Nagao Kagetora fought and Kagekatsu won.
Sign Frame: Spell device needed to use each religion’s basic protection.
Song of Passage: Prototype of a fairy tale created in the Far East during the Edo period.
Spell: Causing a miracle in a certain space by processing ether.
Spirit Spell: Primitive spells used by talking to and borrowing the power of spirits, which are ether with a will of its own.
Student Council: The organization that handles an academy’s domestic and foreign affairs.
Substitution: Offering something to please a god instead of using Blessings to activate a spell.
Sviet Rus: Uesugi clan + Russia.

T[edit]

Tes/Testament: Means “understood”.
Testament: A history book that provides the history of the earth’s previous age. There are seven pairs and excerpts.
Testament Descriptions: History of the earth’s previous age that is automatically updated by the Testament. However, it stopped updating after the description for 1648.
Testament Union: An organization meant to lead the history recreation.
Testamenta Arma: Weapons that use the ability of the Testaments.
Tres España: Oouchi and Ootomo clans + Spain. Currently includes Portugal.
Tsirhc: A religion which places the Son of God at the top. Worships the Testament.

World[edit]

The Story So Far:

O-okay, so the Battle of Shizugatake and the Honnouji Incident have started. I left for Honnouji, but after causing an accident involving Mori-san, Kani-san is going to battle Fuwa-sama. But Kiyomasa-san and Niwa-sama are battling to the south and Kasuya-san, Yoshiaki-san, Wakisaka-san, and more are battling Maeda-sama’s Kaga Millionen Geist to the north. The fighting hasn’t begun yet at Honnouji, but information leaked from Musashi says their Vice President kept threatening Tres España that they would declare war and trample them underfoot. That sounds like them, in its insanity.

There was also something about a combining move and a somersault senton, but those couldn’t be referring to the same thing, could they? We also received information about something being screwed in and about drinking coffee and tomato juice in the morning, but I just arrived on the scene and for some reason Sassa-sama is here!

Divine Chat Screenname List:

Azuma: Azuma
Asama: Asama Tomo
Obscene: Itou Kenji (Itoken)
Me: Aoi Toori
Gold Mar: Margot Naito
Righteousness: Satomi Yoshiyasu
Scarred: Mary Stuart
Silver Wolf: Nate Mitosudaira
Still Got It: Reine des Garous
Wise Sister: Aoi Kimi
481: Mishina Shouichi
Tachibana Husband: Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Wife: Tachibana Gin
Smoking Girl: Naomasa
10ZO: Tenzou Crossunite
Tonbokiri: Honda Futayo
Sticky King: Nenji
83: Hassan Furubushi
Flat Vassal: Adele Balfette
Vice President: Honda Masazumi
Bell: Mukai Suzu
Horizey: Horizon Ariadust
Art-Ga: Marga Naruze
Circle Be: Heidi Augesvarer
347: Mishina Hiro
Novice: Toussaint Neshinbara
Musashi King: Yoshinao
Four Eyes: Shakespeare
Worshipper: Ohiroshiki Ginji
Laborer: Noriki
Unturning: Date Narumi
Kagetsuna-kun: Katakura Kojuurou
Fang: Oniniwa Tsunamoto
Caretaker: Rusu Makikage
Taki: Takigawa Ichimasu
Great Upperclassmen: Shibata Katsuie
O12: Oichi
Lily Flower: Sassa Narimasa
Omaeda: Maeda Toshiie
Fuwaa: Fuwa Mitsuharu
Mory: Mori Nagayoshi
Nine Tail Girl: Mogami Yosahiaki
Shigeko: Honjou Shigenaga
KageV: Uesugi Kagekatsu
Tomo-no-Bu: Saitou Tomonobu
Nagaya-Stable: Ookubo Tadachika
CAN: Kanou
Llaf: Fukushima Masanori
Kiyo-Massive: Katou Kiyomasa
The Boy: Katagiri Katsumoto
Kuro-Take: Takenaka Hanbei
Kimee: Katou Yoshiaki
AnG: Wakisaka Yasuharu
6: Hachisuka Koroku
An-Ri: Henri
Ar-Man: Armand
Super Justice: Ootani Yoshitsugu
Nari Nari Nari: Ishida Mitsunari
Kanitama: Kani Saizou
Nine Horns: Kuki Yoshitaka
Three Legs: Suzuki Magoichi
Black Wolf: Kasuya Takenori
Nabe3: Nabeshima Naoshige
Asano: Asano Yoshinaga
IT: Ikeda Terumasa
Okaaa: Nagaoka Tadaoki
Koni-ko: Konishi Yukinaga
■――: Yagyuu Munenori
Self-Destruct Girl: Christina
Kohime: Shima Sakon
Onitakemaru: Onitakemaru
Juana: Juana
Flores: Flores Valdes
My Sister’s Brother: Pedro Valdes
#1 Bunter: Hironaka Takakane
BA3: Era Fusahide

Far Eastern Powers: [Same map as before]

Relationships Between the Major Powers: [Same as before]

Musashi’s Plans:

Toori: Sis! Sis! We’re right in front of Honnouji now, so what do we do!?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. Front brother, we have no choice but to cause an incident. Yes, the kind of incident that will go down in history.

Toori: Yeah, sis! I like the way you think! But while we’re causing a historic incident, the Battle of Shizugatake’s already started!

Study: Diagrams of the Battle of Shizugatake and the Honnouji Incident[edit]

Toori: Sis! Sis! There’s not much space, but can you explain the shape of the two battlefields to me?

Kimi: Heh heh heh. Space brother, let’s take a quick look, shall we? First, Shizugatake.

Top right of map: Shizugatake

1. North Clearing

2. North-South Passage

3. South Clearing

4. Kitanosho Castle

Surrounded by forest

Kimi: Outside the fortress line of ships, Kasuya and her nonhuman unit are battling Maeda Toshiie in the north clearing and Kiyomasa is battling Niwa in the south clearing. Kani is battling Fuwa inside the formation.

Top right of map: Honnouji

1. Honnouji

2. Central Stage

3. Front Path

4. Surrounding Forest

5. Honnouji Landports

Kimi: That’s what Honnouji looks like. It has an open-air three-layer structure surrounded by an outer wall and gate and has a large stage inside, but it’s also emitting an ether pillar into the sky above. We’ll be arriving from the surrounding forest and using the front path which isn’t quite a kilometer long.

Toori: Huh, that’s surprisingly simple, but I just know it’s going to get more complicated soon enough.

Kimi: Heh heh. There’s no helping that. But I want to go see what Nobunaga looks like regardless!

Chapter 30: Runner on Unsure Footing[edit]

What am I looking at?

Where are they?

How many are they?

Point Allocation (Two)

●

“Something strange is happening.”

It began a few minutes ago when Fukushima saw a giant knife slicing through the sky.

…I recognize that.

It was the Azuchi. She had been aboard that massive aerial warship until about a month ago. It could achieve all sorts of maneuvers using its gravitational acceleration.

Earlier, the ship had sliced northward through the night sky.

“But why!?” she asked.

She was fairly certain she was close to the Shibata Team’s formation. Or maybe not. I might not be. She wasn’t actually all that certain because of…

“Deer-dono!”

She asked a question of the deer she was riding to hasten her travel.

“Thou are taking me toward Shibata-sama, aren’t thou!?”

●

The deer did not understand what the human on his back was saying.

That was to be expected because deer could not understand human language. They survived by eating grass and leaf buds.

It was known to his species that it would improve their species’ standing among humans if they occasionally gave a human a ride to an arbitrary location if the human appeared to be in trouble or important.

Deer had gods too.

So when he found this human looking lost after failing to take a shortcut through the mountains, he had known now was the time to improve his species’ standing.

Plus, he recalled this human expanding their mountaintop watering hole and giving him food. Yes, he had gorged himself on the bagged food inside her tent while she was out. He hadn’t known what kind of food it was, but he remembered the pattern on the bag was shaped like this: Horse Meat Curry. Not that I know what that means. Cause I’m a deer.

When she had encountered his herd, her desperation had been a sight to behold.

“––––! ––––! …!”

Why don’t you get we don’t understand you? And that you’re being too loud? You’ll wake the wolves and bears. But I could tell she needed help. And the herd’s elder spoke to me.

“Hey, go dump her somewhere. She’s too noisy.”

I couldn’t have agreed more, but I also wanted to help her if I could.

And that’s why I’m running as fast as I can. Yes, I know where I’m going. This must be where she wants to go. Deer heaven is located far to the south of here. There, humans serve deer, give us food, and worship us.

I believe that land is called Nara. Not that I know that that means. Cause I’m a deer.

●

“Deer-dono!? Deer-dono!? If I am not mistaken, thou are running south! If thou do not mind, I ask that thou turn 90 degrees eastward! Can thou do that!? Please!?”

●

In the Azuchi’s dining hall, Takenaka found it odd that they still couldn’t contact Fukushima.

…This could be bad.

Fukushima really should have been back already.

For one, she had apparently contacted Kani on the way.

And now Kani was being held hostage by the Shibata Team and Takenaka couldn’t reach her either.

For now, Fukushima was missing. That meant Takenaka couldn’t count on her in this battle.

If she made her plans on the assumption Fukushima would be a no-show, her absence wouldn’t cause any damage. But…

“Everyone low-key believes she’ll be back…”

So what happened if she didn’t return?

It wouldn’t be a problem as long as they won. Fukushima could regroup with them afterwards. And even if she didn’t, she just had to make it to Honnouji in time. And if she didn’t do that… I probably shouldn’t think about that. Plans there are TBD.

But what if they lost?

…I really don’t want the situation to gradually deteriorate while we wait for a “hope” that isn’t coming.

She wanted to consider an early withdrawal or regrouping, but she wanted to avoid winding up in a situation where that wasn’t possible.

Unfortunately, the situation continued to grow more concerning.

Nearly every one of her fighters had run into an enemy.

Kasuya, Yoshiaki, and Angie had run into Maeda’s ghost warriors at the northern face of the fortress line of ships.

Kiyomasa had run into Niwa in the southern clearing.

And Shibata hadn’t even shown himself yet.

“And I thought everything was going so well when we defeated Sakuma-san, took out the Takigawa Team, and cleared a path.”

“Takenaka-senpai! It’s high damage! This is high damage!”

Katagiri was weirdly excited, hopping up and down in front of her, so she held out her palms and responded.

“There hasn’t been any major damage yet, so it doesn’t count. We need to stick to meaningful definitions, Katagiri-kun.”

“Wow! You’re no fun at all!”

Not right now anyway, she thought, checking a lernen figur and confirming the lack of any major damage.

…But we are still in trouble.

She knew that from the bottom of her heart.

●

Takenaka wanted to avoid exhaustion and losses if at all possible.

With “damage”, she could accept it and rework her plans. But the chaotic melee to the north and the nearly single combat to the south both scared her.

Their main ground forces were fighting a melee on the north front. They were likely working to regroup on the scene. But if this continued, all of those fighters would be exhausted and might even be unusable even if they won here and rushed to Honnouji.

Meanwhile, the battle on the south front was single combat, so the only damage would be to Kiyomasa. But Takenaka didn’t want to lose her or have to send a rescue team for her. Because if Fukushima really didn’t return, then Kiyomasa was effectively the leader of the Ten Spears.

Losing Kiyomasa would hinder their battle at Honnouji.

…I can’t believe this.

Takenaka was seriously considering having everyone fall back and regroup.

She listed up all the personnel in her deck, rearranged them with her finger, and considered how the battle could play out.

“We’re still not hurting too badly.”

“What do you mean!?” asked Katagiri.

Takenaka only straightened up and brought a hand to her chin. But she knew what she had to say.

“For now, they need to move inside. Otherwise, this stalemate will only continue to increase the risk. So…”

She considered which way would be easier as she spoke.

“Kasuya Team. Kiyomasa Team. Listen up.”

Her instructions were simple. Very simple. Anyone could understand them.

“Break through the enemy in front of you. It all begins once you do that.”

●

“That’s easier said than done, you know!?”

Kasuya was battling on what couldn’t quite be called the front line.

She was on a kilometer-long gentle slope just outside Shibata’s fortress line of ships. Shortly after they had secured the clearing that acted as the north entrance, they had arrived.

Maeda Toshiie’s Kaga Millionen Geist.

The ghost warriors endlessly emerged from the ground, preventing Kasuya’s team from establishing a safe zone.

Next to her, Kousaka was fighting and shattering the enemy just like her.

“Can’t we use spells against them!?” shouted Kousaka.

Hashiba was part of the M.H.R.R. Catholics. Tsirhc requiem and exorcism spells could eliminate ghosts with little in the way of restrictions. But someone shouted their way from the warriors who had fallen back into the forest.

“It doesn’t work!”

They too were versed in spells. In fact, they were a unit sent here to do exactly that. But…

“Maeda-sama’s spell is stronger, so we can’t fully resist it!”

As if to prove that true, light scattered from all around. The spell unit’s requiem field spell split through the ghost skeletons emerging from underground, turning them into simple ether light.

Maeda’s necromancy spell was indeed quite high level for a spell. And Maeda himself was quite high level as a spellcaster. Furthermore…

AnG: “I think we’re in trouble. There’s no end to them.”

Kasuya had also noted the extreme number of them.

A platoon level field spell was not enough to stop Maeda’s skill combined with such endless quantity. More and more ghosts emerged to replace any that were lost. Any field they set up was overwhelmed in no time.

New lights scattered here and there. The fields were shattering and the fighters were being pushed back.

…Are we outmatched in quantity and quality!?

Just as Kasuya thought that, a great form appeared in front of her.

The large ghost skeleton stood more than 10m tall and was equipped with a mobile shell. What would happen if it pulled off ordinary movements like that?

Its attack speed was about five times a human’s. It broke the sound barrier when it swung its sword.

“…”

It stepped forward and swung its sword down from overhead at about the same moment.

●

AnG: “Take’s deeeeead!”

Kimee: “Cause of death: carelessness. What a terrifying battlefield.”

Kuro-Take: “Um, um, could you not stress me out for no reason!?”

Black Wolf: “I am not dead!”

●

“Oh?” said Yoshiaki as she descended toward the forest and saw the result.

Kasuya had smashed two forces.

The first was the large skeleton’s swung-down sword. The other was the large skeleton’s leg itself.

For the sword, she sent out a right chop that seemed to swing her body upwards. For the leg, she kept her right arm moving after smashing the giant sword and more or less tackled it with her fist out front.

The raised right foot dropped at about the same moment as her outstretched fist struck the leg of the large skeleton’s mobile shell.

…Neat.

Yoshiaki had thought Kasuya generally attacked with rapid combos using Argent Clou. But she’s changed a lot.

Yoshiaki had heard Kasuya had defeated a ton of dragons during the training camp, but she hadn’t expected her to have progressed this far.

She hadn’t even looked up at the blade swinging down toward her and her strikes had been swift. She hadn’t lingered in her follow-through and had immediately moved on to the next attack.

She continued on now.

“Lu, la.”

She howled while swinging her right fist through.

Her stomping foot sounded loud and the force of her blow broke right through the mobile shell’s armor.

The attack had her weight behind it and it shattered the metal leg armor below the scattering fragments of the blade.

The armor broke away from the frame and the frame broke before it could bend. The power system’s components scattered behind the leg and the oil and ether fuel splattered along with them. And…

“One down!” shouted Kasuya, placing her right knee and lower leg on the back of the large skeleton collapsing without the support of its leg.

One down? I like that confidence, thought Yoshiaki. Because that felt like announcing her intent to destroy a second and a third.

How much would those words mean on this dangerous field?

…Also…

“All ordinary warriors, ready your weapons and charge into the forest! Open a path with an offensive retreat!”

Kasuya’s nonhuman unit gave more detailed instructions.

They would be falling back into the forest too, but telling the ordinary warriors to “charge into the forest” was probably the right move.

Kimee: “The ghost warriors seem to have a hard time entering the forest. Maybe it’s the phase of the land.”

AnG: “Some are coming in, but I think they’re the ones that grew close to the edge?”

6: “Are they a crop?”

It seemed a lot like it, yes.

But once they were in the forest, this was Yoshiaki and Angie’s job.

First, she displayed Magie Figurs at a set interval. But these were not for spells. They simply displayed arrows showing where to turn.

That would get the warriors lined up behind the Technohexen once they returned to the forest.

…Looks like they did their movement training.

They appeared calm enough to give priority to the right side first. Which left…

“Angie, let’s end this.”

●

Kasuya destroyed a second large skeleton.

That said, she was primarily just breaking their legs. Once they fell, her people could crush them.

She had learned how to distribute tasks during the summer training camp in Aki.

You did what you could do.

And, if possible, you did what the others could not.

If everyone understood that, the battle would run automatically.

That was happening here. Her job was toppling the large skeletons. She would deal with the human and big ape ones if she came across them in between the large ones, but those were for the others to deal with. As for all of her allies…

“Clear a path for our leader!”

They eliminated the enemies blocking her path.

And as a whole…

“Charge into the forest to temporarily withdraw!”

At various places across the battlefield, they would gather up the few who had already withdrawn to form larger groups they could use to charge into the forest.

The action turned their backs to Shibata’s fortress line of ships and moved away from it.

That meant they were in fact retreating.

But this wasn’t just a semantic issue. Ghost warriors continued to appear across the clearing, so they had to attack even as they withdrew.

So instead of just retreating into the safety of the forest, they were attacking as they moved into the forest. The ghost warriors couldn’t manage any particularly skilled attacks, so they just had to avoid getting caught by them. That meant a powerful charge was the best option.

Alone, they would be in danger, so they moved in groups of at least four. Kousaka, Inada, and the other nonhumans rescued and gathered those caught by and being pushed back by the ghost warriors.

“C’mon! Ready your weapon and charge! Thataway!”

They chose a direction that wouldn’t obstruct the other groups and sent them off.

The distribution of tasks had already begun and, surprisingly, the defenders were going around eliminating the enemy while the attackers used that opening to rescue the ordinary warriors and instruct them to charge.

…They’re combining the synchronization of a charge with a zone of defense.

The attackers had the instincts needed to quickly rescue their allies and immediately determine where they could charge.

Conversely, the defenders had the instincts needed to buy the time and create the safe zone needed for that.

In that sense, they were performing optimally here. And…

“How much more!?” asked Kasuya.

“We’re almost done!” replied Kousaka as Kasuya defeated her third large skeleton. “The clearing will be clear after another 5 or 6 groups!”

Kousaka and Inada were commanding and creating the overall flow of withdrawal.

Kasuya had to admit she was simply leaving this in their hands. But she was doing what she had to do and those two had taken control of what they needed to do.

She appreciated it.

…They would honestly be better team leaders than me.

But that would definitely slow the nonhuman unit’s charging speed.

She had the greatest speed, but she was far faster when letting the others follow her charge than when being given an order to charge.

She did what she could and achieved a maximum no one else could reach. If she saw that as the reason she was leader, perhaps it made those two her advisers.

She felt like she was just trying to make herself look better, but she had gotten used to this during the summer training camp.

When battling those dream Terrestrial Dragons made of ether, detailed instructions and strategies hadn’t worked.

If you could go for it, you had to go and make it count while the others did their thing behind you.

Kasuya did the same here. And she heard her allies behind her.

“The last group is out!”

She responded by accelerating toward the next large skeleton. With a burst of speed, she cleared the last dozen or two meters in only three steps.

She went.

●

Kasuya detected the enemy’s reaction as she raced south toward the ghosts.

…So the ghosts can make decisions on their own!

Maybe it was in response to her defeating multiple large skeletons in a row, but the big ape skeletons – which were essentially the ghosts’ 2nd form – were chasing after her now.

Based on the footsteps she could hear, there were at least 20 of them. They rushed in from behind, from the front, and from the sides. Conversely, the human ones used their mobile shells to rush in as a solid wall from beyond the destroyed gate ship.

Had they decided they just needed to defeat her?

“But I’ve never been afraid of ghosts.”

It’s not my style. That’s more of a Shrine Maiden Hirano thing.

Loup-Garous were a spirit species, so they had a lot in common with ghosts. Presumably, these were only attacking her because the Kaga Millionen Geist were Landsknechte.

And they were commanded by…

“Maeda-senpai!”

Kasuya raised her voice and looked far into the distance. He stood past the gate ship on the main path down the center of the Shibata Team’s formation.

He looked like he was dancing the way he snapped his thumbs to scatter silver coins from the coin roll swords at his hips. His hair fluttered side to side, back and forth, as he took rhythmic steps and scattered coins.

AnG: “He’s having a blast.”

Kimee: “ ‘Azuchi’, if I give you range data, can you shoot him?”

Azuchi: “Oh, sorry. The angle is too shallow for my high-angle weaponry. Shaja.”

…So everyone sees him the same way.

But Kasuya had to focus on the battle. She ran toward a fourth large skeleton coming from the south.

“Lu.”

She reached it with a single accelerated step.

●

Toshiie had no intention of letting his guard down.

…That’s Kasuya-kun, isn’t it?

She already had a major accomplishment under her belt.

“She defeated Takigawa-senpai.”

That was why the Takigawa Unit had gone out ahead and launched a surprise attack on her. She had deflected their skill and their feelings to reach this point.

On the feelings front, Toshiie knew he had been an outsider from Takigawa’s perspective. They hadn’t spent much time together and they had both enjoyed themselves during the brutal Warring States period and Thirty Years’ War within the standard hierarchy of upperclassman and underclassman.

But the times were changing.

The people from the latter half of the Warring States period and the Thirty Years’ War were rising up from below.

So there was only one choice left: lose yourself in the memories or enjoy it with the newcomers.

“That’s right.”

He had inherited Maeda Toshiie’s name, which gave him one advantage over the other commanders and daimyo from that generation.

“I get to see the end of the Warring States period and I reach the entrance to the next era.”

He would live long enough to see Hashiba unite the Far East and to see the Battle of Sekigahara. So…

…Yeah, this is tricky.

It had occurred to him after he arrived here.

He was here to be with Shibata, a powerful upperclassman, during his big goodbye.

But in the same way, Toshiie himself was an upperclassman to the underclassmen serving Hashiba. And he was an upperclassman who would not meet his end here or during the Warring States period at all.

Kasuya before him now had defeated Takigawa.

Takigawa had been an important upperclassman to him, but…

“What will you do?”

He waved an arm as a command. His gestures told the ghost warriors what they should do.

“Crush that wolf.”

Now, then.

“What will you do?”

He was in the middle of the balance now. He perceived himself at the center. Words rose from deep in his throat as he considered that.

“Will you accept me as your upperclassman even though battling you like this is all I can do?”

As soon as he asked the question, he saw a rushing multitude.

The target was Kasuya and the multitude was the ghost warriors, primarily the ape ones.

Kasuya had just dashed toward a fourth large skeleton and she briefly ducked down.

…Preparing for an attack?

She would likely destroy the large skeleton the very next moment. But the wolf paused in that moment. To secure her footing.

The ghost apes chose that moment to charge in.

“Now, what will you do?”

Would she attack to the front, just like when she blew away the thousand mobile shells? But the large skeleton was swinging its sword down at her and the apes created far more pressure than the humans and mobile shells had.

So what would she do?

…Let’s watch.

Just as Toshiie thought that, she made her next move

The wolf stepped forward. And as soon as he saw that…

“…Huh?”

He saw the result before him.

The black wolf made another burst of acceleration.

This one took her between the large skeleton’s legs instead of attacking it.

“She missed!?”

●

…No, wait.

That doesn’t make sense, thought Toshiie. Because…

“You’re supposed to attack there!”

But the black wolf hadn’t done so. She had used a burst of acceleration to pass between the large skeleton’s legs and kept low to the ground. Her stance was nearly like a sliding baseball player.

“Stayyyyy!!” howled the wolf.

In that moment, two things happened on the other side of the gate.

First, the nonhuman unit fighting in the clearing suddenly got down on the ground.

And second…

“That’s what you were after!?”

A cannon blast split the sky.

Someone in the forest had fired a blast on the level of an anti-ship cannon toward the clearing. It must have been…

“One of the Technohexen!!” he shouted just before light exploded in the clearing.

The witch’s homing diffusion shot was a flash of light that exploded at extreme low altitude.

●

Yoshiaki had a single target.

She had summoned Weiss Fürstin in the forest and put it in anti-ship cannon mode. And she had fired…

“A homing diffusion shot meant for use against mechanical phoenixes and aerial gods of war. But…”

Her target was a fairly difficult one.

“I’ve never set the homing to target any kinetic readings more than a meter off the ground before.”

But the shell had flown.

…Did it work!?

The clearing was on a downwards slope. A horizontal shot would have caused the shell to explode too high up and the diffusion wouldn’t cover the area evenly. So she had given the shell itself guidance, but it was a fairly fast shell. The slightest mistake and it would miss the clearing altogether.

So what would she do?

“That one’s decently tall.”

She meant a large skeleton.

It was raising its sword to swing it down at Kasuya.

Yoshiaki aimed for the very start of the swing. The mobile shell gave it decent speed, but it still had to come to a stop after raising its arm. If she launched her shell then, it would hit the center of the skeleton’s chest as it swung the sword down.

Kasuya had done a great job of luring it into place.

With an enemy rushing toward the large skeleton, Yoshiaki wasn’t going to miss.

She fired her first attack.

The shell slammed into the chest of the large skeleton wearing a mobile shell.

In that instant, the shell’s diffusion and homing commands scrolled rapidly by on the Magie Figur by her face.

“Pierce those dead souls. May they rest in peace. Nema.”

Hundreds of coins shot down from the sky as a scattershot blast.

●

Toshiie saw it all happen.

When the shell hit the large skeleton, its upper body literally shattered. The ghost warriors behind it – the human ones and the ape ones – were all shattered too.

The rapid-moving scattershot split the air into countless pieces, producing mist and a powerful wind on the north half of the clearing.

The colorless white of the sudden wind contrasted the dark shadows of the forest disturbed by the moonlight and wind.

And behind that misty wind, light ascended into the sky. The countless sparkles of ether light were the shattered ghosts finding peace.

The Technohexen sang a requiem. One of the reasons Technohexen were hunted in Tsirhc history was because accepting the Technohexen’s indigenous spells would have prevented the church from making money off of funerals and inheritance.

But the Technohexen’s song permeated all, regardless of religion. Maybe that was why.

“Are you going?”

After that attack, the ghost warriors in the clearing between the shattered large skeleton and Toshiie began to move forward.

“…!”

They all raised voiceless groans and rushed toward Kasuya who stood in front of the shattered large skeleton.

But Toshiie realized something and raised his voice.

He scattered coins and gave a command to them all.

“Wait!”

There was a reason they all had to stop.

“There’s another Technohexen!”

Just as he thought a second shot was coming…

“Open fire!” howled the wolf.

At the same time, a shell tore a hole in the waves of mist washing over the clearing slope.

This one was not homing.

It simply flew by over Kasuya’s head and released an unguided and non-homing scattershot toward the rushing ghost warriors.

The force of the blast struck everything from the center area of the clearing to the entrance.

●

…That was wayyyyy too close!

Angie confirmed the attack hit using her Magie Figur rather than doing it visually.

Mist was still swirling before her, so she couldn’t see to the center of the clearing. And yet…

“I know I did it, but firing a non-homing diffusion shot toward Take based on numerical readings alone is super dangerous, Kime-chan!”

“Don’t worry. Too low and it would have hit the remains of the large skeleton and failed. Too high and it would have flown above everything. Either way, the stress goes to Takenaka and we can just laugh it off.”

Kuro-Take: “C-could you please stop giving me reasons to stress after everything actually went well!? Please!?”

Is she trying to convince us to keep teasing her? wondered Angie, but that was hardly new.

But her Magie Figur showed the shell arrive 10m in front of Kasuya before explosively fanning out across 120 degrees out ahead.

The only question left was how much damage it would do, but…

Black Wolf: “Go!”

A voice rescinded the “stay” command. The mist was broken through and the wind pierced by…

“Lu…ah, oh!”

The war cry sounded a lot like a wolf’s howl. And it was answered by the many silhouettes of the nonhuman unit standing back up in the mist.

“Get ready!”

Others formed ranks once more in the forest behind.

The approximately 7000 members of the ordinary warriors who had arrived on Takenaka’s orders roughly re-formed defense formations in the forest. The commanders at the far sides and the center played trumpet sounds from spell circles.

“Charge!”

●

Kousaka smashed the blinded ape ghost warriors in the mist.

The ghosts appeared to sense ether, but this mist was created from the fragments of a spell shell and the shattered ghost warriors.

Ether sensing was meaningless within that cloud of chaff blowing just off the ground.

…So now we can hunt to our heart’s content!

The nonhuman unit hunted the apes and ignored the human ones. Because they wanted to…

“Clear a path!”

The seven 1000-man defense formations moved slowly – ploddingly even – as they came in from behind, but they cleared their own path by smashing the ghost warriors who continued to rise from the ground.

“Warriors, secure the north gate!!”

Chapter 31: Debaters Down Below[edit]

Are you alright?

Are you really alright?

Point Allocation (To Your Allies, For Some Reason)

●

“The Hashiba forces have entered Shibata’s formation at Shizugatake?”

Masazumi checked the sign frame displaying Ookubo’s report relayed by Crossunite.

At the same time, a sign frame appeared with a note direct from Ookubo.

Nagaya-Stable: “Presently, Maeda Toshiie, who we thought would be here, is intercepting the Hashiba forces using his ghost warriors. That should make things a little easier for us, but they must have their reasons.”

“True,” said Masazumi while she had Tsukinowa organize all the sign frames.

…So they’re just as busy as us.

Musashi was preparing for their entry into Honnouji.

They were currently at the Asama Shrine. They were preparing their divine protections and spells there, but some of the spell field entry gear was also the shrine’s job. A lot of it wasn’t normally allowed off the premises and they normally relied on Asama or other students with shrine maiden qualifications, but they had been given limited authorization to operate it themselves.

The idiot’s group had arrived a bit late, but since Ookubo had already completed most of the procedure, they actually had time to spare.

Thus, this had become their departure and preparation spot, as well as the site of a strategy meeting.

…Granted, that’s mostly because we can’t use the outside port because we could be attacked from there.

They could receive antiair fire from Honnouji this time. To avoid that, they had decided it was safer to use the holes created by removing most of the base hulls than it was to use a port up on the deck.

With so many wide blocks and other structures purged and carried away, the evacuation transport ships were in fact descending into the newly formed pits and relying on the docking equipment set up on the interior of each level.

The Asama Shrine was no exception and had its own docking equipment for receiving supplies, but at the moment it had large docking hooks attached for when it too would be purged.

Thus, they were in the semi-underground Asama Shrine, but at the moment, its atrium structure continued through to the passageway next to it. They would be departing on the transport ship docked there once the time was right.

And based on the report from Crossunite…

“It sounds like a kaiju battle has started over there.”

“I thought the same thing, but P.A. Oda seems surprisingly unimaginative to me,” said Crossunite.

“I know what you mean,” said Balfette as she made some final adjustments to Raging Beast on a sign frame. She looked up at the pillar of light visible in the sky out ahead of the Musashi. “How much of that is wasted energy, do you think?”

“It looks like a gravitational control ‘passage’ to me, but I will admit it probably isn’t all necessary. At that scale, most anything is going to have a lot of waste,” said Naomasa with a shrug.

She would be remaining on the Musashi.

They had been so busy there was no way Jizuri Suzaku would be repaired in time, so she would be on the bridge making predictions and scans of everything from Mukai’s monitors to the internal structures.

Everyone else would understand their duties by now, but…

“Oh. This probably doesn’t matter to any of you, but I have a bit of news.” Asama raised her right hand and opened a sign frame for them to see. “This was announced shortly after what happened at Kyou, but the position of the Far East’s Shinto Representative has been given to the Grand Shrine of Ise instead of the Emperor in the Imperial Palace.”

“Isn’t Ise the Imperial Palace’s main shrine? So what’s the difference?”

“Well, the Imperial Palace had never given Ise any commands outside of the customary ones, so there is effectively no difference. So unless Ise receives any instructions from the Imperial Palace’s surviving automata, everything should continue business as usual.”

So no real difference. From a political perspective…

“It was right to leave the decision with the Imperial Palace’s survivors. If they had chosen a new leader, such as naming a new Emperor, the other nations would have protested the choice. But with the Imperial Palace’s survivors, they can say nothing has changed, leaving no room for complaint. And Ise is still focused on the heavenly gods while IZUMO is focused on the earthly gods, right?”

“Right,” confirmed Asama. “And by handing over the authority, Ise is implicitly saying they will not be taking responsibility for Kyou, but the other nations cannot so easily demand the Imperial Palace’s survivors take responsibility because of all the secrets and rights involved. I think the European nations will be forced to respect Ise’s position. Meanwhile, IZUMO has been running a sale for corporate customers, insisting that prices for Shinto spells and infrastructure are going to skyrocket soon with the Ise part of the network gone.”

“Those monsters,” everyone muttered and Masazumi had to agree.

…But the new state of the Far East as a whole is already coming into view.

Had Ise expected and prepared for this? Masazumi appreciate that they would not let anyone else touch the rights to Shinto and the Imperial Court.

“I’m curious what’s going to happen at Shizugatake, but we need to focus on our own battle.”

Masazumi turned toward Futayo next to her. She nodded to the girl who was loosely holding Tonbo Spare.

“Futayo, give us an overview of what we’ll be doing.”

●

Futayo started by opening a map of Honnouji. The 1st Special Duty Unit had created it and it showed them that Honnouji had a surprisingly simple structure.

“As you can see, Honnouji is a circle with a multilayer dome.”

Yes, that much was obvious at a glance. And they would be…

“Simply put, we go in, find a way to get past the wall, do something with Nobunaga inside, and then leave. Simple as can be.”

“Give us a more complicated explanation!”

Now that’s a hard request.

…But I’ll give it my best shot.

“Complicatedly put, we shoot our way in from the front, break in through the gate, meet Nobunaga inside, discuss some important things with them, and then leave in much the same way. …That about sums it up.”

“Why is Nida-yan such a natural at being useless?”

“3rd Special Duty Officer, that is not a very nice thing to say,” interjected Gin before pausing and gasping. She realized everyone was grinning at her.

“Yeah, I know what that’s like,” said Naruze. “You have no problem criticizing her yourself but you come to her defense when someone else does it.”

“Th-that is not at all what happened!”

“Don’t worry, Gin. Your issues aren’t half as annoying as some people I could mention.”

“A-again, that is not what happened!”

“Ha ha ha. Gin, you can’t hide the things that really matter to you.”

“Master Muneshige! Master Muneshige! I swear that is not what happened!”

“Then what was it?” asked Futayo.

“Do not intrude on a couple’s conversation, Honda Futayo!”

She scolded me.

…But if I can anger someone as imperturbable as Gin-dono, my interpersonal skills must be improving!”

I should have more confidence. That said…

“Masazumi, if a simple and a complicated explanation both do not work, we might have trouble completing this mission.”

Futayo turned toward her fellow Mikawa resident who had a hand to her forehead.

●

“Um,” Asama heard Masazumi say. Neshinbara’s hand immediately went up, so Horizon…

“Tenzou-samaaa!”

“J-judge!”

Mitotsudaira breathed a sigh of relief and Mary said “my” with a hand to her cheek, but Neshinbara pointed at himself with both hands.

“That one was mine! I had my hand up first!”

“You’re just bad at making your case, Neshinbara-kun.”

Ohiroshiki had a point. But Tenzou responded to his nonstandard selection by crossing his arms and looking to Futayo’s sign frame. It showed the multilayer circular structure.

“The Vice Chancellor covered this point quite well herself, but Honnouji has a very simple structure.”

The simple map showed the main temple was a circle of just over a kilometer in diameter. It had stairways and connecting passageways on the edges and it was surrounded by eight clawlike structures that outputted lines of power up into the sky.

…Those claws must continue down to the ley line passing below the ground.

Narumi must have had a similar thought because she looked up into the sky.

“It sure is flashy. I wonder if the historical Nobunaga liked flashy things too.”

“Judge, I have heard that he did,” said Tenzou. “And do you know the most frightening thing about that ether disturbance?”

“Yes, that it’s so calm.”

“Really?” the others asked, so Asama had to nod.

“It’s definitely flashy. The Musashi’s ether sensors and the shrine’s sensors are both picking up that ether pillar just fine. That means its powerful enough to break through the Musashi’s divine protections.”

But despite being so flashy…

…The ley line is showing surprisingly little disturbance.

On a request from IZUMO, her father had been working with the Musashi to run scans. But despite the massive amount of ether being expelled skyward, the average earthquake would cause more of a ley line disturbance.

She had to preface it with “most likely”, but…

“I think some kind of underground facility has run calculations and set up a proper conduit for the ether expulsion. That means they prepared a mold for that pillar first and then sent the extracted ether into it.”

So…

“There should be a pulse-like tremor and a glowing phenomenon on the surface there, but it should be stable for now. I don’t know what Lord Motonobu was trying to do back at Mikawa, but it was because he didn’t create this kind of mold that they couldn’t contain the ether when it reached saturation and collapsed.”

“Will the same thing happen when this pillar collapses, Asama-sama?”

“No,” replied Mary, looking up into the sky. “It is rising faster than it can fall. I can see the occasional surface spirit panicking after getting caught in the current.”

Asama couldn’t see it in that much detail, but maybe that was the identity of the small flares she could occasionally see.

After a nod from Mary, Asama resumed her explanation.

“The Asama Shrine’s scans show the current in the center is traveling in reverse – from the sky on down. I don’t know if that reverse current is a circulation meant to provide a core to support the pillar or if it’s naturally occurring, but it shouldn’t have to be there and I think we should keep it in mind.”

Once she was done, she turned toward Tenzou. He pointed at the map Futayo had opened.

“Now, there’s a lightshow in Honnouji’s sky, but the place is surrounded by forest. I don’t know if it’s for delivering supplies or for construction, but it has a large front gate and it has transport ship landing zones built here and there. So breaking through the center like we did at Nördlingen and Kyou is probably the safest option. And with that in mind…”

Tenzou gave Futayo a quick nod before opening a map of the building in the center of Honnouji. But this map was a lot more detailed than Futayo’s and it had notes.

“We measured the widths of the passageways and the locations of stairways, but the internal structure is simpler than I would have thought.”

The triple layer structure used circular walls as barriers with a main hall in the center, but…

“The very center is likely a stage. It even has the keystone audience seating.”

●

“A stage?” said Margot, tilting her head.

“Will they be doing something like at Nördlingen?” asked Naruze, tilting her head too.

“Heh heh. Music is the first thing that comes to mind when you want a spell to influence a wide area.”

Kimi’s comment made someone raise his head in realization. It was Neshinbara and he looked up into the sky.

“That’s it!”

“Nope, wrong. Too bad.”

“I-I didn’t even say anything yet, Naruze-kun! If you reject my ideas before hearing them, what happens in the off chance I’m right!?”

“The off chance?” asked Asama, puzzled, but Naruze more or less agreed. She exchanged a glance with the others and then they nodded to her in a “go for it” kind of way.

“Very well. Then we would really like to hear this idea of yours.”

“D-do you have to put me on the spot like this!?”

Four Eyes: “Why are you so bad at handling pressure?”

“I can’t speak my mind when no one takes my side, that’s all.”

“If you could speak your mind with no one taking your side, wouldn’t that prove that you were entirely isolated?” asked Tenzou.

“Heh heh. Indeed it would! Anyone that clueless would have to be stupid! A stupidiot even! Hey, you there! You’re quite the stupidiot, aren’t you!?”

“Sis! Sis! It’s so cool how you can insult Tenzou while looking at me for some reason!”

“Why would you think she was talking about me!?”

After watching the idiot siblings cheer and high five, Naruze turned toward Neshinbara again.

“Got anything to say for yourself?”

“F-fine, I’ll tell you! I think it’s that thing! You know, where they make it look like they’re doing an entertainment spell, but then the stage splits in two, a giant aerial warship emerges from below, and we end up in this really cool battle!”

Tachibana Wife: “I feel like he got less descriptive as he went on.”

Tachibana Husband: “No, Gin-san. How can you describe a cool battle other than as a cool battle?”

That was definitely a cool way of defending him, thought Naruze before Naomasa’s hand went up.

“You think there’s a warship hidden below there?” she asked with a tilt of the head.

“Yes! I do! I really do!”

“Then,” said Naomasa, pulling a tape measure from her hip pocket and placing it against the stage drawn on Tenzou’s map.

Smoking Girl: “How wide is one of the Musashi’s ships again?”

Musashi: “Not giving you the size lengthwise, widthwise, or heightwise would be prudent if we are interested in preserving Neshinbara-sama’s pride. And my ships have a slender girly build when compared to the other nations’ ships. Over.”

“Y-you might as well come out and say I’m wrong at this point!”

“There just isn’t enough space. This stage has to be around 200m wide. And if the stage did open to the sides, where would the opened stage be stored? Looking at this, the two halves would collide with the audience seating on either side. And it if opened upwards, the foundation just isn’t sturdy enough to support it.”

“I didn’t mean to prove me wrong in every conceivable way!”

“Neshinbara-kun, I know it’s unlikely to happen, but please calm down,” said Asama.

Next was Adele who nodded and spoke to everyone.

“Um, I know you’re all on edge with the Honnouji Incident coming up, but I think we’re teasing the Secretary a little too much. Even if he brought this one on himself.”

“Balfette-kun! What kind of defense is that!?”

But even if there wasn’t a warship, something did catch Naruze’s interest.

“What really is going on below Honnouji?”

Tenzou’s people had investigated and discovered a large underground space there.

“My people said it is likely a space for gathering the ley line reactors and for temporarily pooling the ether. The scanning spells could only detect a mass of ether there, so the conclusion is based on that.”

…Ley line reactors would be filled with “pure” ether.

Everything in reality was created from ether: their bodies, the air around them, fuel, light, and even darkness. Even physical phenomena and effects weren’t the result of preexisting laws. It was said the world was initially empty and the ether filling the world happened to find those laws to be “easier”. Thus, it wasn’t difficult to break or rewrite the laws, but the laws would generally return to what was “easiest” afterwards.

However, those laws did not exist for the ether within the ley lines, so they carried great possibility. It underwent great change when given a mold.

“Which caused a lot of trouble in Mikawa.”

And this time there were at least eight of those reactors. Also, they were already operating, which was why the scanning spells hadn’t been able to detect the state of the reactors full of pure mold-less ether.

Furthermore…

“If Asama is right, could they be stabilizing the direction of the output to send something into the sky? But why would they want to do that?”

●

“Oh,” said Adele without thinking.

She had just about reacted to Naruze’s question, but she had only remembered the events at Mikawa and couldn’t think of anything beyond that to say.

…I feel like I’m so close to imagining what comes next, but I also feel like I’m skipping past something.

So far, this was a lot like Mikawa, but the rest would be different.

“Did Mikawa go boom because of things related to this stuff?”

“Adele, you don’t have to dumb down your vocabulary for Bara-yan’s sake.”

“Be nice, Naito-kun! Balfette-kun is being serious! Even if that was hard to understand!”

That pissed Adele off, but did that mean she needed more discipline? Meanwhile, the 4th Special Duty Officer drew a four-tiered pyramid on her Magie Figur.

“This conflict is between this part and this part of the bottom tier,” she explained to the others.

I wish I could argue with that, but having Kimi-san at the top and the Vicereine directly below her is pretty convincing.

But Asama shook her head at Adele’s idea.

“I think the Mikawa explosion was intentional. Honnouji appears to have adopted a similar technique, but for a different purpose. So I think this will end differently.”

In other words…

“I don’t think it will explode in the end.”

●

“Then why did my awful father turn himself into the Mikawa Bomber?”

Everyone could only mimic Horizon’s puzzled head tilt.

Asama was no more able to answer that unsolvable riddle than any of them, but there was one thing she could say.

“If the Honnouji Incident’s current state includes a technique taken from Mikawa, then we might be able to work backwards and figure out what they were doing at Mikawa.”

“Asama-sama! Is that true!? We might finally have an answer to the question our Secretary, Neshinbara-sama, and our gutless doujin author couldn’t solve while working together!?”

“Now hold on, Ariadust-kun! That was a new one!”

Isn’t that nice? Asama mentally commented while opening a sign frame.

It displayed Mikawa. Specifically, the center of the city that had sunk into the bay and was now known as Old Nagoya. Masazumi went “oh”, so she was probably reminded of her time there.

New Nagoya Castle had ley line reactors installed at its four corners with a control reactor in the center.

The eight reactors now running at Honnouji told them something.

“The amount of ether accumulated at New Nagoya Castle doesn’t really add up, does it?”

“How so?” asked Narumi.

Asama nodded and looked up into the sky where the pillar of light was still growing stronger.

“With eight ley line reactors running wild and absorbing ether from the ley lines, a pillar of that size makes sense. Mikawa only had four reactors, but New Nagoya Castle was a much larger facility than Honnouji. So they would have been extracting half the amount of ether producing that pillar.”

“And that exploded, right?” asked Urquiaga, but Asama could only half agree.

“The explosion occurred at the base of the pillar, but it rewrote the ether of the space over a wide area around it. I don’t think that would require ‘annihilating’ all of that accumulated ether. And after the extracted ether flowed out, it calmed back down and attempted to return to the ley lines. But in its superheated state, it couldn’t return and the ether’s compression rate wasn’t enough to contain the heat, causing it all to scatter.”

“If the reactor can’t contain it, it explodes,” summed up Naomasa.

“Yes, well, ley line reactors function by causing that on a small scale and harnessing the energy of the ether transformation. And as a consequence, they can process materials on a larger scale than alchemy.”

But…

“We are scanning what’s happening at Honnouji, but their extracted ether is being expelled skyward and they are controlling that flow to ensure the pressure doesn’t reach explosive levels. Or to put it another way, they are successfully controlling the wild ether with their control reactor.”

“Then what did they do at Mikawa?” asked Futayo.

Asama nodded.

Futayo’s father died guarding New Nagoya Castle.

Asama noticed Gin and Muneshige looking her way too.

Those two had encountered Futayo’s father, who had never once been defeated. Asama knew that thinking on this any further would be wrong as a shrine maiden who handles matters of the afterlife.

But if they could find some small hint to what they had been doing at Mikawa…

“Mikawa had half as many reactors as Honnouji, but they did not expel their ether skyward. The control reactor expelled the ether upwards, but it ultimately fell back down. Which brings something odd into view.”

“What’s odd about that?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Well.” A lot about this was still unknown. “Like I said at the start, the amount of stored ether doesn’t add up.”

●

Oh, thought Naito in realization.

She had been focused on the part of the process between the reactors running wild and the explosion, but…

“The reactors were being used like normal before they ran wild, weren’t they?”

“That’s right,” said Asama.

Someone reacted to this: Gin. She suddenly straightened her back and cleared her throat.

“The Tres España fleet Master Muneshige and I were a part of back then worked out the time until Mikawa’s reactors reached a critical point based on the superheated state of the emerging ley lines and the spatial variation rate. The prediction proved to be nearly accurate, so we concluded the process had been intentional. And once everything was gone, we were left with the question of why they had caused that disaster. But…”

But…

“That may not be the correct question.”

“I agree,” said Naruze next to Naito. “They had been using their reactors before the disaster, but because Mikawa was destroyed, everyone assumed whatever they had been working on was destroyed too. But it wasn’t, was it?”

“Right. Honnouji’s light pillar is better controlled than Mikawa’s one because they have a system that controls the reactors by allowing their output to escape into the sky. That allowed the process to run surprisingly smoothly from the very start. I think Mikawa’s was planned as well, but that still leaves one question.”

Asama-chi turned toward Naito.

…Don’t pass this one on to me!

Asama was giving off the scent of an ether explanation obsessive. But Naito did know the answer here, so maybe she wasn’t one to talk.

“Even taking into account that Mikawa had half as many reactors, the process was much slower and it looked a lot less controlled,” said Naito.

“Which is strange, isn’t it?”

She knew what Asama-chi meant by that.

“Why was Mikawa’s process so much rougher when they had been using their reactors for so long? If they had prepared for it, they could have triggered the explosion right away.”

Naito looked up at the light pillar. The one at Mikawa had been yellow, but this one was a bluish-white. The extracted ether was given directionality and then ejected straight up.

“It seemed to happen so ‘suddenly’ at Mikawa, didn’t it?”

Why was that? Asama explained.

“I think Mikawa probably was prepared to trigger that explosion, but just beforehand, they performed some kind of work within New Nagoya Castle, which used up all their ether stores.”

“But Mikawa was still destroyed, right? Wouldn’t whatever they were working on have been destroyed along with it?” asked Adele, tilting her head. “So it is a mystery what Lord Motonobu was trying to accomplish at Mikawa and we can discuss it, but I don’t see how it really matters much in the end.”

She punctuated that thought with a shrug.

But while some nodded in agreement, others said nothing and even stopped moving.

The latter group included Mary and the Tachibana couple. Sensing the change in Mary’s mood, Tenzou turned toward her.

“Mary-dono, do you have an opinion?”

“Judge. One thing is bothering me. And it’s something that we have already seen – or rather, experienced.”

“Judge,” replied Gin. After checking the time on a sign frame, she nodded to everyone else and spoke. “Ley line transportation. At Novgorod, the Shibata forces received support that way and we fought Oichi who used a Testamenta Arma linked to K.P.A. Italia. So while it is little more than wild speculation, it does seem possible.”

What seemed possible?

“Could Lord Motonobu have used the ley line reactors’ increased output to transport something within New Nagoya Castle over the ley lines and then destroyed Mikawa to hide the evidence?”

●

Gin went ahead and said it.

…Crazy theories like this are not my forte.

But she had been there. Her husband Muneshige was the last surviving person to have spoken with Lord Motonobu.

“When the ley line reactors and control reactor were activated, Lord Motonobu opened New Nagoya Castle’s gate to reveal himself. He could have made his transmission from inside the castle or on the roof, but he felt a need to leave the castle. Tactically, that could have been to gather attention to his actions, but it could also have been to hide what was happening inside the castle.”

Gin felt like she was overthinking this, but Lord Motonobu had been the type to do that.

But he had also said something curious.

Muneshige sucked in a breath and repeated it here.

“Teaching materials.”

Yes, Lord Motonobu had said that.

“Lord Motonobu said he had sent many teaching materials into the world for ten years.”

The Musashi princess immediately opened her mouth.

“Class is about to begiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!”

Why did that nearly make the Chancellor fall to his knees?

●

Masazumi covered her face with a hand and sighed.

…Why does everything have to be so much trouble?

No, that was only if the Tachibana Wife’s fantastical theory was correct.

But it sounded extremely plausible.

“So assuming Lord Motonobu did transport something over the ley lines, what could it have been?”

“Should we assume it has already arrived somewhere?” asked Mitotsudaira.

Masazumi didn’t know, but Asama tilted her head and responded.

“Usually, ether reactors extract ‘pure’ ether, which is why that ether makes excellent fuel and can be used as an all-purpose material. Of course, it consumes some of itself as sort of fuel consumption when it is materialized, so you don’t receive the exact same volume the reactor extracts.”

“In that case, we would have no way of even guessing,” said Urquiaga with a glare. He was right.

And furthermore…

“We’ve already stopped following Lord Motonobu’s class.”

“So we won’t receive his teaching materials.”

“Sounds like yet another reason our enemy has the upper hand.”

Everyone looked to Masazumi. And Narumi…

“I wonder whose fault that is.”

●

Mitotsudaira saw Masazumi growing flustered upon realizing this could quickly turn into a running gag.

“Wait! Are you placing all the blame on me!?”

“They do often say ‘one for all and all for one’, don’t they? The saying never specifies what it is talking about, so it can apply here too.”

“Not so fast!” Horizon raised her right forearm and spoke to Masazumi. “Masazumi-sama! Allow me to speak in my own defense!”

“You sure are blunt!”

“If only,” said Horizon before glaring up at the light pillar in the sky. “My awful father is constantly causing us trouble, isn’t he?”

Gin hung her head a bit in response to that. She moved her prosthetic hands up and down to gesture for the others to stop.

“To be honest, Master Muneshige was the one who interrupted the class back then.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Naito. “Come to think of it, it was Muneo and Gin-chan trying to interrupt class that eventually led us to realize we could leave the path he had set up for us. What even was that fighting at Mikawa? If it was just to interrupt his class, it seems pretty pointless to me.”

“But, um, we have left Tres España since then and Tres España and the other nations are still following that path.”

Mitotsudaira didn’t think she had ever seen Gin being so humble.

But she knew one thing for sure.

“We are delinquents.”

Everyone turned toward her.

●

We are delinquents, thought Mitotsudaira.

Delinquents.

The bad kids. Of course they were. Musashi represented the Far East. They had been “judged” as descendants of those who had destroyed the Harmonic World.

And while the other nations took root across the land and developed themselves, they wandered the skies on the Musashi and weren’t even properly armed.

In that sense, they really were the delinquents But at the same time…

…There are things only delinquents can do.

Her king smiled a little.

“We?” he said. “Nate, you’re more of a teacher’s pet. I’m the delinquent. Since I’m the king.”

“And I am actively following that delinquent king.”

“That’s cause you’re my knight.”

Hearing him say that excited her, which settled the matter for her.

“We are all delinquents.”

They opposed the powerful and the clever in order to do what they wanted. But…

“We are delinquents…but that does not make us evil.”

The other nations had their own ways of thinking. But there were national borders and they would frequently clash with neighboring economic blocs and such. That had led to the “survival of the fittest” rules of the Warring States, which had made things less comfortable for Musashi.

If they were going to be delinquents, they might as well do what it was they wanted. Making a mess of the world this way should probably be called “interrupting class”. So…

“What happens to the world if we win?”

“Well, we need to figure out what to do about the Apocalypse first,” said her king.

“Oh,” said the Secretary, raising his right hand. “About that. I have an idea about the part of that coded text we couldn’t figure out.”

Eh? thought Mitotsudaira. Then Naruze moved forward and held out her palms so everyone could see. That meant “calm down” as she looked up at the Secretary from below.

“Are you surrrrre?”

“Wh-why do you sound so skeptical!?”

“Well, you know, it’s just kind of sudden.”

“I made sure I would be done in time for Honnouji. That’s all this is.”

What did he mean by that?

“I can decode the entire message. But that doesn’t mean I know what it all means. So now we need to think about that while using some hints.”

Naruze sighed and let her shoulders droop noticeably when she heard that.

“Are you for realllllll?”

Chapter 32: Man of Character in the Conversation[edit]

Do not let this anger me

Why do I need to

Tell myself that?

Point Allocation (Past Mistakes)

●

Neshinbara decided he would respond to Naruze’s reaction like an adult. He needed to remain calm in all things. Because it made him look cool. For example…

“Fine, I guess we can hear you out.”

He couldn’t let that anger him. Because of my past mistakes! Yes, if I think of it as having a checkered past, it actually makes me look good. Heh heh. Next time someone asks “Why does everyone use you as the butt of their jo- I mean, why do they so cruelly bully you?”, I can tell them “I did something unforgivable to them in the past…” How I should handle the “…” at the end is the real question!

“Hey, Neshinbara, why are you staring off into the distance like that? We don’t have all night.”

“Takarazuka Honda-kun, have you never heard of subtlety before!?”

He decided to leave this up to the rabble’s imagination.

“Now, let’s begin something new.”

He struck a pose while opening a sign frame. He thrust his right hand out front with the index finger raised as a pose of concentration. He could control everyone’s gazes with that finger. Hey, why are none of you looking this way?

Forget it. “Heh,” he laughed quietly.

“I have further cracked the code we were trying to solve. And I can make a partial interpretation of its contents.”

So…

“Let’s enjoy some light puzzle-solving before we set off for Honnouji.”

●

“Now, allow me to explain.”

The library was a cramped, ceiling-less space filled with bookcases that rose as high as the gassho-style beams. There was a desk below, but it too was piled high with books. There were two ladders used to reach the higher shelves.

The speaker, Shakespeare, sat on a board spanning the space between the ladders.

“That coded text had a second layer of coding.”

“H-hey, wait! This is my time to shine!”

“Don’t expect an author to stay silent after you ask for her help.”

The divine transmission sign frame showed their 4th Special Duty Officer saying “they’re at it again”, so Shakespeare smiled and spoke.

“It’s my time to shine.”

●

Art-Ga: “Oh, now we’re talking! He dragged someone important into this one!”

Vice President: “She really is important, so try not to cause any international incidents!”

Scarred: “Yes, we want to avoid any careless mistakes. Don’t we, Master Tenzou?”

Gold Mar: “Um, uh, who should I make fun of first?”

Asama: “For now, I have approved Shakespeare-san’s divine transmission settings.”

Novice: “Wait! Why is no one listening to what I have to say!?”

Worshiper: “That question is going to come back to bite you five times over, so I’d just stay silent if I were you.”

●

Shakespeare saw the message confirming she had divine transmission approval from their Asama Shrine Representative.

So she linked her text description system to their divine chat.

Four Eyes: “I will keep the explanation simple.”

She had honestly only now gotten her head around it, so she wasn’t sure how much explanation this would require.

A longer explanation would be more lyrical. A shorter one would be more literal. But in text, a lyrical explanation would be shorter and a literal one longer.

And the overall length was determined by the story, not the author. Once the author wrote it down, it was a processed product. And this was not a story she had written.

…I need to be cautious but daring.

Four Eyes: “First, let’s review the overall text.”

Risototooukowareta

Nagayoshinozu(tsu/su)gaigatadashii

Zu(tsu/su)kiiinofu(bu)kiwoiwaoniosame

Nazu(tsu/su)owarikotamanizu(tsu/su)gaiwoosameyo

Futarinoseijiyohaizu(tsu/su)ko

Four Eyes: “You can compare the original numbers with the Song of Passage correspondence chart for yourselves. Now, there are two problem passages that we couldn’t read.”

Risototooukowareta

Zukiiinofuki

Four Eyes: “Those are the two. So does anyone here know how to read or interpret these?”

Smoking Girl: “Is it related to the base of the numbers?”

Me: “Their base? What’s that mean?”

Horizey: “Shakey-samaaaaa!”

You were already talking to me! thought Shakespeare, but that helped make it unexpected.

Four Eyes: “The base of a number determines when you add a new digit while counting.”

●

Me: “Eh? I still don’t get it.”

Horizey: “You don’t, Toori-sama? When Masazumi-sama tells a joke, it hits her target with a destructive force equivalent to five military divisions. That means 1 Masazumi joke = 5 divisions. Now, a question: if 10 Masazumi jokes were to hit someone, they would be completely obliterated, but that would be politically inadvisable. The end.”

Gold Mar: “Huh? Wait, wasn’t there supposed to be a question?”

Flat Vassal: “The Vicereine has levelled up.”

Nagaya-Stable: “If you will permit me to join this conversation, take time as an example. Once you have 60 ‘minutes’, you go up one ‘hour’. And once you have 24 hours, you go up one ‘day’. The amount needed to increase the next digit is known as the base of the number. Minutes are base 60. Hours are base 24. And days are base 365.”

Vice President: “That was a great explanation, Ookubo. Good job.”

Nataya-Stable “I just didn’t want you wasting any more of the time I bought you!”

Scarred: “Um, then does the base of the numbers help us read those two passages?”

●

Hm, thought Shakespeare.

That response came from the English princess. The Testament depicted that girl as the archenemy of the Fairy Queen who Shakespeare had sworn allegiance to.

The succession issue was famous enough she had even joked about it in her comedies, but most of it had already been resolved. Now that girl was no more than someone asking to be taught.

…That’s probably how she sees it too.

She was always like that, Shakespeare belatedly realized.

In that case, that girl was a family member to her friend the Fairy Queen. She was part of England’s foundation.

Four Eyes: “Testament, Princess Mary. You are correct.”

So Shakespeare placed a hand on her chest and nodded. She was bad at these dramatic movements. Whenever she did them, she worried it came off as a joke.

But the princess smiled and asked another question.

Scarred: “I am honored. So what is the trick?”

Four Eyes: “You could call it ‘carrying the one’. Most character-to-character correspondence codes do not give the same character twice, but this is a number code. So if both versions of a character are used back to back, I believe we are meant to ‘carry the one’. Like this…”

She displayed it.

She placed the numbers and the Song of Passage correspondence table next to each other and then read from them.

Four Eyes: “Risototo was originally 12-46-57-68. But with ‘to’ and ‘to’ right next to each other, we need to ‘carry the one’ to the left and turn the 57 into a 58. That gives us…”

By checking the Song of Passage correspondence table and subtracting 9, she found…

Four Eyes: “An ‘o’. Place that in and it becomes fairly readable.”

It read…

Asama: “Risootooukowareta?”

●

Uqui: “The Resort King has broken!”

Laborer: “Sounds like someone’s rubbing it in!”

Flat Vassal: “No fair! You mean it isn’t about the Risotto King!? Where did my food paradise go!?”

Bell: “Adele…calm down…calm down.”

●

Shakespeare waited for 15 seconds with no response from them.

Until finally…

Horizey: “Apologizes, Long-Eared Glasses-sama. Am I correct in interpreting this as an invitation to a resort island?”

Four Eyes: “Are you saying it should be read as ‘rizooto tou ni kowareta’?”

Me: “Yesssss! Did you see that!? The English glasses girl read it the same way I did! Take that, Tenzou! You too, Seijun! Shows what you know thinking this one was hard.”

Another 15 seconds with no response. Until finally…

Horizey: “Apologies. Am I correct in interpreting it to read ‘the ideal and the king have broken’?”

Finally, a reasonable interpretation. The back-to-back 15-second pauses were concerning, but…

Four Eyes: “Testament. And if the rule I explained applies, then ‘zukii’ would be ‘zukitai’ or ‘sukitai’.”

●

Mitotsudaira saw her king walk over to the 1st Special Duty Officer and point at himself.

“Tenzou, I’m you, okay? And you’re Mary.”

Then he shoved at the 1st Special Duty Officer like they were moshing.

“Sukitaaaaaaai! I sukitaaaaaaaai you, Mary-donooooo!”

“I-is that supposed to be me confessing my love!? You just sound like a creep!”

“Hey! Mary wouldn’t say that! Would you, Mary!?”

“Eh!? W-well, no, I wouldn’t say that if it was Master Tenzou.”

“Sukitaaaaaaai! I sukitaaaaaaaai you, Mary-donooooo!”

“You are the worst! Just the worst!”

Mitotsudaira’s king backed away from the 1st Special Duty Officer and took a fighting stance. Mitotsudaira took the same stance. Then she followed his lead to bring their hands together to form a heart mark.

“I hope ‘sukitai’ is the correct one,” she said.

“My,” said Mary, holding her hands to her flushing cheeks. The 1st Special Duty Officer managed to look disgusted even through his scarf. Meanwhile, Asama tilted her head.

“But what would ‘sukitai’ actually mean?”

“Testament.” Horizon raised her right hand. “Sukitai is a form of everyday training used by the Hayato people of Satsuma, Kyushu. Whenever someone let their guard down, they would sneak up behind them, shout ‘sukitai!’, which would mean ‘you’re open!’ in the local dialect, and send a rising kick into their crotch. But this caused permanent damage to too many young men, so the Shimazu clan issued a Sukitai ban. The Jigen-ryu school of martial arts was created to replace it.”

“Is it bad that I could almost believe that when it comes to Satsuma?”

“I thought the same thing halfway through making up the story, but I am ashamed I could not come up with a better joke.”

That aside, one thing did come to mind.

“Sukitai is Far Eastern for Scythian,” said Mitotsudaira. “The Scythians were an equestrian people who swept across northeastern Europe in the pre-Roman age.”

“What’d they use for weapons? Mechanical horses?”

“They used…” she said before tilting her head. This had been such a large leap, she was now wondering why she had even thought of it.

“Wait, hold on. We actually have some Scythians here,” said Masazumi.

Everyone turned toward her.

Huh? was Mitotsudaira’s thought. Because…

“The Scythians scattered during the 3rd century BCE, with their culture and bloodlines finding their way into the nomadic peoples in the Slavic region.”

“That’s true. But…”

Masazumi pointed toward her feet. Down. Into the ditch at the edge of the gravel.

“You called?”

An algae creature was there.

●

How should I explain this? wondered Masazumi with a hand on her chin.

“The algae creatures clean the sewage and such, right? But if you look at the ancient history recreations, that kind of job was done by the slave class. But the algae creatures need to do that to live, so things get a little tricky. You see…”

Before she could say more, Neshinbara looked up and spoke.

“The word slave is thought to come from the word Slav. The former Scythian land became known as the Slavic region. During the Roman period, the people there were taken away during war and made to work as the slave class in other regions.”

“Judge. That’s right. Now, the algae creatures had their original homes officially listed as the Slavic wetlands. This had nothing to do with the original class issues – it was done to protect them by ensuring no one else could take these jobs from them.”

“I see,” everyone else said together.

And Mitotsudaira looked to the algae creature.

“And because of that origin, the algae creatures are still seen as descendants of the Scythians?”

“Thanks to their shared memories, the concept of death doesn’t really apply to them, so you could say that. But that’s a problem because they don’t have any weapons. So…”

Masazumi thought some.

Carlos I and his group had loved riddles.

“In the Testament, the Scythians were what we would call the Slavic people now. Let’s say that was intended to refer to the slave class. So if foreign royalty were talking about the slave class as part of a riddle, who would they actually mean?”

This wasn’t meant as an insult or anything like that. It was based on the very real class system.

“The slaves would be…the Far East. Because we’re under provisional rule.”

Which would mean..

“It’s the Logismoi Oplo.”

●

“Hold on a sec, Seijun.”

Asama saw Toori ask interrupt while scratching his head.

“This code was made back when Mary there was still a kid, right? Probably, anyway. Why would they be mentioning the Logismoi Oplo back then? And isn’t calling us slaves a little much? That’s just crazy.”

Still Got It: “It is not crazy. It is a perfectly normal form of kink. About twice a month, we roleplay a rebellion or the suppression of one, depending on our mood that night.”

Mitotsudaira broke her sign frame, but that didn’t seem very useful when everyone else’s was still open.

But Asama was curious about one thing, so she asked someone who knew a lot about Europe.

●

The Musashi’s purged base hulls were being sent south. On the way to Sanuki, if they continued southwest, they would end up at Osaka, which was essentially a Hashiba base. So instead, they traveled south toward Nara along the Kizu River and, when the river turned east, cut south through Nara to Yamato. Once they arrived at the Yoshino River spoken of in classic poetry, they would follow it west. From there, they only had to follow the river to emerge into the Kii Channel between Shikoku and the Kii Peninsula.

“But everything around Nara looks so cool.”

With the Tres Españan fleet guarding them in the night sky, Tadaoki viewed his surroundings from atop a purged section. He was from M.H.R.R., so the location of his home meant he rarely ever traveled east of Osaka. He had gone to Kyou, but the first time he was distracted by the difficulties with his wife. And the second time a big chunk of the city collapsed, dammit. Plus, Kyou is so fashionable of late, it would look like I’m just following the trends if I visited now.

Nara’s the better choice. Or Awaji if you’re in Yamato. This place has all the old style stuff!

He viewed the scenery through a lernen figur and searched the lyrics in his song library for matching terms. He also let his wife choose some terms. And boy did I find some good stuff. He displayed the Kinokawa route they would be taking with enough detail to see the shape of the river.

This is the real homeland of poetry, he thought when he suddenly grew curious about Honnouji.

To the north, he could see the Musashi sinking behind the mountains and the pillar of light rising into the sky.

The pillar looked skinny but tall. It continued as far up into the sky as he could see. The top seemed to disappear, but he knew that was just the perspective making it grow thinner until it wasn’t visible anymore.

He didn’t know what was going to happen, but one thing was certain.

He had no place there.

…Because Nagaoka Tadaoki turned down Akechi Mitsuhide’s request for assistance.

In the Testament, Nagaoka Tadaoki saw Hashiba had the advantage, imprisoned Tamako – his wife and Akechi Mitsuhide’s daughter – in their home, rejected all of Mitsuhide’s offers, and then expressed his intent to join the Hashiba side.

And currently, the Musashi Chancellor had provisionally inherited Mitsuhide’s name.

He couldn’t help. A further issue was the interpretation for him not joining Hashiba.

But his wife had an idea for that:

“You can say that the place you are imprisoning me is very far away.”

Hence their trip to Shikoku. They presented a threat to Musashi, so they were moving far away from Musashi. That would keep Musashi safe, but…

“It’s so irritating.”

Who would win if the Battle of Yamazaki started after the Honnouji Incident?

He knew his old allies in Hashiba were really good at what they did. But Musashi’s people are all idiots, so you never know what they’re going to do. Don’t let them get your pants off. They might spread the photos all over the divine network.

His oddly specific worries were interrupted by someone approaching.

His wife had decided to change position thanks to a divine transmission from the Asama Shrine Representative.

After stopping nearby, she scooted right up next to him. He liked that, but he also wasn’t sure how to respond. She’s so warm. But…

“Tadaoki-sama? I was hoping to ask you something.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Testament. Are you interested in the structure of the ruled and the rulers?”

●

This was going to take some discussion, so in the interest of saving time, Asama passed it over to an expert.

“Um, I just asked the Swedish Chancellor about this slave stuff because she knows a lot about the situation in Europe. I asked her if that way of thinking is still a thing.”

Still Got It: “It is! I vote that it is! And with my husband’s vote, that’s two votes for it! C’mon, Nate, you raise your hand too! You’re going to get a lot of use out of this genre in the future! Up with that hand!”

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! Do not include me to make it three votes!”

Asama: “Three votes? No, of course not.”

She had to include Toori’s vote too, so it was four.

●

…The ruled and the rulers?

“Huh?” Tadaoki tilted his head.

Did this have to do with the rock and punk they had been discussing earlier?

The establishment vs. the antiestablishment. The poetry he had learned showed that duality had existed since ancient times. Ever since the rise of the Taira clan, when politics had shifted from the Imperial Court to the Buke, people were a lot less hesitant about speaking their mind about the establishment.

And from that point of view…

“Men want to be on the side of the rulers, but at the same time, the ruled fighting back against their rulers is really manly, don’t you think?”

“T-testament. I-in that case?” She asked him a question. “How many times a week do you think it is acceptable to do a…broadly-defined version of that action?”

●

Mitotsudaira saw Asama reading the response on a sign frame. She placed a hand on her chin, nodded a few times, and turned to the others.

“Our expert opinion says that three times a week is ‘acceptable’.”

“That’s a lot!” exclaimed Mitotsudaira.

“Hm.” Her king crossed his arms. “Didn’t realize they were thriving quite that much. Maybe we should start exploring too.”

“W-we really don’t have to take things in that direction.”

“That is correct, Toori-sama. Having an average of two service days a week for the knight, shrine maiden, and good wife genres with the final day to recuperate is already quite a packed schedule.”

“D-did you slip a weird one in there for yourself? Pretty sure you did.”

That seems better than two days of live-broadcast wrestling.

But Masazumi waved her hand dismissively.

“Okay, I’ll admit the Logismoi Oplo part is a bit of a stretch. But what we did at Mikawa was only so sensational because we were being ruled over. That includes what Lord Motonobu did too. We are building up an equal position with the other nations now, but that’s only because the other nations have recognized the benefits we bring after England and Magdeburg. But our equality still isn’t backed up by history or law. Plus, this code was likely made more than a decade ago.

“In that case,” she said. “A little over a decade ago seems about right for when they would have been developing the Logismoi Oplo as a plan for dealing with the Apocalypse. And to continue what we were discussing before, it has been common practice to treat the Far East a lot like a slave class since the Harmonic Unification War, so it doesn’t really matter what they actually thought. I mean, the term ‘provisional rule’ is common now, but it started out as a response to the discrimination.”

That’s true, thought Mitotsudaira.

“The code for referring to the provisional rulers would probably be Rome.”

Four Eyes: “Mito Lord, can I use that one? I really like it.”

She didn’t mind, so she nodded and sent over fingerprint authorization.

In other words…

“It is a riddle-like game. They linked the original history of Western Europe and the Middle East with the current situation in order to hint at the relationship between the Far East and the provisional ruling nations.”

●

This really is a stretch, thought Masazumi.

But that was how it worked. The code’s writer used code words to hide their true meaning. So it was up to the reader to work out the true meaning, but…

“The real evidence is if it makes sense in context with the rest of the text.”

She opened a sign frame and displayed the code they had discussed before. She added in the meaning they had come up with just now to get…

“The ideal and the king are broken.

“Nagayoshi’s skull is correct.

“Offer the Scythian weapons (the Logismoi Oplo) to the rock.

“At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.

“Where are the two holy women?”

It seemed to be making a lot more sense now.

Naito copied that interpretation down onto a Magie Figur and frowned.

“This feels like a Bara-yan kind of thing. Y’know, strange fiction?”

“But we can replace a lot of this with the ‘real’ meaning, right? Like how Scythian had a double meaning,” said Mitotsudaira.

“But do we have any hint for what that real meaning could actually be?” asked Mary.

Masazumi had an idea there. It came from something Akechi Mitsuhide had said.

“Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was only a theory and it came first.”

And…

“Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

●

Masazumi saw everyone lower their heads a bit when she repeated those two lines.

They had a strong “hm” look to them and she couldn’t help but groan in thought too.

…We can’t stretch it enough to fit that, can we?

The code was discussing some kind of project.

It was likely talking about inspecting a past failure and explaining the correct way to handle the project.

The project probably used the Logismoi Oplo and Lord Motonobu had carried it out.

Is this different from the Genesis Project? she wondered, but she wasn’t ready to say that much.

While everyone groaned in thought, Naito spoke up.

“Akechi must’ve been surprised.”

“Why? Because we made it all the way into the Imperial Palace?”

“No, because they had left so many hints and clues around, but we still hadn’t found the answer before showing up.”

“You did go ‘eh?’ to him, Vice President,” said Adele.

The idiot and his sister stood in front of Masazumi. Without warning, they both looked her way and…

“Eh?”

“It’s not my fault! I just hadn’t reached that point yet!”

“That’s right, Toori-kun and Kimi. It wasn’t that Masazumi hadn’t thought about it – she just hadn’t done a good enough job of thinking about it.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You’re not helping!”

“Neshinbara-samaaaa!”

They turned around to see Neshinbara sitting cross-legged on the gravel with his back to them.

“Hey, Neshinbara. What are you doing?”

“Stop, Masazumi-sama! Neshinbara-sama is attempting to solve the dark high priest’s riddle by harnessing pyramid power to link his mediation time with the Great Buddha in the unfathomable universal space! Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep! Yes, yes, it’s coming throughhhhh!!”

“Ariadust-kun! You were doing so good at the start, but you blew it at the end!” said Neshinbara.

“By the way, how’d you say all that without biting your tongue even once?” asked the idiot.

“Gah.”

“You were saving it up, weren’t you, Horizon!? Great job!” said Mitotsudaira.

I have no idea what they’re talking about anymore. But based on what Neshinbara had said before…

“You had decoded the memo, right?”

“Judge. But to figure out what the riddle beyond that is referring to will honestly require the brutish power I excel at.”

Four Eyes: “Do you mean brute force?”

…Will he die if he doesn’t phrase things weirdly?

“Oh, but Takarazuka Honda-kun! Don’t worry about me! I do this kind of thing for fun!”

“Yeah, okay, have fun then. Everyone, it’s time to board the transport ship!”

“Takarazuka Honda-kun! Why do I get the feeling you don’t believe in me!?”

Shut up.

It sounded like Asama had a spell ready with her father’s authorization. Seeing that, Crossunite tapped the map of Honnouji he had made.

“We will do everything we can to get all of you to Honnouji’s central stage right here. That is what this fight really comes down to.”

“Easy? Simple? Cake slice?”

“Not necessarily, Algae-dono.” Crossunite responded to the algae at his feet, earning a smile from Mary. “While Tres España arrived in a hurry to stop us at Kyou, P.A. Oda has had plenty of prep time. We will need a proper battle formation if we hope to get through.

I’ll take your word for it, thought Masazumi before another divine transmission arrived from Ookubo.

Vice President: “Why do you keep sending messages? If you just want attention, I can direct the idiot your way.”

Nagaya-Stable: “Don’t you dare! More importantly: Hokuriku! You heard Maeda Toshiie was facing the Hashiba forces, right?”

…I’m pretty sure she told me that herself.

But Ookubo continued before Masazumi could point that out.

Nagaya-Stable: “He’s sent out something a lot flashier than the large skeletons we saw. We might be looking at an upset here.”

Chapter 33: Outrageous Ones on the Battlefield[edit]

Are there things

That the people doing them enjoy

But everyone else thinks are a pain?

Point Allocation (Are There? Are There?)

●

Toshiie heard a yelling voice.

Many yelling voices, in fact. Thousands of them were descending the slope from the forest to reach him.

Below the mist, ghost warriors were emerging in response to the silver coins he tossed out.

But the unsteady enemy was more powerful now.

Their charging formation used their spears to crush everything in their path and used their numbers to trample the ghosts trying to rise from the ground below. And when ghosts rose from the ground behind them and tried to attack…

“Ohhh!”

A second and third formation followed after them. They were likely around 7000 in all, which meant 7 formations. If they were charging this way from the forest while evenly spaced, Landsknechte could not hope to stop them after the Technohexen blasts destroyed the big apes and large skeletons. Any ghosts trying to attack from the side were likely being eliminated by the nonhuman unit.

That settled it.

His underclassmen would retake the clearing.

So the real battle would be fought over the entrance here.

The Shibata Team’s territory within the fortress wall of ships was all Landsknechte territory. By gathering the ghost warriors that had spawned across that entire area, he could form a solid wall.

So that was what he would do. Furthermore…

“What a shame,” he said with a nod toward Matsu who turned toward him, wings glowing on her back. “Kasuya-kun, I wanted to speak with you. Attacking with your delightful comrades isn’t exactly the friendliest thing you could have done, is it?”

●

Kasuya moved out ahead.

The clearing’s slope flattened out starting at the center, giving her level footing on the way to the moat in front of the fortress wall of ships.

She had to check on one thing first.

…Did the bridge across the moat survive!?

A pair of big ape ghosts ran up from the bottom of the moat up ahead. When they spotted her, they lunged at her with artillery-like leaps, but…

“Lu, ah!”

She swung her right arm up to defeat the one on the right with a drill bunker strike. As she pulled that arm back, she used the motion to swing out her left Argent Clou in claw form, using the momentum alone to tear the ghost ape into four slices.

And when she shot herself forward, she saw what she had hoped to find.

“The bridge is still there! We can cross into the enemy formation!”

It was 15m wide, too narrow to send their defensive formation in, so they would have to rearrange their formation first. But that wasn’t her job. She had to…

Kimee: “Covering fire’s on its way.”

Before she could even see that text, the first shot passed by overhead, detonating beyond the fortress wall of ships.

Yoshiaki bombed the enemy out ahead.

…This will work.

The biggest concern was the large skeletons. She was in trouble if they worked to bring down the bridge or blocked the gate from atop the bridge.

So she appreciated Yoshiaki’s shell sent out ahead of her. Also…

AnG: “We’re not done yet!”

A second shot arrived through the sky behind her.

She ran forward as if chasing after it. She took the lead through the gate that had been smashed open by the large skeletons earlier.

…I will secure this position!

She needed to ensure the safety of this entrance area so the rest of their force could get in.

She could eliminate the large skeletons, so securing this position was a job only she could do.

She hoped the others would arrive quickly because a lot of about this battle concerned her.

…What happened to Kiyomasa down south and what about captured Kani!?

And had Fukushima caught up to them? But more than any of that…

“Who will defeat Shibata-senpai!?”

As she raced forward, Wakisaka’s shell reached the inside of the foggy formation.

Its detonation would eliminate all of the ghost warriors rising from the ground and approaching.

The gap that created would be a valuable respite for Kasuya. She wanted a chance to drink some water and prepare for the battle to come. She had been on the move constantly so far, so her grooming divine protection couldn’t keep up.

But then she saw the spell shell suddenly break.

It didn’t explode. It was broken by a blow from up ahead.

●

…Huh!?

Kasuya sent herself forward while failing to understand what had just happened before her eyes.

The basic phenomenon was simple: Wakisaka’s diffusion shell had been broken by a counterattack.

But when she tried to figure out how that could have happened, she drew a blank.

Wakisaka had fired an anti-ship cannon. What kind of counterattack could break that?

But the enemy had made just such a counterattack up ahead.

“Kh!”

She saw a single thick blade extending high overhead. It looked like…

“A sword!?”

That was strange. Even the large skeletons’ swords were only 7-8m long.

But this was much bigger. It extended well above the fortress wall of ships and flew toward Kasuya along a path like a giant pendulum.

As soon as she realized it was going to hit her, she saw the entirety of the enemy swinging this massive sword.

She saw the color white. Ether light glowing in the moonlight had formed…

“A giant!?”

●

“Eh?”

Angie tilted her head forward while watching the others move on ahead.

“What is it?” Yoshiaki asked, giving her a look in the forest night, but she had to already know the answer.

“Um, Kime-chan? That shot didn’t seem to do anything.”

“Did you get the height wrong?”

“That should’ve been fine since the angle of fire was set by the spell, but can you check for me?”

Yoshiaki checked her Magie Figur. It displayed the current state of their shots and a report on measurements taken of the shell.

“Sure enough, the shell disappeared before it hit.”

“Right!? Right!!? And it passed over Take’s head like it was supposed to!”

Angie pointed just in time for Kasuya to come flying out of the fog. The wolf whipped up the fog around her and broke countless branches in the forest as she flew over their heads in a guard stance.

“Huh?”

While trying to figure out what had happened, Angie saw something while still pointing out ahead.

Her right index finger was now pointing at a hole in the fog Kasuya had flown from. And beyond the vortex of fog moving to refill that hole…

…What is that?

“Kime-chan.”

There it was at the gate, beyond the giant valley of broken and eliminated skeletons.

A white giant was formed from ether light. The bizarre thing had retractable swords at the ends of its arms.

But this was not one of the large skeletons. If the ships forming the fortress wall were 15m tall, then this moonlit giant had to be…

“800m tall? What is that ghost?”

●

Katagiri took a deep breath.

To calm himself. And then…

…What the heck is that giant ghost!?

He hid his rage inside and looked to Takenaka.

Her upper body was sprawled out on the table.

“T-Takenaka-senpai! What happened to all your motivation!?”

“You know what, Katagiri-kun? I was thinking. I only do all those ero things because of that pesky motivation. But I don’t want motivation if it just makes me do ero things. I’m not trying to make a baby here.”

“Takenaka-senpai, please calm down!”

The on-site sounds were coming in via divine transmission. Maeda was laughing.

“Ha ha ha! How about that!? Cool, isn’t it!? No one expected something this big, did you!? Yes! This one’s so strong! And did I mention cool!?

“Yes,” said Maeda. “This colossal ghost skeleton is a first in the history of necromancy, so I have given it my name. Yes, this is the king of all ghost warriors! And his name is…”

Maeda lowered his voice.

“Maeda König Geist.”

In the kitchen, the chef stabbed his sashimi knife with enough force to pierce the cutting board.

●

That’s bad, thought Angie.

“That’s bad, Kime-chan.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Angie.”

All sound had vanished within the forest. The advancing troops had come to a stop and those waiting behind at the top of the slope still had to crane their necks to see the colossal skeleton.

“That is so bad,” said Yoshiaki. “Maeda König Geist is one of the worst names I’ve ever heard.”

“Right? Later historians are going to list this as one of the Maeda clan’s gravest errors.”

A voice traveled across the silent clearing to reach them through the fog.

“Hey! You two! Stop that!”

It was Maeda. Maybe it was the silence and maybe he was transmitting his voice through the remnants of the ghost warriors, but they could hear him clearly.

“Maeda-senpai, we weren’t saying you have abysmal taste in names,” said Yoshiaki.

“Testament,” nodded Angie. “Yeah, we weren’t saying that.”

“Th-then who was saying it just now!?”

“Testament,” said Yoshiaki. “A commander is responsible for her troops, so Mitsunari, I guess?”

●

Nari Nari Nari: “Eh!? N-now hold on! I’ve been dedicating most of my processing power to evacuating Kyou, so I was only just now thinking of splitting my focus between there and Honnouji! But how am I supposed to show my face there after this!?”

Kimee: “Don’t worry, Mitsunari. You’ll figure something out.”

Nari Nari Nari: “That second statement does not follow from the first!”

AnG: “Yeah. Because there’s no conjunction between them.”

Nari Nari Nari: “That is not what I meant!”

●

After watching Mitsunari wave her hands up and down on the lernen figur, “Azuchi” confirmed the range and then fired a main cannon.

She was targeting the colossal skeleton. In the center of its chest. Since it had appeared so suddenly and was so tall, she had needed to adjust her aim from the surrounding structures, but…

…Thank you for buying me sufficient time!

She fired. The cannon was 30cm/38 caliber and it fired physical shells with a length of 1m 20cm. By applying power and acceleration spells, it could even punch through the chest of that 800m colossal skeleton. Her scans told her the impact would fully destroy the center of the skeleton.

From there, they would just have to finish it off.

The divine protection garudas were crying a lot today. The shell shot out along its downward-angled course.

“This will hit. Over.”

●

Kiyomasa saw it even as she kept her eyes on Niwa.

A colossal skeleton stood up and turned to the north.

…It moves so fast!

“Huh, that thing must be boosted by spells.”

Niwa used her normal casual speech, probably because she wasn’t commanding her Mouse.

After looking back over her shoulder, she tilted her head.

“By my estimation, that colossal skeleton is dangerous.”

“Niwa-sama. As an upperclassman, shouldn’t you be setting an example by using its actual name?”

Niwa held her lightning beast hand to her forehead and spoke with eyebrows raised.

“Not happening!”

…Oh, she’s being especially harsh because the Mouse doesn’t want to do it either.

Then Kiyomasa heard a loud impact from high in the north.

The Azuchi had fired on the colossal skeleton.

●

…It hit!

Angie clenched her fists.

“Way to go, ‘Azuchi’!”

During the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, the Azuchi had used ultra-high altitude artillery fire to eliminate the enemy’s Terrestrial Dragons. But Angie hadn’t seen that.

She loved seeing her friends performing well.

“A direct hit!”

But just before the on-target impact raced out, Angie saw some motion and what the colossal skeleton had acquired.

She had a Technohexen’s high-speed mobility vision. She always maintained a combat divine protection that boosted her kinetic vision and that had allowed her to detect several lights appearing around the colossal skeleton.

Those were countless spell circles. Multiple acceleration spells were applied all across its body while it raised the left hand which contained a massive sword.

It thrust out its left arm while several shock absorption spells activated from shoulder to open palm. Then multiple defense spells were ejected out from that palm.

…A…direct hit!?

Angie saw light.

The colossal skeleton had “caught” the Azuchi’s shell with its outstretched left palm.

●

In the clearing, Kousaka hadn’t stopped her southward movement. No matter what showed up or what happened, her group of thousands had begun their charge and there were more following after them.

With the artillery shot as their cue, they had already started.

“Forward!” she shouted as formation commander, playing a signal from an acoustic spell, and everyone did ultimately move forward.

Their movements showed no sign of rushing. Or of disorder.

But they weren’t perfectly unified, creating something like a tremor. Probably because they were held together by the conflicting factors of fear and trust in Kousaka.

The oddity was more overhead than out front.

They wanted to do something about it.

But they weren’t accustomed to the battlefield, so they obeyed their commands.

There was some uncertainty in their actions, but they weren’t doing too badly. So Kousaka spoke to them.

“Don’t look ahead! Keep your eyes on the ground!”

That was all she had to say.

They were surrounded by fog and the ghost warriors continued to rise from below. Plus, the clearing was around a kilometer across. During a physically buffed charge, they would reach the other side while still looking at the ground.

“Inada!” called Kousaka and Inada, commander of the rear unit, raised his rifle in response.

They were going to split.

The even-numbered teams would go left and the odd-numbered ones would go right. That way they could hurry on while avoiding the area directly in front of the colossal skeleton.

Any artillery fire that hit an elevated area would cause damage on the surface. Shockwaves and explosions were common in artillery battles. So they had to…

“Continue toward my-!”

Oh, thought Kousaka.

…No, not ‘my’. ‘Mae’. As in ‘Maeda’.

As soon as she thought that, a shell hit overhead.

●

Angie first saw the flash of light from the blast. The colossal skeleton took the powerful impact head on.

It did this while sending a counterattack straight ahead.

Light shined, all the spell lernen figures vanished from around the colossal skeleton, and ether light scattered.

Its fingers bent backwards as if being pulled by the wind and failed to function as actual fingers.

But that wasn’t all. The resultant shockwave tore off the bent fingers, stripped away the palm, and scattered the hand as if eating it away down to the wrist. And despite being a skeleton, the pressure caused the forearm and upper arm to shrink and bend.

A warship’s main cannon was powerful enough to cause serious damage even when it didn’t manage a direct hit.

“Take that!” shouted Angie, but she saw something else at the same time.

Fingers grew out.

Power raged out from the point of impact, striking everything in every direction. A large skeletal hand emerged from the center point.

Five fingers, a palm, and a wrist emerged more than they grew.

Before one finger could bend and break, another appeared.

Before five fingers could bend and break, a full hand replaced them.

And before the wrist could be torn away, a forearm blossomed from within.

It all scattered as a dance of ether light as the shockwave blew it away, but the regeneration speed pushed through the shockwave. Yoshiaki was watching all this next to Angie, and…

“It can’t be,” she said quickly. “Get down.”

“That doesn’t explain anything, Kime-chan!”

The answer arrived before Angie could ask the question.

The night sky split open and a shockwave struck the entire clearing, pushing everything outwards with its pressure.

●

Yoshiaki got down.

Since she needed protection from the blast in a hurry, she used Weiss Fürstin as a shield.

She accelerated it in cruising form and stabbed it into the ground so it could handle the impact.

She gave it an angle of about 30 degrees as she stabbed its tip into the soft forest crust all the way to the base of the nose portion.

Then she got behind it and made sure Angie had done the same.

But that wasn’t enough to keep them safe. She activated all the thrusters at once and used its gravitational control to fix it to those coordinates. She thought that would be enough no matter what kind of blast was coming, but…

“Everyone, get down!”

As soon as she shouted that warning, an odd silence arrived as a prelude to the blast.

A forced silence, she thought. If I hear anything from here, it’ll be the air being blasted away and the beginning of the crushing force.

And…

“––––”

There it was.

Wind blew in from the bottom of the clearing as a wall of dust. It crashed into them. The solid wind carried chunks of dirt and underbrush. Carried by that rapid force, even sand could tear at skin and rip at flesh.

Looking at the surrounding terrain, the underbrush forming the border of the forest had been ripped up and thrown.

Then came the noise. The great din seemed to swallow up everything from below.

“Here it comes!!”

Yoshiaki could barely hear her own voice as some of the trees on the edge of the forest shook violently before being torn up from the roots. It was like a giant had forcibly yanked them from the ground and it didn’t end there. The taller the trees, the more of the force they took, so it was the thicker – and thus more usable as a shield or cover – trees that were made airborne first, the sounds of snapping roots playing loud. Furthermore…

“Here comes the main blast.”

Another force pushed in from behind the wind. That was the explosive blast itself.

It had hit the ground and then spread out in all directions like a great distortion.

It first instantly felled the trees on the forest’s edge.

The trunks and branches tangled together and couldn’t endure the force. Once one toppled from the weight, its fall joined the force of the blast, creating a chain reaction.

Yoshiaki and Angie would be in serious trouble if that chain reaction reached them. But it didn’t care at all about what they wanted.

“They’re going to fly!”

While they sat using Weiss Fürstin as a roof, several trees spiraled above them, but once they flew too high, they collided with the shockwave and split apart.

Up ahead, a warrior girl screamed while down on the ground.

But nothing anyone said meant a thing to that shockwave.

The forest shook down to the crust and the night sky grew dark with dust. And down on the ground…

AnG: “You okay, Kime-chan?”

Kimee: “Of course. Supersonic flight is nothing for Zwei Fürstin. You know we have high-level anti-shockwave maneuvers as well as cushioning and defense spells.”

Her control Magie Figur showed Weiss Fürstin was responding as if it were moving at high speed. It was also deploying defense and cushioning spells against the shockwave. This wasn’t as good as warship-class armor, but Zwei Fürstin’s defenses were good enough if all they needed was defense.

…Although a direct hit from a shell would be too much, so we use angled armor to redirect the force.

But right now all of those effects were crucial.

They were safe here.

They had other reasons for thinking that, but they had to prioritize what they could do for themselves.

The shockwave was scattered by the cushioning spell so it wouldn’t directly hit the warriors behind them. Yoshiaki was worried about the nonhuman unit and the charging unit who had gone out ahead, but they had to be doing what they could.

And she saw the enemy past the edge of Weiss Fürstin and beyond the blast.

The colossal skeleton was visible past the swaying trees and scattering leaves. It stood within the dust cloud with the dark blue full moon sky in the background. It was…

“Unharmed!?”

●

Toshiie raised his left hand.

He saw the colossal skeleton do the same.

Its left arm was unchanged.

“But that doesn’t mean nothing happened. Its regeneration just happened to be faster than the damage.”

That was a brand new left arm. And the new left hand held something between its fingers.

“Hard to believe something so small caused such a powerful blast.”

It was the artillery shell.

The colossal skeleton had stopped and caught the shell launched from the Azuchi. There was only one thing to do now.

“I don’t want it, so I should return it.”

The colossal skeleton’s left arm made a quick rotation as if checking its range of motion. The forearm bent up at the elbow to check that joint. The wrist opened a bit on the ulna side and, after releasing some auspuff, the closed joint fixed in place.

The rest was simple. It tossed the shell up and made a two-handed backswing with its right arm sword.

“Homerun!”

●

“Azuchi” was briefly unable to react to the high-speed line drive attack.

The movement was borrowed from baseball, but since this was her first time seeing a 800m giant, she had failed to convert her predictions into an actual course of action.

As an automaton, she needed detailed data before she could make a decision. She was freed from that dilemma by a shout from Takenaka in the dining hall.

“Forward defense!”

That was a comprehensive instruction. Impressive. An automaton would be unable to immediately reach such a nonspecific instruction with a never-before-seen enemy.

But “Azuchi” was thankful. She made her decision and acted on it. That decision became an instruction and the action was carried out by words in the shared memory of the automata across the bridge.

They ended their bombardment to focus all their power on defense. Hirano was in charge of the power division, so “Azuchi” deployed three automata to send her boxes of sweets and sake. In a hurry. And…

“Activate forward defenses. Over.”

The response to Takenaka took 0.7 seconds in all. Not bad, concluded “Azuchi” just as the return attack arrived.

●

Katagiri synced the reports from the bridge with his Hundred Crest Land Survey to grasp the big picture.

Displayed at table height in the dining hall, the line drive drew a straight line between the Azuchi and the colossal skeleton.

It was aimed quite accurately at the bridge on the 1st central ship. In other words, here.

While the 1st central ship activated its defense barriers, the 1st port and starboard ships advanced slightly. They raised support defense barriers for a triple defense formation.

The attack hit a moment later. It broke through the defense barriers out front like they were made of paper.

…It’s so fast!?

And more than that…

“It’s so hard!”

“Yeah, it looks like the colossal skeleton used an acceleration spell and a hardening spell on it.”

“It can do that!?”

Katagiri looked over to see Takenaka with her face in a paper bag.

“Takenaka-senpai! You need to stop grabbing that bag every time you make a new discovery!”

“What’s that, Katagiri-kun? You want an uncensored view of me ero-ing?”

“That is not what I meant! Please pull yourself together!”

That stressed Takenaka out, so she was back to the paper bag.

…God, what a pain!

But what Takenaka had said bothered him. If that colossal skeleton could apply divine protections to itself and anything it held…

…A person can use that to strengthen their weapon or increase their own acceleration or combat abilities.

But that was for a person.

“What can such a colossal skeleton do?”

A divine transmission arrived from “Azuchi”. Their defense barriers had been breached by the enemy shell, but Hundred Crest Land Survey showed the shell had been slowed by the many layers of barrier.

It was now too slow to cause any damage to their armor, so…

“Our defense was a success! Shaja!”

●

This time, “Azuchi” made a swift decision.

Their previous cannon shot had been blocked and sent back at them, but what if they fired several?

Each of the Azuchi’s ships had main cannons.

The 1st ships had two double cannons. The 2nd central ship also had two double cannons.

They had all been prepared during the recent defense. They had even included the backwards sliding of the ships into their calculations.

“Fire all main cannons! Shaja!”

A great roar tore through the sky.

Ether light raced from the barrels and steam exploded out. There were twenty in all. The force of the blasts washed across the Azuchi’s armor and sent leaves bursting into the air from the forest below. It spread out like a wave while…

…Go!

The garudas cried as the shells flew out, trailing light.

They were aimed at the colossal skeleton. “Azuchi” refused to use its name. The 20 shells accelerated as they started on their downwards-angled trajectory. The force of these descending shots could not be knocked back by those two arms.

They would also likely destroy the majority of the north face of the Shibata formation.

“While we are at it, we can use this as the starting point of an attack built around angled artillery fire. Shaja.”

Unlike at Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, there were no civilians within. They could fire within the enemy formation without hesitation, but the return fire from the fortress wall of ships was currently preventing that.

But once that obstacle was gone, they could fire all they wanted. They had sent a ground force in to settle things with Shibata, but they could also end things with artillery from the sky.

Statistically speaking, this was a worthy time to clench her fist and proclaim…

“Artillery is king! Shaja!”

Then she watched the 20 shells flying along their trajectories.

The light-enveloped attacks were flying due south. But there was something odd in the sky out ahead of them.

…A large, wide black shape is floating there. But what it is?

The Boy: “ ‘Azuchi’-san!”

Katagiri’s voice told her what that black object in the sky was.

The Boy: “Maeda König Geist has thrown a destroyed warship!!”

Don’t use its name.

●

Katagiri sensed danger.

The enemy colossal skeleton had thrown one of the broken warships in the northern clearing.

It was 800m tall after all. The thrown wreckage was 800m, the same size as an ironclad ship. That meant the colossal skeleton could throw just about any P.A. Oda or M.H.R.R. warship.

It wasn’t just using muscular strength to throw the ship. As the skeletons evolved from ape to large skeleton, the amount of muscle across their bodies grew, but their strength was further enhanced by…

…The mobile shells and the spells Maeda-sama gave them!

Most likely, the mobile shells acted like exoskeletons and the spells acted like a power system.

Maeda had used every technique he had to create this colossal skeleton. This was probably a historical first, so Katagiri understood wanting to give it your own name.

“That Maeda König Geist is truly formidable!”

Takenaka immediately lowered her face into the paper bag.

“Wh-what are you trying to say by that, Takenaka-senpai!?”

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on what’s happening outside?”

She was right. The warship was flying this way. And Hundred Crest Land Survey showed what was happening with that.

The result was obvious. The Azuchi had fired 20 shells, but…

“They’re going to hit the warship!”

The colossal skeleton hadn’t just thrown the warship.

“The warship throw was a tactic meant to attack us and shield against our artillery at the same time!”

Chapter 34: Unknown Roarer[edit]

Bigger

Is better

What are we talking about?

Point Allocation (You)

●

Yoshiaki gave a hurried instruction while noting how much of a pain this was.

“As soon as your defensive formation is ready to move, begin to advance!”

Overhead, the colossal skeleton had just thrown a warship. Just as she received a report on the Azuchi’s artillery fire, all of the shells collided with the thrown wreckage. In other words…

…Katagiri was right about the artillery fire being blocked!

The shells hit, but the booms were overlapped so much, they sounded like no more than four blasts.

Still, the thunder-like roar was weaker than Yoshiaki would have expected for so many shells.

AnG: “Oh, the shells hit the warship during their ascent!”

The Boy: “It happened before their acceleration, so they were mostly crushed!”

Azuchi: “Taking a deeper angle so we would hit the Shibata Team’s formation even if we missed backfired on us. Shaja.”

“Azuchi” seemed a little too fired up about exterminating the Shibata Team, but that was fine.

The wreckage in the sky was little more than fragments.

Even during their ascent, that had been 20 main cannon shells. The external hits to the warship had shattered its armor and the force that made it inside had bent and broken the metal frame within.

Yoshiaki had enough experience to know what had happened from the sound alone. She had joined a fleet battle during the Keichou Campaign, after all.

A single bursting sound came from the sky.

The wreckage had lost the connection between its frame and armor, meaning the entire structure had lost all meaning.

It was now no more than a collection of metal and wood fragments, which poured down into the forest behind them. That would be the rain-like sound coming from far in that direction.

The Azuchi’s attack had been blocked. But…

…I guess that’s better than taking a shockwave equivalent to 20 shots at close range.

The ground forces had their work cut out for them. Right now, they had to advance whenever possible. Now seemed like a good chance. Because…

“The Azuchi has that giant thing’s attention, so now’s our chance!” shouted Yoshiaki.

At that same moment, two rumbling noises and two powerful winds swept across the forest and the ground.

…Don’t tell me…

The colossal skeleton had thrown two wrecked warships toward the Azuchi in quick succession.

●

Mori had exited the wreckage of an aerial ship destroyed on the inside.

He had been caught in the summoning of Kani’s Sasamura and fell out along with the destroyed wall.

Falling wouldn’t have been so bad, but there had been snow piled up below to support the bottom of the ship. He had slid down the slope and only come to a stop after arriving on the other side of the road with all the wreckage,

He sighed and quickly scooted all the armor fragments and whatnot to the side of the road.

“It’s a good thing no one was down here.”

The area was filled with the chill caused by Maeda’s necromancy.

…Brr.

Mori was glad he had worn his warm hat and coat. For an inner suit, as embarrassing as it had been, he had removed the foot to a pair of girl’s tights and sewed it to be a one-legged affair. It came out well. When a sudden urge makes me stiffen up, the snug fit of the tights has the most delightful feeling. This must be why tight clothing is so fashionable.

But as he let out a white breath, he saw a giant shape overhead.

“Is that a god of war!?”

No. He wasn’t aware of a god of war that large. Also, it had just used both its arms to throw something about the same size as it to the north.

…Warships!?

That’s impossible, he thought. So…

“Wh-what is that!? What is something so absurd doing here!?”

Some troops were moving nearby and they all turned and directed mirrors his way when they heard that. Those are emergency optical divine transmission hand mirrors, aren’t they? he noted, but he couldn’t figure out why they would be directing them his way.

Regardless, the wind blew in. The chilly gust blew between the transport ships being used as buildings and intensified as it traveled. The icy wind seemed to have mass of its own as it washed across his soft skin and pushed him backwards.

That would be the result of having massive warships flung around like that.

And he saw lernen figurs opening at different points on the giant ghost skeleton’s limbs and torso.

…That must be what’s moving that big thing.

He honestly didn’t know that much about spells, but he knew Maeda must have caused that.

But in that case…

“Maeda-senpai must be delighted to be back!”

●

Toshiie could tell how excited he was.

…This is great!

Upperclassmen fighting underclassmen wasn’t great and this being Shibata’s final battle was sad, but he loved that he could use up all of Shibata’s budget on summoning warriors here.

After all, any money leftover would just go to waste. So he used spells to buff the colossal skeleton and…

“How will you handle this second warship attack, Azuchi!?”

He pointed both index fingers into the northern sky. From here, the forest and slope blocked his view of Azuchi’s 6-ship form.

The colossal skeleton had thrown two wrecked ships, but the one thrown first had been destroyed in midair.

The Azuchi’s return fire had hit it.

Thanks to its mass, not even that counterattack could stop its momentum. But it was full of holes and the many shells had obliterated its core, so the lightened mass was eventually overpowered by the impacts.

With the splitting sound of shell hits, the 800m wreckage split in three and broke apart.

“That can’t be good for the forest below.”

But there was another ship coming in behind that one. And it was nearly undamaged.

“Beginning a counterattack now won’t be enough. You know that, don’t you?”

●

Oh, we’re in trouble now, thought Takenaka.

She had calculated out the path of the thrown enemy warships, but…

“The second ship is going to hit us for sure.”

Maeda shouldn’t be able to see them from his position, so he had to have a good sense for this.

She thought the double throw had been well done. After all, he had more or less been throwing his formation’s outer wall at them. It was a great example of high damage, high return.

He was stealing her bit.

Still, she had to respond to it.

Based on measurements by Three Thousand Worlds, she knew a close-range artillery blast could destroy it.

But the recoil could cause some of the wreckage to spin through the air and collide with the Azuchi’s bridge. And they didn’t have enough cannons to shoot down that wreckage.

Kuro-Take: “ ‘Azuchi’-san, can you dodge this? It would help if you could.”

Kimee: “And what if she can’t?”

Kuro-Take: “Let’s just say it would really help if she could.”

AnG: “That’s awfully vague for you, Takeko!”

Azuchi: “But everything is fine if I can, yes!? Yes!? Shaja.”

●

While shells crashed into the thrown warship, it pushed at the atmosphere to fall toward the Azuchi. Angie had a thought while listening to it from among the forest’s trees.

…This is taking a long time.

Just because it was big and heavy didn’t mean it fell quickly. In fact, the bigger it was, the more air resistance would slow its fall.

Kimee: “And ships are made for stability and fuel economy over speed, so they’re designed to have a lot of lift. P.A. Oda ships are based on galleys, so they tend to have flat shapes.”

But its size did make destroying and eliminating it a challenge.

That was why dodging it was the better plan, but…

“We’re in trouble if the Azuchi pulls away!”

Distance from the Azuchi would exacerbate everyone’s worries. If they needed to carry anyone to the ship in an emergency, that distance could be a problem. But…

Kimee: “The Azuchi is moving.”

Yoshiaki’s comment made Angie look into the sky behind her.

The warriors around her were already moving out ahead. They needed to consider their own movements and positions, but knowing the Azuchi’s position was also important.

…So what’s it going to do!?

Angie looked up through the tree branches to see the Azuchi. But she could see a lot more of its bottom than before, giving her a fuller view of its whole shape.

It was moving. The sound of it pushing at the air was a familiar one.

But it didn’t seem to be moving away. Instead…

“Is it ascending!?”

●

“Azuchi” had a simple plan.

By positioning the ship at a higher altitude, the enemy’s thrown warships couldn’t reach it. And even if they did, the ascent would have greatly reduced their speed.

They might have plenty of mass, but without speed, they were worthless hunks of metal. Then she could handle the rest.

The only real risk was artillery fire from Shibata’s fortress wall of ships. As a captain automaton, she sensed danger in ascending and exposing the bottom of the ship like that.

But in response…

…If my past experience and methods allow me to respond to one threat and not to another, the latter is the greater threat!

So she ascended. The external sight devices showed the colossal skeleton down below.

Azuchi: “It looks less like a threat while viewed from so high. Shaja.”

As soon as she said that, the wrecked enemy ship passed below them.

She had dodged it.

Did the wreckage soaring by below have explosive spells aboard? “Azuchi” ran a rough ether scan while arranging for a rapid descent.

The colossal skeleton took a step back and looked ready to try again.

…But I will not let my guard down.

At this height, the Azuchi did not have a good angle of fire either.

What happened if neither side could launch an effective attack on the other? Takenaka provided an answer for that.

Kuro-Take: “Ground forces, split to the sides to evade!”

Just as “Azuchi” wondered why they would need to do that, the colossal skeleton took a certain action. It suddenly kicked one of the Shibata transport ships forward.

As if the ship were a soccer ball.

The enemy redirected its aim toward the clearing.

The Dragon-class 400m transport ship took flight with the sound of breaking metal.

Viewed from above, it was bent into a shallow V as it soared toward the clearing along a shallow parabola.

“Nonhuman unit, watch out ahead! Shaja!”

●

Kousaka understood what was happening.

She was currently leading the charge into the Shibata Team’s formation. Just as she sent a third of them to Inada’s group, something flew toward them from within the fortress wall of ships.

It was a transport ship bent down the center.

The intent was clear. The ship had been kicked toward the opening in the wall created by the three missing warships.

We need to withdraw, she thought, but instead she said…

“Clear the center!”

They had already been charging in from the sides, so that would be simpler.

A moment later, scraping metal sounds and flying sparks decorated the transport ship as it tumbled between her group and Inada’s group.

It had a lot of speed. An 800m being had kicked it with all its might. If the speed scaled up evenly with the same action made by a human, it would easily break the sound barrier.

…In that case…

With that thought, she read the movements on the battlefield.

“Everyone, hurry up!”

It arrived a moment later.

What happened if the flying transport ship broke the sound barrier? Any P.A. Oda or M.H.R.R. warrior would know the answer.

It produced a sonic boom.

Almost everyone was already moving toward the south end of the clearing. But a white fog rushed in as if to sweep them away along with a tearing sound.

“…!”

Afterwards, a splitting of the air crashed into them as a great pressure.

●

“Yes, that worked great!”

Toshiie looked to the northern clearing after the sonic boom blew through.

With three warships removed from the wall, the only obstacle from the clearing to the fortress were the moats and the forest to the sides. That would have let the enemy charge right on into the moats and this side of the clearing, but…

…That stopped them!

“Ha ha ha! Bigger is better! And all the special effects make it all the more refreshing!”

It had been most effective. He had stopped the influx of Hashiba’s forces.

He didn’t think too much about those who had already made it in.

He still hadn’t fully stopped their charge, so…

“The important members of their command chain must still be in the clearing.”

So if he crushed the point where those members were, they would be unable to continue commanding those already inside, allowing them to eventually be crushed too.

So for now he needed to…

“Make use of what I have.”

Fog spread out below the colossal skeleton, but he was up high enough to still see. The enemy’s main force was at the edge of the moats down where the entrance to the clearing had originally been.

Their nonhuman unit was small and some of them had already been blown away, but their commanders had survived.

…Did their two groups gather their defense barriers together?

The unit had split into a right and left group.

Toshiie raised his hands overhead.

The colossal skeleton mimicked the motion. The hands made of many white ether bones were holding…

“I brought in two unneeded storage transport ships. They aren’t quite as powerful as a warship when thrown, but they should function as a barricade.”

With that, he swung his arms down hard.

The colossal skeleton followed suit.

At the end of its arms, a pair of transport ships were slammed down.

The movement took straight lines toward the ground. And as a result…

“I knew you’d try to interfere!”

The transport ships burst open in midair. Across two decks.

They had been shot.

He understood the first blast. The Azuchi had rapidly circled around to the left and sniped one with a main cannon.

But the second shot had come from the forest.

“That was the Technohexen, wasn’t it!?”

●

After seeing the result of her shot, Yoshiaki canceled Weiss Fürstin’s anti-ship cannon form she was holding at her hip. She hurriedly converted it to emergency acceleration form and called out to Angie next to her.

“Angie! Hurry! He knows where we are!”

“Eh? Eh? But that thing doesn’t have another ship to throw. We just destroyed them.”

That Yoshiaki didn’t need to argue the point showed that Angie had good instincts.

She didn’t understand, but she could sense the danger from Yoshiaki’s mood. She questioned it even as she deactivated Schwarz Fürstin. At the same time, the colossal skeleton directed its fists their way.

…It can’t be.

And they heard Maeda’s voice from the distant Shibata formation.

“Maeda König Geist! Rocket puuuuuuunch!”

Both 200m arms broke through the blast to fly their way.

●

“Azuchi” saw the two white arms stab down into the forest.

The method was simple enough. Repulsion acceleration spells and ether fuel had been loaded into the base of the arms and then those had been activated. It would work even better with some buffering spells for flight stability.

But what kind of idiot would actually do it?

“Hah hah hah! Ha ha ha ha ha! Hahhh ha ha ha ha!”

Maeda’s growing laughter came over the divine transmission.

“You didn’t expect a rocket punch, did you!?”

The colossal skeleton was even now regrowing its missing arms.

The Boy: “Um, how much money did that cost?”

“Azuchi” didn’t want to think about that, but Maeda had been given full authority over all the money supporting P.A. Oda’s Hokuriku Invasion Contingent. And…

“Begin accelerated descent to port! Move beyond the range of the colossal skeleton’s attack! Shaja!”

She gave her orders while deciding for herself that using the skeleton’s name or its attack’s name would constitute a loss.

“Once we are at its altitude, resume firing! Shaja.”

●

“Azuchi” switched to using ether cannons. Ether cannons used spells to launch ether attacks, so they didn’t include a physical shell at the core. They were less physically destructive, but without the physical shell, the cannon could be made more compact.

Also, spells and divine protections were more easily applied to ether cannons, so they could launch excellent guided and homing attacks.

The Azuchi’s main cannons could fire ether cannon blasts from the same system used to launch the spell shells.

Using the main cannons reduced the loss of strength inherent to ether cannons. Plus…

“Begin bombardment! Shaja!”

Bluish-white beams launched from the main cannons and curved toward the colossal skeleton.

All of the shots were guided.

This allowed the shots themselves to course correct while the Azuchi moved.

“Azuchi” wanted to swing the Azuchi side to side in the northern sky to avoid the enemy’s attacks.

Damage to the Azuchi would prevent them from flying to Honnouji.

…The Ten Spears will achieve victory here and make it there in time!

She trusted them to do that much.

So while it might look like cowardly tactics, she would focus on evasion.

In ether cannon mode, the main cannons’ recoil was greatly reduced. It wouldn’t affect the ship’s maneuvering.

The main problems would be in regards to fuel efficiency and the power system, but she could manage the former since they had loaded up with plenty of ether fuel this time. The latter would require a gift to Hirano, but hopefully she wasn’t approaching her limit already.

●

Tsurugi: “Um, more and more sweets and sake keep arriving for me. That was delightful at first, but I’m kind of running out of places to put it all…”

Kuro-Take: “If you can’t eat it all, send it up here so I can make good use of it.”

The Boy: “All you’ve been doing is switching between eating and sticking your face in that paper bag, Takenaka-senpai!”

Azuchi: “The bombardment has begun, so please focus on the battle! Shaja!”

●

…Well, if you ask so nicely.

Takenaka was in fact already monitoring the battle on her lernen figurs.

To the south, Kiyomasa had reached Niwa, but they hadn’t begun any obvious fighting yet. Niwa was probably worried about Kiyomasa’s Caledfwlch. She made the occasional lightning-based attack, but Kiyomasa was evading and using spell defenses.

…Kiyomasa-san is really keeping her cool.

You could say she was so cool she wasn’t doing much in the way of attacking, but not fully engaging Niwa was the correct choice here. If she let Niwa get a better read on her, Niwa could return to the enemy formation to support the rest of the fight.

The colossal skeleton and Niwa working together was the most dangerous possibility at present.

And to the north, Takenaka thought the battle had reached a turning point.

The view from the Azuchi’s external sight devices showed the Azuchi’s ether cannons crashing into the colossal skeleton.

But the attacks were ineffective. The colossal skeleton had opened defense barriers. And…

“Is that supposed to be a cannon!?”

The colossal skeleton opened its mouth wide. Ether light filled that mouth before it launched…

“Ether cannon incoming! Shaja!”

●

Angie saw the explosive roar.

It happened just after she got back on her feet in the forest after barely dodging the colossal skeleton’s rocket punch.

…That was too close!

She did not want her gravestone to say she was killed by a rocket punch. That would bring shame to her family, to her race, and to humanity as a whole.

She had to thank Yoshiaki for that one. After noticing Schwarz Fürstin wasn’t going to activate in time, Yoshiaki had activated Weiss Fürstin. She then snatched up Angie and Schwarz Fürstin and made a quick dash through the forest.

The rapid flight took them about 30m. Then the divine protection that provided Weiss Fürstin’s lift caught on a bump in the terrain and they collapsed onto the ground.

Fortunately, it had been a soft, mossy patch of ground. Yoshiaki had clicked her tongue at her terrible flying job, so Angie had spoken up.

“Whew, you saved my rear there, Kime-chan. Thanks.”

“Eh? Oh, sorry I didn’t give you any warning.”

“Politeness isn’t worth much if it gets me squished.”

Angie pointed at the two arms sticking up from among the broken trees where they had been before.

The arms were buried up to the wrists in the forest soil and, with nothing to support them, they were tilted diagonally and slowly falling over. But…

“They aren’t going to last,”

Yoshiaki was right. The giant arms unraveled as ether light and scattered away.

This opened up a large space. The canopy of trees had been broken, revealing the sky where something could be seen flying.

The white attack had come from the colossal skeleton’s mouth.

The ether beam was nothing like the ether cannons fired by the Azuchi. It was several meters thick and a lot like…

…A dragon cannon!?

This was just like when a dragon used ether to weaponize their roars.

It was the same trick as the attacks made by Bernard’s dragons.

One of those was clearly flying toward the Azuchi.

On the Azuchi and the colossal skeleton’s scale, the distance between them barely mattered. Their attacks were all effectively at close range.

Which meant this had more or less been a surprise attack, so…

AnG: “ The Azuchi’s deeeeead!”

●

Toshiie was satisfied with the colossal skeleton’s attack.

…Yes, that’s about everything I can think of.

The colossal skeleton was a collection of ghosts, but it was also a mass of ether. That made it a giant piece of fuel and, by rearranging its structure and activating spells, any number of weapons could be prepared inside it.

There was no real reason it needed the humanoid shape.

It could have been shaped like a warship, a cannon, or even a sword.

But this humanoid shape was more versatile. It was also far more appealing. This made it very clear to the Azuchi that they couldn’t attack the Shibata Team without defeating the colossal skeleton first.

So they would eventually think up a way of doing that.

So what did Toshiie need to do?

He had tried most everything he could do with that humanoid form. That just left other applications.

But first, he had high hopes for this attack. Because…

“Can you dodge this surprise explosive roar!? Can you defend against it!?”

And…

“Can you defeat me – your upperclassman!?”

●

In an instantaneous decision, “Azuchi” chose to evade.

She fully activated the starboard gravitational thrusters and temporarily shut down the virtual ocean.

The explosive roar from the enemy’s mouth was aimed at their rapid movement and descent. A dragon’s mouth and body were linked by a straight line, but that humanoid throat had a bent windpipe, which would take the brunt of the roar’s recoil.

…So I predict its head will tilt backwards!

She was certain the attack would hop upwards.

And it did.

So she quickly had all the Azuchi’s ships drop down and to the left for an…

“Evasive maneuver! Shaja!”

As soon as she shouted that, the colossal skeleton moved.

It dropped to one knee and spread its arms to strike a pose.

The Boy: “ ‘Azuchi’-san! What is that pose supposed to mean!?”

Eh? You expect me to know?

…Besides, I have trouble adlibbing, so this could be bad!

The colossal skeleton’s pose itself wasn’t the problem. Dropping to one knee had lowered the altitude of its head, so…

AnG: “ The Azuchi’s deeeeead!”

As soon as “Azuchi” decided she had to dodge this no matter what, the downwards swinging attack reached the Azuchi.

●

Toshiie realized the attack was going to hit.

It was very clearly on course for a direct hit.

The blast’s shockwave cleared the fog and the color white blossomed in the sky like someone had waved a giant fan.

But past all that, he saw…

“It’s undamaged!?”

The Azuchi had turned toward the northern sky while rapidly descending.

It hadn’t been hit, despite the attack being on course for a hit.

But past the explosive blast and windswept northwestern sky, Toshiie didn’t see any wreckage or ether light shards. The attack had failed. Because…

“The colossal skeleton itself is tilted to the left.”

The colossal skeleton’s pose had broken.

●

…But why!?

Toshiie asked himself that while scattering silver coins from his coin roll sword.

There shouldn’t have been anything wrong with his colossal skeleton. It wasn’t damaged or broken. One glance at his lernen figur was enough to tell that. Besides, he had brought it down to one knee for a lower, more stable stance. How could it lose its balance like that?

“How did this happen!?” he asked, lowering his gaze.

Yes. If nothing was wrong with the skeleton, there had to be some external cause. And the only possible external cause here would be…

“The ground!?”

The fog created by the many shockwaves and blasts danced around like fluttering cloths. The dance continued all the way from the clearing to the formation entrance where Toshiie stood.

He saw several shapes below the fog that whirled about and vanished into the sky above.

Humanoid shapes. There were a lot of them and he knew who they had to be.

“The nonhuman unit and Hashiba-kun’s ground forces!”

Chapter 35: Climbers Laying a Trap[edit]

Technohexen traps

Are always laid in the dark

Because they are the most fun

When they can’t be seen

Point Allocation (Um, What Do We Do Now?)

●

Inada shuddered.

…Honestly!

He and Kousaka had been the central commanders for the nonhuman unit.

They were both nonhuman and they still had plenty of physical and mental strength left. The nonhumans had plenty of combat experience and he had honesty thought they could do a lot more in this battle than the ordinary warriors coming in behind them. So he thought they needed to use those warriors in a support role while the nonhumans kept everything moving without delay.

He had been right.

But he had also been wrong.

There was a difference between what the two groups could do. But that difference included things the ordinary warriors could do that the nonhumans could not. So…

“Way to go!”

The colossal skeleton’s leg was out in front of him.

At less than 20m, he was basically right on top of it. If the colossal skeleton shifted its position or took even half a step, it could easily crush him underfoot at that distance.

But there were those who kept that distance and did whatever it was they could do.

“Are those the ordinary warriors with construction and field spells!?”

Those two skills were great for rear guard and support roles, so most of the ordinary warriors learned them. But while those skills were necessary for lower-ranked warriors, they had accomplished something great with them.

...They collapsed the ground below the colossal skeleton!

●

Kousaka saw the result of the field spells and construction work.

The moat had given them the hint they needed and that was where they were working.

They had used the 1km moat to escape the shockwaves sweeping across the clearing.

They couldn’t get their defense barriers or defensive stances ready in time, so they had dived into the moat.

And after the gale blew through, they had hurried back up and come to a realization.

M.H.R.R.’s ordinary warriors must have built the moat.

Their method had been simple. First, they had applied a field divine protection designed to enrich the soil for farming. That had removed all the excess stones and such, so then they dug down with an excavation spell.

So what would happen if the warriors with construction spells used their excavation spells to dig deep into the crust as a group?

What if they did so horizontally from within the moat? What if they also sliced down from above like cutting out a piece of a cake?

The extreme weight had lowered its center of gravity by crouching and then it stepped on the cut-out piece, easily breaking through the ground.

The surface split open and the colossal skeleton attempted to stop itself. But its right leg was extended toward the clearing as the earthen crust unraveled, so it ended up tilting to the left.

That had altered the course of its explosive roar.

...Great work.

Kousaka hadn’t instructed them to do this.

“How did they know how to do that?”

“That’s how we fill in a moat after the fact!” they said after climbing out so they weren’t caught in the collapse. “We were already planning to elevate our footing. Sorry for doing the work without asking permission first!”

“Forget it. You did great.”

The colossal skeleton must have arrived right as they were preparing to do what they could to improve their situation.

As a result, they had protected the Azuchi. That was plenty. But…

“Prepare your defenses!”

The colossal skeleton was moving.

It lifted its hips and stood up.

...What’s it going to do now!?

The colossal skeleton answered that question with a very simple action.

It raised its 400m right leg as it stood up.

“Brace for impact!!” shouted Kousaka just as the attack dropped down.

A rapid axe kick carried a shockwave as it slammed into the clearing’s entrance.

●

Toshiie watched the explosion.

...Direct hit.

When an 800m being moved the same as an ordinary-sized person, its every action would produce explosive pressure.

This axe kick was no exception.

It didn’t even need to launch a shell. Anything within arm’s reach – and anything a bit outside of that – could be struck with a force equivalent to a bomb.

Just before the mist formed, Toshiie saw the enemy raise their defense barriers.

“Oh.”

They were attempting to resist the powerful force he sent their way.

But it was no use. He raised a defense barrier in his left hand to deal with the artillery fire from the Azuchi while…

“How about this?”

He clenched his right fist and leaned forward to swing his fist straight down.

He punched at the ground. The colossal skeleton mimicked the action perfectly.

As soon as it started moving, its arm split the air and slammed into the ground while carrying a white explosion.

He adjusted his position and repeated the action 3 times, 4 times, 5, 6, 7, 8, and he stopped counting after that.

“Phew.”

The many layers of expanding mist rose into the sky like the smoke of volcanic eruption.

As far as he could see, no one remained moving, standing, or sitting on the ground.

“Now, that’s what I call overwhelming force. Too bad I have to leave here in 30 minutes.”

Toshiie straightened up and shook his right hand a bit. He viewed the Shibata Team’s formation in the chilly mist and then turned right to view the southeastern sky.

Transport ships landed as buildings blocked his view, but he knew what had to be there.

...Honnouji and the Musashi.

In 30 minutes, he would be leaving ahead of the Ten Spears, but would they make it in time? If they did…

“I need to do what I can. Things are mostly done here in the north, so that just leaves the south. Kiyomasa-kun is there, I believe.”

●

Toshiie scattered silver coins from his coin roll sword.

Fuwa was the local treasurer, but she had already withdrawn, leaving the position empty.

As M.H.R.R.’s treasurer, the position automatically went to him now that he was here.

He could use as much money as he liked. There was still plenty left. In fact, he doubted he would run out even if he kept this up all night.

...Not if I created multiple König Geists, though.

He wouldn’t be able to control that many anyway. It would be a significant burden on Matsu too. If possible, he would like to switch this one to a defense-oriented autonomous mode to use as a shield against the Azuchi and the Technohexen.

“So I need to mop up the enemy here first. Crushing the remaining warriors and placing some guards in the clearing should do the trick.”

Meanwhile, many forms rose up from the clearing.

...I can still send in plenty of ghost warriors.

Even with all the ghosts he had used tonight, he was far from reaching the Kaga Millionen Geist’s upper limit of a million. He didn’t really want to go anywhere past 500 thousand at the most, but…

“Ma-chan, I don’t want to wear you out too much. Do you need a break?”

He looked aside to see…

“––––––”

Matsu had closed the wings on her back while she nodded off.

She was napping.

...Huh?

He understood she was sleeping. Probably because she was worn out. This was a big night, after all. And she was normally asleep at this hour.

But if she had been asleep for a bit now…

...Where did those ghost warriors over there come from?

Who had summoned them from the earth?

“Ma-chan, wake up.”

“Yawn?”

Matsu woke up. As she did, she spread her wings and glowed. The lernen figurs emitted around her were reactivating after going into sleep mode. But…

“Huhhh?”

Upon waking, Matsu looked in the same direction as Toshiie and suddenly returned to normal.

She regained her ordinary proportions, landed on his shoulder, and tilted her head.

“What happened? Do you know?”

Her tone made it clear she was more asking how this had happened.

“Why are Hashiba-kun’s people getting back up after we crushed them?”

Yes. The people getting up near the entrance to the clearing were not the ghost warriors.

The people who had been crushed by the colossal skeleton’s attack before were raising their voices and standing up.

“It must be a divine protection akin to resurrection!”

Toshiie knew what this had to be.

It came from the sky.

While the Azuchi bombarded them, a white light now shined from its bow. He knew what that was.

“Takenaka-kun’s Testamenta Arma: Crus Fortitudo – Vetus!”

●

Takenaka had made up her mind.

To do so, she had puked up everything in her stomach back in the dining hall.

Because her Testamenta Arma’s ability was an awful one.

“Anyone who shows courage is given impenetrable defenses just once!”

She could make her entire side invulnerable. So if possible, she didn’t want to use it.

...I really wanted to save this for our battle with Musashi or to recover afterwards.

But Shizugatake turned out to be more of a kaiju battle than she expected. They were still only at the northern gate and they were already dealing with an 800m colossal skeleton. What is Maeda-san thinking? Is he a child? Oh, but I bet this was Matsu-san’s idea…

The Boy: “Takenaka-senpai! Don’t hang your head! Don’t let it get to you!”

She wasn’t sure what she wasn’t supposed to let get to her, but at least she hadn’t empty-eroed.

But now that she was out here, she could see what needed to be done.

“Listen carefully, everyone.”

This was an important decision. It would set things up for victory.

“I can’t do that again.”

Her Testamenta Arma couldn’t be used again until tomorrow. Carrying courage on the battlefield was meaningless now.

...That’s right.

Which could only mean one thing.

“That was our high damage!”

●

This will work, thought Takenaka.

Now that they had taken high damage, she wanted an immediate high return.

This required quick action, so…

“This timing is more like Kuroda Kanbei than Tanekana Hanbei,” she said to herself as she typed into the command form she called up on her lernen figur and sent the command out to everyone. “Everyone, break through Maeda Toshiie!”

●

Kousaka heard a great roar.

As usual, it came from near the colossal skeleton. But that opponent was now standing up and defenseless. And they knew what to do thanks to a command from nearly the very top.

So Kousaka raised her voice in a bestial roar that would reach the entire clearing.

“Move!”

They had their orders. If they acted on them, they would win. Because…

“The time for high damage has ended!”

As soon as she shouted, a wind blew in. The colossal skeleton was swinging its arms down toward them.

...Gonna fight, huh!?

But even as she looked up, she heard a voice coming from the Shibata Team’s formation past the dancing mist.

“Ha ha ha! You call that high damage!? I haven’t even gotten started!”

Needless to say, the colossal skeleton’s arms dropped down.

Rapidly. They accelerated to strike the ground in a few moments. But Kousaka had seen this before.

“You’re already moving, I hope!?”

“Testament!!”

The response came from all around her and in the moat.

Mud was dragged up from the bottom and the ordinary warriors’ work team called out.

“We did it as soon as we recovered! We knew we’d probably be doing this even before the command arrived!”

A great read on their part.

...I see.

These were Hashiba’s troops, so Kousaka had expected them to be softer than this. After all, Hashiba was a future conqueror.

Her victory was assured.

So Kousaka had assumed the people around her wouldn’t feel much reason to focus on combat. She had assumed they would see combat as no more than an obstacle to a stable conquering.

She had assumed wrong.

They all took their work seriously, obeyed their commands, and did their jobs. And they did it without needing to be told.

Even the nonhuman unit, which had worked so hard in this battle, sensed this as a threat.

A pair of powerful attacks was dropping from the sky above. And yet…

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Out of our minds!” they shouted back up from the moat while completing a final inspection of their work. “But we work for Hashiba-sama.”

So…

“We might be scared, but we know we’ll win in the end!”

A great answer. Kousaka knew what she had to say to make that happen, so she raised her hand and her voice.

“Bring that bastard down!”

●

...I knew they’d go with that!

Toshiie had predicted his opponent’s defense.

Ordinary defense barriers wouldn’t stop the colossal skeleton.

Especially for ground units who generally physically held their defense barriers instead of defining the barrier’s position as a coordinate. That meant the ground troops themselves would be supporting the barriers used against the attack from above.

That was not enough to stop the colossal skeleton’s strike.

That was why they had chosen a different form of defense.

They would tear down the ground below the colossal skeleton’s feet.

Just like they had done when it was firing its explosive roar at the Azuchi. They would do the same to stop the attack against them.

He had predicted that.

So he commanded the colossal skeleton to take a quick step back.

“Put some space between you!”

The colossal skeleton did exactly that.

It took a quick half-step back from the clearing entrance where the ground crumbled.

...That should do it!

They were using the moat to collapse the ground. So if the colossal skeleton stayed sufficiently away from the moat, the collapse wouldn’t reach it.

The colossal skeleton completed its step.

It was now positioned further back, but its original action was still ongoing. Its raised arms followed its forward-leaning body on their way down to punch the ground.

That wasn’t quite the action Toshiie had originally planned for, but the step back actually made it easier to aim for the enemy.

At this rate, the strike would hit. But…

“You aren’t going to let that happen!”

He immediately pointed straight ahead.

There was a forest past the sloped clearing to the north. And he knew who was hiding in there.

“Are you, Technohexen!?”

●

Toshiie confirmed the enemy’s presence on his lernen figur.

That lernen figur followed the colossal skeleton’s gaze, sending the visual data back to him. Sure enough, a pair of Technohexen shot out of the forest.

...You can’t surprise me!

The nonhuman unit and the ordinary warriors had collapsed the ground below the colossal skeleton, but that didn’t matter. Even if it had worked, it would only let them dodge the attack.

They needed to destroy the colossal skeleton, not just avoid its attacks.

But Toshiie’s defense barriers were stopping the Azuchi’s bombardment.

So what would the enemy try next?

“A surprise attack with anti-ship cannons is a real Technohexen thing to do!”

He knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to destroy the colossal skeleton’s arms before they could finish swinging down.

That was fine by him.

The crouched colossal skeleton was inside Shibata’s formation. The crouching made it a smaller target and the ships landed as buildings had defenses that would work in place of defense barriers.

Now he only had to use the force of the downwards-swinging arms to target the Technohexen.

“Maeda König Geist! Roooocket Pwuuuunch!”

Nothing like subtly changing the command from last time to keep things classy.

●

“Angie!”

Angie answered Yoshiaki’s call with only a nod.

...I’m in a hurry here!

She converted Schwartz Fürstin from anti-ship cannon form to emergency acceleration form. She remade it into a pattern with excellent dashing speed.

Yoshiaki had created the form as an alternative to their charging form based on her experiences in the Siege of Odawara and the Keichou Campaign.

...We’re getting a lot of use out of it this time!

But it was the right choice here.

After making the quick form change, she filled her flying arms with…

“Guts!!”

She held Schwartz Fürstin under her arm to make a leaping acceleration.

She flew in a short jump.

...Oh.

Since she was seated on the center of Schwartz Fürstin, she was a bit slanted, but her body still took flight.

“Made it!”

●

Yoshiaki knew they had cleared it without needing to check.

A warship-sized mass passed by so close below it nearly grazed her feet.

Weiss Fürstin’s emergency acceleration form could only produce a single kick of speed. It sent her flying around 50m in an instant, but it couldn’t be used for long-term acceleration.

So she felt like she was falling as the powerful gust blew by below her. And...

“Angie! Accelerated cruising!”

“Got it!”

Am I too strict if I wish she would just say “Tes” because it’s shorter? But…

...Oh?

Angie moved out ahead. She really did have excellent instincts for these things.

So Yoshiaki moved her wings to lift her own body.

“Weiss Fürstin. Accelerated cruising form.”

She immediately received a blast of acceleration directed diagonally upwards. Right toward the colossal skeleton’s face.

This was what they needed to do. This was correct. Because…

“Takenaka! We’re on our way!”

●

“Please get this done!”

Takenaka gulped on the bridge of the Azuchi’s 1st central ship.

This was a critical moment.

She saw that colossal skeleton as a “task” given to them by Maeda. He would join Hashiba’s side after the Battle of Shizugatake, but they had to complete this “task” before he would agree to it.

If they could overcome that thing, one of the Five Great Peaks would accept them as superior to Shibata.

So they had to complete the task.

They couldn’t just wait for his 30 minutes to be up.

They had to achieve this here.

But the colossal skeleton was dangerous.

That danger had less to do with the power and variety of its attacks and more to do with its scale.

What did it mean to be that enormous?

...It takes time for our attacks to reach it!

With the Azuchi facing it, the distance between them was about 3km.

No matter how fast the Azuchi’s shells were, they would be visible before they arrived. Worse, the colossal skeleton had automatic-activation defense barriers and could move the same as an ordinary-sized human.

So Takenaka had to come up with a way for them to hit that thing.

The Azuchi’s cannons unfortunately could not supply an effective blow. Most likely, the colossal skeleton had been designed as a ground weapon meant for use against aerial warships. Not only could it outmaneuver a warship, but it could open its defense barriers and react faster too.

...We need to catch it by surprise.

An attack from below would probably be effective since people tended to forget to pay attention there. But the most they had managed there was collapsing the ground below its feet and, even if they did approach on the ground, the shockwave of its punches could obliterate their ground forces. That felt like too much even for her high damage.

Hence the Technohexen.

The rocket punch suggested Maeda had been worried about the Technohexen attacking. Which meant their speed and anti-ship cannons could be effective against the colossal skeleton.

“But at the Five Great Peaks level, they see those things coming.”

He had to have predicted their attempts to an extent.

So Takenaka had made a certain decision.

She had used branching tactics.

●

Takenaka had not always been friends with a paper bag. It’s true. I have real friends. I swear they’re not imaginary.

But that wasn’t the point.

Predicting the enemy’s moves better than they predicted hers wasn’t the point either.

Her enemy here was a top-rate commander. Under ordinary circumstances, being out-predicted could easily mean her defeat.

So she chose branching tactics.

That was the natural result of using Three Thousand Worlds, a data processing spell that searched through countless possibilities. This was a factor no one could ignore when considering tactics – not her, not the other officers, and not the strategists of other nations.

You weren’t always going to win.

But things were different this time. The density of branches was a lot higher than usual.

She had built up branches for the big picture and for each individual move made across the battlefield.

It had begun simply. She had set her use of Crus Fortitudo – Vetus as the starting point.

...But the next move I had prepared – the ground unit collapsing the ground below the colossal skeleton’s feet – didn’t work out.

So she had taken a different branch. She was now on the branch where the ground unit was a diversion and the colossal skeleton had taken a step back to strike them.

With the colossal skeleton’s lowered stance, this branch had the Technohexen fire horizontally from the forest.

The colossal skeleton had intercepted that attack and launched its rocket punch.

So she again moved to a different branch. On that one, the Technohexen took flight.

There were countless branches, but the ultimate objective of them all was to destroy the colossal skeleton. So to ensure that…

...I need to keep working!

So far, her plans and Maeda’s responses had canceled each other out.

If anything, it looked more like her moves were the ones being defeated.

“But…”

What about this time? She had given the command, so now it was up to the Technohexen’s skill.

They were in flight, flying above the soaring arms and curving in from the sides.

“Now,” shouted Takenaka, emitting hundreds of Three Thousand Worlds lernen figurs. “Let’s see if I can make this work!”

Chapter 36: Commander in the Heights[edit]

I keep at it

But it’s still high damage

I ero

But it’s still a high return

Point Allocation (O-Okay, Let’s Do This!)

●

“An excellent reaction! You set that up, didn’t you!?”

Toshiie had expected the Technohexen’s charge.

...Yes, they are attackers.

That pair was all about surprise attacks, mobility, and – most of all – striking force.

Those terms on their own reminded him of himself and Narimasa. But those Technohexen had almost identical abilities, while he and Narimasa were entirely different.

...I wonder what Na-chan’s up to right now!

Fuwa had said he was getting involved in Honnouji. And Fuwa had said she was leaving him to it because he was the type to never let something go if he didn’t like how it turned out.

Toshiie was much the same. Shibata had helped him out and he knew a lot of the others here. Maybe Narimasa was fine with not sticking with them to the end, but Toshiie was not. Of course, sticking around for the next half hour wasn’t the same as sticking with them to the end, but…

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have been so specific about the 30 minutes.”

...I was trying to look cool.

Did that mean he had used the history recreation as an excuse to hide how he really felt? But…

“It’s just like me to be here even if I’m not seeing it through to the end.”

Based on the Testament, Maeda Toshiie had been quite skilled in a variety of areas, but for that very reason, he hadn’t stood out much in the highly individualized Oda clan. His more generalized talents had made him something of a balancer and an important official.

He had worked hard to keep the peace. That was who the current Toshiie was named after.

Meanwhile, his second inherited name of Wallenstein had fought in a variety of lands during the Thirty Years’ War, but he had earned the ire of the lords and kings who couldn’t pay his fees and he had ultimately been assassinated.

The two had a lot in common, but they were opposites when it came to how they viewed themselves.

Maeda Toshiie wouldn’t have wanted to be someone like Wallenstein.

He wouldn’t have wanted to disturb the peace and get assassinated without solving anything.

But Wallenstein wouldn’t have wanted to be someone like Maeda Toshiie.

If he had been able to bow his head and keep going without converting his power into money, he wouldn’t have become known as the mercenary king.

Which one am I?

He had tried to handle his double name inheritance by compensating for each of their flaws, but…

“They’re just so different, Shibata-senpai.”

With that, he raised his hands.

At the same time, the crouching colossal skeleton rapidly regenerated its lost arms.

Ether light sprayed out as the arms formed, spread their hands, and pushed out ahead.

The hands were directed toward the Technohexen. Those two were charging toward it, so…

“Counterattack.”

The right hand aimed for the white one and the left hand for the black one. Even if the Technohexen did fire, the attacks would only hit the colossal skeleton’s hands.

“So what will you do now, Technohexen?”

●

...What will you do!?

Even as Toshiie asked the question, he saw the black Technohexen, who was flying out ahead of the other, force herself into a slide.

Her schale besen, made up of black acceleration panels, made a right-angle slide using gravitational control.

“Down the center!”

She forced herself in between the outstretched arms.

The white Technohexen slid toward the center in the same way.

They had chosen a central route. Once they were in firing form, they could blast the colossal skeleton from face to torso.

A moment later, Toshiie reacted.

“Yeah, that’s about what I thought.”

He had predicted this. So he gave a new instruction.

“How about another explosive roar?”

It would probably hit those two directly, but they would be fine. Because…

“You have Crus Fortitudo – Vetus. You can survive one hit, can’t you? Of course, the force of the blast will still launch you away.”

●

Yoshiaki saw the enemy begin its next action.

She and Angie had already seen the colossal skeleton’s explosive roar from below. They had a kinetic vision boosting divine protection for use when moving at high speed, so they had seen it all perfectly.

...Strangely, it “inhales” once first.

It was a ghost and its explosive roar would be spell-based. Without lungs, it wouldn’t need to take in air.

But Maeda must have decided it would be simpler to match his own breathing before firing. Plus, the ghosts forming the colossal skeleton would still remember the action of breathing from when they were alive.

Thus, it leaned its head back a bit first.

Yoshiaki took that moment to call out to Angie.

“Angie!”

Angie was already on the move, She really did have good intuition.

So Yoshiaki got moving too. They kicked themselves away from Weiss Fürstin and Schwartz Fürstin, escaping to the left and right.

●

Toshiie realize the explosive roar hadn’t worked.

The attack had definitely traveled right between the colossal skeleton’s arms.

But the enemy wasn’t there. The white and black Technohexen had escaped to the sky on either side.

He had missed.

The two schale besen stalled out without their pilots. The kicks had put them on a descending course.

The explosive roar passed between the Technohexen and above their brooms.

It hadn’t hit anything at all. It meaninglessly flew into the forest behind.

But it did have side effects. Its shockwave struck the Technohexen, sending white and black feathers flying.

And the two of them landed on the arms held out to strike them.

As soon as they got back up, a white explosion erupted in the forest out ahead.

With that white light behind them, the Technohexen spread their wings even as they scattered feathers. They had Magie Figurs opened in their hands.

...Are they going to launch a cannonless spell attack on me!?

How naive. No matter how powerful they were as Technohexen, it would take them time to construct the barrel and the rest of the external acceleration system with only spells. And he wasn’t about to wait around. So…

“Fly!”

He had the colossal skeleton swing its arms outwards. The arms twisted like they were swinging a racket, launching the Technohexen from them.

In an instant, black and white feathers scattered and only the Magie Figurs remained.

“––––!”

But those burst. Only ether light dust remained in the space where the spread arms had been.

Toshiie had eliminated the enemy.

●

I exorcised them, thought Toshiie. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for a ghost to talk about exorcising, but he did feel he had “exorcised” that problem away.

It was a form of purification.

They had been a nuisance placed upon him. He felt relief at having purified his role in the Battle of Shizugatake and everything related to his upper and underclassmen.

He had done what he was meant to do.

Hey had sufficiently paid his debt to Shibata. So now…

“Ma-chan.”

Artillery fire was incoming from the Azuchi.

So he deflected that with the colossal skeleton’s defense barriers and opened his mouth.

...Once my 30 minutes are up, we’ll leave.

He had no regrets. So he prepared to inform Matsu of his plan to leave.

“––––”

The words never came.

The view sent from the colossal skeleton’s vision showed him something that hadn’t been there before.

Ahead and a bit blow – around throat height – two things were positioned with some distance between them.

But instead of being stacked vertically, the glowing panels were positioned horizontally to each other.

They were defense barriers. Specifically, ones made with Technomagie.

●

...What is going on here?

He understood what these were: defense barriers. But he didn’t understand their purpose.

He didn’t know what they were meant to accomplish, so he deemed them dangerous. He checked and saw two figures falling on either side of his vision, scattering ether light as they went. Those were the Technohexen he had flung away with the arms earlier.

They were falling without even spreading their wings, but they were looking his way.

They both stared straight at the colossal skeleton’s face and spoke with raised eyebrows and smiles.

“Sorry,” said the white one.

“But it’s not us,” added the black one.

What’s not you?

They were the white and black on the right and left. And he had sent the explosion down the center, so…

“––––”

He didn’t understand. It felt like something was underway without his knowledge.

Then he heard a sound. It came from up high and traveled far enough to reach the colossal skeleton’s auditory system.

“Lu, ah.”

It was a wolf’s howl. And he saw someone making a great leap up into the sky out ahead of the colossal skeleton.

She had black hair and silver cross armor ready in her hands.

“Kasuya Takenori!”

●

Angie whistled into the sky. She matched the wolf’s howl.

...This’ll work!

It was pretty much their last resort.

They were sending Kasuya, a close-range ground fighter, against the colossal skeleton.

The Technohexen had been their main force against that skeleton, but also a diversion.

That was the last resort Takenaka had thought up.

After all, this enemy was both Maeda Toshiie and Wallenstein. He had been working for Shibata lately, but before that he had fought all over the place.

Someone like that was going to predict their tactics.

Thus, they went with a last resort.

They had Kasuya’s permission. Takenaka’s instructions had arrived while they were still in the forest.

“Kasuya-san,” called Angie.

There she was after being knocked back into the forest when approaching the colossal skeleton.

It looked like she had taken a lot of damage breaking through the tree branches and rolling through the forest. While they were still waiting in the forest, she had approached from behind them, wiping away dried blood, but her voice was firm.

“I only need to do what I can, correct?”

So Angie and Yoshiaki had made their charge.

They hadn’t managed to fire, so they had moved to guide the explosive roar.

That was when Kasuya had emerged from the forest.

Crus Fortitudo – Vetus had boosted the defenses of the brave. That had allowed her to use the explosive roar itself to hide from the colossal skeleton.

From there, Angie and Yoshiaki had focused on being a diversion. They had sent Weiss Fürstin and Schwartz Fürstin soaring through the air. So Kasuya could use them as footholds. And by using the colossal skeleton’s fading rocket punch as a starting point, the black wolf would use the Zwei Fürstin like stairs to reach the enemy’s face.

The defense barriers ejected from the Magie Figurs were the same.

By drawing the colossal skeleton’s eyes to the sides, it hadn’t noticed the wolf using bursts of speed to race up through the center sky. Angie and Yoshiaki had been flung away by the arms, but…

“We can deal with that thanks to Crus Fortitudo – Vetus!”

Angie saw Kasuya using a defense barrier as footing for another leap.

The colossal skeleton was crouched low. The ground unit’s earlier diversion had all led to this.

They had found the correct route through the branching paths.

“Ohhh!” roared Kasuya, launching herself to the very top of the colossal skeleton’s head.

●

Toshiie had the colossal skeleton stand up in a hurry.

...What do I do!?

Kasuya was a close-range ground fighter. The Argent Clous on her arms were powerful, but they were meant for use against people, not warships or a colossal skeleton.

But he also knew her identity. So…

“Are you giving this everything you have, black Loup-Garou!?” he shouted, standing up.

He only needed to swat her off the skeleton’s head, but she moved before he could.

She threw away something that had been covering her eyes.

It was a visor. The spell device let her see in the dark and identify her enemies.

And for nonhumans, it kept too much moonlight from entering their eyes.

The black wolf threw that away and then looked up into the night.

The twin full moons hovered in the sky as she threw back her head, hair trailing behind the motion.

“Ah.”

She raised her voice. As a wolf’s howl.

“Ee.”

It was so much like a wail, a plea, a call to something out there.

At the same time, an ether mist burst from her body and she changed shape.

This was her beast transformation.

●

“Good,” said Yoshiaki, flapping her wings to slow her fall as she watched her friend change shape.

This wasn’t her first time seeing this. She had seen it a few times before, most recently during a certain battle.

The battle against Takigawa. Due to the phase of the moons, it hadn’t been a complete transformation then, but Kasuya had done it anyway. Just as she and Takigawa had looked evenly matched, Takigawa had increased the number of physical copies, so Kasuya had responded.

The black wolf howled below the full moons in the same way now. She readied her arms and shouted.

“Luohhhhh!”

The trees around her shook, their leaves answering the howl.

Animal ear tufts grew diagonally up from where her normal ears were and a long tail swished through the air behind her. Her clothing had become a black dress and decorations resembling the phases of the moon danced about her.

This was a werewolf’s beast transformation. Unlike other nonhumans, they would rewrite the “realm” around them with a version of themselves a lot closer to a spirit form.

Ether light danced around her like a protective cloak, but that scattered into the night sky as the wind blew.

...It’s so beautiful.

Anyone would say black was Kasuya’s personal color. And she clearly agreed.

But with the full moons shining in from behind that black silhouette, her golden wolf eyes gleamed bright.

Those eyes drew attention to who she was far more than her usual form.

Everything about this form was different.

But Yoshiaki still saw her as a friend and the howl seemed to be calling out to her.

●

Kasuya felt a tremor run through her.

...I can do this!

The beast transformation honestly put a heavy burden on her. It allowed her to draw on power well beyond her usual form, but it also rapidly wore down her stamina as a Loup-Garou. After seeing the nonsense the Reine des Garous had pulled at the Keichou Campaign, she assumed there was a trick to preventing that, though.

But even if she had room for improvement, she needed that power now.

This changed everything about her. Even her mood was oddly elevated.

But one thing did not change.

...Argent Clou!

Her weapons were unchanged. And she ended her howl. She cut off the bestial words as if swallowing them.

“…!”

The forced silence signaled the beginning of her action.

First, she slammed the Argent Clous together in front of her as if punching her fists against each other. As soon as the metallic clangs and sparks scattered, the left Argent Clou left her arm and connected to the right one.

That was done.

“Argent Clou – Combined Form!”

With those words, two long crosses opened up above her right arm. They produced mechanical sounds as they fully opened. Ether light rapidly gathered within.

And a drill pile made of ether extended from the rear.

The drill fang was far longer than she was tall as she raised it in her right arm and howled.

“Oh!”

She aimed straight down, driving the drill bunker into the colossal skeleton’s head.

The 15m spike was instantly launched down.

The full attack was blasted into the colossal skull.

●

Toshiie saw Kasuya’s attack. His lernen figur displayed a diagram of the damage caused by what looked like a thick needle plunging into the center of the colossal skeleton’s head.

But 15m wasn’t much to an 800m skeleton.

On the scale of a 2m human, it was no more than a needle of less than 4cm.

...Of course, it’d still be bad for a human if that needle punctured through their skull!

But this was a collection of ghosts creating a colossal skeleton. It wouldn’t be a problem. So…

“Get her out of there!”

Toshiie waved his hands to tell the skeleton to brush her off of it. He would see the result soon enough. But…

“Huh?”

The first to notice was Matsu, who had returned to her normal size.

She had turned to look at something with eyebrows raised and her hand in her hair as if brushing it.

“That’s weird.”

Her comment led Toshiie to look too.

Only then did he realize the colossal skeleton had ignored his command and stopped moving altogether.

It had raised its arms to shoulder height, but they lost speed there. Its hands were still slowly rising, but it looked like they would eventually stop.

...But why?

Instead of thinking about it, he sent the instruction again. He raised his left arm over his head like Matsu was doing.

The colossal skeleton moved in response. But…

“Hey…”

The movement was sluggish. It was no longer demonstrating nimble movements that matched a human-sized individual. Thinking back, Matsu must have already tried this. Hence the hand in her hair.

But why had this happened?

Toshiie quickly had the nearby ghost warriors take defensive action. Then he opened a spell lernen figur and checked the colossal skeleton’s status. Every single field displayed the same error.

“Geographic phase error!?”

●

Toshiie was confused. A geographic phase error shouldn’t have been possible.

The colossal skeleton’s size meant it created its own geographic phase.

It was 800m tall, after all. At that size, trees became woods, water became a lake, and a hole became a cave.

But the colossal skeleton’s geographic phase had been rejected. The error flashed on the status screen, just like when the smaller ghost warriors set foot in a different geographic phase.

The colossal skeleton’s geographic phase should have been “sacred ground”. But if that had changed…

...What is it now?

Toshiie looked over and saw the colossal skeleton currently stood in a forest.

A European forest. And a high quality one at that.

“Why?” he muttered just before a voice reached his ears.

It sounded so much like the voice he had heard before. It had the sound of a howl or a roar, but it also carried a melody. It was a song.

“Ah…”

Kasuya was singing.

●

Kasuya raised her voice. She directed her voice toward the ether spike and sang to the ground it had pierced.

She sang a song she knew well.

“I reveal the darkness without facing it.”

It was a Loup-Garou song. She let the wind carry it.

“I am Loup-Garou.”

She stated that truth. And...

“I bite at human fear from the abyss.”

Something grew at her feet.

“Hear me, Loup-Garou children.”

Grass. Underbrush made of ether grew from where she stood and spread out from there.

The ether forest was beginning.

She inhaled and sang.

Sang the Loup-Garou song.

●

The Reine des Garous was curled up in the darkness.

She sank low as if pinning down her prey in the clearing outside the candy house’s entrance.

Thanks to the full moons, she was in her animal form.

...I’ve had a lot more chances to do this of late.

Before participating in the Siege of Odawara, she had been too busy and moving around too much as a show of force. So she had missed a few full moon nights, but she had enjoyed a fulfilling summer break after her non-full-moon beast transformation during the Kantou Liberation.

On the Musashi, she had stayed in the diplomatic building and it had felt a lot like a vacation. Being in her usual forest was relaxing, but the view outside of the building had been lovely. Especially at night when the stars felt so much closer than on the surface and the moons were truly lovely.

She had been very “active” those nights.

Unfortunately, when she tried to be “active” outdoors on the Musashi, there had been a surprising number of Shinto barriers in the way. She doubted it was actual public policy, but since she had been considered an outsider there, offspring-producing acts were apparently frowned upon. She had tried it in five different places and received a warning signe cadre each time, so she had felt she had no recourse other than making a direct appeal to the Asama Shrine.

However, that was an embarrassing thing to have to ask about, so during the day, she had feigned nonchalance as she picked up her husband and made a dash to the father of her daughter’s friend who ran the Asama Shrine.

“Excuse me!”

“Oh, if it isn’t Mitotsudaira-san’s parents! I saw the report that you tried to go at it five different times last night! Any more than that and your husband would’ve been shitting kishimen for three months, so I’m glad for his sake you stopped there!”

“My, you were informed!?”

“Yeah, our god put it like this!”

<Ugh, not again. It’s the usual offenders. Don’t make me kishimen them. By, god.>

“So I was thinking of contacting you myself if you started up again!”

Since she had a Far Eastern inherited name, she did have a Shinto reverse-hidden setting, but she had gone ahead and set up a partnership with the Asama Shrine too. The discount when calling her daughter made it a great deal. The physical buffs for her husband and the ‘Never Ending Battle – Night Edition’ (which made Musashi’s standard divine protections free starting at 11 PM) showed the Asama Shrine really knew what they were doing. I need to give my daughter a push so that Asama Shrine Representative doesn’t outdo her.

And the candy house was actually partially covered by the Asama Shrine’s divine protections too. Because the Asama Shrine Representative had applied those protections and set up a divine transmission connection when they camped there. That meant it was currently the free time period, but…

“Hm?”

She heard a familiar song in the distance. But that wasn’t all.

“What is it, Mrs. Loup-Garou?”

“The forest is concerned.”

To start with, the forest’s leaves were rustling.

It was confused. Because…

“Why is this happening when even Nate couldn’t do it?”

The pale green light spilling from the air was the ether forest that created her “place”. It was overlapping the actual forest.

“Don’t you worry. The werewolf queen is right here.”

It was kind of cute how her precious man nodded below her. But her words must have reached the forest through her “place” here. As far as she could hear, the forest calmed, regaining its stillness.

“Now, then.”

She laughed and lightly bit her prey with her lips. When she licked him and lowered her curled-up body, his back tensed as he began trying to endure.

“My, my. You don’t need to try that hard.”

She slipped her arms between the blanket of grass and his back to support his arching body. He tried so hard that even his throat joined the arch, so she repeatedly bit his neck with her lips and then kissed him.

Immediately, she lifted her lowered body and then dropped it forward with a twisting motion.

“Eek!”

She used her tongue and cheeks to wash away the cry and the breath as he reached his limit and she scratched her fingers along his back, from his flank to his hips, to guide him to the next stage. She received his heated breath in response and she whispered to him.

“I wonder if Nate has noticed.”

“Eh? N-noticed...what?”

“Well,” she said, licking up his tears and thinking how precious their flavor was. “There is a girl out there who knows something only we should know.”

●

Toori noticed Mitotsudaira suddenly look out from the ship.

They were aboard the transport ship to take them to Honnouji.

Even the deck was covered by armor, several layers of divine protections had been put in place, and they apparently had a few similar ships prepared for the return trip.

He appreciated it, but it honestly felt too formal to him.

“Nate…”

He called her name, but she wouldn’t look him in the eye.

He tried to hug her from behind, but she chose that moment to take a step away.

“C’mon, Nate. Why are you avoiding me?”

“Well, um, no real reason. This will be over soon.”

The way she looked back over her shoulder told him it wasn’t that she disliked him now or was trying to keep her distance. Wondering what it did mean, he looked to the side where Horizon pinched her nose and frowned.

“Toori-sama, I believe this is her response to the filthy Toori Stench hanging in the air around you.”

“Eh!? Where did that come from!? Is this new!?”

“Um, well,” cut in Asama, raising her index finger.

Asama: “I’m not sure how to say this, but thanks to everything that happened before you went to sleep, well, apparently there is a happy sort of smell coming from you and from Horizon and the associated happy feelings are contagious when she gets too close.”

Gold Mar: “Yeah, humans do emit a small amount of pheromones.”

Horizey: “You mean Toori-sama is in fact producing a happy stench?”

Me: “Don’t call it a stench! And that ‘happy stench’ is coming from you too!”

She slapped him. And immediately afterwards…

“Why would you say a girl has a ‘stench’, Toori-sama?”

“A-as much as I’d like to argue my case, it’d be faster if I just apologized, wouldn’t it!?”

Toori heard some comments of “that’s the same as admitting defeat”, but he chose to ignore them. But to get back on topic…

“Um, what if I hugged Nate from behind right now to help us get closer?”

His sister pointed to the big smile on her face and then formed a letter P with her fingers.

“Happy pee?”

“I-I would not!?” insisted Mitotsudaira. “I can hold it in before a battle!”

“But you would otherwise?” asked Nate, so Toori decided to make a mental note of this.

...So I just have to wait until there isn’t a battle on.

Could he reward her for her efforts after the Honnouji Incident was complete? Would that be acceptable? But first…

“Are we gonna have a victory party after we get back from Honnouji? What do you say, Horizon?”

“The stench is apparently really bad in the Main Blue Thunder, so should we use the other Blue Thunder instead? Then I could demonstrate my true skill.”

Art-Ga: “FYI: a thread titled ‘Forbidden Secrets of Flavor – Stay Away from the Blue Thunder – Victory Party’ popped up the instant you said that.”

“Also,” added Asama. “She said the smell is coming from Horizon too. So be careful.”

Horizon looked first at her right hand and then her left before sniffing them.

Finally, she casually wiped them off.

“It’s not gerrrrrrrms!” protested Toori.

“I felt I had to do that at least once.”

But something else had grabbed Toori’s attention. They were currently at the stern of the transport ship, but they were on the starboard edge, which faced north. They had gathered there to view Hashiba’s ship earlier, but…

“Nate, is there something interesting in that direction too?”

“The northwest would be where the Battle of Shizugatake is being fought, Mitotsudaira-kun.”

Neshinbara’s comment made Mitotsudaira turn around.

She inhaled and looked Toori in the eye without hiding her flushed cheeks.

“I sense something familiar in that direction.”

“Another stench, Mitotsudaira-sama?”

Stenches are all the rage tonight, thought Toori as Mitotsudaira started to nod but tilted her head instead. She looked unsure what it was herself.

“At first, I thought I sensed my mother there.” She tilted her head again. “But now what I’m sensing reminds me more of you, my king.”

●

Kousaka listened to Kasuya’s song.

This was a battlefield surrounded by forest. And she had heard this song in the forest earlier.

It was a Loup-Garou song. She knew the first four measures herself. Her birthplace had once been part of werewolf territory, so the song had been passed down by the people there.

It sounded a lot like a howl, but it was a song of exultation.

It was a song of the ruler of the forest and the darkness. It was a song of the terror that played with delight.

It was a song of the Loup-Garou expanding her “place” and making it her territory.

And as Kasuya sang, a change came over the colossal skeleton.

The skeleton was its own geographical phase, but the “place” created for Kasuya rewrote that geographical phase.

Around the drill pile driven into the skeleton’s head, underbrush grew and trees stood tall. It all traveled down the head to its neck and collarbones before spreading from the chest to the sides and back.

There were animals in the ether forest and something emerged from the depths of the darkness.

Wolves.

The ether wolves raced out as if leading the expansion of the forest.

And at the now-unseen depths of the forest, a song came from near the full moons.

That was Kasuya.

She completed the first four measures that Kousaka knew, but after that…

...Is she going to sing more!?

What was this? What did it mean? Kousaka couldn’t say.

But that girl knew something Kousaka did not.

And as the strongest of her race, she sang.

●

“I travel the night without challenge.”

Kasuya watched the wolf pack go. They circled once around her like the wind before one of them howled and led the rest out. Down toward the ground.

“I am queen.”

The wolves ran along the colossal skeleton. The footprints they left on the skeleton’s skin became forest trees. The joints they leaped over became forest streams. And…

“I dance in the moonlight and the deep shadows.”

The wolves bit at the base of the colossal arms, tearing them down as if in challenge. As if to say those heights were unnecessary and only impeded their running, the wolves smashed through the bone, the sounds of their racing feet and biting fangs louder even than their roars.

“I am queen of the Loup-Garous.”

And her “place” spread.

The entire colossal skeleton had been rewritten into an ether forest.

●

Toshiie watched as the colossal skeleton collapsed.

“Are you kidding me?”

He understood how it worked.

This was the “place” a Loup-Garou had as part of their territorial divine protection. Kasuya had activated that using the colossal skeleton as the medium.

The skeleton itself was a mass of ether. The drill pile was also a mass of ether, so driving it inside had given her a starting point from which to activate her “place”.

There were spells for rewriting geographical phases. As a ghost-user, he was aware that a lot of anti-ghost field spells worked by rewriting the phase to eliminate the danger.

But a rewriting on this scale and of the ether itself was something else altogether.

“Toshiie-kun.”

Matsu shook his shoulder just as the colossal skeleton’s arms unraveled from the shoulders.

With groaning and peeling sounds, the entire skeleton broke apart like rotten trees finally giving way.

Its back and chest were torn away as new trees grew and the flowing streams formed cracks to help it break apart altogether.

Toshiie also heard a song. He heard the song that guided the racing wolves.

“Werewolf…”

No, that wasn’t it. The lyrics pointed to something deeper.

For one, this “place” was powerful. It had overwritten the skeleton’s entire 800m height, but the forest he saw wasn’t done growing.

This forest could clearly continue growing for several kilometers – no, even more.

What was this? He hadn’t seen it himself, but he had seen the reports.

During the Keichou Campaign, it had supposedly reached a radius of 22km.

This wasn’t as large as that, but…

“That’s the Reine des Garous’s move.”

Then he heard a sound. The colossal skeleton’s neck couldn’t bear the strain, its torso crumbled in half, and the entire thing collapsed.

It was completely destroyed.

●

Angie flew through the sky to snatch Schwartz Fürstin while she viewed the wolf overhead.

...Uh, oh.

Kasuya’s beast transformation was ending. The ether wind spiraling around her was the one that signaled a return to her normal form. But she was in bad shape.

Maybe it was exhaustion, but she collapsed weakly.

Since she had been on the Azuchi, she would have a descent spell installed as a divine protection, but even with the colossal skeleton turned to a forest and collapsing, it still had all its mass.

She may have been a Loup-Garou, but she wouldn’t fare well if she was caught in that collapse.

“Kime-chan!”

“You handle it!”

Angie’s partner already held Weiss Fürstin and pointed down toward the surface.

Near where the skeleton wreckage was falling, gathering in piles, and stabbing into the ground, the ground unit had resumed its charge. Some covering fire from above would help them a lot. Especially when the “forest” still existed up here.

A voice called up to them from below.

“You two! Grab our leader for us!”

Chapter 37: The Pair Off to the Side[edit]

You think we’re similar

Because we aren’t

Our circumstances are similar

But that doesn’t mean anything else is

Point Allocation (We Are Not the Same)

●

After watching Angie nod and fly up, Yoshiaki directed her gaze downwards.

She was about 120m off the ground and thinking of setting down in the “forest” once it settled down but before it acclimated and disappeared. For now, she shouted to those down below.

“You’re Kasuya’s people, right? I’ll cover you.”

“Thanks! Focus on the ones coming straight for us instead of the ones that are moving around more!”

So if the enemy came in like a wall, Yoshiaki was to break it down. She only had to break a hole in it, which she could do easily. But then the girl who appeared to be commanding the group below asked a question.

“So...what was that our leader did?”

“You mean when she got so excited she began singing?”

The girl said “testament”, so Yoshiaki knew she had guessed right.

She had seen Kasuya’s beast transformation a few times before. She well understood its meaning and its flaws.

...It eats up her stamina fast, so it doesn’t last long.

In the battle against Takigawa, Kasuya had run out of steam after getting past her opponent’s physical copies and landing a single attack. Takigawa had decided to end the battle after her technique was defeated and she was attacked.

Yoshiaki’s assessment of Kasuya was “powerful but dangerous”.

She appeared to have improved her fundamental strength at the training camp in Aki, but that meant the fragility still remained.

Would that be her next task to deal with? Or would all of that lose all meaning?

“What do you think?”

Yoshiaki heard another question from below.

“Is our leader’s identity and all that kind of thing going to lose all meaning?”

“Probably,” confirmed Yoshiaki. She sighed at a report from Angie saying she had caught Kasuya up above. “That’s what we’re working toward with the Genesis Project. Because we believe it’s best if we end it all but don’t let it end. So...”

Yoshiaki set down on a hill in the “forest”. New ghost warriors were already emerging in new forms and numbers in the part of the clearing within the enemy formation. And they were equipped with mobile shells.

She went ahead and fired on a few of those as she spoke.

“So we need to hurry. Because we can bring the world in that direction if we arrive at Honnouji in time.

“Isn’t that right?” she called to someone out in front of her. “Maeda-senpai. Will we be able to face Musashi like we want?”

●

What a pain, sighed Toshiie.

Matsu placed a hand on his shoulder, laughed bitterly in his ear, and returned to her simplified form. And…

“Let’s do this!”

She’s such a great woman.

Yes, we need to rejoice in this and be proud of it. Because…

“Have you proven yourselves worthy of me joining you, Hashiba?”

He was not like Shibata or the others. Because…

“Then take pride in that.”

In the Testament, Hashiba’s Seven Spears were seen as the likely leaders of the next generation. Three had been added to make the current Ten Spears.

They couldn’t have eliminated his greatest fighting force without cooperation from the Azuchi.

And they had not yet stopped his ghost warriors.

“Now, how will this turn out?”

He twirled, scattering silver coins in all directions with his thumb.

“What will happen to the world tonight? Whatever the answer, I plan to enjoy the result.”

●

“The north gate has opened.”

Niwa accepted Kiyomasa’s words with a quick nod.

...Maeda-kun is such a nice guy.

The Shibata Team really was thoughtful. They could have just moved on without all this.

Niwa wanted to call the men stupid for giving in to the guilt of moving on in that way, but was she really much better?

Regardless, her opponent here was proving unexpectedly troublesome.

“Kiyomasa, we are a lot alike. We both let someone else take the lead role while we stick to the assistant role.”

She kept some intensity in her voice to avoid rattling the djinns. And she pressed further while stepping closer in the south gate clearing.

“But you can’t board the Azuchi if you continue stalling with these defensive tactics.”

●

Kiyomasa saw this as obvious provocation.

Niwa was saying this: “If you don’t defeat me, the Azuchi can’t go to Honnouji even if you win here at Shizugatake. Got that?” Yes, and the taunting “got that” seems important. To me.

But she had no reason to respond to that provocation.

Provocations were made when your opponent wanted to know your plan or abilities. So responding only hurt your position.

So she again stepped forward and spoke.

“I could say the same thing!”

To find a way of delivering an effective blow, she used smaller techniques and observed what happened.

After all, Niwa was wielding power on the level of a great spirit. Her instantaneous attack power was probably greater than Shibata’s. She primarily used spells, so you could say she rivaled Sviet Rus’s Ivan the Terrible.

She was doing so even now.

“There!”

Niwa spoke like she was commanding an animal and swung her hand forward. Lightning dropped from her hand like it was running out to fetch a thrown ball.

This was not an artillery blast or a beam of light. The lightning phenomenon filled a wide space.

And it came straight toward Kiyomasa.

The light and sparks were bright enough to dazzle her eyes and a thunderous boom traveled down to up, back to front.

The boom was a collection of breaking sounds. It made Kiyomasa think of someone slamming down an open window.

The attack covered a space 500m long and 100m wide.

Electrified light danced through that entire space.

“…!”

Kiyomasa had never before seen lightning being blasted by lightning.

The wind carried a bitter-smelling heat as it crashed into the south forest.

And after the scattered lighting pieces soared into the air along the distorted line of an afterimage, only scorched air and earth and a burnt smell remained.

Kiyomasa focused entirely on evasion.

She used Caledfwlch’s rear thruster to escape Niwa’s attack range. She tried to dodge to the west or north whenever possible, but Niwa would not allow the latter.

“Oh.”

She used quick steps wrapped in lightning to move in Kiyomasa’s way.

So Kiyomasa back-stepped to the east and used the clearing to prepare for her next move.

She could not afford to come to a stop.

She could keep up with Fukushima’s movements while unequipped. And at the moment, she was wearing a mobile shell. While it was designed for defense, it also had a focus on mobility since she was meant to use it to command from the front line. So…

“There!”

She kept moving while learning the range of that lightning attack.

It had a wide-range version and a more concentrated version meant for use against an individual. It could probably be expanded and contracted to varying degrees. There was a pattern to that expansion and contraction, so she made sure to learn that too.

...She may have patterns she hasn’t shown me, though.

As long as she stayed focused, she would know.

Now she only had to focus on Niwa’s speed and movement.

Niwa’s movements were primarily a dance, but there were patterns to it. There were different types of movements and the shift from slow to fast and vice-versa created a pattern.

Plus, Niwa was human.

She had bones, she had muscles, she had organs, she wore clothing, and it all created a certain balance.

There was an optimal way of moving based on her build and her athletic abilities.

There wouldn’t be much difference in the strength displayed in the gap between fast and slow movements and that optimal answer. After all, this wasn’t Niwa’s dance alone – it was being guided by the djinns.

If she made a bad move, the djinns wouldn’t be happy.

...So…

Kiyomasa’s first task was to investigate.

So while avoiding her enemy’s attacks, she worked to predict Niwa’s movements.

●

...What an irritating person!

Niwa smiled bitterly at Kiyomasa’s obstinacy while she sent a lightning blast from an uprising of crust.

After all, Kiyomasa showed no outward sign of concern despite the situation on the battlefield.

And each time Niwa attacked, she made excessive-looking evasions. At times, she would even use the thruster on the bottom of Caledfwlch to move away. At first, Niwa had thought the girl’s mobile shell or Caledfwlch were too powerful for her, or that she was simply a coward, but neither of those was the case.

“You want to eliminate any possibility of failure, don’t you!?”

What would happen if she made a smaller evasion and it failed?

That might spell the end for everything.

So even if it looked bad or made her look cowardly, she made large evasions.

It seemed pointless, but it was a problem for Niwa. Because moving that far away allowed the girl to observe all her movements.

She could observe Niwa’s dance, the range of her attacks, and their timing.

She could take measurements.

...So how should I deal with this?

Just as Niwa wondered that, an insha kotob appeared.

It was from Maeda.

“Sorry, Niwa-senpai, but they got through the north gate even though that’s supposed to be an unlucky direction for them. I’m trying to hold them off, but it’s too much for me to handle alone.”

He sounded weirdly relieved. He had a tendency to bottle things up, so he must have found some kind of resolution in this battle. And…

“Niwa-senpai,” continued Maeda. “We are strong, but it would seem we aren’t in style anymore.”

●

...Not in style, huh?

It’s true no one asked us to be here, thought Niwa.

She had chosen to come here herself. Shibata hadn’t actually asked her.

The same was true of Sakuma, Maeda, and Fuwa. Mori-kun will be staying behind, which is a bit of a shame.

There was someone here they had to help. He was truly powerful, but also an idiot. He loved heading out and waging war, but he had said he would be following the Testament and fighting a defensive battle.

So help had arrived and here they were fighting.

They had come without being asked, but Niwa knew their feelings had gotten through to Shibata. They all knew each other well enough for that.

So Shibata had left her in charge of this part of the battlefield. Whatever might happen here, he would be ready to fight a defensive battle and take on whatever came his way.

But, thought Niwa.

Are we actually working together toward a single goal here?

Each of them was powerful, but were they actually assisting each other or waiting for assistance here on the battlefield?

Turning that thought around, how were Kiyomasa and the rest of the Ten Spears doing in that regard?

“–––––”

She felt like a lot was beginning before her eyes here.

Kiyomasa was there and her warriors were doing their part because they trusted her.

She was sure certain things were much the same to the north with Katou Yoshiaki, Wakisaka, the nonhuman unit, and their leader Kasuya.

Not to mention the Azuchi providing covering fire from afar.

That had to be how Hashiba and the Ten Spears did things.

They were bound by mutual trust.

Niwa didn’t know how things had been before, but after Novgorod, they had improved their skill and expanded their options at the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, the Keichou Campaign, and their summer training camps.

What would they do with those greater options? Increase their own personal strength, or…

...Strengthen their bonds with each other?

Based on this battle, Niwa could tell the Ten Spears had chosen the latter.

Whether they were there or not, they knew the others would come running.

Whether they were there or not, they knew the others would wait for them.

What did you call that relationship?

And what happened when it all fit together so well?

...That’s right.

Niwa had lost twice to that kind of cooperative strength.

To Musashi.

At Novgorod and Nördlingen, they had done quite well against her and the others. They all did crazy things, but they got through it all by helping each other out and with pure stubbornness.

What had led to that?

At Novgorod, it had been Sviet Rus’s valiant efforts to protect the city.

At Nördlingen, it had been there drive to reach the one they wished to protect.

If any one of them hoped to accomplish something on the battlefield, their friends’ power would reach them.

What about Niwa and her group?

They were strong. But Maeda had been defeated. Which was why he had said they were strong but not in style.

And what about Niwa? Instead of sticking to her usual assistant role, she had borrowed Takigawa’s name to fight here.

Her opponent was Kiyomasa, a defender who assisted the attackers.

Niwa thought they were a lot alike. But right now she was an attacker. And if she was playing the lead role instead of the assistant…

“Katou Kiyomasa!”

She sent in her attack. Were her thoughts accurate? She used her continuing attacks to test herself. She didn’t hold back. She hadn’t from the beginning, but it was even more true now.

She had always been the assistant who watched as the others departed, but now she was playing a primary role on the battlefield.

…What will I see here!?

Her barrage of attacks rang loud through the air.

●

Angie heard that sound from behind the opened fortress wall of ships on the north side of the Shibata formation.

Her current role was to defend the ship that had acted as a gate. While the nonhuman unit attacked inside the formation, the ordinary warriors set up a frontline base within that ship.

Angie used a wide-range sight spell to check beyond and around the ship. She sent the data to the others while standing on the bow and firing sniper shots when necessary.

But she was effectively pushing the frontline forward, so more and more often, she had to descend from the distinctive P.A. Oda galley-style bow.

She was doing so now. And behind her, the giant metal blade of the galley’s ram was reverberating from the surrounding noise. But…

“Hm?”

The bow was producing an odd sound. This wasn’t the metallic resonance caused by the echoing artillery blasts.

It was a deeper and lower sound.

…Is that thunder? It’s resonating with something from the south.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Niwa providing a lightning extravaganza to the south? But this wasn’t the roaring or rumbling of the air caused by distant thunder. It was a simpler sound of impact.

But it also seemed unusually loud. So…

AnG: “Kime-chan, would it be best if I didn’t check what’s happening in the south?”

Kimee: “Probably. Kiyomasa’s causing some trouble there.”

What could that mean? Yoshiaki explained over the echo of her sniper shots.

Kimee: “Those two are increasing their divine density.”

●

For Kiyomasa, it was like putting a god in “check”.

She preemptively stopped Niwa from making a divine-level attack with 3000x pressure.

But Niwa’s attacks contained the lightning beast’s speed. Even if Kiyomasa could identify the initial movement, responding to that speed was no easy feat.

...But fighting a defensive battle against Niwa-sama would be even more dangerous.

That was the same as letting a god call the shots. If Kiyomasa chose to be driven back and to run away, she would be letting Niwa choose everything from when the attacks began to the distance between them when the attack was made.

So what should she do?

…Move in!

Even when she identified the beginning of Niwa’s attacks, she couldn’t respond in time.

So she would close in and eliminate each of her opponent’s movements as soon as she detected them.

She had often done this when sparring against Fukushima. When Fukushima’s attacks got sloppy, she would correct them by preventing the initial movements. And she realized something.

This was the same.

Niwa’s djinn-led movements were excessive and easy to read. And this tendency grew the faster she was moving. So…

“…!”

So she put her in check.

Whenever Niwa began an attack, Kiyomasa would deflect the movements she could deflect, evade the ones she could dodge, and block the ones she could do that for. Her footwork was not on Fukushima’s level, but she could manage the steps needed to keep up with Niwa. But more than that…

…I can read her!

Everything she had done here allowed her to put Niwa in check.

And she realized something about this.

Niwa was converting the djinns’ powers into something else. She had been using lightning, fire, and stone walls before, but she must have realized those wouldn’t work with Kiyomasa preventing all of her actions.

So she converted those into something else.

The lightning beast became lightning that handled Niwa’s speed, the phoenix became erupting fire that accelerated those movements, and the stone hardened her attacks at impact.

Her moves were meant to let the djinns have fun. When they failed, it stressed out the djinns. So to relieve that stress, she provided them different forms with which to attack Kiyomasa.

The power that had previously been activated and spread out was now flowing through her body and providing physical blows.

And those forms changed further.

What had taken the form of lightning, fire, and stone was now transformed into currents of ether light based on those things.

Because Kiyomasa had put her in check.

Niwa was converting her power like this because she had been put in check.

The impacts and evasions now sounded like a great rumbling instead of booming thunder, roaring flames, and bursting stone.

When Caledfwlch’s attack hit and was deflected, white light scattered and a sound like split thunder scattered into the air.

The sound was deep and it alone destroyed a double-digit number of Kiyomasa’s lernen figurs providing physical adjustment divine protections. She would have been in trouble if not for the ether fuel in her mobile shell. This wasn’t something you could manage with external Blessings.

Had Takenaka sent her here because she had predicted Niwa would be waiting here? Either way, she was the best person for this position.

“…!”

She sped up.

She did her best to boost her strength like running up a set of stairs.

Her attack would put a god in check. But…

“Here I go!”

She gave herself permission.

She had read nearly all of Niwa’s initial movement patterns. So…

“Here I go!”

She held her weapon in both hands as she attacked.

And since she wouldn’t be using the thruster anymore, she split Caledfwlch in two.

●

The enemy could now attack twice as fast.

Niwa realized her initial movements were being suppressed.

When she would swing her fists before, they had been deflected mid-swing.

But later they were deflected at the start of the swing and then they were deflected as soon as she pulled her clenched fists back. Now they were deflected when she simply clenched her fist, followed by a close-range attack.

...Is she going to attack when I so much as move my shoulders!?

This went beyond having her attacks predicted.

It came from experience.

How many offensive actions had Kiyomasa seen and learned?

That question reminded Niwa of the 1st Spear who was always with Kiyomasa.

Fukushima Masanori.

#1 of the Ten Spears had defeated Celestial Dragon Katou Danzou at the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle.

That humanoid dragon had taken human form but also possessed the strength of a Celestial Dragon, who could be seen as living divine weapons, but Fukushima had forced him into submission as an attacker.

But Niwa had heard that girl’s objective wasn’t defeating a Celestial Dragon or even Shibata. The ultimate opponent in her mind was Musashi’s Vice Chancellor. Fukushima probably wanted to get back at her for her defeat at Novgorod.

Niwa doubted it was actually that simple, but Musashi’s Vice Chancellor was certainly “superior” to her.

Based on the records, that girl was extremely inconsistent, but when she fought Shibata at Novgorod, she had optimized her movements to an expert level.

That meant the enemy Fukushima Masanori sought was on Shibata’s level.

What did that mean for Niwa’s current situation?

If Fukushima was working her way up toward Shibata’s level, then what about this girl here?

Kiyomasa had been on the receiving end of Fukushima’s attacks and had built herself up in response.

“Would she be the next generation’s greatest assistant!?”

So what? thought Niwa. I’m P.A. Oda’s current greatest assistant.

Maybe Maeda-kun was right about us being out of style. But…

“One-on-one, an upperclassman’s stronger than her underclassman!”

●

Niwa saw Kiyomasa’s instantaneous reaction.

She must have sensed danger in Niwa’s movements because she swung her arms back to intercept.

The lack of hesitation was excellent.

Her prediction of this action had likely gone beyond the initial movement.

Instead of seeing what Niwa was doing now, she had predicted what Niwa would do next based on how she chained her actions together previously.

She was learning to predict the flow of the dance Niwa used as a base for her attacks.

The backwards swing of her arms was probably meant to send out two quick attacks. That way, if the first attack wasn’t enough to deal with whatever Niwa did, the second one was already coming.

Niwa responded to Kiyomasa’s rapid reaction by accelerating. The three djinns were no longer just in her arms or full body – they had entered the joints and other movable parts and into her trunk.

She of course moved with a dance.

She swung her right hand out from her chest as an appeal to the audience.

The actual movement was a jab.

A simple attack.

But that required speeding up every part of the dance.

The lightning beast accelerated all of her joints, from the stepping foot to her jabbing hand.

Then the phoenix’s erupting flames burst from her moving parts, providing an extra push.

To support all of these movements, the earth dragon’s stones reinforced the bottom of her stepping foot and the backside of her joints, stopping all of the reactive force.

Every part of her action possessed the greatest speed she could manage.

This one was so fast that simply recognizing it from the initial movement wouldn’t be enough.

Getting this attack out would mean her victory. When it landed, it would provide a 3000x-compressed djinn attack.

Her stepping foot sliced through the air. Her entire body briefly tore free of the air and her right hand swung forward as if shooting out from her shoulder.

“Hell yeah!”

To keep the dance going, it was best to keep some forceful MC’ing going.

Her arm raced out. The motion extending from her elbow split the air and produced a rumbling sound. Vapor explosions burst from the twisting and moving parts, so she felt like she was being ejected into the world.

Kiyomasa stood before her.

…What will you do!?

The girl still had her arms pulled back.

It looked like she was leaning forward and building up strength.

But then Niwa noticed the lack of Caledfwlch in Kiyomasa’s hands.

●

…She’s unarmed!?

Just as Niwa questioned Kiyomasa’s empty hands, Kiyomasa lowered her head. The tall eboshi-style head armor tilted, lowering its height along with her body.

A light was visible in the air behind her.

The light of a thruster.

Caledfwlch’s thruster.

The separate right and left halves were united once more and light filled the thruster on the bottom.

When it had looked like Kiyomasa swung the halves back on either side, she had in fact thrown them behind her.

She was using her greatest speed and strength against Niwa’s acceleration attack.

It was the obvious move for her.

She was a defender.

She didn’t focus on her own attacks.

Her greatest attack was a counterattack using the force of Niwa’s own attack.

So that was what she did.

With light in its thruster, Caledfwlch was already shaking so much it seemed to hop up into the air.

“…!”

Niwa had no way of dodging this while stepping forward and throwing her arm forward.

The color white split the air as the double sickle spear flew.

Kiyomasa grasped its grip to guide its course and then she moved to slam her entire body into Niwa.

“That should do it!”

The sickle portion of the blade struck Niwa on the right flank and continued on through her.

Everything from her right flank to her right arm was severed all at once.

●

Kiyomasa exhaled.

Even with the power assistance and cooling of her mobile shell and spells, all of her actions had been based on her own movements and decisions.

She was out of breath and suddenly found herself pouring with sweat. But…

...I got through!

And it had a real effect. Both the severing of Niwa’s right shoulder and robbing her of one of her powers by getting the blade through to her back.

When Kiyomasa regained control of her stance and turned around, she saw a small form bouncing on the ground.

It was the earth dragon.

It had been possessing Niwa, but it must have been boosting her movements in this attack. While the lightning beast and phoenix had been helping bring Niwa forward, the earth dragon had been supporting her from behind, allowing it to be pushed out when Caledfwlch sliced through Niwa’s shoulder.

The earth dragon didn’t seem to know what had happened.

Its small dragon body looked all around in obvious confusion.

Not too surprising. It had been playing around using Niwa’s dance and then was suddenly thrown free of her. Kiyomasa felt sorry she had to interrupt its fun for her own purposes, but…

“––––”

It looked up into the sky and shook in a satisfied way.

Tonight was a full moon. This night energized nonhumans and spirits.

The earth dragon gave another gentle shake before raising its stony scales as if brushing itself off and then sinking into the ground.

It disappeared.

Then Kiyomasa sighed and turned toward Niwa.

She had taken one of Niwa’s powers. Being worn out from only that made her feel inadequate, but…

“Niwa-sama.”

The woman no longer had her right arm.

Of course, she was a lot like a spirit at the moment. She would regenerate an injury like that soon enough. Which was why Kiyomasa readied Caledfwlch.

“Here I go!”

She raised her voice and prepared to move in.

But that was when she noticed Niwa had used her left hand to swing her severed right arm toward Kiyomasa.

…What?

The raised right arm did not carry the light of a djinn.

The severing didn’t seem like enough to explain that since Niwa was so much like a spirit right now.

So if the djinn light was gone from her right hand…

…Where did it go?

Would it be the lightning or the flames? Neither of those 3000x-compressed attacks were in evidence.

Kiyomasa was unharmed. She simply didn’t know where Niwa’s power had gone.

She was certain of one thing though: Niwa’s attack had not just failed.

In that case, she thought.

At that very moment, light and heat erupted skyward behind her. And there was enough of it to reach hundreds of meters high.

She didn’t need to turn around to know what had happened. In front of her, Niwa was awash in a crimson light.

That meant the phoenix fire was burning in the forest behind her. The forest she had told her subordinates to withdraw to.

●

Kiyomasa sensed the heat of the fire wall on her back.

She didn’t need to ask who was back there.

She wanted to immediately check to see if her 500 subordinates were safe, but…

“Katou Kiyomasa. Do you understand now what it means to be a defender?” asked Niwa. “You thought you just had to hold out long enough and someone else would win for you, but if you follow that conceited idea, then someone else gets burned when you face an opponent greater than your defenses.”

“I…”

“I already understood this. It was a lesson I’d learned more than enough already.”

Niwa went on to make a pronouncement.

“You can’t defeat me. Because…”

Because…

“I’ve had to put up with so much more. And I finally couldn’t take it anymore, so I came here. Because I couldn’t forget the people who matter to me.”

With those words, Niwa rushed in.

Quickly. Ether light mist scattered from her severed right arm, but by tilting her left shoulder down, she angled her body and then swung it…

…From the right!

That meant to the outer right for Kiyomasa. This attack came along a different course from Niwa’s past ones.

That large swing of her body was only possible with an arm missing, so Kiyomasa couldn’t immediately react to it.

It hit her. And…

“Kh!”

Niwa’s rush of attacks came next. She provided an endless series of god-powered strikes.

●

Niwa asked a question. She asked while delivering impacts to her opponent.

“How about now!?” she demanded. “You know what it means to be a defender! But are you aware that pure defense can only lead to losing the way of life entrusted to you by others!?”

She kicked up and felt the impact rattle through the white armor.

“You know you have strength, but you refuse to act on your own and you haven’t experienced loss yet!”

Yes, thought Niwa. This is something I need to tell myself more often.

Niwa Nagahide was the Oda clan’s coordinator. He was the final former Oda leader to join Hashiba. But…

…That meant he had to see so many of his allies leave.

How would it have turned out if he had been more proactive? In the Testament, Niwa had supported Hashiba.

But what if he had participated as part of Shibata’s forces and fought against Hashiba? How would that have changed history?

…Yes.

She was currently fighting against Hashiba at Shizugatake as “Takigawa”. So…

“You can only sit back and let others act because you’ve never experienced that kind of loss!”

Niwa attacked during that accusation, but Kiyomasa spun around in midair. She angled Caledfwlch’s handle diagonally and defended against the next attack. The knockback sent her flying through the air, but…

“I have!”

Kiyomasa’s voice reached Niwa directly as the girl landed and corrected her stance.

“I have experienced a loss that my actions couldn’t prevent – in fact, my very presence was irrelevant!”

“What did you lose!?”

Niwa sent out an attack along with the question and Kiyomasa shouted back while guarding.

“The people who had protected us!”

The impact scattered wind and Kiyomasa’s feet dug ruts through the dirt as she skidded a few dozen meters back. But Niwa soon caught up with her.

“Then why won’t you act!?”

Niwa questioned and attacked, but she wasn’t actually expecting an answer. She swung her regenerated right arm back to show off the space behind her.

The burning forest there was beginning to completely burn down.

“You lost them because you refused to act!”

That’s a lie, thought Niwa as she attacked. Because Kiyomasa had acted. When Niwa first tried to attack them, she had prevented it by attacking with Caledfwlch. Niwa had then sent more flames there later on.

Kiyomasa had acted, so she hadn’t lost those people. Niwa had taken them from her.

Niwa was shifting the blame. Yes, Niwa’s presence here just barely qualified as the same thing.

By supporting Shibata, she wanted to believe that she had done something to prevent the loss of Shibata and the others.

From a negative viewpoint, that best described it.

…From a positive viewpoint, I’m enjoying one last battle with Shibata!

On this front, Takigawa hadn’t held back at all. She had made the decision all on her own and then left. Niwa wanted to tell her to think about the people she was leaving behind, but she was also certain Takigawa would have made the same decision regardless.

Maybe Niwa was only here now because she hadn’t liked that. And…

...What about me?

What would she think when it was her turn?

“Do you expect someone else to act for you!?”

Well?

“That expectation is what leads you to loss!”

Selfishly feeling irritated, Niwa launched another attack.

She lifted Kiyomasa from the ground and aimed her additional attack for just before the girl landed. There was no avoiding this attack, so…

“Phoenix!”

The fire kept up with her speed. It followed behind her rapid barrage. By bringing her right arm in alignment with her left and turning the combination attack into a dance, the djinn would play on the leading edge of it. So…

“You can burn along with them!”

The close-range attack contained a flame blast meant to cover hundreds of meters.

●

I did it, thought Niwa.

It’s been a while since I let an attack pass through my entire body before I released it.

The force and range of the attack had been small, but the movement had been excellent. You could call it a nearly perfect attack. In a way, this may have been what it meant to truly demonstrate her skill.

…I wish I could’ve done that with all three djinns.

A scorching wind whipped before her and flames soared into the sky.

The fire burning over a wide area, but it wasn’t especially impressive. This was a dirt clearing. There was very little to burn, so while the dirt could burn by replacing the “mold”, the burning couldn’t permeate all the way to the crust. Thus, the flames spiraled into the sky, leaving only the burnt ground behind.

And Niwa noticed something there.

The ground glowed in places as some small fires smoldered, but it was deserted.

“…Huh?”

She twirled from her follow-through pose to continue the dance.

Strange, she thought. She should have seen Kiyomasa’s burnt remains, or at least something, there.

She had slain her underclassman. She had been prepared to accept that fact, but…

…She…

Niwa spun around to find Kiyomasa there.

She was near the fortress wall of ships. She had her moonlit back to Niwa and she was repeatedly bowing.

She was alive. In fact, she didn’t seem to have been harmed by the fire at all.

And she was bowing toward a pair of contrasting figures.

One was tall and also bowing repeatedly. That one wore a black mobile shell.

The other was a glowing warrior of only about 20cm. For some reason, he was arrogantly crossing his arms and pushing out his chest.

Niwa recognized them both.

“Shima Sakon and Ootani Yoshitsugu!?”

Chapter 38: Bowing Girls at the Site of Reunion[edit]

No, no, no, no

Of course not, of course not.

Never, never, never

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Point Allocation (Another Kind of Battle)

●

“Oh?” said Sakon, turning when she heard her name called.

She saw an upperclassman and current enemy looking her way.

…Wow, I can’t believe she knows my name.

“What did you do this time, Onitakemaru-san? You should really come clean.”

“If anyone did something, it was you, Kohime.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

So she looked down toward the ground, as did Onitakemaru’s sight devices on her helmet. They both spoke to 20cm Ootani there.

“What the hell did you do?”

“You should really apologize right away.”

“Wh-what makes you two so sure this wasn’t your doing!?”

Ootani then turned toward Niwa.

“Niwa-sama! We will be your opponent now!”

“Eh?” Sakon watched Ootani step out in front. “We? Do you mean you and Onitakemaru-san?”

“Don’t include me!” protested Onitakemaru. “He means you and him!”

“Eh? But wait. That makes the greatest common factor Ootani-san.”

“Did neither of you listen to Takenaka-sama’s instructions!?”

I did listen. But…

“She only told us to protect Kiyomasa-senpai’s people. That’s why she dropped us off just before the Azuchi’s flip. Because we ‘look like we can survive being thrown out of the ship at speed’.”

“And saving those people includes taking on Niwa-sama!”

Oh, I do kind of remember that. Then Onitakemaru spoke to Ootani.

“Listen. Kohime has trouble remembering longer words.”

“Y-you’re not helping, Onitakemaru-san! I-I feel like you’re violating my rights!”

“Huh!? I’m only describing what I’ve seen over and over and over! Whenever I tell you the rules for cleaning, washing, or cooking, you brush it off with a ‘sure, sure’ and then you refuse to listen to me when it’s actually time to do it!”

“Only because everything you say drags on forever. You just keep going ‘oh, that reminds me’ and adding on so many details no one could remember them all.”

Still, she was pretty sure Takenaka had mentioned this.

Not remembering it had been a careless mistake, but…

“Listen, Ootani. When Kohime gets focused on one thing, she can’t remember anything else.”

So…

“That’s why Takenaka summed it all up for her by telling her to help let Katou Kiyomasa’s people withdraw while also saving Katou Kiyomasa herself. Any more than that would overload her brain.”

“Is that supposed to be an indirect compliment, Onitakemaru-san?”

“What is wrong with your brain!?”

“Calm down,” said Sakon, feeling in a better mood already.

“Excuse me, Shogun,” said Ootani down at her feet.

“Yes, what do you want, Ootani?”

Ootani knelt and made a suggestion.

“I understand Sakon-sama needing vague instructions because it is generally people like that who I fall victim to, but couldn’t you remember the longer explanations for her?”

●

Kiyomasa saw Sakon and Onitakemaru fall silent for a good long while.

Finally, Sakon slapped her head from the side.

“Don’t let it get to you, Onitakemaru-san. And here’s the thing, Ootani-san,” she said. “When Onitakemaru-san gets focused on one thing, he can’t remember anything else. That’s why Takenaka summed it all up for him by telling him to help let Katou Kiyomasa’s people withdraw while also saving Katou Kiyomasa herself. Any more than that would overload his memory.”

“Do not spread lies about my memory!”

“Sure, sure.”

I have a feeling they’re both right, which is honestly impressive. But…

“Um, about my team…”

“Oh, testament. We had them withdraw just like Takenaka-sama said to. So…”

Just as Sakon said that, Kiyomasa heard some new sounds from the clearing.

Metallic ones. They were the sounds of locks unlatching, chains rattling, and gears turning.

At the same time, she heard an “ah” from behind her.

One of the ships forming the southern fortress wall – the one acting the gate – opened up its lower hatch which functioned as the entrance.

…Why!?

It was their job to guard this place. But as she watched, the ship’s light came on and its alarms began blaring.

Lernen figurs opened here and there and a lot of people could be seen moving about in the gaps between the gate ship’s armor panels. But…

“Alert!”

As the ship gate fully opened up, Ootani’s voice shouted from it even though he stood right here.

“I have fully hijacked the program controlling this ship! All crew should immediately evacuate to adjacent ships or to the interior of your formation!”

●

Kiyomasa looked to the small data entity puffing his chest out at her feet.

“Now do you see why I am so small!? I split off part of myself and snuck it into the fortress wall of ships, so I have already mostly taken over control!”

Just then, shouts and an erupting sound came from the “upper floor” of the ship. Smoke burst into the sky from there.

“Some of the crew attempted to resist me, so I activated the ship’s defense system. I will keep them under control for the time being.”

Kiyomasa heard more shouts, but not from the fortress wall of ships. These came from the west.

…Is that my team!?

The shouts and war cries came from surprisingly close by.

From the moat. Five hundred warriors emerged from the moat in front of the ships and charged toward the open gate.

“This was Takenaka’s decision,” said Onitakemaru while watching them. “While your people had already begun moving, we had them move in the opposite direction from the one you had ordered. Niwa there had already created a rock wall and she had launched an attack on the forest, so it wasn’t hard to judge her range. We had to take the long way around, but once inside the moat, it was a straight shot here.”

Sakon opened a lernen figur and displayed an image.

...An aerial photo of this clearing.

“The Azuchi took this during its flip. It was a close thing, but this caught the arrangement of personnel from above.”

So…

“With you fighting so intensely with Niwa-sama, there was a lot of noise and the fortress wall of ships was focused entirely on you because they were afraid you would aim Caledfwlch in their direction. That meant we could focus on moving quickly.”

Sakon’s explanation brought relief to Kiyomasa.

…So that’s it.

She hadn’t made a grievous error after+ all. Perhaps that was why the 500 charging the ship gate raised their hands in her direction.

“Kiyomasa-sama!!”

They called her name and beckoned her over.

“Get over here! There’re plenty of enemies to go around inside!”

She started in that direction. But…

“Um, will you two…?”

“Oh, yes, We will take care of things here.”

Sakon smiled casually and her helmet spoke up while pulsing with light in places.

“That is correct. …Katou Kiyomasa, you completed most of the job already. We will only be cleaning up. All the credit goes to you.”

“I-”

“If Onitakemaru-san and I win, it’s because of you. After hearing everything you said, I know I’m the perfect person to take on Niwa-sama.”

“Confident, huh!?” said Niwa with a little smile. But Kiyomasa had another thought.

...In the end, I’m entrusting this with someone else.

She felt like she always entrust tasks with other people in the end. But…

“Can I entrust this with you?”

“Testament! I’m just taking the best part for myself.”

Kiyomasa nodded at that.

…I suppose so.

She lived by entrusting things with others. But what if that was okay? And what if that went beyond Fukushima, the Ten Spears, and those who served under her? What if it applied to the broader world too?

What could she do then? What could she accomplish and then entrust with someone else?

She already knew the answer. She was doing it right now.

“Kiyomasa-sama!”

Her 500 were calling her.

“We wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t held the line!!”

They were all there on either side of the passageway being used as a gate. They had taken the ship already.

“Testament!”

She ran forward. A small form hopped up onto her shoulder: Ootani.

“From what I can see, there is a fault in the autonomous operation system which is hindering its movements. I will work to improve the program, so use it as you usually do. I will use that to inform the improvements.”

As he explained this, a few lernen figurs opened and closed and her right shoulder’s autonomous armor rotated once. The unit rose and fell a few times.

...Oh?

The weight that had been with her since taking Niwa’s attack was gone now.

Impressive, she thought while also realizing she was falling behind the times. But…

“Wait for me!”

She ran toward the next battlefield without turning back.

She ran into the Shibata formation where her people were waiting. Yes, she would find her purpose in there.

The purpose for her coming her.

●

“Whoa! Wh-what are you doing here, Sassa-sama!?”

Sassa turned toward Hashiba as she ran up to him on the path between the Honnouji building and the main gate, which was illuminated by the glowing pillars to the north.

“Huh?” he said before placing a hand on his chin and looking up into the sky. “You’ve got the wrong guy. There’s no name inheritor called Sassa here.”

“Y-you’re definitely Sassa-sama. I mean, you talk just like him! You’re always provoking Shibata-sama like that and, um, getting yourself attacked for it!”

“Shut up, you moron! That idiot’s up north having the time of his life right now!”

Fuwa and Toshiie were there too. Toshiie was apparently putting on quite a show, but the latest reports said that had settled down.

…Toshi has a way of trying to be thoughtful even though no one asked him to when he’s really just trying to make himself feel better about it.

Sassa thought he had a better understanding of how to deal with those issues. Which was why he wasn’t needed up north. And…

“What’re you doing out here? Get on in there and get ready.”

“Oh, r-right! But I, um, thought I should greet you first, Sassa-sama.”

“Again, there’s no name inheritor called Sassa here.”

“Um, but, uh.”

She probably wanted to give a proper greeting. But he hated having other people make it sound like was being nice or any nonsense like that.

He was just doing what he felt like doing. Why did they insist on reading deeper meaning into it?

…But she’s the type to carry these things with her…

He understood what that was like, so he wanted to leave this at only a greeting. Any more than that and it would drag on, which he didn’t want.

So as the upperclassman, he pushed her for a response.

“Do you have a souvenir for this ordinary warrior who just so happens to have the same name as a name inheritor? You do, don’t you?”

“Oh, testament! I do!”

…I can’t believe she really does…

He had pushed her to say it, but it still came as a bit of a surprise. This also said she had planned for this to be more than a simple greeting, which came as even more of a surprise. I’d appreciate having a girl like this around, but it’d also make things awkward.

He didn’t dislike her and he knew she was good at her job, but she had a way of never disliking anyone, which clashed with his style. It’s a lot easier when everyone out there’s either an enemy or an ally.

But from Hashiba’s perspective, anyone who had helped her out was an ally, everyone who served her was an ally, and even the enemy was an ally if they would take her side in something.

It sounds so damn exhausting. But she managed to pull it off.

“So what’d you bring me?”

“Testament! Do you want the strawberry flavor or the banana flavor?”

“Both.”

“Y-you only get one.”

“I’m not going to eat both. Toshi will be along later, so I’ll take one for him.”

“I-I will give Maeda-sama his.”

“You know that isn’t happening.”

Hashiba briefly froze and finally hung her head.

“Testament…”

She held out one of the paper bags inside her paper box.

“So what is this?”

“Oh, testament! It’s Lake Biwa Azuchi’s new specialty treat Priestess Vivako! Th-the project was actually started to celebrate my conquering(?) of Mouri, so the Viva part comes from F-French.”

“And this woman here is Vivako?”

“No, it’s a tie-up with the Azuchi Academy Manga Club’s mascot character Biwako-san. But by combining ‘Priestess’ and ‘Viva’, it becomes a play on words about, um…”

“Never mind. Forget I asked. I don’t need to know. Close that lernen figur!”

Hashiba repeated “okay” several times, bowing each time, but there was one thing Sassa had to say.

“Y’know, about that. About Paris, I mean. You didn’t win that fight.”

“I-I did too. I did. Everyone is so rude about that.”

“When Fukushima came to our group, she definitely wasn’t acting like she’d just won a big battle.”

“W-well, Nori-chan, had, um, more going on.”

“And that’s another topic I don’t want to hear more about. So stop right there, idiot.”

Instead, he accepted the paper bag and then Hashiba asked him a question.

“Was Shibata-sama doing well? And Oichi-sama too?”

“The best I can say is that idiot was his usual self. And Oichi-sama was smiling about everything.”

“So you’re here in Shibata-sama’s place, Sassa-sama?”

“Don’t be dumb,” he said while remembering what Shibata had told him before he came here.

According to the Testament, he didn’t participate in the Battle of Shizugatake, so he had needed to leave.

But Niwa and Sakuma had shown up regardless. So had Mori. Based on that…

…I thought I might as well stick around too.

But Shibata had disagreed.

●

“Naru Naru-kuuun? You interested in visiting a dangerous place?”

Shibata was telling Sassa to go to Hashiba. But there was a problem with that.

“Y’know, maybe you’re too uninformed to know, but the Testament doesn’t mention me being at the Honnouji Incident either, idiot.”

“Ohhhh? And why do you know so much about battles you’ve got nothing to do with? Are you wayyyyyy less important a warrior than you let on?”

They were on the bridge, but Sassa had still punched Shibata thrice and been knocked away by a return blow.

Instead of trying to break up the fighting, the others had tidied themselves up for when accounting arrived to assess the damage. But…

“I don’t show up at Honnouji either, you know?”

“What’s your point?”

“Don’t you feel bad for Hashiba, Naru Naru-kuuun? We’re super strong, so we’ve gotta help her out.”

“Toshi’ll be headed that way.”

“Toshiie is, y’know, sensitive in a way you’re not.”

Thinking back, Shibata had probably suspected Toshiie would return. Which was why he had called in Sassa and made his suggestion.

And again…

“Hashiba, do you think I’m a replacement for that idiot?”

“No, you are your own person.”

But…

“In the sense that you are both towering figures and reliable upperclassmen, you and Shibata-sama have a lot in common.”

“God, you’re annoying. Just super annoying!”

“Wh-what did I say?”

“I can see why they agreed to let you inherit the name of some annoying sandal bearer.”

But that did sum up the situation. While Toshiie would be by later, the only ones there were Sassa…

...Ranmaru, Yasuke, and Mitsunari.

He knew those first two fairly well. Mostly because they worked security at Lake Biwa Azuchi. He didn’t know Mitsunari very well, but as an aide to Hashiba, he knew he could count on her.

But the idiots on the other side didn’t have much of a fighting force. But they knew that and they were here anyway. They would probably come straight in from the front. So…

“Well, I guess I can help out some. You’d better be thankful, underclassman.”

●

“Yasuke-sama, I am hiding in the bushes in stealth mode and I have detected an unusually irritating person. Two, in fact.”

“Ranmaru-kun, do you just judge everyone harshly!? You do, don’t you!?”

“Calm down,” said Ranmaru. “They are irritating, but they showed up. That is what matters. As for how I judge Sassa-sama’s character…I feel like I need to retroactively add 20 points to my assessment of Shibata-sama. That gives him more points than you, Yasuke-sama, so you need to try harder.”

“I wasn’t asking you to be even harsher!”

An insha kotob appeared next to Ranmaru’s face. Its message was prefaced with an “urgent” label.

“We have urgent news from Shizugatake: the Shibata Team’s south gate has been breached.”

●

Nagaya-stable: “We have word the Shibata Team’s south gate has been breached. The interior is going to be pure chaos from here on.”

While the Musashi made its turning maneuver, Masazumi listened to Ookubo’s report atop the transport ship docked at the Asama Shrine’s underground section.

The warriors were finishing their boarding below and she was discussing with Futayo and others how to coordinate with those warriors. She was also activating each spell Asama distributed to them all.

Vice President: “After Shibata loses, Hashiba will be worn down by the battle. Will that keep us safer down the line?”

“Lord Shibata is not the type to lose so easily, Masazumi.”

Futayo scolded her. Masazumi was curious, so she asked further.

“But you’ve fought him twice and lived to tell the tale.”

“The first time, I was focused on defense and fought a very rude battle. I also had Muneshige-dono’s assistance. The second time was a series of mutual blows, but if we had struck more deeply, the differences in our body sizes would have left me dead and him seriously injured but alive.”

The Tachibana Husband continued for Futayo while making some adjustments to his spear. He rotated the spear quickly in his right hand and instantly stopped it atop his index finger.

“Judge, that is true. When it comes to physical might, Lord Shibata is not as powerful as the Reine des Garous, but he can reach her level with his superior technique and speed. We cannot simply look up to him, but we must first look up to him if we hope to surpass him.

“But,” he said. “It was after that battle that the Vice Chancellor decided on her path in life. And she worked with Gin-san to battle Celestial Dragon Sasuke-sama at Sanada. ...So how will she stack up now?”

“I could say the same about you for achieving victory over Oichi with Gin-dono’s help.”

“Eh?” said the Tachibana Wife.

She looked to Futayo and her expression briefly froze, but…

“Oh.”

She must have eventually noticed her own reaction because she cleared her throat and raised her prosthetic right index finger toward the two spear users.

“You are striving to be the Peerless in the East and the West before settling things once and for all, so you should not be comparing yourselves to our great predecessors to praise each other like that!”

“I meant that as praise of you, Gin-dono. That is basically standard policy for me.”

“She’s right, Gin-san. Neither the Vice Chancellor nor I could have reached this point without you. I ask that you continue to help out in this way.”

“Did you think you had to ask for my help, Master Muneshige?”

“I asked because it would be such a shame if you didn’t.”

“You do not have to say these things in front of people…”

Masazumi was mildly surprised to see the Tachibana Wife blush over that. But…

Tonbokiri: “I was scolded.”

No, that was an expression of trust.

…Futayo and the Tachibana Husband just don’t set up “barriers” like that.

In the Testament, Tachibana Gin was a woman who inherited the head position of the Tachibana family in order to protect it. She had been raised to do just that, so she was skilled enough to rival her magnificent father and she must have practiced great self-control to never leave any kind of opening.

She was a strange woman who had just the foundations of combat hammered into her under the tutelage of two experts and a strange man who had improved himself for no other reason than his love of her, but she had also been told to live free. These two and the Tachibana Wife were completely different. The amusing part was how the Tachibana Husband did notice some things and provide assistance as a husband, but Futayo provided completely different assistance from the position of a friend.

This difference between the Tachibana Husband and Futayo had been created by…

...Their different relationships with her.

What caused that? Gender differences? The environment where they first met? Their personalities? How they approached people? Masazumi could come up with a lot of possibilities, but she only really knew that it was a tricky question.

But there was one thing that still bothered her with the battle so close.

“Will we have an easier time of it if the Battle of Shizugatake progresses?”

“No, I don’t think so, Masazumi-dono.” Crossunite shrugged as he viewed several sign frames at once. “If anything, they will head here with even greater force.”

“You mean they’ll take on some of Shibata’s forces after the battle?”

“Possibly, but they could also simply take on their upperclassmen’s will,” said Mitotsudaira, sending her hand forward with a burst of speed a few times. “They can’t all produce power beyond their skill, but people are not machines and it is common for their will to hold some of their skill in reserve. Thus, things like morale, emotion, self-suggestion, and any number of thoughts can draw out that reserve and bring out their true power. If Hashiba defeats Lord Shibata and inherits his will, they will be worn down, but they will also be able to challenge us with the true upper limit of their skill.

“Of course,” she said. “To inherit all that, they must experience a true clash in their current battle. They will fight a series of fierce battles, but the Shibata forces want to provide the benefit found there. If the fighting isn’t fierce, their will might not reach their underclassmen.”

●

The northern land had become a battlefield.

The fortress wall of ships surrounding the Shibata formation had opened its gates.

Both the north and the south ones.

The north gate had been destroyed and the south gate had been infected with a virus.

The Shibata Team responded. Maeda Toshiie’s ghost warriors acted as a wall on the path running north to south and those on the east side were sent in to push that wall forward.

But everyone on the Shibata Team heard something.

“Ohh!”

Large groups raised a roar of accomplishment to north and south.

And the wall was broken. From here, they had only two paths to victory: push back the enemy or annihilate them.

“Bring it on!” shouted a mobile shell racing westward. “I was sick of fighting Protestants and Hexagone Française anyway! They’re all so puny!”

“I’ve always wanted to try and take out Hashiba the Conqueror’s warriors!”

The mobile shells of Shibata’s main fighting force lowered their demon face visors to cover their eyes.

“Let’s go devour them!”

“Testament!” they shouted as they accelerated, but they also heard a certain sound.

The blowing wind and a series of metallic impacts came from low in the sky.

“What is that?”

“I can’t tell and I’m looking right at it! Some kind of bizarre fight is happening beyond our reach!”

Who was fighting who?”

“It’s the escaped Kani Saizou and our on-site treasurer Fuwa-san!”

Chapter 39: Ruler of the Formation[edit]

Farther than I thought

More confusing than I thought

Where are the things

Beyond what I thought?

Point Allocation (Abnormal)

●

Kani leaped across an elevated position.

She was up above the city of transport ships at the center of the Shibata Team’s formation.

She ran and leaped along the deck roofs, occasionally kicking off Sasamura to soar further.

She was engaged in combat.

But she didn’t understand.

“Fuwa-senpai!”

She and Fuwa were currently exchanging attacks. She was launching a series of attacks with Sasamura. But…

“What are you even using for attack and defense!?”

As the Sasamura spears flew between the ships, they would slow and ultimately be deflected before they reached Fuwa. She could see lernen figurs appearing when they lost speed, but…

…They’re losing speed in stages!

They didn’t travel slowly and they didn’t suddenly come to a halt.

It was like they were breaking through several walls in a row. They would vibrate more and more as they lost speed.

“It’s weird!”

But in the end, they were deflected.

Fuwa herself was unusual too. She kept launching lernen figurs toward Kani like guided projectiles.

Kani wondered if there was an attack spell that used several lernen figurs like this.

“Fuwa-senpai, I didn’t know you were so athletic!”

“That’s rude, you know,” replied Fuwa with a bitter smile, kicking lightly off her footing and launching several more lernen figurs.

…That sound!

Kani heard several sounds like stone splitting or metal forcefully latching together and then Fuwa flew. Despite only taking a light step, she flew as if repelled.

This wasn’t athletic ability. It was definitely a spell. But…

“What is that spell!?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I want to try it out myself!”

“Unfortunately, you couldn’t.”

“Why not!?”

Kani sent out her own power, but it again lost speed in stages accompanied by sounds of impact and was ultimately repelled.

That her spears weren’t immediately repelled only made it trickier to deal with. And the number of stages before the repelling differed. It appeared to differ based on the force behind the attack, but there were also times when a powerful attack had fewer stages.

…What is this!?

Kani wasn’t sure. But the sounds were really cool. It was weird.

But Fuwa said she couldn’t try it. Which would mean…

“You’re so cool, Fuwa-senpai!”

“Ah ha ha. Thanks.”

Fuwa laughed and swung her hands. Kani noticed a few glinting lights at Fuwa’s fingertips. The metal cylinders were…

…Pens!?

Why is she pulling out writing implements here!? wondered Kani, but Fuwa’s power arrived all at once.

Eight lernen figur guided projectiles appeared, probably to match the number of Sasamura spears, and drew out guide lines as they flew toward Kani.

●

Kani rushed to intercept.

She launched her eight Sasamura spears right as they ejected. She kicked off one of them as it appeared to launch herself into the sky above.

The Sasamura spells collided with the eight incoming lernen figurs, and…

“They can’t get through!?”

The spears lost speed in stages before being repelled. So Kani immediately stored them in her phase space and immediately ejected one below her feet as she fell.

“But I’m not done yet!”

She slipped between the vanishing guide lines and kicked off the midair Sasamura to pursue Fuwa.

●

…The girl sure has energy!

Was this the energy of a girl who had been in middle school until half a year ago? Or was Fuwa just too much of an indoorsy person.

This was honestly a challenge, but she was glad she could keep the girl busy.

…Our warriors could never keep up with her.

Fuwa estimated they would need an entire battalion of warriors to deal with Kani. Kani had taken on Mori’s gods of war during the summer training camp, after all. A platoon or a company just wouldn’t be enough.

But the Shibata Team couldn’t spare that much personnel right now.

There was a lot of personnel inside the formation, but most of them were busy operating the ships or supporting the daily necessities. To survive in this frigid land, a larger percentage of the Shibata Team had vital support roles than in other teams.

As the on-site treasurer, Fuwa was well aware of this.

The noncombatants would have withdrawn to the eastern transport ships or into the central square. The supply personnel and medics would be out securing a supply line and performing other duties. Only then did they get to the actual warriors.

There were a limited number of warriors. They had only managed to defend the border with Hokuriku and make their campaign into M.H.R.R. because they were elite fighters, but Shibata himself also played an important role.

But at the moment, Shibata was waiting in Kitanosho Castle.

He was probably focusing on the final battle.

He could seem so careless, but he also came off as sensitive at times like this.

Who would be the one to challenge him? Could it be…

“Kani! You have a chance here too!”

“A chance for what!?”

“To battle Shibata-senpai!”

Kani used her spears to intercept Fuwa’s insha kotob guided shots. They both landed on the deck of the transport ship that had been used as a supply store in the formation. And they took off running.

“How about it!? Don’t you want to duel P.A. Oda’s strongest!?”

Their exchanged blows rang loud. And while Kani’s ejected spears lost speed in stages, her expression changed.

…Wow is she easy to read.

Kani’s eyes widened for just a moment, but then she shook it off and faced ahead.

“I’m not worthy! But…if I defeat you, could I at least greet him!?”

“He loves energetic underclassmen.”

“Testament! I’ll do my best!”

Kani dashed toward Fuwa and raised her voice.

“Do my best to defeat you!”

●

Kani saw Fuwa take a step back along the transport ship’s deck.

But this wasn’t just an ordinary step. She opened several spell-looking lernen figurs at her feet and kicked them with her toes.

“There.”

That launched her backwards.

Kani didn’t know what exactly that was, but she knew Fuwa’s offense and defense were both based on it. In other words, Fuwa was using a single spell.

And as well as Fuwa was fighting, Kani could tell she wasn’t used to combat.

She was managing the combat footwork thanks to the spell, but she had a general path in mind.

They were currently near the center of the Shibata formation, moving along the transport ships crammed in close together to provide storage and otherwise support the camp.

This was their third circuit. Kani hadn’t noticed at first because the path changed subtly each time and it had some ups and downs, but Fuwa was following a general route. For the most part…

…She uses the wider areas!

Did that mean Fuwa was avoiding less certain footing?

But once Kani knew she wouldn’t move in just any direction, dealing with her was easy. If she could predict where Fuwa would go next, she wouldn’t need to pursue her quite so closely.

Instead, she could attack from an angle that gave her an advantage.

“Here I go!”

Kani ejected a Sasamura into the air between the ships and used it as a foothold to leap forward.

“Go! Sasamura!”

●

The Shibata warriors heard a series of loud crashes in the sky as they hurried down below.

They were metallic crashes. And far louder than the different armor pieces clanking together when a mobile shell moved. These were just as loud as the artillery fire from the north and the divine “checkmating” to the south and they echoed off the outer wall of ships, further chilling the late summer air.

Mobile shell heads had a limited range of movement, so they directed their sight devices upwards to gather more data.

“Fuwa-san’s paired up with Hashiba-san’s newcomer!?”

“What, did Sassa-san dump her?”

“She’s making up for our limited numbers!”

“Wait,” someone said in sudden realization. “The on-site treasurer can fight?”

“Every officer can fight. In P.A. Oda anyway. But I guess you wouldn’t know since you were only sent over just before the midterms.”

“That’s right. And since she’s the on-site treasurer, she can use spells like crazy as long as our formation is functioning and she’s inside it. She’d be in trouble if she moved outside, though.”

“But,” said another. “When we were leveling out the ground for the ships we were going to use as shops, she used that spell to blast the ground while we lowered the ship. That sped things up so much.”

“So is it a construction spell?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Huh?”

Another older member laughed a bit at the confusion.

“She’s the on-site treasurer, remember?”

“So it’s money?”

“No, Fuwa-san is more Mlasi than Shinto. And we’ve also got Maeda-san going a bit nuts over there. She predicted that and decided not to focus her spells too much on money.”

“Then what is that?”

“It’s something simpler. But something that did a lot to develop the world.”

As a few others asked what he could possibly mean by that, another spoke up.

“Hurry up! Fuwa-san is only doing this cause we’re too slow!”

“Testament!” they all replied and sped up. Their mobile shell legs moved faster, making a lot of metallic noise. But the metallic noise from the sky was a lot louder. And…

“Wow…”

Several reverberations echoed off the metal walls in quick succession. These were a lot faster than before.

It seemed more like the ships were vibrating than reflecting sounds. As the warriors hurried between those ships, they spoke even though they could only hear their own voices.

“What are we even supposed to do?”

They saw two people moving between the ships overhead.

“This is beyond anything we can handle.”

●

Light scattered through the air. Between Fuwa and Kani.

Fuwa made rapid back-steps to launch herself backwards while responding to Kani’s attacks.

Kani pursued Fuwa and launched herself to the sides while ejecting Sasamura spears with different time delays.

“Go!”

But the eight launched spears lost speed in stages and were ultimately repelled.

Still Kani advanced.

She surpassed the stopped spears, making herself the leading edge of her attack, and still moved forward.

She had nothing to shield or cover her, but as she approached Fuwa…

“Here I go!”

She accelerated as if launching herself.

Fuwa responded by launching insha kotobs with guide lines. A maximum of eight lines ran through the air. They intercepted Kani’s spears and, if they had time, targeted Kani too.

A few times, Fuwa also placed an insha kotob down on the deck. They reacted to Kani’s movements like landmines, launching guide line bombing attacks.

“…!”

Kani moved even further forward to dodge them. She raced across the deck to catch up to Fuwa and swung her hand forward.

“Sasamura!”

The density of ejection, slowing, interception, and attack increased.

Mostly due to the pursuer.

She would not stop.

Each time they passed between ships, Kani ejected her spears more quickly.

“Ohh!”

Her own movements were in sync with the eight spears.

She had just accepted that her spears would slow and be repelled.

She didn’t bother watching to see if they hit or made it through.

She ejected them, let them slow in stages, and re-stored them the instant they had been repelled.

Instead of just launching attacks, she controlled the ending of the attacks too. That allowed her to increase the density of those attacks.

“Here I go!”

Sasamura, as a whole, continued forward. The individual spears were still being deflected and missing their marks, but the instantaneous retrieval and re-ejection allowed them to continue alongside Kani.

They picked up speed.

In response, Fuwa sped up the launch of her guide lines. Before, she had been launching the eight when the timing was right, but now she kept up an endless downpour. She must not have had time to activate any insha kotobs on the deck anymore because she only sent them forward.

They both traveled across the ships.

They leaped between the ships at different heights from each other, trying to gain an advantageous position.

But any advantage there was a brief thing. They would soon arrive on the next deck where Fuwa leaped along with metallic noises and Kani’s solid stride pounded on the hardened wood while she swung herself to the sides and ran.

They exchanged attack and defense like working in perfect cooperation.

“–––––”

And they again leaped between ships.

Mid-flight, they both viewed the battlefield below.

●

…Wow!

Kani saw the battle.

She had fought on the Edo Bay bridge during the Keichou Campaign and she had later seen the Edo Bay coast and the Satomi battlefield from the transport ship while withdrawing.

But this was her first time seeing a battle from an elevated point in the very center.

To north and south, she saw fires and gathering lights, along with plenty of noise. Were those spotlight spells, or were they from attacks or fires? Whatever the source of the lights, they cast everything in strong contrast.

Most of the silhouettes she saw were people fighting or moving. The shadows cast on the walls of the landed transport ships were on the move, either leaving or returning.

Everything was in motion.

Even the people on standby weren’t idle. They were constantly working their minds to grasp the situation and decide when and where they might be needed.

She sensed the busyness of it all more from a general feel of the place than anything she saw. Up in the air, she could feel the movements of the wind. But these were not natural air currents. These disturbed air currents were a gathering of the minuscule winds created from all the people moving around.

From what Kani could see, the area from the south to the west was the current hot zone. Hashiba must have entered the formation there. Instead of following the main north-south pathway, they had moved a bit westward on their way to the center. The Shibata warriors to the east were moving west in response.

Everyone was working hard and on the move.

She could tell.

Even in the places she couldn’t see, she could tell people were active and setting things in motion.

Her past self hadn’t been able to tell. But maybe she could only tell now because of her past self.

She had been too focused on her own role during the Siege of Odawara. She knew other people had been fighting too, but she had assumed each duel was a localized fight.

During the Keichou Campaign, she had helped people withdraw along a straight bridge and sensed everyone’s cumulative motion there. She and Kasuya had acted as a breakwater and she had been focused on helping everyone else.

Things had changed again here.

It was a plane.

At Odawara, her battle had been a point.

During the Keichou Campaign, it had been a line.

And here, it had grown to a plane.

So she could tell. And…

…The upperclassmen can tell too!

She had achieved an understanding of the battlefield. But what about Fuwa? She was the on-site treasurer, so…

…She can tell!

Kani’s family ran a greengrocer, so she knew about finances. She sometimes helped organize the receipts, but she honestly found doing all the calculations for the account book to be too complicated. What does accounts receivable even mean!? Does it mean we’ve received something or not!?

But what did Fuwa think about this battlefield?

After all, this was the site she had supported on the financial side. She had worked as treasurer to support and protect the upperclassmen here.

And now Kani’s side was invading. So…

“Fuwa-senpai!”

Kani understood.

She more or less understood why Fuwa had returned here.

Kani would do the same thing.

If her family’s greengrocer was about to be taken over by ruffians, she would return even if her parents had made sure she escaped to safety.

After all, she was a name inheritor. Fuwa was that and an officer too. So…

“Here I go!”

Was Kani’s side like the ruffians taking over a family store?

Kani hoped not as she advanced.

“Here I go!”

●

…You don’t have to come for me, you know!?

Dealing with these children is a pain, thought Fuwa.

But, she added. I never thought I’d be doing this.

People might say it wasn’t like her.

But it was rare for a name inheritor or officer to have no combat skills. This just meant that she was no exception there. Of course, her skills were adaptations of spells she primarily used for work and they only functioned within this formation since they relied on the divine protections she had set up as on-site treasurer. But…

“Here I go!”

She must have been a good match for Kani because she was managing to really go all out in this fight.

…I really would have preferred an artillery spell or a full-body defense spell, though.

Kani had escaped outside.

The girl was too powerful to ignore. Her combat skills went beyond the usual bounds of an individual.

This was a problem.

Fuwa believed all combat came down to an “assessment” related to power, density, time, and range.

As Fuwa fell back, Kani was sending in repeated spear strikes.

She had eight Sasamura spears in all. That provided decent density.

Her power mostly came from the ejection spell, but her accuracy was quite high.

…She did well against Mori during the summer training camp.

She directed the tip of her spears toward Fuwa without any hesitation whatsoever. Furthermore…

“Reach her!”

Kani shouted a lot, but she did surprising little playing around. The idea of intentionally missing for a feint apparently didn’t occur to her, so every single one of her attacks was aimed at Fuwa. On occasion, she would launch one from far outside to limit Fuwa’s movement, but…

“Whoa.”

She didn’t miss. The attacks were aimed at Fuwa’s side: her arm, the side of her hip, or wherever else.

She was a lot less one-note.

Probably because Fuwa wasn’t moving around as much anymore. But…

…She’s really good at this!

Fuwa could tell that to an extent even if she wasn’t much of a fighter herself.

Kani only accelerated the rate of her attacks when she moved between ships.

In midair, she would eject the Sasamura spears down below her feet to expand the range of her attacks. So she sped up the rate of her attacks and then kept that rate going as she landed on the next deck.

If she had made that decision in the moment and then incorporated it into her attacks, she had excellent instincts.

I see, thought Fuwa. I really do need to defeat her here. Because…

…Sassa said her upperclassman was having difficulties.

But if that upperclassman returned fully recovered, how much of a threat would she be?

Fukushima Masanori.

She would be even better than this girl. And she was supposed to be stronger than Kasuya, who had defeated Maeda up north, and Kiyomasa, who had fought on equal footing with Niwa down south.

With the possibility of a fighter like that showing up, Fuwa needed to wear down the enemy forces before that happened.

But while there were others here who could fight, she couldn’t afford to lose any of their warriors. Their role was to push back the enemy and take control of the important points and pathways the officers didn’t have time for.

As an officer, Fuwa had to battle Kani and the others so they couldn’t focus on those warriors. And again…

“Testament.”

Something audibly pushed at the air behind her to the east.

They were transport ships.

A group of ships was rising and beginning to move.

Most of them were headed west. Fuwa confirmed that out of the corner of her eye as she spoke.

“The rearrangement of the battlefield has begun.”

●

It’s simple really, thought Fuwa.

The empty ships were being moved to block up the main pathway and stop the enemy’s progress. As on-site treasurer, Fuwa had checked over the altered supply line and given approval.

So now several transport ships were floating up into the air.

Including the one that’s deck she and Kani were standing on.

The stage for their battle was transforming.

This required an on-site decision. It required a higher level of management to ensure supplies kept coming in and going out no matter what form the supply line took.

From an elevated position, she could see everything.

By circling along a set pathway instead of moving without a plan, she could view the overall flow of the battlefield.

That was why she had chosen to fight up here.

How to move the ships was a decision that could only be made on site. It wasn’t a decision a treasurer who never fought could make.

But the ships were moving.

Changing the shape of the battlefield had to stall the enemy’s approach.

She had to be on site to ensure that happened.

Which was why she was here. So she could support this place and protect the personnel. Because…

“That’s a treasurer’s job.”

●

“Shiro-kun! Shiro-kun! We just got around half the negotiations with the Kantou nations done by forcing five of them into a linked prostration, so what even is a treasurer’s job!? Some kind of prostration compulsion system!?”

“Don’t be absurd, Heidi! A treasurer’s job is money! Money itself is a treasurer’s job! Prostrations are no more than an enjoyable way to lay the foundation for future money! The economy and the on-site system are both meaningless compared to pure money!”

“Wow! I love how purely smooth and shiny you are!”

“Make haste, Heidi! Our next stop is the Nanbu clan! We must arrive uninvited in the middle of the night and force a box of sweets upon them!”

●

…This must be a treasurer’s job!

Kani ran along the deck of the rising transport ship as she reassessed Fuwa. She didn’t return here for anything as simple as sentiment!

Fuwa was here to do the absolutely best she was capable of.

She was here to stop Kani, but that wasn’t all.

An “uh, oh” filled Kani’s mind when she realized she had allowed the ships to start moving. She could just say she hadn’t known that would happen, but leaving Fuwa enough time to do it was still her failure.

…Now I know why she was holding those pens earlier!

Fuwa must have been doing the finances. But what had happened had happened, so now…

“I need to stop her!”

If Kani didn’t stop Fuwa, the battlefield would be rearranged. So she would stop her.

“That’s my role…”

The tremor running below her feet suddenly softened. The transport ship acting as their stage had ended its ascent and was truly just floating.

Up ahead, Fuwa spoke while taking a step back.

“This should buy some time. ...There is more to combat than moving personnel to fight each other. So Kani?”

The deck pushed up at Kani’s feet.

It was floating up.

But that meant something a little different for this ship compared to the others. If the ship she was using to pursue Fuwa moved now…

“You will lose your footing. Now, I want to focus on rearranging our formation, so our battle ends here. Do you get what I mean by that?” asked Fuwa. “It means I will defeat you here. Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

Kani ran forward and ejected Sasamura.

She charged Fuwa with the same force as the spears ejected out ahead of her.

●

Kani launched four spears

They were all ejected at once and lined up nearly horizontally while aimed at Fuwa.

The spears accelerated to the point they seemed to stretch and their tips split the air.

Then Fuwa made her move.

In the middle of her back step, she simply held her left hand out in front of her.

Four spell insha kotobs appeared out from her hand.

The white and red spears crashed dead center into them.

Multi-stage deceleration was accompanied by solid shattering sounds.

A moment later, Kani swung her left hand out front as she ran. She spread her fingers as if to slap the empty air.

“Eject!”

With those words, an additional four spears were ejected from empty air among blossoms of ether light.

A spell was already applying acceleration to them.

Instead of piercing, their tips collided with the previous four spears. The very bottom of those spears.

The slowing spears were kicked forward like a nail struck by a hammer.

“Go!” shouted Kani just as the slowing insha kotobs shattered.

It worked.

The force of the blows shattered the halting and pierced right on through.

“Yes!”

Kani continued forward, running past the second set of four spears as they bounced back from the blow. She raced up alongside the first set of four that had broken through.

Just then, Fuwa made a quick movement with her right hand. She sent the pen in that hand racing through empty air.

This produced light.

The deck Kani was running across was a 50×20m space of hardened wood tiles, so about the size of a small playground.

Slowing insha kotobs appeared along all four sides.

No, those were only the ones shining brighter. They had originally been the guided explosion spells that reacted to Kani’s movements like landmines. Fuwa had stopped trying them once the density of their attacks had increased, but…

“You see, my spell isn’t limited to any one thing. Like I said, I can apply it to just about anything, even landmines and interception.”

As if to demonstrate, Fuwa wrote a small check mark in the air with her pen.

“Consider your account settled.”

With that, their battlefield changed shape.

The deck split down the center and fell away.

●

The sound of metal joints and hardened wood fibers snapping was a lot like teeth biting into a fruit.

Fuwa’s location and Kani’s location were separated.

Fuwa was up top and Kani was below.

Kani wasn’t in free fall. The 50×20m section of deck was falling as it struck and broke the interior frame.

The wind of the fall caught at Kani and…

“Too bad.”

She heard Fuwa’s voice up above along with another four slowing sounds. Kani’s four attacks were blocked by insha kotobs, never reaching her opponent.

Fuwa and Kani were vertically separated while falling through a vast space.

●

Kani didn’t understand.

…What just happened!?

The floor had suddenly fallen away.

She didn’t have any flight spells, so this was a devastating surprise attack. She had used Sasamura as a stepping stone while jumping between ships, but she couldn’t do that with the deck as a floor below her feet.

It would be a great intentional move, but if Fuwa could have done this at any time, she would have done it earlier. Why had she waited until now, with the transport ships rising?

Kani had honestly expected her Sasamura double hit to be stopped. Because Fuwa knew she had already done that during her combat training with Mori. So she had been trying to come up with another way, but…

…What is this!?

Kani was more surprised than angry. She couldn’t figure out what Fuwa’s spell was.

She wanted to know.

Fuwa wasn’t a fighter, but under these limited conditions, she could do all this.

So Kani ran. She kicked at the falling deck.

“Make it!”

She stretched out her kicking legs faster than her footing fell. It was a simple action, but the large section of hardened wood was falling abnormally fast. Since she could hear the frame breaking below it, she assumed some kind of spell was in effect.

But her toes reached.

She used the very tips of her toes and every part of her body she could stretch to extend her reach.

“Do your best!”

And she leaped. She jumped up toward coordinates on the same level as Fuwa.

“––––”

She made it.

●

“Sasamura!”

Kani’s aim was to re-eject the four spears she had used for the second half of the chisel strike plan. She had already stored them when she made her jump and she could bring them back out as footholds.

She chose to use two of them for footing and send the other two on a collision course with Fuwa.

She swung her arms back and made the motion to eject them.

“Nope.”

She was intercepted there.

Fuwa sent a single guide line blast into Kani’s body.

Much too late for Kani to dodge it. But…

…I’m fine!

Based on what she had seen so far, Kani could guess this would be an impact attack.

If this was a striking power, she could endure it as long as she had footing. There might be some knockback, but not so much she couldn’t hold her ground. So she sent herself forward through the air and steeled herself.

“––––!?”

Fuwa’s launched insha kotob struck her.

But there was no loud noise.

Only a quiet sound from her left shoulder where it had hit.

A dry sound, like a branch snapping.

Her bone had broken. And…

…Eh!?

She hadn’t been able to resist it at all.

Her intent to hold her ground went entirely ignored.

…What is this!?

It was far too accurate to call a counterattack. And instead of sensing a blow where it had struck her, she felt…

“A wall!?”

Her body had slammed into something immobile.

Immediately afterwards, her feet failed to find any footing. She found herself tilted onto her back in midair.

…Oh, no!

Before she could fully comprehend her situation, she fell. As if pursuing the broken and falling deck.

“Ah!”

Her body froze up from the chill in her left shoulder as the broken bone’s halves pressed together, so she simply fell.

And on all sides of her vision, she saw movement in the edges of the split deck.

“Kani, get some rest. It just won’t be in a cell this time.”

Fuwa’s voice reached Kani along with impacts from all sides.

The hole in the top of the transport ship closed up like a crushed box. Some great force on all sides folded in the ship and its metal frame from the top.

Just as Kani realized she was closed in, her back crashed into something solid.

She had fallen onto a piece of the deck that had fallen all the way to the bottom.

●

“Youth is something else.”

Fuwa watched as the transport ship noisily transformed.

This transformation system was caused by her spell. Several insha kotobs were opened mostly on the sides of the ship and they worked to bend the top of the ship from the sides to seal her in.

But the process was soon complete. The shape of the enclosure reminded her of something.

…It’s been far too long since I had any gyoza.

Oichi-sama prefers Far Eastern food, she thought, but would they have a gyoza stand during the celebration after Shizugatake? Well, at least everyone will be in high spirits, she thought, but…

“I guess that really depends on how Honnouji plays out.”

By that time, the metallic sounds had stopped.

The ship was closed up. The opening had been properly folded back to seal it up.

Kani could no longer escape. And…

…The ship’s still producing its virtual ocean.

That meant it could remain afloat for a while longer.

If the Azuchi cared about Kani’s well being, they wouldn’t be able to fire in this airspace during that time. So…

“Even young kids can come in handy.” Fuwa snorted with laughter. “I guess I’m still pretty young too.”

It was just that everyone around her kept moving on.

Oh, god. I sound like Maeda and Sassa. This is supposed to be a celebration, but here I am talking to myself.

“Okay.”

She had to get down from the silenced transport ship.

She could see the flow of battle, so she had to join the others to get the next phase started.

A lot about the flow of battle bothered her.

“Like in the south. What is Niwa-senpai doing?”

●

Sakon and Niwa faced each other in the moonlit southern clearing. The Kiyomasa Team had already entered the Shibata formation through the fortress wall of ships.

And Sakon was directly facing a top-class upperclassman.

“Um, it is an honor to battle you.”

But what am I supposed to do now? she wondered.

Except she knew exactly what she had to do. First, she drew the two swords on her back.

They were wooden, but they were not training swords. They were as thick as a combat knife and the tip was sharpened.

They were around 80cm long and the blade was nearly 30cm wide. They looked a bit like kitchen knives and they would be the size of an azure dragon sword compared to a normal person.

For her, they were more like knives.

Hirano had given them to her before she left. Hirano had had a few ideas to help her out after seeing her fight at Aki, so she had arranged to have these made at the Tsurugi Shrine.

That was why Sakon had a few different similar weapons. She hadn’t touched the ones made of metal or stone because they seemed too dangerous, but there were also pearly ones and ones that appeared to be made of glass.

After giving them some practice swings, she had discovered the lighter ones worked best for her.

To examine this result, Hirano had opened a lernen figur from the power management device and monitored Sakon’s physical status.

According to Hirano, “It looks like the heavier ones place more stress on your elbows. You could reduce or eliminate that with a mobile shell, a spell, or your regeneration divine protection, but that stress would probably return when you swung them.”

“Just out of curiosity, what is he advantage of a heavier weapon?”

“The weight helps them cut deeper when striking your opponent. Or stab deeper if you’re jabbing. The more weight, the easier they can enter your opponent’s body. But,” said Hirano. “With your speed, even a light blade should be able to cut through most anything.”

So Sakon decided a light weapon would be better. The two primary candidates had been a pair of gravity swords and these, but she had chosen these because she liked the feel of the blade. Yes, I can’t really tell where the blade is on a gravity sword, so I accidentally chopped off five of my fingers and had to regenerate them. It actually didn’t hurt very much. That was a new discovery.

She had named these ones Southern Sky.

For no other reason than she was being deployed on the south side of the battlefield and she thought it would give her good luck.

The Testament said the home she had lived in would become a Buddhist temple after her death. But some strange things supposedly happened at that temple and one of them was known as Sakon’s Nandina^[1].

“After I die, the nandina tree I liked, well, it’s supposed to give you an upset stomach if you touch it. Kind of gross, really.”

“As a tree, they stain easily with blood and germs, so it will be given a divine purification coating. Touching it should be fine.”

But that aside, Onitakemaru had accepted the name.

“What’s this, Kohime? You actually did your homework? Great job.”

“Well, when we had nothing to do in Aki, it was, you know, summer and all. We were watching a spooky legends show called A Dimension Unknown to Thee and they were talked about it. At first, I didn’t know who they were talking about, but when I said ‘Touching it gives you diarrhea? How awful’, Kasuya-senpai elbowed me and, after I had time to process it, I went ‘wait, that’s me!’ ”

“And you call yourself a name inheritor!?”

I didn’t ask to be one.

Regardless, the swords felt right in her hands. Hirano had said they were made from a sacred tree and then laughed, telling Sakon not to worry about that too much. So I’m not going to worry about it and focus on this battle instead.

“You need to stop losing yourself in your thoughts,” said Niwa, immediately lopping off Sakon’s head.

Chapter 40: Dead One at the Beheading[edit]

This isn’t

Your usual dead person

Point Allocation (Used to It)

●

Ootani realized he had witnessed an inordinate number of decapitations.

…Yes, because Sakon-kun died a lot back at Aki.

He had nearly died a lot too, but Sakon was exceptional because she really did die. He had his pride as a data entity, but if he died, he really would die. A shame, really.

The same thing happened here. Just as Niwa dashed by, Sakon’s head flew from her shoulders.

Ootani had seen basically the same thing several times while they fought the Terrestrial Dragons.

Kasuya had always had a reaction at Aki. At first she had asked “Are you alright?”. Around midway through, she had shouted “Not again!”. By the end, she had settled on a simple “Oh, my!” That seemed like a rather subdued reaction to seeing someone’s head lopped off, but people could get used to just about anything.

Ootani had a clearly-defined role during that fight, so when Sakon died, he had called out to let them know he had filled in the hole in their formation. Usually, “That’s all right!” or “I’ve got you!” Neither one seemed all that great in retrospect. Meanwhile, Hirano had always reacted really strongly. At first, “Eek! That was a real neck-slicer!” And later on, “Okay! Nice death-hustle!” She did seem to be making up new words as she went, but she may have been the most normal one among them.

Anyway, the same situation was playing out now.

Onitakemaru immediately released the mobile shell’s neck joint. When Sakon’s head first flew off, it hadn’t yet turned to the bloody mist that allowed it to regenerate, so her eyes briefly met Ootani’s. He clearly read the words “I died” on her lips, but he chose to pretend he hadn’t seen that.

Soon thereafter, her head turned to bloody mist and returned to her body. And her long arm reached out to catch Onitakemaru’s helmet with a wooden sword.

She did it all instantly.

Behind him, Ootani heard the sound of scraping dirt stretching out like something licking across the ground.

Niwa was adjusting her posture. And Sakon turned to face her.

“Whoa, watch out,” said Sakon just before a second decapitation.

Niwa had rushed in and attacked just as she made her turn.

…That was fast!

At the same time, Ootani sensed danger.

Could Sakon not keep up with Niwa?

●

Niwa’s previous attack told her who she was up against here.

…A regenerator!

She had heard of research into transformation powers as a way to protect former M.H.R.R. Emperor Rudolf II and the rest of the imperial family.

And that this girl had been one of the test subjects for a few of those abilities.

Her greatest ability was her regeneration. Nothing could kill her.

The same was true of Niwa right now.

In that case, Niwa knew just how to defeat her.

How did you defeat someone who wouldn’t die no matter how many times you cut them and pierced them?

The answer was simple.

“You sew them up.”

She used cloths as a weapon. When swinging what looked like decorations, her dance spell could adjust their hardness and flow. The cloths could represent winds, serpents, and even the paths of celestial bodies, but by combining several of them and gripping them with her hand or foot…

…They can act as a blade!

Before, the earth dragon had acted as her weapon.

But with it gone, she had to acquire a different weapon.

In the flow of her dance, she drew the cloth sword and continued the dance.

The sword dance had its origins in Mlasi lands. Combining different dance forms into a single dance was a lot like combining different martial forms into a single technique.

So she danced the sword dance with no issue.

Her feet rubbed across the dirt below as she changed direction. She leaned her body over and kept her momentum intact as she converted her turn into a dash. She struck at Sakon’s right arm as the girl tried to swing it.

Their height difference was striking as she passed by.

Sakon was so tall that Niwa had to constantly look up at her.

And instead of sending her blade out ahead, she had to raise it and strike upwards.

But her sword reached. The belly of the blade struck below the armor on Sakon’s right armpit.

“Kohime!”

Too late. The mobile shell sensed danger and purged that armor joint.

And the blade entered through the gap.

The muscles of the shoulder had bundles of tendons wrapping around and stacking on top of each. But the armpit had a hole. So once in there, Niwa only had to move her blade along the seam between muscles.

“…!”

She sliced through.

The initial weight on the blade vanished and the tip of the blade shot out.

The severed right arm soared through the moonlight.

And as Niwa passed by, she looked back and spun around.

…Here she comes!

Niwa had guessed right.

Sakon jabbed her left wooden sword behind her where she couldn’t see. As a regenerator, she showed no shock over losing a limb.

That body part was no more than a body part, so she launched a counterattack even as she took a serious injury.

Her surprising accuracy had to be the result of some excellent training.

But it wasn’t enough.

Niwa dodged the wooden sword directed toward her face and pierced her cloth blade into Sakon’s left upper arm.

She pierced it in from the outer side inward.

The cloth sword sliced through muscle and struck bone. But it didn’t cut the bone. Doing that would trigger regeneration, possibly of the entire arm.

That wasn’t what Niwa wanted. Instead, she sent the blade tip into the left side of Sakon’s back while it still skewered the left arm.

The mobile shell had armor, but it was hard to design fully sealed armor when it was primarily used for close-quarters combat.

So the cloth blade had plenty of gaps to slip through.

It entered one.

Niwa aimed for the space below Sakon’s shoulder blade. There was a gap there so the joint could rotate the arm around to the back. Thanks to Sakon’s height, Niwa could easily see that gap from below.

To build up momentum, Niwa used a backhand grip on the blade and spun herself around as she made the jab.

Dirt flew into the air as the attack landed.

The blade smoothly passed into Sakon’s side and between her ribs.

Like stabbing a kitchen knife tip first into meat, there was some resistance and Niwa thought “young skin is so nice!” as she pushed it on through.

She pierced the blade forward.

Slicing the lung felt a lot like crushing small fish eggs. What should I have for dinner tonight?

After sensing the cloth sword had found its mark, Niwa moved away. She continued her spin as she put three steps’ worth of space between them.

Sakon was attempting to turn toward her.

But her left arm was currently pinned to her back. She tried to move it, but the cloth was no longer a sword. It was cloth and created a lot of friction. It was jammed into her flesh and trying to yank it out was like filing down her nerves.

That must hurt like hell. I definitely wouldn’t want to do it. Come to think of it, they said in elementary school that I go out of my way to do to others what I wouldn’t want done to me.

“Ah!” shouted Sakon.

She could regenerate, but supposedly she did feel pain. That had to hurt. A lot. But she still tried to force her arm to move. Is she crazy?

And Sakon’s right arm had recovered.

The cloth had pierced out the front of her body, so it would be hanging down inside her chest armor. She couldn’t pull it out that way. The only way would be to pull it out from her left shoulder or back.

So Sakon reached her recovered right arm around to her back. But…

…That was a mistake!

Niwa was about to show her why.

She calmed the part of her mind telling her to hurry and directed the acceleration of her turn into her feet.

She had the speed, so there was only one thing left to do. Instead of just using that speed, she passed by Sakon and spun toward the right side of the girl’s back.

The long right arm was searching her back for the pinned left arm.

Niwa pierced that right arm with another cloth sword.

…This is why!

Just like with the left arm, the blade entered the gap below the shoulder blade armor, sliced the lung, and exited from the chest.

That pinned both of Sakon’s arms. As a finishing touch, Niwa tied both arms together with another cloth.

This wasn’t enough to trigger regeneration.

And she couldn’t move. So…

“It’s over!”

Niwa delivered the finishing blow.

She aimed for a gap in the back of the armor to pierce Sakon from the left side of her back and out the front.

The blade stabbed right through the heart.

●

Sakon was in a lot of pain.

During her time in the castle used as a lab, she had come up with her own unit for measuring pain: how many times better would be to die? This one was pretty bad, so death would be 5 times better.

Her arms were pinned to her back with cloths that sliced through both her lungs and both sides of her chest and she had a ribbon tied on her back.

On top of that, her heart had been stabbed from behind.

Niwa had done quite a number on her.

Especially because she couldn’t regenerate this away.

In her case, the destruction of a vital organ like the heart would trigger a regeneration.

But if it could still function or if something remained stabbed through it, it would instead be transformed to a shape that avoided the obstacle.

Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer had taken advantage of that once.

She had stabbed right through Sakon’s throat, but because her respiratory system had still been functioning, her body had created a hole in her throat to avoid the blade.

Niwa’s heart stab was a more advanced version of that.

The stab through the heart had been exceptionally sharp and the cloth had blocked up the hole to stop the bleeding afterwards, so her body must have decided it was a foreign object.

Her heart was currently creating an outer wall around the cloth, essentially creating a tunnel through itself.

This was being avoided by transformation rather than regeneration.

This would of course hinder her heart’s functionality.

The altered shape would lead to poor circulation.

But if the circulation still functioned at all, her body would accept it. When the burdens piled up too much for her body to last, she knew it would trigger a full body regeneration, but…

…How long will that take!?

And the damage to her lungs was pretty bad too. Because it kept her from breathing. The cloths had passed horizontally through her lungs, pinning them to her back and chest, keeping her from breathing properly.

She tried her best to suck in air, but…

“Kah, koh, kee.”

She made weird noises. Which is really lame.

“Are ‘kuh’ and ‘keh’ next!?” asked little Ootani down at her feet.

I will remember you turned my suffering into a weird gojuon joke.

But even more suffering hit her suddenly.

“Kh.”

Her heart was beating in a distorted way.

That’s not good. Why isn’t it good? Because I’m not feeling any definite pain. Dying would be better, but that’s why I can’t die. It’s all come to a stop just before death.

“Kwah!”

Instead of death, the cloths inserted into her brought a simple burden on her body. They created the maximum amount of suffering without making her body remake itself.

Anything related to her heart had always been a weak point for her. Even though she liked eating animal hearts at yakiniku places.

…Because it’s yummy.

But this isn’t, she reminded herself as pain, or an itchy heat, spread across her body. Her distorted heart was creating a rhythm separated from her pulse and breathing.

Her heart had been crushed and stopped a few times during the regeneration experiments and this was on the same level as that.

She remembered what the doctor in charge had said back then: “Okay, raise your hand if this hurts. ...Oh, wow. I didn’t think you could still move like this!”

Thinking back, that had been an awful thing to say, but it had hurt too bad for her to notice at the time.

An unbearable ache covered her entire body. She hadn’t felt this in so long.

“Kh!”

She got me, she thought.

I can’t believe it, she added, wondering what she should do when she toppled over.

“Kohime!”

An incredibly loud voice rang in her ears.

“You’re going to fall, dammit!!”

I know thaaaat!

●

Niwa couldn’t believe her eyes.

The girl with the slashed lungs and pierced heart was about to fall over when…

“Oh.”

She stumbled forward a bit instead. And…

“Oh, oh, oh, oh.”

“Don’t hop!”

After her helmet shouted so loud even Niwa could hear it, the girl tensed her body a bit to stand tall. And…

“There!”

That word sent a lot of blood spilling from her mouth. It was coming up from her lungs. Her lungs had to essentially be sacks of blood right now. But she still managed to speak, sounding like she was pushing water bubbles out from her throat.

“Po! Ponitakeparu-tan! P-Pi pid it!”

“Huh!? I can’t understand you!”

“Pidiot, pidiot!”

“Damn you!”

This was incredible, in a way. Nevertheless, she couldn’t last long like this. But just out of curiosity…

“Um, how can you still move? That has to be excruciating.”

“Huh!? Are you stupid!?”

…Oh, well, I never thought I was particularly smart, if that’s what you mean…

That helmet was older than Niwa, but it was still a bit of a shock to be asked that so directly. We artistic types are sensitive, you know? Can’t that shogun take that into account?

But the helmet spoke quite clearly.

“You fool! Kohime has a lot more experience in dying!”

●

Onitakemaru recalled something from quite a while ago.

“Listen up!”

I know all about her.

“Kohime is lazy! So…”

Yes, that’s right. She’s always been like this.

“She has a bad habit of giving up or admitting defeat before she can die!”

I remember back when she would apologize before she died. But not anymore.

“Now she can die! Before she loses or gives up! If death leaves nothing behind, then how can we afford to lose or give up either!? So the only remaining option is victory! Because…

Because…

“If Kohime gets lazy again, I’ll give her a talking to!”

●

This is absurd, thought Niwa.

What could this mobile shell’s words do to change anything? After all…

“That won’t work. I mean, her breathing and pulse are all out of whack, so she’s lost all her strength.”

She knew exactly what was going to happen.

“From what I’ve seen of Rudolf II’s records, if his respiratory system is obstructed and he suffocates, his body either creates a windpipe somewhere or gathers oxygen in his body. But what happens if a ‘foreign object’ is inserted into his respiratory or circulatory systems and he can’t get enough oxygen or blood? And I mean if the damage isn’t enough to trigger a regeneration.”

There was only one answer.

“Take a rest, born immortal. Life must be agony for the undying.”

After that, the tall girl fell to her knees.

For just a moment, her bloodshot eyes turned toward Niwa. But…

“Kohime!”

The mobile shell’s voice failed to reach her and she collapsed.

The pull of her pinned arms’ weight made her fall backwards.

●

Niwa took a breath.

And she slowly spun around in her follow-through pose.

She had defeated her current greatest enemy.

“Ha.”

They had claimed to have a plan to use against her, but she had defeated them before they could use it.

Of course, Sakon would eventually regenerate. The growing burden on her body grew would trigger a full reset.

...But who knows how long that will take.

It wouldn’t be right away. What little Niwa knew was enough to know that.

She felt comfortable declaring victory here.

But something else bothered her.

“Ootani,” she called and there he was. But not close by.

He was running – fleeing.

Even in the light of the full moons, his glowing body was easy to spot.

The Mouse-like data entity was running desperately toward the fortress wall of ships.

The lower pathway of the southern gate ship remained open. Kiyomasa’s team had already entered through there and appeared to be engaged in battle. Was Ootani on his way to inform them of the danger? Or was he just afraid of what might happen to him?

“Hey, wait.”

Niwa had no intention of harming him at this point. She had defeated her greatest enemy. Even if he was a virus data entity, he couldn’t put up much of a fight while that small.

The only possible threat there was if he acted as a virus to take control of a warship or some other device. She needed to capture him and prevent him from causing any trouble.

So she jogged toward him.

“Hey, come here. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Huh!? Don’t lie to me, old hag!”

Now she was going to hurt him. Yes, quite directly.

She dashed toward him. With the lightning beast and the phoenix supporting her, she caught up to him in no time.

And when she crouched to scoop him up…

“–––––”

She saw something odd on the ground.

The moonlight cast her shadow on the burnt ground.

She was crouching to grab Ootani, yet her shadow remained standing.

Was her shadow not following her movements? No, that wasn’t it.

…Is someone standing behind me!?

There was only one person it could be: Sakon.

But it couldn’t be Sakon. Her arms were bound and her respiratory and circulatory systems had been partially incapacitated. While her mobile shell had put on a strong front, she had only just collapsed, hadn’t she?

…So that shadow can’t be there!

Niwa took a large step to the left and spun around to see who was there.

A tall figure stood in the light of the full moons.

It was Sakon.

She was on her feet, albeit weakly.

Niwa could see Sakon’s bound arms had been roughly torn free. The cloth piercing her arms had been torn and it blew in the wind where it dangled out of her back.

Blood dripped from all over her upper body, scattering into the wind where it disappeared.

Sakon was simply standing there, not moving at all. However…

“How did you free your arms!?”

●

Sakon didn’t understand.

She felt like she had just been sleeping. In fact, she had been. Soundly.

However, this awakening was far from a pleasant one.

She didn’t know why anyone would want to do this, but her arms had been pierced by cloths. She had thought they were held in place with belts at first, which had led her to assume she had fallen victim to someone with a weird fetish, but those were cloths. Thank goodness.

The cloths were also embedded into her back. And the front of her chest.

How does that work? she wondered, but…

“Oh.”

She hadn’t fully woken yet, but two parts of her were doing a lot better than before she went to sleep.

Namely, her lungs and her heart.

She remembered having trouble breathing before sleeping. She also remembered something wrong with her pulse. She remembered suffering from a sensation like a great heat filling her until she thought her body would burst, but that never happening.

How long had it been since she’d tested what happened when her heart was destroyed or her lungs were crushed?

It was so painful. But at least…

…It keeps oxygen from reaching my brain, so I pass out.

Fainting actually felt kind of nice. Addictively so.

…It’s been so long since I passed out like that.

It had happened all the time back at the lab, so this reminded her of old times. And if it reminded her of that, the suffering wasn’t all that bad. So…

“Nh.”

She woke up.

●

“Hot!”

Niwa heard Sakon’s voice.

…She woke up!?

Sakon reacted like all her body’s senses had suddenly returned to her. Even her fingers stiffened from the cloths piercing her arms, but…

“Ow, ow, ow, ow!”

She reached behind her back and pulled the cloths out.

She extracted two cloths stained dark red. But they were shorter than the ones that had been driven into her back. They had been roughly torn apart, including the pieces remaining in her arms.

And something else fell to the ground.

It fell from the center of back to the ground between her legs. It had the silhouette of a thick blade.

It was a wooden sword.

Why had it fallen from her back? And why now? Niwa instantly realized that was the trick. In other words…

“Did you fall on top of your sword while it was sticking blade up so it would split your own heart!?”

●

Sakon heard Niwa’s shout as she threw away the cloths she had pulled from her back.

…On top of...my sword?

What are you talking about?

No, she had noticed one of her swords fall away when she pulled the cloths out of her back.

So had that been embedded in her back too?

…Huh?

She had armor on her back. It was currently closed up, but…

“Onitakemaru-san, are you up to something again?”

“Why would you phrase it that way!?”

Oh, I get it. I think I know what it probably maybe was.

She recalled what had happened to her. Her heart had been sewn in place from the front and back and her lungs had been sliced.

But now only the cloths doing the sewing remained. Her lungs and heart had regenerated to refresh things.

And if her her back armor had temporarily opened, there was only one explanation.

Onitakemaru had guided her so she would fall on top of the wooden sword placed on the ground.

Of course, Onitakemaru could only provide power assistance. He couldn’t actively move her. Even his support during battle was only guidance – he couldn’t force her to move. All her movements had to start with her.

But he could also assist movements like falling to her knees or falling over.

So in that brief moment, he had made his move.

During the battle, he had noted the position of the wooden sword she had dropped when her arm was caught, and he had “assisted” her movement.

He couldn’t have done that on his own. The fallen sword landing with the blade directed upwards would have been too much of a coincidence.

It must have been Ootani.

She didn’t know if he had done it so she could collect it or if he had predicted this, but he had placed the sword like that.

Ootani was currently near Niwa.

If Niwa had been chasing after him, then he had been…

…Distracting her.

So she wouldn’t notice Sakon falling and regenerating. And now that Sakon was back on her feet and awake…

‘You need to stop losing yourself in your thoughts!” said Niwa, immediately lopping off Sakon’s head.

●

Ootani saw Sakon’s head leave her shoulders again.

…Sakon-kun dies an awful lot.

This was the same as before.

But what happened next differed.

Sakon didn’t fight it.

…Yes.

During the training camp at Aki, Kasuya had started off saying “Are you alright?”, but by the end she had been saying “Oh, my!”

Because at first, Sakon had resisted her death. She had worked to hold her ground or act as a barrier even in death.

Which was why Kasuya had been so worried.

But by the end, that had changed.

Onitakemaru had probably given her some advice. Probably that resisting her death made it harder.

Sakon had protested at first, but she had eventually figured out what he had meant.

And she had proven it here.

What happened when Sakon was beheaded or had an arm or her entire upper body chopped off?

The severed part would turn to bloody mist and return to the rest of her.

So when she resisted, the “rest of her” would end up farther away from the severed part.

But what happened if she didn’t resist and just accepted it?

Then the “rest of her” would collapse or be thrown in the same direction as the severed part.

Both parts would end up close together. So…

“It speeds up her regeneration a little!”

Sakon hadn’t been ready the first time because it had caught her by surprise and hadn’t been against a Terrestrial Dragon.

But not this time.

Like Onitakemaru had said, she had “a lot more experience in dying”.

Even how she died was a part of her skill.

So Ootani looked to Sakon’s severed head lying next to Niwa. Only the stump of the neck turned to bloody mist as she instantly regenerated.

And if she didn’t try to fight the cutting action…

“Kohime!”

Sakon followed Niwa’s movement.

“Die well!”

That reprimand pushed Sakon to run.

Divinely-imbued Niwa made her next attack.

Chapter 41: Noisy One on the Stage of Divine Music[edit]

Is this age falling behind?

Or is it this generation?

Or what?

Point Allocation (It’s You)

●

“Oh.”

Kiyomasa noticed a sound.

A solid tone reverberated through the sky. It had too solid a core for a woodwind instrument and it repeatedly pounded on the air with a jaunty tempo.

It came from the south, where Kiyomasa’s group had come from.

She was currently leading everyone toward the center of the Shibata formation. She was worried about Sakon and the others she had left behind, but…

“Yes.”

They will be fine, she thought.

She more or less understood why they had asked to take over there.

…I couldn’t make use of death in that way.

She smiled bitterly and gave her people new commands. They were attacking the main path through the southern end of the Shibata formation. They were clearing out the enemies on the reverse side of that path, but once this was done…

“We can work with Kasuya’s team up north to catch the Shibata team’s main force with a pincer attack! Let’s do this!”

“Testament!” replied her people while the solid rhythm continued to sound.

…Incredible.

That tall underclassman had been so nervous around her before summer break, but how much strength and how many reliable friends had she gained since?

●

Sakon worked her mobile shell.

She ran swiftly, stabbing her feet into the ground and using the rebound to keep up with Niwa’s dance.

She was armed with a pair of swords. One was the one that had fallen from her back. The other she had collected to increase her options.

However, her twin attacks were deflected by Niwa’s cloth swords.

Her opponent also used a pair of swords. And sometimes flames or lightning blew from those swords.

But Sakon didn’t let that stop her.

When she lost a limb, she wouldn’t fight it so she could instantly recover. When she was burned, she would cut away that body part herself.

It hurt but there was no helping that.

She had felt all this pain before. The pain wasn’t a lie. The feeling that she couldn’t go on was the lie.

And I don’t like lies.

So instead of falling back, she pressed forward, never letting Niwa get away. And even if Niwa did get away, she told herself she could still catch up.

She knew there was more to a battle than moving and striking the enemy.

…That’s right.

During the summer training camp, she had learned that cooperation was an option even when fighting alone.

She had to read her opponent’s movements.

Back then, she had been fighting Terrestrial Dragons over 100m long. As big, tough, and strong as she was, that was too much to stand up against. She was easily overpowered.

So at first, she had tried to dodge and then attack.

But even then, the dragon had caught up, her options had dwindled, and she had found herself in a dead end. Kasuya or Hirano had helped her out then, but…

…That isn’t what I need here.

Watching your opponent and dodging their attacks before making your own was not what it meant to read them.

While watching Kasuya, she had noticed that Kasuya would watch her opponent’s movements and then attack.

Sakon was always dodging. Kasuya would dodge too, but she would attack at the same time. Sakon had thought these were like dodging attacks or combo moves or something, but they weren’t.

According to Kasuya, “I’m not sure how to describe it. I just eliminate everything my opponent tries to do.”

She wasn’t slipping past her opponent’s attacks.

She was launching her own attacks against her opponent’s attacks.

Which meant she didn’t need to dodge all that much.

“This isn’t a game with turn-based combat.”

Sakon had realized that was true. You didn’t split attack and defense, but you didn’t include defense in your attacks either.

You only needed to make precisely the right attack for the situation.

While she was thinking about this, Onitakemaru had told her to stop fighting her deaths. She hadn’t understood what he meant by that at first, but she had figured it out after some thought.

She couldn’t think of death as a single action.

She considered attacking to be the best way to win. She was too inexperienced to turn things around after defending against her opponent’s attacks. That was where she had failed against Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer.

In that sense, Kiyomasa-sama is truly amazing.

Kiyomasa could use her defenses to endure the enemy’s onslaught and ultimately emerge victorious.

Sakon couldn’t do that yet, so she had to focus on attack.

She had to hit the enemy.

Dodging and defense weren’t enough. She didn’t actually need to ensure her own safety. So she simply had to create a situation where she could attack and then make sure her attacks hit.

She just had to hit them, no matter what attacks or counterattacks they sent her way.

…What kind of attack is she going to use now?

That was where her “reading” of the enemy began.

And even when fighting alone, cooperation was still possible.

She could still cooperate with her opponent.

If she was the right fist in a combo move, then her opponent was the left fist.

She was never alone.

Just like she could cooperate with her allies, she could cooperate with her enemy, but this cooperation was so she could hit them.

“Yes!”

She moved. She pursued and sent out her blades, receiving the same in response.

The cooperation was working. Niwa was definitely cooperating with her movements.

There was no gap. They simply kept up with each other at high speed, while…

…O-

“Onitakemaru-san!” shouted Sakon, as both report and command. “I think I have Niwa-sama!”

●

Something suddenly felt off to Niwa.

Sakon’s movements had changed.

Before, she had been swiftly keeping up with Niwa. But she had been using her great strength and reach while shortening her regenerations to gain that speed. It had been a matter of brute force.

Not anymore.

Her actions now were crude but efficient.

They seemed somehow familiar, but Niwa dismissed the idea that she had seen them somewhere before. This was her first time meeting the girl.

Which left only one option.

…Is she responding to my actions!?

Niwa didn’t know how it worked, but with each step and strike, Sakon’s pursuit and counterattacks became more accurate and efficient.

Could her skill really improve so quickly? It wasn’t impossible, but Niwa didn’t think that was the explanation here. Because skill growth like that required first running into a “wall”.

While caught on that wall, their skill would be stuck in place, so finally clearing that wall would allow their skill to increase all at once.

The rapid increase of skill was only the skill growth that had been suppressed by the wall, so their skill growth wasn’t any greater than normal over the long term. That said, learning the trick to clearing such walls and the other strengths gained in the process would give them what they needed to grow faster than average afterwards.

Did that explain Sakon here?

“––––––”

No. Niwa again rejected that idea.

Because she didn’t create a “wall” that Sakon had needed to clear. For one, they had never met before. Also, had Sakon shown any sign of trying to surpass her or viewing this battle as a crucial task to be completed?

No.

Plus, Sakon had used a technique she hadn’t been using at first: regeneration efficiency. Her accuracy with that was also increasing as her pursuit of Niwa continued.

That meant Sakon had already cleared her “wall” and that was why she was here in the first place.

So the change to her movements did not come from skill growth.

There was a trick to it. While Niwa tried to work out what that was, she heard a voice.

“Tah.”

Sakon was humming a single noise with her head lowered.

“Tah-tah, tan.”

She was creating a rhythm.

●

Tah, tah-tah-tan, tan-tah-tah, tah-tah-tan.

Tah, tah-tah-tan, tah-tah-tan, tan, tah-tah-tan.

Tah, tah-tah, tah-tah-tah, tah-tah-tah.

Tah, tah, tah, tah-tah-tah, tah-tah-tah-tah-tah, tah-tah, tan.

●

Niwa recognized the rhythm Sakon hummed as she stepped, pursued, and attacked.

Now she understood Sakon’s trick.

And how Sakon was able to keep up with her.

And how her accuracy continued to improve.

And…

…Why I recognized these movements!

It was a simple trick.

“She’s playing the same song I’m listening to!”

●

“Kiyomasa-san did a really good job,” said Katagiri with Hundred Crest Land Survey open in the Azuchi’s dining hall while artillery fire boomed all around.

Several waves had formed before him.

They represented the timing of Niwa’s attacks and movements against Kiyomasa during their battle. The mobile shell had gathered these combat records so it could respond to Kiyomasa’s opponent and Kiyomasa had sent it here.

She had asked Katagiri to analyze it: “Replaying this should tell us what song Niwa-sama is listening to.”

It had.

Songs had several defining traits. One of those was the rhythm oftentimes played by a percussion instrument. With drums in particular, people had a tendency to time their steps with the rhythm.

However, your average person could never identify the song from the rhythm alone.

Which was why this was a job for Katagiri.

He had first converted the sound into a visible wave and then created a diagram out of it.

Next, he had the automata run a search. But gathering all the music sources had been Takenaka’s job. The only music data available on the P.A. Oda divine network was songs praising god. So all this music had to come from god. The only member of the Ten Spears with the right to access Mlasi music was Takenaka, so she had acquired all the music available on the divine network’s music site.

Kuro-Dake: “Whew, that’s the most money I’ve ever spent at once. And when I told the site, ‘excuse me, but can I get one of everything?’, the purchasing program could only get a ‘huh?’ out as a confirmation message.”

What a sloppily coded site.

But once Katagiri had the songs, the rest was easy.

The automata scanned and analyzed the songs. They did need some time to listen through each song, but their analysis and the comparison against Katagiri’s data was perfect. Even now, they were discussing it via divine transmission.

“Katagiri-sama’s data is so sloppy I keep getting false matches.”

“Oh, I just got my 300th false match.”

“Human inaccuracy can be such a pain at times…”

…Perfect! I said it’s perfect!

AnG: “Sigh. Giri’s causing trouble again.”

Kimee: “Nothing’s more trouble than someone who thinks he’s perfect.”

The Boy: “Wh-what about Technohexen that insist on hitting people where it hurts!?”

But they did find a match in the end.

“Found it!”

He joined Sakon’s divine transmission from up on the Azuchi. After sending the song data over, he even received a notice of receipt from Onitakemaru.

“The song is Kouta by Emira Emira, a girls band started to boost troop morale. The song became a hit 20 years ago before a battle against the Far East!”

●

Onitakemaru listened to the song.

… What kind of superficial fluff is this!?

Back in his day, the nobility had used music as a way of decorating themselves. As someone who had inherited the warrior culture of the Taira clan and made it his own, that music had honestly been too slow for his liking.

But without acceptance by the court, the imperial palace would not recognize your position as a samurai.

So they had learned to sing and he was used to that sort of music.

They had emphasized proper form. That was how the samurai families did things. If the court or the nobility got out of line, it was up to the samurai to stop them in accordance with the emperor’s wishes. He was not an uncultured boor.

But what as this? Songs were meant to take the form of 5-7-5-7-7. That was what gave them divine protection.

“Clouds to the west mean rain. Clouds to the north mean the end of my love.”

Love songs were more a thing for the puny nobility he so loathed, but this song didn’t follow the proper form or any other rules as far as he could tell.

“The tears of my bedhead are the color of cherry blossoms falling in the spring rain.”

This isn’t a song at all, he thought, but the automata provided an explanation:

“This is a type of kouta known as ryutatsubushi which was popular at the end of the Warring States period, Onitakemaru-sama. Shaja.”

“It was a type of song sung by the common people, not the nobility or the samurai. It is a form of free expression in which people expose their present thoughts and feelings. But at the time, they did not know what to call the concept of ‘free expression’ and, since this took the form of a song, they left the idea in the realm of song. I believe it would technically count as a form of prose poetry. Shaja.”

“You mean…?”

So this song he was listening to and having Kohime sing was…?

…A filthy love song or entertainment song!? This will sabotage her proper education!

But this revealed a rule that would be a challenge for them. Namely…

“This uses the reverse rule of a song not bound by any existing rules!”

“Shaja! That is what allows for the quick tempo and varying line lengths, which makes it so difficult to predict the timing of her movements! The full version of Kouta modifies and strings together more than 500 poems for a length of 42 minutes! Shaja.”

I see. A song that long would make good combat music.

As Onitakemaru read through the lyrics, it made his skin crawl, but it would probably feel meaningful to the young.

He couldn’t understand it himself, but it would work for Kohime’s generation.

He had failed in the past by approaching it without that understanding.

But not anymore.

“Kohime! This is the song Niwa is playing!”

Kohime would understand, so he sent the fast music to her with his own acoustic spell.

And eventually…

“Um?” she said.

“What is it, Kohime!?”

“Well,” she began. “This was a huge hit from 20 years ago. I mean, it’s Emira Emira, so I’m pretty sure it’s been covered at least three times. I know you’re trying your best, but you have really old-fashioned tastes.”

“This is not about my tastes!! Just listen to it!”

I feel like something got turned around there, he thought as he increased the volume.

●

Niwa realized why Sakon had her head lowered while making her pursuit.

…She’s watching my footwork!

The feet were the starting point of all motion, no matter the type. Watching that had to make it easier to determine her speed.

Niwa hadn’t expected the song played by the 3000 behind her to be identified.

No, it was a major song. And in Mlasi areas, it had been used to boost combat morale. Maybe this wasn’t all that surprising.

In that case, she decided. I need to increase my speed.

She raised her right hand to indicate an increase in tempo. Once the 3000 behind her increased the pressure of their music…

“Here goes!”

She instantly accelerated enough to shift away from her previous movements.

“Niwa-sama! Take care of this!”

Everyone was cheering her on. So as she increased her own pressure…

“You can’t lose with all of us on your side!”

●

Pushed on by her people’s voices, Niwa moved.

She swung her cloth blades. At this point, she was the one responding to Sakon’s attacks.

They were both unkillable. Ordinary attacks were meaningless here.

So she adjusted her dance and rapidly increased her speed.

“You’re on!”

She moved out ahead in order to deal with Sakon’s actions.

As the upperclassman here, simply matching her opponent would be shameful. But she didn’t hesitate to choose the plan that would let her win. She circled behind Sakon while also swinging her cloths around.

“How about this!?”

She lopped off Sakon’s head.

●

Niwa felt the blow land.

“This will work!” she shouted just before seeing light scattering in the moonlight.

But this was not blood scattering from Sakon’s flying head.

It was metal shards. From armor. Specifically…

…A vambrace!?

Sakon had blocked with her right arm.

But that didn’t make sense. Niwa’s cloth swords had never managed to break Sakon’s armor before.

There was only one explanation.

…The mobile shell purged its armor!?

Purging armor without increasing the armor density would only lower its defensive capabilities. As evidence, the armor on the inner side of Sakon’s raised right forearm was almost completely destroyed. But why do that?

“This couldn’t be easier with enough speed! Purging the armor was enough to catch it!”

The lightened mobile shell’s power assistance had allowed Sakon’s hand to grab Niwa’s cloth sword.

Sakon herself could never have kept up with Niwa’s speed. At this speed, the slightest mistake would mean losing your balance and falling. But if the mobile shell had guided her with its power assistance…

…How deeply do they trust each other!?

Niwa pulled back, but Sakon’s reach was greater.

Sakon’s right hand seemed to follow the cloth to reach Niwa’s right arm.

She was going to catch up.

Niwa immediately pulled her hand back, but her right middle finger and index finger were caught between Sakon’s thumb and palm.

Niwa sensed danger. She knew she was following the course laid out by her opponent.

She made a split-second decision.

…Withdraw!

She cut herself to leave that course.

She severed her caught right hand.

But she did not use a cloth blade. That sword was imbued with a djinn’s power. A wound made by its divine protection would count as self-harm, which would cause real damage. So instead…

“Lucky me!”

She used the wooden sword Sakon had dropped. She used a dance step to stomp on one end, sending the other springing up into her left hand.

“Unlucky you!”

And she severed her hand.

●

Niwa felt no pain.

She hurriedly made another turn and step, bringing her behind Sakon.

Sakon still hadn’t turned around.

This was Niwa’s chance.

But she couldn’t sew Sakon down with the wooden sword in her left hand.

And her right wrist wasn’t fully mended yet.

And then it was.

The rest was easy. She only had to pierce a cloth blade into Sakon’s back.

There was no need to hesitate. She only had to deliver the finishing blow. But that was when she noticed a large silhouette visible past Sakon’s back.

…Wait, is that…?

It was the towering shape of the fortress wall of ships.

In the clearing, Sakon stood facing north between Niwa and that wall.

●

At the center of the clearing, they were 500m away from the fortress wall of ships.

Niwa realized Sakon had moved between her and that wall.

…No!

That had happened before, during all their turns and position swapping.

But it felt different this time.

Niwa realized she hadn’t circled behind Sakon just now.

She had been led behind Sakon.

“…!”

She had a bad feeling about this.

So she hurried in and made an attack. To sew that girl in place.

But before she could, the tall warrior launched an attack with her back turned.

Sakon spread her arms and opened a lernen figurs into the empty clearing on either side of her.

Those were acoustic spells.

A moment later, Sakon roared. The mouth that had been spraying blood earlier now released a roar into the northern sky.

“Attack!”

●

Onitakemaru noticed something just as Kohime made her explosive roar.

Two things in fact.

First, his rear sight devices saw ether light fragments crash into Niwa.

Second, he heard something from the 3000 atop the fortress wall of ships.

“…!”

He heard the sound suddenly return to the music they were playing.

“Yes!”

He now knew Kohime had succeeded.

“Your deafening voice overpowered their 3000-man pressure!”

●

Niwa resisted even as sudden deceleration hit her entire body.

…My stage was destroyed!?

Sakon had performed a sort of explosive roar. And since it was produced by human vocal organs instead of a dragon’s, it spread out a lot more. It wasn’t enough to reach the 3000 behind Niwa as an attack. Its effective range in that sense was maybe 30m.

But it was enough to eliminate the link between Niwa and her people.

Their music.

The 3000-strong song had been an offering to their god. It had been playing throughout the battle even when it couldn’t be heard, but now it had been broken.

●

As all her strength faded away, Niwa thought, The enemy is attempting to fully neutralize my power.

Sakon’s voice had created a wall of explosive pressure between Niwa and her people.

This wasn’t possible with explosion spells that focused on a single point before spreading out, but a voice supported by an acoustic spell could make for a wide-range spell attack.

Niwa’s divine protection was provided by offering her god the song played by her subordinates.

The song couldn’t be heard since it had been offered up, but that didn’t mean it was gone.

But now it had been cut off.

That was only for a short time, but while the djinns had been playing in the massive song pressure before…

“…!?”

They suddenly tumbled through the air like they had lost their footing.

The lingering sound of the music taken from her scattered through the air. The lightning beast and phoenix must have mistaken that for the music itself because they hopped onto the scattering light and resumed playing.

“––––”

And they vanished. Just like the earth dragon, they did not return.

They had played enough. And Niwa slowed.

…I can’t exactly complain.

Niwa had fought Kiyomasa by taking her subordinates from her and now the same had been done to Niwa.

So what was the right thing to do now? Uncertain, she stopped her dancing feet and…

“––––”

She found herself at a loss for words. At the same time…

“Oh.”

She saw Sakon’s tall figure collapse backwards.

Niwa looked over curiously while Sakon looked up into the full moons and spoke.

“I’m starrrving. I died way too much tonight!”

●

“Kohime! Are you abandoning the fight!?”

Not at all, thought Sakon.

“It’s not like Niwa-sama can fight much anymore. I mean, look – her pets are gone. Maybe she can still use some music stuff, but not on a god level, right? Someone else can deal with her now.”

Onitakemaru didn’t like that answer and she more or less understood why.

He wanted her to get the credit for victory here.

But she was out of fuel, so there was nothing she could do. He was monitoring her physical status, so he had to understand that.

“Hey, Ootani! Get to work!”

He shouted that as a light came into view.

At the bottom of her vision, she saw several lernen figurs open atop the fortress wall of ships.

“I request your silence, everyone! I am Ootani Yoshitsugu! I have just hacked Niwa-sama’s acoustic spell and forced it to shut down!”

As soon as the link between Niwa and the 3000 was cut, the plan was for the virus to hack into the spell. And he had done so.

Niwa had to fight on her own now.

And the djinns had already left her. Which meant…

“We all did this together,” insisted Sakon.

Chapter 42: High Altitude Fate Bringer[edit]

Okay now

Keep still there

Don’t move at all

If you do, I’ll shoot.

Point Allocation (I’ll Shoot If You Don’t Too)

●

Niwa worked to keep her slumping shoulders firm.

She knew she had been beaten.

She and Sakon’s team had viewed their battle in a fundamentally different way.

They had never been trying to defeat her.

Just like Kiyomasa, their goal was to eliminate her from the fight, not to defeat her.

They wanted to remove Niwa’s ability to fight, not to defeat her as an individual.

Kiyomasa had analyzed Niwa’s attacks and techniques and then stripped the earth dragon from her as a starting point.

This battle would have ended differently if Niwa still had the earth dragon.

Her two djinns were powerful beings, but she had needed their full power to deal with Kiyomasa and Sakon. They had been busy strengthening her instead of being used elsewhere.

With three of them, she would have had enough extra power to use some of it elsewhere.

That was why Kiyomasa had been so busy negating all of Niwa’s attacks. She hadn’t wanted to let any of those attacks land anywhere else.

Sakon hadn’t been as effective there, but with enough extra djinn power, Niwa would have been able to stop Sakon’s roar with a lightning attack. She hadn’t been able to do so because she was still cautious after her battle with Kiyomasa.

“–––––”

Kiyomasa’s ‘checkmating’ had been the setup. Every part of that fight had been setting this up.

That Niwa had ignored Ootani had come back to bite her especially hard.

Or rather, Ootani had pretended to run away and then hung around on the edge of the clearing.

But after his copy opened the gate to the fortress wall of ships, it had remained inside there.

Ootani had opened the gate and then used the divine transmission pathways through the ships to interfere with Niwa’s 3000. His final move had been made in the instantaneous blank when her connection was cut off.

…I see.

They had taken several different measures to stop her.

All the credit went to Kiyomasa, to Ootani, and to Sakon. Sakon had delivered the final blow, but her success was built on the foundation created by Kiyomasa.

They had all aided each other, leading to something valuable. So…

…Why do I have so much of a hangup over being an aide?

“Sakon-san.”

The djinns were gone, so Niwa asked her question in her usual tone of voice.

“What are you going to do now that you used up all your strength here? There is still fighting inside.”

“There are even stronger people in there, so it works out. And the Testament doesn’t mention Shima Sakon fighting in the Battle of Shizugatake. So,” she said. “My fight ends out here. Takenaka-sama said we didn’t have a good enough excuse for me to go inside and fight there. And…”

“And what?”

“Testament.” Sakon looked to Niwa. “You shouldn’t do that.”

Sakon used her gaze to indicate Niwa’s right hand. What’s wrong with my hand?

“It’s worse if you don’t even realize what you did.”

Did I do anything all that bad? she wondered.

“You cut it off! Did you already forget!?” shouted the mobile shell.

Ohh, thought Niwa, realizing Sakon was right: she hadn’t realized it.

And she more or less understood what Sakon meant. Sakon could feel pain.

“I’m sorry,” said Sakon. “I should have grabbed it.”

“Not really…”

If Sakon had grabbed Niwa’s wrist too, she would have cut off her arm at the elbow. If Sakon had grabbed her elbow, she would have cut it off at the shoulder. And if Sakon had grabbed her shoulder…

“–––––”

Only then did she shudder.

Only then did it hit home.

The neck and the wrist were both parts of the body.

Even if it was to win, that had been a hell of a choice.

Sakon spoke while sprawled out on her back. All of her injuries had regenerated, so it was only exhaustion that had her on the ground.

“People who don’t feel the pain won’t take care of their body, which is a problem.”

“But…”

“You need to take better care of yourself. There isn’t a single part of you it’s okay to lose.”

●

Niwa thought, If what I lost was important to me…

…Then I’m the same.

This applied to her and for the people leaving. She had been thinking about herself all this time, but…

…Yeah.

Would a true aide and supporter reach that point?

This wasn’t about protection or fighting. Those things were just ways to show off your strength.

Then, she thought in sudden realization. She must try hard to understand her opponent.

“I see.”

Just as Niwa realized she was actually accepting the changing times, she heard a voice from behind. One of her 3000 shouted down to her.

“Niwa-sama!” they said. “It’s best to push yourself just a bit too far!!”

●

The members of the mehter heard someone else say “that’s right”. They all said it and heard it.

The 3000 were a mix of genders and ages, so it was highly unusual for them all to agree like this.

It only happened when Niwa brought them all together.

But they weren’t reliant on Niwa.

“Play!”

Even without Niwa, they were musicians who could play their music. They were all the people who had wondered back home if they were really allowed to just play music all day.

Niwa was such a good fit for them that they had come to trust her. They liked her, so they wanted to do what they could to make a name for her.

She was a high-ranking Oda name inheritor, but her name didn’t have much of a presence in the Testament.

When the Oda clan was extending its forces into different lands, Niwa was the one who organized matters between the central area and the more remote areas. While the others were achieving great things in battle, Niwa was losing any chance at promotion by staying behind and doing all the boring work.

But that work was necessary and Niwa Nagahide was the one who had chosen to keep the Oda clan organized.

She had an eye for the age.

After all, the Testament said Hashiba would win the Battle of Shizugatake.

She was here now to take Takigawa Ichimasu’s place, but that choice was not a mistake from her position.

Niwa Nagahide had watched the change from an Oda-centric world from a different position than the warriors on the battlefield.

That was true of Maeda Toshiie as well.

Those two had preserved the harmony between everyone else, but that gave them a view of the great upheaval.

That must have been at times bitter and at times sweet. Everything declined eventually. Even as the bell rang, Niwa Nagahide had to keep moving. There was always another task to complete.

The same was true here. The age was changing. Some people were stepping down here, but…

“Niwa-sama! Let’s keep the party going!”

There was only one way of doing that.

“Play!!”

They all played their music. They blew, strummed, plucked, struck, danced, and sang.

Their song and dance no longer carried divine protection. It was no more than ordinary sound.

They understood that, but one of them spoke up while playing the guitar held under his arm.

“What’s wrong with you all!? Aren’t any of you going to quit here!?”

“Of course not,” another replied. “The divine protection’s gone, there’s no spell here, and I’m exhausted. But…”

But…

“It’s best to push yourself just a bit too far.”

“You call this a bit?” someone retorted and everyone laughed. And…

“Niwa-sama!”

They all spoke to their leader standing in the clearing.

“We’ve got an empty spot up here!”

●

Niwa sucked in a breath.

…God, it’s always something with them.

She had been fighting for so long. It was just a quieter sort of fight where she negotiated and demonstrated her strength as a coordinator.

As Niwa Nagahide, she had refused to lose and seen so many things through to the end. That had led her to make countless tough decisions and she knew she would do the same in the future too.

She was the kind of person who could cut off her own hand. But only when it wouldn’t hurt.

“Sakon-san. If you had hurt my people, I would have kept fighting.”

“Does that mean, um?” Sakon smiled a little. “That they’re all a part of you?”

“I wouldn’t be where I am without them. And that’s what makes it all so much fun.”

“I can’t compete with that.”

This meant a break for Niwa. The Testament had Niwa Nagahide side with Hashiba during the Battle of Shizugatake but then go his own way after seeing the pressure Hashiba applied to the Oda clan.

He had been disgusted with Hashiba’s attempt to rule over Japan.

He had been the eldest. Hashiba ended up dying just before achieving his goal, but without Niwa Nagahide’s presence acting as a wedge, he never would have gotten so close.

Niwa Nagahide was the symbol of the old age.

…Renewing yourself is just asking too much.

Do that and you became someone else entirely. So Niwa knew what she had to do now.

“–––––”

She sang. She sang a song of viewing the battlefield and seeing the differences between herself and those who would be retiring.

She wanted to let so many emotions out, but…

“It’s best if I push myself just a bit too far.”

●

Onitakemaru heard Niwa’s singing voice for the first time.

At Nördlingen, she had sung inside a special field. In the previous battle, her song had been offered up to her god, preventing anyone else from hearing it.

And now he heard…

“I came to love you by accident.”

He could hear it. No…

“My feelings have grown so much.”

He would listen to it.

“My feelings.”

Yes, I will listen to it.

“My feelings have grown so much.”

It was a love song. That kind of music did not belong on the battlefield. But her song was carried by the music arriving from the distance.

“Let me fly free like the varied tit.”

The words fit the music well. Or was it the other way around? But…

“I will not simply pine, nor will I hide behind a wall.”

Is that because the varied tit eats pine nuts and walnuts? he noted with a quiet laugh. What kind of wordplay is that? he wondered, but…

…This is a song of Niwa’s time.

Onitakemaru’s time had its own songs. And now the new music Kohime listened to would become the songs of her time.

These were not songs meant to improve morale on the battlefield.

But this was still a song of encouragement. It was meant to fully support anyone who heard it.

Niwa walked as she sang. Her final stage would likely be atop the fortress wall of ships.

And a lernen figur appeared.

Kuro-Take: “Excellent work, Sakon-san, Onitakemaru-san, and Ootani-kun.”

It was Takenaka. That she was contacting them verbally meant she still had a lot to focus on.

…The fighting must be intense on the inside.

Onitakemaru wanted to rush in and join the fight, but they had just finished battling someone powerful enough to conquer a city.

If they rushed in now, they would only get in the way. He knew that, so he looked to see what Takenaka said next.

Kuro-Take: “Niwa-san appears to be focused on leading her mehter, so if we interpret that as performing music to support everyone on the battlefield, we can use that say she appeared at Shizugatake on our side.”

Onitakemaru: “Why must things be so complicated? I would have hoped people had gotten more straightforward in the 400 years since my time.”

Kuro-Take: “I’m sorry to say this is in style now. Even more than it was in your time.”

That reminded him that Takenaka was long-lived.

After a long life, she would have her own circumstances to deal with. So instead of pressing further…

Onitakemaru: “Will you be collecting us?”

Kuro-Take: “I would honestly prefer it if you stayed put.”

His view shifted there. Kohime had gotten up.

She inhaled, and…

Kohime: “Are things bad inside there?”

Kuro-Take: “Testament. The enemy’s main force has emerged and is fighting back to slow our north-south pincer attack. The intel is confused so I am not even certain if Mori-kun has sent out his gods of war or not, but I do know Kiyomasa-san’s team has circled up to the southwest to meet with Kasuya-san’s team as they circle down to the northwest. From there, they will charge toward the center.”

Kohime nodded a few times and drew out a diagram on the ground. Based on that intelligence…

“50-50, I’d say,” said Onitakemaru. “The enemy is likely fighting back because they sent their people in to the west too.”

“Right,” said Takenaka. “But I do see a bad opportunity in there.”

“What do you mean by ‘a bad opportunity’!? Speak more clearly.”

“You’re one to talk,” said Kohime. “You call automatic doors ‘self-opening doors’ and elevators ‘elevation devices’.”

“It is called being precise! On that note, what was that Otafuku sauce they served with our food at Aki!? Otafuku is not an ingredient, a place name, or a person’s name! It tells you nothing about what kind of sauce it is!”

“Um, Takenaka-sama, Onitakemaru-san starts pointing out the dark side of society when he gets overexcited, so can you just move on?”

“Um, yes. The bad opportunity I mentioned is that Kani-kun was fighting in the center of the enemy formation earlier. And I do mean in the very center. Well, a little above of center.”

Onitakemaru knew who Kani was. She was a newcomer since the Siege of Odawara, meaning she had arrived a bit before Kohime. Her results in the records did not look too promising, but she had clearly just been up against some very formidable foes. She had nearly held her own against fighters on the level of Chancellor or Vice Chancellor, so…

…She could make a good rival for Kohime!

Was his refusal to let Kohime lose to her a sign of an uncaring heart? But a shogun is not meant to be tolerant.

Regardless, Takenaka explained that girl’s current situation.

“But I’ve lost track of Kani-kun. It’s possible the Shibata team took her away. It is also possible she was injured in some way, so I am doing what I can to confirm the situation down there. But with Fukushima-san still nowhere to be found, I am a little worried.”

●

“Deer-dono! I believe thou are taking us east of Shibata-sama’s formation! Oh, are those footprints from thy friends? Is thy homing instinct kicking in!? Left! More to the left, I say!”

●

“So Niwa-senpai’s out of the fight,” muttered Fuwa while surprised to realize she had expected this.

…But I didn’t expect her story to be resolved here too.

Fuwa had descended to the surface.

Or rather, to a grounded transport ship that gave her a good view. The new formation had already been formed and she was thinking up their next move while altering the overall flow of the supply lines.

…How long will this last, I wonder.

Omaeda: “Michi! I feel like you’re overemphasizing the importance of food supply lines. This seems to be giving us more work instead.”

Fuwaa: “the Shibata team’s supply lines are primarily fuel or food. Because this is a frigid region. Weapons and spells are of secondary importance. So instead of creating new routes for weapons or spells, it’s easier to just reuse the others. A container is a container, after all. I leave those decisions to whoever’s on-site and then I secure the routes. I’d like to have you in that role, so how about it?”

Omaeda: “It’s not fair that you don’t ask if I’m capable of it.”

“That’s true,” she said without apologizing.

Then she sent Maeda the updated routes for food and such. She had updated those countless times while here. With transport ships and warships capable of moving any way they wanted, the Shibata formation could change shape at any time. She felt like most of her job was arranging things so they used as little of their budget as possible.

But that would come to and end tonight.

Will I get another job? What if I don’t? she wondered. She could hear the artillery fire and feel the explosive blasts rattling her body, but that was all the more reason to think about the future.

…Will my academy uniform collection help me get another job?

She was trying to ignore reality, but whose reality?

She didn’t think it was her own. Well, if “hers” counted everything all around her, then maybe it did.

Really, she wanted to escape the fact that so many of the upperclassmen were leaving.

But she couldn’t focus on that. There was too much to do.

“There you are!”

A glowing line slipped past the flying artillery in the northern sky and flew this way.

That was one of Hashiba’s Technohexen.

She was flying alone, but she would have backup. That straight line soared across the night sky and arrived at a specific point.

The transport ship overhead remained afloat while carrying Kani.

The schale besen equipped with a white thruster definitely arrived on that ship.

Fuwa knew what the Technohexen was doing. She was there to rescue Kani.

Kani was currently immobilized within that ship. Fuwa didn’t know if she was injured, unconscious, or otherwise had her movement restricted.

Fuwa tentatively identified the Technohexen as Katou Yoshiaki.

With a schale besen capable of destroying a warship, breaking open that transport ship would be a piece of cake.

But if she wasn’t certain where Kani was inside the ship, the results could be tragic. Fuwa considered sending a warning, but then she heard a cannon blast overhead.

“She already blasted the ship!?”

Fuwa looked up and found that wasn’t the case.

She had definitely heard a cannon blast, but the force had been released in a different direction.

After arriving atop the transport ship, the Technohexen ignored Kani within and fired on the Shibata forces below.

●

Yoshiaki had been searching for her next perch.

She had been using the colossal skeleton, but it had self-destructed.

The next spot she discovered was a gyoza floating in the sky.

She thought it must have been a transport ship, but when she looked up at it in the middle of the battle…

AnG: “Kime-chan! Kanitama’s wrapped up in a gyoza!”

She hadn’t known what that meant. Well, other than that Angie was in the mood for Chinese food.

…The Azuchi’s dining hall only serves M.H.R.R. and Hexagone Française food, after all.

But after landing on that perch, she had found it was quite excellent. For whatever reason, the enemy wasn’t firing here, so…

“I can blast them to my heart’s content!”

Now this is fun.

●

“Fuwa-sama! Fuwa-sama! The Hashiba Technohexen is firing on us using our hostage Kani Saizou as a human shield!”

“Um! Um! Can we return fire, Fuwa-sama!?”

“Huhh!? I feel like there’s been a miscommunication! Something isn’t right!”

Omaeda: “Michi, you shouldn’t assume everyone thinks the way you do.”

●

Yoshiaki noticed a lernen figur had suddenly appeared by her face.

She saw it as a nuisance when she was trying to fire, but it could be instructions from her allies.

…What could it be?

She checked and saw it was a P.A. Oda and Mlasi style of lernen figur. It displayed the enemy named…

“This is Treasurer Fuwa! Listen! That ship you’re standing on-”

“Makes for a really good perch. Thanks, Senpai.”

Yoshiaki wasn’t about to listen to this obvious diversion, so she smashed the lernen figur with a chop.

●

Takenaka noticed a lernen figur had suddenly appeared by her face.

She was still out on the front of the deck just to be safe. It was chilly out, which was cooling her belly, so she thought it was about time to head back inside. But…

“Takenaka-san! This is Fuwa!”

She figured this was a diversion, so she smashed the lernen figur with Crus Fortitudo – Vetus.

…Fuwa-san must not have much to do over there.

The battle could still go either way and their treasurer should have been busy setting up their routes, so what was she doing making divine transmission diversions? But another lernen figur soon popped up.

“Takenakaaa!”

…Is she calling me out?

They had met a few times before and even spoken. They had spoken quite a bit during Fukushima and Kani’s training camp. Takenaka knew Fuwa was a good worker seeing how she dealt with Shibata’s ridiculous demands as on-site treasurer. But…

“Fuwa-san, try to be more polite.”

“Oh! I got through! Then listen! How can you tell your people to do these things!?”

Takenaka didn’t want to hear that from the side that had used a rocket punch earlier. But maybe Maeda had done that on his own and Fuwa hadn’t been involved.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your Katou Yoshiaki! Kani is trapped inside the ship she’s standing on! We have a hostage in there! Don’t you get that!?”

Takenaka had been following the course of the battle, but more recently, she had been waiting for reports from the battlefield. She checked and found the colossal skeleton Yoshiaki had been standing on had been reduced to ether fragments and Yoshiaki was now firing on the enemy from a transport ship floating above the center of the Shibata formation.

“Not using prisoners of war in battle is supposed to be one of the unwritten rules of the battlefield!” protested Fuwa.

Azuchi: “Takenaka-sama, they are the ones using the transport ship containing Kani-sama as a shield, so could you point out her hypocrisy? Shaja.”

Kuro-Take: “Um, you know I’m no good at communicating.”

The Boy: “Y-you could try to overcome that weakness!”

But that sounds hard.

Anyway, Fuwa’s side did have an excuse here. It looked like the transport ship’s propulsion system and float system were badly damaged, so they were waiting for it to descend on its own. Messing with it could cause it to crash instead.

…The only other thing they could do is support it from below with two or three other ships to dismantle it or to deactivate the float system and descend with it.

But they didn’t have time to do that right now.

Realizing she had no other choice, Takenaka opened a lernen figur.

Kuro-Take: “Um, Yoshiaki-san? Do you have a moment?”

Kimee: “Not really.”

Yoshiaki didn’t even hesitate.

●

Kuro-Take: “She says she doesn’t have a moment to listen.”

Fuwaa: “What!? How bad a communicator are you!?”

Kuro-Take: “A-are you saying you’re all that good a communicator!?”

Morii: “If I might interject, Fuwa-san has a boyfriend and is very happy with her life!”

AnG: “Ouch. Takeko just got murdered.”

That is about how it feels! thought Takenaka. But everyone finds happiness in their own way.

Kuro-Take: “Um, excuse me, Wakisaka-san, but could you speak to Yoshiaki-san for me?”

●

AnG: “Kime-chan! You’re standing on the gyoza with Kanitama inside!”

Kimee: “Angie, if you’re hungry, you can head down to the Azuchi to grab a snack.”

AnG: “That’s not what I meant! I’m saying that gyoza has Kanitama inside!”

Kimee: “Angie, I understand completely. But I do have a thought.”

AnG: “Yeah!? What’s that!?”

Kimee: “That doesn’t sound very good. It would probably get really soggy.”

●

AnG: “Sorry! It didn’t work, Takeko! I can’t get through to her!”

Unsure what to do now, Takenaka felt faint.

Fuwaa: “Your people need to follow the rules of the battlefield!”

Kuro-Take: “N-now wait just a second. We want to protect Kani-san. Of course we do. It’s just I’m not sure how we can do that.”

6: “If the Shibata Team wants to make sure Kani is safe, they can just let Yoshiaki’s bombardment hit them.”

AnG: “Classic Shouroku!”

It really was, but it also wasn’t a helpful answer.

…What now?

Autonomy could be a frightening thing. But just as she was thinking that, salvation arrived.

Morii: “Don’t worry! You can always count on a tentacle in your time of need!”

“Eh?”

Shibata looked to the Shibata formation. The Kanitama gyoza was floating in the sky within the defense barriers.

It was quite high up, but something jumped up toward it.

It was a massive humanoid figure, but it was not a colossal skeleton.

“That must be the rumored Boneless Man!”

Mori’s voice arrived over the divine transmission.

Morii: “Hah!! I can leap to that ship in mere moments!”

●

Yoshiaki reflexively shot down the figure jumping up from below the transport ship.

Her shot tore through it.

Hearing the solid hit made her happy. She had grown quite a bit since the Siege of Odawara. Weiss Fürstin and Schwarz Fürstin had been given additional features after discussion with the developers and several aspects had been improved.

So she couldn’t lose if she defended this spot. Except…

“Not good enough!”

Another figure arrived from below.

She had time to shoot it too. Another metallic sound of impact rang out as the enemy was blasted away.

But for a third time…

“Too bad! I can operate multiple gods of war at once!”

“Thanks for explaining that the third time around.”

She blasted it off of the transport ship, but by then she already sensed a presence behind her.

…I see.

“You combine a portion of yourself with the gods of war to control them remotely, don’t you?”

She turned around to see another identical god of war.

Its presence was the same as the earlier ones and it moved in just the same way too. Which meant…

“ ‘Boneless Man’ Mori Nagayoshi. It’s been since Novgorod, I believe.”

●

Mori was moved by Yoshiaki’s response. He had fought at Novgorod, but Yoshiaki’s mission there had been to support Fukushima and Kiyomasa’s escape.

They hadn’t even greeted each other there, but she still knew who he was and felt like they had shared that battlefield.

“You remember me!?”

“Yes. I heard that some gods of war possessed by a tentacle were thrown around a bunch and finally sliced apart. Since you’re still alive, you must be able to survive that kind of punishment.”

Yoshiaki nodded.

“So if I want to kill you, I’ll need to use a highly flammable incineration round.”

She fired.

●

Watching from a distance, Maeda saw the god of war on the transport ship bend its middle to the side to dodge. “Oh, my,” he said, sowing money around and moving to safety.

Omaeda: “Don’t do that, Mori-kun. You need to accept any gifts a girl gives you.”

Morii: “But I’d be in trouble if an incineration round hit me! Those are hot!”

Fuwaa: “We’d have a roast dick on our hands?”

Morii: “G-girls should not talk about dicks! Fuwa-san, you sometimes make me forget you are a girl, but you still shouldn’t do it!”

The tentacle was fired on again. Mori’s god of war bent backwards into an arch and then sprang upright again, but…

Fuwaa: “It’s hard to tell from down here. Did that hit you?”

Morii: “Why do you sound so hopeful!? I’m fine! I dodged it!”

The Hashiba Technohexen fired again, but not at Mori this time.

She sent a burn spell into the upper surface of the bent-together transport ship.

The cries of surprise told Maeda a lot of people were watching this.

The subsequent bursting sound meant the fire had been lit.

“Oh, dear.”

The transport ship burst into flames all around Mori.

●

“Wh-what just a second! What do you think you’re doing!?”

Yoshiaki tilted her head when the god of war pointed at her.

“Since I can’t hit you, I decided to just surround you with fire.”

“That really was the extent of your thoughts, wasn’t it!? Wasn’t it!? And what about you!?”

“Well, I can fly.”

“I see! Very logical!”

It felt nice being complimented. She laughed quietly.

“Thanks.”

And fired.

●

Maeda saw Mori’s god of war jump straight up and spread its limbs out horizontally.

Omaeda: “Your evasive maneuvers have a lot of variety, Mori-kun.”

Morii: “Th-that was too close! Can’t someone do something!?”

Fuwaa: “Hey, Mori! Is that any way to fight!?”

Morii: “Y-you already forgot what this is about, didn’t you, Fuwa-san!?”

●

Mori landed and immediately called out to his opponent. He saw Yoshiaki entirely ignoring him while she activated an anti-surface artillery spell, but he didn’t let that get him down.

“Excuse me! This is actually a very dangerous situation! I mean it!”

“I made it that way, so I’m glad.”

She said this without even looking back, so he had to let her know that was not how he meant it.

“Did you know Kani-kun is inside this ship?”

“Why?”

“Um, because she was fighting Fuwa-san!”

“The on-site treasurer? Why?”

“Probably because she was overexcited…”

“Is that why the ship is like this?”

“Yes! Because Fuwa-san got overexcited too!”

“I see.” Yoshiaki nodded and set the roll of coins that would be her next shell. “You really expect me to fall for that?”

●

Super Justice: “Ugh… I know exactly what that’s like.”

Kohime: “But you bring it on yourself, Ootani-san.”

Super Justice: “No, there are people you can get along with and people you just can’t! I learned that all too well while helping Kiyomasa’s team earlier!”

AnG: “Huh? Is that Tsugy? Hey, Tsugy! It’s me!”

Super Justice: “Nooooo! Someone from the latter category has spotted me!”

●

Yoshiaki saw the god of war raise a hand toward her.

“Please wait! At least picture what Kani-kun must be experiencing down there!”

“Testament. I can imagine it perfectly. Kani is eating tons of food and running around the ship. There’s a cat in there too. And it’s chasing after Ootani.”

Super Justice: “I cut my connection to that ship, so I am over here now!”

“Okay, no Ootani then. The rest stays.”

“B-but the ship is falling apart and there are no lights on inside!”

“Got any way of proving that when we can’t see inside?”

“Well, no…” mumbled the god of war.

A main cannon blast from Azuchi flew in from the north – her left – and slammed into the side of the god of war.

An unexpectedly light sound rang out for just an instant and the god of war vanished.

A sound like collapsing stone came from the ground to her right, which she interpreted as meaning the inconvenience was gone.

Then a lernen figur opened next to her. From “Azuchi”. Yoshiaki prepared to thank her for the assist, but “Azuchi” bowed and spoke first.

“Yoshiaki-sama, this is the video of Kani-sama being trapped inside the transport ship you are standing on. Please accept it. Shaja.”

●

Mori leaped up to the transport ship while trying to remember how many gods of war this was now and grumbling about how hard syncing his senses remotely was.

…Anyway, I need to make her understand this time!

The upper structure of the ship was on fire thanks to the burn spell, but there were still areas free of fire. He chose to stand in one of those and turned to face Yoshiaki, who gave him a raised eyebrow look.

“You trapped Kani in here? You monster!”

…Wait, what!? Did I miss an episode or two!?

He felt like he had turned on the show after not watching for a couple of weeks and then he was launched from the ship by a blast hitting him head on.

●

Yoshiaki understood the situation. Entering the transport ship would be the quickest way, but that wasn’t so easy with how tightly it was closed up.

…To make matters worse, transmissions can’t get in.

The ship’s power was focused on the exterior, such as the virtual ocean, so the divine transmission management was not being run. It was in defense mode, so the divine transmissions were locked down.

But that wouldn’t matter if Yoshiaki got close enough.

She opened a Magie Figur and placed it on the floor. She used that as a starting location to register the presence of the ship. This was the same method used to register with a Shinto shrine, but Technohexen could use it to control the land like a familiar. So…

“Kani!”

She sent her voice down from the Magie Figur and through the ship’s armor.

“Kani! Quit eating and wake up!”

●

AnG: “Kime-chan’s asking a lot again.”

Super Justice: “If you know she’s asking a lot, why don’t you caution her!? You should!”

Morii: “Um, wait. Does this mean all my efforts were wasted!?”

Fuwaa: “I think ‘Azuchi’ wins this round.”

●

Kani woke in a hurry when she heard a voice from the sky.

She had been eating. In her dream, it had been morning. Breakfast had been thick sausages and motsunabe while her parents cooked beef tongue. “Oh, this is my way of showing respect to Mori-senpai!” she realized as she woke up.

She opened her eyes to find complete darkness.

…It’s nighttime!?

That was accurate, but she didn’t think that was the reason. She was lying on her right side, which felt chilled. Her body heat was being sapped by the cold hardened wood floor.

Why isn’t it morning!? she asked herself and she quickly arrived at the answer. She had screwed up her fight against Fuwa and gotten trapped in a transport ship.

And now she heard a voice from what was probably the ceiling.

She recognize it as Yoshiaki’s voice.

“Kani! Are you awake!?”

“Testament! I am!”

“Kani! Answer me if you’re awake!”

“Testament! I aaaaam awaaaaake!!”

“Kani, I’ll blast through this ship if you’re still sleeping!”

It sounded like things were headed in that direction, which would be dangerous, so Kani opened a lernen figur. The ship’s internal divine transmission lines were down and she suspected the management system had been locked down in defense mode, but…

…That just means I have to get out of here!

This was just like a scenario from one of her textbooks, which made her a little happy, but it was also a problem.

She opened a divine transmission, set it up for a passive connection, and activated it in missionary mode. She would set herself up as the “field” and link to the outside world. And…

…Oh! I’ve found one ‘pagan’!

That was Yoshiaki. She sent connection authorization and the connection was quickly established.

Kimee: “Kani!? If you’re trying to convert me to Tsirhc, I will kick your ass!”

Kanitama: “Good evening! It’s great to see you again, Big Katou-senpai!”

She managed to respond, so she asked about something she wanted to know. The ship’s internal structure didn’t hit me because Sasamura acted like an umbrella! she analyzed.

Kanitama: “I smell smoke in here! Why is that!?”

“Testament,” replied Yoshiaki.

Kimee: “The ship is currently on fire. Which is why I need to leave soon and find another position I can use to fire down on the enemy.”

Kanitama: “On fire!? How did that happen!?”

“Well,” said Yoshiaki without missing a beat.

Kimee: “Mori was here, which led to a fire starting.”

●

Fuwaa: “She isn’t lying.”

AnG: “Yup, no lies detected.”

Super Justice: “A-as much as I hate to agree with you, that is accurate!”

Morii: “What she said is technically correct, but she isn’t telling the truth!”

●

Yoshiaki wanted to find a way for Kani to escape in a hurry.

…If I can’t use this ship, I’ll have to head back Angie’s way.

“But this hostage business is a problem.”

She did have a way of saving Kani.

Kimee: “I’m going to shoot vertically through the ship. Can you head down and find someone to help you there?”

Kanitama: “No, there’s something I need to do down there first!”

Kimee: “There is?”

“Yes!” replied Kani.

Kanitama: “I need to defeat Fuwa-senpai!”

●

Oh? thought Fuwa while putting together three levels of surface routes.

…So she’s coming here?

She must be injured, but she still wants a rematch? I might be in trouble, she thought.

But Fuwa was the upperclassman.

“Fine. I won’t run or hide, so run straight here. I will take you on and see you off.”

●

“I understand,” said Yoshiaki. The fire was approaching and she felt the heat on her wings, but that didn’t matter. If her underclassman said she would do this, then she had be supportive as the upperclassman.

Kimee: “I’m going to make my vertical shot through the ship now.”

Kanitama: “Eh!? Wait a second! Everything but the very center is buried in wreckage, so what am I supposed to do!?”

Kimee: “I understand.”

Yoshiaki gave Kani some advice.

Kimee: “Don’t let this hit you.”

Yes.

Kimee: “In a bit, I will count to ten and then fire, so you figure something out before then.”

Kanitama: “T-testament!”

●

Everyone fighting on the surface heard an impact coming from above.

They looked up to see what had caused it. A transport ship was floating high in the sky and some terrible sounds were coming from inside it. Based on what they could hear…

“Is the person in there in a big hurry?”

“Wait, look above it!”

The top of the ship was enveloped in burning flames and a white Technohexen floated above that, aiming a long anti-ship cannon straight down.

That was enough to have a general idea of the situation. As for the details…

“They must be in a hurry to escape!”

“So it’s an illusion!?”

“Hey! Rumor is she’s going to shoot within 10 seconds! And that’s Kani-kun in there!”

Everyone swung their arms up and shouted.

“Hurryyyy!”

“Keep at it! You’re almost there!”

“That ship is built around the center line, so keep on that line!”

●

Yoshiaki heard the people below shouting up toward her.

Kimee: “Everyone is cheering for me.”

Morii: “Face reality! You need to face reality, Yoshiaki-san!”

Fuwaa: “Mori, this thread I’m reading says you started the fire.”

Morii: “W-wait! How could anyone mistake me for a fire element tentacle!?”

The name inheritors were making a lot of noise too. Anyway, she had to count to ten.

“Oooone.”

Kani was doing her best down there. So to help her out, Yoshiaki opted to count slowly. And…

AnG: “Kime-chan! Now that Fuwa-senpai’s controlling the central flow of the battlefield, we’re being pushed back!”

“Ten.”

She fired.

Chapter 43: Faller on the Battlefield[edit]

If you can see it

And reach it

What is it

You still lack?

Point Allocation (Understanding)

●

Kani escaped the transport ship in the nick of time.

At first, she thought she should focus the Sasamura blows on a single point, but on the second strike, she realized that was a mistake.

…The ship’s inner armor is malleable!

That would only stretch the point of impact out into a loose cone shape rather than create a hole.

So she changed her plan. She ejected the eight Sasamura spears straight up like a fence surrounding her.

“To cut it away!”

This required some adjustment since the floor was a bit slanted, but she could tell it was working from the very first hit. The eight impacts formed sharp dents that seemed to lift the center point and then she sensed the outside air getting in.

However, the armor had multiple layers. There was also a vital space between the outer and inner hulls. So she hurried.

“Sasamura!”

She kept the barrage going. She broke through the first through third layers in no time. Once she arrived at the outermost layer, the center of the ship’s bottom hull came into view.

She stabbed four spears in next to the main frame’s keel and with the next four…

…I’ll alternate left and right, hitting with two at a time!

She spread the stabbing blades to the sides.

Her speed and accuracy passed through the weight-reduction holes in the main frame.

The impacts thundered out and sparks flew as the outside world came into view.

Her first glimpse down in a while showed the Shibata formation from directly above.

Past the widening tear in the armor, she saw so many transport ships lined up or moving.

Fuwa had planned out their next arrangement and the Shibata team was carrying out that plan.

The battle was not over yet. But…

…I can stop it!

Kani didn’t hesitate to choose a descent.

She left the ship.

She felt the wind on her cheeks and her hair tugging upwards as she kicked off the ship’s hull and leaped straight down.

…I can figure out where to land later!

For now, she had to hurry. She had to drop from the sky.

A lernen figur appeared next to her face, displaying her altitude as 820m and rapidly dropping.

The wind was cold, but she caught the occasional whiff of a metallic or burning tree smell.

She spread her arms some and dropped headfirst.

Her descent spell was only standard issue. She appreciated the reduction in speed it provided, but…

“Cancel!”

She was in a hurry. She belatedly felt a pain in her left shoulder. Thinking back, it hadn’t been moving well and she had been operating Sasamura exclusively with her right hand.

…Neat!

I only need one arm to control Sasamura!

She had the summer training camp to thank for that. She wanted to show it off. She wanted to show it off to everyone so badly.

She didn’t care anymore. No one was waiting for her, but she knew she could help stop the enemy if she showed up.

After near instantly falling over 100m from the transport ship, it exploded.

Yoshiaki’s bombardment had hit it.

Yoshiaki had said she would shoot through the center, but this was more than that.

“Way to go!”

Kani was being supported by people who could do far greater things than she could.

She understood that. And she kind of understood why Fuwa had come here.

Fuwa was an upperclassman and Kani was still an underclassman. It all came down to that. So…

“Here I go!”

●

Mori took instant action.

…I only have an instant to fight back!

Kani was falling from overhead. But she had too much speed. She would have to decelerate before reaching the ground.

So he would wait for that moment and strike.

For that, he hurried below her. He predicted where she would land.

“Fuwa-san, please fall back!”

This was his job. Fuwa was busy setting up new pathways.

…Oh, honestly.

Mori Nagayoshi did not directly fight in the Battle of Shizugatake. And, if anything, he was on Hashiba’s side. I’ll have to declare myself a mercenary after this is over, he decided, but…

“Honestly!”

He had to admit that his dealings with Fuwa, Maeda, Sassa, and the others were a lot of fun. And…

“It was Shibata-sama who made me Mori Nagayoshi!”

Just as he said that, he saw Kani in the sky above.

She was falling fast. But…

“Mori!”

He realized what Fuwa’s shout meant as soon as he heard it.

This wasn’t about Kani. In the sky far above her, beyond the explosion splitting to the sides, a Technohexen wielded an anti-ship cannon with her six golden wings spread wide.

Her wings, hair, and clothing were dyed crimson by fire and blew in the wind as she spoke.

“Don’t interfere.”

A straight-line anti-ship blast pierced through Mori’s head and the rest of him too.

●

Morii: “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! That was only my spare, but it still hurts like the devil!”

Fuwaa: “Got you right down the urethra, huh?”

Morii: “G-girls should not talk about urethras! Bad!”

Omaeda: “So, Mori-kun, you can’t stop her anymore, can you?”

●

Kani saw Mori’s god of war rupture and explode below.

Its head armor spit and the shell struck the bundle of artificial muscle within.

It was a brute force strike, but it pierced right through Mori, exited from his crotch, and struck the ground. The jangling of the scattering 500-yen coins sounded all around.

Mori’s god of war looked intact. But…

…The shockwave is coming!

It came.

A shockwave passed rapidly through the god of war from head to crotch. Its trunk instantly swelled out, but the armor containing it would not allow that.

Unable to release the energy by continuing to swell, something else had to happen.

Its arms and legs swelled and expanded toward the ends.

In an instant, its arms and legs seemed to thrash wildly before rupturing.

What had been inside the armor – it resembled flesh and blood – was violently expelled from the limbs. Once the contents began to empty out, the shockwave struck from within.

It exploded.

Mori’s god of war was converted into a mist even thinner than blood spray and it was all swept away by the shockwave expanding from within swept.

It was gone. All that remained were the torn constriction bands flying through the air. Kani let the blast hit Sasamura from below so she could ride it down at a sharp angle. By adjusting the angle seven times like that, she managed to roll down through the air. By the time she was right side up again…

“Dash!”

It felt like so long since her feet had touched the ground. Her enemy was in the center of the clearing up ahead.

Fuwa had already turned to face her.

Kani’s left shoulder ached. She assumed. But she was past paying attention to that. She ran and swung her right hand up from below.

“Sasamura!”

She ejected the first one toward Fuwa.

At a distance of 20m, she couldn’t miss.

●

Repeatedly, power was released between Fuwa and Kani.

The very first strike split all sound while the spear raced out.

The ejection spell did not just use the spell’s power to determine the speed. How long were the acceleration spells placed in front and behind the ejected object to provide it a stable ballistic path like a gun barrel would? And how much power was given to those spells? It all came down to those factors.

And when launching them repeatedly, fuel efficiency had to be considered and the spell system had to be made sturdy if it was to launch during combat maneuvering. The ejected spears also had to be re-stored later on, so this was far more than just a simple acceleration system.

It acted as a cannon and shell and so many details had to be worked out before it would function.

The first shot launched from beyond Kani’s hand was on a direct course for Fuwa.

This short-range, max-speed attack was something she had developed during the summer training camp for use against Mori’s gods of war.

“Two!”

Even as the first flew, she launched a second with even greater acceleration.

With a satisfying sound, the two attacks joined into one and flew toward Fuwa. But Fuwa raised her right hand.

“I’ve seen that one already.”

She launched an insha kotob, which accurately caught the incoming attack dead center.

And devoured it.

The insha kotob multiplied itself to create several layers which each shattered in turn. A heavy metallic sound rang out each time and Sasamura slowed.

And more insha kotobs were added.

Fuwa could stop Sasamura.

But Kani was still running. She stretched her arm out toward the two attacks that were still out of reach.

“Three!”

She struck.

“Four!”

And struck.

“Five!!”

She continued to strike. And once they were in reach…

“Six!!”

Kani shouted as each of the attacks combined into a single line. And she ran past the Sasamura spears.

“Seven!”

With another metallic crash, light scattered like flower petals above it all. But…

“Not good enough,” declared Fuwa.

Several of the insha kotob layers shattered, but the spears had not reached her.

They had been slowed and stopped.

Then Kani raised her voice as she ran.

“One!”

Not “eight”. She raised her right hand again and launched a new attack.

She left the seven combined attacks by her side and launched a new attack straight ahead at Fuwa.

It was on a collision course. But just before it hit…

“It’s no use.”

The new attack was stopped by a new insha kotob released by Fuwa.

“These are automatically ejected. Because this is my ‘land’.”

As if to prove it, the new attack was devoured by another metallic crashing. The flight speed dropped in stages.

The other seven attacks remained next to Kani and they were still losing speed. Seven attacks’ worth of momentum and speed must have been difficult to fully stop even with the staged deceleration, so the single new attack had its speed stopped first.

The one was stopped. The seven were still moving. But something else was still moving too.

Kani ran out ahead.

●

Oh, thought Fuwa.

…Has she figured it out?

It looked like it. But when Fuwa tossed out a few guide line insha kotobs and Kani dodged them all, Fuwa changed her mind.

…Come here.

You said you would come to me, didn’t you? So what will you do now?

“C’mon, give this your best!”

“I will!”

Kani brushed her left shoulder back with her right hand. That kept her broken and unmoving arm behind her. It was an absurd decision, but Fuwa knew Sassa would have done the same. And…

…Her “upperclassmen” intend to fight Shibata-senpai.

So Fuwa knew what she had to do.

She planted her feet firmly and sped up the deceleration of the seven spears. She also launched more guide lines.

“To bring you down!”

She added a new power to Kani’s calculation.

●

Kani ran.

The seven spears continued to decelerate to her right. And the one had been stopped to her left. She moved out ahead to leave them behind.

At the same time, the one on her left reached a complete stop. Based on the previous examples, she knew it would now be strongly deflected.

Just before it was thrown coldly into the sky, Kani spun herself around. Instead of using her injured left arm, she used a midair twirl to reach for the deflected spear with a backhand strike.

“Sasamura storage!”

The spear was deflected with a metallic clang and it vanished into the sky.

…Hurry!

She had no time. Every single moment counted for the timing she needed.

At the same time, Fuwa’s guide lines flew in. There were eight in all, but the number wasn’t the issue. Every single one was a danger. She ducked low, nearly entering a slide, to slip below the eight walls.

She could see her target: the lernen figur pierced by the seven Sasamura spears.

“There!”

As soon as she landed from her spin, she swung her right hand up.

That motion caused something to disappear: the seven spears.

She stored all seven that she had launched earlier and were still being decelerated. And…

“Fuwa-senpai!” she shouted while making her next move. “I will destroy that spell!!”

Kani passed by the lernen figur that had been focused on the seven spears. But in that moment…

“Sasamura!”

She launched a spear toward the deceleration lernen figur that had lost its seven targets. She slammed a new Sasamura spear toward the lernen figur wall that was starting to self-destruct as its safety kicked in.

After launching that one attack along precisely the same course as before, a light shined bright.

The light of destruction.

The deceleration spell was unable to stop the Sasamura spear, so it shattered into light.

The sound arrived only a moment later.

But instead of a metallic clang, it was a bright, high-pitched sound like a wind instrument breaking.

Fuwa’s spell was destroyed.

●

Yoshiaki watched it all from the sky.

“I’ve never known a treasurer who didn’t use a really annoying spell.”

She had fought Musashi’s treasurer at the Siege of Odawara and defeated him.

Below her now, Kani had shattered Fuwa’s spell.

From what Yoshiaki could see, it looked like a consecutive defense spell, but she doubted it really was. “Azuchi” sent her own analysis based on statistics and records.

Azuchi: “I can only speculate, but that spell is likely based on a Mlasi-style balance sheet calculation spell.”

Meaning…

Azuchi: “Fuwa-sama’s primary religion is Mlasi and Mlasi excels at commerce. They have a wide variety of calculation spells, many of which have been specialized for specific tasks, but Fuwa-sama’s spell must be able to lend and borrow ‘power’. Shaja.”

The spell took in power and released it as power. By including a Mlasi asset storage spell, she could accept and absorb any form of power and then return it elsewhere as-is.

She was only using a spell.

The power it released was “paying back” the power that the spell had “borrowed” and stored within itself.

Basically, Kani was fighting against her own power.

The more powerful and accurate Sasamura was, the greater a barrier that spell became. Perhaps she should take pride in the fact that Fuwa needed to “borrow” the power several times over to actually stop Sasamura.

But it had just fallen apart.

The previous Sasamura charge had contained the force of seven spears. And while the spell worked out the calculations, Kani had removed the source of the power and then hit it with something else.

That screwed up the borrowing calculation, so the spell had destroyed itself for safety.

It sounded simple, but was actually very complex.

This had required hitting the spell with a great enough power to delay the borrowing calculation, but if it had been done with just a single attack – no matter how powerful – just the one calculation would have been necessary.

More spears had been added repeatedly, but with gaps between and with great accuracy.

This had required storing the Sasamura spears and then ejecting one immediately afterwards, so it must have been tricky to pull off even with Kani’s speed. The single spear she had launched beforehand had likely been practice to make sure she had the timing right. And after making some last-second adjustments based on that, she had stored the seven and made her additional attack.

Fuwa’s spell had been forced to repeat the same calculations over and over but with the numbers growing astronomically each time.

This had forced the spell to carry out overtime work.

But what if all of that was removed without warning?

And just when it seemed like there was no more work to do, another precise job arrived?

Mlasi spells borrowed divine power just like Shinto and Tsirhc ones did.

God lived up in heaven.

But even a god would have trouble completing too taxing a task. That was why spells and procedures were necessary, but this usage had strayed beyond the spell’s intended usage.

…Jobs not covered by warranty will be thrown out.

So Fuwa’s spell had shattered. If Yoshiaki was going to name that method…

“I would go with ‘Special Attack: Forced Overtime Jab’. You’re not heading home at 5 today.”

AnG: “Can I protest that awful name?”

Of course you can’t.

●

Yoshiaki saw light and sound below her.

The shattering of the one lernen figur did not end the battle.

Fuwa opened several lernen figurs, but Kani sent a single spear into each one and immediately stored them again. The very next moment, she made another attack to each one, destroying them.

Those attacks maintained their speed, so Fuwa had to respond to them.

Fuwa held onto the power she had borrowed from the initial attacks and converted it into defense and attack.

The number of attacks was the same as before, but now Kani was moving ahead. She had to use two spears for each attack, but…

“Go,” said Yoshiaki. She too had increased her skill since the Siege of Odawara. “So I know you can do this.”

●

Kani kept moving while shattering so much light.

…I knew I recognized that!

The balance sheet spell responsible for the receipt and return of power was just like the one her parents had used back home. They used it at the end of each week, month, and fiscal year. During middle school, she had even elected to take a bookkeeping lessons.

This was the same.

It was her broken shoulder that had helped her notice.

When she had charged in, she had thought she would get through, but she hadn’t at all.

She had thought at the time she had run into a wall, but it hadn’t responded like a wall would.

How to put this? Instead of something solid and unwavering…

…It was more like running into myself!

It was like when she was walking down the hall or turned a corner and ran into someone. But when she had noted that she and Fuwa were the only ones here, it had hit her: Fuwa-senpai must be sending my power back at me!

So she had done it.

She had filled in the wrong field, just like she had done so often in her bookkeeping lessons.

You would calculate and calculate and calculate and just when you thought you were done…

“Have you ever realized at the end you were doing it wrong the whole time!?”

“Unfortunately, no, I haven’t.”

That must be why she’s treasurer!

During her bookkeeping lessons, Kani had felt minor despair as she wondered if she could do anything with the calculation she had, wondered how to get the correct figure, and wondered if she even had enough time left to try.

But looking back on it now…

…Thank goodness I was so dumb!

Otherwise she never could have dealt with Fuwa here. Whenever mom and dad saw my answer sheet, they would silently pull out their account book and teach me the right way to do it, but I just proved that those mistakes were a necessary part of my experience! They probably wouldn’t be happy if I told them, though. But…

“I can do this!”

She would do this as an idiot. She figured a smart person could probably manage it too and she knew this probably wasn’t the best way to go about it, but she could still pull it off. So in the end, it all came down to a single phrase.

“I’ll do my best!”

●

The fighters on the battlefield saw light shattering over and over.

“Hey, what is that?”

No one answered. Because they could tell exactly what was happening and the shattering light was always accompanied by a pair of loud noises.

They all watched as an underclassman seemed to dance through the air while wielding her power with just her right arm and an upperclassman responded by raising both hands and writing out countless calculations in empty space.

Their feet had come to a stop as they approached close enough to possibly reach out and touch each other.

“–––––”

They lowered their heads as if bringing foreheads together and laughed.

They bared their teeth in laughter and…

“…!”

The upperclassman took action. She swing her hands.

“Time to make up for my losses!”

She slammed a massive insha kotob forward.

It contained all the slight inefficiencies collected from her opponent’s movements and it was launched from too close to dodge.

The underclassman responded by pulling back her right hand and snapping her fingers. But not because any of her fingers collided or struck her palm. Her fingers flicked the air with enough speed to make a sound.

A moment later, something appeared: a large white and red spear.

The spear collided with the insha kotob wall rushing in toward her.

Everyone gasped at what they saw. Because…

“Just one!?”

The single spear stopped the entire wall of power.

No.

Some of them realized that wasn’t the truth of it. It was those who had only heard the sound – the warriors in the back of the encircling group, where they couldn’t see. They realized the truth while they intercepted the Hashiba forces.

The sound was different.

“Hey...am I hearing this right?”

Before, they had always heard the spear’s ejection followed by the metallic clang of it being decelerated.

But this time…

“The ejection sound isn’t stopping!”

It wasn’t just one. Kani was instantly ejecting the eight Sasamura spears and then re-storing them before their power could be properly calculated. Then she rapidly kept the cycle going.

The one spear so many were seeing was an afterimage. And…

“Ohh!”

The underclassman made her move while everyone gasped.

She spread but also thrust forward her still-snapping fingers.

“Thank you!”

She destroyed it. By sending a high-speed shape into the intercepting power that could be seen as her debt, she managed to overwhelm it before its calculations could keep up.

“Now I’m back in the black!”

With a sound like a wind instrument breaking, all of the upperclassman’s insha kotobs were lost.

The spell had been completely over-saturated, destroying it.

●

Fuwa smiled bitterly.

Her results were scattered all around her. Kani had destroyed them.

…‘Back in the black’, huh?

Didn’t Kani’s parents run a greengrocer? Fuwa could take a guess what kind of shop that was.

And looking at the underclassman standing before her…

“You must be exhausted.”

But she was still standing. She was even trying to keep her shoulders from slumping. But she couldn’t get her head up or raise her arms. Her left shoulder and arm drooped weakly, but the tendons in her right forearm were tensed and occasional tremors ran through the fingers.

She had steam rising from her, but her cooling spell couldn’t keep up.

She had used all her might to run around atop the ships and jump down from the sky and then she had unleashed everything she had all at once.

She probably couldn’t move any longer.

Unsurprising after everything she had done. So…

“I’ll give you this win, Kani Saizou.”

Kani had already thanked Fuwa, so she didn’t need to say anything. But…

“Now to pay your bonus.”

Fuwa tapped Kani’s head and light burst from her body. The ether light changed from red to yellow to white and her petite body gave a quick jerk. And…

“Eh!?”

Kani’s left shoulder still didn’t move, but she looked to her right hand with renewed focus in her eyes and face.

Her fingers were trembling, but she could actually move them now.

“I used the leftover power to give you an exhaustion reduction spell. I’m not nice enough to fully heal you, but you can at least walk now, can’t you?”

“Oh, yes! Thank you!”

Kani thanked her again after all. Then Fuwa noticed the encircling warriors had all turned their backs.

“We, uh, didn’t see anything.”

“I wonder how the on-site treasurer’s battle went?”

“We’ve all been running around in disarray since Mori started that fire!”

You didn’t have to do that, thought Fuwa, but that was just how it was. And someone now stood behind Kani.

“You’re Katou Yoshiaki, right?”

●

Fuwa knew the name of the underclassman who had nimbly descended from the sky.

She and her sister Wakisaka had both fought at Novgorod, but they had arrived after the fighting started. They hadn’t interacted with Fuwa there.

But when it came to combat, Yoshiaki was definitely Fuwa’s superior. Everyone encircling the clearing knew that, so while they didn’t actually aim their weapons at Yoshiaki, they did take stances that would allow them to respond at a moment’s notice.

All that aside, Fuwa was the upperclassman. So she tried to embody the confidence of that position as she spoke to Yoshiaki.

“Should I say ‘long time no see’?”

“Testament. Officially, it has been since Novgorod, I believe.”

Oh, she’s being polite. I’m glad, but maybe that’s only because I just got through fighting Kani. Yoshiaki then tapped on Kani’s back.

“Time for you to withdraw, Kani. You won. With that upperclassman’s spell destroyed, she won’t be able to manage the battlefield. But the Shibata Team has removed you from the fight and has me spending time to get you away. That makes us even.”

Kani nodded.

“Oh, testament!” she said…or tried to before she staggered and lost her balance, forcing Yoshiaki to prop her up from behind.

The exhaustion was affecting her body and mind separately. She looked confused, so the Technohexen tapped her on the back and smiled.

“The drowsiness always hits you a little later.” Yoshiaki turned a sharp look toward Fuwa. “But I should have noticed from above that the pressure used to level the land where you moved the transport ships was too great to have come from a person. You borrowed the ships’ weight and used that to level the ground as they descended. That’s why you were in charge of arranging the ships, wasn’t it?”

“Technohexen always get a bird’s eye view, so there are things you notice that others don’t, huh?”

“Testament. I appreciate the compliment.”

Just as Yoshiaki inclined her head, several cries erupted from the east. The voices came from a good distance away – past the clearing. Most of them were of surprise, but a few of them were…

…Screams!?

Fuwa gasped and turned to find a situation she recognized.

People were fighting, some of the screams came from allies, and the noisy commotion was approaching. It could only be…

“Oichi-sama!”

As soon as Fuwa shouted that name, a pair of silver flashes arrived above Yoshiaki as she held Kani’s shoulders to support her.

Those were swords as long as most people were tall. Oichi had launched an attack from the sky.

●

…She’s so fast!

It wasn’t that Yoshiaki hadn’t been prepared for an attack.

Just like she had reacted to Mori’s gods of war, she had an anti-air detection divine protection active, which allowed her to react far more quickly than the average person.

Oichi only could have slipped past that using her combat skills.

This opponent’s primary weapon was her mastery of ground battles: openings, distances, tempo, and making the first move.

At the same time, Yoshiaki had realized something.

Oichi made her attack from the sky behind her. That was an annoying location for a winged race.

If the enemy was simply coming from behind, she could spread and flap her wings to launch them backwards and herself forwards.

But that didn’t work when the enemy was both behind her and above her.

The enemy’s downwards trajectory could still reach her if she spread her wings or stepped back. And the weight of her wings meant she couldn’t get enough initial speed to escape forwards. And moving to the side would leave Kani in danger.

In that case, she thought. She opened her mouth while sensing the metal weapon behind her swinging down faster than the speed of sound.

“What took you so long, Kiyomasa?”

●

Fuwa saw multiple bursts of sparks.

To the west behind her, she heard her her allies crying out in surprise. She could understand why.

“Katou Kiyomasa!”

Kiyomasa’s unit should have been on the north-south pathway west of here. But she had come running all on her own and intercepted Oichi’s blades. However…

“Hee!” laughed Oichi, sending out several silver arcs without her eyes on anyone else. She was fully in slaughter mode.

…It’s like something from a button mashing game.

From this outside perspective, Fuwa could tell a lot had changed from before. And as Kiyomasa blocked the blows…

“Please stand back, everyone!”

She opened her autonomous shoulder armor and attacked with the two halves of Caledfwlch in her hands.

Several intense sounds burst out while fiery dust flew into the air as if from gunfire. Behind her, Katou Yoshiaki and Kani withdrew. They started on the ground, but by the third step, Yoshiaki spread her wings.

“Kiyomasa! We’re good!”

She held Kani under one arm and launched herself outside of the battle.

A moment later, Kiyomasa’s shoulders split. The 12 pieces of her autonomous shoulder armor opened to form a total of 4 shields that blocked Oichi’s two swords.

With Caledfwlch, she defended against Oichi with six powers in all, the noise of the blows crashing out. Only then did Fuwa realize that Oichi still hadn’t landed. She was using the force of Kiyomasa’s defense to keep herself airborne.

●

Kiyomasa unleashed a series of attacks and defenses.

She had Caledfwlch split in her hands and her shoulder armor opened as far as it would go. She hadn’t been able to respond to Niwa like this since Niwa’s attacks had been too heavy, but she could manage it when only fighting a person.

…My right shoulder’s autonomous movement is active too!

The extra processing provided by Ootani was working well. She normally left defense to the autonomous armor and kept Caledfwlch’s attack-defense ratio at 3:7, but now she had brought that up to 5:5.

That was more attacking than normal, which made her feel bold, but…

“I can’t push through!”

She couldn’t push back airborne Oichi.

As Oichi swung her massive swords, she used the force of Kiyomasa’s defense and attack to send herself back into the air, where she would spin around and attack again.

She kept the attacks coming.

She used her two swords with such great speed she may have been outdoing Kiyomasa’s six simultaneous powers.

But this was strange. Oichi wasn’t unnaturally strong. Her swords were as tall as she was and Kiyomasa understood they were designed more for durability than for their cutting edge, but Oichi would need the physical ability to wield them.

Then Kiyomasa noticed something about how Oichi moved while spinning in the air.

“Is she letting go of the hilt just after attacking!?”

She wasn’t swinging the swords along with her body.

She was more leaving the swords in midair and then rapidly rotating just herself around.

And just before attacking, she would grab the hilts again and drag them along with her spinning body.

…That’s ridiculous!

She was grabbing something stationary while moving at high speed. And so she could give them her momentum. That wouldn’t just hurt her hands. It would be like slamming your hand into a tree branch while you ran.

And if she was then giving them her momentum, the impact would reach her arm and body as well. The way you gathered strength differed between striking something and pushing it and swinging a heavy sword would be closer to the latter.

This method wouldn’t give her muscles time to fully extend, causing them to tear or otherwise damaging them.

But Kiyomasa saw a light.

While Oichi pulled off her intense midair motion and attacks, light shined behind her like an angel’s halo.

Kiyomasa recognized it.

“Testamenta Arma: Caput Fides – Vetus!”

●

“As long as they have faith, the bearer can never die of injury or illness.”

Kiyomasa had seen the records from Novgorod and knew the effect Oichi was using.

Oichi believed in the Testament and her death written there.

As long as her faith in a future where Shibata killed her remained strong, she was immune to all injury and illness.

Just like the right arm severed by Tachibana Muneshige at Novgorod had fully regenerated.

And her full strength showed no sign of stopping.

…Is the Testamenta Arma’s power reducing her exhaustion too!?

While Niwa had supplied a series of heavy attacks, this was a series of swift attacks. The weight behind each attack was less, but the incessant tempo was wild.

This was no dance.

Kiyomasa wouldn’t go as far as to say it was wholly unpredictable, but there was no flow to it. Each individual attack was coldly simple and clean, but she couldn’t tell where the next attack would come from until it was already on its way.

She was only able to react so quickly because of the experience built up within her autonomous armor.

Without that, she would have been sliced up, ending the battle quickly. But…

“I can react!”

She deflected the attacks.

Sparks flew and she sent out her own attacks as if slipping them between Oichi’s.

The blossoming flowers of sparks had the same color, but they had a different shape. At first, they were like dots, but they continued to grow and now they had a tail trailing behind them.

That was because she had begun to close in and lock blades with Oichi.

She moved forward. Her opponent continued to twirl in midair, but Kiyomasa moved within the series of attacks.

“Purge!”

So she could switch between attack and defense, she released her left shoulder armor.

●

That threw off her balance.

Kiyomasa had expected it and was prepared for it, but Oichi had been trying to break that same armor. So Oichi lost what amounted to her footing and she lost control of her actions.

Because her attack found only air.

The attack meant to hit Kiyomasa’s left side spun in a full rotation instead.

If the slash had struck, it would have sliced right through Kiyomasa’s left shoulder which only had her uniform to guard it now.

But she slid herself just a bit aside. The blade passed by beyond her shoulder, failing to hit. Oichi’s other hand was sending another slicing attack, but Kiyomasa struck that with the Caledfwlch in her right hand.

She had guided Oichi into this.

Without the force of both Kiyomasa’s attacks knocking her back up, Oichi couldn’t control her midair position.

With one of her attacks missing, she simply flew to the left.

Kiyomasa launched herself that way too.

Her left arm was a lot lighter without the armor, so she sent that Caledfwlch toward Oichi in the defenseless moment just before she landed.

●

Kani felt a chill down her spine.

Not because of Kiyomasa and Oichi’s offense and defense. Because of Oichi’s strange movements.

…What is that!?

Oichi had not let up her attacks since she leaped in here.

She never once defended. Even the interceptions that looked like defense would have sliced through Kiyomasa’s body if they had made it through.

But that wasn’t what Kani found so odd.

“Oichi-sama!”

Kani asked a question from within Yoshiaki’s arms as the other girl tied a rope to Weiss Fürstin and Kani.

“Um, Big Katou-senpai! Didn’t you do this to me before!?”

“Nope.”

“You did! On the way to Odawara! When you tied me to my futon!”

“That wasn’t the same. My thruster is more powerful now, so we won’t have to do a vertical takeoff like before.”

She’s so strict! thought Kani, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“Oichi-sama is going to dodge this!”

Kiyomasa was attacking Oichi while she was defenseless in the air.

But Kani had realized how Oichi would avoid that.

Thanks to the chill she had felt from Oichi’s previous movements.

“She’s going to cut through her own body!”

●

Kiyomasa saw Oichi split apart before her attack reached.

…Huh?

This wasn’t just a cut or a carving.

She was split right down the middle.

Her previous missed attack had sent her spinning backwards quite compactly.

But what would happen if she adjusted the course of the sword that missed so it swung right into the back of her body?

She split.

From Kiyomasa’s perspective, the attack from the back traveled from Oichi’s left shoulder to her crotch.

The sounds of so many sliced bones sounded a lot like rocks colliding underwater.

Then Oichi’s body burst open toward Kiyomasa.

The attack to her back had been so powerful that the force of the blow had passed through her faster than the actual blade, causing her front to swell out and rupture.

Inside her inner suit and uniform, the blade passed through the vertical gap in her ruptured body.

The lightly armored uniform was instantly sliced through and the blade passed on out from her front.

Its path was then blocked by the Caledfwlch that Kiyomasa had thrust forward.

A flower of sparks blossomed.

A moment later, Oichi was smiling past the blade that had sliced through her. Her bangs had fallen over her eyes, leaving only her grinning mouth visible.

“Hee, hah!”

Her high, trembling voice was not hoarse or singing.

She simply sounded delighted.

And Oichi moved.

Using the blade that had blocked Kiyomasa’s attack as a shield, she sent out the other blade. And…

“Hah, hee!”

She landed.

Her right leg instantaneously contacted the ground as if stabbing the foot down.

A moment later, her left leg kicked up at the blade she was using as a shield.

That also knocked up Kiyomasa’s left arm as she tried to pull Caledfwlch back.

…Oh, no!

Kiyomasa’s left shoulder had no armor.

Oichi had been attacking from above before, but the instant she made her quick landing, she sent out a kick from below.

Kiyomasa couldn’t react in time. But…

“Hip armor!”

Her heavy hip armor moved autonomously to guard.

It worked.

A metallic clang deflected Oichi’s attack. And Kiyomasa hurriedly pulled back her left arm and its Caledfwlch.

At the same time, her right shoulder’s autonomous armor blocked the attack Oichi sent in on the other side.

That was when Oichi sent her right hand out in front of her.

It looked like she was trying to grab Kiyomasa, but she wasn’t.

She instead grabbed Caledfwlch’s blade.

Her pale, lithe fingers were instantly severed and flew through the air, but she jammed her wrist onto the blade and…

“Heh, hah!”

She yanked back her arm to launch herself forward.

She can’t be, thought Kiyomasa and for good reason. The large sword deflected by her hip armor was still between the two of them.

Oichi’s body was sliced through.

The hand jammed into Caledfwlch provided the same sensation as when filleting a fish.

It sounded a lot like a bag full of water bursting open.

By the time Kiyomasa realized this had entered Oichi at the same point as when she sliced through herself earlier, Oichi was already right up to her.

Only Oichi’s smiling mouth was visible below her thickly falling bangs.

Her accelerated approach changed the course of the attack launched with her other hand.

Kiyomasa’s right shoulder armor couldn’t keep up with the change in Oichi’s movements. She sent out her right hand’s Caledfwlch, but she hesitated a bit because pulling back her left hand as part of the combo brought Oichi further toward her.

She was all-around too slow.

As soon as Oichi was right up against her, she sent out the large sword in her left hand.

Kiyomasa couldn’t react in time, so…

…I’m prepared to lose an arm!

●

She made up her mind. She would defeat this opponent.

Because…

…Once that’s done, we only have Shibata-sama to worry about!

Not counting herself, they had Kasuya, Yoshiaki, Wakisaka, and Koroku. Kani, Sakon, and Ootani were here too.

It was just an arm. She could always get a prosthetic and, if the cut was clean enough, the arm could even be reattached.

She might not be in fighting shape in time for Honnouji, but…

…Fukushima-sama!

That name came to mind.

It rose from the bottom of her heart.

If that name reached them here, she was certain they could win. And more than that…

“We will win!”

She wanted to win and save the world. And to make sure she could witness that moment…

“Resolve can defeat anything!”

At that exact moment, something flew along a straight line to arrive between her and Oichi.

It was colored white and red.

She could only make out the colors at first due to its sheer speed.

She had never seen this before, but she knew about it. It was…

“Kani Saizou-san’s Sasamura!?”

Chapter 44: Droppers Above and Below[edit]

Is enjoyment

The lack of difficulty

Or the ending of difficulty?

Point Allocation (Do Not Interfere)

●

The large metal spear struck the sickle spear held in the arm Kiyomasa was pulling back.

The powerful strike deflected Kiyomasa’s arm and obliterated Oichi’s arm.

The Sasamura spear was knocked away, spinning a few times as it seemingly rolled between the two fighters.

On the way, it caught the sword Oichi had sent out on the other side.

“Hee!”

Oichi bent back with a cry that could have been protest or lament.

“Ah!”

She roared. But by then, Kiyomasa had already moved away. And while Kiyomasa stopped to secure the shoulder armor she had earlier purged, she glanced over at Kani.

But it wasn’t just Kani. Kani had her right hand raised while strapped to Weiss Fürstin, Yoshiaki was keeping a cautious eye on their surroundings, and…

“Kasuya-sama!”

●

“Testament,” confirmed Kasuya and everyone else there turned toward her.

“Eh...ehh!? What are you doing here!?”

The surprise wasn’t understandable. Getting here had taken some pretty fast movement and she had even run along the walls a lot to avoid being spotted.

But she had something to say now that she was here.

“We can work together now. Because my group from the north has gotten close enough to your group from the south. That means we can perform pincer attacks and use diversionary tactics. So…”

Kasuya trailed off as she looked to Kiyomasa.

Because she thought Kiyomasa should say the rest.

…She must have come here for the same reason.

But when Kasuya looked to Kiyomasa, she saw the girl double and triple checking the connection after reattaching her purged shoulder armor.

“––––”

“Kiyomasa?”

When Kasuya called her name, Kiyomasa’s shoulders jumped. Clearly flustered, she took a look around and then turned toward Kasuya.

“Oh, yes! What is it, Kasuya-sama!?”

“Well, I was explaining why we came here on our own…”

“Oh,” said Kiyomasa again.

The look on her face said she hadn’t forgotten – it had slipped her mind.

…The battle is affecting her.

Her tension must have completely drained after the fight with Oichi. And she must have been aware of it because she lightly slapped her cheeks a few times.

Then she looked to Oichi.

The enemy was there. Quite high up. She was crouched atop the bow of one of the transport ships surrounding this clearing.

With the full moons above her, she looked ready to begin the hunt at any time.

She had not fled. Had she noticed the change to the flow of battle caused by Kasuya’s appearance? Or…

“Oichi-sama.”

Kiyomasa, who had come here for the same reason as Kasuya, spoke.

“Hashiba wishes for a truce with the Shibata team. Will you give us one?”

●

Kasuya sighed when she heard Kiyomasa’s request.

And Kiyomasa wasn’t done yet.

“Hashiba and Shibata appear to be in a stalemate currently, but that is only because Treasurer Fuwa-sama has been rearranging your transport ships and preserving your supply lines. That means Shibata has challenged us to a war of attrition.”

And…

“Niwa-sama’s battle to the south has ended. Now that we have secured the north clearing and established a base there, the Azuchi will resume sending transport ships full of supplies to us. The more time passes, the greater the advantage Hashiba will have. Furthermore…”

“Furthermore, I was fighting for Shibata before, but I have to switch sides before long.”

A voice came from the western pathway Kasuya’s group had used.

She turned that way to see someone wrapped in blue ether light.

…A nonhuman?

No, it wasn’t. She had seen him when she was training here.

“Is that you, Maeda-senpai?”

“Testament. Is that Kasuya-kun?”

With Matsu on his shoulder, Maeda took a breath at the clearing’s west entrance. He shrugged, looked across the clearing, and then looked behind him.

With the entirety of the Shibata formation in mind, the mercenary king spoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my mercenary contract has just expired.”

●

“Kousaka! The ghosts are withdrawing!”

Inada’s exclamation made Kousaka look up as she held the line along the north-south passage.

After Kasuya unleashed her true nature, field spells had been more effective along the pathway extending from the clearing. If that meant the local phase had changed form, then Loup-Garous were just plain overpowered, but maybe all spirit races were like that since the Fairy Queen ruled an entire kingdom.

…It’s all so far above the scale I work on.

This was the same. The ghost warriors had been so numerous and belligerent, but their invasion had suddenly stopped.

After checking the lernen figurs opened by their heads, the people wearing mobile shells began to shut them down. And then…

“–––––”

The ghosts began waving toward their brief Shibata allies and toward their Hashiba enemies.

…Are they leaving?

Most of them sank into the ground. If the mercenary king hired them again, they would likely go to him again. Either from the surface or from within the broken ground, bluish-white light rose into the sky.

Did that mean they had found peace? And looking closely…

“Eh!? What!? What is that!?”

The ghost skeletons formed a row in front of the nonhumans still in their canine or feline beast transformations, clasped their hands in worship, and prostrated before ascending into the sky.

“Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t normally get to see this in real life.”

“Why didn’t they come to worship you, huh?”

Kousaka made sure to elbow Inada in the side.

But with that great army gone, their surroundings looked so different.

The north-south path in particular was full of now-abandoned barricades made from barrels and boxes. Only now did Kousaka realize they had nearly made it to the center of the battlefield, but…

…Nothing’s happening because our leader and the Katou Team’s leader are negotiating in the center.

“Can you keep going, Kousaka?”

“Of course. It’s been a while since I’ve seen living faces. ...Stay focused, everyone!”

She lowered her rifle and propped it against the ground in front of her.

That was the signal to gather.

She thought to herself while focused on the hidden spaces behind the rows of transport ships.

…It’s hard to believe we were just fighting here.

It was quiet. Out ahead of them, they saw the thick dark blue moonlight shadows of the Hokuriku garrison.

Without the metal, gunpowder, and occasional flickering flames, she would have felt like she had only stopped by for dinner.

“Now, how will we end Shizugatake?”

She could not forget that having faith in someone was a form of power.

●

Kiyomasa spoke softly.

“To be honest, our primary focus is Honnouji. We never expected to escape Shizugatake unscathed and we are already worn down. So we have a suggestion for your Shibata Team.”

That was…

“If this does become a war of attrition, we will win in the end. That is unavoidable. But if we declare a truce or the end of the battle now, would you be willing to lend us your strength? So that we might regroup with the Hashiba Team and hurry to Honnouji.

“Because,” she continued. “Hashiba-sama has said she expects us to battle Musashi after Shizugatake.”

That announcement created a slight stir in the air.

The surrounding Shibata warriors were interested.

…Will this work?

As a whole, the Shibata Team believed in battle. They had followed Shibata because they trusted in strength. Shibata was a symbol of strength. But if he was lost, they would lose their place. For that reason, they would have been willing to die in this battle.

Kiyomasa was telling them not to do that.

“Separate from the result of Honnouji, we still possess the right to fight in the final showdown for this world. So will you lend us your power for that fight?”

“How about this?” said Maeda, raising his left hand. “If anyone wants to join them, I’ll act as the middleman. That is my job, after all.”

He wasn’t smiling. This was a serious offer and he meant every word. That told Kiyomasa something.

…If this battle continues, the Shibata Team will be destroyed.

What would they do?

They must have intended to fight to the end.

But now they had another option.

Of course, they wouldn’t jump at it right away. They had their pride and their obligations. But if those things could be removed, some of them would change their minds.

Explaining the advantages of siding with Hashiba was not the play here.

They needed an excuse or a justification for switching from Shibata’s side to theirs.

And she had one.

“According to the Testament, when Shibata-sama saw the likelihood of a loss growing, he had his men leave the battle line and gave them permission to join Hashiba. We are approaching that same turning point now. If it would mean following the Testament, would you be willing to make the same decision and lend us your strength in the final showdown with Musashi?”

●

…That’s right.

Fuwa nodded inwardly. Maybe it was because she had only just lost to Kani, but she found a solid understanding of that war weariness.

I’m so capricious, she thought, but it couldn’t be helped. They were past the point of acting on pride and momentum. It was time to start acting based on reason and the advantages.

Maeda had already taken Hashiba’s side and there were plenty of excuses to go around at this point.

…Sigh.

Had it been useful after all to move the transport ships to reshape the formation here? At the very least, she had brought things to a standstill.

Maeda had probably joined Hashiba because he had seen that. If they had continued fighting, he had known the mood of defeat would only grow and they would find themselves unable to back down anymore.

So as treasurer, he had agreed with Hashiba’s suggestion. But…

“Now hold on.”

A voice came from above.

A figure backed by the two full moons spoke with her hair swaying.

“You can’t end the battle now. If you do, who’s going to kill me?”

it was Oichi.

●

…You can’t do that.

Oichi had a concern. She had for so long at this point.

“Katsuie-san and I will kill each other. And he will win. That is my dream. Do you understand? I mean, look.”

She indicated the Testamenta Arma on the back of her neck and over her head.

It was her faith that kept it active. The Testament promised her death. As long as she believed in that death, the Testamenta Arma would protect her life.

“I am invincible until I die. As long as I have faith.”

But if they stopped fighting here, there was nothing she could do. When would she die? The disappointment would likely rob her of the Testamenta Arma’s protection.

“If you want me to seek somewhere else to die, why can’t I seek it here?”

No one said a word in response.

That silence was the sign of thought.

Which was more attractive: Hashiba’s excuse letting them survive or Oichi’s offer to truly live out their lives without regret?

She had just one thing to say.

“You can always join Hashiba-kun later on. I mean, Katsuie-san and I will die, but the rest of you don’t have to.

“So,” she said while stopping to think.

…That’s right.

She was relieved to find that everyone was uncertain what to choose. And…

“Oichi-sama.”

She suddenly heard Katsuie’s voice.

“We’ve got some great people working for us, don’t we?”

●

“We do.” Oichi nodded. “We really do.”

They did. That was the only possible answer. Because…

“Oda said they didn’t need me and that my power wasn’t necessary. Even though the Genesis Project is only something extra for me and for the world as a whole.”

But…

“Azai-san accepted me, but then everyone there tried to escape their duties. They tried to make me die. So I cut them down and left.”

And yet…

“Everyone here isn’t certain if they should protect me or not.”

It seemed like a waste to her.

And Katsuie barked out a laugh before speaking.

“Ha! If I’m being honest, I think our older people and Azai’s people wanted you to do exactly what you did.”

“Then why was I driven out and why did they pressure me to die?”

“Cause you’re so beautiful, that’s why.”

“Explain.”

“You’re beautiful, so they probably didn’t want you involved in anything dangerous, but they also probably thought you’d break if they let you go.”

He laughed again.

“In the Warring States period and the Thirty Years’ War, everyone’s gotta train up their power to kill. They didn’t want that for you, but when you chose an inherited name that eventually let you die, they knew that meant you had to be killed. You’re too beautiful, Oichi-sama. You’re just as beautiful as the Testament says, so everyone hesitates.”

“Is killing beautiful, Katsuie-san?”

“It is when you do it. Spine-tinglingly so. Makes people accept their fate to be killed by you. Cause they know running won’t do them any good.”

So…

“I’m not much for beauty myself, so it’s up to me to smile and accept every part of you. And…everyone who works for me knows it. Do you get it now, Oichi-sama?”

“Testament.”

She did understand one thing.

She only had to look at all those people standing uncertainly at this crossroads.

That uncertainty meant they had their own thoughts. So…

“They’ve all been with us this whole time. And now they’re considering staying with us even longer.”

●

“Then how about this?”

Kiyomasa heard a lighthearted suggestion.

There was still the possibility of a sudden attack, so after making sure Kasuya was still in a fighting stance a short distance away, she responded.

“Testament. What do you suggest?”

“All our people can make their own choice. I am truly thankful for all their work.”

Oichi sounded casual, but this was anything but.

…She’s relaxed a lot.

Did that means she was relieved? It sounded like she had come to terms with something inside herself and was relieved to find everything would be alright. And…

…I don’t think I would have noticed this before.

Before, Kiyomasa would have seen it as a simple exhausted breath or the relaxed tone of of someone viewing their next task.

But now she was certain that wasn’t it.

In this short time, Oichi had accepted something.

She had suddenly resolved a problem that was bothering her.

She hadn’t reached that point when this conversation began. It had happened when she was speaking with someone else just now.

“Testament,” quietly said Kiyomasa.

She understood.

She too had experienced a moment when everything changed.

Oichi had just experienced her own. That may have been why the warriors who had been fighting alongside her all this time did what they did next.

“Sorry,” they all said, bowing toward Kiyomasa.

Some raised a hand in greeting to Fuwa or Maeda.

“You go on without us! We’re not so clever, so we’ve gotta stay behind.”

They were staying here.

…Yes.

Kiyomasa had seen this as the worst option.

She had feared that Shibata’s forces would remain an enemy to the end. And that was what they had chosen. But…

“Oichi-sama.”

She made a gamble. With everyone siding with Oichi and Shibata, she still made a gamble.

“I leave the decision with your faith.”

●

“You do, do you?”

Oichi stood up in the moonlit sky. Her halo obscured the view of the two moons.

She bore no scar from being split through earlier.

She couldn’t just let the wind carry her sliced clothing, so she held them in place with a hand and smiled.

…My faith, hm?

Thinking on Kiyomasa’s choice of word was enough to make up her mind.

What mattered here? And if she was to protect everything except that…

“Then let’s make this a duel. Between the two of us and the people Hashiba-kun sent here.”

Everyone gathered below looked up at her.

“Oichi-sama!?”

“The rest of you only need to watch. But if you intervene...it will mean you tried to prevent my death.”

She smiled. It was a small but joyous smile.

“I understand it now. None of you want any more harm to come to me.”

The gathered warriors gasped. Some crossed themselves and some hung their heads.

“–––––”

Then they all turned around and made an announcement to the Hashiba representatives.

“You said we could do what we wanted!”

“So we will watch this through to the end.”

“But,” one of them in the back said. “You had better defeat Shibata-sama and Oichi-sama. Because that’s the only way to fulfill the Testament they believe in!”

Kiyomasa accepted it with a single word.

“Testament.”

She nodded once, rested Caledfwlch on her shoulder, and said it again.

“Testament.”

The name of the holy book. A word of acknowledgment. The sign of a contract bound. She meant all three at once.

She knew they would pick up on that meaning as she continued.

“Once thirty minutes have passed, come join us. We have our own preparations to make. Until then...Fuwa-san.”

“Testament. I’ll hand out the food stores we never got around to using. In other words...it’ll be a festival.”

Everyone exchanged a glance and an elderly man among the warriors looked up at Oichi and addressed her.

“Oichi-sama! You won’t think us ungrateful if we indulge!?”

“Of course not. It’s a festival, after all.

“Yes,” said Oichi. “I never imagined I would get to say goodbye with so much fanfare and a parting drink. You have thirty minutes. Now, how long will it take you to end this after that? I recommend coming to us as soon as you can. They must already be on the move over there, after all.”

She pointed south-southeast to show who she meant.

Everyone here knew what was in that direction. A pillar of light rose into the sky. And at the bottom of that pillar was…

“It should be starting by now. It is only ten till midnight. That should be when Musashi chooses to make their move on Honnouji.”

●

“Okay, we’re all ready! It’s about time we had the Musashi descend! We’ll depart and wait for our cue!”

Masazumi heard a burst of movement aboard the transport ship docked at the Asama Shrine.

The people remaining on the Musashi were leaving the transport ship. From this group, Mukai, Naomasa, and Neshinbara hurried down the ramp and into the pathway on the outer edge of the Asama Shrine. The Asama Shrine surrounded by its walls was visible at the end of the pathway, but it was a lot more obviously contained in its own box from here.

This must have been Asama’s first time seeing it like this too. She kept looking back and forth between her home and the large transport ship waiting overhead to purge the Asama Shrine.

“I just know dad is all excited about preparing for the purge in there…”

“Is that why Neshinbara is staying behind?”

“Why is Bara-yan staying on the Musashi?”

“Probably because he’s useless.”

Novice: “I can hear you! My job is to focus on breaking that code. There’s no point in being down there while I do it and, even if I did make a breakthrough, the transport ship’s divine transmission system might not be enough to get word back. It’s better for me to say on the Musashi.”

Everyone nodded in understanding as the transport ship rocked up and down a bit.

They weren’t departing yet. They were sinking into a hole in the Musashi’s base hull. That ensured they would be protected by the Musashi’s hull and its defense spells while also being taken down with the descending ship. Partway down, they would begin flying forward.

…We’ll be flying below Musashino to reach the Honnouji region, right?

So they weren’t going far for now. Only two or three meters from the dock. But…

“Ah,” said Mukai from the Asama Shrine side of things.

She waved and all the warriors gathered on the port side of the transport ship and waved back.

“See you laterrrrrrr!”

But they overbalanced the ship, causing it to rock to port. Everyone’s feet slipped below them.

“Ahh!!”

They all fell over.

Then Neshinbara approached, seemingly oblivious to it all.

“Hi, everyone. Work hard out there and wait for my report, okay?”

Everyone clicked their tongues and returned to their stations on the starboard side, rebalancing the ship.

Smoking Girl: “Why am I not surprised?”

Novice: “What was that for!? Why did you react like that!? Are you all just shy!?”

Naomasa didn’t wave, but was that her being self-conscious or was it just who she was?

Probably the latter, decided Masazumi as someone approached from behind those three.

Horizon emerged from a corner of the pathway, drying her hands with a handkerchief. When she noticed them, she went “oh?” and waved the hand holding the wet handkerchief before an automaton voice came over the ship speakers.

“Come baaaack!!! Over!”

They came back.

Chapter 45: Sign Givers at the Starting Point[edit]

Wait, wait

Did this all

Get really weird at some point?

Point Allocation (Seen as a Big Shot)

●

Musashi’s descent occurred nearly due south of Honnouji. Their initial altitude of 10km above ground was not their maximum altitude, but it was beyond what the primary ships of any other nation could reach.

Their distance was more than four times that. Their descent was done in stages alongside their turning and, thanks to the temperature differences between the layers of atmosphere, the Musashi’s virtual sea became an ejection of mist.

And, after firing its cannons once, the Musashi suddenly advanced.

This acceleration was only possible thanks to removing the primary hulls along with the other lightening and reinforcing procedures.

The sudden velocity pushed the mist surrounding the ship outwards.

A series of torii-style gravitational thrusters and acceleration lights emerged below the white scattering mist.

As the eight massive ships dropped down, they pursued their own shells to slip below the interception attacks aimed higher up.

Honnouji could not readjust the angle of their cannons in time. Only the ships and cannons that happened to be in a good position managed to fire shells with kinetic homing or guidance applied. But among those…

“This spot should work!”

Several shapes passed north to south by Honnouji’s pillar of light and approached the Musashi.

They were transport ships. A total of 32 had been converted into unmanned projectiles. They had all been used to transport materials to Honnouji and had been converted after completing their duties.

To increase their accuracy and stopping power, the bows had been given log shapes. They pushed at the air with a deep rumbling, but they completed their long midair approach run to charge toward the Musashi.

However, at the very instant it was all to hit, the Musashi was bathed in the color white.

All eight of the ships had concentrated their virtual oceans on the starboard bow.

This applied a powerful braking effect to the starboard bow. And the port stern on the reverse side slid forward thanks to the acceleration.

While the eight ships advanced at high speed, their rear ends spun left to the west.

A moment later, the Musashi’s starboard thrusters launched their acceleration light outwards.

That was the gravitational cruising system. While the light condensed and the area around the thrusters darkened, the compressed light finally scattered as shards of light while blasting the great mass in the opposite direction.

This applied a massive 8-ship drift to leftward-swinging Musashi.

The wobbling kick of acceleration was powerful and all eight ships entered the drifting trajectory nearly instantaneously.

They moved nimbly.

And while it rotated through the sky like that, something happened at the point it had just vacated.

“Damn!”

The 32 transport ships and all the artillery fire passed on through.

The guidance and homing couldn’t keep up. Everything missed its mark and flew on through the moonlit sky.

“Defense!”

To counterattack, the secondary cannon fire the Musashi had released earlier detonated on the anti-air weaponry on the front side of Honnouji.

But that wasn’t all.

“Watch out to the west!”

While the Musashi rotated from the western sky to the northwestern sky, they fired from their side.

The sounds of artillery fire came from much too close. The sound of the air splitting was a lot like thunder, but the blasts did hit.

They scored a direct hit.

●

Suzu was managing all of the maneuvering from the Musashino bridge she had hurried to.

The high-speed drift was based on the records from entering England. That had been done while damaged by the San Martín, but conditions were different this time.

“We’re in much…better condition!”

They were unharmed and they had no central mass.

She had done some joint drifting with transport ships during the Kantou Liberation and this was a lot like that.

She held the Musashi model and checked its balance as she thought to herself.

…This will…work.

“I’m…starting!”

She had to hurry. Hurry a lot.

First, she drew out the maneuver lines for the Musashi’s 8 ships. And at the same time…

…The wind!

Honnouji was located atop a wide, flat hill-like mountain. In the Kyou region, most of the wind arrived from the northern sea during the day and passed over Lake Biwa to leave to the east or south.

The opposite happened, albeit less strongly, during the night.

Honnouji on its hill was a lot like the parting point for the wind. The weak winds moving from south to north would split to the east or west around Honnouji and then rejoin to continue on north.

“U-um.”

The drift had already begun.

Circling Honnouji from south to west was easy.

By riding the wind avoiding Honnouji to the west, she could get the general course needed. Of course, the Musashi was moving a lot faster than the wind, so when “riding” it, they would fly on past it.

Circling to the north was a lot harder because the wind coming around from the east fought against them. So…

“Ahead!”

She had the wind drawn out with her fingers move out ahead. The Musashino bridge’s processing power and her own senses worked together to read in and draw out the massive winds up to 20 seconds into the future. It all moved exactly as drawn, so the world of 20 seconds into the future was constantly produced by her hands.

The future was in motion. The as-yet-unseen time took shape and the winds she created washed over her.

When the air movement she drew circled around Honnouji’s hill, some of it followed the slope around and some of it moved away from the hill. Where did it split and where was it rejoined? She reached out her drawing fingers to search for the answer.

…Here.

Probably here. No, definitely here. This is where everyone can say “see you later” as we split apart, but the delinquent winds will try to climb the hill.

Delinquent.

Mitotsudaira-san used that word earlier. It’s kind of cool. Yes, I’d never thought about it before, but I’m a delinquent too. I wonder what mom and dad would think if I told them? But…

“I’m…a delinquent.”

Just kidding. If I said that and struck a pose, I’d be just like Neshinbara-kun.

●

Musashino: “Attention, all ships! Suzu-sama has declared herself a delinquent! Over!”

Asakusa: “Is that a top-down declaration that the Musashi as a whole is to be a delinquent, ‘Musashino’!? Over.”

Kokubunji: “Just out of curiosity, I will ask even though I am not part of the Top 9: which one of us is a delinquent exactly? Over!”

Tama: “ ‘Kita-Senju’? Over.”

Kita-Senju: “H-hey, stop that! I am on Asakusa, so that is beyond your authority to declare, ‘Tama’! Although it is true the nonhumans play strange sounds in the public squares of my jurisdiction to keep the delinquents from gathering there at night. But ‘Tenmacho’ is way worse in that regard if you ask me! Over.”

Tenmacho: “Wh-why would you say that, ‘Kita-Senju’!? I contain the prison, so my people are criminals, not delinquents! Those are not the same thing! Over!”

Murayama: “If Suzu-sama has declared herself a delinquent, wouldn’t that make the biggest delinquent either ‘Okutama’ or ‘Musashino’? Over.”

Okutama: “Eh? N-now wait just a second! I have a lot of students here, so that policy will turn me into a lawless hell ship! Over.”

Musashi: “Calm down. You all are captains and navigators, so run proper simulations. For example, if I were to become a delinquent, I would not serve Sakai-sama his tea promptly, I would feed him nutrition-focused foods he dislikes, and I would fail to wake him on time in the mornings. And I am confident I could carry out these delinquent duties quite easily. Over.”

Almost Everyone: “You already do those things! Over.”

●

Suzu found it odd that some of the automata on the bridge held their hands behind their hips and stood tall while others began hopping in protest in front of the others, but she continued her work.

She had read the wind.

When the wind moved from north to east, it would rise, but it would ultimately complete the circuit back to its original location.

That meant no deceleration thrust was needed, which would make the Musashi’s fuel calculations a lot easier.

So she swept her fingers along the blow line of the semicircle of wind moving from north to east and then south, confirming it. Once that was converted into data, the automata would provide the optimal maneuvering and fuel usage.

She wanted to cheer on the wind rising along the hill, but she couldn’t touch it. It was already confirmed. So after that, she drew in the locations of the enemy cannons and ships she had picked up along the way. And…

“Fire!”

●

“Oh, wow,” said Asama as she watched the Honnouji-centered footage on her Branch and Leaf Connection targeting divine protection spell opened in a hemisphere in front of her.

Branch and Leaf Connection had originally been created for air defense of the Ariake, but by resizing it, it could be opened as a visualization spell. By projecting an image on the interior of the hemisphere, it could display a 3D image, so she primarily used it to show the area around the Musashi.

Currently, it was displaying the model data created by Suzu on the Musashino bridge.

The Musashi’s high-speed drift allowed the ship to stably move around to the north of Honnouji. Suzu was doing a great job.

Uqui: “The trailing clouds she drew overlap nicely.”

Urquiaga was right. As the clouds spread out like ripples, they overlapped into a multilayered image. The shape appeared to obey some kind kind of geometric law, which meant Suzu was doing a good job piloting.

“Heh heh. She did get some exciting practice with transport ships during the Kantou Liberation.”

“I seem to recall some transport ships colliding near Edo Bay,” added Narumi.

That comment brought the memories back.

…Mito’s mom was something else.

Asama realized most everyone was looking Mitotsudaira’s way. The wolf was munching on some portable food and viewing the diagram of Honnouji, but she eventually noticed the attention.

“Wh-what do you all want!?”

“Oh, well, just thinking that a lot’s happened.”

A lot really had happened. And a lot was probably going to happen in the future, but…

…This should be a major break point.

The Honnouji Incident.

The Genesis Project.

The state of the world and a way to stop the Apocalypse. They should learn so much about it all here.

And right here at the entrance to all that…

“Oh.”

The Musashi’s movement changed. Asama knew a lot of buffering spells had been applied, but she could still sense the movement pushing them starboard.

“We have circled to the north of Honnouji and now the wind is passing us to continue north,” said Tenzou.

The pillar of light rising from Honnouji was visible past the bow. They were sunken into the Musashi’s hull, so while it felt like nothing was moving around them, Asama’s Branch and Leaf Connection showed that the Musashi had completed the half-circle of its drift and attack.

A report from the Musashino bridge said Suzu had declared herself a delinquent, but what was that about? It was cute to imagine, but even if she were to start carrying around a hammer or that nail bat that Persona-kun kept in his locker, it probably wouldn’t amount to anything more than a fashion statement. But when is Persona-kun going to use that?

At any rate, with the half circle complete, it was time to circle around from the enemy’s back to their side, but…

“They’re going to respond soon.”

As soon as the words were out of Narumi’s mouth, red warning sign frames appeared next to the officers’ faces. Another one opened by Asama’s hands.

Asakusa: “A Honnouji defense fleet is ascending off the port bow! Over.”

●

Mitsunari thought up several excuses.

Excuses for why she was here at Honnouji.

…Will they work?

To start with, the Testament said the Honnouji Incident came as a surprise for Nobunaga.

So Nobunaga only had a few people with him and there had been little, if any, defense.

That meant there shouldn’t have been a defense fleet here, but there were conditions that allowed it.

First, the defense fleet was unmanned.

Second, the defense fleet was OS controlled.

Third, the control OS had a single personality.

“Thus, if I am controlling every ship, I am the only one participating.”

Furthermore, Ishida Mitsunari didn’t appear at Honnouji either, but she had an out there.

…Because Sassa-sama showed up!

She hadn’t seen him yet, but Hashiba had greeted him earlier.

A name inheritor of Sassa’s level was participating as an ordinary warrior. Whereas I’m more or less unknown at this point in the Testament, so it has to be okay for me to be here too, right!?

AnG: “Nari Nari, are you using a really forced excuse?”

Nari Nari Nari: “H-how is it forced!? And aren’t you fighting a battle right now!?”

Kimee: “We’re on a thirty minute break. After getting some rest and making some repairs, we have to decide who’s going to duel Shibata-senpai and Oichi.”

Black Wolf: “So how are things on your end?”

Nari Nari Nari: “T-to make a long story short, I’m in recovery mode!”

Now was the time to rearrange her fleet and fight back.

●

It wasn’t that Mitsunari hadn’t expected Musashi to circle around to either the right or left.

She had records of the Musashi’s maneuver when entering England, as well as how their transport ships moved during the Kantou Liberation. She just hadn’t fully understood what led up to those actions.

It all happened too fast.

As the Musashi purged their primary hulls, a similar policy had been underway for the Azuchi.

But the Azuchi was a warship. Structurally, there were parts that could not be removed. How did the Musashi compare there? She had run simulations, but its actual movement had differed.

She had understood up through its charge straight toward Honnouji. It was after that that things changed. The Musashi had demonstrated excellent determination and their nimbleness had exceeded her expectations.

The records said the acting captain was an ordinary student named Mukai Suzu.

It made no sense for someone who was neither an officer nor a name inheritor to have the role of acting captain for such a large ship.

So Mitsunari had dug deeper and discovered a certain fact: that girl’s family ran a bathhouse.

…Does that have anything to do with anything!?

That she had congenital visual impairment seemed like a more understandable explanation.

But Mitsunari had been too slow to react to the speed and variety of the Musashi’s maneuvering. Of course, there had only been two options: left or right. Once she knew which one they had chosen, she had decided to get a fresh start.

She made some adjustments.

There were a few more issues she had to watch out for. Based on those, she decided to place her interception fleet in the center.

The Musashi circled around from the west, destroying her fleet. That had been her mistake. She would accept the responsibility for that, but she would also make what maneuvers she could and fire when possible.

She wanted to wear down the Musashi as much as she could. And more than that…

…I must challenge them!

There was one thing she needed to do in order to protect Honnouji. And to do that…

“The defense fleet is ascending east of Honnouji. I am preparing a counterattack on the assumption the Musashi will be facing me from the south!”

●

The first to notice was “Asakusa”, the 1st port ship at the leading edge of the drift.

Based on a scan by “Ueno” below her, the rising enemy fleet had begun to move and line up. Suzu confirmed that fleet consisted of two P.A. Oda ironclad ships and eight M.H.R.R. battleships.

Of the eight M.H.R.R. ones, four were positioned east of Honnouji and rapidly turning toward the Musashi.

They were acting as a diversion to give the two ironclad ships and the remaining four battleships time to turn and face the Musashi. That was clearly the plan.

Asakusa: “ ‘Musashino’, at this rate, the two ironclad ships and the four battleships will be facing us in 32 seconds. What shall we do? Over.”

Musashino: “We will continue as planned. This is not a problem. ‘Musashi’-sama. Over.”

The final decision was left with the executive captain. And everyone heard the decision “Musashi” made as their leader.

Musashi: “Judge. We will now begin the firing sequence for our Large Kanesada main cannon.”

●

“Musashi” continued speaking.

Their drift had shifted into braking and the ships fired on the enemy ships as her voice rang out.

Musashi: “This request was made by Musashi Ariadust Academy Chancellor Aoi Toori-sama and Vicereine Horizon Ariadust-sama. Musashi Ariadust Academy Vice President Honda Masazumi-sama will act as intermediary. The objective is to temporarily destroy the ley line pathway in order to prevent the Honnouji ley line reactor from overloading.”

“Listen,” said “Musashi”.

Musashi: “All hands, prepare to activate ACC-GC0021 Kanesada aerial-city-class gravity control cannon. The main barrel shall be in ACC-GC0021L Large Kanesada mode. Over.”

●

Yasuke heard an “oh?” from Ranmaru as she looked up into the eastern sky.

Alerts currently filled all the buildings and surrounding areas within Honnouji.

Everyone was to take shelter within the sturdy Honnouji storehouses. The warriors were temporarily withdrawing to there, but Ranmaru showed no sign of hurrying and instead assessed the eight giant ships sliding through the night sky.

“That is Large Kanesada. This means the current engineers have finally begun to build ship armaments that could reach the level of those during the Age of the Gods.”

Meanwhile, the Musashi’s ships expanded the outer wings used for gravitational cruising.

“Their piloting is excellent too. It wouldn’t be a ship cannon if it couldn’t be fired while in motion.”

“Ranmaru-kun! Stop assessing them and take refuge!”

“Yasuke-sama, if a cannon of that class struck here, no refuge would save us. I must question why you are in such a hurry. Should I write ‘here lies a half-dragon who panicked in the face of death’ on your grave?”

“Ranmaru-kun! You’d have a hard time writing that when you’d probably be dead too!”

“Must you point out the obvious, Yasuke-sama? Besides, it would be the tombstone maker who wrote it.”

Fed up with arguing, Yasuke scooped Ranmaru up and dashed toward the nearest storehouse.

He did his very best to ignore his men’s comments of “oh, lucky!” Are you sure you want someone who’s very presence causes stress!? Do you really!? Regardless, he had a command to give them.

“Take shelter!!”

●

Suzu made use of the 20 seconds she had earned. While the Musashi completed its drift and faced toward Honnouji, she had to get Large Kanesada ready.

So she spent the 20 seconds on that.

After those 20 seconds, the Musashi had to be ready to fire Large Kanesada.

But how could she complete those preparations fastest?

“Give me data…on the parts being transformed!”

She received heat sources. While the Musashi model transformed, the parts that hadn’t finished transforming were given arrow-shaped points of heat indicating the direction of their movement.

Tens of thousands of numbers and shapes were instantly added in the medium of heat, so she could tell the Musashi was in a hot condition.

…Yes.

There were a lot of transforming parts, but she could tell which ones were important.

And they were still drifting.

When firing Kanesada in midair, the ship’s stability was maintained by directing the gravity thrusters downward to put the ship in vertical ascent mode.

But that was only the best case scenario and it wasn’t done when they were in a hurry. When they had hurried to Novgorod, their first Kanesada blast had been done during a side flip.

Doing it during a drift was easy compared to doing it while controlling a side flip.

The Musashi’s altitude was dropping. Different parts had to be restructured for Large Kanesada, so their gravitational cruising weakened quite a bit.

That was fine.

In 20 seconds, the Musashi would be descending in stages. But Suzu still reached for the heated points and accurately but quickly went through the firing sequence process. So…

“Starboard thrusters…point down… All ships…turn and…maintain uniform velocity!”

●

“Asakusa and Shinagawa, starboard gravitational cruising thrusters directed downwards! Over!”

“Tama and Murayama, same! Over!”

“Takao and Oume as well! Over!”

“Musashino and Okutama too! Over!”

“Judge.” “Musashi” nodded. “She stood atop Musashino’s bridge. She drew the pair of swords at her hips in the wind that reached her even through the buffering spells and confirmed all ships were prepared to fire.

“All ships, firing form confirmed. Over.”

The towing belts loudly stretched and sparks flew from the edge of the 3rd port and starboard ships.

That was fine. The drift was approaching its end. The four battleships that had ascended east of Honnouji had been broken through with concentrated fire.

The remaining two ironclad ships and four battleships out ahead were nearly untouched, but that too was fine.

…We can blow them away with Large Kanesada.

Okutama: “ ‘Musashi’-sama! Everything is in place! Over!”

Excellent timing. They had sped up the process since last time. That would be because they let Suzu determine the order of priority and they also know what they needed to do to assist.

If they studied this, they would be even faster next time.

…I have determined that makes us sound like a warship, which would probably delight Masazumi-sama.

“Tilt the bow down. Target the crust below Honnouji. Over.”

“Musashi” pulled back her swords and swung her arms into position.

A moment later, light gathered on Musashino’s bow, formed ribbons, and raced on the left and right toward Okutama. The glowing white ribbons tied together at Okutama’s stern, securing the two ships together. Musashino and Okutama were linked with an action more like bringing pieces of cloth together than machines. After checking the status of that on a sign frame, “Musashi” spoke.

“Masazumi-sama. The firing sequence is complete. Please get ready. Over.”

●

Their view tilted forward. The pillar of light rising into the center of the night sky illuminated the distant hill, the forested land, and the great roof visible at its base.

Masazumi looked out ahead and below.

The Musashi was targeting the ground below Honnouji. Once the ship tilted that far, she would only be able to see the ground.

Then their transport ship shook.

Downwards. They passed by the Asama Shrine and flew toward Okutama’s bow.

There was no need to fly up top.

Okutama had surrounded them as a barrier this long and now it was tilting like a glass spilling its water. They simply had to let that tilt take them.

“Musashi Large Kanesada – main barrel open.”

When Masazumi spoke into the sign frame, light raced back and forth through the sky. An ether barrel was rapidly forming to the front and back of the emitter below Musashino’s bridge.

At the same time, six sign frames appeared. From the captains of the port and starboard ships. They spoke as one.

“Musashi ships – beginning main barrel service. Over.”

The rear of the barrel extended this way. The great barrel forming a glowing axis jutted out toward the transport ship beginning to move forward from the Asama Shrine as the Musashi tilted.

The rest was simple. The idiot had already activated his ether supply spell. So…

“Hey.”

Masazumi called out to him and he turned around. He clapped his hands with Asama behind him.

In that moment, several ether lines shot from his back and into the sky. Twenty to the right and twenty to the left. Then ten more for each direction. After shooting out like sickles on chains, they took aim and linked with the Musashi’s ships and the cannon.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

“Contact!!” shouted the wolf just as a tremor ran through the ships and the cannon barrel and the ether light of the connections burst out.

Large Kanesada was ready to go.

●

“We will now temporarily destroy the ley line pathway below Honnouji to prevent P.A. Oda’s input to the ley line reactor!”

Tenzou nodded at Masazumi’s statement.

Destroying the ley line reactor rather than Honnouji had been the tactic they first thought up.

After all, some unknown process – perhaps part of the Genesis Project – was underway at Honnouji.

So it was best to put a stop to that and then determine what was going on.

The ley line reactor was overloading, but that was due to the ether supplied by the ley line acting as fuel. That was why Tres España had tried to destroy the ley line reactor at Mikawa right up until the last moment.

The same method would work here.

But there was one problem with that.

What if the Genesis Project was necessary to stop the Apocalypse?

Then if they destroyed the ley line reactor, restarting the Genesis Project would be nearly impossible. If the Genesis Project had to be carried out during a full moon, Asama said “starting from scratch, they might not be ready for the next full moon or even the one after that”. And if we blew it away with Large Kanesada, they would have to restart from the formation of the ground itself.

So they would target below the ground. They would fire below the structure. If they fired a Large Kanesada class of ether shell into the primary ley line, Asama said it would affect the ley line as much as an earthquake.

“That will cause an abnormal pulse in the ley line, which will also affect the supply to the extraction reactor above. That will trigger a resonance, which will stop the extraction. The mold of the abnormal pulse will acclimate to its surroundings and vanish, but secondary tremors should continue for around half a day.”

That would prevent the procedure this time, but it could be done again next full moon once the ley lines had settled down.

That would mean early October, so however it turned out, it was bound to be a hot topic at the Peace of Westphalia later on in October.

10ZO: “Then let’s get this ley line pulsing abnormally!”

Gold Mar: “Y’know…”

10ZO: “I-I get the feeling I won’t like this, so you could just keep it to yourself.”

Horizey: “Well, you see, when you went to save Mary-sama, instead of visiting her directly and grabbing her chest, couldn’t you have used a bomb or a cannon to blow up the execution tower and sever the ley line connection, rendering the execution impossible? I seem to recall some loud ‘yayyyyyyyyy!’-ing during the negotiations, but what do you have to say for yourself, Tenzou-sama?”

I knew it would be something like that!

●

Suzu made the final drift adjustments while listening to some historical levels of cannibalism.

10ZO: “B-bringing anything powerful enough to destroy the tower would have been difficult! Isn’t that right, Naruze-dono!?”

Art-Ga: “Well…now that you mention it, maybe I could have brought a bomb along?”

Worshiper: “Naruze-kun, try to be less obvious you’re setting him up.”

Me: “So whose fault was it?”

10ZO: “Toori-dono! Stop saying things that sound helpful but then ruining it by staring at me while you type them!”

Asama: “In retrospect, I went down to England shortly before that, so I could have fired a long-range shot into the tower.”

Vice President: “And we were allied with England, so their defense system wouldn’t have activated for an ally like Asama. But only if she did it before my announcement.”

Novice: “What is with you!? Stop getting carried away just because I, the one who came up with that plan, am not there with you!”

…Why would he remind us of that?

Silver Wolf: “But on that note, if Adele’s Raging Beast had flown even higher, it might have destroyed the tower when it landed and solved everything.”

Flat Vassal: “I was just thinking that. And if that didn’t destroy it, the most realistic option may have been to pack it full of sand for weight and then have the 5th Special Duty Officer attach a chain and use it like a hammer.”

Laborer: “So make it a construction project!?”

Their reminiscing of the past had turned into talk of construction. But then someone else joined in.

Scarred: “N-no, you are all forgetting something very important!”

That was…

Scarred: “You could have stopped me that way, but without Master Tenzou’s confession, England would not have backed off of insisting on the execution. And that is the most important thing for me. …Oh, th-thank you for the applause! Thank you so much! And thank those of you on the other transport ship too! Oh, and those of you on the Musashi as we pass by! I will continue to work at doing the best I can!”

●

I see, thought Masazumi. A sign frame suddenly appeared by her face, displaying Mukai making a “wrap it up” motion with her right hand. Realizing what that meant, Masazumi yelled.

“Hurry up and fire!!!”

They fired.

●

Suzu sat in a backwards-installed chair and felt the ship slide from the cannon blast.

Large Kanesada’s barrel was more than 8km long and its recoil easily launched Okutama and Musashino backwards.

The 3rd port and starboard ships absorbed that force.

The sign frame in front of her showed the three port and three starboard ships fanning out and sliding backwards about 2km. Suzu had to operate the Musashi model she held to keep the sliding of the eight ships to a minimum.

In just an instant, they moved back about a quarter of their length, but something else moved out ahead instead.

That was the warriors’ transport ships on their way to Honnouji.

Including the one Toori and the others were aboard, there were five ships in total.

They emerged from Okutama, Takao, and Oume and slipped below the other ships. They had technically been revealed when the Musashi slid back, but…

…They’re…going.

Suzu assumed they would just continue to fly forward from there, but then she realized something: Large Kanesada’s effect.

She had expected the enemy’s two ironclad ships and four battleships to be destroyed plus a large hole at the base of Honnouji’s hill.

But that wasn’t what she saw.

…Eh?

Half her expectations came true.

The ironclad ships and battleships were broken. The six ships, which had been ascending and turning while firing, had been transformed as if they had been slapped aside from the path of the cannon blast.

Their broken frames burst through the armor panels and their hulls began to expand outwards.

“Nh.”

Six explosions erupted from the top and bottom edges of the thinning ships. Their armor swelled out and ruptured like fruit, especially in the areas carrying their cannons.

But those six ships weren’t the problem.

Past the six ships burning and falling like leaves, there was no sign of any damage to the crust supporting Honnouji.

“It’s…unharmed!?”

●

“Musashi” scanned to see what had happened.

Kanesada’s targeting system had been made by the Asama Shrine, so it allowed for ether detection. The omindirectional Branch and Leaf Connection was a more advanced version of that, but the Musashi’s version was spread out before her, providing a view.

So what had just happened?

…Our cannon blast was absorbed.

That was the best summary.

Large Kanesada had fired correctly. To impact the ley line, they had used ether-style shell creation. Targeting had been precise, ensuring nothing was capable of stopping it from damaging the enemy fleet and the crust.

But that had been in error.

The instant Large Kanesada had struck, something had activated there.

It had looked like a net.

It had covered Honnouji, the pillar rising from there, the hill bearing them, and the area around that. The light had been faint, but an ether light net had appeared over that wide area just as the shell hit.

Musashi: “Asama-sama, are those…the ley lines? Over.”

She received an immediate answer.

Asama: “No, they aren’t. If they were, the shape would be much more complex and the pathways would be thicker. Large Kanesada was stopped by the ether supply pathways set up around the ley line.”

So those were the “roots”. If the pillar of light was a tree trunk, then the net that appeared when the shell hit were the roots. And if the trunk and everything else were unharmed…

“Large Kanesada’s force wasn’t able to focus on that one point. Its force was distributed evenly across the entire region and space covered by the ‘roots’?”

●

“Musashi” thought it was a simple trap.

Just like the impact distribution system seen in ballistic armor, the ether net had distributed the force of the blast.

It couldn’t fully negate Large Kanesada’s force, but the resultant damage could be reduced by spreading the force over a wide area.

Even the attack that had pierced through Novgorod would could far less damage if it was distributed over dozens of kilometers.

The defense barrier used over Magdeburg had also been the distribution type.

Of course, they had predicted the enemy would do the same thing here.

Hence Large Kanesada. They hadn’t held anything back. But it had still been blocked.

…Because of the unexpected breadth and depth of the pathways.

Instead of using a defense barrier, the pathways meant to supply ether to the ley line reactor had been repurposed as a distribution barrier. That defensive shield could be seen as a net or roots made of ether, but how far did it stretch?

Musashino: “ ‘Musashi’-sama, A level 2 quake was detected over a radius of 70km. The exact depth of the focus is unknown, but it continued as far as 8km underground at the exact same intensity. Over.”

…So it rivaled an earthquake.

That would mean a multi-layer network going as deep as 8km had distributed Large Kanesada.

“They outsmarted us. Over.”

“Musashi” honestly accepted that she had failed to achieve her job. She intended to immediately assist in making up for that, but this would still cause trouble for the Chancellor’s group.

She should have seen this coming.

“Why did they send a fleet straight out to intercept us? Over.”

Looking back, that had been to lure them in. There were only so many courses that allowed them to fire Large Kanesada as a counterattack. The enemy only had to make sure that counterattack was aimed at the center of the pathways.

This must have been the work of someone who could guide fleets, manage ley lines, and perform advanced calculations.

“Ishida Mitsunari!”

She had moved between ley lines and split into multiple copies at Nördlingen. For her, constructing such an abnormally wide and dense pathway network and then using it for defense would have been an easy task.

“I will remember that name. Over.”

●

Mitsunari had pushed herself to the limit.

…I-I thought I was going to vanish!

She had a copy on each of the destroyed ships and the ether pathways surrounding Honnouji hadn’t been easy to set up. It didn’t require physical construction work, but she had to sink into the ley lines and then rely on shrines and natural holy ground to reconstruct the underground and midair zones. She had used shrines near the center of each management zone to manage it all, but…

“The copies there were blown away by the sheer force of it all.”

And even with all that, she hadn’t fully eliminated the force of the enemy’s attack.

The first layer control system on the surface of Honnouji’s structures had been blown away. That meant the largest exterior could not systematically eliminate the enemy, so the ground troops would have to pick up the slack.

But there was good news.

“Musashi cannot fire their main cannon again.”

Musashi required their Chancellor’s authority to fire their main cannon. And he was on one of the transport ships that had moved out ahead.

Mitsunari had won them safety. And now she raised her right hand and spoke.

“Musashi’s transport ships are in descent formation! Ground forces, prepare to intercept!”

Chapter 46: Communicators on Standby[edit]

What can be seen?

What can’t be seen?

But is conveyed?

But is understood?

Point Allocation (Will)

●

The Musashi group left the descending transport ship’s deck and moved to the unloading hatch where they would be jumping to the ground.

The ship was flying forward while descending, so whoever jumped out first would end up in the rear on the ground.

The transport ship carrying the officers was at the rear of the four ships.

The officers would be jumping down in the middle.

With so many people to jump down, the two steps of the ships’ inner hull were being used as a standby zone.

While they took the elevator down from the deck, Narumi took a look around.

The 1st Special Duty Officer was using his sign frame to exchange opinions with the Vice Chancellor and others concerning what they should do after jumping down. Past him, the Chancellor was speaking with the Vicereine.

“––––”

And they kissed.

The swarm of sign frames that appeared all around was nothing new, but she did have a few thoughts on the matter.

First, she noted that those two’s relationship had reached that point.

Second, she realized this was effectively the final showdown.

And third, she wondered if she should do that too.

The English princess was among those watching. She was smiling and blushing, but was that because she had already done her version of this in front of the bathhouse, or because she wanted to do it again?

…Yes.

What about me? wondered Narumi, but Tachibana Gin only exchanged a nod with her husband after watching it.

Still, Narumi felt she should make her own decision.

“Kiyonari. I want to make a bet.”

She didn’t even need to beckon him over. He was already by her side. So she only had to look up at him.

“Do you want to eat yakiniku?”

●

Gold Mar: “What’s going on here?”

Flat Vassal: “Is there ever any explaining what those two do?”

Silver Wolf: “Um, but, how was that a bet?”

●

Narumi heard his answer.

“I’m ready when you are.”

“I see,” she said. And, “Then I say I win this round.”

She stretched up and he crouched down so her lips could reach the corner of his mouth.

His exoskeleton armor was chilly. It was a late summer night, so it would only be getting chillier.

Once she tried it, she found it easy. She wasn’t even embarrassed. Although she still wasn’t quite sure what the point of doing it was.

Still, she did understand one thing.

“I can only do this because I have you with me.”

●

Horizon pondered what Toori had asked her to do.

…You could see this as a substitute for the combination move we did before going to sleep.

They had done this before, but the meaning seemed to have changed.

Had it, though?

While she didn’t dislike it, she also didn’t consider it to be necessary. If it is necessary, what would Adele-sama do since she is single? Do it with a dog, perhaps!?

Horizon got a little overexcited there, but she felt you could give these things meaning.

Such as providing good luck before a battle or providing mutual confirmation of their relationship. If so…

“––––”

When your relationship with someone grew, did it provide more meaning to the actions carried out with that person?

Perhaps even the meaningless actions could be given personal meanings using terms like “actually” and “subconsciously”.

And Horizon had another thought: if these things only happened in one direction, did they still count as love?

In most cases…

…Naruze-sama unilaterally creates combination scenes with all sorts of people, but does that count as love too?

Maybe it did. And when she applied that idea to herself…

“Horizon?”

She had not laughed, but she had pulled away from him with a quick breath.

“Yes,” she began, nodding. “I used to think you just had too much time on your hands. Because that interpretation was convenient for me.”

“If you ask me, dealing with you is the ultimate time sink…”

“Is it?” This time, she kissed him.

And she realized a lot of other people here were doing the same thing.

…I see.

They must have been influenced by her and Toori. That meant she was the top batter. That Toori-sama had asked her first could be safely ignored. I must set an even greater example for everyone! That was her duty.

So, she decided.

…I should go in deeper.

●

Wow, thought Asama, keeping a cool appearance while inwardly amazed by what was going on around her.

…Our class really has changed!

She saw the arms standing on Horizon’s shoulders and holding his face from either side. Maybe that position was more convenient? He seemed to have gone limp, but Asama hoped that wasn’t due to asphyxiation.

What would Oriotri say when she heard about this tomorrow? In fact, this kind of information tended to leak, so she would probably hear about it in only a few minutes. Asama had a feeling Oriotri would just laugh, but she had another feeling Sanyou-sensei would run off in tears.

But that was their relationship now and Asama and Mitotsudaira were a part of it too.

Asama felt she should officially give a word of caution because behaving like this in public all the time would be immoral, but…

…I can let it slide before such an important battle.

Everyone was using that as an excuse to pick up speed.

She wondered what the other academies were like in this regard. But then…

“That should be enough,” said Horizon, pulling away from Toori. He instantly fell to his knees.

“A-are you alright, Toori-dono!?”

“Heh, heh heh heh. I seem to have taken his breath away. Quite literally.”

“That’s a new one,” commented Narumi, but Asama made sure to up the strength of his health management spell.

At any rate, their battle preparations had to be more or less complete. Asama had already checked the tree list to make sure all the participants’ divine protections were in place. Each unit had a shrine maiden or someone with the appropriate experience, so those people would act as the foundation of each unit and as an intermediary for the divine protection pathways. That way, even if Asama had to leave, the shrine maidens and such with the other units could automatically fill in and keep it all running smoothly.

The new system was more decentralized.

She was still at the top, but she had checked through and rearranged all the divine protections used until the end of summer break, so she knew she could give most anyone on the scene the appropriate rights as long as she gave the initial authorization.

And that she wasn’t using many special spells was proof of her resilience on the battlefield.

Instead of using charms, most of the spells were placed in the ether pathways in a pseudo-activated state. That turned them into something like an inactivate divine protection.

They could not be returned to their original state, so anything not used by the end would go to waste if it wasn’t converted into a substitution, but they could be used instantly and authorization could be handed over even if the charms were stolen or a shrine maiden was eliminated from the battle. Of course, the warriors had their own spell charms, but it meant a lot that they also had these larger spells that could be summoned like a divine protection in a pinch.

…That’s everything I could think of.

After checking a few more things, she closed and locked her sign frame. She expected the next time she opened it would be when Masazumi or Tenzou asked about the state of the personnel.

“Hey, Asama.”

He raised his hand and approached. What could this be about? she wondered.

“Do you need something done with your divine protections? Do you need something tweaked?”

“Oh, no, no. It’s not that. This is about you. I’ve got a protection to give you.”

“An entertainer one?”

She looked over to see Kimi blow her a kiss.

…Maybe a singer’s protection related to evasion?

Kimi and the others’ song spell had been a big help at Nördlingen. And there was apparently a large stage inside Honnouji.

Asama had stayed back and managed the divine protections at Nördlingen. If she had worked with Kimi, she thought they could have done an even better job of dealing with Niwa’s song spell.

…Oh, but I didn’t bring my instrument.

She hadn’t thought of that. Of course, the odds were pretty good she wouldn’t have a chance to use it even if she had it, so she preferred to think of this as not bringing along unnecessary baggage. But all that aside…

“What kind of protection is it?”

“Well, uh, close your eyes a moment.”

“Okay.”

She closed them and he adjusted the position of her jaw before kissing her.

●

Toori thought he should say something.

They were heading for a big stage, after all. Maybe “I’m counting on you” or maybe “come to me if you need anything”.

But while Asama could seem well-behaved, she could actually be a bit tricky to deal with.

She assumed it was only natural for her to be the one to do things and she declined any help someone else tried to give her. The two of them had known each other for so long their roles had kind of solidified already. He felt like they had finally started to break out of that recently, but in this moment with so many people around, she would have a hard time of it.

What could he say to get her to accept his favor?

No, it didn’t have to be something he said. How could he convey this to her?

“Oh.”

There was a way that would work.

Something their current relationship allowed for. Something they both understood. A method of conveyance that seemed to carry their mutual trust and sum up everything leading up to this moment.

That would work.

●

…Oh, wow!

She had kind of hoped for this, but the fact that it actually happened only added to the surprise.

She was super glad she had shut her eyes. That let her hide how flustered she was, but now she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She had studied Mary and Tenzou’s kiss scenes, but what had they done? I can’t use him and Horizon as reference because of the arms situation. Yes.

Anyway, as she stayed still and let him lead, she heard some voices.

“Asama-chi will let the Chancellor do anything, won’t she?”

“There was no sign of Shinto resistance or an anti-crime divine punishment spell even beginning to activate.”

“So my doujinshi should start like this? Got it!”

They were saying some awful things, but that actually helped calm her feelings.

She matched the direction of her lips to his and he opened his a bit. Following his lead, she opened hers enough for a breath and then they were connected.

…Wow.

Thinking back, she had breathed air into him when they did this in Yomi at Houjou. He was only doing the same now, but it meant something very different.

This was a sharing of wills that was only possible thanks to that.

This sharing meant they were willing to trust each other with their lives. So…

“Nh.”

He was telling her he wanted to entrust her with so much of him. He was also telling her to come to him if she needed anything.

So she responded by opening her lips a bit and accepting him. First his breath. Then his tongue, that was like a warm, soft finger.

…Oh.

At the first touch, he started to pull back a bit.

She could tell he had only done it as a test. While this wasn’t their first time, they hadn’t done this much.

But she…

…No.

She responded without avoiding him, pulling back, or hesitating. She leaned toward him as he tried to pull back, inviting him to her.

She wanted him.

It wasn’t like anyone could see inside their mouths. And she felt like he would never try to communicate like this again if he fled here. Because he was thoughtful like that.

So she accepted him.

She leaned toward him in invitation and touched him. They weren’t connected or linked – they simply touched.

They didn’t normally do this. Their tongues shallowly tangled like linked arms or intertwined fingers. They licked and rubbed.

Do you understand? I understand.

Is this getting through to you? It is.

She had a habit of holding back when it came to words, but she had no established habits for this. Only…

…Should I be doing this with the same lips I use to recite prayers?

Then again, she did eat and drink sake with this mouth. But if Naruze and the others brought this up while she was reciting a prayer for her job, would she be able to ignore it?

Regardless, this was how things would be from now on.

Her lips and her tongue were for more than just speaking her desires. They would be used to achieve mutual communication.

“That is one long kiss.”

Narumi’s earnest tone only helped Asama make up her mind. Really.

She sent a small breath of laughter to him.

…It’s alright.

She let him capture her tongue and pull it toward him to accept what he had wanted to do.

She would normally have refused, but what did she really want?

…Yes.

Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine no matter what you do.

Instead of just letting him do what he wanted, she accepted it and smoothly carried it out. Until finally…

“Nh…”

They slowly parted. And…

“Phew.”

She sent one final breath his way. A breath sent as a shrine maiden. She wanted him to accept her just as she had accepted him.

…Swallow it.

His throat moved before she was even done thinking it.

He responded to what I gave him without avoiding it, pulling back, or hesitating.

This was a divine protection. She had sent him a shrine maiden’s breath so they could share their protections equally.

And when she pulled away, she found herself smiling.

●

My, my, thought Kimi.

…She’s smiling at my foolish brother in a way she’s never smiled at me.

Is this jealousy I’m feeling? Or am I just happy for them?

But anything I find beautiful makes me happy. That is what my name means. And the happiness in my foolish brother’s smile tells me they must have reached some kind of private understanding.

Of course no one else has seen a smile born of that kind of hidden success.

But if this is going to keep happening…

“Horizon was right. All sorts of fun things are going to happen.”

●

Asama waited for her smile to fade on its own.

She didn’t try to suppress it. Because it wasn’t a nuisance. But…

“Oh, Toori-kun.”

She wiped off his lips with a kaishi and it came away with a faint lipstick stain. It was undeniably her color. She needed to reapply it later. But that wasn’t the biggest problem.

…I feel like I told him everything I needed to.

She wasn’t sure what to say out loud now. But if there was one thing she needed to do…

“Um, Horizon, do you have a moment?”

●

Mitotsudaira saw Asama walk toward Horizon.

She watched curiously as Asama gently held Horizon’s head and…

“––––––”

She pressed her lips against Horizon’s forehead.

This wasn’t a special breath like before, but direct application of a shrine maiden’s words and breath still had an effect.

“Oh?”

A few sign frames appeared around Horizon. Mitotsudaira recognized them as divine protection related. Incredibly, most of the spells had the phrase “administrator mode” on them. Which meant…

“Tomo, did you share your usage level with her?”

“Only temporarily. With Toori-kun and Horizon’s relationship growing, they can share divine protections more easily, so if I share them with Toori-kun, he can share them with Horizon.”

It was kind of complicated. But then Mary clapped her hands and commented.

“Is it like a family discount centered on the head of the family?”

“Well, sort of. It’s kind of like a grandchild contract or grandchild protection.”

“In that case.” Naito tilted her head. She was already in her Technohexen gear. “Since the Chancellor’s protections are linked to you, Asama-chi, and Horizon has been brought into that too, would it make more sense to protect you than protect the Chancellor?”

“Good point. And protecting Asama secures an excellent source of doujinshi material. We can just ignore the Chancellor.”

“Don’t ignore meeeeee! Kids need lots of attention at my age!”

Meanwhile, Horizon held bitterly-smiling Asama around the shoulder and spoke to the king.

“I vote for that plan.”

“Waiiiiiiiiit! The family discount started with me!”

Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure what point he was trying to make, but then he turned her way. And he approached her while Asama began explaining the divine protection sign frames to Horizon.

Her king sighed but didn’t sound particularly upset.

“They’re not being very nice.”

“That just means they feel comfortable speaking openly with you. It seems like a good thing to me.”

“I’m not so sure,” he said, stopping in front of her and then making a sudden move.

He moved slowly. She could easily see what he was doing. But…

“Nate.”

He reached for her head and stuck his hand in between her hair.

Instead of mussing up her hair, he patted her as if massaging her scalp. And while still doing that…

“C’mere.”

He reached his arm around the back of her head and pulled her toward him while placing his other arm around her back.

●

…Well played, Mito.

Asama set aside what had just happened with herself and joined Horizon in watching the wolf get patted.

Mitotsudaira was pulled in and more massaged than rubbed. She appeared to just be letting him take control, but that wasn’t quite accurate.

She was equipped with her silver chains, which made her quite heavy. So…

“She’s clearly using bursts of speed to keep her balance.”

“I didn’t realize she could use it for that.”

Narumi was correct. The wolf had been pulled diagonally by him, so her weight would have been leaning against him. And when she was pulled toward him…

“Nh…”

She would jiggle back just the same amount. But instead of the jiggling Asama knew all too well from her summer gear, this was a quick movement the wolf made herself. And her king responded by…

“Yeah, it’s alright.”

What exactly was alright?

…For the knight to move out ahead of her king?

In a way, this could be seen as disrespectful. She could see it as a sign of the full trust her king had in her, but Mitotsudaira would be more cautious and not want to come off as conceited.

So this was his way of telling her she could do as she wished.

…And a way of making sure she understands that she always consider him before she chooses to fight or act.

That could sound like placing a collar on her to bind her, but this was what Mitotsudaira wanted.

Asama could see the wolf leaning against him and twitching her nose while in his arms.

She was placing her scent on him and receiving his scent.

If she was equal to her king, they would be thinking the same thing. And if she touched him with that in mind, anywhere that contacted him would become evidence of what he had said.

That was a primitive way of thinking of a “pack” or of a master and servant.

But after receiving his permission and oneness with her full body, the wolf would be free. Her king himself had told her that her actions were what he desired, so the Loup-Garou no longer had to fear being a wolf.

“That boy is getting carried away. He has stuck his hand down her underwear to grope her butt,” pointed out Horizon.

“With Mito, touching her with anything in the way would probably defeat the purpose.”

“I see… So like the biwa-ist possessed by a Taira ghost who wrote the lyrics all over his body to escape possession, but forgot to write them on his dick and ears, so he received a kick to the crotch, had his ears torn off, and was severely lectured for getting the lyrics wrong?”

“People like to give that story alternate endings, don’t they? Like that he used a mirror to write on his back, so he was slapped hard enough it left a mark for writing that part backwards.”

“Oh?” Naruze turned around. “The version I’d heard had him ask the temple’s chief priest to do the writing, but the priest got really turned on doing the part on his butt and decided to see where his desires would lead him. Let’s just say what happened next didn’t actually solve the problem.”

“How many versions of that story are there?”

“Good question,” said Naruze. Meanwhile, Mitotsudaira had changed direction. She appeared to be turning her back toward Asama, or toward everyone really.

…Oh, Toori-kun is buried in her hair.

●

Mitotsudaira wasn’t displeased with what was happening. She had already leaned her front side against her king to get his scent on her, so now she was doing the same with her back side. Nothing more. Her king had been rubbing, pushing, and massaging her back before, so now he was reaching around from the back to the front.

…Wait, this is happening too fast!

Why did I think this was “nothing more” just a second ago? Of course, her king was being thoughtful and only touching her over her inner suit, but their practice had paid off. For the parts he had touched during the Kantou Liberation and at the candy house, he reached his hands in from the sides of the suit.

There was nothing wrong with that. She had given him permission. In fact, doing less than before seemed like it would lessen this important moment. But…

…That’s between my tights and suit!

He had his hand on her lower stomach – between her legs. Her body trembled ticklishly a few times, but he must not have interpreted that as trying to move away.

“Um, my king?” she asked with no real question in mind and without thinking of how he would respond. The words were only meant to fill space.

And…

“Doing this kind of thing with you is so much fun, Nate.”

That made her blush. When he stuck his hands in from the open back and sides of her summer uniform, she could really feel his hands and fingers. When he touched her through her suit, the touch of the thin material told her exactly how her body was shaped.

It also pleased her how their bodies traded heat and scents, becoming equal. They would never actually be entirely equal, but if the growing similarity made her this happy, maybe true equality was more like an aspiration.

This sense of closeness with someone who accepted her seemed to help her accept herself even more than she did already.

The wolf felt like she could become even more of an animal than she knew she was.

She let it take over.

She wanted to do this forever and, if he enjoyed this, she wanted to let him do it forever.

But then some cold sweat formed on her back.

“Um, my king.”

Just as she said that, he crouched down and licked her back.

●

Oh, he’s really going at it, thought Naito while loosely hugging Naruze from the side.

She could see Mitotsudaira’s hair rolls shaking a lot while her ears…

“–––––”

Art-Ga: “She’s really enjoying that.”

Gold Mar: “Yeah, she isn’t escaping, kicking, or elbowing.”

But something had occurred to Naito while watching Asama’s long make-out session.

…Words are a lot of trouble to use.

When you wanted to say something, indicate something, or reach a mutual understanding, it could be hard to do so with words. It took time and both sides didn’t always associate the same meaning with the same words.

Besides, words could be used to lie or refuse. Courtesy, customs, and other rules placed on the usage of words could place an unexpectedly firm “lid” on what you wanted to say. That was obvious enough from seeing Asama.

Horizon preferred to communicate with actions than words, but the Chancellor had a good sense for that too.

…He did a great job of dealing with Asama-chi and Mito-tsan in different ways.

They’re both enjoying this a lot, thought Naito as she watched the wolf’s hair move from below. Her king was doing something again.

●

…My king!

The licking felt like ice sliding down her back, but she endured it. I deserve credit for that. And I did not briefly think that was disappointingly short. I swear I didn’t.

But after standing back up, her king embraced her from behind and spoke.

“Nate, you taste salty.”

“O-of course I do. That was sweat.”

He laughed a bit at that.

“Now your flavor and scent are inside me.”

He licked his fingers – two of them – and brought them to her mouth.

“–––––”

She didn’t hesitate. She took them into her mouth, bit down enough to sense the shape of the bones, and sucked with her cheeks.

A kiss would have felt disappointing. Because that would be the same as with Asama.

…Oh, I’m becoming a bit of a pain to deal with.

But after she licked up her king’s scent and let it spill from the corner of her mouth, his face leaned in over her shoulder.

“Now it’s my turn.”

…Eh?

When she saw him take the fingers into his mouth and make noise, her heart pounded in her chest.

This would make her king’s scent closer to hers. Of course, that change would quickly fade, but he had to know that.

…Yes.

The feeling that had been growing inside her seemed to change shape. The feeling of longing seemed to become a sense of firm calm.

If he had expressed this with words, she couldn’t have experienced it in this way even if she did understand it. But…

“Nate.”

He held out his fingers again, so she nodded and took them into her mouth.

When she licked them, he grabbed her tongue between them and played with it. She pursued his fingers, caught them, let them escape, and then – when she saw an opening – caught them again. She enjoyed letting them rub and grab her tongue, sometimes even immobilizing it. It was a miniature replication of what she had been doing with her full body before.

As this continued, her scent and his scent joined together. And…

…For mom and dad, that must be my scent.

No, her parents ate the same things and lived together, so their scents would be nearly identical. So this scent was what her and her king’s scents would be in the future. But…

“Nh.”

It seemed somehow familiar.

…Was it when our scents combined in the candy house?

She had been spending a lot more time with her king. This scent was denser, but it was the same sort of blend. So she figured that must be where she recognized it from. Meanwhile, her king’s fingers rubbed lightly at her canines.

While she was a Loup-Garou, her canine teeth did not stick out. Maybe they would if she ever managed a beast transformation, but that didn’t change when her mother let her true nature out. So they weren’t generally visible, but she thought they were pointier than an ordinary person’s.

…Oh, I’m becoming a pain again!

But she was glad he had noticed something about her that was different. This felt like him praising her wolf side, so she decided to let him keep doing it a while.

Eventually, his fingers said goodbye by grabbing her tongue and then pulling out from her lips.

Her king was removing his fingers from her mouth. She was sad to see them go, but she only sucked on them a little bit. And as he pulled out his fingers, she grabbed his wrist.

“No, my king. What are you going to do with that hand? You can’t touch anyone else like that.”

She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his fingers off.

She returned the handkerchief to her pocket while her king gave her a toothy grin, but she decided to view this as a game of theirs. Her clothing was out of place, so she fixed it from the hard point parts.

…Um.

She turned around to see everyone giving her sideways glances as they covered their mouths and gossiped.

“Wh-what kind of reaction is that!?”

Then again, I’m not so clueless I couldn’t predict this. Really, I’m not.

●

With their final meeting more or less complete, Masazumi saw Noriki open a sign frame.

“Not often you use one of those.”

Come to think of it, when did he get a sign frame? she wondered. She had noticed because she used to use one, but now no one in their class used a portable shrine for divine transmissions.

Noriki still had a portable shrine hanging from his neck, but he used that to store the divine protections and spells he had always used. He now used a sign frame for divine transmissions. According to Asama, minor gods offered a lot of divine transmission plans that allowed the usage of both an older device and the latest sign frames. The plans were primarily meant for the elderly who might switch to another god if they had to change how they did everything.

That had to be what Noriki was using now.

He didn’t immediately respond to Masazumi and first lightly struck his hands together. His left hand was open and his right formed a fist. It made a loud noise, but then…

…Oh.

He opened his right hand and closed his left to repeat the move. And…

“…”

He did the same thing three times on each side. After the rapid strikes, he turned to face Masazumi with the refreshed look he generally had lately.

“I want to get this over with so I can go to Shikoku!”

“Judge. Your family’s headed to Shikoku, right?”

Not everyone was going to Shikoku. Depending on the order and timing of the purging, some parts of the ship were being taken to M.H.R.R. Protestant territory or simply taken away from the battle zone by Musashi transport ships.

But the Shikoku group had mostly come from the ordinary residential areas.

“Its my wife’s first time visiting Shikoku. I so wish I could’ve gone with her!”

“Why didn’t you? The former Houjou Chancellor could’ve used help since she doesn’t know Shikoku.”

“Ha ha ha! If I didn’t join you here, she would’ve felt guilty! And,” said Noriki. “I just contacted her and asked her to learn how to make authentic udon before I get back. She’s learned how to cook rice and a lot of other things, but it isn’t often you get a chance to try the authentic stuff. Since we don’t have much money, I asked her to learn to make it herself!”

“And what did she say?”

“Judge.” Noriki laughed. “She said reaching her uncle’s skill level would be a challenge.”

“Yes,” agreed the Date Vice Chancellor. She raise her right hand, aware everyone was looking her way. “During the Siege of Odawara, I spent some time at the small restaurant while he was cooking. He might be a lunatic, but his cooking skills are legit. Also, he was dressed as a maid.”

“So will my wife dress as a maid too!? I need to make sure I’m mentally prepared!”

Um, yeah, thought Masazumi. I don’t think I could stay calm if I suddenly saw her dressed as a maid.

…Oh, but she looks different now, doesn’t she?

She had “retired” from the events of history and decided to pursue happiness as an ordinary person. That Noriki referred to her as his wife instead of by her name probably held some meaning in their relationship.

Meanwhile, Mary asked Crossunite a question.

“Master Tenzou, would you need to be mentally prepared before seeing me dressed as a maid?”

“No matter how you are dressed, it would overwhelm any preparations I might attempt, Mary-dono. But a maid outfit would be frilly and include an apron. That would be cute and different from your usual look.”

Art-Ga: “He actually remained calm…?”

Me: “You were going ‘Yahoo! Yahoo! It’s finally happening! Thank you, Noriki-donoooo!’ on the inside, weren’t you? Admit it.”

10ZO: “Toori-dono, why did you open the maid section of that crossdressing clothing list!?”

These people never change, thought Masazumi, but she joined the others in opening a sign frame and having Tsukinowa add plenty of posts to the Crossunite thread.

“Maa?”

Don’t worry about it. Think of it as much-needed exercise.

But Noriki smiled and spoke.

“I’m sure I’m going to say this a lot and probably not always in a good way, but…”

He said it.

“Back at Mikawa, I never imagined this would be happening!”

●

Horizey: “Hm, one of these days, I must teach New Ujinao-sama my authentic recipes for bread and water.”

Unturning: “For…water?”

Gold Mar: “Uh, yeah. For water. Super water. I think it had a purifying effect.”

●

I think it did too, thought Masazumi, but was that really safe? Regardless…

…That’s right.

She hadn’t known what she was doing back when she was dragged into the disappearance of Mikawa, but now she was a leading figure in the Honnouji Incident.

She was tempted toward self-praise, but it was too soon for that.

“Tonight’s battle is crucial.”

Everyone relaxed their shoulders but still nodded. And…

“Our descent preparations are complete. The ship will now complete your drop-off process with a priority on safety while we travel toward Honnouji. Over.”

It was all about to start. To start with, they had to reach the entrance to Honnouji.

Chapter 47: Greeting Couple in the Shadows[edit]

What is the difference

Between experts

And ordinary people?

Point Allocation (An Edge)

●

The Musashi group jumped down from the transport ships after they had descended far enough to skim just above the ground.

But they didn’t just jump. The transport ships’ rear loading hatches opened and runways were created with gravitational control.

Belt lines were drawn out with ether. These provided eight courses, which moved with the same speed as the ground flowing by below.

The disembarking crew would hop onto those and be immediately carried into the space behind their ship. That wouldn’t help much if they were blown away from there, but the capable ones could handle it differently.

They would resist and move forward.

If they ran along the flowing belts using acceleration spells and physical buffs, they could…

“Land!”

This let them literally hit the ground running.

They were disembarking south of Honnouji, midway up the hill. Those who jumped down into that wooded area used their acceleration from the transport ships to run north up the slope.

Their positions were scattered, but they had a rendezvous point.

They would be charging until the end, so they could each run as they saw fit.

“…”

But a few of them suddenly tripped in midair.

Their footing was unsteady and they fell over during the high-speed maneuver.

●

While it all happened at once, not many tripped, so it wasn’t enough to stop the overall flow.

They all called out to each other while weaving between the trees and running up the shallow slope.

“Hey, did you screw up your landing!?”

“Are you alright!? Can you stand on your own!?”

“Don’t trip over nothing when you’re out in front!”

The comments by passersby pushed the fallen ones to get back up in a hurry. And they all shouted at the passersby.

“I didn’t fall on purpose!”

That wasn’t much of an excuse, but after checking over their gear, they started running again. Except…

“Huh?”

Their backpacks fell from their backs.

The quickly gathered their backpacks back up and found the them shaking unsteadily.

The impact had broken or bent the joints with the hard point parts or the bags themselves. In the worst case, entire parts were missing.

“Oh, c’mon. What am I supposed to do about this?”

Now they would have difficulty participating in the fight. If their gear was in too bad a state, they would have to fall back to the withdrawal and extraction point.

Now I’ve done it, was the thought on the minds of everyone who tripped.

But soon another question occurred to them all.

“…!”

Some of those who had arrived first and some of those who had arrived later had tripped.

…Huh?

That’s odd, thought those who had arrived first. When I tripped, around 1 in 20 tripped.

Then why had the later group, who would have had advance warning, tripped too? And…

“Hold on. 1 in 7 of them tripped.”

That rate was way too high. Furthermore…

“Hey, look!”

A male student held his gear up in the light from the glowing pillars filtering through the trees. In his case, his main weapon – a tachi – had broken, but it was broken in a different way from the others.

The curved scabbard had a slash in it.

After seeing that, the commander of a different unit who happened to be passing by raised his voice.

“We’re under attack!”

Something happened at the same moment.

At the front of the group hurriedly changing their course, the people weaving between the trees’ shadows to reach Honnouji were blasted into the air.

This was more than just tripping. They had received a physical blow.

It wasn’t many, but they had suffered a definite attack and those behind them saw the enemy.

Two or three rows of warriors were crouched at the entrance to Honnouji less than kilometer up ahead.

That was a gunner unit with 20 people per row.

With the glow of the pillars behind them, the flames of spell gunpowder burst from their muzzles. But no one on the Musashi side could see the bullets. They only heard a sound like straining metal, and…

“Here it comes!”

Branches suddenly ruptured and leaves flew everywhere.

This wasn’t coming from ahead. Most came from above and some may have even come from behind.

“Guided rounds!?”

As soon as they heard bullets scraping against trunks and underbrush, a few were struck within the shadows of the trees.

There were injuries.

●

Mitsunari was commanding the continually-firing gunner unit. Um, how many of me are there right now? she wondered, realizing her sense of herself was gradually growing more roughly defined, but that may have just been what happened for the Aki training camp group.

…The way Hirano-sama would respond to Sakon-sama’s deaths toward the end like it was some kind of sport just won’t leave my head. And is that really how a Shinto shrine maiden should act?

But as she calmly fired the bullets, she also opened a lernen figur.

“Yasuke-sama, how much has the main Musashi unit been able to gather?”

She looked out from the front of the hill toward the ships in the sky.

Those silhouettes veering west were the transport ships which Musashi had used to charge toward Honnouji. The last of the five most likely carried Musashi’s main unit.

“They should be fully gathered in another two minutes,” responded Yasuke. “How are things going there?”

“As far as I can tell, I have managed to damage 21 – no, add two…three more to that – with my gunfire. Even in the woods, they will open defense barriers once this calms down, so it will be extremely difficult to get many more.”

“Shaja. Once they stop moving, could you fall back a bit to lure them in?”

“No,” she replied. “I am here to delay them, not exterminate them.”

She gave instructions to the gunner unit as she spoke.

“Listen. There is a trick to shooting. If you want to reduce their numbers instead of bunch them together, you must lure them into position.”

Most of those who had come to Honnouji were rookies. Mitsunari’s own combat experience… Was from the Aki training camp, so I have a lot of it. I’ve seen plenty of deaths on the battlefield. Yes. On that note, the line I started using when Sakon-sama died was “Pull yourself together and get going!”, but maybe that’s a separate issue. But I still think that is better than Kasuya-sama’s “My goodness!”, but I had to watch myself to make sure I didn’t react similarly.

Anyway, there was a trick to shooting.

“For the first shot, aim carefully for where you see the enemy and fire. For the second shot, aim for where they should be based on where they were.”

And…

“For the third shot, simply fire between the trees. And after that…”

This was the most important part.

“For the fourth shot, do the same as the first shot. Aim carefully. Then you will hit. You give them what they want in stages. I have determined that is more certain than shooting without a plan.”

●

The Musashi group felt trapped within the woods.

By the time Asama joined the others, the 1st through 3rd unit should have already arrived on the path to Honnouji’s entrance. Instead, they were stuck in the woods just before that path.

That prevented everyone else from moving on. But Asama understood why the front group couldn’t move.

…With the mix of directly aimed shots and seemingly random shots, they aren’t sure what they should do.

And the enemy’s shooting method was even nastier than that. They started by aiming carefully, then got less careful a couple of times before finally aiming carefully again just as the Musashi warriors were about to move. They were clearly switching it up, but if the Musashi warriors were going to make their move, it had to be during the less carefully aimed section.

Of course, everyone had realized that much. So the more experienced warriors in the lead were gesturing for everyone to keep their heads down.

“Hey! Everyone! Watch out! They’re luring us out with waves of loose and strict aiming! So you need to move out during a loose- gwahhhhh!”

“A-are you alright, everyone!? Watch out so you don’t end up like that idiot! You all saw that, didn’t you? The enemy is firing in a pattern! So you need to stand up during a loose- gwahhhhh!”

“Hey! Hey! What are you two doing!? If you stand up during a loose wave, you’ll get shot during the next strict wave! So you need to make your move during a strict- gwahhhhhh!”

That last one was at least different, but they really needed to stop this before too many of them got injured.

Asama let the medic team take care of them.

“I expected we would be stopped here.”

“On an open road, we could have activated defense barriers and charged in.”

Some of them noted that as they moved forward and the fourth and third units opened the way ahead. That is probably what will happen if we leave them in charge here, thought Asama, but…

“Eeek! The Chancellor’s group is coming up from behind!”

“He’ll do more than just hit us in the back of the knees! Clear the way!”

“For the love of god, get that enemy out of the way right this instant!”

Was that reaction a good thing? Was it a sign of trust?

But Asama had received a strange report from the group out front earlier. It concerned the barrage of bullets making a straining metal sound as they struck the trees and branches and it had caught her interest.

“These guided rounds aren’t encased in ether light?”

●

Art-Ga: “Is that possible?”

10ZO: “Our subject expert is already confused?”

Gold Mar: “Well, with spherical bullets, you can alter their trajectory to an extent by applying a spin during the acceleration sequence. It’s just you would normally include a buffing, course correction, and acceleration continuation spell, which would produce enough ether light on their own.”

Scarred: “Could they be applying stealth to the bullets?”

Smoking Girl: “If you don’t mind me interrupting from the Musashi, I’ve never heard of a stealth spell that works on objects as small and high speed as a bullet.”

Flat Vassal: “Could it be a new spell?”

Tachibana Wife: “I doubt it. Their state upon impact proves it.”

Tachibana Husband: “What do you mean, Gin?”

Art-Ga: “ ‘You don’t know? Fine, then I will explain, Master Muneshige,’ said Gin. And…”

Tachibana Wife: “D-do not put words in my mouth!”

●

Gin had some thoughts beyond her explanation, so she first had the entire main unit move a bit to the west.

She also instructed the other units to shift their positions east.

Among the group moving west, the 1st Special Duty Officer asked a question through his non-glowing sign frame.

“Are they using some kind of trick?”

“I cannot be certain yet, but there is something odd about this.”

Sounds like straining metal raced by even as she spoke.

“Wah!”

A Shinto defense barrier opened to the right of the vassal.

That was one of the auto-activating spells the Asama Shrine Representative had supplied. Most of the group was using them, but not all. They would only get in the way for some, like Gin, Muneshige, and the Vice Chancellor.

As long as they weren’t directly hit, they could endure these flying attacks to an extent.

“Did the bullet that hit Vassal Adele produce any ether light?” asked Gin.

Everyone exchanged a look and the vassal shook her head.

“No, I didn’t notice any.”

“Then these are not any kind of spell.”

“Huh?” said the Asama Shrine Representative. A moment later, the warriors on the leading edge of the group to the east readied themselves.

“Here it comes! The sound is circling this way!”

They looked all around and raised defense barriers. They were in the forest, but they still erected walls of defense barriers to box themselves in and hide themselves from all directions.

…Oh, no!

“1st Special Duty Officer! Don’t let them stop moving!”

As soon as Gin shouted this, a few of that group were blown away with a loud noise. They were blasted outwards from the center of their little group.

●

Asama didn’t understand what had happened.

Some of the warriors accompanying them had been blown away. But when it happened…

“Did a bullet hit in the center of them?”

“You didn’t see any ether light, did you?”

“No, they just suddenly exploded.”

The rescue squad was collecting that group and hurrying east. Asama’s group kept to the west as they slowly walked north, but if they moved too far, they would move away from Honnouji’s front entrance.

That may have been why Gin spoke while crouching low in a position that gave her a diagonal view of the path.

“If they were using stealth spells on their bullets, the stealth barrier would be torn away on impact, scattering ether light.”

“Which would mean that isn’t what was done to whatever has been hitting us, right?”

“Judge. Even ordinary bullets are hard to see at night. So I believe these are normal bullets with no spells applied at all.”

Gin’s argument was persuasive. But that raised another question.

A defense barrier opened near Noriki. It definitely blocked a grazing hit.

They were indeed under attack. A similar attack was underway against the warriors further to the east. Asama could hear their voices as they resisted. Which would mean…

“So these have been ordinary bullets hitting our people. But can even a master sharpshooter make their bullets circle behind people?”

“Could you do it, Asama Shrine Representative?”

“No, that just isn’t possible.”

She noticed broad smiles forming on everyone’s faces.

“Wh-what are those looks for!? It really isn’t possible without any protections or spells!”

“That leads to a question and a suggestion,” said Gin. “Why are these attacks only happening to the ordinary warriors who split off from us?”

“Eh?”

Asama suddenly realized that was true. The voices from the east made it clear they were having a rough time, but only the occasional defense barrier was activating over here.

…What could this mean?

Gin responded to Asama’s unspoken question.

“There is a way to reach a result on par with a spell or divine protection without producing ether light. Do you know what that is?”

Before Asama could think about it, someone else spoke up: Mitotsudaira. She raised her hand and answered.

“Species traits. I can hide the ether light of my grooming protection if I want to and some species have stealth protections to help them hunt.”

“Judge. So the answer is simple.” Gin drew a short sword from within her prosthetic arm and held it in hands so large they hid it from view. “We must hunt our prey. What could be simpler?”

●

The Musashi warriors advancing through the forest from a position east of the main force continued forward on a command from the 1st Special Duty Officer.

They readied their spell shields as defense barriers and hurried through the trees.

“Form horizontal rows! Form up in waves!”

“Judge!” everyone replied and moved forward.

They were less than 200m from the end of the forest. With their physical buffing spells, they could move quick in the forest. They could easily clear that distance in 30 seconds.

But the trees acted as obstacles. In the lead row, anyone who had to avoid a tree would raise a hand to inform the rest of the rows where to break formation.

Then the sounds returned. Gunshots overlapped while the groaning metal sound circled around them.

“Here it comes!”

Those on either side of the trees readied their defense barriers.

The front row readied their own defense barriers against the sound like claws tearing into space itself and the other rows worked to cover them from behind.

They crouched and braced for impact just before it arrived.

The sound suddenly vanished.

This was when they had taken damage before.

The enemy bullets would slip past their defenses and someone on the interior would fall.

“Is it going to happen again!?” someone asked.

They heard a pair of impacts. Someone had been hit. Two someones.

“Damn!”

The warriors quickly lowered their defenses and began to form up again.

They were on this eastern route on a command from the 1st Special Duty Officer who was on the western route himself. But it hadn’t helped at all, so…

“That damn ninja!”

“He’ll pay on the divine network later!”

“Yeah, it’s not like we can say this to his face!”

In the darkness, they all clenched their fists until they shook, but then they realized something.

They had heard two impacts earlier, but…

“Huh?”

They looked side to side and everyone was there.

No one was missing. In fact, there were two more people than before. A pair of figures was crouching behind the defense barriers they had erected earlier.

…What is going on?

Then the figures stood up. One was a tall boy and the other a short girl.

The tall one, the boy with a long-tipped spear, raised his right hand in a light greeting.

“Keep up the good work! I’m Tachibana Muneshige!”

●

“Huh?”

Everyone viewed those two. If the boy was the Vice Chancellor’s aide, then that had to be Tachibana Gin by his side. But…

“Um, where did you come from?”

“Judge! My apologies! We come from above where we were running along the tree leaves. Gin is extremely light and that route is much safer.”

“Master Muneshige, you are the lighter of the two of us.

“Also,” said Gin as she opened a sign frame and illuminated the ground with its light.

There were shadows there.

No, those weren’t just shadows. It was a pair of nonhumans much too big to call humanoid. They were…

“Half-dragons!?”

●

“Judge,” replied Gin.

Half-dragons about 2m tall lay collapsed half-sunken into the grass at her and Muneshige’s feet.

They had no wings and they were probably colored entirely black. They wore no gear on their upper body and they were only equipped with summer uniform pants, a short sword, and a pick hammer. Both weapons had spells applied, but their ether radiation had been reduced as far as possible.

Gin could guess who they were.

“These are shadow walker half-dragons. The species was engineered for ground combat and that process provided them with Celestial Dragon techniques. They can pass through shadows just like shadow spirits.”

They were from the New World.

The New World of Ezo had been inhabited by peoples with their own unique cultures before the arrival of Columbus and other adventurers from Europe.

The history recreation of this had been carried out in the Harmonic Divine States. So in the early days when people were still working to take control of the Harmonic Divine States, the development and stability of distant Ezo had been crucial.

Nonhumans like the half-dragons had been given that task.

Of course, they did have backup from the real Divine States through the Gate, but survival in that harsh environment was said to have been a challenge. So to regroup with them more quickly, a certain event had gathered a lot of attention: the Reconquista.

In the Middle Ages, the dragons who had inherited the names of the Germanic tribes had swept across Europe. This became known as the Draconic Hazard, which ended in the 9th Century when the inherited name of Charlemagne was given to the humans and the world entered a cooling period, but remnants of the dragons and the Mlasi in Europe, who sensed the coming rise of Turkey, established a defensive line in the Iberian Peninsula.

At the time, it was half-dragon units who fought on the front line of the Reconquista. Most of them had originally been on the dragons’ side, but their fellow half-dragons were in the New World. They knew their fellow half-dragons were struggling to survive in a harsh environment and they knew the success of the Reconquista would lead to the arrival of the Age of Exploration. Knowing that would allow them to rejoin their fellow half-dragons, they sided with the humans.

Ultimately, the Reconquista history recreation was carried out and the half-dragons were reunited. Most of those who had managed to survive in the New World were those with species traits and spells allowing them to survive in great heat, and shadow walking was one such ability.

Shadow walking allowed one to hide in and move through shadows.

As long as there were shadows, they could hand their living space over to someone else, so regions where they lived had much higher survival rates.

But after the completion of the Reconquista, Tres España shifted to a belief in pure bloodlines and nonhumans other than the long-lived were no longer welcome there. Of course, with their vitality and strength, half-dragons could live just about anywhere.

…Musashi’s 2nd Special Duty Officer must be a descendant of those people.

His parents ran a bedding store, but cleaning futons and such was a Mlasi specialty. So were his ancestors the half-dragons who fought in the Reconquista?

The world turned and created new connections.

And the world had formed a connection here as well.

After the Shadow Walker half-dragons left Tres España, they moved to the Dark Continent because its environment was similar to the New World and there was little religious oppression there. The history recreation of the slave trade had occurred from there, but Europe had guaranteed they would be treated with care. And then…

“Oda Nobunaga traded with Europe and took in a Black slave. I heard he was given the name Yasuke and appointed to an important position. Given who we see collapsed here now, the enemy must have a unit of shadow walker half-dragons and their leader must be him. When P.A. Oda’s Ranmaru visited Musashi before, I was told he hid nearby as her bodyguard. He likely hid in her shadow.”

●

Gin took a sharp look around.

…They are there.

She sensed movement. They were keeping their distance but not fleeing.

So she spoke loud enough for them to hear.

“The gunfire and straining metal sounds had nothing to do with each other. P.A. Oda had the half-dragons enter the forest. And as a species capable of traveling through shadows, the half-dragon unit attacked in time with the gunfire to fool us.”

Her analysis received no response from the forest.

…So they intend to keep fighting.

She was impressed. They did not flee even after their trick was revealed.

They were desperate too. So she had a question.

“1st Special Duty Officer, I will be sending these warriors on, but how will you respond to this attack?”

●

I see, thought Tenzou.

Gin’s explanation from the forest to the right made sense to him.

“When Ranmaru-dono visited the Musashi before, I did sense another presence with her.”

“Judge,” agreed Mitotsudaira who had noticed it then too. She formed a humanoid shape with her hands. “I noticed a scent like someone was hiding behind her. It didn’t occur to me someone could be hiding in her shadow itself, though.”

“And,” said Mary, next to Tenzou. “His troops are in this forest?”

“They are. Probably 7 or 8 of them.”

But none of them had come here, to the west. They were all targeting the warriors to the east.

They had split their forces like that on Gin’s instruction, but…

…You can always count on Gin-dono.

Gin must have realized the enemy’s identity based on the attacks and her own knowledge. As a gunner herself, it must have been easy for her to identity the enemy gunfire as a distraction.

And she had split them between officers and warriors in order to give the enemy a false sense of confidence.

After all, Tenzou and Mitotsudaira had detected Yasuke’s presence before.

Also, the enemy’s strategy was to whittle down the warriors, ridding the Musashi group of their defenders. That would be a disadvantage when entering Honnouji.

By that point, Tenzou had caught on and gave the command to defend.

He did so right as the warriors were avoiding the trees.

The gaps in their formation had created the perfect gaps for half-dragons to emerge from the shadows below.

But then Gin and Muneshige had run across the tree leaves above and caught the enemy by surprise. It was impressive how Gin’s initial instruction had paid off like that. The half-dragons below must not have imagined the shadows overhead could be from attackers even higher up “falling” toward them.

And so they had had given the enemy the perfect opportunity to lure them out.

And with all that done, Tenzou knew exactly what command to give.

“Everyone, continue onward!”

●

Muneshige heard metal.

It coincided with the gunfire and spun rapidly through the forest to attack the warriors.

But…

…That is not gunfire.

Their equipment caused discord when shadow walking. Some species traits affected worn equipment as well, but apparently not in this case. They could take it into the shadows with them, but the portion that spilled out beyond the range of their trait’s protection would scrape against the gap between shadow and non-shadow as they moved.

That was the source of the straining metal sound.

It was hard to miss in the darkness of the night, but when it coincided with gunfire and whizzing bullets, it was a lot harder to assess. They had likely come up with this tactic for that very reason.

“Master Muneshige, they are on guard now.”

The metal straining sound was a lot quieter now. They must have stopped moving so carelessly and were regulating their speed. And if they were restraining their movements even as the Musashi warriors continued forward…

“Do they intend to stop us?”

As soon as Muneshige said that, he felt a chill on the right of his neck.

A black blade was suddenly pressed against it.

●

The advancing warriors saw Muneshige suddenly spin around.

No one was surprised. Because he was a weird guy. When he and his wife Gin took a morning walk, she would smoothly draw a short sword and swing it without warning and say, “Excellent dodging, Master Muneshige.” So the warriors figured this was just another part of their recreation.

But his spin was accompanied by a great figure.

A pitch-black half-dragon.

“Whoa!?”

The reason for the surprised cry was obvious. Muneshige had grabbed the half-dragon’s right hand and twirled around once more. The enemy had been trying to catch him off guard and hadn’t expected to be tugged with such great strength.

Meanwhile, the warriors were disturbed by it all.

“If someone has a blade to your throat, can you really dodge it by spinning?”

He had made the spin with the blade right against his throat.

“Yeah, but this is the Vice Chancellor’s aide. He’s a weird guy.”

“To be clear, he’s not a bad person! And neither is his wife!”

That was why he fell into the category of “weird”, but then they heard a noise from a different position.

From Gin. She had readied Arcabuz Cruz within her prosthetic arm and fired into empty air.

There was nothing at all in the space she aimed for. And…

“You could use more training. What is the point of attacking from the direction needed to kill?”

The wife used that absurd logic to strike an enemy in seemingly empty space.

The cannon blast cracked the half-dragon’s armor and slammed him against a tree trunk. The impact shook the entire forest.

●

…This is nothing to be ashamed of, but it is a Tres España issue.

While it had happened before her birth, the shadow walker half-dragons were part of her birthplace’s history. That fact meant she and Muneshige had to handle this.

Furthermore…

“During our time building up our careers in the New World, we were assisted by you, other half-dragons, and other nonhumans. We often hunted common dragons and other animals together and I recall enjoying dinners with you.”

Her relationship with Muneshige had reached a more comfortable position then.

An expedition away from her father and homeland had partially been meant as a simple change of pace, but it had deepened her relationship with Muneshige and changed her own attitude as well.

The half-dragons who had assisted her then were not the same as these ones here. But…

“I will repay the favors they showed me by proving my worth now.”

That statement was a challenge.

…I cannot allow any more damage to the warriors.

They required personnel to ensure their safety while entering Honnouji and when withdrawing. Honnouji had not been secured for them like Novgorod’s underground ruins and the Houjou ruins had been.

Simply put, Honnouji could be seen as the enemy’s central base. Gin knew enough about attacking castles to know they could not afford to lose much of their forces before even arriving at the “castle”. Especially when they needed to get the Chancellor’s group to the center.

…I am sure that the 5th Special Duty Officer and others will protect them and that Honda Futayo will breach the enemy defenses.

But the unexpected could always happen and if they had no route back…

“––––”

What if this ended the way Mikawa did?

If Gin hadn’t been there, Muneshige would have been caught in the destruction of Mikawa. And if the other unit hadn’t arrived, everyone injured by Honda Tadakatsu would have as well.

She had to protect everyone here and make sure they got through. So…

“Let’s go on ahead, Master Muneshige.”

As soon as she said that, new attacks arrived.

They came from the front and rear. From the rear, a striking pick to her right prosthetic arm and a blade to the center of her back.

From the front, blades stabbed toward her lower chest and between her legs.

The blades coming from the front were less than 5cm away.

Not only was it an extreme close-range pincer attack, but the number of weapons told her…

…They are dual wielding.

●

The half-dragons saw this as a sure thing.

It was rare to achieve so much at night.

For shadow walkers, the night was a challenging environment because the darkness consumed the shadows.

In the darkness, shadows were weakened, preventing them from moving or diving as much as they would like.

It was like trying to swim in the shallows.

It all came down to the difference between darkness and shadow. But when they or ninjas with similar abilities appeared in novels or manga, the two concepts were often conflated. Lately, it had started happening in video games too, which was infuriating.

But forests were a different matter. Especially when there were glowing pillars providing a massive light source.

The shadows here were deep even in the darkness, allowing the half-dragons to move through them.

Shadow walking wasn’t limited to the shadows cast on the ground.

Shadows began at the object blocking the light and continued all the way to the ground. The shadow cast on the ground was only the end point – it was not the full shadow itself.

Everything in the space blocked from the light was the shadow.

And in this forest, there were plenty of obstacles and an enormous light source.

The glowing pillars extended up into the sky from Honnouji.

With the light source taking the form of pillars, the shadows stretched far out at an angle.

While this place looked like it was nothing but the darkness of the night, it was in fact a space of shadows.

And yet someone had managed to fight back.

The half-dragons had adjusted their point of emergence and attacked from just about point-blank range, but this enemy had dodged and even struck back.

So now they were attacking in pairs.

First, the girl.

From behind, they targeted the center of her back and struck her prosthetic arm to immobilize it.

From the front, they jabbed a blade between her legs to restrict the movement of her legs and sent an attack below her chest.

After stopping her legs and arm, they were stabbing the center of her torso from the front and back.

The attack was made from nearly point-blank range. The pincer attack cast upon the enemy could not be dodged.

And they carried it out.

●

Gin made a split-second decision.

She saw a knuckle-style pick hammer swinging toward her right prosthetic arm from behind.

…Is the impact meant to confuse my movements?

A half-dragon’s striking power would be enough to knock her right arm away.

The prosthetic arm was heavy. She was controlling it, but enough external force to it and it would pull the rest of her body with it.

So she purged her right arm at the shoulder.

And just as she let go of the Arcabuz Cruz held within that arm, she fired it forward.

She fired it with the bracing gravitational control switched off.

…I should have made it a blank round.

But this was enough.

The pick hammer struck her floating prosthetic arm from behind.

But that was none of her concern.

At the same time, Arcabuz Cruz was blasted backwards by recoil.

It wasn’t as powerful as Cuatro Cruz, but Arcabuz Cruz still functioned as a decent striking weapon. It rushed backwards, striking the right arm of the person emerging from the shadow.

Holding the pick hammer in their right hand must have been a mistake because they couldn’t relax their fist fast enough to let go of the weapon and took Arcabuz Cruz to the arm.

“…!”

In the shadow, they bent back and to the left.

They failed to make a full-strength strike against the prosthetic arm. There was a sound of impact, but the arm only skipped forward through the air a bit.

The blade behind Gin pulled back and lowered before vanishing into the shadow.

Gin had already taken a half step back, so the blades arriving from the front failed to reach her.

But that half-dragon had only sent their blades and arms from the shadow.

After confirming her presence, they had kept their face hidden and exposed as little of themselves as possible as they attacked. That had to be standard operating procedure with this sort of combat.

Inside the shadow, they must have seen their partner knocked backwards by the hit from Arcabuz Cruz.

Upon realizing this was no longer a pincer attack, they tried to pull back. The two blades meant for Gin lowered and began to sink into the shadow.

…A good decision.

They didn’t get greedy and they remained calm. This had to be a team of well-trained elites.

But that didn’t matter to Gin. She raised her left foot up from the knee.

She was targeting the sword that had been aimed between her inner thighs earlier.

“How indecent.”

She used her step back to gain enough clearance for a rapid diagonal kick.

It hit. Her diagonal kick struck the ridge line running along the side of the blade.

“…!”

The blade’s pulling motion was diverted, causing it to swing a bit to the side.

A black arm emerged from the shadow. That was the forearm of the half-dragon who had swung the blade.

Gin’s hand was already there.

Because her prosthetic arm had been lightly deflected earlier. She had detached it, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t move it. As long as it didn’t enter sleep mode, she still had a remote control link to it.

So she had her prosthetic arm grab the half-dragon’s revealed arm.

She didn’t hold back. After hearing the crunch of breaking armor and bone, she twisted it and her prosthetic arm together.

“Gah!”

She used just the arm to toss the enemy outside of the shadow.

●

How? wondered the half-dragon.

…How did she dodge it and then hit me!?

The worlds of light and shadow were separate.

Light was powerful.

Light could eliminate shadows, but shadows could not eliminate light.

Shadows required light to exist, but light was not created by shadows.

The half-dragons had attacked from within the shadows. And from nearly point-blank range.

…So how!?

It should have been flawless.

They would bring only part of their face from the shadow to visually confirm their target and then move in while inside the shadow.

They would be fairly far away, so they had to hurry to avoid any lag.

It was unexpectedly bright within the shadows. The areas touched by light shined and everything else was bluish-black.

And once they arrived where the enemy was, they would read the enemy’s movements and begin the attack.

The final adjustments were made by sensing the enemy’s presence through the shadow boundary.

They looked to the shadow cast by the enemy.

They couldn’t actually see the enemy, but they could see the shadow. So by observing the shadow, they could watch the enemy’s movements in two dimensions.

That was what made shadow walking so effective.

They could see everything from within the shadows.

Their ancestors had apparently hidden in small shadows in the New World or other extreme environments.

No matter how harsh it was outside, everything was dark in the shadows and it stole away enough heat to freeze you to death.

It had long been said that everything would be “submerged” in the shadows and, if you weren’t careful, you would sink into the depths and disappear. It was comfortable in there, but you would vanish if you tried to live there.

So it was a comfortable place to be “submerged” in, but it was still a harsh environment.

They used it as a pathway.

They resisted the temptation to “submerge” themselves and simply passed through it, viewed the enemy, and struck.

That was what this half-dragon had done here.

He had carefully targeted an attack from point-blank range.

But his target had dodged it and even struck back.

“How?” he asked as the attack came.

His target, Tachibana Gin, was moving.

She reattached and adjusted the right arm she had used to throw his partner out of the shadow. And while he had been knocked out of his attack stance behind her…

“Shot two.”

She remotely adjusted her mobile cannon’s firing angle and fired it again.

The impact struck home with a solid sound of impact.

The half-dragon hiding behind her was blasted to the side.

●

Gin did not turn around toward the enemy blasted to the side behind her.

“Another Arcabuz Cruz.”

A second Arcabuz Cruz – the left one – was ejected into the air. With both of them ready, she aimed only the left one at the half-dragon on her left.

She didn’t even need to turn that way.

She fired.

It hit. But just before it did, the enemy shouted a question.

“How!?”

She saw no reason to answer him. Because he had already been blasted into the forest by a direct hit from her shell.

…A half-dragon requires such a powerful attack.

But, she thought.

“Shadow walking has been defeated more than once even before the Age of the Gods and the strategy has differed each time. And it is our ability to come up with countermeasures even for point-blank range attacks that ensures conflict is ever present in human history. So if I had to explain how I dodged your attack…”

Gin looked to Muneshige by her side and walked through the shadowy forest as she explained.

“I would say I did what came naturally to me.”

●

Gold Mar: “Gin-chan, I really don’t think that’s a good answer. What’s he supposed to do with that?”

Unturning: “It is a simple answer, at least.”

Worshiper: “It sounded to me like she just used brute force to crush a strange power or supernatural spell.”

●

The half-dragons were honestly unsure what to do.

There were four of them left in the shadows. They had all poked a portion of themselves out of the shadows to hear what their opponent said using the sound transmission of their armor, but…

…I can’t believe it.

It was true shadow walking had a few weaknesses. The simplest countermeasure was to eliminate the shadows, leaving them with nowhere to hide. Additionally, they had to stick a portion of themselves out to acquire information on the outside world. But…

“She can dodge it at nearly point-blank range?”

“Like an expert?”

They did have a question, so one of them poked his face out from a short distance away to ask. This would also help delay the enemy.

“Excuse me…but what kind of training do you normally do?”

“Judge.” Tachibana Gin nodded. “My training in the dodging of surprise attacks and of attacks from a blade already partially against my body began as far back as middle school.”

“That’s right,” added Muneshige. He placed a hand on his chest. “You were so passionate shortly after our marriage that you would thrust a spear at me from around the corner of the hallway or stab a kitchen knife down at me while I was sleeping.”

“Please, Master Muneshige. I never once managed to hit you, so those are shameful memories.”

She fired.

●

“Whoa!? What!? Why would she shoot us then of all times!?”

“Hey, you! The right side of your head is chipped!”

“What was she thinking to shoot then!?”

●

Horizey: “Oh, Gin-sama is in top form, I see.”

Scarred: “They do say Tres España is the land of passion. Even her bashfulness has exceptionally high firepower.”

Art-Ga: “I seem to recall some English royalty whose bashfulness had a lot of firepower too…”

●

The half-dragons had readied their resolve.

The Musashi warriors were already starting to leave the forest, but they would have to stop those two at least.

“Let’s do this.”

They emerged from the shadows.

All four of them. They had already shown their hand and they knew any half-assed attacks would be evaded. So they had better chances under conditions that let them draw on their full strength.

They emerged into the forest without forgetting to keep the light source to their backs.

“You fight well,” said Tachibana Gin with a nod. The half-dragons nodded back.

“And you did well reaching this point.”

“Judge. I do have one question.”

“What is that?”

“Why did you join that side?”

“if we played the Dark Continent victims of the slave trade for the history recreation, it made the political stuff coming from Europe a lot easier.” The one on the far left shrugged. “In terms of the Testament, we were earning some political capital. Once we arrived in Europe, they would have put us to work, but when we were in the Dark Continent, Hashiba-sama arrived for her invasion of Kyushu.”

“We made some friends then, so they told us to go to M.H.R.R. and that led to here.”

“When I first arrived in Europe, I worked as a mercenary in Hexagone Française, but when I heard they were looking for someone to inherit Yasuke’s name, I went to P.A. Oda. But our commander got that name in the end.”

It had gone similarly for them all. But…

“Tres España banned slavery and worked to rejoin us with our brethren in the New World, so we do owe you something. Still…”

“The Testament’s a real pain. The New World’s environment suits us, but there’s little room for political growth there.”

“Judge. I can guess how you feel.”

“Although you two have got even worse problems than us.”

They smiled and their two enemies nodded. Then Tachibana Muneshige spoke softly.

“Will coming here solve your problems?”

That question had them at a loss for words. But Tachibana Muneshige continued in the same soft tone.

“The Genesis Project will end it but not let it end. When that happens, what happens to your situation back home?”

“Well…” began one of them, but another held out a hand to stop him.

“That isn’t for us to say. Not when we appreciate the blessings it will provide us.”

“In that case…”

Tachibana Gin suddenly fired.

Chapter 48: Near and Far Responders[edit]

You have Adele

You have Raging Beast

You have the silver chains

Name an effective attack method

Point Allocation (I Demonstrated One!)

●

…I feel like she chose an incredible time to fire there.

Adele was running down the path toward Honnouji.

She was out in front.

However, that didn’t mean she was running down the very center of the path. They had split into two groups – one primarily made up of the officers and the other led by the warriors – and the groups were running on either side of the 40m-wide path.

The officers were on the left and Adele was…

“Is Raging Beast’s pace good? I’m not holding everyone up, am I?”

“You’re doing fine, Vassal-dono! If we think of you as an automatic shield running out in front, you begin to sound very important!” said the Vice Chancellor.

“Yes, I do like the idea of a shield/hammer that can run on its own!” added the 5th Special Duty Officer.

“Hey, Adele, do you see now what it’s like to have your purpose in life shaken? Well?” said the Chancellor.

“Th-that last comment wasn’t necessary!”

But she and Raging Beast were effective as an emergency shelter. The Chancellor and the Vicereine would fit inside during the survival lockdown mode. And one more could fit too.

…Kimi-san could probably wedge herself inside with ease…

She had entered Raging Beast in normal mode during the exam, so she would have no trouble with survival mode.

Of course, Adele was only thinking about this because of the situation at Honnouji. Out-of-control ether was still being spewed high into the sky, but they had no idea what was going to happen. Furthermore…

“The wide-range barrier that blocked the Musashi’s main cannon appeared to cover the area around the light pillars too.”

Asama held up a sign frame and took some measurements, showing the situation wasn’t great.

If what she said was true…

“So even if we fired a Logismoi Oplo from here, it would get distributed like that?” asked Adele.

“Yes. Logismoi Oplo attacks are also an ether conversion, so I believe the same thing would happen given how much ether is powering that wide-range barrier. And it would affect the surrounding area when distributed, so we would be in danger too.”

“So if I were to fire one of my Logismoi Oplo here, it would be a super own goal?”

“Don’t do it! That means you shouldn’t do it, Horizon!”

The way the 5th Special Duty Officer said that sounded more like she was tempting the Vicereine into doing it, which seemed like a bad idea.

But then the Vice President asked a question while being carried by the Vice Chancellor.

“Is there a location from which we could fire the Logismoi Oplo?”

“There is no barrier at the very bottom of the pillars, so you could probably do it there,” said Mary. “The barrier is produced by the bottom part of the pillars, so you should within the barrier if you are on the ground below them.”

Asama nodded in agreement, but the idiot tilted his head.

“What if Asama shot one of her giant arrows?”

“The acceleration spells and such would be dispelled, so it wouldn’t work. I think speed, scale, and ether density are the triggers.”

Which meant the speed and scale of their class would work. But…

Smoking Girl: “A god of war probably wouldn’t make it through.”

“Would the Logismoi Oplo or Mary’s Ex. Collbrande work as physical attacks?”

“That wouldn’t trigger the speed condition, so it should be fine. Otherwise, the barrier would react when an attack struck and it would self-destruct.”

“In that case,” said the 6th Special Duty Officer.

Smoking Girl: “Explosion spells that primarily use a shockwave wouldn’t work. Incendiary spells are probably out because the buildings themselves have resistant protections.”

Tonbokiri: “Is it possible that kind of weapon has been registered as an exception?”

Novice: “That setting would have to affect the entire barrier, which would be a huge burden. And Tonbokiri is one thing since it was made in Mikawa, but I wonder how much they know about the Spare. Plus, each of the Logismoi Oplo have a different internal OS, right? I don’t see how they could do that without registering each of them individually.”

Uqui: “An oddly rational opinion coming from Neshinbara.”

Gold Mar: “If they get negated when fired either way, does it even matter how it’s done?”

Novice: “Th-that occurred to me mid-explanation, so well done, Naito-kun!”

At the very least, this killed time during their approach run.

Still, Adele wanted to speed up. The Vice Chancellor’s aide and Gin were working hard behind them. And up ahead, the P.A. Oda gunner unit had stopped sniping them in order to fall back and scatter to the sides.

The Musashi group simply ran along either side of the main path while keeping an eye on the woods.

They were expecting an ambush from the woods.

So Adele and the defenders were moving to hold the front and the sides bordering the woods.

The problem was how Honnouji’s main entrance gate was likely locked by a spell. But…

“Lord Akechi gave me Jibril.”

Asama ejected a spell sign frame containing a small wing icon. That was the word authority spell Akechi Mitsuhide had given them in the imperial palace.

…It was originally a wide-range acclimation defense against spells, right?

Adele realized the defense barrier around Honnouji was pretty much that. She decided to assume P.A. Oda or Akechi Mitsuhide had used that spell to create this defense barrier.

“I will hold onto this since it is a fairly high-level spell, but the usage rights belong to Toori-kun since he has Akechi Mitsuhide’s inherited name, so tell me when you need it.”

“Umm, what inherited names do I have again?”

“You had already inherited Salt, Pepper, and Sugar from the Blue Thunder. And last night, you added Turmeric and Cabbage.”

“I’m food now!? That’s a new one!”

“To give the actual answer, you have Lord Motonobu and Lord Akechi’s names,” said the 5th Special Duty Officer.

…Those are some really major names!

And that he had inherited them from people so much older than him was pretty new too. Since the Vice Chancellor hadn’t inherited her father’s name, he was the first second generation name inheritor in Class Plum.

Anyway, they could likely get through the front gate.

And even if Jibril didn’t unlock it…

“I’ll give it the old triple punch!”

That was where Noriki came in. Spell destruction was his specialty. Once they had identified the locking spell, he would be able to open the gate in three hits.

This will work, thought Adele. But at that exact moment…

…Eh?

A chill rushed in from the woods on either side.

No, a chilly wind was to be expected in the woods at night. But something was wrong here.

…I’m inside Raging Beast!

As soon as that occurred to her, she voiced a warning. She recognized this chill. She didn’t bother thinking why it would be here – she simply accepted the fact.

“It’s Maeda Toshiie’s Kaga Millionen Geist! Be careful!”

●

Asama hurriedly erected a barrier all around them.

“This will only keep the ghost warriors out, but it should help!”

She let Hanami handle the warriors to their right and clapped twice. Torii-style sign frames appeared over Raging Beast to the front and the warriors at the rear.

She wanted to use something more powerful, but that would have triggered the wide-range barrier. And if she was too slow, the enemy’s barrier would be drawn into her barrier.

“Here they come!”

Mitotsudaira noticed their scent more than their presence or movement.

Several pale forms stood up within the woods. Asama wasn’t going to say she was used to seeing this yet, but it was the third time after Magdeburg and Novgorod.

But something caught her attention aside from that.

“Wasn’t Maeda Toshiie at Shizugatake!?”

Even if he was coming here, he would have had to take a transport ship or high-speed ship. But…

Musashi: “No P.A. Oda or M.H.R.R. ships have approached within a 50km range of our present location. Of course, there are supply ships on patrol, but none have arrived within Honnouji’s grounds. Over.”

That’s odd, thought Asama. There must be a trick to this.

“Um, could it be the wide-range barrier we have been discussing?” Mary drew a circle in the sky as she ran. “That barrier enters the ground and covers a wide area along the ley line paths. The relay and long-range management is likely handled by a shrine, temple, cathedral, or church. Which would mean the barrier is linked to the geographic phase.”

●

“I know I was in a hurry because we are short on time, but I wasn’t the first one here, was I?”

Toshiie scattered silver coins on the ground with a bitter smile.

He was at a Shinto shrine. But it was located in the mountains and quite small. Its grounds only covered 10 square meters.

But while it was so small it lacked a main building, M.H.R.R. Catholic and Shinto lenern figurs were overlapping and slowly rotating in front of it.

Looking southeast, he could see the pillars of light past the forests and mountains. They looked a little thicker from here than from Shizugatake.

“Well, Na-chan? Is this reaching you? Or did you not need my support?”

“That idiot!”

“You’re hurting my ear, Ma-chan. And really, I might be the biggest idiot of them all. I left my upperclassman before his fight was over and now I can’t even meet with my friends in person. The Testament says I live a long life after this, but what’s the point of that life?

“But anyway,” he said, scattering silver coins. Pale hands repeatedly rose from the shrine ground to collect the coins before vanishing, but…

“Head straight there please. Make yourselves useful since I can’t, Landsknechte. Because if the Genesis Project is completed, these feelings I’m having will all be gone.”

●

“Toshi.”

Sassa stood in front of Honnouji’s main entrance.

In the distance, he could see the Musashi group split to the left and right as they approached.

They had emerged to the edge of the woods with perfect timing. They were in a hurry and once their target was in view, there was no point in hiding in the woods.

They could still be detected just fine inside the woods at this range. So this let them hurry as much as possible while staying close enough to the woods to hide if necessary.

But allies to Sassa’s side emerged from those woods.

“Is he remote-controlling the Kaga Millionen Geist and sending them via ley line transport? But I’m going to view this as a gift from Shibata-senpai at Shizugatake, Toshi.”

Just as he swung down his raised right hand, a roar raced from the woods. The ghost warriors weren’t alone. The large apes had been sent in too.

●

“Narumi.”

Narumi responded to the roar coming from the woods to her left and the high-speed sounds of something crashing through the trees.

“I know.”

She ejected her Unturning Centipede mobile shell behind her.

She let herself fall backwards so it could catch her and instantly transform her into something two sizes larger. Sign frames inside the head displayed the scene outside and one showed him raising his right hand.

“I will assist the warriors to the right. You should-”

“I’ll be fine on my own, Kiyonari. So you go do your thing.”

She eject-drew a pair of mandible swords from the air behind her. She wielded them in her hands as she spoke.

“Hurry onward, everyone. I can handle this on my own.”

As soon as she was done speaking, she launched herself into the woods.

A large ape was charging toward her, so she stabbed a mandible sword down its throat. A dull sound echoed through the woods and her enemy turned to ether light while she adjusted her targeting to the enemy with the greatest approach velocity.

●

Narumi had hoped to be fully prepared for this battle.

…But my combat prosthetics weren’t ready.

If a Komaoumaru-class opponent showed up, she could only hope for mutual destruction. And if Honnouji was destroyed like Mikawa afterwards, she would have a hard time returning alive.

Of course, she doubted he would let that happen, but it could still happen.

She wanted to avoid that.

So she focused on dealing with as many enemies as she could. She had gotten to know the ghost warriors in an unpleasant way at Novgorod. So she owed them.

They were innumerable. Large apes were already racing through the woods and the ghost warriors filled the space between the trees. But…

“Mandible sword ejection: 32.”

Narumi took aim at the rapidly-approaching large apes and launched mandible swords horizontally to the left and right.

These were not ejected from the hilts. They were directed toward the enemy, tip first.

They were being ejected, but this was how Unturning Centipede drew its swords. They weren’t given much speed. The enemy had greater mass and speed, so the swords would be knocked away if they made contact.

So Narumi added another force.

“Eject 16 arm pairs.”

Right and left arms were repeatedly ejected out from her shoulders. The Unturning Centipede arms grabbed the hilts of the ejected mandible swords.

“Sync.”

With that word, they all moved in unison. When she jabbed her own arms forward, the 32 metal arms thrust out the mandible swords with an identical motion.

She made a perfect counterattack against the large ape ghosts racing toward her.

Sounds of piercing and impact ran through the apes from mouth to rear. There were 32 of those series of sounds. Afterwards, she stored the mandible swords and arms in the air and moved forward herself.

Most of the major enemies had disappeared. That just left the ghost warriors, but…

…I wonder.

At Novgorod, the ghost warriors had transformed into the large apes and then into the colossal skeletons. But…

“––––––”

The scattering ether that had been the large apes started to bind back together before bursting apart again.

They did not recombine into something bigger.

…That must require too much ether compression.

The ghosts could not form colossal skeletons. That suggested that size was the threshold for ether density.

But the scattered ether did become ghost warriors once more.

Eight per ape.

It took ten warriors to create a large ape, so defeating a large ape reduced the number of warriors by two.

…Barely worth the effort.

While she assessed the situation, Narumi saw the 32 bluish-white ether sprays lighting up the forest. And overhead, Honnouji’s glowing pillars shined light down through the trees.

A lot like sunlight filtered through the leaves.

Narumi ran through that light in her mobile shell, working to break down the enemy formation as she drew her swords.

Unturning Centipede’s sensor system triggered a warning. A series of ether readings had appeared in the Honnouji buildings past the ghost warriors and beyond the woods.

It was an unusual reading, but one she recognized.

“Automata!”

Just as she confirmed 28 such readings, the ghost warriors all burst into ether.

The friendly fire hitting them from back to front was likely meant to induce the transformation into large apes. But the weapon being used was a problem.

…Anti-god-of-war rifles!

Those two-man rifles were used by Tres España and K.P.A. Italia. They were about 2m long with a cross-shaped design. The automata were holding them under their arms and aiming them this way.

At 5.1cm/38 caliber, shots fired with the full barrel were a lot like cannon blasts.

The 28 booms rang out after the fact.

After taking direct hits and being pierced through, the entire enemy group transformed into large apes.

And leading those apes, the bullets continued on toward Narumi.

●

Narumi did not hesitate to move forward. She held two of the blades she had ejected earlier.

She couldn’t eject that many again right away because the ether fuel hadn’t recharged yet.

But the enemy bullets were the biggest threat. Those anti-god-of-war armor piercing rounds could easily penetrate mobile shell armor. A mobile shell of Unturning Centipede’s class had a few countermeasures available, but Narumi knew a better method.

“Unturning Centipede.”

After preparing to move forward, she gave the instruction.

“Countless Hundreds of Paths.”

●

The automata were unable to track the enemy after she suddenly disappeared.

…Where did she go!?

The Date Vice Chancellor’s mobile shell could fly. But she was in the woods. If she tried to fly, she would hit the branches and leaves overhead and lose control.

“In that case,” said the commander automaton. “Perform visual scans from the front to the sides.”

The automaton on the outermost edge nodded her assent along with the others and turned her gaze past the woods and toward the front gate.

She should have been able to see through the trees and see the gate. But…

…Eh?

She couldn’t see it. There was only darkness there.

Only those who had turned around shared the same question in their shared memory.

They were in the woods. While it would be dark, hadn’t the ghost warriors produced ether light and hadn’t the glowing pillars been shining down through the leaves like sunshine?

But darkness had arrived. The darkness of the night had covered all else. A combination of slicing sounds and rustling leaves raced in from deeper in the forest. The approaching darkness was in fact…

“Is she felling all the trees to create her own cover!?”

As soon as the automaton asked that, something appeared to her right.

The dragon-like silhouette was colored green and red.

…Unturning Centipede!

Just as she sent that name into their shared memory, she saw the two full moons in the sky.

Her head had flown up into the night sky which was now uncovered by the felled trees.

●

Narumi ran.

Unturning Centipede’s Countless Hundreds of Paths repeatedly ejected legs and kicked them all forward while the torso portion moved rapidly along them.

The legs ejected out ahead could be seen like rails.

But she could also move the legs.

The rails didn’t need to form straight lines or corners. Depending on the strength with which she swung the legs, she could skid, hop upwards, or even perform something akin to a barrel roll.

Narumi generally accelerated straight ahead while using the tree trunks to turn corners.

She ejected the legs near the trunks and then used her speed to power a turn. But…

…My prosthetic legs inside here are too weak to rely on.

Inside the mobile shell, she was still using ordinary prosthetics. So as her speed increased, she had a harder time staying in control. If she screwed up, she could end up launching herself outwards like a highsider.

She had a solution.

By holding a mandible sword out a bit, she could hook the trunk with the reverse taper at the tip of the blade. That let her take the turn with her speed intact.

But it also instantly tore through and felled the tree.

However, that actually worked in her favor. When the tree fell, it blocked the enemy’s view and also interfered with the ghost warriors attempting to rise from the ground.

The large apes tried to form between the fallen trees, but had their movements restricted by the obstacles.

She only had to use the long reach of her mandible swords to split open their heads.

She needed to race through the woods too quickly for the automata to track her.

She could slalom all she liked. She was a centipede, after all. She didn’t even need to match her facing direction to the corners. The ejected legs would form the shape of the corner themselves.

This gave her great speed. She sometimes even made a rapid turn while facing backwards.

She shot past the automata.

They frantically swung their rifles around, but too slow.

She had already toppled the trees around them, including several that crashed down onto the automata. They tried to fire their anti-god-of-war rifles to knock away the falling trees, but it was no use. With the bottom missing, the trees were supported by the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees until they fell.

When the automata fired, the supporting branches absorbed the shock and, based on the principle of a pendulum, made the trees fall even harder. The meaningless gunfire was joined by the din of the darkness crashing down.

“Ah!”

The automata must have realized what was about to happen.

It was simple, really.

Narumi only had to race through the darkness as a centipede.

But as things were, she felt too much like a horror movie killer. One-sided slaughter wasn’t her style.

So she decided to speak to them. As she tore into and spun around the tree that would act as the final entrance, she turned around and gave a polite greeting before they could even turn her way.

“Good evening.”

With the niceties out of the way, now she could cut them down.

●

…Narumi isn’t exactly being stealthy.

While he worked at cutting down his enemy, Urquiaga noticed the forest on the other side was a lot shorter than it had been.

His method was a lot like Narumi’s.

“Inquisitor Set #574! Pilgrim travel tool: Holy Mother’s Chop!”

He produced a pair of machetes with the grips bearing carvings of the Holy Mother performing a horizontal karate chop. One had the chop delivered to the right and the other to the left. These were originally used to trek through the extreme environment of the fields and forests pilgrims had to travel in the Harmonic Divine States. They were quite sharp, but they were properly used by holding them horizontally and delivering a rapid flurry of attacks into the target. The force of the attack apparently increased if everyone applauded and cheered you on, but Urquiaga hadn’t tested that out himself. Besides, he was strong enough to fell a tree in a single blow.

He continued on.

He used the thrusters across his body to slalom between the trees. As he did so, he felled the trees and occasionally sliced through some ghost warriors or a large ape ghost like he was adding in a light dance step.

And after feeling the trees and creating darkness, he circled behind the automata.

“Are any of you an elder sister!?”

No, there was no point in asking. He already knew the answer. They likely had numbers, but the sounds coming from their frames were all identical. That meant they all ran on the same control OS and had thus been rolled out at the same time. Which meant none of them was an elder sister.

…Too bad. That leaves me only one judgment.

“You must be punished for the crime of lowering the world’s elder sister rate!”

●

Uqui-dono is really into this, thought Tenzou as he ran alongside Mary.

He had suggested holding her as he ran, but…

“You can do that if we need to leave in a hurry.”

When she said that with a smile, he could only nod his assent. She likely thought she could use Excalibur to help the fight on the way there.

That said, the battlefield was kind of falling apart.

The primary obstacle was the ghost warriors.

Most likely, Maeda Toshiie was somewhere near the forest. He was probably using the wide-range barrier to do it, but the ghosts were primarily emerging from the woods on either side.

The large apes were too dangerous an opponent, but Asama’s barrier was working well there. Since she had made it in a hurry, it could only temporarily stop the approaching ghost warriors, but that was far better than nothing. Also, when the large apes charged into Asama’s defense barrier, the power they felt on the very edge of the barrier confused them and they pushed in with less strength.

The geographic phase must have been different.

But once they dealt with that, they would be able to push the Musashi group back some.

In their race for Honnouji, being “pushed back” meant being pushed toward the center of the main path.

The path was likely used to transport supplies by land, so it was really a road paved with stone. There were drainage ditches on the edge of the woods at either side, so they would be able to move faster on the path.

Most of the enemies in the woods, especially the automaton snipers, had been eliminated already, so there would be little danger in using the path. Narumi and Urquiaga were doing fine on their own, so there really wasn’t much anyone else could do to help.

But the gunner unit that had fallen back earlier was back at Honnouji’s entrance and readying their rifles.

They were preparing to fire on the Musashi group once they were “pushed back” onto the central path.

Musashi couldn’t afford to stop their advance, so they would have to defend against the gunfire as they advanced. So…

“Mitotsudaira-dono!”

●

Mitsunari was commanding the gunner unit.

Originally, the automaton unit commanded by Ranmaru was meant to launch a pincer attack from the woods on either side. Toshiie had arrived in time, which had bolstered their attack.

The felling of the trees had hindered the ghost warriors’ mobility, but that wasn’t a real problem.

Mitsunari still had control of her gunner unit.

The form of Musashi’s charge was already being altered.

Awash in the light of Honnouji’s glowing pillars, they were charging in with a defense barrier out in front.

Even in enemy territory, they were in quite a hurry. But on the west side, where their officers were gathered, a round blue mobile shell led the charge.

Based on Mitsunari’s records, that mobile shell was sturdy enough to block a Tres España cannon. It was slow, but it was large enough to fully block the gunfire.

…Outdated technology is always so irritating.

It was Mitsunari’s identity as a cutting-edge data entity that made her think that way.

And just then…

“Oh?”

Something seemed off about her surroundings.

For just an instant, in the moment she paused to think, it seemed like the scene before her changed.

…But what changed?

Had she imagined it? She looked out ahead and saw the enemy charging in on either side of the path.

They were being pushed out from the woods a bit. And a lot of trees on either side had been felled.

But no new changes. She didn’t think anything differed from before.

Thinking she must have imagined it, she had the gunner unit take aim.

She decided to fire on the enemy officers rather than the warriors. Especially that one. That one was the enemy Chancellor who was performing a wiggling dance as he ran near the front of the group.

That one had the rights to Lord Akechi’s name, so defeating that one would probably solve a lot of problems.

So she had everyone’s targeting systems aim for that one just before she realized something.

“That one was there?”

Had she been able to see that one before?

No, she hadn’t noticed because the change was a little too obvious, but now she understood.

“Where did that mobile shell go!?”

That round blue one was missing, but now she was worried her vocabulary was suffering.

●

Mitsunari took a quick look around. The most likely possibilities was that the enemy’s main force had passed the mobile shell and it was now behind them, or that it had fallen, but…

…It isn’t there!

It wasn’t in the woods either. She checked behind herself and to the sides just in case, but there was no sign of it having circled behind her to go “looking for me?” and attack her.

…Then where is it!?

Then she noticed a movement up ahead. At the head of the group charging this way, the Mito Lord, who held the position of 5th Special Duty Officer, was raising something into the empty air.

She held her arms in something like a pitching form, but at a glance, she didn’t seem to be holding a ball, a sword, or a spear.

She held something else.

Those were chains.

The four chains reflected the light as they changed angle and stretched straight upwards.

Mitsunari looked up.

That round blue one hung in the night sky, silhouetted before the full moons.

Based on its physical movement and the tension in the chains, it was in the process of being swung down this way.

As Mitsunari watched, the speed at the end of the chains must have broken the sound barrier because an explosion of steam surrounded the mobile shell.

The sonic boom swung down from the sky.

And the Mito Lord raised her voice.

“Adeeeeeeeellllle…Hammmmerrrrrrrrrr!!”

After plenty of build up, the attack dropped rapidly toward Mitsunari.

There was no dodging this attack from overhead.

It was going to hit. Mitsunari could deal with the physical attack since she was a data entity, but the rookie gunner unit and a rookie defender unit were nearby. This attack would be very effective against them.

Narumi knew she had to do something as that round blue one approached so rapidly she imagined a nonexistent pressure bearing down on her.

A moment later, someone behind her jumped right over her head and out ahead.

The moonlit figure shouted toward the falling mobile shell.

“Lily Flower!”

●

Mitotsudaira realized the Adele Hammer had been knocked back like a comebacker.

She heard a metallic impact and then the Adele ball flew right back this way.

…Not bad!

She wouldn’t expect any less from one of P.A. Oda’s Five Great Peaks. She had no clue what he was doing here, but she would let that slide since she shouldn’t be here either. And she had a bit of time before the Adele ball arrived, so…

“…”

She tried escape to the left with a burst of speed and ran face-first into Kimi. The left side of her face slammed into a pair of large breasts, producing a light cracking sound from her neck. But…

“Oh, dear. Mitotsudaira, you wanted to experience the Giant Breasts Defense for yourself, didn’t you!? Then leap into them from the front this time! Open sesa-boobs! This cleavage contains a powerful defense barrier!”

“The Adele ball is coming!”

Kimi answered that protest by lifting Mitotsudaira around the waist and hopping onto the flying Adele ball with a light dance step.

And then…

“Ta-la-ta, ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-ta-tan, tan.”

She continued dancing in time with the Adele ball’s rotation. Her heels tapped loudly, her skirt fluttered in the moonlight, and she kicked hard at the back armor with her toe. Then she performed a midair flip while still holding Mitotsudaira.

Mitotsudaira saw the moons and the rising pillars of light rotating in her field of view. The Musashi entered from the left and everything returned to its familiar horizontal orientation as Kimi completed her flip.

After a nicely-balanced landing, Kimi lowered Mitotsudaira to the ground.

“Oh, dear. I set you down a fair bit back from where you started! You understand, don’t you, Mitotsudaira!? That was not the Giant Breasts Defense! It wasn’t! Bad, Mitotsudaira!”

“What are you even talking about!?”

Flat Vassal: “Hey, uh, how far am I going to fly!?”

The silver chains were just about extended to their full length, so Mitotsudaira gave them a yank.

There was some recoil, but it wasn’t so bad when she converted the motion into a rotation.

She swung the Adele ball around in something like the hammer throw, sending the Adele ball through the area of felled tree and crashing through some ghost warriors while she was at it.

“Time for throw two!”

●

While the Musashi warriors charged to the right of the path, they witnessed a superhuman Olympic hammer event being carried out between the other side of the path and Honnouji’s main entrance.

The second throw sent the hammer soaring at high speed, but…

“Lily Flowerrrr!”

When it was loudly knocked back, the wolf pulled the chains in close and gradually released them again while building up rotational acceleration. She had even more speed than before, so her heels produced sparks from the stone pavement.

“Throw three!”

One of the warriors commented on the rapidly flying mobile shell.

“I’m sure it’s been discussed it to death already…but does anyone even need to be in that thing?”

“It apparently needs ballast.”

“Ballast!?”

●

The ballast was gradually getting used to this. At first, she had been spun around and the counterattack blow had squashed her and also sent her snacks flying everywhere, making for a total disaster, but this much had already happened at the Kantou Liberation. The second time, she figured out how to open a gravitational control field inside the mobile shell to get by just fine as long as she knew the direction of rotation and when the counterattack was coming.

And the third time, a thought occurred to her.

…Can I do anything to make me more likely to hit that Five Great Peaks guy?

If she was simply a ball, then those two were playing catch with her. She wanted to advance beyond that.

So she thought about it. Yes, she was currently the ballast, but she was thinking ballast.

So she thought and acted on her thoughts.

“If I open up the tail ballast, it would probably make a big difference.”

●

Sassa thought the current pitch would make for a really good hit.

So he readied his fist, stood on one leg, and planted his foot firmly on the ground.

“Here goes, you assholes!”

“Um, Sassa-senpai, I feel like you are gradually losing sight of your purpose here!”

“Shut up! Who cares as long as it works out in the end!?”

The ball was coming and he was in a perfect pitcher’s form.

“Lily Flower!”

The ball suddenly stretched out its tail. It veered off course and didn’t even graze his right arm, but then it hit him.

●

…Got him!

Mitotsudaira saw Sassa Narimasa rotating end over end through the air before crashing into Honnouji’s main entrance, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

“You did it, Adele!”

Flat Vassal: “No, you did it, 5th Special Duty Officer! This couldn’t have happened without you throwing me so hard!”

Silver Wolf: “No, it was you and that last-second course change! All your experience as ballast has really paid off. The average ballast has nothing on you!”

Me: “Nice ballasting, Adele-senpai!”

Laborer: “Nice ballasting!”

Almost Everyone: “Nice ballasting!”

Flat Vassal: “Please stop that scattered applause! And find some other way to compliment me!”

The ballast was starting to complain.

But this had eliminated the Five Great Peaks member who was here for some reason. We did it, thought Mitotsudaira and started to think about getting a compliment from her king, but…

“Hey, what the hell!?”

An explosive blast rushed out from near Honnouji’s main entrance.

It was soon followed by the Adele ball.

…Huh?

Adele’s mobile shell had been lying a fair bit out ahead, but it was now flying in toward Mitotsudaira.

…Was it hit back at us!?

●

Mitotsudaira tried to dodge.

But the Adele ball was moving so much faster now. Almost like each hit was one-upping the last.

“Kh…”

She reflexively released the silver chains’ hold on the mobile shell. She chose to dodge. She considered using the four chains to to redirect the impact while catching the mobile shell as they bent, but she had decided that would force her to stand still for too long.

So she dodged with a burst of speed. She leaped left, but she ran face-first into Asama who was hurrying alongside her. The left side of her face slammed into a pair of large breasts, producing a lighter cracking sound from her neck than before. But…

“H-hey, Mito? What do you think you’re doing!? If you ask for more size now, my god is just going to tell you it can’t be done, so don’t bother!”

<Search: Method of increasing chest size at Honnouji. Response: Can’t be done. By, god.>

“The Adele ball is coming!”

The next thing she knew, Kimi had swept her feet out from under her from behind.

She lost her balance and had no choice but to topple backwards.

“–––––”

Once she was lying face up on the stone pavement, the Adele ball passed by so close it nearly grazed her.

…That was too close!

If she had had a large chest, that definitely would have killed her.

“Heh heh heh. Nice Flat Chest Evasion! It’s been a while since you showed that one off!”

“I nearly died!” shouted Mitotsudaira as she got up.

That was when she sensed a movement of the air.

And that wind carried in a faint scent of dirt.

“…”

She immediately gave herself a burst of speed to the right and an artillery-like fist slammed into the area she had just vacated.

She didn’t need to look back to know who had suddenly appeared there.

“Sassa Narimasa!”

The enemy had launched a high-speed assault on her.

Chapter 49: Straight Ahead Pursuer[edit]

Even if it’s a showdown

Even if you’re stubborn

Whoever the enemy might be

Point Allocation (The Strongest)

●

At first, Tenzou didn’t understand what had happened.

…Sassa Narimasa made a high-speed attack!?

His very first thought was “so it’s finally happening”. They had fought Sassa at IZUMO, on the Musashi, and at Magdeburg. Sassa’s Lily Flower spell increased his striking power and he had used it to increase his speed during each of those past encounters.

But that boosted running speed was more to close the gap with his opponents than anything.

“His speed should actually drop over long distances!”

But not this time. He had moved from Honnouji’s main entrance to here instantaneously.

…That might put his speed on par with Mitotsudaira-dono!

Of course, that had been a straight line path. It was unclear if he could manage cornering or quick evasions, so he couldn’t be compared to Mitotsudaira so simply.

But, thought Tenzou as he realized something. I finally understand what happened.

He could analyze it now. It was obvious enough looking at this opponent’s body. Tenzou wasn’t a spell expert, but ether light was scattering from Sassa’s entire body as he attacked Mitotsudaira.

He had been given a spell called Israfil. It converted the power of the earth and, based on what Tenzou had seen from IZUMO to now, it concentrated his steps and his punches.

But not this time.

The ether light scattering from his feet, legs, hips, and back was not stopping.

That meant Sassa wasn’t using Israfil in conjunction with Lily Flower to power the moving parts of a punch. He was using them on his entire body instead. And the end result was…

“He’s accelerating his entire body!”

●

I’m certain of it, thought Tenzou. He could see the lily flower emblems appearing and scattering from different parts of Sassa’s body when he moved.

Whenever it happened, Sassa accelerated.

He had already begun his fistfight with the wolf. He swung his body, threw his fists, countered the four chains that acted as the wolf’s fangs, and dodged the jabbing hands that acted as her claws.

The wind-blowing sound was intense. Instead of a long, extended howling, their movements produced small explosions of air like the wind crashing into a wall.

They were fast. The Musashi group was hurrying toward the main entrance, but those two were repeatedly attacking and evading in the midst of that.

But Tenzou noticed something.

The force of Sassa’s punches had dropped.

Before, he would break through the air itself when he threw a punch, but not now.

The fuel efficiency of his punches had dropped because he had to distribute his speed to his full body.

He was probably only supplying his punches with the “minimum necessary”.

An offensive fighter on Sassa’s level was focusing on efficiency.

The Musashi group knew why he had done that. Yes, anyone who had seen the records of the fighting at IZUMO would understand immediately.

That was where Sassa had fought the one person he had failed to reach.

The Reine des Garous.

His attacks had failed to hit her and she had split IZUMO with a greater blow than he was capable of. That may have been why he had converted his punching spell into speed so he could attack the Reine des Garous’s daughter as a form of retaliation.

“Mitotsudaira-dono!”

“Judge!” replied Mitotsudaira, accelerating toward her enemy. And…

“Nate,” interrupted the idiot. “I need you with me.”

“Judge!”

The wolf instantly leaped toward her king and Sassa’s attack found only air.

●

“God damn you!”

After missing his target and splitting the air, Sassa turned toward the enemy.

Past them at Honnouji’s entrance, Mitsunari was rotating her right arm to say “wrap it up, wrap it up”. God, that’s annoying, but I am only an ordinary warrior right now. You can’t expect me to understand any complex orders.

…Wait, now I’m starting to sound like that idiot!

Is it contagious? I could lose my style. But I can’t afford to let the enemy escape either.

Lily flower emblems opened on the parts of his body needed for running. He still couldn’t manage any fine tuning, but…

“Lily Flowerrr!”

He used his speed to crash into the enemy ranks racing toward Honnouji.

●

Adele got up.

Raging Beast’s auto-balancer assisted her movement as she stood up. She only needed to use the foot pedals and the positioning of her back to make the mobile shell stand up.

“Okay.”

She released the connection between her shoulder hard point parts and Raging Beast’s seat. Then she redid the physical connection. A complete reboot like that was faster than rechecking all the settings. This was an old model, after all. The boot-up process was blazing fast.

Once the boot-up check was complete, she was kind of frightened to discover Raging Beast was perfectly fine. She had at least expected something wrong with the tail ballast she had opened, but nothing.

The only “damage” was the popcorn strewn all over the place. She had bought that popcorn from Tres España after the meeting with them.

…Wow, the salt and butter flavor is a complete loss!

That scent made her even hungrier. And it’s oily, so I hope it doesn’t stain the cockpit, she worried.

But that aside, she had managed to stand up. And the spear was still in place on her right side.

There was only one problem at present.

“I’m so far away!”

She was around 150m away from the others.

She had been hit by a punch. For a punch to send her that far made that Sassa guy seem absolutely absurd, but…

“He’s the one who destroyed Raging Beast before, isn’t he?”

When the enemy had boarded the Musashi, she had performed a falling attack past Musashino’s bridge. So essentially a vertical tackle. But it had been Sassa Narimasa who intercepted her from the side and knocked her away.

That had damaged Raging Beast’s head armor connection, causing an unprecedented situation where the head came off. That could have even taken her own head off and she would have died if she had fallen head first afterwards.

She had later received a health checkup at the Asama Shrine and then gotten her face buried in Asama’s chest, but that was a separate issue.

It was Vice Principal Yoshinao who had repaired and tuned up Raging Beast. And not just the head – he had apparently fixed up the power system too. But…

“I really only had to adjust the fitting of the parts, but I also made a few other adjustments. Climb in and sit straight. Can you feel the difference?”

That was what he said when he gave it back to her.

She had noticed the parts moved a lot smoother since then, but…

…C-can I catch up!?

She hoped she could by the time they arrived at the entrance. Raging Beast was an old model, so it had no power assistance. It had two control modes: automatic mode where it mimicked the pilot’s movements and manual mode where her movements operated it in real time. She selected the latter with the foot pedals.

And when she moved her legs…

…I-it’s so heavy!

She always used this mode in important battles, but it really was heavy. After all, she was moving that heavy thing with only the accumulation of power. She had more or less grasped how it worked when maintaining it in the past, but it was like the ballast acted as an engine? For that reason, she made sure to go running every single day. Running on the Musashi also let her complete her dog-walking job and receive dinner leftovers, so it was two or three birds with one stone.

At any rate, she had to hurry. She had to catch up with the others. Because she was a vassal. Her combat style was meant to lead the charge with a shield in hand. But…

“Huh?”

Someone ran out ahead of her.

It was Sassa.

…But why?

Hadn’t he been battling with the 5th Special Duty Officer and the Adele ball before? Then why was he back here chasing after the others now?

“Because the Adele ball isn’t there anymore.”

Mystery solved. Case closed. But that led to another problem.

“Th-they’re all in danger!”

She considered stopping her running feet. Getting out and running on her own would definitely be faster than having Raging Beast run in these circumstances.

But given what would happen once she got there, she needed Raging Beast. Because it also acted as a shelter.

…Not good!

The system was so heavy until the force managed to accumulate.

But Sassa was charging toward the others from behind. And since she was a vassal…

…Not good at all!

“Wait!”

●

The situation refused to wait.

Mitotsudaira had taken up a position in front of her king to cover him, but…

“Are you alright back there!?”

Without Adele in front, she had to hold out defense barriers with her silver chains to deflect the gunfire from the enemy gunner unit far ahead.

Meanwhile, Sassa was closing in fast from behind. His pose made it look more like he was making a jumping knee strike rather than running. And…

“Lily Flower!”

He landed with a stomp and slid forward to strike the warriors guarding the rear of the group.

In that moment, a figure burst in from the side of the warriors.

They intercepted the enemy attack.

The timing made it a perfect counterattack. The only question was who they were and what they were doing, but…

“Have some curry!”

We’ve won! thought Mitotsudaira with absolute conviction.

●

Sassa identified the counterattack as a cloud of powder.

He knew what that powder was.

…Curry powder!?

He knew curry was one of Musashi’s greatest weapons. Toshiie had talked his ear off about it.

“Na-chan! Isn’t it wrong to waste food like that!? Oh, and I’m not just saying that because I’m mad I lost. Isn’t that right, Ma-chan? We aren’t mad at all, are we!?”

“I’m super, super, super maaaaad!”

“Ha ha ha. You’re so honest, Ma-chan. Yes, I’m mad too!”

Those two were definitely enjoying themselves.

But while there were ghost warriors here, Sassa was alive. That meant the curry was a tactical error on Musashi’s part. A mistake worth an entire meal. So he continued his charge and raised his voice.

“That attack doesn’t work on me!”

The powder got in his eyes.

●

Mitsunari saw Sassa crouch down to the side of the charging Musashi group.

Since he removed his sunglasses and covered his face with his hands, his eyes must have been stinging.

…Being human must suck.

In fact, from a biological standpoint, acquiring information on the outside world using organs with exposed blood vessels was, logically speaking, a highly risky evolutionary choice for Earth creatures. But that aside…

Nari Nari Nari: “Don’t head-defense spells normally affect the air to stop poison gas and arrows from reaching you?”

Kimee: “We remove them when we want to feel the wind on our face. And when flying at high enough altitudes, we aren’t going to come across any of those dangers.”

6: “Isn’t all the fighting there on the ground? Who is this about?”

Nari Nari Nari: “Oh, testament. Sassa-senpai took some curry to the face.”

Massive Katou: “My!”

AnG: “Nari Nari! C’mon! As a fellow Nari, you’ve got to give him some support! Don’t hesitate to say whatever’s in your heart!”

Mitsunari thought following that advice would end badly, so she chose to stay silent. She was also extremely curious how this was getting through to Kiyomasa.

Meanwhile, her gunner unit was speaking:

“It’s so much easier to shoot Musashi with Sassa-senpai crouching.”

“Yeah, it’s so hard to do when he’s standing up.”

“Oh, he stood back up.”

They were viewing it in an extremely negative light, but Sassa was back up. Mitsunari decided to give him some advice.

“Sassa-senpai! Watch out! The enemy has a curry warrior!”

“Are you making fun of me!? It just got in my eyes is all!”

Isn’t that danger enough!? she thought, but she wasn’t about to say it out loud.

Because Sassa reapplied his head protection and resumed running.

●

Sassa accelerated. The enemy had pulled away some while he was dealing with the curry, but he could catch up in no time using Israfil.

So he raced after them like he was flying.

“I’ll get them this time!”

He was only a warrior here, but he was an upperclassman to Mitsunari and the rest. So he wanted to prove himself at least a little useful.

So once he knew he could reach the enemy in a single acceleration, he sent out his strength.

“Lily Flower!”

He struck. He leaped into a stomp and let his momentum slide him forward as he punched.

He had speed. He had developed this spell so that he could hit even the Reine des Garous.

…Go!

Just as he was about to hit, someone moved in front of his target.

They were responding. The realization made him laugh.

“Hah!”

…That’s right!

With Musashi, he’d be disappointed if they didn’t.

They’d been so damn weak when he ran across the Musashi and at Novgorod, but…

“They’re so irritatingly persistent!”

While vocalizing his thoughts and throwing it all out in front of him, he found a large figure there.

He recognized this person.

When Musashi lined up, there was one person Sassa assumed had to be their main attacker or their tank. The giant with the bucket helmet.

He had just moved out in front. He held a nail bat in his hands.

“Not bad!”

Sassa sent in his attack.

●

Persona-kun did not like fighting.

But not because he disliked competition. In fact, he felt competition was a better form of communication than words.

But in physical sports, some had an undeniable advantage over others.

In most sports, the result was determined by one’s physical build.

He was over two meters tall. Even this year, he had grown a little more. He was a growing boy. It helped that he ate plenty every day and always got a full night of sleep, but his friends were also always bringing him bentos and snacks. After growing this far, playing physical sports would either lead to him being on the winning side or him being alone at the very top.

That was why he played video games.

He had first been invited to play them in elementary school.

“Hey, Pe-yan! Can you open a sign frame!? Once it’s open, lend me a hand!”

He had time. And money. The Musashi had plenty of physical labor to be done and his strength had real meaning outside of sports.

Even when he did well and ended up at the top, he wasn’t alone.

They would form temporary teams so that an opponent in one match would be an ally in the next, so there were no hard feelings.

The matchups were even. His teammates would be excited to have him, but the enemy would have people just as good and they could support each other.

There were always new games and new genres coming out, so it was hard to keep up.

But it was fun.

So he felt like physical fighting could generally be avoided.

Yes, generally.

Now was not a general time.

And there was one genre of video game he was better at than anyone else: defense missions.

You had to defend against an enemy attack, calculate the loss rate of your allies, and hold the line.

Everyone would be nervous and afraid of making a mistake, so on that kind of battlefield, the entire group was influenced by how the top ranker behaved.

What time was it?

He knew the answer. Oriotri’s mock battles were practice time. This was the real deal. You were supposed the handle a real battle the same as in practice. But he didn’t have Suzu on his shoulder, so what was he supposed to do?

Defend.

He knew how.

“…!”

He readied the nail bat in his hands and gave it a swing.

This was not an attack.

He was using his full strength to knock the enemy attack away.

●

Sassa was delighted by what the enemy was attempting.

…Now we’re talking!

The bucket helmet guy was enormous, but he was no Shibata. Sassa had spent his days roughhousing and eating with an idiot of that level. He knew a big body and species traits weren’t enough to oppose someone like that.

So if this enemy simply tried to hit him, he would just blow him away.

But that wasn’t what happened.

The enemy’s target was Sassa’s right arm. That arm contained Lily Flower’s power and the enemy was aiming near the wrist.

Clenching a fist meant gathering strength in the wrist and hand. So clenching it hard made it hard to bend the wrist. That was because the fist was made using tendons connected to the wrist.

So how could you redirect a fist?

There was a better way than blocking and redirecting the blow.

You could hit the base of the fist at a point just a bit down of the wrist.

When an extending arm struck, it would bounce outwards. So by using the elbow-extending motion to knock the wrist and hand upwards, the elbow’s own force would redirect the fist outwards.

That was what this enemy did.

He didn’t just rely on his strength or on his weapon.

He used a tactic that made use of his strength and weapon to deflect Sassa’s attack.

…Great job!

Really great. I could laugh. Of course I could. Cause I’m always doing this to that idiot upperclassman.

Yeah.

This is what I wanted. I wouldn’t want anything else. Because…

“You get it!”

Sassa’s fist had been redirected outwards, but he still shouted.

“I’m here in place of that idiot who couldn’t come!”

●

Sassa laughed. His Israfil power converted the power of the earth. It was originally meant to heal, but he used it to boost his body and give him strength.

And he had just run across someone who could deflect that as a means of defense.

That enemy probably wasn’t even a name inheritor. He stood out from a crowd, but he wasn’t even a warrior.

He was just a student.

But what did that matter when he was capable of analyzing Sassa’s attack and deflecting it?

…Now this is getting interesting!

Most likely, “Sassa Narimasa” wouldn’t have found himself in this situation. He was glad he had come here in that idiot’s place. If he could run across “benefits” he didn’t normally receive, this trip was well worth it. But…

“–––––”

He had a thought. If he went back and told that idiot about this, the idiot would probably make fun of him and pick a fight with him: “Oh, what’s that? You had trouble fighting some weakling commoner, Naru Naru-kuuuun?”

Had he already said his goodbyes?

Or would they be their usual selves where none of that was necessary?

It would probably come down to his mood. But…

…The Genesis Project will get rid of all that, I guess.

That was more something Toshiie would think. But things were different for Sassa. At the very least, he was currently in battle and enjoying a festival that was linked to Shizugatake by the fact that it was happening tonight.

This is fun.

He had clashed with Musashi a few times before. He honestly felt like he had actually fought them more than any of the others.

But he hadn’t seen it all.

Musashi was known for coming together as a group. So said Toshiie’s analysis and the other nations had started saying it too. So even if they weren’t all name inheritor and even if they didn’t all have decent weapons or spells, they would send out the best person for the job and they would all help each other out. And while they were fighting as a group…

…I’m all alone right now.

You’re on.

This isn’t about the Reine des Garous.

He simply sped up and went for it.

●

The attacks kept coming.

Persona-kun swapped out weapons in response. Sassa’s attacks came heavy and fast, but Persona-kun concluded he could respond to them if he focused his aim on the right spots.

He also changed weapons.

The wooden nail bat was lightweight, but he was worried about its durability. So he switched to a pair of metal nail bats, holding one in each hand. Sassa’s attacks didn’t form any real combos, so Persona-kun had to deal with each attack separately.

The bats were hollow inside. The blows rang loud, with the nail-pierced portions distorting the sound.

The sounds rang out as they ran, increasing in speed and number.

But the sounds suddenly increased a lot faster than the distance they had run.

Sassa began using his left arm instead of just his right.

The sounds now had far more pressure and sparks flew. Behind Persona-kun, Ohiroshiki stuck a hand into the metal basket on his back, and…

“Persona-kun! Use these maces!”

Persona-kun swapped out his worn-out weapons in the middle of his strikes.

Me: “Ohh, way to go, Pe-yan!”

Horizey: “Toori-sama, he is making himself useful, unlike you. You should refer to him more politely.”

Me: “P-Persona-kun-sama?”

Wise Sister: “Wrong, my foolish brother! The Great Persona-kun! The Great Perso! No, the Great Pero! Did you hear that, Mitotsudaira! The Great Pero Pero Pero Pero Pero!”

Silver Wolf: “I get that those supposed to be licking sounds, so you can stop now!”

There was a lot of noise behind him, but there was a lot of noise in front of him too.

“…!”

10ZO: “Persona-kun is really into it!”

He sped up.

●

Sassa was enjoying himself.

He hadn’t expected to get into a pure competition of strength here.

It was especially unexpected with Musashi who were mostly pretty scrawny.

But the noise rang loud.

“Lily Flower!”

A full-power strike passed through the ground.

“…!”

His momentum passed through his arms as speed, sending each heavy attack through

This was a real challenge. But…

…I’ll be winning soon!

His opponent’s weapons were running out. He could tell the blunt weapons were nearly used up.

He was fine with his opponent using a bladed weapon. He could smash the blade with his fists. Israfil’s power had originally been for recovery. So if his opponent pulled out a blade, victory was Sassa’s.

So…

“It’s about time!”

He threw his right fist, knocking his opponent’s attacking mace upwards.

The bent hunk of metal flew through the sky.

The fat kid behind his opponent supplied another weapon.

It was a maul. That wouldn’t work. It was too long. His opponent could swing it around in his hands well enough, but its reach was different and the total power was weaker than with two weapons.

So it ended here.

…Damn.

It’s over already? thought Sassa, but that disappointment was unavoidable. He used his other hand to knock the downward-swinging maul inwards.

And in that instant, the impact vanished from his fist.

What he should have struck was gone.

His opponent had let go of the maul.

And Sassa’s fist clearly lingered. He had been expecting the same resistance as before and he really had hit the weapon at first, so the loss of force there affected his fist all the more.

He couldn’t pull his fist back until the force of his punch had left it. But his opponent was moving. The fat kid who had handed over the maul stuck a long mace in next to the bucket helmet.

“Support arts!”

And attacked with it.

●

Sassa had been hit.

On the inside of his right shoulder, near the connection between his chest and shoulder.

The pain seemed to seep into him and his collarbone made a light sound.

…Is it broken?

Interesting, he thought in all seriousness. After all, I’m just an ordinary warrior here.

I see. So this is how ordinary people fight against a powerful opponent.

He had forgotten. Musashi fought as a group. He had experienced it several times and thought he understood it, but…

“Ohh…”

His right shoulder ached, but that had given him the force needed to pull his right arm back. The fist’s momentum wasn’t entirely gone, but he still managed to pull it back.

He felt pain in his collarbone, but Israfil was taking effect.

He adjusted his stance. The enemy was right in front of him. That enemy had gotten in an attack, but hadn’t managed to fall back. In fact, he hadn’t even noticed Sassa preparing to attack. He must have thought he was watching until Sassa collapsed.

Yeah, that’s not happening.

Sassa had his fist back. He pulled back his right and sent out his left. And he would send that into this enemy.

The enemy no longer had a weapon, so Sassa stomped forward and…

“Lily Flower!”

●

Adele saw it all happening.

…Oh, no!

What was she concerned about? Ohiroshiki’s position. Persona-kun wanted to fall back, but Ohiroshiki was leaning against his back and around his side. If the 4th Special Duty Officer saw this, it would definitely inspire a drawing. Oh, and Persona-kun can’t fall back.

Persona-kun couldn’t dodge the attack like this. And the enemy seemed to know it.

Gold Mar: “Piroshki is so in the way!”

10ZO: “Noriki-dono! Could you give Ohiroshiki-dono’s butt a triple punch to get it out of the way!?”

Me: “That’ll teach him to butt in.”

Worshiper: “You’re not being very nice!”

…He secretly relishes the attention, doesn’t he?

Anyway, Adele wished she could run over and help, but…

“…!”

She was still 30m away.

…Kh.

Raging Beast was slow. But she could see it all. She was moving into position so the line between Sassa and Persona-kun was a straight line out ahead. Now she only had to hurry, but…

“Forward!”

The remaining distance filled her with despair, but she pushed her knees forward.

●

Mitotsudaira hurriedly operated the silver chains holding the defense barrier.

In today’s battle, she was learning to send her bursts of speed to the very ends of her chains.

So she only had to send a defense barrier in between Persona-kun and Sassa.

But she noticed something when she turned around. And…

“Everyone, split to the sides!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Sassa’s attack struck.

●

The impact was colored blue.

Sassa was launched backwards by the recoil of his blow.

…What the-!?

He had definitely thrown a punch. He knew it had landed. But he had hit something a lot harder than flesh or bone.

He had punched the blue object that suddenly rushed in front of him.

He didn’t know what it was.

But the enemy must have known. In an instantaneous reaction, the entire enemy group split to the sides to avoid the straight line between the bucket helmet and Sassa.

They were already running as two groups and the thing Sassa had hit had moved past them.

It was lying near the edge of the path. He had knocked it there. It was…

“That blue mobile shell!?”

Chapter 50: Fellow Countryman[edit]

It is needed to convey your thoughts

Everyone has it

But unfortunately

Not always equally

Point Allocation (This Isn’t About Chests)

●

Adele was flipped upside down and had no idea how it had happened.

…Huh?

She let her glasses slip onto her forehead as she looked to the front console where everyone was visible on the sign frame. The image had its brightness slightly amplified and it showed them all running this way.

That meant she had passed them.

“Eh? But how?”

She shook her head at the question while Raging Beast’s auto-balancer got to work.

She didn’t understand, but she could move. So she stood up.

She was a little frightened to see everything was functioning normally. But the monitor did report that the rear hatch had taken a powerful blow.

Sassa’s attack had hit her in the rear.

That meant she had rushed in and arrived in time.

What speed had she needed to cover more than 30m in so short a time?

…Around 120km/h.

But Raging Beast was slow. Try as she might, she could never coax that kind of speed out of it.

Or so she thought.

But since she was here now…

…How did I do it?

Meanwhile, Raging Beast had stood up. And everyone was running this way. Mitotsudaira was in the lead and she waved at the two split columns following after her and pointed at Sassa who was running in from the other side.

“Now, Adele! Crash into him!”

“Well, at least that’s a straightforward request!”

Nevertheless, Adele didn’t know what to do.

…Umm.

All the settings should have been untouched. The legs were entirely in manual mode. So she looked to her feet and tried to recreate what she had done.

“Like this.”

When she took a step, so did the mobile shell. And when she took a second step…

“–––? No, this isn’t working.”

It was the same. Heavy. This was meaningless. And when she looked ahead, she saw Sassa catching up to the others.

…Uh, oh.

The enemy was straight out in front of her.

Raging Beast was slow, but she would reach the rear of the Musashi group before Sassa did. So…

“I-I still don’t get it, but here I go!”

She began a straight line run toward the enemy.

And.

She felt a great impact and saw the sky.

●

Sassa punched on pure reflex.

A great pressure had suddenly rushed in toward him.

He hadn’t managed to see it, but his body had reacted.

So he had punched it. A Lily Flower attack struck the pressure head on.

…What the hell!?

The impact pushed him back a few meters and…

“–––––”

A shape flew by overhead and behind him.

The shape was round and fairly large.

It was that mobile shell.

●

Adele made no mistake this time.

She operated Raging Beast’s balancer while still in the air. The legs’ jacks and absorbers worked together to shift the feet from tiptoes to flatfooted. After landing like that, she used the tail ballast to fully soften the impact coming up from the feet.

But after all that…

“Why can Raging Beast run like that?”

She had no clue how this was possible.

No, she knew how it had happened. She could take a guess anyway.

What she didn’t understand was why.

“Why does Raging Beast have a sprinting system installed?”

Why did it have that kind of acceleration system? But…

“Ha.”

She felt heat running down the cheeks of her lowered head.

She could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

…Wow…

She felt like this strange sense of hope would burst if she didn’t turn it into a joke. Please send the pressure into my chest.

<Give up. By, god.>

“You didn’t have to answer!”

But she took a breath and faced forward.

Sassa had his back to her while he raced on ahead. He was pursuing the others. And the Chancellor…

“Adele! Over here! Here, girl!”

He pointed down and called to her. Sorry, but I’m not the 5th Special Duty Officer and I’m not a dog. But she knew he understood that.

“Coming!” she replied, as she ran.

She sent her weighty speed straight ahead.

●

I get it now, thought Adele.

She was running.

When moving Raging Beast, she didn’t “move her legs”. She sat in the seat and “ran”.

Straight ahead.

Just because Raging Beast’s legs were spread apart didn’t mean she had to match her movements to that.

It probably came down to the structure of the legs. Yoshinao had said he cleaned and tuned the internal drive system because it was rusted. Even though Adele had fully maintained it in the past.

Which meant…

…The internal structure of the legs was slanted, causing the parts to rub!

When metal pieces that large rubbed together, the friction alone could act like a brake.

But what if those parts were all straightened out?

She straightened her back and moved as if stretching forward within the cramped cockpit.

“Here I go!”

When she took a step, the speed instantly accumulated.

She threw her entire being forward.

●

Sassa shuddered when he heard a metallic sound behind him.

But not from nerves. This was excitement at knowing his enemy was approaching fast.

…It’s that thing!

The mobile shell. There was no mistaking it this time. Each step added more forced acceleration as that blue mobile shell ran.

The hunk of metal raced in a straight line and this time it had a long lance held out on the right.

It was fast. But…

“That’s not all!”

Sassa looked back and threw a backhand blow.

His punch struck the blue mobile shell.

“…!”

It made a half-rotation to the side and crashed head-first into the ditch. Then it rolled four times.

But the enemy didn’t stop there.

Even as it rolled, the mobile shell pushed out a hand to get back up.

…Persistent bastard!

It was coming. His next attack wouldn’t be fast enough. So…

“Tch!”

He viewed dodging as shameful, but it was better than taking a hit.

So he took a quick step back, allowing the mobile shell to pass by right in front of him.

…How bout that!?

As far as he could see, that mobile shell had a weakness.

“It can only run in straight lines!”

●

…H-he’s right about that!

It was true. While Raging Beast could reach speeds that could be called the artillery super express, it could only run straight. That seemed to mean falling and rolling was the only way to turn, but…

Bell: “A…dele!”

Flat Vassal: “Eh? Oh, judge! What is it, Suzu-san!?”

Bell: “I have a message…from Vice Principal Yoshinao!”

…From the vice principal!?

Adele wondered what this could be, but it turned out to be a single instruction.

Bell: “Use your…right-side weapon!”

●

After ordering the gunner unit to fall back and fire, Mitsunari heard rubble being destroyed.

She looked up, wondering what it could be, and saw an act of destruction.

The mobile shell, which had been moving so rapidly, was smashing the stone pavement. The lance it held on its right side was stabbed straight down into the line of stone and acted as a pivot point.

“Turn!”

The mobile shell forcibly rotated around it like a pole dance.

The entire blue machine made a 180-degree turn.

“Here I go!”

And it ran.

●

The acceleration collisions were a series of impacts and metallic sounds.

The noises came fast and reached all the way up to the Musashi overhead.

The provisional government office was located at the front and center of Musashino. Or, it had been. It had already been purged, split into three, and was being carried to Shikoku.

All that remained was a portion of the park left on the frame found at the edge of the base hull.

Currently, a transport ship was moored there. When on that ship, Honnouji and the pillars of light were visible past its bow.

The sounds could be heard too.

The distant sounds of impacts and of stone pavement being destroyed.

Someone stood on that ship’s deck, listening to those sounds with his eyes closed.

He was Musashi King and Musashi Ariadust Academy Vice Principal Yoshinao.

He sighed and spoke calmly.

“Honestly, he still causes me so much trouble.”

“Did he not teach her how to use the mobile shell?” asked his wife, who was already viewing a map of sightseeing locations in Shikoku.

But Yoshinao shook his head.

“No, when we asked Adele-kun, she said ‘the manual said to go straight ahead!’, which is not wrong. It’s just…that assumes your definition of ‘straight ahead’ is based on being aboard the mobile shell.”

He smiled a little and drew a half-meter circle in the air.

“The knee acceleration panels had clearly been worn down like they were brakes. Most likely, that poor posture became a bad habit for her.”

“But why didn’t she notice back before she picked up that bad habit?”

“Have you forgotten what it is like to be a child?”

After a pause, his wife smiled.

“Judge. You have a point. You were shorter than me when we were children.”

“Only until age 10. …But for Adele-kun, that likely only happened recently,” said Yoshinao. “If the power cannot reach every last part of the machine, it cannot draw on its full power. While we were removing the rust caused by her bad habit, we noticed the rusted portion had not been rubbing recently. That means her legs can reach. She only had to move her legs properly. And now the vassal bearing our beast crest has taken action to save her friends.”

Yes.

“He always stayed still to act as a shield, but now his daughter has been given freedom. And we helped give it to her. How about that?”

“Yes,” replied his wife. And she joined him in looking straight ahead to Honnouji. “A king’s job should be carried out where his subjects cannot see it.”

●

Adele was crying.

Operating Raging Beast required her entire body, so she couldn’t wipe away the tears. And she couldn’t run straight if she tensed her body to try and suppress the tears.

She simply wept and ran.

“Yes!”

She repeatedly charged toward Sassa.

She ran. She attacked. And she regained control when deflected and knocked away. She planted her feet back on the ground. She no longer used the auto-balancer. Raging Beast fit her entire body. It was heavy, but she still took her steps straight ahead and pulled her body out from that weight.

She ran.

She continued forward as if pushed by her speed.

…Dad.

He had died long ago. On the Musashi.

She had thought Raging Beast was the only thing he left her.

That was true. But…

…Dad.

She spoke to her father where no one outside could see.

“I’ve finally grown as much as you’d hoped!”

Her feet could push the foot pedals all the way down. She could almost feel the power coursing between the shoulder hard point parts connected to the seat and the bottom of her feet.

She could do this.

She had everything she needed: the leg strength gained by moving Raging Beast, the martial arts knowledge she learned in her vassal training, her daily training and running, her life loving on the dogs she walked with, her poverty, the hunger knock she experienced during maintenance, the dried weeds she had mistaken for bread crusts, the leftovers she received at the Blue Thunder. Lately, it’s been the dinner sets from the night before. All of that had played a role. A lot of it seemed like it had more to do with her being poor, but…

…I will get through!

When she placed her foot down, the ground was there to meet it. The cacophony of speed made her pulse race and her acceleration shook away her tears.

This was pure joy.

She felt like she had used up everything she had in the opening part of this battle, but there was no helping that. She knew everyone would understand.

Me: “Hey! Nate! Adele’s moved on from being a hammer!”

Silver Wolf: “Hee hee. It won’t be the same without her. Nothing else will hit quite as hard.”

Horizey: “Adele-sama has been promoted from Adele Hammer to Adele Auto-Hammer. Congraaaaaaatulationzzzzzzzz!”

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

But her opponent here was one of the Five Great Peaks.

…That’s incredible!

Sassa reacted to her charges and turns and even made counterattacks, but he also managed to close in on the Musashi group.

Adele still wasn’t used to moving like this.

Every time she left an opening in her movements, Sassa approached the others.

“Kh…”

She clenched her teeth and groaned.

“I will assist you, Lady Adele.”

A white sword rose and someone emerged from the others’ ranks. That was…

“Mary-san!?”

●

Sassa questioned this.

…It isn’t their ninja!?

The ninja was the one who had chopped off one of Shibata’s arms. Sassa had expected him to make a move, so…

“What’s wrong with that ninja!? The coward!”

●

Gold Mar: “What’s wrong with that ninja!?”

Laborer: “What’s wrong with that ninja!?”

Asama: “Mary, do you consider Tenzou-kun to be ‘that’ ninja?”

Scarred: “Eh? Oh, sorry, I’m kind of busy right now. …And if you must know, I would call him ‘my’ ninja.”

Horizey: “Thank you very much for an answer as sweet as a sugar stick up the butt.”

Art-Ga: “Oh, we’re getting a lot of posts in both threads.”

10ZO: “What are you all doing!?”

●

If Mary wanted it, Tenzou thought it was best to let her go.

Her skill with a sword was more than adequate. She was well-balanced between offense and defense and she had clean movements. He had learned all this during the battle at IZUMO and the battle against Takakane, but…

…She never makes mistakes.

You could say she sent her sword where the enemy would block it.

Calling it hit intuition sounded weird, but that was what it was. It was a skill she had likely learned while cutting down the 300.

And she had another reason for heading out on her own here. She could do something he could not.

“Okay.”

Mary held Ex. Collbrande at mid height and swung it toward Sassa as he ran.

●

Sassa didn’t fear bladed weapons. The power of Israfil would shatter any blade on contact.

So his mood changed when he saw Ex. Collbrande. He honestly wasn’t interested in dealing with the English Princess, but…

“Lily Flower!”

He threw a punch. A hit would shatter that blade. But…

“…!?”

He was wrong. The loud impact was followed by light shattering and his right hand’s spell bursting.

The Lily Flower spell had self-destructed.

●

Sassa viewed his enemy through the scattering ether light.

His right hand’s Lily Flower had scattered, but it hadn’t been destroyed.

It had self-destructed.

The spell lost all power and concluded it could no longer last, so it destroyed itself.

The feel of the attack told him what had happened.

“Damn you! You did that thing to Israfil to make stuff happen, didn’t you!?”

He was a little ashamed of his poor vocabulary.

…I think Fuwa got after me about that before.

The English Princess nodded and spoke in a soft but carrying voice.

“Judge. I did that thing to your spell to make stuff happen!”

She understood me!

●

Art-Ga: “Oh, no! Is that ninja being left out of this one? He is, isn’t he?”

Laborer: “Tenzou! You should’ve been more of an idiot!”

10ZO: “Hey, don’t call Mary-dono an idiot!!”

Worshiper: “Wait, I’m lost.”

●

Asama more or less understood.

“It comes down to their compatibility.”

“Their compatibility, you say?”

“Oh, Toori-kun, not that kind.”

It was easy to explain.

“Israfil probably uses earth power. He releases it from his fists. Now, Mary’s Ex. Collbrande came from a spring spirit, but it was repaired in the ley lines. So we can assume it was given an earth protection.”

And…

“Mary herself is a descendant of a great tree spirit. They are both quite strong in the earth element. Also, our Far Eastern uniforms have ether conduction in the shoes and such to draw the local protections from the ground. If Mary negated and restored Israfil’s power with Excalibur, it would have passed through her to reach the ground. That’s my guess as to what happened.”

Mary had in fact buried Excalibur in the ground to refuel back at Mitotsudaira’s mom’s house. Israfil also used earth power, so even if she couldn’t directly absorb it since that power had been converted into the Lily Power spell, she could let it “pass through” her as ether.

Mitotsudaira looked back while running out in the lead. She was closely affiliated with forests and she seemed to understand what Mary had done.

“Um, you mean…?”

Asama knew what she was trying to say.

“Yes, Mary is Sassa Narimasa’s worst enemy. …Now I see why she didn’t want Tenzou-kun’s help. In this case, anyone other than her would only be in the way.”

●

“Now,” said Mary, holding Excalibur at middle height and facing Sassa. “I will do the other thing. Are you ready? …You will lose.”

Sassa responded by readying his fist and activating spells across his body.

He stared at her through his sunglasses.

“What will you be doing?”

“The other thing.”

“Oh, the other one?”

“The other one,” she confirmed.

But…

“Oh,” she realized. And then she quickly added an “um”.

Because she had to change her plan here. Which meant she would not be doing the other thing.

…I-I don’t want to play dirty.

Sassa was a warrior. His personality was quite different, but he was a lot like Walter. He was the type to wait if told to wait, so she wanted to do this right.

So she made sure to explain what was about to happen.

“Sorry. I will be doing the other, other thing.”

“The other, other!?”

His question was immediately followed by Adele charging in from the side. Yes, that other, other thing.

●

Horizey: “Mary-sama was untouchable there, wasn’t she?”

Asama: “Come to think of it, when cooking during our training camp, she was always telling Tenzou-kun to grab ‘that thing’ for her.”

Gold Mar: “She was, wasn’t she? Getting it right about 70% of the time would be adorable while still being useful, but Tenzou stupidly got it right every time.”

Art-Ga: “Eh!? So you’re saying I’m adorable, Margot!? I’ll remember you said that!”

10ZO: “Not only are you leaking private information but you’re going in for the kill too!?”

●

Sassa was knocked away.

…Damn!

Thanks to Excalibur earlier. The attack was ridiculous even for a divine weapon and, even though he’d been ready for it, he hadn’t expected it to work with its wielder to gain a drain effect.

His punch against the mobile shell just now had been weak.

He hadn’t gotten his strength through to his opponent. So the impact destroyed his spell and knocked him away.

And as the mobile shell made a turn…

“Take this!”

A shockingly sharp sword wind flew his way.

She was using her drain attack on him while the mobile shell couldn’t attack.

…Damn them!

The mobile shell had to be a non-name inheritor. The English Princess was a name inheritor from another nation altogether.

This was supposed to be the Honnouji Incident. It was a Far Eastern history recreation and Sassa Narimasa wasn’t allowed there.

So he hadn’t expected any of his opponents during this turning point of history to be any match for him.

But he was an ordinary warrior. He didn’t get to choose who he fought. And he was certain that…

…It would’ve turned out this way even if I was here as Sassa Narimasa!

The English Princess’s sword was coming.

The mobile shell had completed its turn.

He couldn’t deflect the English Princess’s sword. If he tried, he would lose his power. That left just one option.

“Don’t mess with me!”

●

Sassa punched Excalibur with his left fist.

But he didn’t use a spell.

He used his bare hand.

He was wearing a gauntlet, but he struck the side of Excalibur’s blade with no assistance.

The impact rang loud and the sword was indeed knocked away.

The English Princess immediately took a step back, showing she had good a fighting sense. If she had stayed put, he would have attacked again.

And he felt pain in his left hand.

His gauntlet wasn’t a divine weapon, but it did have a lot of Orei Metallo in it. That had split a bit and blood was leaking from between his fingers.

…Does the blade itself have a buffing protection!?

That explained how it had managed to cut off that idiot’s arm.

And in the next moment…

“Lily Flower!”

He punched the approaching mobile shell.

●

Mitotsudaira heard the sword strikes and punches.

The sounds of Mary’s attacks and the responding attacks reached her from behind as she ran.

…Mary can fight pretty well.

Had fighting the Tres España Vice Chancellor in the evening straightened out her instincts? She attacked Sassa once with each breath.

How compact her attacks were was obvious even just from the sounds.

She made quick movements of the blade from mid height to attack with the middle of the blade, not the tip. Excalibur was not a curved sword, so she didn’t need to use the curve to slash. So instead, she swung as if pushing in with the middle, which had more weight and made it easier to catch the enemy.

To pull it back, she moved her entire body back and only then pulled her wrist in.

And she completed the motion by bringing her heel back.

But it was all so fast and precise. Not to mention…

…She uses the raised blade as a shield.

By raising Excalibur at mid height, it shielded her from the enemy. With that sharp shield in the way, she used her footwork to keep herself in an advantageous position.

Her motions looked so minute but also solid.

This had to be the sword technique she had built up killing the three hundred. And in response…

“Ohh!”

She was targeted with punches.

Mary responded to all of Sassa’s attacks.

It had all reversed.

Before, Sassa had been responding to Mary’s attacks, but not anymore. Sassa was now the primary attacker as he pursued Mary.

But this pursuit was built on his own injury.

“Damn!”

Blood spilled from Sassa’s left fist. And his right. At first, he had only used his left to oppose Excalibur, but the severity of the injury had to be getting worse and worse. He was now using his right as well, swapping back and forth between them.

The small wing insha kotobs on his hands had to be Israfil being used for healing.

Adele sped up in response to him.

She was learning to take tighter turns.

Mitotsudaira could tell from the sounds.

Before, Adele had simply poured all her strength into moving straight ahead and used her lance as a pivot point to turn. But now…

…She’s tilting Raging Beast, isn’t she?

She was probably relying on the auto-balancer.

Raging Beast itself didn’t fall over easy and the balancer was primarily meant to get it back up after it did fall, but it would prove its true worth during this high-speed movement.

How far could the mobile shell tilt without falling while running? Raging Beast had several modes for the bottom of its feet. The mode that had seemed like it was meant for shock absorption was now clearly meant to grip the ground while running.

That allowed Raging Beast to move along curving paths like a top. Of course, it couldn’t make immediate course changes, but this would still open up new tactics.

But…

“Mary!”

Mary was attacking more often now.

And Sassa was having to go in more aggressively.

But Sassa’s attacks also worked against Adele’s charges. Neither Mary nor Raging Beast could reach Sassa on their own.

If they were going to win, they would have to wear down Sassa’s stamina. His blood loss and injuries had to be getting serious by this point, but…

…He’s also activating Israfil to heal, isn’t he!?”

“1st Special Duty Officer, can’t you do something!?”

Adele turned around to find the ninja was gone.

●

Sassa was glad he was wearing sunglasses. Because out of the corner of his eye…

“Hey! Hey! Over here! I’m over here! Don’t you want to watch this fascinating ninja moonwalking!? Or would something else grab your attention more!? ♪Night falls over the town~ Oh, this southern night~ Smooch~♪ Thank you very much!”

…God, this diversion is annoying!

And I can tell the English Princess is struggling to suppress her laughter!

●

Me: “Why is he only funny when he does stuff like this?”

Vice President: “I’m not sure, but maybe it puts him in the right mood?”

Wise Sister: “Hee hee. Love! It’s love!”

Asama: “Hey, the enemy is starting to attack even more!”

●

Mary felt some mild concern.

…He saw through it.

Her attack neutralization using Excalibur required a certain condition.

“Kh.”

When she tried to step back, he sent a preemptive attack her way.

The angle of the punch limited where she could go. Which meant…

…He really has figured it out!

“Yeah, I know what you’re up to. I figured it out earlier!” said Sassa, punching back Adele who had rushed in after noticing how Mary was acting. “Your drain attack only works when your feet are on the ground, doesn’t it!?”

Only on the ground. That meant she had to place her feet in specific locations on this stone pavement.

“You can only step on the spots where that mobile shell smashed up the stone, exposing the ground!”

●

Sassa shifted to attack.

…I get it now!

His opponent wasn’t using a specialized spell to send his power back to the ground. Wasn’t she a half-spirit? Then it was the geographic phase itself she was using.

Israfil could ignore that kind of obstacle to access the earth power, so it had an advantage in combat.

Now he could restrict her movements.

Excalibur was a great punching target. If it would drain his power, he could attack it with his bare hand, so…

“Even that idiot would’ve enjoyed this!”

He punched.

He was injured, but he had Israfil. And…

“I’m using Lily Flower to boost my speed!”

He threw his punches with just his own strength, but he applied Lily Flower to the rest of his body to assist.

It was a forceful technique that only worked with his light, bare hands. Besides, he wasn’t that great at these combo moves.

But he did it anyway. And in the middle of it all…

“Lily Flower!”

He punched away the mobile shell.

He could focus on his main opponent until it returned. So…

“Excalibur is mine!”

●

Noriki wondered what would happen if he fought this opponent.

Of course, Sassa went for one-punch wins while Noriki went for triple-punch wins.

…I’d be done for with the first attack!

It was nice finding an answer so quickly. But…

“A combo’s coming!”

He saw Sassa launch a high-speed combo of his one-punch win moves.

Meanwhile, Mary couldn’t move much with so few spaces she could stand and attack with Excalibur.

But Sassa had predicted that.

He had Mary trapped.

“Ohh!”

As a fellow puncher, Noriki understood Sassa’s determination in that moment.

After throwing his left fist with all his might, Sassa opened the hand midflight.

“I said it’s mine, didn’t I!?”

He grabbed Excalibur. With no concern for the fact he was holding the blade.

●

Sassa saw the English Princess gasp and pull back.

…She was raised well!

She might be prepared to harm others, but it still shocked her when it happened in an unexpected way.

The blue mobile shell was performing a turn behind her.

But it wouldn’t arrive soon enough to prevent this.

As the English Princess pulled back, her foot stepped on something: a stone tile.

Now she couldn’t drain Israfil’s power. So even as his left fist was cut and the gauntlet split…

“Lily Flower!” he shouted, throwing his right fist toward the English Princess.

●

The movement happened unusually slowly.

Sassa watched as the English Princess, who was within his right fist’s reach, trembled a bit.

Less like she had realized something and more like her back had hit a wall.

…Is it him!?

The ninja.

A shadow appeared suddenly.

The guy who had been such an annoyance earlier was now supporting the English Princess from behind and pulling her back.

But that wasn’t all.

A crouched shadow with its back turned was now in the path of Sassa’s fist.

This wasn’t a newcomer to the fight. The shadow wore one half of Ex. Collbrande on its back.

There were two ninjas. Sassa knew about this technique. His upperclassman Takigawa had used it all the time,.

“Physical copies!?”

There were two of him. It would probably only last a short time, but that was why he had made that diversion at close range. He had gained the time needed to get them both moving by approaching for the diversion.

Sassa’s punch crashed into the Excalibur worn on the crouching ninja’s back.

And the English Princess was carried half a step back, taking her out of the range of Sassa’s fist.

Then the ninja copies vanished and Sassa heard someone fall to their knees behind him.

“…!”

A moment later, Sassa saw the mobile shell approaching by rushing right past the English Princess.

“I’m not gone yet!” he shouted at that high-speed attack.

He struck the mobile shell with the Lily Flower punch that had nearly ended in failure.

The mobile shell was knocked away.

That was one of the strongest punches he had ever thrown.

He had achieved it by using one of the combos he usually didn’t bother with.

The ground shook and the mobile shell emitted a rumbling sound as it flew away.

Its lance left its grasp and floated loose in the air.

He had done it.

The enemy mobile shell had lost the weapon it used to change direction.

The English Princess lacked any means of escaping.

Sassa could still use his right arm and his left hand held Excalibur in place.

He could win this. Or so he thought.

He was wrong.

Someone new had arrived.

A small girl. She was skinny, wore a Far Eastern uniform, and had her blonde hair tied back.

She came running along the path the mobile shell had just flown. Running fast.

“Here I go!”

●

Oh, I get it, realized Sassa. You were piloting that thing.

She caught the airborne lance with her full body and continued forward.

That must have been intentional.

In the instant he was focused on the English Princess and distracted by the ninja, she had emerged from the mobile shell’s rear hatch.

The mobile shell must have been empty when it flew away just now. Explains why it made such a nice sound. And here I was thinking it was one of the best attacks in my punching career.

Damn.

What is going on?

Sassa Narimasa shows up at Honnouji, a big turning point in history, and he lets the English Princess and some creepy ninja mess with him before he’s finally taken out by a no-name student with a lance?

This is why.

This is why I can’t stand it

This is why I can’t stand any of this Warring States and Thirty Years’ War nonsense.

But…

“I can’t stand it, but god do I love it!”

●

Sassa prepared himself.

He viewed the enemy that were about to defeat him: the English Princess, a no-name student, and… Eh, forget the ninja.

But as the attack hit him, a name came to mind.

…Fuwa.

I just know you’ll call me an idiot next time we meet.

But why am I thinking about her now?

…Oh, because this little one is wearing glasses?

Then the attack hit.

It was like taking a small artillery shell to the center of his torso. A broken sternum, seven broken ribs, plus countless bruises and cuts. But most painful of all…

…I lost!

This might be what made that idiot happier than anything else.

“Naru Naru-kuuuun!? You’ve still got a long way to go!!”

As he collapsed, the night sky, the full moons, and the pillars of light began to distort in his vision.

Damn.

Laugh it up, you dumbass. I know you know how I feel.

Chapter 51: Unmoving Stable One[edit]

It is a signifier of the strong

It belongs to the firm

But unfortunately

It comes in different sizes

Point Allocation (Boo-!)

●

As Sassa Narimasa collapsed, Adele stopped running with Raging Beast’s lance.

“Sigh.”

She let out a breath. A big breath that required stretching her body and then bending over.

Tears spilled from her eyes. And her voice from her mouth. She thought it would be a trembling voice from the tears, but she managed to form words in her throat.

“Thank…you!”

Her sweat poured out with the words. Only then did she realize how exhausted she was.

…Wow.

She was beat. All her energy seemed to drain out of her, so her legs refused to move. But she didn’t lose her grip on her lance, so how could she describe her state?

Me: “Hey, everyone! Adele’s reached nirvana!”

Asama: “No, she has not. She has entered a meditative state, Toori-kun.”

Horizey: “Oh, you mean that thing!? You know, rigor mortis!”

That last one was the worst of the bunch, but Adele wasn’t too surprised given who it came from.

She tried to laugh, but…

…Oh.

Just as her legs were about give out, someone supported her from behind.

It was Mary. She held Adele securely around the waist and lifted her, leading Adele to a realization.

…They’re huge!

She was supposedly too exhausted to move, but she still managed to get her voice out.

“H-h-hu- boo…huge….b-b-boo-boo-”

“Are you alright, Lady Adele!? Everyone! Lady Adele is delirious!”

Why did everyone respond to that by turning away and rushing toward the front entrance? And why did the 1st Special Duty Officer (who did stay behind) give her a look of such intense understanding?

The lance finally fell from Adele’s hand.

…Oh, I’m so light.

She felt so little weight in her body that she thought she would just float away. She was so fully supported by Mary that she could tell she had gone limp. And…

“Oh…”

Her sweaty body felt a sudden chill. She thought it was the air of the summer night, but it was not.

It was Mary.

Pale ether light surrounded her, creating a virtual forest. Was that Mary’s power as a spirit, or…

“This must be because I linked with the ley line during the battle. This land is filled with ether, so my mother’s side is coming through more strongly than usual. But it should help you rest.”

“Judge,” said Adele before noticing Sassa sitting with his back to them a fair distance away.

How tough is he? she wondered, but he looked like he was lost in thought.

Raging Beast was lying in the opposite direction from him and it was in a bad state. The last attack had really done a number on it. The chest armor was badly cracked.

Flat Vassal: “How am I supposed to fix that?”

Gold Mar: “I guess that’s what happens when it doesn’t have the ballast inside.”

Silver Wolf: “That can really change the damage propagation rate.”

Tonbokiri: “You have made a new discovery in the history of mobile shells, Vassal-dono.”

Adele wasn’t sure if she should be happy about that. But with how exhausted she was…

…This is as far as I go.

She gave Mary a gesture saying she was okay and Mary sighed too.

Then Adele realized that Mary too was quite exhausted.

Thinking back, Mary had engaged Sassa in combat for a significant length of time. Her physical exhaustion had to be matched by severe mental exhaustion.

…Wow, some vassal I am!

She had made both a knight and a princess worry over her. That thought got her moving again. And…

“Mary-dono, I will go with that idiot.”

“Judge. I need to secure the entrance area here, so you go do your job, Master Tenzou. I will be waiting for your return.”

That sounded like a hell of a death flag, but Adele kept that observation to herself since Mary was here.

Then Mary pulled a somewhat long and skinny paper bag from below her skirt, blushed, and held it out toward the 1st Special Duty Officer.

“Um, Master Tenzou, you probably won’t need it, but I did make you some combat food.”

Adele couldn’t imagine he would need that. Honnouji was a small battlefield, They might need to run around some once inside, but the 1st Special Duty Officer’s job would be bodyguarding and trap detection.

In fact, please do that. Yes, I mean it.

But the 1st Special Duty Officer nodded once and accepted it.

“May I?”

“Eh? Oh, judge!”

With Mary’s permission, he opened the bag, pulled something out, and ate it. It was unclear how he did that through his scarf, but he definitely ate it. And…

“Ho ho? That was dried boiled rice hardened into a stick with fermented tofu and seasoned with salt, garlic, and basil, wasn’t it!?”

“Yes. I got the idea from the old style of pizza that doesn’t use tomato sauce and I figured it wouldn’t have to keep with such a short battle.”

“Judge. Then I will share them with you, Mary-dono. And you too, Adele-dono.”

…I get some!?

Adele didn’t think she had ever been this thankful for the 1st Special Duty Officer.

But the stick she received was salty and…

“D-delicious! You can’t go wrong with basil! The legal herb!”

Only after saying that did Adele realize Mary had probably given the paper bag to the 1st Special Duty Officer now so that she could have some. Normally, she would have given it to him later on, like when they got inside and were regrouping. But she had done it now.

“Fight well, Master Tenzou.”

“Judge! I will be back!”

The 1st Special Duty Officer stuck the paper bag in his pocket and turned around. With Ex. Collbrande on his back, he ran toward the others in an instant. The next thing Adele knew, she could hear cannon fire. She had been hearing it all along, but she was only now aware of it.

The battle wasn’t over yet.

●

Gin was concerned about timing.

She had been measuring the battlefield with Muneshige for a while now.

They were in the woods out in front of the main entrance. They were under attack by the half-dragon unit there.

…Now, then.

This enemy could move between shadows and they had changed their fighting style.

Before, they had hidden in the forest’s shadows and struck when they saw an opening. But…

“They have begun working in groups of two.”

That kept Gin and Muneshige on their toes.

The enemy in the shadows generally got to act first. Gin and Muneshige could react and instantly launch a counterattack, but…

“Oops!”

Another enemy emerged from the first one’s shadow.

They launched a further counterattack against Gin’s own.

The combo was like having four arms. And they used this for both attack and defense.

When Gin’s counterattack was quick enough to reach the attacker, the second attacker would move.

“Here you go!”

They would use their arm or head to create a shadow when she was about to strike their partner.

And the one she was about to strike would escape into that shadow.

The battle continued like this and time passed.

Gin knew she was being delayed. But it was better for her and Muneshige to handle this annoyance than to have their entire group caught up in it.

But if they were going to defeat these adversaries, when should they make their move? That was the question.

●

While counterattacking and dodging, Muneshige decided this delaying tactic was meaningful.

…You could say these shadow walker half-dragons are the most troublesome foes on the battlefield.

Because they could move through shadows.

In transit, they could not be seen from the outside.

And there were only four of them in these woods to intercept him and Gin.

He and Gin had concluded that the half-dragon called Yasuke was not here.

That meant these four were here on Yasuke’s orders.

They were here to delay Muneshige and Gin.

But what would they do once they realized they couldn’t delay those two?

…They will withdraw and pursue the Chancellor’s group!

The shadows of the woods led all the way to the shadow of the main entrance’s wall. Honnouji’s glowing pillars caused the shadows to stretch out. So if the half-dragons wanted to, they could use the shadows to travel through the woods alongside the main path and reach the main entrance. From there, they might even be able to enter the shadows of the warriors or the Chancellor’s group.

What would happen then?

If Muneshige and Gin couldn’t catch up, it would take someone at the Vice Chancellor level to stop their attack. The 1st Special Duty Officer might just barely be able to.

So Muneshige and Gin had to take this seriously. If the half-dragons could spare anyone here, they would send someone after the Chancellor’s group.

Of course, Muneshige and Gin couldn’t spend all their time being delayed here either.

The enemy had something like a time limit.

10ZO: “We are about to reach the main entrance! How are things on your end!?”

Tachibana Husband: “We are holding the half-dragons here. Wait just a bit longer!”

But they understood what was going to happen.

…Once the others open the main entrance, the half-dragons here will move away.

Most likely, they would attack the main Musashi group.

That would mean the time for delaying tactics had ended. And that time was coming soon. So…

“Gin, we should get moving soon.”

“Judge. This is when the others will reach the main entrance. I am prepared.”

Reassured by his wife’s words, Muneshige took a light step.

He was in the woods, but he stood near the main path to Honnouji. And after confirming the pillars of light were shining on his back…

“Then.”

He held Kamenuki out horizontally in his right hand and placed his left hand alongside it.

“Let’s get started.”

●

The four half-dragons used their vision and their armor reflections to confirm the enemy’s location from within the shadows.

And they all tilted their heads in the shadows.

“Get started? With what?”

“Probably another time-wasting attack that never actually hits.”

Both sides wanted time-wasting delaying tactics. The half-dragons could hold back fighters as powerful as the Tachibana Couple and the four of them were on the same level as long as they had shadows to work with. If they pursued the enemy’s main unit, they could join with their commander Yasuke to become an even greater threat within Honnouji.

The only remaining question was how long both sides would keep this up.

To be honest…

“It might turn out to be a race from here to the enemy’s main unit.”

The enemy was highly mobile.

But the half-dragons thought they could catch up. Once they did, the fight began anew against the enemy’s main unit. And their commander Yasuke was there.

That gave them the advantage. So…

“Should we get started? It’s what he wants.”

“With two-man cells. The same as before.”

They moved out in groups of two.

“We’ll go first.”

The two on the right, the ones in charge of attacking Tachibana Gin, went first.

“This will probably be the last time, so let’s go all out.”

The one out front swung his black knife to strike Tachibana Gin.

But as he attacked from within the shadow…

“–––––”

He realized his attack had been deflected.

●

“Huh?”

The half-dragon who had attacked Tachibana Gin initially failed to understand what had happened.

His attack had been deflected and then stopped.

But not by a counterattack. Tachibana Gin was simply looking straight ahead. She held a short sword in each hand, but they weren’t moving a bit. However…

“Hey, wait.”

Confused, the half-dragon tried to warn the ones on the left who were attacking Tachibana Muneshige.

To tell them something wasn’t right.

Those other half-dragons attacked Tachibana Muneshige from within the shadow.

“–––––”

Again, the knife was deflected inside the shadow.

But Tachibana Muneshige hadn’t made any move against the swinging knife.

Tachibana Gin was also standing still, simply looking their way.

So the other member of the two-man cell targeting Tachibana Gin made his move.

“This’ll be a bit rushed, but here goes!”

The front one attacked from above and the second one from below.

Their attacks raced toward Tachibana Gin once more. And just before emerging from the shadow…

“…!”

Both attacks were deflected.

No, at this point the half-dragons understood. Their attacks were not being deflected.

“What!?”

They both checked the knives that had pulled back as if bouncing up into the air.

Their fingers – protected by armor and tough skin – were trembling.

That was definitely the echo of being hit by a counterattack. But none of them had seen Tachibana Muneshige or Gin make a move or even block.

“Could it be?”

They understood. Only now did they understand the meaning of the position their two enemies had chosen.

“A swordsman’s barrier!”

●

Gin simply waited in a relaxed pose.

She and Muneshige had taken up positions that created a perfect barrier.

…This is an excellent position.

It came down to their weapons’ effective ranges. The concept was known as ‘maai’ by Far Eastern warriors who used swords and spears. It generally referred to the distance your attack could reach, but it also indicated something else.

Anyone who entered that ‘maai’ was guaranteed to be hit.

The number of opponents was irrelevant.

At that distance, any number of attacks from any number of directions could be dealt with.

That absolute hit range was called a barrier.

A normal swordsman would have a hard time dealing with attacks from all directions. And even if they could do it, it would take time, making their barrier’s range quite small.

But not for these two.

They could use any number of methods – every single technique and decision they knew – to form a barrier that extended a bit past the reach of their hands and weapons.

…This reminds me of when I fought Sir Drake in England.

It was this technique that had allowed her to sever both his arms while unable to use the same attack twice.

How did this compare to that?

Did their opponents understand what this meant?

Did their opponents understand how absolute this barrier was?

“Do you?”

In the instant the enemy attacked, they would realize their attack could not hit. And that, if they took a careless step forward, they would be caught and attacked themselves.

So they pulled back.

Meanwhile, Gin and Muneshige did not even think about the enemy’s attacks.

But the enemy could no longer attack them. They would give up before they did and stop moving. Not only was attacking meaningless, but it contained the possibility of being cut down in return.

It took Honda Futayo levels of cluelessness and expertise to ignore that like it was nothing.

This opponent did not have that.

The shadow walker half-dragons were definitely a threat thanks to their special ability. But…

“Unfortunately, a species trait is no substitute for skill.”

●

The half-dragons saw the enemy’s position.

The enemy had moved to the surrounding shadows the half-dragons would have used to reach the main entrance.

Their escape route was cut off. Also, the shape of the forest shadows being cast on the enemy had become their barrier itself.

“Now,” said the enemy, making a quick movement.

The half-dragons thought they were moving in for the attack, but they were not. The two of them instead extended their blades overhead.

“How about this?”

They chopped down the tree branches, letting more light in. That eliminated the shadows and…

…Are they trying to fully eliminate the shadows leading to the main entrance!?

If the restrictions placed on the half-dragons got any worse, they wouldn’t be able to withdraw. They wouldn’t even be able to delay this enemy any further if the trees were cut away too much.

“Damn!”

The enemy was right. Their species traits were no help here. The terrain wasn’t any help either. And they were out of time.

What created the difference between the half-dragons and these opponents?

Skill.

The simple ability to secure the attack range needed to strike down the enemy had changed everything.

“Commander!” roared the four half-dragons while moving out in their two-man cells and attacking. “Please let this be enough!”

●

Knives were launched from the shadows on the left and right. With two knives per half-dragon, and including the ones directed toward Gin, Muneshige saw a total of 8 blades.

“Long time no see!”

Almost a minute was a long time indeed.

And he made his counterattacks from nearly point-blank range. He felt the counterattacks land, and…

“Now, if you will excuse us!”

He and Gin didn’t even look back at the four collapsed forms in the woods as they took off running.

Their main group had arrived at the main entrance.

●

Tenzou was catching up to the others as he learned Muneshige and Gin had dealt with the pursuing enemy.

Mary was looking after Adele and Gin said she would guard those two once she caught up to them. Urquiaga and Narumi were hunting the enemy ghost warriors while also moving to deal with the enemy guard units located to the left and right of Honnouji. But…

…That means the rest of us have to head inside.

Up ahead, he saw the main entrance that doubled as a delivery entrance. It was located at the center of the domed building. A door more than 20m left to right would slide open to either side like a wooden accordion. However, it currently had several lock spells applied and…

“It’s locked up tight. They even reinforced it with cement.”

White, quick-dry cement revealed the shape of the wooden door. It was now more a wall than an entrance, but…

“That must be for this mission only. The people inside are locked in.”

“This is a surprisingly primitive reinforcement method,” said Nenji while attached to the hardened white wall as a slime.

Next to him, Itoken was similarly pressed against the wall.

“It is made of basic materials like sand and lime. And a spell was applied to accelerate the drying.”

“That simplicity is useful when you need to produce a lot of it on short notice!”

Makes sense, thought Tenzou, but something felt off. When did they prepare this?

…It almost feels like they saw this coming.

Of course, they would have known Akechi Mitsuhide was coming. But…

“Akechi-dono was one of their own, so the history recreation with him would have been a discussion. So why do they have all this ready for us?”

“Hm? But security seems light if they were expecting us,” said Mitotsudaira. “Even with Shizugatake happening, wouldn’t they have left more of their fighters here?”

Smoking Girl: “We sank their fleet at the start and then they sent those ghost warriors after you. Isn’t that enough?”

Tenzou understood Naomasa’s point, but it felt a little different here on the battlefield.

How could he explain it?

“It all feels…finely tuned.”

“Tuned so it will be too late by the time we reach the deepest point?” suggested Masazumi.

He nodded. But he had no proof. And…

“Even if so, I don’t know why they would do that.”

“Heh heh. I think I know. It’s that thing you see in Neshinbara’s novels. Where the final boss goes ‘Ha ha ha! I was waiting for you! Now to activate my world-destroying spell!’ You know, where you wonder why they don’t activate it earlier.”

Novice: “Well, excuse me! It’s more exciting when it happens that way!”

“If that is what they’re doing, I would appreciate it, but it would also make things awkward.”

Regardless, they were working on getting the door open.

Text was already flowing from the Jibril sign frame Asama held.

Jibril was one of the angel spells given to the Five Great Peaks and Akechi Mitsuhide had used it to reach the bottom of the imperial palace.

“Does the wide-range spell barrier not trigger for that?” asked Tenzou.

“If it did, it would trigger for the lock spell too.”

When she put it like that, he realized she was right. But while placing a Shinto sign frame over Jibril’s sign frame, Asama suddenly went “oh”.

“I go like this.”

She grabbed Jibril’s sign frame and waved it. Jibril’s little wings flapped and the waves of words lightly struck the door.

A sound followed.

The lock spell had fallen to the ground.

…Huh!?

The lock spell was of course a spell. If it was destroyed, it would shatter and turn to ether light. In fact, that destruction was happening now, but…

“This doesn’t break the lock. It decodes it and opens it. So, um, I decoded the lock spell with it…”

“Then it’s my turn,” said Mitotsudaira, looking up at the door fortified with white cement. She held a hand out toward Tenzou. “You have Excalibur, don’t you? May I borrow it? This calls for a physical solution.”

●

Yasuke and Ranmaru felt the entire structure shake and saw alarm insha kotobs pop up.

They were inside Honnouji’s dome. Just before the door into the deepest hall.

That door was also fortified with quick-dry cement, but…

“They got through the lock spell in no time at all, Ranmaru-kun.”

“Are they thieves?”

“Akechi Mitsuhide is here for an assassination, so they are criminals either way.”

Yasuke looked back to see a crack in the white wall. That was from the tremor caused by the enemy forcing open the outer entrance.

“This building was built in a hurry, so I really wish they would stop with the harsh shaking.”

“It is built to withstand an earthquake, but not even the wide-range barrier can prevent it from being physically torn apart.”

“How is your unit doing?”

“The automaton gunners and attackers are on the stairs of the main path after setting up sandbags for cover. But the automata at the imperial palace must have used a similar method. What a pain,” said Ranmaru. “That said, do you hope they are stopped before reaching the end, Yasuke-sama?”

“Why would I?”

“The Testament does not say if Akechi Mitsuhide actually met Oda Nobunaga at Honnouji. We simply know his people arrived and burned down Honnouji and that Nobunaga’s body was never found. And…”

And…

“I feel like our master is hoping to encounter them.”

“True. …And we can make a good guess why that is. But that doesn’t mean we can just let them through. It could affect what must happen here. If we do let them through, it has to be after everything has ended.”

“Agreed. Because our master is very kind. But…” Ranmaru asked a question. “I have been wondering, Yasuke-sama. Why are you here?”

●

Yasuke did not nod at Ranmaru’s question. He simply stepped forward and…

“More or less the same reason as everyone else. When I lived on the Dark Continent, well, there was all that stuff with the history recreation of the slave trade. But given what that entailed, it provided an opportunity to improve your standing within your species. So the place I lived tried to go along with it all, so, well, we would head out and play different roles in the history recreation.”

“I see,” said Ranmaru. “But I heard Hashiba-sama ended that practice when she conquered Kyushu. The Testament says the Europeans often died of unknown infectious diseases when they arrived in the Dark Continent. But there were also a lot of villages in the Dark Continent that were wiped out by unknown diseases brought by the Europeans. Thus, Hashiba-sama used that to reset those harmful customs. She freed species like yours who had previously found it hard to improve your social standing without making use of the history recreation and she guaranteed you all a certain level of status through the Far Eastern reservations. Afterwards, you were allowed to join the provisionally ruled people.”

“Yes, it sounds like she really did treat them well.”

This was about his home.

“They were allowed to join different parts of the Far East, primarily Shimazu. I wonder if they entered the regions controlled by Tres España and other powerful nations using the history recreation of a local uprising in Kumamoto or somewhere similar. I know the process is still underway. My grandmother sends me news via the Catholics who arrived deep in the Dark Continent long ago.”

“Yes, that did happen, didn’t it?”

“But anyway,” said Yasuke. He was curious about her. “Ranmaru-kun, why are you here?”

“Shaja. For the history recreation. Did you forget? Are you feeling alright, Yasuke-sama?”

“You really are ruthless, aren’t you!?”

“Calm down,” said Ranmaru, waving a hand. When she continued, she was still staring straight down the empty passageway. “I… Do I really have to say it? I see no reason to.”

“Tell me! C’mon! I want to hear it!”

“Can you be more polite?”

“Please tell me. Please.”

“Shaja. I will not be telling this to a man with no spine.”

“I knew you were going to say that! I just knew it! But you don’t have to be looking my way when you say it.”

“Fair enough.” Ranmaru paused as if taking a breath. “I am an old-style automaton. I am one of the original 4-digit models. For whatever reason, I ended up that way.”

“Are you sure you weren’t designed to rebel against your creator?”

Ranmaru turned his way, so he averted his eyes.

Then Ranmaru face forward again and continued.

“The old-style automata were created in the Age of Dawn. The 4-digit models worked within the imperial palace, so we know the emperor’s identity and that destiny was given a personality.”

She stopped there. Some gunfire and a small tremor could be heard from somewhere.

…Is she worried about that?

But Yasuke realized that wasn’t the case. He quickly applauded Ranmaru.

“You 4-digit models are incredible! So what ended up happening!?”

“Shaja. The initial 4-digit models scattered across the land, but most of the survivors are within the imperial palace. So we made a decision after the Harmonic Unification War. We decided to be present at every turning point in history so that we can watch over all of history since people landed on this planet. …We have deteriorated a lot with age, but our shared memory is linked. I suppose you could call this our hobby. No one asked us to do it, but we found a role for ourselves and we work to carry it out. I was sent here for that purpose. I am also working as the head of the broadcast committee, so it has been a very fulfilling day.”

“You’re a surprisingly diligent worker.”

“Because I do not underestimate this world as much as you do.”

“That hurts coming from you!”

But Yasuke did find this to be kind of unexpected.

“I assumed it would be a more sentimental reason.”

“We are automata. We view emotional matters from an outside perspective. Emotions do not occur within us. So…I have determined that is why we can complete our tasks mechanically enough to keep you from having to carry that kind of burden yourself.”

“Okay, yeah. That is a very you way of putting that.”

“I was designed to meet your expectations.”

With that, Ranmaru took a step forward. Her footsteps continued and Yasuke followed after her.

“Ranmaru-kun. Is it time to go?”

“I had hoped to greet Hashiba-sama first…but oh well. You can do that for me.”

She opened an insha kotob.

It displayed the status of the path from the main entrance to here.

“The earlier counterattack has been breached. Yasuke-sama, our guests await in the center. We prepared for this situation, so we can rely on our subordinates.”

●

Toshiie looked up into the sky and sighed.

The sky was lit by two full moons and by the pillars of light extending into the sky as if moving out ahead of the moons.

He stood in the center of a shrine in the forest, but…

“I’m out of money, Ma-chan.”

“Are you disappointed? Or glad?”

Matsu had returned to her original form and asked that from behind his right shoulder. He tilted his head at the question.

“I did what I could, so isn’t that good enough?”

Mitsunari had contacted him to say Sassa let Musashi through and withdrew from the battlefield. In fact, she was currently managing the ley line link cylinder back behind the shrine.

“Maeda-sama. Are you going to withdraw too?”

“Hmm, I feel like I’ve already withdrawn by being all the way out here.”

He had considered joining with Hashiba, but with Mitsunari here, he had done that too.

So what now?

“I think I’ll just watch.”

“You really are Maeda Toshiie, aren’t you?”

He had to agree with Matsu on that one.

“I get involved when I like and then see what happens, which only makes me worry over it all the more. But I never do get involved in the truly important things.”

“Some people call that being smart.”

“I’m just bad at having fun.”

“Then do you find fun to be painful?”

“Saying goodbye after having fun is painful.”

And it wasn’t time for fun yet.

This was a graduation. The second term had only just begun, but some people were graduating and his group was in a similar position.

…I don’t want to call it dropping out.

He recalled calling it that as a joke in the past, but that joke didn’t seem so funny anymore. Because…

“If you’re never going to see someone again, maybe there’s no point in having fun with them.”

He really did think that.

…In the end, I more or less ran away from Shizugatake too.

He should have stayed for two hours instead of only thirty minutes. He hadn’t just been taking a break there. And since he knew he had to leave, it wasn’t like he would have been spending the night there.

But…

“I always start with the cowardly stance and then look back on it like I actually tried.”

“That’s why you’ll live so long.”

“If we’re competing to see who lives the longest in the Warring States period, I can’t compete with Sanada’s Nobuyuki.”

●

“Hey! Hey! What do you think you’re doing!? Why are you hiding out at this shrine and drinking!? Do you enjoy excluding me!? That’s it, isn’t it!? Oh, woe is me! And when I’m working so hard for you as Chancellor!”

“Oh, shut up. It’s a festival, you idiot! You’re the one that skipped out on the preparations and spent all your time reading manga in the divine transmission tea house! Don’t get all upset after excluding yourself!”

“Huh!? I was expanding my view of the world! And what are those lights in the western sky!? Did you all do that too!? Is that part of the festival!? You’re excluding me again, aren’t you!?”

“Unno-sama, the Chancellor appears to have entered a world where we are the only people in existence.”

“That guy is going to live forever…”

●

Toshiie had seen that guy from a distance at a provisional border meeting and he had seemed like someone who would live a long life.

“People who run away from everything unpleasant are incredible. Especially how they confuse the means with the ends.”

“You run away from fun things all the time, Toshiie-kun.”

“What about you, Ma-chan?”

“I have fun being with you.”

She smiled a bit and draped her arms around his neck from behind. She stood up on her toes and leaned against him like he was carrying her on his back.

“And no matter how much you run away, I’ll always be with you,” she said.

“I have to look back to see you there, though.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “Whether you look back or any other way, that will always be forward for me, my darling.”

I see, he thought, but then he realized something.

“My darling...Maeda-rling. Was that a pun!?”

Mitsunari demonstrated how excellent a data entity she was by giving them a look of utter disbelief.

But when Matsu laughed, he laughed too and looked to the sky out ahead.

People he knew were below the glowing pillars rising into the night sky to the southeast.

And other people he knew were at Shizugatake behind him.

He was involved in both locations, but he was not at either.

“I supposed that’s fine. Now, what do you call a ghost who has payed out everything he owes?”

“Testament,” replied Matsu. “The un-debt.”

●

“Is it really over?”

While rushing down a passageway in Honnouji, Asama noticed the supply of ghost warriors had stopped.

She opened a sign frame and ran an ether scan of their surroundings, but the ether readings outside of Honnouji were disappearing one by one.

“There were a few appearing inside earlier, but now there are none.”

“Because they could waste our time but not actually stop us.”

Futayo was carrying Masazumi up ahead and Mitotsudaira could sense danger by smell. Asama watched their actions, but neither one seemed to detect any further ghosts either.

Of course, Asama’s scan was being done so close to the massive ether pillars that she couldn’t pick up anything very detailed. But based on the best readings she could get, the ghosts were not increasing in number.

Narumi and Urquiaga must have been enjoying themselves.

“At least this reduces the risk to Mary-dono and the others outside,” said Tenzou.

The warriors left outside had called in a transport ship to form a recovery team for Adele’s damaged Raging Beast. They would have it carried out in no time and the plan had been to bring Adele back on the transport ship too.

Losing Raging Beast as a shelter was unfortunate, but if they left it out there, it could have slowed them down when it came time to withdraw. So they had decided to carry it away now and Adele had agreed.

Adele was always out in front as a scout or defender, so her being the first one to withdraw wasn’t so much surprising as it was a sign of the intensity of this battlefield.

No one was holding anything back because they had to reach their destination. And they had to get everyone back to the Musashi alive.

…It’s similar to Mikawa in a way.

Asama had remained aboard the Musashi then.

But not this time.

Horizon, who they had saved at Mikawa, was here. Mary, Gin, and Narumi hadn’t been with them then, but they were here now. And Asama and Mitotsudaira had joined the Aoi household.

So much had changed in only half a year.

Up ahead, a blast-resistant door covered the width of the passageway.

“Heh heh. They’ve given this one some white makeup too.”

“Does this mean they were rushing through the interior setting this up earlier?” asked Masazumi from Futayo’s shoulder.

Tenzou nodded and looked back after moving out ahead to check the door. He watched the hand gestures of his ninja unit that had been checking over the walls and floors.

“There are no traps or other physical tricks, Asama-dono.”

On his instruction, she activated Jibril. Combining her ether scan with the interior structure of Honnouji he had presented before they arrived, she could tell there was a further passageway on the other side.

…And the enemy is there.

The strength of the reading told her one was an automaton. The other had a weaker reading, but only one species contained that much ether inside them.

“There is a half-dragon. And an automaton.”

“Are the two of them waiting for us?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“Will they blast us as soon as we open the door?” asked Naito.

Everyone froze.

While Tenzou cautiously pressed up against the door and held his breath, he circled behind him and activated seven auditory spells.

“Kabooooom!”

“Ohhhhh!? Wh-what is wrong with you, Toori-dono!?”

He held out his hands and gestured for Tenzou to be quiet.

Then he pressed up against the door like Tenzou had been and eventually…

“Ohhhhh!? Wh-what is wrong with you, Twooooori-dono!?”

“I-I did not use that weird pronunciation! And I did not make that weird face!”

“Okay, Toori-kun. Did you get it out of your system?

“You and your pranks,” sighed Asama as she opened the door with Jibril. She couldn’t help but wonder why everyone was staring at her so harshly.

Chapter 52: Flower Blossoming in Position[edit]

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.

Chapter 53: Enthusiastic Girl Making a Return[edit]

Even when I push her away

No matter how much I push her away

Why does the distance between us revert to zero in an instant?

Point Allocation (Wowwwww)

●

Kiyomasa was inside the Shibata camp. But not because she had been captured. She was taking a break in a Hashiba tent set up in the north-south central pathway.

Her shoulder armor was worn down and one side wasn’t functioning properly. She could still get by with Ootani’s program, but she doubted it would withstand anymore hard fighting.

Also, she had hoped to use Caledfwlch against Musashi. She had two blasts left. She wanted to avoid getting injured here and to avoid being forced to use it again when she still had the fight against Musashi yet to come.

So she had decided not to join the fight against Shibata and Oichi.

…That would be far too risky.

She sat on one of the small transport containers lined up on the edge of the tent with her helmet set down next to her. She had also removed her gauntlets and shoulder armor, helping her feel separated from the fighting.

Sakon had brought her some food. She had wanted to stand up when accepting it, but her body had been too heavy.

She was worn out. So instead of forcing herself, she simply inclined her head.

“Thank you very much for taking over the fight against Niwa-sama.”

“You’re most welcome! It isn’t often I get a chance to help someone on your level. Plus, Niwa-sama taught me a lot and Onitakemaru-san has been in full lecture mode for the a while now.”

“Damn you!”

Sakon’s helmet yelled at her, but she didn’t remove it.

This led Kiyomasa to wonder something.

“Sakon-sama…will you be fighting?”

“Oh, Takenaka-sama said it was a possibility. I might join the fight as Kasuya-senpai’s aide. But she said she was looking into the possibility of using Yoshiaki-senpai or Wakisaka-senpai instead.”

“I can never work up much motivation when I’m not with Kime-chan,” said Wakisaka with a shrug after overhearing the conversation.

Kiyomasa could understand that. As for Yoshiaki…

“I’m honestly exhausted after everything I did. Knowing you could manage it if you were starting fresh lays on the pressure in a way. But if I’m told to go, I’ll just have to do it.”

Kiyomasa could understand that too. Also…

…If those two are told to do it, I know they will.

That was just who they were. They might complain, but they would do the best job they could given the circumstances. On the other side of the tent, Kasuya was curled up in a blanket and chatting with recuperating Kani while getting something to eat.

Kasuya was probably their best fighter. If she could recover her stamina, she could be used as a trump card. And since she had already emptied three bento boxes, she must have been aiming for that herself. In comparison…

…I’m so useless.

Not only was she badly worn out, but she had already removed her gear. She sighed.

“Kiyo Kiyo.”

“Yes?”

“Testament,” replied Wakisaka. “You can’t work up much motivation when you’re not with Fukushiman, can you?”

●

Yoshiaki hadn’t seen Kiyomasa get flustered like this in a while.

“N-no, that isn’t true at all! Fukushima-sama and I have very different styles. Um, it’s just that right now my gear is worn down. Yes!”

…She’s so easy to read.

But these two – well, this one and that one – hadn’t met in over a month.

“I really thought she would join us here. Have we received any word from Fukushima?”

Kuro-Take: “The Shibata Team’s divine transmission restrictions are still mostly in place. It covers the entire territory controlled by the local god and it intersects some borders, so it would be faster to deactivate it from outside.”

Tsurugi: “The Shibata Team just opened up transmissions within their camp, so we could use the Azuchi’s power to forcibly deactivate the restriction across the surrounding region, but we can’t because that would damage the Shibata Team’s pride. They’re busy preparing now, so they seem to be waiting until this is all over before doing it themselves.”

AnG: “If you think about it, wouldn’t they actually be happy if Fukushiman joined us?”

Kanitama: “I know they would!”

Kani poked her head out of her blanket to speak.

“I know Shibata-senpai would love it if Fukushima-senpai came here! I can just tell he’s the kind of person who wants to fight strong people! And I can tell he’s worked to do his best his entire life!”

So…

“I hope Fukushima-senpai can make it here!”

●

The Shibata forces were preparing two things in parallel.

One was Kitanosho Castle. They were preparing the explosives so Shibata could blow it all away in the end as per the Testament. They hadn’t set them up earlier lest the Hashiba forces use them for their own purposes, but now that things had changed, they only had half an hour to set it all up.

The other was preparing to evacuate all the noncombatants and cargo once the festival was over.

Kitanosho Castle was located a bit to the east within the Shibata camp. So the cargo would be sent out on the east side. It would be moved to a small clearing outside the fortress wall of ships where transport ships would then collect it.

Thanks to that, there had been a constant flow of people and cargo on the east side of the Shibata camp.

And a large form suddenly arrived from outside.

A deer.

With a spear-wielding rider. None of the Shibata forces wanted to speak to her.

If this was a joke, giving her any attention was a waste of time. And if this was serious, they wanted nothing to do with her.

But while the guards did their best to look the other way, the rider called out to one.

“Excuse me. This is Lord Shibata’s camp, is it not? I have some questions for thee.”

“Why me?” sighed the guard as he turned around.

While the other guards gave off strong “you deal with this!” vibes, the one guard did his duty.

“Testament. It is. However, we are kind of busy right now.”

“I see. I do see signs of a sudden battle taking place here. As a fellow M.H.R.R. Catholic, I might be able to assist thee. Where is my post?”

“Huh? …Um, I don’t know what middle-of-nowhere unit you’re from, but you’re way too late. It’s pretty much over already. Actually, who are you?”

“I am Fukushima Masanori of the Hashiba Team. I worked with your team recently.”

The guard nodded thrice, took a deep breath, and raised his voice.

“W-we’re under attaaaaaaack!!”

●

Wakisaka understood the general plan.

…Take and Kime-chan would probably be best.

Kasuya and Yoshiaki could fight a ground battle with support from the air.

Kasuya would have a hard time managing the ground battle on her own, but as long as Yoshiaki positioned herself well in the air, they would be able to constantly attack one or the other of the enemy.

Yoshiaki was currently installing a control spell into Weiss Fürstin, which would read in the enemy’s movements and display the optimal position on a Magie Figur.

During the Siege of Odawara, she had won a head-on shootout with the Musashi Treasurer, but she had still taken damage. So to give her a greater variety of combat arrangements, she had studied sieges and other types of battles to create\ this spell.

“Now, then.”

Yoshiaki raised Weiss Fürstin and held it at the ready. That would mean her preparations were complete. Kasuya had finished fine-tuning Argent Clou and preparing a visor-type vision spell, so she had begun some light sparring with Sakon. She was using Sakon’s neck as a stand-in for Shibata’s face and testing her reach.

While all this was going on, just one of them was preparing to withdraw: Kiyomasa.

She had eaten the extra yakiniku bento Kasuya had considerately given her and was taking a break with some tea. Her shoulder armor and Caledfwlch were already loaded in a nearby container, so she was clearly looking past Shizugatake. She hadn’t said anything for a while and she couldn’t find any reason to stay here, so Wakisaka couldn’t really blame her.

…She must have really wanted Fukushiman to show up.

It wasn’t like the rest of them hadn’t noticed. And just as Wakisaka was wishing there was something she could do to help…

“Hm?”

Light shined from the east.

That was the Shibata Team near Kitanosho Castle. They had switched on all the spotlight spells in that direction.

Wakisaka assumed they were lighting things up for the final battle, but some noise soon followed. She heard clashing metal, gunfire, and yelling.

Kasuya turned toward this noise and commented on it.

“Is someone counterattacking?”

Then an alarm sounded. Warning insha kotobs appeared all around, displaying Fuwa with her eyebrows raised.

“We’re under attack! Everyone on alert! And Hashiba-kun’s kids! What is the meaning of this?”

How should we know?

“Your Fukushima-san suddenly attacked us from the east! Was this your plan all along!?”

Wakisaka couldn’t make any sense of this. But someone did move.

They slammed their feet against the ground and shook the row of wooden containers as they stood up.

It was Kiyomasa.

●

Kiyomasa eventually realized she had stood up.

Everyone in the tent was looking at her. She could see them all looking at her while lit up from behind by the lights to the east. Their gazes brought her back to her senses.

“Oh, um, no.”

She wasn’t sure what she meant by “no”. But as she sat back down…

“P-please continue your conversation.”

Her mouth and her body were trembling.

Fukushima had arrived. Wakisaka asked about it.

“Fukushiman is here?”

“Eh? Yes, testament, it seems so. She probably arrived without knowing what has happened.”

Kiyomasa felt like she knew what she was talking about. But even if Fukushima was here, it didn’t help her any. Not because she was worn out and her gear was in poor shape. Because…

…I don’t know how she feels about me.

Kasuya and Kani or Yoshiaki and Wakisaka knew each other well and could work together without difficulty. But she and Fukushima couldn’t. Just before summer break, she had been self-centered and screwed it all up.

There was too much she would have to confirm before things could return to normal between them.

So it won’t work, she thought as she smiled and waved to the others.

“Go on. You take care of it.”

They all exchanged a glance. And Wakisaka said “okay then” and crossed her arms.

“So who should pair up with Fukushima?”

Kiyomasa could only lower her head. But when she looked down, she saw something.

A divine transmission lernen figur. It was from Nabeshima on the Azuchi. Yes, Kiyomasa had asked her to do some cleaning to pass the time while everyone else was out at Shizugatake.

What could this be about? she wondered, choosing to speak with Nabeshima to escape the awkwardness in the tent.

●

Nabeshima was conflicted. She wasn’t even sure if she should be telling Kiyomasa this at all. But…

…I can’t finish my cleaning with this in the way!

Just as she thought that, the divine transmission went through. There must have been a restriction in effect because it was text only.

Kiyo-Massive: ‘What is it, Nabeshima-san?”

Nabe3: “Oh, Kiyomasa-senpai! I was doing some cleaning, and, um, I’m almost done! There’s just this one thing left.”

Kiyo-Massive: “Why, thank you. So did you have a question?”

Nabe3: “Um…would you know what I meant if I said there was some trash and stuff piled up in the corner of your room?”

Kiyo-Massive: “Oh…did you clean up that pile? Thank you very much.”

…She doesn’t get it at all!

Nabeshima was just going to have to come out and say it.

Nabe3: “The thing is, Kiyomasa-senpai, I found one of those things in that pile. One of those pillows! You know, the pillows with a word written on it!”

●

Huh? thought Kiyomasa. Because Nabeshima wasn’t making any sense.

The only pillows she had were the ones she used when she slept. But she had made a mistake before summer break.

She had made a “Testament” pillow. She had been in a weird mood at the time, but after returning from her training camp, she had hysterically thrown it on top of the pile of trash.

But she couldn’t ask Nabeshima to dispose of it.

So she had thrown it out herself. The rest had been an outlet for emotions she didn’t want to think about, so she had asked her underclassman to deal with it as a way to purify her shame.

But now Nabeshima claimed that pillow was in that pile.

…How could that happen?

Had someone taken it back after she threw it out? No, she had put it in the incineration system. It couldn’t have survived. Then had she made two of them? Again, no. Because she always slept alone.

Then there was only one explanation.

…Someone brought another one into my room?

And if it was in the pile, it must have happened just before summer break.

During the short time when she got in a weird mood, made the “Testament” pillow, had a falling out with Fukushima, and unleashed her emotions on that place. Until she had thrown her pillow without noticing the other one.

Who could have entered her room and left that there?

“––––”

She shook her head a few times before the thought could enter her mind.

No.

Don’t.

That’s just wishful thinking.

Nevertheless, she remembered. Just before summer break, she had brought her pillow to Fukushima’s room.

But Fukushima hadn’t shown up.

And when Fukushima was leaving, she had asked her where she had been.

Fukushima had lied – saying she was in her own room.

In the shock of being lied to, Kiyomasa had cried and pushed Fukushima away.

But what had really happened?

…What if?

What if…yes, you need to think it.

Stop restricting your own thoughts for no good reason. So…

…Yes.

She let herself think it. What if Fukushima had been in her room then?

What if she had made a pillow and brought it just like Kiyomasa had?

And what if she had been in a rush to leave for her training camp and forgotten the pillow there?

“Yes…”

She had lied. She had waited but Kiyomasa hadn’t shown up. That must have been a shock. But that had only been about her own hurt feelings, so she had lied.

…Yes!

That lie had been meant to preserve their relationship.

And if they hadn’t missed each other in that moment, their pillows would have been lined up side by side.

I was wrong, thought Kiyomasa and stood up.

●

“Um! C-can I join the fight!?”

Yoshiaki turned toward Kiyomasa’s sudden question.

She saw Kiyomasa donning her gear in a fluster. Some of the armor she was attaching to her hard point parts was clearly damaged.

“I can fight! My armor is still functional! And I have the best defense here! So…”

“Wait, Kiyomasa,” said Yoshiaki.

And Kiyomasa…

“So, um, I…”

“Just listen,” interrupted Yoshiaki.

Kiyomasa suddenly lost all momentum. She hung her head and sighed.

“Sorry…”

“Better. Now listen carefully,” said Yoshiaki. “Fist of all, Fukushima and I aren’t a good fit. She’s too much of a one-girl fighter.”

“I agree,” said Angie. “And if anything, I’m an attacker too.”

“I’m not a good fit either because we’re both front-line fighters,” said Kasuya.

“And I’ve never worked with Fukushima-senpai before,” said Sakon.

“Right,” agreed Yoshiaki. Then she turned to Kiyomasa again. “You’re the only one. We were just discussing that, Kiyomasa.”

“…”

Kiyomasa looked up. Her cheeks were red and tear-streaked. Seeing that face told Yoshiaki this was the right choice.

“The Genesis Project is coming up, but there are still things you want to find out first, right? I don’t know what it’s like out there, but you can let Takenaka fill you in there.”

“Oh…I need Takenaka-sama’s permission…”

A lernen figur immediately popped up. It was from the Azuchi.

Kuro-Take: “If you’re willing to do it, Kiyomasa-san, I’m all for it too.”

●

Kuro-Take: “This will be a short-term showdown. Victory will come down to the ability to draw on your skill and to play it by ear. The former requires tactics and the tough mentality to not fear doing what it takes. And the ability to respond to a changing situation by finding a way to pull off a win instead of running away also comes down to your mentality.”

Kiyomasa understood what Takenaka was trying to say.

Kiyo-Massive: “So even if both sides have the same skill, the one with the greater willpower will win?”

Kuro-Take: “Willpower can’t take you beyond your skill, so it’s more like the one with less willpower loses. But willpower is an important part of drawing on your skill. And as far as I can see, everyone there has enough skill to take on Shibata-san.”

“A bold claim,” said Wakisaka with a whistle.

Of course, having the skill to “take him on” was meaningless if they were simply his equal.

They were here to win, so they needed skill on that level. But to pull off a win against someone with his windstorm of skill would require significant skill and indomitable willpower.

Kuro-Take: “Wanting to win isn’t enough to win, but whoever can better control their skill – calmly or passionately – will win. Can you do that, Kiyomasa-san?”

Kiyo-Massive: “I can.”

If she said too much, she would be satisfied with that and lose her current mood.

So those two words were all she said.

Kuro-Take: “Testament. Keep up that spirit. Now, get out there.”

Kiyomasa nodded and ran a final status check on a lernen figur.

Her armor was damaged in places. The autonomous power system showed some inconsistencies. She had some injuries.

…None of it is a problem.

At this point, they were all in a similar state.

The enemy was untouched. But that would be true if the others were fighting as well.

So she just had to do it. She took a step forward and adjusted her armor. She used the shaking of her body to rebuild her entire defense control system. At the same time, Yoshiaki raised her left hand with Weiss Fürstin under her right arm.

“I’ll send you out once you’re ready. I’d set it up for two riders earlier and I’d hate for that effort to go to waste.”

●

…Now, time to go.

Fukushima sat at an elevated point. She had been attacked down below, so she had parted ways with the deer who had been her companion for so long now and then escaped to the top of a nearby transport ship.

Based on the lernen figurs opened here and there, the Battle of Shizugatake must have already begun.

Did that mean Lord Shibata and Oichi-sama had returned and were engaged in combat?

“I see.”

The situation quickly came into focus. She spoke aloud to sum it up for herself.

“Lord Shibata began the Battle of Shizugatake on a whim, so the Hashiba forces had to play along. And now everything is focusing in on Kitanosho Castle. That would mean the battle has entered its final stage.”

The others must have accomplished that while she was traveling with the deer.

“And I have arrived in time for the final stage. …Which means I must assist the others.”

She had to reach Kitanosho Castle. There, she could battle Shibata and Oichi.

…Yes.

She did not know those two well. She only knew of them through their many accomplishments and other stories.

But while she was cautious, she did not feel inadequate to the task.

At Novgorod, Honda Futayo had managed something akin to mutual defeat against him. Fukushima’s goal was to surpass that girl, so Shibata would make a good test.

A barrier she had to clear had been prepared for her here and she had arrived in time to attempt it.

“Now, then.”

She stood up and looked out across the ships forming the enemy camp.

…Hm?

She thought she sensed light behind her to the southeast. If the full moons were that bright, they had to be quite high in the sky and she thought she would have noticed that earlier, so she looked back and saw…

“Wh-what are those pillars of light!?”

“Yeah, those would be from Honnouji. Oh, right. Fukushima-san, you’ve been up in the mountains since before all that was set up, haven’t you?”

She heard a sudden voice from the side.

She didn’t even need to check.

She threw herself forward and leaped. A thick blade raced by mere moments later.

She had encountered the enemy.

Chapter 54: Big One and Small One at the Festival[edit]

One was big to begin with

One was small at the start

Then which one

Is bigger in the end?

Point Allocation (I assure thee this is not about breasts)

●

The deer experienced a strange emotion.

The human he had been carrying for a while now had run up to an elevated location while other humans pursued her. The other humans don’t seem to have noticed, but I can track her scent. Because she has my scent on her.

But the human had just started running. And seemed to have jumped from that elevated location.

…Wait, what?

So you can run on your own. And really fast at that.

Then did you not need my help? No, it was my help that allowed you to preserve your strength for this moment.

I don’t know what this is about, but it must be part of your hunting routine. I will now depart for the southern heaven.

We were not together long, but I am glad you made it where you wanted to be. Adieu and good luck.

●

Fukushima decided her current objective was to reach Kitanosho Castle.

…Because my divine transmissions are being restricted!

She could see the Azuchi was nearby, but she couldn’t contact it. She could only guess that something at Kitanosho Castle was causing it. All the more reason to think this was the site of the final battle.

So she hurried. But a great pressure was approaching from behind her.

That was Oichi.

Fukushima was using Headfirst Fall to accelerate and leap, but Oichi easily kept up with her. Probably because this was familiar territory for her. She would occasionally seem to veer away to the side, but…

“Ah hee hah!”

She would use the packed-in rows of ships to rapidly accelerate along the edges of the decks.

And she would circle around in front of Fukushima.

…She is fast!

Fukushima couldn’t even finish the thought before Oichi took a back step and sent out a horizontal flash with her sword.

Fukushima charged below the approaching and rotating blade.

Oichi moved just as the blade was passing over Fukushima’s head.

She bent her body back to launch the swinging blade vertically. Then she flipped backwards through the air to put distance between them.

The vertical slash arrived while Fukushima was ducked down.

It didn’t matter.

“Headfirst Fall.”

She could still run while ducking. As long as she maintained her acceleration stance, Headfirst Fall would activate. Which meant she could accelerate. She dropped her body down forward and to the right while applying another round of acceleration to push herself out ahead.

She jabbed Ichinotani diagonally upwards at Oichi as she landed from her back flip.

The flat-bladed spear raced out and struck falling Oichi in the jaw.

It failed to slice off her head. Instead, her head was split from throat to brow as if by a chisel. But…

“So this is a Testamenta Arma!”

A glowing metal halo-like decoration rose from Oichi’s back.

That was Testamenta Arma: Caput Fides – Vetus. In Oichi’s case, it made her immortal so long as she continued to believe she would be killed during the Battle of Shizugatake.

And this was where she would die.

So she did not die.

Her split face returned to normal as if the blood and skin were repaired with adhesive.

“Ah, hah…hah.”

Fukushima didn’t let it bother her. She passed by Oichi with Ichinotani still raised from the attack.

Maybe this couldn’t kill Oichi, but it could buy time. And just as Fukushima had that thought…

“No!”

She felt a sudden weight on the arm holding Ichinotani.

It was Oichi.

She had kept up with Fukushima by backstepping and grabbed at the bottom end of Ichinotani, which had split open her face and passed by her on the side.

It was a tenuous grasp with only three fingers.

But the power of that grasp was so great Fukushima feared it would fully negate her speed and then toss her around.

…How strong is she!?

Realizing she was about to lose all her speed, Fukushima made a quick decision.

“Extension device!”

She sent Ichinotani’s shaft springing backwards.

Just as the sharp bottom end smashed Oichi’s fingers, Oichi used her other arm to throw her large sword horizontally. Specifically, directly below the extended Ichinotani.

Fukushima also threw Ichinotani forward even as she pulled it back. Also…

“Headfirst Fall.”

She accelerated backwards while avoiding Oichi’s thrown sword. She also regrabbed Ichinotani after throwing it forward and…

…I can see it now!

She saw Kitanosho Castle up ahead.

●

Fukushima had her destination in view.

Kitanosho Castle was visible when looking down from the transport ship stacked high with cargo. The castle was a warship based on an ironclad ship. It was small for the flagship of someone at Shibata’s level, but it had plenty of armor and was said to have excellent breaching power and survivability.

But currently the cannons had been removed from the upper deck. It looked like it had been modified for residential purposes, but since it was tonight’s stage, that wouldn’t be the truth.

It was a battlefield.

Fukushima could see decorative roofs set up over a stage, various partitions, and rows of sake barrels. There were lines of food stands toward the bow and it looked like everyone had been enjoying a celebratory festival recently.

Shibata was there.

So Fukushima accelerated. From this transport ship deck, she knew she only needed to make two more Headfirst Fall accelerations and then leap. But…

“Oh?”

Her acceleration and leap sent her surprisingly far. It was like just barely catching her toes on the deck was enough to send her nimbly forward.

She thought she had to be imagining it, but viewing the deck’s wood panels told her she wasn’t. The standard-sized panel was 60cm long. Her stride during high-speed movement should have been an average of 21m per step, but she was covering about 5 more panels than before.

…What is this?

Was this the result of her time in the mountains?

Her body’s axis was better controlled than before, allowing her to send her strength out more directly.

She must have drawn on this new ability during her minor collision with Oichi.

She leaped forward, cautioning herself to keep her center of gravity low so she wouldn’t be sent flying.

She moved to descend toward Kitanosho Castle. But…

“Ahhhhhh!”

She heard Oichi take a leap from behind.

She looked back, but Oichi couldn’t match this leap accelerated by Headfirst Fall. Oichi clearly lost speed partway through and began to fall, her long hair trailing behind her.

It looked like Oichi would land on Kitanosho Castle’s stern while Fukushima would land near its center. But…

“…Ha…”

With a laugh like a light breath, Oichi made a second leap in midair.

…Is that…?

Oichi had leaped from the large sword Fukushima had dodged on the transport ship earlier.

That meant Oichi hadn’t sent the sword below Ichinotani to restrict Fukushima’s evasive actions.

…She wanted to use it for her footing, so she made sure I couldn’t stop it with Ichinotani!

Fukushima had entirely overlooked that possibility. She had thought Oichi had abandoned her weapon as a meaningless deterrent, but now she was using it as a foothold.

“Ha ha, hee, hah!”

Oichi pulled the sword in with her arms and charged more from straight ahead than overhead.

Fukushima defended.

The attack hit.

After the metallic clang, Fukushima thought she had deflected the attack.

That was when the two of them broke through one of Kitanosho Castle’s decorative roofs and landed on its deck.

Fukushima had arrived at her destination.

●

Fuwa was uncertain how to assess her position.

Physically, she was at the east end of the Shibata camp, in front of the transport ship managing the shipping out of supplies.

She had come here to check on reports of Fukushima arriving on a deer. But Fukushima wasn’t here and Fuwa had only seen a deer running off.

She thought she had wasted her time coming here, but the position did give her a good view of the transport routes in each direction. This would be the best position to keep tabs on Shizugatake from a Shibata Team point of view.

But what was this position from a more emotional perspective?

…I kind of understand why Maeda ran off as soon as he could.

The festival was definitely at its climax, but the end was already in sight. She didn’t know how it would end, but it would end. That was certain. There was no changing it.

The guys saw that as a reason to celebrate and that was certainly one of way of approaching it, but she just couldn’t manage it. When the end came, she would watch it play out and…

“See who achieves what.”

That idiot Sassa had already fled. Maeda and Matsu were gone too. It was a shame Sakuma had been taken in by the Azuchi. Niwa was still here, but not many people could look her in the eye and ask her to take control. Since Fuwa was easier to talk with, most people came to her instead. And since she had managed the finances and the transport work…

…I have a good grasp of how it all fits together!

I’m going to have a lot of work on my plate after this battle if the Genesis Project doesn’t pan out, she thought.

…Won’t anyone show me any kindness?

“Oh! Fuwa-san! I received some extra bentos! Do you want one!?”

“I ask for kindness and I receive a tentacle.”

“Wh-why do you sound so bummed out!?”

“Well, you know,” she said to the tentacle carrying a box full of bento boxes. “What do you think of Shibata-senpai and Oichi-sama?”

“Testament! I want them to win! I do want to root for the Ten Spears since Hashiba-sama saved me, but I still want Shibata-sama to win!”

“Why’s that?”

“Because if he wins, there might just be a next time.”

Fuwa just about called Mori naive, but she held her tongue. That kind tentacle had to be well aware of his own naivete.

“Yes, the winner does have a chance of continuing on.”

“Wait!? What’s this!? You aren’t going to call me naive and tear my pure heart to shreds, Fuwa-san!? Are you feeling alright!? Do you miss Sassa-sama so much something broke inside you!?”

She threw some snow at him just before hearing destruction and surprised voices from the northwest.

…That would be…

Insha kotobs popped up, displaying reports from different posts.

Fukushima Masanori had arrived at the prepared battlefield on Kitanosho Castle’s upper deck.

●

Fukushima viewed the scene below the scattering wreckage of the decorative roof.

She found herself on a battlefield 50m wide and 800m long.

But that battlefield existed in the center of a festival stage with food stands up toward the bow.

The place looked like a Far Eastern festival.

After making that split-second assessment, she ran straight ahead. The wreckage of the decorative roof was still falling all around her. She figured that sound would mask her footsteps. So…

“…!”

Shibata stood 70m ahead of her.

On his back, he wore a white metal decoration resembling a single wing.

That was Testamenta Arma: Animus Caritas – Novum. The ether light enveloping it said it was already active. Fukushima was familiar with its effect.

…It can briefly stop all hostile actions – offense and defense!

So she took action while running. She nimbly placed herself in the air and threw Ichinotani toward Shibata.

And…

“––––––”

Her motion stopped in midair.

…What!?

This was something you could only understand after experiencing it yourself. She stopped moving like there was a wall in front of her moving at the same speed as her. It only happened for an instant, but it did stop her.

“Kh.”

Then she resumed moving. Her momentum was intact. She continued right where she had left off. Which meant…

…If I act fast enough, I would be able to reach him!?

Of course, that time lag would make it difficult to hit someone on Shibata’s level.

She had heard the effective range was 50m, but something felt off to her. She had attacked from the very edge of that range while running, but…

…It reacted sooner than that?

Had it been strengthened? She had definitely felt an odd sensation similar to a gaze on her from the moment she readied her weapon.

This was a challenging ability to deal with in single combat, but understanding how it worked meant a lot.

Suddenly, she sensed a strange presence approaching. Like something chilly passing through her from front to back and then continuing on well behind her.

She recognized this. She had encountered this chilly piercing on that mountaintop morning.

When she climbed to the summit viewing platform to end her training camp, she had taken a break and dozed off. She remembered some kind of presence piercing her and the wall behind her.

This was it.

It had flown toward her from Shibata here. Which meant…

…It was Lord Shibata!

She followed up that thought with movement. If she evaded, the Testamenta Arma would stop her. So she disturbed her footwork without any thought behind it.

“Oops.”

She tripped.

●

Fuwa was watching the deck of the distant flagship when something was blasted back toward the stern.

As flashy as the attack was, it was only a horizontal slash. The deck itself was probably safe. She understood how this worked.

That smashing power was the ability of Kamewari, Shibata’s divine weapon.

The attack must have cut through all the food stands on the rear of the ship, blasting away the roofs and signs.

Light vanished from the rear of the ship, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate Kitanosho Castle’s stern.

It was just like Shibata to use such a flashy attack to signal the beginning of a battle. But…

“Fuwa-san! Wh-what was that just now!?”

“Eh? It was Shibata-senpai’s Kamewari.”

“But his Kamewari only has a range of 30m! And that attack was 200m, if not more!”

“True.” Fuwa nodded. “Shibata-senpai was given the unique spell called Mikal. It multiplies the power of its bearer’s weaponry based on their strength. So even that relatively weak smashing power ends up like that for him. …He doesn’t usually use it, but today must be an exception.”

“Huh. …Wait, why do you know that!?”

“Hmm? Mori, did he never tell you? My, my, my.”

“Th-that look and attitude! You are in top form tonight, Fuwa-san!”

Really, Shibata had bragged about Mikal to anyone who would listen when he first received it, but that was before Mori joined them. Fuwa was pretty sure he had stopped using it after getting carried away showing off to Oichi and slicing through a brand-new warship.

…But does that mean he’s going to be making some overkill attacks here?

●

Shibata updated his opinion of the enemy.

…Not bad.

She had chosen to trip herself to avoid his attack.

Animus Caritas – Novum would briefly stop an enemy’s defensive or offensive actions. That meant evasion would be stopped too, so she wouldn’t have been able to fully dodge Kamewari’s boosted attack.

The Musashi Vice Chancellor had been hit by it in that way aboard the Musashi shortly before Magdeburg.

But this opponent had tripped.

Since it hadn’t counted as evasive action, she must have started with an action meant to trip her, not to dodge. She had likely relaxed one of her accelerating legs.

Not even a Testamenta Arma could take issue with a tripping action. If it did, it would have to stop any kind of movement, which would restrict his allies too.

…That would have turned out differently if my attack had been more obvious.

If she had confirmed my attack before taking action, tripping would have counted as evasive action.

But she had sensed the presence of his incoming attack before seeing the attack itself. She had sensed it during the time when he wasn’t attacking in preparation to attack.

●

If she could read his breathing that well…

“I thought she’d be a really hardheaded since she enjoyed hiding up in the mountains like Naru Naru-kun, but she’s actually got a brain in that head. And she’s still got a wild side to her.”

Shibata rested Kamewari on his shoulder again.

And he spoke to his opponent as she rose to her feet 30m ahead.

“Name yourself.”

“Hashiba Ten Spears #1! Fukushima Masanori!” she shouted, readying her flat-blade spear. “With Deer-dono’s assistance, I have come to face thee with Ichinotani!”

“I see,” he said. He knew about Ichinotani. Info on special weapons found its way up to the superiors. He honestly remembered the weapon more than Fukushima herself.

…That flat-blade spear…

The blade would open and absorb the enemy’s attack. And when it opened again, it would release that attack.

That was useful for defense, but it did have a flaw.

“That weapon can’t absorb phenomenon attacks, right? Only the simple physical and ether-based attacks.”

The storage space would also be an issue, but it couldn’t store “different laws”.

Which was why she had dodged his attack just now.

She was being unexpectedly rational. She didn’t even test it out. She’s controlling herself well, thought Shibata, but then he realized she had mentioned something curious.

“A deer?”

She responded with a firm nod. He had thought she had a wild side, but…

…You’re not some wild woman from Nara.

“What do you think, Oichi-sama?”

He addressed his question to Oichi as she dashed in from behind and immediately attacked Fukushima.

“Ah, ha, hee!”

Well, at least she’s enjoying herself, he decided as their blades clashed and sparks flew.

●

Sakuma had gotten permission to move out onto the deck with Koroku keeping an eye on her.

They had previously been trading thoughts and information on Tea Ceremony Battlers – Physical Change, the game they had been playing earlier, but…

“–––––”

On the bow deck of the 1st central ship, repairs were underway to recover from the previous battle and prepare for the rush to Honnouji. Everyone was busy with their jobs.

“Hey, wait, wait, wait. Everyone’s acting like Shizugatake’s already over.”

“It is already over for you at least.”

“Y-you really are harsh, you know that!? You’ll regret it once you grow up!”

“I’m not a kid by choice.”

Sakuma wasn’t sure what to say in response to that.

…Yeah.

She didn’t have her level of skill by choice either. She wasn’t in this position by choice and she didn’t have her height or looks by choice.

…Whatever.

She placed a hand on Koroku’s head while the girl looked out toward the Shibata camp.

“Would you prefer to be a grownup?”

“I just wanted some kind of dividing line.”

“I see,” said Sakuma, thinking a bit about Koroku.

…It’s not that I don’t understand.

She had thought Koroku was a colder kid. She only would have allowed Sakuma to come out here because she was curious too. Curious about the people fighting there who were crossing a further dividing line that Sakuma hadn’t reached yet. And…

“Your classmate is trying to make that happen. Can you hear it?”

“Testament. I’ve been hearing it for a while now.”

“Thought so,” was all Sakuma could say. “It’s impressive, really. She’s making all that noise against someone who has a Testamenta Arma, Mikal, and Oi-chan. I’m not surprised it sounds like a defensive battle, but not many people can last this long against Shiba-chan.”

●

Fukushima wasn’t looking at her opponents.

She didn’t think she could escape unscathed in a battle against Shibata and Oichi. But that didn’t mean she could afford to get injured due to carelessness and she wanted to try for unscathed for as long as she could. She considered that the bare minimum of a strategy for now.

So her goal was to return alive and with a minimum of injury. That meant she had to attack, but she didn’t insist on attacking first. Besides, Shibata’s Testamenta Arma got in the way of that. If she demonstrated an intent to attack or defend, her movement would be stopped.

So her movements were more general than that.

Instead of evading, she would move along paths that would also avoid the attacks.

Instead of attacking, she would ready her weapon and guide the enemy to leap into the swinging motion.

So if she looked to her opponents, she would fail almost immediately.

She had to first gain an understanding of the entire battlefield and only then look to her opponents.

She was doing that now.

When Shibata attacked, she made an outwards rotation so his attacking arm would swing through Ichinotani’s position.

She always made sure she moved first and her opponent’s attack arrived second. That way…

“Ha! You’re surprisingly clever!”

Shibata sounded confident, meaning he was prepared for this kind of response.

…I should have known!

Meanwhile, Fukushima couldn’t spare enough focus to even respond. If she disturbed the rhythm of her breathing, his attack would hit her. She had to perfectly control her own movements to avoid the many blades and leap in close.

“…”

She went too far. The starboard side of the deck was dangerous. Shibata was right-handed, so she wanted to avoid that positioning.

So she went back. Instead of dodging, she used Headfirst Fall to draw out a rapid curve. Shibata and Oichi sent a series of attacks along that curve, but she just barely managed to circle around to their side with an accelerated slide.

But they both immediately stepped back and made a back turn to face her. Their movements didn’t look particularly fast, but they were precise. They got the angles exactly right first try, creating the impression of an instantaneous action.

They followed her forward. But she passed them and aimed for an opening.

Fukushima was glad the protection of Shibata’s Testamenta Arma did not apply to Oichi.

She would be troublesome indeed if she was undying and could stop any attack against her.

So Fukushima decided to focus on Oichi first.

Oichi would not die. But her regeneration was not instantaneous.

Stalling Oichi that way and then attacking Shibata would be the safest choice. But…

…She has no openings!

The reality did not match Fukushima’s theory. She had planned out a few moves, but she couldn’t make use of them.

Shibata and Oichi were covering for each other. Since Shibata was right-handed, Oichi stayed on his left side and attacked with the weapons in her hands. And when they moved apart…

“Ha ha!”

Oichi laughed and went in for an attack. She wasn’t just taunting Fukushima.

…It’s a pincer attack!

Fukushima hurried away. And then…

“Get her, Kamewari.”

A smashing attack raced out with its power and range boosted.

●

Shibata was analyzing Fukushima.

How much could she move and how well could she attack? And how much could she resist moving and resist attacking? He was testing it all.

…This girl’s quite something!

Her options were fairly restricted with two opponents attacking her, but she still managed to keep her movements, evasions, and attacks united.

When faced with Animus Caritas – Novum, most people’s evasive movements and attacks would diverge. They could link their movements with their attacks and their movements with their evasions, but they couldn’t include attack and evasion in a single movement.

Even the ones who could normally manage that would have their actions stiffen up and become one-note when forced to be so conscious of them.

But this girl could do it. The same as she always did.

Most people would gradually fall apart the more they fought, until they couldn’t recover and were defeated.

But there was one kind of opponent Animus Caritas – Novum had trouble with.

Opponents with movement spells.

In addition to running, jumping, and rolling, those opponents could use their spell to move. Even if it was a simple acceleration spell, their distance traveled and their speed differed depending on if they used the spell or not. That allowed them to evade after Animus Caritas – Novum had been activated and it let them attack with a predictive action.

The problem was how they could do this by activating a spell instead of with physical action. I mean isn’t it super cheap that they can turn a movement into attack or defense with the flick of a switch?

But that wasn’t the biggest problem with movement spell users.

For the most part, they would all have learned to make ideal movements.

●

Shibata knew there were a few different kinds of ideal movements.

…But with both sides attacking and defending, they must take the form of a series of linked movements.

Attack and defense were separate things. But to detect an enemy’s attack and respond accordingly, attack and defense had to be linked.

Simply reading the enemy’s movements only told you what they were going to do.

Reaching the ideal movements also required knowing what to do to defeat your opponent whatever they might do.

You read the enemy’s attack and defense and then took the appropriate action in response. That meant understanding your own attacks and defenses and constantly linking them together.

Your attack and defense had to form a single action in response to the enemy’s action.

Animus Caritas – Novum could not prevent that. When an action was fully linked together and included not just attack and defense but also “movement”, then it didn’t trigger the Testamenta Arma.

And anyone who used a movement spell would pick up ideal movements quicker than average.

This girl was no exception. She used Headfirst Fall to jump in from close or mid-range, giving herself more movement options while also linking her movements together.

Of course, this was still rough around the edges. Her movements could be tightened up a lot and she didn’t attack when he left an opening.

…But I’m wise enough to see her potential!”

“Hey!”

He ignored the Kamewari attack sweeping across the deck and looked to his left.

Fukushima was making a low leap diagonally behind Oichi there. She sent an attack shooting up from below toward Oichi.

“Ha. Ha. Hee!”

Oichi used her left blade as a shield to catch the attack. But then Fukushima spun around and moved diagonally in front of Oichi. That angle put Oichi’s blocking blade between the two of them.

But I’m tall enough to see her. So…

“Watch out, Oichi-sama.”

His left hand was empty. So he grabbed Oichi’s hip hard point and shoved her diagonally toward Fukushima.

Realizing what he meant, Oichi made a shield bash with her raised left blade.

With a metallic clang, Fukushima moved away. She made a quick leap and bent her body into a flip. She smartly kept her blade held cautiously out this way the whole time. Her face didn’t betray any concern and she linked that flip into her next dash quite well.

She had trained well and was prepared for just about anything. But…

“You still aren’t taking this seriously, are you!?”

●

Fukushima considered Shibata’s question.

…Thou are overestimating me!

She was up against the M.H.R.R. Vice Chancellor with a Testament Arma, a unique spell, and Kamewari. Plus, he had Oichi with him. Fukushima would be in grave danger if she wasn’t taking this seriously.

But at the same time, she kind of understood what he meant.

She had noticed something while running along the transport ships to reach this battlefield.

…My training camp really paid off.

Ever since the training camp, she had only been playing with a deer instead of training or sparring, so she didn’t actually know how she compared to her old self.

Of course, she doubted a few weeks of training had changed her all that much. Skill was changed either by long periods of training or by an instant of inspiration.

She felt the training camp had essentially been the former type. But…

“–––––”

She nodded to Shibata. She still didn’t know if she had seen everything she could do. But…

“I can do more than this!”

●

Shibata grinned and stepped forward.

“Then bring it on. Don’t bore me, underclassman.”

Fukushima responded by dashing in along a curving path.

“So thou has accepted me as thy underclassman?”

“Course I have,” he replied. “That’s what tonight’s all about.”

Chapter 55: Approaching Demon and Woman[edit]

At this point

That is no longer attack

Or defense

Point Allocation (Current)

●

Sparks flew in a variety of colors.

A great form dressed in black was always at the center, a slender form also dressed in black crashed into him, and a woman in white made bladed attacks.

The slender one’s role was to always be targeted while the black one and the white one attacked with great speed and flat blades.

Metal loudly clashed with metal. Twice from the slender one’s hands and once each from the black one and the white one.

And they were all moving with dizzying speed.

The great black one ran without seeming to run, pursuing the slender one along the lengthy battlefield.

He wasn’t really in a hurry. He simply stepped forward and approached his enemy in the span of a breath. And when he also launched an attack…

“How about that!?”

Rapid strikes from the sword in his right hand pushed back his opponent.

But the slender one did not fight it. When she was being pushed back, she jumped. When he launched a barrage at her, she leaped backwards, putting some midair distance between them.

Then the woman in white leaped in.

With the halo behind her, she constantly wielded the two great swords ejected from the space behind her, sending out a flurry of attacks that glinted in the moonlight.

She would not stop.

But the slender one fought back, trailing sparks as she moved forward.

She avoided a pincer attack, fell back, and made her way around with the edge of the battlefield behind her.

The battlefield became nothing more than the wind of movement, the din of swordplay, and flying sparks.

Light had vanished from one end of the long battlefield, so the flying sparks drew out the path of the trio’s attacks while changing color.

In the light, they were white.

In the dusk, they were red.

In the moonlight, they were blue.

The occasional decorative roofs added their own colors in places.

But those watching and listening to the endless cacophony eventually noticed something.

“Hey,” someone said in shock. “The density of their attacks is growing.”

●

…This is so much fun!

Shibata felt like rolling up his sleeves.

This girl fascinated him. She reacted to his attacks and didn’t forget to make attacks of her own.

And most importantly, the more he and Oichi tried to get in a finishing blow, the more she increased the density of her responses, growing stronger.

It was fascinating.

What happened to that initial lukewarm response?

This back-and-forth without even a split-second to relax is way more like it.

She hadn’t gotten close enough to him to call these “ideal movements”, but she had the excellent movement fundamentals common in those with movement spells.

And she still had strength to spare.

Because she still wasn’t pushing herself too far.

He still hadn’t seen the signs of someone who had reached the limit of their skill and was trying to push past that.

That meant this small fry still wasn’t drawing on her full strength.

“But not cause she’s underestimating me.”

He had a feeling she was restraining herself.

That restraint left her enough in reserve to react if he tried to attack with his greater skill.

It was like she only realized that great skill was even possible once the attack was made.

Most likely, she didn’t know how far she could go.

Shibata had heard she defeated Celestial Dragon Katou Danzou at the Siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle before summer break.

That guy’s a hell of a fighter too. To the point I don’t see why he bothers with that illusion crap, thought Shibata. Then again, I’m using a Testamenta Arma and Mikal.

But how much violence was contained in the humanoid form of a Celestial Dragon? A guy on that level would definitely have mastered the ideal movements while in humanoid form.

Yet this girl had overpowered him and emerged victorious.

I see. That explains why she isn’t afraid of me. Looking at pure power, a Celestial Dragon would be stronger than him. And those illusions had to be more powerful than any weapon, including Shibata’s super gear.

I just can’t figure out why Naru Naru-kun said she had lost her edge. But…

“That’s it.”

She had lost her edge, so she went up to the mountains and trained.

But she hadn’t yet applied her new skill in battle.

That was why she didn’t seem to be taking this seriously.

That wasn’t what she was doing.

…This is fun.

This wasn’t like training with Sassa.

He was accompanying a skilled fighter as she reworked her skill from the ground up.

You lost yourself in a slump cause you’re a small fry. So you forgot how to fight and you decided to start with your movement since that’s what you know best.

Your intuition hasn’t returned yet, has it?

That settled it.

“Yeah.”

He would bring her back.

At the very least, he would bring her to the point where she could defeat a Celestial Dragon.

I’m stronger than you, so I’ll battle you to make sure you don’t pick up any bad habits.

I’ll rework you from the ground up to make you the strongest you can be.

That’s bound to be fun and fighting you after it’s over will be even more fun.

“So don’t die.”

Just this once, I’ll play the upperclassman role and look after this baby bird until she takes flight. So…

“Fight me!”

●

Fukushima clashed with a great pressure and cutting edge.

Shibata’s attacks were fast and unceasing. He had great strength, after all. After he swung Kamewari in one direction, he would immediately swing it back the other direction with only his arm strength. It looked forceful, but for him a full-sized sword had to be a lot like a knife. It almost looked like anything less than Kamewari would be insufficient for him.

And whenever her attacks let up…

“Get her, Kamewari.”

A smashing attack would sweep across the space at a variety of heights.

He seemed to be cautioning her to not hold back. So…

“Hah!”

She would answer with a breath and pick up the attack.

She was confident that trying to move away from him would mean death. Furthermore…

“Hah…ah, yahhhhhh!”

Oichi didn’t hesitate to inject herself into the series of attacks. She never got in the way of Shibata’s attacks and would take the most optimal position if Fukushima left an opening.

Sparks flew. A metallic scent hung in the air.

Fukushima realized she had blood flowing down her arm and cheek.

But it soon flew off into the air thanks to her speed.

This time and space didn’t let her worry about or even think about the bloodshed.

She could move her body to match her split-second reflexes and predictions because…

…Yes.

Because of her time in the mountain.

This was just like matching her movements to an unseen river current. She had learned how to make instantaneous decisions and wield instantaneous power against a constantly changing environment.

This was the same.

She wanted to thank Sassa next time she saw him. And tell him how helpful training in that spot had been. So…

“––––––”

She decided she could allow herself one thing.

●

Niwa realized the sound had changed.

She was atop the fortress wall of ships on the south end of the Shibata camp. She had chosen a transport ship built tall for cargo because it gave her a view of Kitanosho Castle, allowing her to watch the end of the festival.

But something had changed. The mehter around her had noticed it too.

“Um, Niwa-sama…”

“Yes, the sound has grown clearer.”

Before, it had primarily been the tone of metal crashing into metal. On occasion, there had been the unique sound of metal being honed, which was more like simple noise.

But this was different.

It was a solid but efficient sound, a lot like a brass instrument.

It was repeating, overlapping, and incessant, but it was oddly orderly.

That was not the sound of a fighter rejecting their opponent. It was the sound of a fighter reading their opponent’s power and matching their own actions to it. Which meant…

“Has his opponent started using ideal movements!?”

●

Shibata thought as he sent out attacks which were deflected while the enemy leaped in toward him.

…She’s not as stupid as Naru Naru-kun!

He smiled bitterly as he used Kamewari’s pommel to deflect his opponent’s blade and keep her away. She was getting a lot closer now.

After all, her movements had suddenly changed.

She was flying.

He had simply been feeding the baby bird before, but now he found she had grown wings.

And she was giving them some test flaps.

“––––”

The battle sounded so much nicer now.

…That’s right.

These were ideal movements.

She had taken a step beyond her earlier attacks.

She must have realized how she was restraining herself. And in the moment, she changed.

…So you’re not an idiot.

This goes beyond simply restraining yourself. How’d you change so damn quick?

But when she changed this much…

…This is all the more fun!

He could tell she was still testing out what she could do. The nice sounding tones he heard now were from her defense. Attacking and approaching would require a different action.

Would she soar?

Right now, she was carelessly flapping her wings, taking flight, and repeating the process.

You need more than that. Bring it all together.

Direct your whole body skyward and flap your wings to send yourself higher. No, I know what I’ve gotta do to motivate her.

“I’ll blast you, dammit!”

Now, what’ll it be?

●

Fukushima realized the time for testing was over.

Shibata’s horizontal attack flew in from ahead on the left.

At the same time, Oichi threw her sword from overhead on Shibata’s right.

…What!?

The thrown sword was rotating. The shifted center of gravity caused it to draw out a curve that would drop it behind Fukushima.

That kept her from moving back.

And Oichi had already drawn her next blade. She made a full horizontal swing from below with one sword and the new one would probably swing in to cut Fukushima through from the right.

Fukushima couldn’t move back and Shibata’s blade was coming from the front left. If she dodged that in either vertical direction, Oichi’s full swing from below would hit her, but if she dodged to the right, Oichi’s horizontal swing would get her.

A blade would reach her no matter where she went. But strangely she didn’t hesitate.

Simple attack and defense weren’t going to work against these opponents.

So she knew what she had to do.

“Continue ahead.”

●

Oichi saw something odd.

She was swinging up her right sword from below.

At the same time, she swung her left hand horizontally and leaped, using the upwards-swinging sword as an anchor. She added in a spin while shifting to her next attack. Or she meant to.

But her opponent was coming. Coming straight in.

The girl was not hit or cut.

It wasn’t that she had tremendous speed or anything.

Strangely, it looked like she was only walking toward Oichi, giving a quick greeting as she passed by.

So when she stepped on the guard of the upwards-swinging right sword, Oichi felt no weight.

But the girl continued forward.

She used Oichi’s attack as a stepping stone and spun herself around backwards with her spear held between her arms.

“––––”

The backwards spear attack struck Shibata in the left chest.

●

The slash sent pieces of Shibata’s uniform scattering.

He had hard demonic skin, but the blade managed to pierce it.

The average depth of the wound was 12cm and the length was 63cm. It drew out an arc which was deepest near his collarbone, but it did not reach the bone. And…

“Ha!”

When the demonic man laughed, dark blood sprayed forth. A few first aid insha kotobs appeared, but the result was the same.

Fukushima’s blade had reached him. That was all that mattered.

●

Fukushima remembered something.

…That was the same as the attack I hit Danzou-dono with.

The force of the attack and everything else were different than with the Celestial Dragon.

Yet it was the same. She was facing an opponent just as – if not more – formidable than that.

“Kh.”

The powerful momentum of her backwards spin caused her to rotate a few times after landing. But…

…I reached him!

She had accomplished something. That fact led to another fact.

“Now we’re talking!”

The demonic man came at her along with his words.

She could tell he was smiling.

Now he was taking this seriously.

●

Fukushima knew this would come down to an instant.

So many memories flooded her mind.

Her opponent was fired up but injured.

He had more strength than he knew what to do with and, if he would ever have an opening, it would be now.

She had strength too.

…So…

She threw out her fear and raced toward her opponent.

●

Fukushima’s target was Oichi.

She stuck to her original plan of eliminating that nuisance before she attacked Shibata.

She leaped to the right to place Oichi between her and Shibata.

Oichi responded by swinging both her blades.

Her left sword swung in from the left.

Her right sword slashed down from above.

Fukushima chose to approach that woman.

Even if she landed an attack, one of those intersecting slashes would strike her. So…

“…”

While holding Ichinotani diagonally as a shield, she threw the spear toward Oichi.

She literally launched the spear toward the intersection of Oichi’s attacks.

●

Oichi realized her attack had caught the spear.

…What…is this!?

The enemy abandoning her weapon was a surprise, but the effect on her swords was a problem too.

The spear was oriented diagonally as it flew between the horizontally and vertically swinging swords. The angle pushed at the path of the horizontal blade while striking the slash coming from above.

The force of the double slash deflected the spear twice over, sending it spinning.

Fukushima soared in at that moment.

Oichi’s slashes had their speeds and trajectories altered by the spear.

But Fukushima’s spear was now rapidly spinning after receiving the speed of Oichi’s attacks.

And Fukushima grabbed the rotating spear at the center.

“––––”

In that moment, Oichi’s right arm flew off into the air.

Fukushima’s spinning spear had swung down on the right elbow that had propelled the sword from above.

Fukushima was already ducking below the horizontal slash.

Oichi was now swinging her left sword to the left.

Her Testamenta Arma glowed to repair her right arm.

But it was too late.

She spun to the left using the leftward-spinning sword as an anchor. She tried to put some distance between her and Fukushima.

She turned her right side toward Fukushima just in time for something to strike her right flank.

Fukushima had stopped her spear’s spinning in her arms and now the flat tip of the blade was held against Oichi.

Oichi heard the girl’s voice as she raced toward Oichi’s side.

“Extension device.”

The rapid strike shot toward Oichi’s right flank.

●

Fukushima did not feel the blow land.

…What was that?

She had used the extension device to strike Oichi in the side while running. That should have slammed into the woman’s torso and launched her away, allowing Fukushima to focus on attacking Shibata.

But she was instead faced with a problem.

She had been stopped.

Her intent to attack had been momentarily halted.

Courtesy of Testamenta Arma: Animus Caritas – Novum.

Why had an attack against Oichi triggered that Testamenta Arma?

She didn’t bother asking the question. Because…

“Hey, now. Get outta the way while we’re flirting.”

In the instant Fukushima was frozen, she saw a hand supporting Oichi on the opposite side of where Ichinotani’s tip had struck.

That was Shibata’s hand.

His arm passed behind her to support her from the opposite side.

If Ichinotani had pierced on through Oichi, it would have injured Shibata’s hand too.

And Fukushima had seen Shibata’s hand support Oichi in the instant she had sent her attack toward Oichi.

No, Shibata had “let her see” it. He had saved Oichi. And…

“You’ve still got a long way to go before you can hope to stand up to the power of our love!”

Her movement resumed.

The extension device raced out. But Oichi had been pulled back by Shibata.

The attack had been dodged. And the very next moment, Shibata attacked from the side.

“Get her, Kamewari.”

●

Fukushima kept her stance low and ran.

Any evasion would be stopped, so she held Ichinotani close as it extended and she simply ran forward.

The smashing power soared by over her head just as she took her first step.

The port deck railing was instantly sliced through and the top of the transport ship past that railing was blasted into the sky like a wave.

And just as Fukushima realized she had dodged it…

“Take this!”

Shibata sent a kick right into her gut.

…Kh!!

Her M.H.R.R. inner suit was designed for the Thirty Years’ War, so it was bulletproof and had some resistance against bladed weapons.

But a kick powered by demonic leg strength was something else entirely.

She could feel her body distorting. Her gut was warped in the shape of his boot.

That Kamewari blast was probably just so he could get off this kick. She had gotten in the habit of running while ducked low, so he had taken advantage of it.

And just as she realized she had been hit…

“Kah!”

She flew about 4m.

It was a direct hit.

●

The soaring slender form crashed into one of the decorative roofs hanging over the battlefield.

A path decorated with artificial flowers led toward the stage in the center.

Ordinarily, there would be mats set up below to provide a space for moon viewing.

The wavy red wooden roof was splintered by the flying body.

The continuous sounds of breaking wood were lighter than of smashing rubble and some artificial flowers scattered through the air.

The slender figure ended up with her back arched in midair.

“–––––”

When she crashed down onto the central stage, she bounced once and then lay motionless on her back.

Her spear fell next to her and simply spun once before falling over.

The roof splinters and artificial flowers surrounding her were all colored red.

Chapter 56: Crier on the Stage[edit]

Even when you didn’t tell me to cry

You cannot stop my tears

Point Allocation (You Never Have)

●

…Is it over?

Shibata rested Kamewari on his shoulder and supported Oichi with his other hand.

He thought that girl had made it pretty far. Her ideal movements had been decent enough. She probably wasn’t aware of it herself, but she could likely manage attack and defense at close range.

There weren’t many people in M.H.R.R. and P.A. Oda on her level.

After all, he had been forced to end it with a kick. And that only after catching her with his Testamenta Arma and using Kamewari as a decoy.

If he hadn’t reached for Oichi, that would have played out quite differently.

“But that’s only a ‘what if’.”

He had gotten a good hit in on her and she would have taken damage when crashing into the decorative roof.

She wouldn’t be able to move much thanks to the accumulated damage.

Even if she could get back on her feet, she wouldn’t be able to perform like she just had.

The battle was effectively over. But…

…Hmm.

What was this? Shibata felt an odd uneasiness inside him.

Partially because this didn’t seem like a suitable final battle for his history recreation, but something else bothered him too.

He had chosen the best option at every turn during that battle.

He had used his Testamenta Arma, Mikal, and Kamewari. You could even call it unfair.

But was this really the end for Fukushima?

●

Shibata didn’t think he had been wrong to help Oichi.

But had it been wrong to Fukushima?

Part of him felt that it was her fault for letting it hit her, that that was just how battles were, and that the winner was the winner, but at the same time…

“I am supposed to be the upperclassman.”

He had meant to spar with her to help her grow, but he had instead taken it seriously and crushed her.

What had he discussed with Oichi before the Battle of Shizugatake?

…I was talking about entrusting things.

He had one concern: what if Fukushima could have reached even greater heights?

But he had failed to bring her to those heights and instead let her actions panic him into crushing her.

He had been hoping for some fun, but had that just been talk?

With Fukushima defeated, he could no longer see the upper limit of her skill.

That’s a shame. This is gonna stick with me. But I did feel the need for quick action. She got that reaction out of me.

…But I shouldn’t have taken it so seriously I crushed her.

He had learned his lesson.

But there was no fixing it now. The battle was over. He had no choice but to accept that fact.

“Oichi-sama.”

He took a breath and patted her back.

“How about we head down, grab a drink, and take a break?”

Only after speaking did he notice that Oichi had stopped moving after her right forearm regenerated.

She was still in her combat stance.

…Hey…

He turned his gaze in the direction she was facing.

The stage in the center of the battlefield was lit up by floodlight spells.

And someone stood on that stage: Fukushima.

●

Shibata saw Fukushima getting up atop the stage.

She was holding her spear close and leaning forward, while…

…Wait, really?

She weakly stood up.

This was probably the result of her training or her instincts. She knew collapsing during combat was a risk and she also knew she had to stand up to confirm she was unharmed and alive.

She had to be unconscious. Which may have been why she took a step toward Shibata.

“–––––”

And her knee gave way underneath her.

That was the moment Oichi chose to move. She ducked low and then used the momentum of raising her hips to…

“Ah!”

Throw her twin swords. The two thrown weapons intersected like a cross as one rotated horizontally and the other vertically and they both flew toward Fukushima.

●

Fukushima was not looking out ahead.

In her field of vision, the double sword cross was visible flying toward her past the roof pieces and artificial flower petals on the stage. She could tell it would hit her soon, but…

…What is happening?

She recalled the past.

She had once seen a night sky much like this one.

It had always been night there, but she and the others had been in a sunlit field of grass.

Her friends were there, she was there, and her friends’ parents were there.

That was where she had learned martial arts. She had been taught the very basics because, “I do not know when you will need this, but it can’t hurt to learn.”

Kiyomasa had had a similar experience except that her mother used a sword.

She had thought that life there would continue forever.

She had been wrong.

It was Kasuya who noticed their parents were gone. It was Hirano who had more or less accepted that fact and it was Katagiri who had cried first. But their families had not returned and they found themselves left all alone. They had cried until they had no more tears to shed and then they had discussed what to do next.

What could they do?

While faced with that question, it was Kiyomasa who had invited Fukushima outside.

Of course, “outside” was just the usual field. But there Kiyomasa had picked up the wooden sword she always used and handed Fukushima the wooden spear she always used.

Kiyomasa had been crying too, but she also made a suggestion.

“Let’s continue.”

“Continue…what?”

“The everyday life our mothers gave us.”

“Why bother?”

“Because,” said Kiyomasa. “Then we can resume that everyday life in a new place one day.”

Fukushima had known there was no assurance of that day coming. They all knew that, but their leader at the time had accepted Kiyomasa’s idea and they had all chosen to believe in it.

That was all so long ago.

But why was Fukushima remembering it now?

…Because I miss thee.

Really, the beating she had taken had probably reminded her of the night up in the mountains when she had cried.

And what had she thought then?

“––––––”

All of a sudden, she came to.

●

“Oh…”

The first thing Fukushima noticed was that her entire body was trembling from damage.

The external impacts had made her muscles shake and she hadn’t yet readjusted. Her health management protection was probably active, but it couldn’t keep up when her entire body was affected.

Two crossed swords were flying toward her.

She would be badly injured if those two attacks hit.

But her legs wouldn’t move and her body refused to do much of anything.

And her mind was on something else.

…Kiyo-dono.

I miss thee. I want to see thee again. That was the same thing she had thought after her time in the mountains.

The thought had left her when she arrived here and found the Battle of Shizugatake underway. It was possible she had still been afraid to see Kiyomasa again.

But not anymore.

She remembered what mattered between them, that night she had wept below the stars, and everything else.

How could she die before seeing Kiyomasa again?

The soaring blades flew right toward her. Unable to get her spear up, she simply glared at them.

“…”

A straining voice left her throat as she poured her will into a single thought: I miss thee. That is the one thing I refuse to lose even in my final moment.

A moment later, she heard two metallic impacts.

The the two swords had hit hard.

●

“Ohh.”

Shibata found himself gasping in both relief and surprise.

On the stage far ahead, he saw the result of Oichi’s two thrown swords.

They had scored a direct hit.

But not on Fukushima.

A white wall stood out in front of her. Or rather, shoulder armor made from the latest autonomous armor.

The two swords had been stopped by allowing them to stab deep, but they did not reach the base of the armor. Shibata recognized the person responsible for this defense.

“So we have a second: Katou Kiyomasa.”

●

Fukushima simply looked forward.

Unable to do anything more than think, her widened eyes stared at the white figure standing before her.

That was Kiyomasa.

…Why?

She had so cruelly made Kiyomasa cry, so why was she here now?

And Kiyomasa turned around. She dropped the two swords that had stabbed into her shoulder armor and she looked to Fukushima.

When she noticed how Fukushima flinched back from her gaze, Kiyomasa smiled and sighed.

The sigh was clearly one of relief. Did that mean she was glad Fukushima was alive?

How?

How can thou smile like that after everything I did to thee? And…

“Are you alright, Fukushima-sama?”

●

That was all Kiyomasa could manage to say.

…Oh, ohh, why, why!?

When she had looked down from Yoshiaki’s Weiss Fürstin and seen Fukushima there, she had been able to wait a moment longer and jumped down. But that had gotten her here in time.

She had blocked the incoming swords with her armor and been reunited with Fukushima for the first time in more than a month.

Fukushima had lost a lot of weight. In Sanada, Kiyomasa had enjoyed a tour of the best food that Ueda, Shinshu, had to offer, but how had Fukushima spent her time?

One look was all it took to assess the situation.

Fukushima had been hit and injured. She had taken a lot of damage. A glance at a lernen figur said she didn’t have any broken bones, but her scrapes and bruises had triggered a red signal in several places.

But that was to be expected. Checking Shibata and Oichi on her lernen figur told Kiyomasa that Oichi’s clothes were torn in a few places and Shibata had a deep cut in his left chest.

Fukushima had achieved all that against those two on her own.

“Fukushima-sama.”

Kiyomasa wanted to say “well done” or “you’ve grown” or “don’t worry” or any number of other things.

But Fukushima opened her mouth first.

“Kiyo-dono.”

Seeing the tears spilling from Fukushima’s eyes left Kiyomasa speechless.

She understood they had done so much to each other and had so much done to them by each other.

She understood they had gone through the same thing over the last month

But while Kiyomasa had Unno and her underclassmen at Sanada with her, who had Fukushima had? And had she blamed herself for the lie she told out of kindness?

But Fukushima managed to speak through the tears.

“I missed thee.”

That was enough. Kiyomasa nodded and hugged her.

She pulled her in close and held her tight. And…

…Oh.

Awkwardly, Fukushima’s arms pulled Kiyomasa toward her a little too hard.

She was probably still having trouble regulating her strength thanks to the damage she had taken. She sought Kiyomasa so intensely her arms and fingers dug painfully into her back, but Kiyomasa let her.

When their eyes met, Kiyomasa realized she too was crying.

She shut her eyes and knew exactly what they were going to do next.

They knew something that could take the place of words or instructions. Their lips came together in an expression of mutual forgiveness.

They showed each other they would no longer hesitate in such things.

●

“Hey, now. Did you forget about us?”

The black and white figures embraced atop the stage while red roof fragments and white and red flowers danced in the wind.

And after a few breaths…

“––––”

They finally parted. But now they were both facing Shibata’s way.

Kiyomasa held her two sickle spears in her hands.

Fukushima’s shoulders heaved with her heavy breaths, but she managed to remain standing with Ichinotani in her arms.

“You gonna fight?” he asked.

They both nodded and Kiyomasa bowed her head.

“We would be honored.”

That’s the spirit. Fukushima was glaring at him while several lernen figurs popped up and vanished around her. They looked like pain reduction spells to him, which could only mean…

…A quick showdown.

That had been the plan before, but now she was really dedicated.

Her resolve was set.

…Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Shibata honestly regretted getting so pissed earlier. But now he and Oichi would have two opponents. This new start meant he could really go all out.

“I appreciate it,” he said.

“Eh?”

Confused, Kiyomasa looked to Fukushima, but she too tilted her head. You don’t need to figure out what I mean. It’s a me issue. But I’m over it now. So now…

“Bring it. Let’s give Shizugatake the ending it deserves.”

Chapter 57: The Four in Pursuit[edit]

Can we reach them

Or not?

We try to reach them

Because we do not know

Point Allocation (Full Strength)

●

That’s a nice sound, thought Yoshiaki.

She was looking down from Weiss Fürstin while it hovered in the sky at a position providing her a view of the Shibata camp.

Kitanosho Castle was directly below. Four name inheritors were currently battling there.

However, this was an unusual type of battle.

The four combatants formed two teams of two, but the concept of “teams” was especially strong here.

Both sides would battle their opponent’s partner, dodge an attack, move away, and then switch to the other opponent.

It was a lot like a rapid hand-in-hand dance.

But the sound of the swordplay was pleasant. This was a deadly battle, but there was no tension in the sound.

…Because it’s a long-awaited reunion and a rare battle with some major upperclassmen.

Takenaka had instructed Yoshiaki to dive in and cover those two’s withdrawal if necessary. Takenaka said she wanted to avoid losing any of their fighters for the coming battle against Musashi.

If it came to that, Takenaka would negotiate with Fuwa to determine when the Battle of Shizugatake had officially ended, but…

“I doubt we need to worry about it. Not when their battle sounds this nice.”

Below, several colors of sparks scattered while Fukushima and Kiyomasa moved in concert.

They swapped places and opponents before instantly resuming the fight.

“Keep it up. And come on back, you two.”

●

While so much was being exchanged and swapping places, Shibata noted how much Fukushima had changed. And…

…This Kiyomasa girl is well-trained too.

I’d heard she cornered Niwa earlier, but is that true? She’s sure got a lot of life left in her.

But the same was true of Fukushima.

Who the hell said she wouldn’t be able to perform so well anymore? Oh, right! It was me!

That said, her movements had deteriorated. Her top speed was clearly lower than before.

But something other than speed was far greater than before.

Her precision.

The precision of her movements, her positioning on the battlefield, and the link between her offense and defense had all risen.

These were her ideal movements.

She had shown a hint of this before. Like when she attacked Oichi at the end. She had clearly predicted Oichi’s attack and rushed in to both attack and defend.

But that had changed. Her movements were still rough and she spent almost no time right up next to her opponent, but…

“Animus Caritas – Novum isn’t working!”

That had started just after Kiyomasa arrived.

It had felt like another sudden change.

…This is what makes small fries so much fun!

Musashi Vice Chancellor Honda Futayo had been the same.

At Magdeburg that girl had been forced to limit the battlefield to the rooftops and focus on defense, but at Novgorod she had enough of a grasp of the ideal movements to deal with Shibata’s attack and defense.

There was no point in asking when she learned to do that. Her dad could do it too.

Based on the records of the Battle of Mikawa received from their allies in Tres España, Honda Tadakatsu had dealt with Tachibana Muneshige with such a mastery of ideal movements that he had just about left Tachibana completely helpless.

If those records were accurate, Shibata wished he could have fought Tadakatsu at least once.

Humans aged and deteriorated so fast. So since Tadakatsu hadn’t been an active student at the time, Shibata had written him off as someone who was “strong but past his prime”.

He had been wrong.

…Damn.

But the man’s daughter Honda Futayo had shown him the same thing.

And now their own next generation was showing that to him as well.

“Kiyo-dono!”

“Testament!”

Wait, Fukushima. You can talk? So…what, did you just not feel like talking with me?

“Don’t screw with me, newbie!”

He slammed his blade in. But Fukushima fearlessly leaped in. She had already inputted a series of acceleration spells as if this had all been calculated. His Testamenta Arma did not react. But he did change his blade’s course in response.

Hit her, he thought just before Fukushima twisted her body to shift her center of gravity in midair. No, she had adjusted for the skid that started as her acceleration spells failed to link in midair.

She had predicted the timing of his attack and intentionally included an error in her pre-inputted acceleration spells.

That was so she could measure what kind of attack he would make, but…

“Not bad!”

His blade sliced into her shoulder and her flat blade tore into his upper arm.

They moved apart. But by that time…

“Don’t forget me!”

Kiyomasa leaped in.

She was fast. Those two couldn’t switch back and forth as quick as him and Oichi, but they always seemed so close together.

They were used to this.

Fine with me. No matter how used to your own movements you are…

…You aren’t used to ours!

Shibata launched an attack. He made a zigzagging series of jabs coming in from several directions.

And Kiyomasa responded.

She followed his actions with surprising calm.

“–––––”

Her autonomous armor was a nuisance. Its functions were affected by his Testament Arma, but Kiyomasa only had the autonomous portions maintain their standard positions and keep her balance as he moved. The actual defense itself she controlled manually with the movement of her body and arms.

And Kiyomasa also demonstrated ideal movements.

She was on the same level as Fukushima there. In fact, she was better than Fukushima when it came to ideal movements in defense. No matter how much Shibata attacked, the only result was the metallic clanging of her armor and weapons and her blonde hair swaying beyond the sparks.

…Oh, am I turning into a poet!? Then I’d better start reading love poetry to Oichi-sama!

But he had arrived at a general understanding about one thing. Really, even an idiot could figure this out after battling these two.

“The two of you are a team, aren’t you!? Guess that explains the earlier kiss!”

●

The two girls blushed.

●

Dammit, and now they’re embarrassed about it! You kids don’t know how good you have it being young! I wish some of my underclassmen could’ve been as pure as you two! Not that that was ever happening with any of them! Besides, Naru Naru-kun or Toshiie blushing would be sooooooooooo creepy I’d have to beat them up for it. Who wants to see that?

But that was it. It couldn’t be more obvious.

Fukushima was the attacker and Kiyomasa the defender.

They both took positions to support the other and completed each other’s offense and timing.

…Huh? Then was I wasting my time helping Fukushima get back on her feet?

No, some flirting isn’t going to boost her skill, Shibata immediately realized.

Yeah, if all you do is flirt, you lose any sense of urgency and lose your skill fast. Hey, Oichi-sama, this pisses me off, so how about we do some flirting later on!?

But this is fun.

“Hell yeah!”

Because they needed ideal movements, they combined their attacks and defenses with their movements and tended to choose movements that circled around each other. The way they would move away before closing back in was a lot like an astronomical orbit. But…

“––––”

Just as he noticed Kiyomasa moving away, Fukushima launched an attack from his blind spot.

Kiyomasa had guided his focus for Fukushima.

Kiyomasa was a pain to fight because the way she made sure to strike back after blocking his attacks made it hard to launch immediate counterattacks.

Fukushima was a pain to fight because the way her counterattacks worked to throw off his movements also made it hard to launch immediate counterattacks.

Was this what happened when their joint ideal actions allowed them to fight as one?

Oichi could manage ideal movements to a fairly high level, but those two were better at working together. After all, Shibata and Oichi were both attackers. They both tended to just charge in, which left a larger opening than those two who had both attack and defense.

“Ah, hah, hee!”

Each of Oichi’s rapid sword strikes flowed into the next, so stopping her meant outdoing her speed or intervening in her attacks using ideal movements.

As far as Shibata knew, the only ones to manage that were the Tachibana Couple at Novgorod.

Tachibana Muneshige had accomplished it using the acceleration assistance of his pseudo-divine weapon, but…

…I bet he used the lessons he learned battling Honda Tadakatsu at Mikawa.

The problem with small fries was how quickly they learned their lessons and improved themselves.

But he did think Tachibana Muneshige had done well. After all, he had chosen a continuous short-range acceleration spell just like when he was Catholic.

That spell made it hard to smoothly guide one action into another. But he had stuck to what he knew and pushed himself until he managed to corner Oichi-sama. Wait, hold on. I’ll kill you for that, Tachibana Muneshige!

●

“What is wrong, Master Muneshige? You just shuddered. Is the chilly night wind getting to you?”

“No, this is something else. I felt an odd killer intent.”

“The Date Vice Chancellor and the 2nd Special Duty Officer are mopping up this area, but there could still be some enemies left in hiding. We have confirmed the transport ship is on its way, so let’s stay focused just a bit longer.”

●

Shibata could tell just how deep his love was.

…That’s right!

This is so much fun. I didn’t expect to have a pair of opponents on this level or to get to party with Oichi-sama at full strength.

And then…you know. Those girls’ combination. As much as I hate to admit it…

…They really do work together better than us!

Their attack and defense kept swapping out between high-speed movement and support.

That mutual necessity and inevitable understanding were only possible for the weak.

It was something someone as strong as Shibata couldn’t have.

He and Oichi had accepted each other as partners, but they didn’t complement each other’s weaknesses. Maybe they could only draw on their max strength when they brought their strengths together, but they had to be mindful when supporting each other.

That was why he had covered for Oichi in the previous battle.

Those girls didn’t have that.

“Oh, damn!”

I can’t get a good hit in. But neither can they.

They just kept fighting back to back, using footwork and sliding to the side while sparks blossomed in a thrilling situation where even a momentary error could end it all.

…It’s so damn fun!

It was unusual for him to have to push himself for so long. And right now, he was drawing on his greatest strength.

But he did understand one thing. Or maybe it was more of a hunch.

…I wonder.

What would it have been like if Oichi and I were like these two?

“––––”

That could never happen.

He was too strong and so was Oichi. But sometimes that wasn’t the best case on the battlefield.

Like now. Those two small fries didn’t have the skill level of either him or Oichi, but they must have discovered and fostered something between them that approached their level.

What would it have been like if he and Oichi could do that? Didn’t I ask that already? Whatever.

At any rate, if he and Oichi could complement each other and work in perfect unison…

…We’d be untouchable, wouldn’t we?

But they couldn’t do that now. Well, maybe we could, but we’d have to retrain ourselves and rethink how we approach fighting. And there’s really no way of changing Oichi-sama’s mood-based way of fighting.

It wasn’t possible.

So he understood the strongest on this path – the strongest that he kind of wished they could be – was not them. But then who was it?

“Yeah, I get it now.”

Maybe this is what it means to entrust things with the next generation, he thought.

●

Shibata smiled.

The corners of his mouth curled upwards without any laughter.

And he simply spoke.

“Okay then.”

He was still in charge of this battlefield. Or that was how he saw it.

“I’ll play along a little longer.”

●

Yoshiaki saw flowers blossoming below.

Flowers made of sparks.

…Is that…?

The four sword fighters and defenders were probably swapping places and moving around with the linkage of attack and defense known as ideal movements.

So many high-pitched noises leaped up into the sky before fading into the night air.

And more flowers blossomed below.

Was that Shibata or Oichi? Or was it Fukushima or Kiyomasa? They looked white in the shadows, red in the light, and blue in the moonlight and they endlessly scattered sparks while…

“Oh…”

A demonic roar and a human cry joined together.

That joined with the waves of sword noises before spreading out across the area.

…Ah.

Voices arrived from below. They came from around Kitanosho Castle, but soon they came from other places as well.

“Ohhhh!”

Everyone was raising their voices at the sounds they heard and sparks they saw.

They must not have known what to do before, but now they all raised their arms, called the names of the fighters, and stomped the ground as one.

“Ohhh!”

The tremor shaking the entire Shibata camp was noticeable even in the air. And on the battlefield…

…Yes.

Yoshiaki more or less understood.

The flowers blossoming now were the release of power as the end approached. In other words…

“This will be over soon.”

●

Oichi was in a great mood.

…How wonderful!

Flowers blossomed all around her and fireworks rocketed into the sky. Her beloved was here and she was dancing with people who could keep up with her.

Let’s bon dance. She had a feeling her expectations were only putting off the inevitable, but it was the mood that mattered.

Still, it had been so long since everything had been so beautiful.

She could breathe.

She could listen to the sounds.

She could accept everything that came into view.

She could trust the intentions of everyone here and not just her beloved.

She heard the voices. Their stomping of support reached her. So…

“Ah hah!”

I can go all out here.

I was stopped at Novgorod. Back then, I learned who it was I really cared about.

That was a very important lesson.

And the people dancing with us now aren’t as harsh as then. But I can tell that these two are gradually catching up.

They are underclassmen. Whose? Mine.

These are not enemies. They are working to catch up to and surpass us.

And as she fought those people, she realized something.

…They will catch up, won’t they?

She and her beloved would be surpassed at this festival. What did that mean?

“Ah hah hah hah!”

She understood.

I finally understand.

She had lost her future, killed so many people, and shut herself down, but now the people trusted her and supported her and she had people she could entrust with the future.

…I understand.

There is nothing special about me. I am a normal person.

●

Unlike in the Testament, I never had any children, thought Oichi.

So she had planned to remain alone and ultimately have Katsuie kill her so she would not be released into the world. That was still her plan, but there was one thing she could trust in now.

She was not alone. And not just because of Katsuie.

There were people who knew her and would inherit what she left for them. And since her words would reach them, those words would remain in the records too.

That meant she and Katsuie had not been rejected by the world and they could remain in it.

“Ahh…”

Tears spilled from her eyes. But these were not the usual concentration of resentment and envy.

These were tears of appreciation.

For everything that had accepted her, for the people who had trusted her, for the important people who had stayed by her side the entire time, and…

…For you two.

She bowed to the people she could entrust the future to and used that same action to charge at them.

She did not want her underclassmen to see her crying.

●

Kiyomasa took a back step leading into a side slide to stop Oichi’s charge.

Oichi attacked with a pair of blades, but…

…She’s swapping them out so fast!

She was using two swords, but she wasn’t holding onto them like she had before. She would attack Kiyomasa, immediately let go of the blade, and eject the next one from the space behind her.

The lack of rotation kept her from linking one attack into the next quite so well, but she pushed in all the stronger for it.

Kiyomasa was forced to focus on defense. And…

“I understand!”

It all came down to this. So…

…I accept your challenge!

Kiyomasa would stop this onslaught. And just as she decided that, she heard another loud sound from behind her.

That came from Fukushima.

Past Fukushima, Shibata was unleashing a dense attack upon the girl, much like Oichi upon Kiyomasa.

…Fukushima-sama!

When Kiyomasa glanced in that direction, Oichi ejected new blades from behind her.

But not just two. Six at once. She slammed three in on either side more like a blunt weapon than anything, so Kiyomasa activated her autonomous armor.

“…!”

The blow crashed into her defenses with a sextet of metallic clangs.

●

Shibata knew all about this multi-slash attack Oichi was making.

He had been on the receiving end of it himself long ago. He had received all of her attacks when trying to restrain her in the Azai castle. He recalled this attack coming close to the end.

…Getting her to use that is no small feat.

But this acted as two messages from Oichi.

First, that they needed to sever the link of cooperation between their opponents.

The enemy’s previous defenses couldn’t defend against such a great clash of power. Kiyomasa must have been torn away form her ideal movements.

Of course, they knew this kind of major attack only worked once. That was why Oichi had used it in the middle of a series of attacks to break the enemy’s flow.

And second…

…Yeah.

Oichi sensed the end approaching too. She sensed that they had met people they could entrust with the future.

So Shibata also took action. He didn’t hesitate to bring this all toward a denouement.

●

Shibata saw Fukushima’s charge arrive from his left.

…Here she comes.

He was right handed, so it was best to attack him from the left. It was so by the book he wanted to cry.

But the enemy’s action was primarily an attack carried by the medium of movement.

Shibata saw Fukushima take a step.

It was a light movement, but it was immediately launched forward by an acceleration spell, sending her right up to him.

So he responded.

He took a half-step to the left and prepared to block her attack while sending his right blade out.

Fukushima reacted with a twirl.

Instead of trying to move past the blade swinging down toward her…

“…Oh.”

She followed the movement of his right wrist to duck below the blade.

…This girl…

Swords were not simply slammed into the enemy. That would only allow let the wielder use the weight of the hilt end, so while it could be used to push back an enemy, it wasn’t great for cutting.

When making a slash, it was standard practice to pull back with the wrist. And to send the wrist back the other way at the moment of impact. That increased the speed at the tip, applied the weight of the entire blade to the point of impact, and allowed the blade to cut deep from the tip.

Fukushima had predicted that snap of the wrist.

She had ducked below the raised blade before he could send his wrist back the other way.

She must have learned his timing during the rest of the battle.

…And she does this now!?

He quickly reversed the blade to pursue Fukushima. The strike flew in to behead her from behind. And as slicing power flew in rapidly, loudly roaring through the air…

“––––––”

Fukushima spun around without even looking his way.

Her body seemed to snap into an outwards spin that sent her just outside the path of his blade. Which left him wide open afterwards.

That was fine with him. The injury he took here could be his gift to her given what was about to happen.

So he gathered strength in his right arm after swinging the blade.

His muscles tensed and his tough skin took the form of perfect armor. And his other arm could act as decent enough armor by holding his side with it. He could still end this after taking an attack.

But Fukushima did not stop moving.

She spun outside of his blade’s reach and swung her flat-tipped spear.

But not at him. Her spear was directed toward…

…Oichi-sama!?

Oichi was 12m away. Fukushima threw Ichinotani with all her might, sending it over Kiyomasa’s shoulder.

●

Shibata’s first thought was, I knew it.

Fukushima had made her choice.

Rather than attack him while he was prepared to defend…

“You chose to eliminate Oichi-sama so the two of you could team up against me!”

That’s the spirit.

If you can surpass us, you’ll have my approval, he thought just as Ichinotani’s tip struck Oichi.

It made a nice noise.

But Oichi had already readied new blades and crossed them to block the flat-tipped spear.

And Fukushima moved forward.

“…”

She went for it.

Charging in with her speed intact sent sparks flying and produced recoil.

With a solid impact, Fukushima flipped backwards in the air. She landed in front of Kiyomasa. Shibata thought she had jumped a little too far, but Oichi had been knocked back a good ways too.

Oichi had been pushed away and Fukushima and Kiyomasa were side by side. The both nodded straight toward Shibata.

“Here we go!” announced Fukushima.

That’s right, thought Shibata. They have to go for me. Because with Oichi pushed away, they can focus on me. But…

“Ah hah!”

Oichi laughed out loud. And she called his name from her distant position.

“Katsuie-san.”

Yeah, I know. It’s finally time. It’s finally time for us.

They were finally separated with those two trapped between them. So…

“You might be the perfect pair when you’re close together, but we’re the perfect pair even when we’re apart!!”

He knew exactly what to do. He readied his right blade horizontally.

“Get them, Kamewari.”

●

At first, Kiyomasa didn’t understand what Shibata was doing.

…Is he launching his smashing power!?

Oichi was behind them.

…He’ll hit her too! But what if this was part of the enemy’s plan?

She realized Oichi wasn’t moving.

Before, Oichi had pursued them with a focus on attack, but now she was keeping her distance.

It was true Oichi had demonstrated a self-destructive fighting style in the past.

But Kiyomasa had assumed Shibata wouldn’t harm her.

She was wrong.

She looked back to see Oichi on the move.

She was smiling.

Smiling naturally without her bangs hiding her face.

“I am ready, Katsuie-san.”

With that, Oichi fell back while taking action. She grabbed her own hair in her left hand and lifted it while swinging a sword with her right hand.

That blade was not used to attack.

She sliced through her torso just below the chest.

Even putting distance between them had been a feint and Oichi’s presence had been a diversion to distract Kiyomasa and Fukushima long enough that they couldn’t avoid the coming attack.

But there was only one thought in Kiyomasa’s head: No.

…You mustn’t win by hurting the one you love!

So she raised her voice.

“Fukushima-sama!!”

Immediately afterward, the smashing power passed by.

It was at the exact height that Oichi had sliced through herself.

●

The smashing power raced toward the Kitanosho Castle’s bow.

The stage and decorative roofs that had survived this far were all smashed and sliced to pieces and surged up into the air as the cacophony of destruction became a great gale shaking the air.

After the battlefield was swept clean, the only people remaining standing were Shibata and…

“Katsuie-san.”

Because she had sliced through herself and briefly lifted herself up, the smashing power had little effect on her. Everything below her chest was stained with blood, but the ether light coming from Testamenta Arma: Caput Fides – Vetus was working to restore her body.

Still, she was unsteady on her feet and Shibata took long strides to approach her.

They were surrounded on all sides by broken lumber and trashed decorative flowers.

Even Kiyomasa’s shoulder armor lay broken on the deck.

When Shibata saw that wreckage, his shoulders slumped in a sigh.

“So that was their limit.”

After a pause, Oichi nodded. And she looked across the now unlit deck.

“–––––”

All of a sudden, she shoved Shibata away.

She was still weak, but his large demonic form still tottered.

“Katsuie-san!” she shouted. “Get away!”

●

Oichi had spotted it.

A figure was seated below the starboard deck railing.

It was Kiyomasa.

Her helmet and right shoulder armor were missing and her right hip armor was broken.

It looked like she had just barely managed to avoid Shibata’s smashing.

But how had she escaped to that position? There were more than 20m between her and the center area where Oichi and Shibata were.

But it wasn’t that girl’s survival that concerned Oichi. She was holding a weapon in her arms.

The divine weapon called Caledfwlch. The two halves had been combined into a single sword.

“Finish this, Caledfwlch!”

●

Shibata saw the great glowing sword stab in from starboard.

…Oichi-sama!

That thought was immediately followed by the glowing blade consuming Oichi’s right shoulder.

Her arm flew through the air. But she would recover, so that attack was meaningless against her. So after Shibata had moved to cover for her…

“Kh!”

He swung himself to the left. He ignored his previous movement to forcibly slide his body aside.

His muscles strained and his bones creaked, but…

…I won’t waste this!

The swinging of his body was effective.

The wall-like attack only grazed his right shoulder.

He had dodged it.

Up ahead, he could see the recoil slamming Kiyomasa back into the railing.

Then the light faded. It vanished behind him and Oichi. But…

“––––––”

He suddenly sensed a presence behind him.

…Could it be!?

He spun around to see the enemy.

He could have sworn there hadn’t been anyone there before. But…

“Did you use Ichinotani’s extension device to launch yourself and Kiyomasa in opposite directions!?”

She had relied on the mechanism for a last-ditch evasion attempt. She must have been launched off of the ship and only now returned.

“Fukushima Masanori!”

●

Fukushima readied Ichinotani in its open state.

The spear had a special trait. It could absorb physical and ether-based attacks and then release them again. It couldn’t handle phenomenon attacks, but…

…It can handle a blast from Caledfwlch!

With that thought, she raised her voice.

“Fall, Ichinotani!!”

She released the attack she had received from Kiyomasa, sending it toward Shibata this time.

●

Shibata understood the enemy’s tactic as soon as he saw the great light released toward him.

He understood why Fukushima would use Ichinotani’s extension device to avoid his smashing attack. It had been too late for anything else and she couldn’t have even ducked down.

The mechanism must have mercilessly launched them both.

That was when he had gotten careless.

He should have questioned Kiyomasa’s attack.

…I should have wondered why she was able to fire that.

Animus Caritas – Novum was still in effect. So even if she did try to fire on them, she should have been briefly stopped.

The only real answer to that question was Oichi.

Kiyomasa would not be stopped if she was attacking Oichi. And if he were merely caught up in the attack along with her, Kiyomasa could attack without being stopped.

Oichi had understood that, which was why she told him to get away from her.

…No.

It still didn’t add up.

When fighting Fukushima, he had made a show of protecting Oichi with his arm when Fukushima targeted her. That had forced Fukushima to focus on him and the Testamenta Arma had intervened.

So the same should have happened here. Kiyomasa should have been stopped for the same reason.

Then why had she managed to fire?

There was a simple answer: Kiyomasa had been firing at Fukushima. Most likely, she had passed Caledfwlch’s power to her partner, even though the other girl had yet to return to the ship and might not even have survived.

The Testamenta Arma wouldn’t stop that. Fukushima had then met Kiyomasa’s expectations, but…

…Oh, damn.

Shibata had previously said they were the perfect pair when they were close together.

But he had been wrong.

“So you’re also a perfect pair even when you’re apart!!”

Fukushima had just targeted him with the power she had received from Kiyomasa.

He simply swung Kamewari in his right hand.

“Get it, Kamewari.”

●

The smashing power collided with and sliced Caledfwlch’s close-range blast.

The white light shattered and a prodigious amount of ether light sprayed out.

Amid it all, Fukushima charged toward Shibata.

She moved in close and viewed her enemy after he had swung Kamewari.

The corners of Shibata’s lips were lifted in a smile.

He had already predicted her attack.

After his defense, he would be slow to react to her. But that momentary delay would be wasted if she hesitated in the slightest. So she kept moving.

“…!”

Ichinotani’s blade split his right arm like it was a chisel.

His arm was severed.

●

Takenaka fell to her knees on the deck of the Azuchi’s 1st port ship.

“I don’t believe it.”

Why did everyone around her have a paper bag at the ready? I already have one, so those won’t be necessary. But anyway…

“So it’s over.”

Her lernen figur displayed a report from Yoshiaki who was hovering above the battlefield.

…They actually fought on Shibata-san and Oichi-sama’s level.

But this had been a tough one. For Takenaka.

“I mean, their Animus Caritas – Novum can negate my Crus Fortitudo – Vetus when I’m this far away. And I was really sweating when those two were caught in that pincer attack.”

She badly hoped nothing like this would happen again. And I really mean that. But…

…Fukushima-san is back with us and I’m willing to call this result a “high return”.

She gave some instructions. She had already decided on this.

“Hashiba Team, withdraw immediately. As soon as you have been collected, the Azuchi will rush to Honnouji. …Hurry! Tell your people they may need to follow after us in a transport ship!”

●

“…Ah.”

Kiyomasa stood up atop the Kitanosho Castle.

She understood that the battle was over, but she mostly felt freed from the tension and had entered a daze.

She had snapped out of it thanks to a lernen figur from Takenaka blasting an alarm at her.

Everything else on the Kitanosho Castle was so quiet the alarm was extremely conspicuous.

She closed the lernen figur and took a breath.

…Oh.

Her gear was half destroyed, she had a number of injuries, and she was so exhausted her body felt heavy even while walking.

But she had to do this.

The only thing left around her was the remains of the festival.

The wind carried away her footsteps and swept the colorful wreckage up into the sky. There were no lights left on the deck, so the only illumination came from the two full moons and brown floodlights from below.

“Fukushima-sama.”

She walked up next to the person she had shared so much time with.

And she looked in the same direction as Fukushima.

Shibata and Oichi were there. The pair stood with their camp and rows of ships behind them.

They had both lost their right arms, so several healing spell insha kotobs had appeared around them to try and stop the bleeding, reduce the pain, and otherwise prevent their condition from worsening.

But Kiyomasa noticed something separate from their injuries.

“Oichi-sama…um, your Testamenta Arma…”

The halo remained at her feet. It was not glowing with ether light. Which meant…

“Yes, I know now that this is the end.”

●

Fukushima spoke while aware she was very close to her limit.

“Will ye give me guidance again some time?”

“I think I’ve taught you enough already. Or did you just want to defeat us again?”

“I would not say I defeated you…”

Only after speaking did she realize she and Kiyomasa were indisputably the winners here. So in any further battles, their goal would be to increase their win rate, which was different from searching for a way to win. They would only need to think up further methods of defeating those two.

If she wanted to grow stronger, she could not be picky about how it happened. And as the winner…

“Did ye see what ye hoped to see in us?”

“Course we did. Your our underclassmen, aren’t you?” Shibata barked with laughter. “And so are Sassa, Toshiie, and Fuwa. You all can do things we can’t, which means you’re worth entrusting the future to whether you’re all that strong or not.”

Fukushima wasn’t sure if she quite understood what he was getting at. But she could tell that this was not the time to say “I understand” or “thou are correct”.

Still, she knew the time would eventually come that she would understand what they were saying here.

But whatever the lesson was, they had taught it to her here, so she bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

“Hey.”

Shibata looked straight at her. And…

“Live life for yourselves, got that? …I know your situation, so let me say it again: live life for yourselves.”

●

“For ourselves?”

Kiyomasa realized Fukushima wasn’t answering – maybe from confusion, maybe from exhaustion – so she questioned it instead.

“What do you mean?”

“Throw out any ideas that you ‘have to’ do this or ‘have to’ do that. That’s probably easier said than done, but make sure you do that with the things that really matter. If you aren’t harming anyone else and you aren’t reducing yourself, then go for whatever it is your heart tells you want to do. Grab a hold of that choice and live it.”

Listen.

“Hashiba’ll have a hard time telling you this, so I’m saying it for her. If you have to make a decision about these things in the future, don’t hesitate. Remember, this is me talking and I’m more important than Hashiba. And if you do hesitate, blame it on me and choose what your heart wants. I’ll gladly take responsibility for that.”

“If you say so,” was the best Kiyomasa could manage.

This upperclassman must have predicted something like that happening in the near future. So…

“Then I thank you in advance,”

“No need to thank us,” said Oichi.

“We’re about to do the same thing ourselves,” said Shibata. “We’ll do what our heart tells us, no matter what anyone else wants.”

She knew what he meant by that. Next to her, Fukushima nodded and fell to her knees.

“Oh,” said Oichi just before a wind blew in from behind.

“Yoshiaki-sama.”

“Load Fukushima on here. The Azuchi is already ready to depart. Also…”

Yoshiaki hopped off of Weiss Fürstin and bowed toward Shibata and Oichi. It was a wordless bow of courtesy and nothing more.

Those two nodded back and Shibata spoke.

“Get going to Honnouji. That’s where you’re really needed.”

Chapter 58: The Shizugatake Couple[edit]

It’s to soon to graduate

It’s too late to stay

So let’s take each other’s hand

And go wherever we like

Point Allocation (We’re So In Love)

●

Shizugatake ain’t over yet, thought Shibata as he looked up to see the Azuchi slowly start to move.

Because he and Oichi were still alive. Quite a few transport ships were already flying alongside or out ahead of the Azuchi, along with high-speed ships accompanied by Technohexen.

“That’s the problem with kids these days. They don’t join you for the party after the job is done.”

The Azuchi was flying south. After a bitter smile at that, Shibata turned to face Oichi.

She smiled back at him.

“Katsuie-san? I learned something very important here.”

“Oh? So did I, Oichi-sama, but I’d love to hear what you learned.”

“Testament. I learned I was a perfectly normal person.”

“Now, hold on. If you ask me, you’re a stunningly beautiful woman, an excellent cook, and just the greatest person out there with an incredible personality.”

“Thank you,” she said. And, “Katsuie-san.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know why, but…”

He listened.

“I don’t want to die.”

●

Oichi spoke while looking up at Katsuie.

“Why do I feel this way? There were so many times when I killed someone because I knew they couldn’t be allowed to live. I know I’ve done unforgivable things and been selfish, but that’s why I sought you out because you would kill me.”

She could see now she had been noncommittal on this issue. But…

“For some reason, I don’t want to die anymore.”

“Oichi-sama.” Katsuie smiled. “I know why you don’t want to die: because you’re happy. This means you’ve finally found happiness. But do you remember what I promised on our wedding day? That I would spend my life making you happy.”

“Thank you.”

The words spilled out along with some tears.

“Yeah.” Shibata nodded and took a small step back. Then they both took a breath. “Do you know what we do now, Oichi-sama?”

“Yes. I know.”

They both took a step toward each other. At the same time, they both drew a sword with their remaining left arm.

“This was another promise we made.”

With that, they exchanged attacks.

●

“It’s begun,” someone said without looking back after seeing the Azuchi off. “Wow. And they’re doing this with just their left arms.”

It was loud. The sounds of rapid strikes were like a machine grinding through stone.

“But what’s this? The sounds are blending together.”

Because the two of them were approaching each other step by step.

“Oh, damn. Shibata-san must’ve just fallen to his knee.”

He wasn’t defeated. They could tell from the change in the sound that this only brought him to Oichi’s eye level.

The two of them were now trading attacks while facing each other at close range.

●

Oichi smiled within the flying sparks and wildly dancing steel sounds.

“Katsuie-san.”

The demonic man before her was down on his knee, putting him on her eye level.

She – no, they were endlessly deflecting each other’s blades.

“I love you.”

They hugged each other. And at the same time, their blades struck.

“–––––”

The blades stabbed into each other deep enough to emerge from their backs.

Two blades – one from him to her and one from her to him. They were now truly bonded together.

“Oh.”

Opening her mouth let frothy blood spill out. Their embrace meant the blood colored his shoulder red.

And he faced her.

So she didn’t hesitate to kiss him. And…

“Nh.”

He stood up. They each had only a left arm, but he was embracing her and supporting her from below and he began walking.

They were on their way.

Their lips parted and formed smiles.

“Shall we go, Oichi-sama?”

As he walked, his footsteps rang heavy on the deck.

“If, by some chance, we are still alive by the time we reach the ground, we can live a life where we truly live this time.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll eat good food, get lots of sleep, and motivate our incompetent underclassmen while doing our boring jobs. And on our occasional days off, we can travel somewhere, go shopping, and comment how nothing much happened that day. We’ll live a life where we sometimes try out a different toothpaste, test out a different way of making tea, and stand in front of the mirror and ask if I’m more handsome when I smile.”

“How lovely. …I would love to do that.”

“You would?” he said, walking. She felt so comfortable rocking in his arms. The rocking also made her more aware of the two lines of ice running through her body.

She felt like the chill of the night was passing through the blades to wash her clean of her past.

A pair of full moons shined in the sky and the Azuchi appeared to be flying to the land below them.

“The Testament…contained a death poem for me, didn’t it?”

“Do you know what it means?”

“Yes,” she replied, narrowing her eyes toward the distant departing Azuchi. “The call of the summer bird further shortens the summer night.

“But that bird tells everyone about all the stupid stuff we’re getting up to.”

“Oh, dear.” A laugh escaped her. It came out more as a cough dripping with blood. “Katsuie-san, that is much too liberal an interpretation.”

“And you’re too much of a romantic.”

“I am.” she nodded and rested her cheek against him. She took in a deep breath and shut her eyes. “And I imagine I always have been.”

She found her body was drained of strength.

If she fell asleep, would she wake up in a place where they could “live a full life” as he had put it?

“Katsuie-sama.”

“Yeah?”

She nestled her cheek against him and spoke while sensing her consciousness fading.

“Do you remember what I said? I said I want to be happy.”

●

“Azuchi” used the Azuchi’s rear sight devices to confirm a large-scale glowing phenomenon coming from the north, where the Shibata camp was located. Then she turned to see it with her own eyes.

She knew what had happened. The report from Fuwa had already arrived at the bridge.

The Battle of Shizugatake was over. So…

“We will now shift into gravitational acceleration cruising and travel southeast at full speed.”

Everyone knew their destination.

“We must hurry to Honnouji and Musashi. At all costs. Shaja!!”

●

“Apparently the Azuchi is on its way here. What should we do?”

Everyone reacted to Asama’s question by exchanging a glance while traveling through the corridor. They had all been freed from the concrete area. It hadn’t managed to soak into them thanks to their purification spells, but some of it did remain on their shoes and the bottom of their clothing.

So some of them had their removed shoes hanging from their hip hard points as they ran in their tights or barefoot.

“The Azuchi’s big, right? How long until we can see it?”

“If you only want to see it, it should be pretty visible by the time it’s on the other side of Lake Biwa. But any artillery fire from that distance can easily be stopped with our defense barriers.”

“So we still have some time,” said Masazumi, a hand on her chin. “We should still hurry, though. We might have some extra time, but the Honnouji side might not. Futayo, Mitotsudaira, please continue to guard us.”

Futayo crouched in front of Masazumi and held her arms out.

“If you wish.”

“I wasn’t saying you had to carry me again.”

Everyone watched this play out.

But then they hurried onward again. They could see the far end of the passageway now. There was a large door, so Mitotsudaira readied Excalibur.

Gold Mar: “By the way, Ma-yan, we borrowed one of your swords. Is that alright?”

Scarred: “Oh, yes. That one was originally fond of Master Tenzou, but it has also grown fond of Lady Mitotsudaira, so I hope the two of them can show it some love.”

Mitotsudaira went ahead and stroked the connection point.

And just as she prepared to slam Excalibur into the door…

Novice: ‘Wait! I have something kind of important to tell you!”

●

Suzu hung her head on the Musashino bridge.

…U-umm…

While she thought, “Musashino” kindly spoke quietly from behind her.

“Why is his timing so bad, Suzu-sama? Over.”

“Um, yes…but that isn’t what I meant.”

“Then let me try again. …‘Kind of important’? So is it important or not? Over.”

“Yes…that’s it.”

A round of applause filled the Musashino bridge and “Musashino” raised her right hand in acknowledgment, but was this really acceptable behavior for them?

●

Mitotsudaira had no choice but to eat a bar of portable food to kill some time. And meanwhile…

Me: “What is it, Neshinbara? You do know we’re right in front of the door leading to the final boss battle, right? Are you going to save our game for us or something? Read the room, man.”

Novice: “No, it isn’t that! I figured out that code puzzle!”

Art-Ga: “Pft. …Oh, sorry.”

Novice: “Wh-why would you laugh!? You’ll regret that afterwards!”

“Yeah, you generally don’t regret things beforehand,” remarked an annoyed Margot. Our Secretary says things like that a lot, doesn’t he?

But the Secretary wasn’t done talking.

Novice: “Listen! This is a big deal! I just know you’ll need it later!”

Vice President: “Are you surrrre?”

Novice: “Why did you hold that ‘r’ for so long, Takarazuka Honda-kun!?”

Me: “Don’t worrrry about it.”

Laborer: “It’s a minorrrr issue.”

Four Eyes: “Arrrre you stupid?”

Novice: “D-dammit! I’m so mad I can’t find the words to respond!”

Vice President: “A vocabularrrry deficiency, huh?”

Novice: “Stop doing thaaaaat! You could at least stick to doing to emphasize a question!”

“We coulllld?” some of the warriors responded. They’re really starting to show their own character.

But Mitotsudaira was already starting on her second bar of food.

Silver Wolf: “You say this is so important, but do we really need to hear it now?”

Novice: “Think more carefully, Mitotsudaira-kun! We’re the group who only just had the mid-boss go ‘eh?’ because we’d failed to do our homework.”

Horizey: “That did happen, didn’t it? A certain Secretary hadn’t done his homework or his research, creating the illusion that the entire group was lacking in intelligence. He said we could count on him, but he never has anything of substance to tell us and he just makes things up, so trusting him has become quite a thrilling affair. He should be thankful that, unlike a normal academy, we will forgive him by counting it as a running gag.”

Novice: “M-my shame can’t get much more intense, so please stop!”

Smoking Girl: “Can you at least get on with whatever you wanted to say?”

“Oh, right,” said the Secretary.

Novice: “If you hear me out now, you’ll understand what the final boss tells you! Then you won’t make them go ‘eh?’ because you have no idea what’s going on!”

Asama raised her hand. “Go ahead,” prompted Mitotsudaira, so she nodded to everyone.

Asama: “Um, I do a lot of explanatory work for the shrine, right? And at this point, it seems to me it would be faster to skip Neshinbara-kun’s explanation and just ask the final boss to explain it to us.”

●

Mitotsudaira saw Horizon’s right hand shoot up.

“Aiyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Great point, Mighty Shaman Asama-sama! Having Final Boss-sama explain it to us would be just as fast as having Neshinbara-sama explain it! So let’s go and question the final boss!”

“Yes,” agreed Naruze. “They might attack us right away, but if it ends in a fight like that, then so be it. And if it doesn’t, Masazumi can swallow her pride and just ask like she always does.”

“What do you mean like I always do!?”

Everyone ignored Masazumi’s protest. But then the lieutenant of the warriors raised his hand.

“Will they really just tell you if you ask?”

“Heh heh. There’s nothing quite as unbearable as being interrupted by people who have no idea what’s going on. Yes, no idiot can bear it, can they!? Makes you go, ‘oh, you silly idiot!’ Oh, what’s this, Mitotsudaira? Can you not bear me!? Well, you don’t have to! Come and be open with me!”

Offering Kimi a strawberry-flavored bar quieted her down, so Mitotsudaira let the rest slide. But then Margot clapped her hands and nodded.

“Oh, I think I finally get why final bosses start explaining their plans before the final battle. It’s that thing smart people do where they can’t stand seeing an idiot. So it’s a form of kindness.”

“I see.” Futayo nodded. She also tilted her head even as she carried Masazumi over her shoulder. “But in that case…were all our discussions and investigation a waste of time?”

“Hm… Technically speaking, I guess it would be.”

“Tomo, you can be awfully harsh.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Asama tilted her head too. “I was part of that investigation too, but if you focus on the total time spent on it, then asking the final boss is a lot faster than gathering all that outside information. It might not be the most dignified method, but just asking cuts out a lot of wasted time and ensures there are no misunderstandings between us.”

“How would you put it in terms of video games?”

“Well…let’s say you hunted enemies as you pleased, did a bunch of dungeon crawling, completed all the events, and leveled up to enjoy yourself on the way to the final boss, then the final boss explained all the plot stuff about the mysteries of the world, his grudge against that world, and his bloodline, and then you defeat him instantly.”

“Doesn’t that make it seem like you silenced him for knowing too much?”

“I feel nothing but sympathy for Final Boss-sama.”

“Yeah, he probably wanted to hunt monsters, go adventuring, and enjoy his life too.”

“But anyway,” said the 1st Special Duty Officer, crossing his arms and nodding. “There are a number of things we wouldn’t have had so many misunderstandings about if we had just spoken to each other at an earlier stage.”

“So to sum up, if the world’s in danger, we need to talk it out with the final boss to untangle our misunderstandings.”

Everyone applauded Mitotsudaira’s king’s words. Mitotsudaira and the silver chains did as well.

Then she raised Excalibur overhead.

“Okay, everyone, here goes.”

Novice: “Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

Laborer: “What now!?”

Novice: “P-please! Just listen to me!”

Vice President: “Fine, we can listen, but why are you so desperate?”

Four Eyes: “I believe because he received some information from a foreign officer. Like he did from me.”

Everyone glared at the sign frame. And the Secretary…

Novice: “Wh-what’s wrong with that!? I didn’t know the answer, so I asked for help! It’s called being honest!”

He has really learned how to be stubborn recently.

●

“Now, then,” said Neshinbara.

He was at the Asama Shrine, sitting on the stairs beneath the torii.

The place usually had an atrium structure, but the sections forming the outside of the inner walls had all been purged. There were also large transport ships docked all around to finally purge this place once it was necessary to reduce the Musashi’s weight to the limit.

The docking and securing work was visible down the inner wall pathways.

…I need to document this as reference material!

That urge was what had delayed him so much.

So he had gone ahead and asked.

Novice: “Allow me to introduce you all to our guest commentator.”

Juana: “I am not entirely sure what this is about, but you wanted my thoughts on the information you sent me earlier, yes? Good evening, everyone. This is Tres España Vice President Juana.”

Chapter 59: Closed-In Gambler[edit]

What is the difference

Between those who guess wrong

And those who guess right?

Point Allocation (Trustworthiness?)

●

Vice President: “Why are you dragging someone that important into this!?”

Novice: “You gave her the code! I assumed she would know what I was talking about, so I asked the Representative Council Head, claiming it was on your orders!”

Art-Ga: “Oh, no. He convinced the Representative Council Head into helping by tricking her into think she was helping Masazumi.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, poor Daikubo-chan.”

Silver Wolf: “So is the Secretary getting the udon treatment for this one?”

Asama: “Well, deception and false identities are common in Shinto, so when the ancient nobles would fake their identity to sneak into a romantic partner’s house, they would receive divine punishment for it. …Oh, I just ran a search. For a boy, whenever he writes his name, ether squid ink somen noodles the length of the writing implement will shoot endlessly from his urethra, so good luck with that.”

Novice: “Are there no limits to what ether can do!? But what I did worked, didn’t it!?”

10ZO: “You should face your own crimes first.”

●

Juana was working overtime.

Her acorazado was the sub-flagship of the fleet sent to Kyou. The flagship was the San Lorenzo II, which was carrying the baseball team since they had had a game at Koshien, but this ship was the same type.

The ship had the block structure common for Tres Españan ships, so it was like an island 800m long with thrusters built in. The blocks could be swapped out, which made repairs a breeze, and it handled license production work in the Catholic nations with large landports. Even the Ariake was one of its main products It was now being used to build a foundation of connections for the later land development work.

…I really want to get started on R&D for the next-gen ship standards.

If she was being honest, the problem was how ideas did not come to you just because they were necessary.

If she was being even more honest…

…I want the Musashi.

With that, I could solve all my problems and easily join mister on a test trip to the outside world and back.

But that wasn’t possible.

She was constantly reminded that even large nations couldn’t always get what they wanted.

So she was adjusting the budget for the second term while cruising to Shikoku as a guard fleet for the Musashi’s base hulls. Time flew by while she also included plans based on expectations for the third term.

“Oh.”

She suddenly realized Honnouji had already begun. She had left the 3rd Special Duty Officer in charge of gathering intel, but she decided it was time she took a break. So she began viewing the code and some other information sent by Musashi.

“What could this mean?”

The code had been revised during the earlier discussion with Musashi. So this was the latest version:

Risototooukowareta

Nagayoshinozu(tsu/su)gaigatadashii

Zu(tsu/su)kiiinofu(bu)kiwoiwaoniosame

Nazu(tsu/su)owarikotamanizu(tsu/su)gaiwoosameyo

Futarinoseijiyohaizu(tsu/su)ko

And as supplementary information, Akechi Mitsuhide had left them with the following statement:

“Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was only a theory and it came first.

“Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

Juana recognized a few of those terms.

“This is related to Tsirhc.”

●

Juana: “I had a few thoughts, so I considered Akechi Mitsuhide’s words along with the mostly-decoded text.”

Mary read the scrolling text near Honnouji’s entrance. Gin and Muneshige were guarding the area and Adele was aboard the transport pallet carrying Raging Beast while it was retrieved by a transport ship.

Adele waved from the passenger space on the pallet, so Mary waved back while the Tres España Vice President spoke.

Juana: “Let’s look at the terms Akechi Mitsuhide used. First, Messiah.”

Oh? thought Mary.

She was a former Catholic, so she was familiar with this. And…

Juana: “In Tsirhc, Messiah is used to refer to the Tsirhc savior.”

Exactly. But…

Juana: “However, the term Messiah originally referred to someone who would lead their people or believers to a land of plenty where their faith was accepted. That means a Messiah is a leader or king who fulfills the people’s ideals.”

…Eh?

That matched a part of the code.

Asama: “The ideal and the king…right?”

Flat Vassal: “Nooooo, my Resort King was wrong!”

Mary waved up to the ascending transport pallet and Adele waved back from the passenger area. But by combining the code and Mitsuhide’s words, it took on a double meaning.

Scarred: “Lord Mitsuhide said Lord Motonobu’s Messiah was actually completed.”

10ZO: “But if we place that term into the code, it says the Messiah is broken.”

What did that mean?

Circle Be: “Does it refer to a person or a plan? Oh, sorry for interrupting. We’ve run into a lot of surprises here in Kantou.”

Gold Mar: “Wow, I can’t wait to find out what you mean by that.”

Neither can I, agreed Mary as she continued her thoughts.

…Words like “completed” and “broken” don’t make it sound like a person.

I feel like a detective, she thought with a quiet laugh. Master Tenzou is probably better at these things. And…

Juana: “Now let’s move on to the other term: Golgotha.”

Mary knew this term as well. She clearly wasn’t the only one.

Tachibana Husband: “In the Testament, that is the place where Jesus Christ, the supposed Son of God, was executed. I believe it is traditionally thought to be a hill.”

Juana: “Testament. I should have known our former 1st Special Duty Officer would know.”

Mary looked up at the Tres España Vice President’s comment. Muneshige silently bowed her way and Gin spoke without using the divine chat.

“Thank you.”

That is enough, thought Mary. They should understand.

●

I probably shouldn’t have said that, thought Juana, her head in her hands on her desk.

Just as she was getting into the swing of things, a familiar voice had chimed in, so she had gotten a little too friendly out of nostalgia. Even though they probably saw her as an enemy, assuming they hadn’t forgotten about her entirely.

…M-my interpersonal relationships are so full of surprise attacks and own goals…

She wanted to do better, but she had a feeling she would only do it again no matter how hard she tried not to.

So she decided to just accept that as the way she was and she continued speaking.

Juana: “Listen. In a way, Jesus Christ’s execution at Golgotha was the beginning of Tsirhc history.”

Now…

Juana: “What do you think Golgotha was?”

●

“Um,” said Asama, hesitantly raising her hand. “Shouldn’t we wrap this up soon? If the final boss is right on the other side of this door, I fear we’re keeping them waiting a little too long.”

“Maybe we should open the door and warn them this is going to take a while?” suggested Mitotsudaira.

“Wouldn’t that be a little much even for us?” asked Tenzou.

“Oh, but in games you’re always camping in front doors like this. So it’s fine,” said Toori.

“Can we at least try to keep the conversation with the Tres España Vice President going? Okay?” said Masazumi, pointing toward the sign frame.

Asama nodded. But…

“So what was Golgotha?”

“An udon shop! It was an udon shop, Asama-sama!”

Oh, thought Asama, realizing what Horizon was trying to say. She thought it was just as joke at first, but…

Asama: ‘It was an execution ground, wasn’t it?”

●

“Testament,” confirmed Juana. I am pleased to find even Musashi’s Shinto Representative is knowledgeable of Tsirhc. After all, her name was inherited from a pro-Catholic Tres Españan figure. The woman had even banned and burned any books that did not conform to Catholicism. She was confident in her knowledge on the subject. So…

Juana: “Yes, Christ was executed on the execution grounds known as Golgotha, but do you know what Golgotha means?”

This one was simple.

Juana: “It means ‘skull’. It received the name because, when people were publicly executed on the hill, their bones would roll down the hill.”

●

Tenzou had a weird sense he knew where this was going. The term Messiah had fit into the code, and now…

“This one does too.”

Messiah already matched the “The ideal and the king”.

And if Golgotha meant skull, then it too fit into the code.

“ ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct.’ ”

That was one, but there was another.

“ ‘At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.’ ”

A skull was mentioned twice.

“What does this mean?”

“Hold on. There’s a timeline here. And a kind of convoluted one.”

Naruze spoke in a quiet but sharp voice.

To gather her thoughts, she produced a pen and wrote in the empty air.

“Motonobu’s Messiah was ‘completed’. That puts it in the past.”

But…

“While Nobuhide’s Golgotha came first, it was only a theory. That means it ‘wasn’t completed’. Which could place it in the future.”

“But,” added Naito. “Lord Nobuhide was Lord Motonobu’s teacher. So Lord Motonobu’s Messiah came later but was actually completed, while Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha came first but was only ever a theory, right?”

…Does that mean Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha was ahead of its time?

Tenzou felt there had to be a reason the older one hadn’t been completed.

And Naruze had more to say.

“But…the later Messiah, aka ‘the ideal and the king’, is broken. It was completed, but it ultimately failed.”

Naruze raised her pen in the air.

“So that told them that the skull is correct. And then at the end of summer, they’re supposed to offer the skull to some orb. What future event do you think they’re talking about there?”

Everyone responded to her question by looking up.

Of course, they only saw the passageway ceiling there. No moons or anything. But…

Horizey: “Neshinbara-samaaaa!!”

Novice: “Shall I do the honors?”

There was no point in stopping him, so his wild speculation began.

Novice: “In the past, an ideal plan must have been carried out to stop the Apocalypse. That was Messiah. But while it was completed, it broke. However, this told the people behind the plan that ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct’. And we have a different term for that now.”

Neshinbara spoke the term everyone knew was coming.

Novice: “The Genesis Project.”

●

Gold Mar: “But this doesn’t actually tell us what the Genesis Project is, does it?”

Art-Ga: “Sure doesn’t. He got us all worked up over nothing.”

Novice: “Wait! Wait, all of you! I was just getting to the good part!”

Four Eyes: “Why are you so bad at holding staying in control of the conversation?”

●

“How about this?” said Neshinbara. He looked up into the rectangle of the night sky visible from the Asama Shrine stairs. There were still some unknowns and a few things seemed to contradict each other, but…

Novice: “Let’s assume Messiah and Golgotha are both project names or some kind of spell. Either way, they would be something that is ‘carried out’.”

As soon as he said that, a question came from someone with good intuition.

Tachibana Wife: “Wait a moment. Looking back at the code based on that assumption, one part doesn’t make sense.”

Namely…

Tachibana Wife: “Lord Akechi said Golgotha was Lord Nobuhide’s. But the code says ‘Nagayoshi’s skull is correct’. Who is Nagayoshi? Wouldn’t they be someone other than Lord Nobuhide?”

Novice: “Even I could figure that one out. It is a simple replacement. Look carefully at the name Nobuhide. And then compare that to the name Nagayoshi.”

●

…Oh, I think I get it.

Realizing the answer, Mitotsudaira raise her hand.

“Nagayoshi would indeed refer to Nobuhide.”

“Eh!? Why’s that, Nate!? Tell me and only me!”

“Now, now, Toori-sama. It is unseemly to rely on others like that!”

Meanwhile, Horizon’s left arm rose up from the floor to tug on Mitotsudaira’s skirt and ask her for the answer. Horizon looked her way and raised her right hand next to her mouth.

“Now, Mitotsudaira-sama, just a quick spoiler for me alone.”

“It’s something you can figure out using the brute force tactics the Secretary loves so much.”

“That’s right,” said Kimi. She smiled bitterly as she opened a sign frame and wrote out some surprisingly beautiful text with only her finger. First, she split the name Nobuhide in two and wrote the “Nobu” above the “hide”. Then she similarly split the name Nagayoshi and placed it alongside the first.

“By adding the first half of each name and the second half of each name, you end up with the names Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. And what does the secret name Nagayoshi mean?”

Everyone gasped as Kimi threw her hands into the air and shouted the answer.

“Long Happyyyyyyy! On dear, is it a blessing for a long life!? Or is it saying the longer it is, the happier you are!? That would suggest Thick Happy is next, but maybe we need the reverse names too! So Short Sad and Thin Sad! What do you think, Asama!?”

“Don’t drag me into this!”

Since Kimi didn’t drag Mitotsudaira into it too, she started on her third portable food bar. Oh, strawberry flavor again.

The Secretary must have been watching all this because he chose this moment to speak.

Novice: “Judge. So this means Lord Motonobu’s Messiah failed and Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha became the better option, so they needed the Scythian weapons to, um…”

Almost Everyone: “Keep it short!”

Asama responded to everyone’s retort by opening a sign frame.

“Let’s see, I can add this new information into the code.”

“Can you share that with me? I can help,” said Mitotsudaira.

Horizon took a quick look around.

“Asamadaira-samaaaaaaa!”

“Heh heh heh. Don’t combine them, Horizon! You’ll make Asama flat!”

“No, Kimi-sama, I was cleverly hinting at taking the average of Asama-sama and Mitotsudaira-sama. That would give Mitotsudaira-sama what she has always dreamed of while also freeing Asama-sama from her chronic shoulder stiffness.”

“Chronic shoulder stiffness!? Horizon, imagine my hands here are a table and show me the solution to that problem!”

Horizon bent back a bit and bent her knees to rest her breasts on Kimi’s hands.

“The classic Asama-sama relaxation pose.”

“Tomo! Tomo! You’re making a lot of typos!”

Horizon and Kimi fled a short distance. But I do see her in that pose a lot.

…They really do adore her.

As do I, thought Mitotsudaira as they finished their annotated version.

(Lord Motonobu’s) Messiah is broken.

Lord Nobuhide’s Golgotha is correct.

Offer the Scythian weapons (the Logismoi Oplo) to the rock.

At the end of summer, offer the skull to the orb.

Where are the two girls?

“Umm,” said Ohiroshiki, taking a hesitant look around as he chose his words carefully. “Don’t they have their own Logismoi Oplo?”

“Yes, Hashiba-sama had the nerve to possess something very similar.”

“Then,” said Naruze. “If we assume that text is referring to here and now, we should be able to make more sense of it. If the rock refers to this place, then what would the orb at the of summer be?”

“The 2nd moon maybe?”

Did that interpretation come to Mitotsudaira so fast because she was a Loup-Garou?

But that moon was indeed full and nearly perfectly overhead. Furthermore…

“Why would the code for Nobuhide include the names Nobunaga and Hideyoshi?”

“Hideyoshi is here too, right?”

Given the nature of this history recreation, Nobunaga would also have to be here. In that case…

“If you ask me,” said Horizon, “it could mean Nobunaga and Hideyoshi will be executed here. As offerings to the moon, maybe? Although that idea has too much of that Neshinbara Power for my liking. But,” she continued. “If someone’s life will be lost here, we must stop it.”

●

Juana nodded deeply at what she heard.

…That’s right.

Musashi started doing that at Mikawa. Then they had done it in England and continued doing it ever since.

And if they would be Tres España’s future business rivals…

“They are not exactly the perfect rivals. Without something we can believe in as steadfastly as them, they will outdo us.”

I need to work on that, she decided, closing her cadena firma and sitting in a chair next to a window with the Seto Inland Sea coming into view outside. Then she faced her desk again and…

“Oops, I disconnected from the hotline!”

It scared her how easily the mood could influence her.

●

“Okay.” Mitotsudaira stuck Excalibur into the gap between the large doors. Asama had already unlocked them with Jibril, so the rest was all about muscle. “I’m going to open it. Are you ready?”

Masazumi raised her hand and answered from Futayo’s shoulder.

“Do it. Um, Crossunite, you instruct everyone where to stand.”

“Judge,” replied the 1st Special Duty Officer and gestured for everyone to move to the sides. The king disobeyed and wiggled in the center and the 1st Special Duty Officer had to clench his fist and give the boy more direct instructions, but that was normal by this point. But then Horizon spoke up.

“It just occurred to me, but if they are holding an execution or two inside there as I suggested, maybe we should have gone in right away and asked the final boss directly instead of wasting time out here.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. If we’re too late now, it’ll be because we stopped to chat outside.”

“Open it now, Mitotsudaira!”

Mitotsudaira felt responsible now, so she split the two doors apart all at once. And…

“Let’s go!”

●

Kimi saw a stage through the large doors Mitotsudaira had opened.

“Kimi, why are you right behind me!?”

“Heh heh heh. Viewing the sight from head on is a privilege reserved for the star of the show.”

She said this while viewing an open-air hall with a diameter of about 500m. What appeared to be large stone monuments were lined up like audience seating. They had ether control emblems carved into them and were sunk into the ground as keystones.

The bottom of a giant pillar of light was visible overhead in place of a ceiling. Instead of being flat, it was woven from the ether flowing in from all directions, so viewed from below, it looked like multiple overlapping spiral staircases.

And at the bottom of the mortar shape was a stage about 200m across.

…A little too far from the audience for singing.

Bigger was not always better, but she could tell this was not an official stage.

She heard a sound.

What had seemed like a pulse thrumming from the earth was now coming from the sky above.

The ley lines were ascending into the heavens. So…

“Okay, everyone, take a look at my hand.”

She raised her right hand and moved her left hand in an arc to forcibly strike it.

This produced a loud clap and sent a tremor through the wolf looking up at her hands nearby.

“Wh-what did you just do?”

“Heh heh. I applied a sound-based existence confirmation protection for the foolish masses who have no rhythm. For a while, you will be unaffected by the pulsing of the ley lines. That means you shouldn’t start floating from the ground, get pulled upwards, or begin to lose your sense of identity.”

“Neat,” said the others as Kimi waved them toward the stage.

“Let’s get going. Samurai Girl, you take Masazumi. Foolish brother, Horizon, and Asama, you three stay in the rear. I will lead the way.”

She could see a single person standing in front of the stage.

“After all, the opposing band is waiting.”

Hashiba stood alone at the end of the path they were taking.

●

Hashiba saw brazenness incarnate.

Musashi.

Some of them appeared cautious, but others were walking straight down the center: a flashy girl in the lead, their 5th Special Duty Officer, their Vice Chancellor, the Asama Shrine Representative, their Chancellor, and…

…Horizon Ariadust.

That group was approaching.

The Testament said this was the scene of an assassination. Honnouji had been a lodging facility, so it had no defenses other than the guards one brought with them.

So now that Musashi had eliminated all the guards before this point, the people here were all that remained.

So once the Musashi group was within 100m of her, Hashiba called out to them.

“Good evening.”

“Heh heh heh. Gooooooood evening, my worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrld!”

She honestly felt defeated by the deafening shout she received in response.

…What do I do now?

●

Asama: “Kimi! Kimi! She’s looking really sad now! What do we do!?”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. We won the approach phase! So now we snag the best spot and begin the flower viewing!”

Horizey: “Thank you very much, Kimi-sama. Now we should be able to speak openly.”

●

Hashiba saw them stop 20m away.

…Oh.

She had to do this right, so she slapped her cheeks to refocus.

Then Horizon Ariadust stepped forward from the Musashi group. And…

“Good evening.”

“G-good evening.”

“Wonderful weather tonight, don’t you think?”

“Eh? Oh, yes, i-it is.”

Horizon gave a thumbs up to the people behind her and a few gave her one back, but…

…Do they think I’m hard to communicate with?

But Horizon faced Hashiba once more and took a breath.

“Now, this is an awkward thing to ask given the circumstances, so I will try to put it as tactfully as I can.”

“What is it?”

“What is the Genesis Project? We still haven’t figured that out, so it would great if you could fill us in.”

That phrasing was so direct that Hashiba shuddered despite being an automaton.

Chapter 60: Greeter Before the Stage[edit]

Um

Excuse me

I really am

Sorry

Point Allocation (Whose Fault Is This?)

●

Horizon asked a question of Hashiba who had stopped moving altogether.

“Are you alright, Hashiba-sama? But we do have further questions. Yes, there is more.”

“Wh-what now?”

“Why do you look so much like me? If my awful father is to blame, raise your right hand. If he is not, raise your left hand.”

Hashiba hung her head and raised her right hand.

…Ah, I understand.

Horizey: “Creating a Loli Horizey means my awful father was an even greater pervert than I had thought. As if creating the ‘pleasure parts’ for Toori-sama wasn’t bad enough already.”

Me: “Hey! Hey! There’s nothing perverted about doing that stuff! It’s a holy process!”

Since everyone averted their eyes, Horizon concluded she had won.

Worshiper: “But what was he thinking? If you’re going in that direction, you need to make her younger than that.”

Vice President: “The age might actually be important. Hashiba has a set of Logismoi Oplo, right? Those require emotions, so a child might be too immature to control them.”

Silver Wolf: “That still leaves another question.”

Mitotsudaira looked to Hashiba who had straightened her posture.

Silver Wolf: “Whose emotions are her Logismoi Oplo made from?”

●

That is a good question, thought Masazumi. Horizon’s emotions had become Horizon’s Logismoi Oplo.

…But then what about hers?

Just as Masazumi concluded she didn’t know, Futayo suddenly shook the shoulder supporting Masazumi.

That signaled a movement by Hashiba. And…

“Um, excuse me.” Hashiba threw the words their way. “Could you leave this place for today?”

●

Hashiba spoke in the hopes these people would listen.

“I-if you leave, we are willing to immediately give up the name of Oda Nobunaga. And possibly mine as well.”

“Hold on, wait,” said the Musashi Vice President from their Vice Chancellor’s shoulder. “What’s all this about? We’re only here to check on the history recreation.”

“Testament. I am aware. Which is why I am asking this of you.”

“In that case,” said the Musashi Vice President. “What happens if we refuse?”

“Testament.” Hashiba nodded, raised her right hand and pointed at someone. “Your Chancellor and Horizon Ariadust…will both die.”

●

Huh? thought Mitotsudaira turning to look back.

Her king and Horizon frowned and followed the line of Hashiba’s pointing finger. It was currently directed at Horizon, but her king followed the imaginary line with his finger until he touched Horizon’s chest.

“Oops. Not my fault, not my fault! Looks like Hashiba was pointing at this boob right-”

Without a word, Horizon sent a kick into his crotch, launching him straight up. He landed on his knees and collapsed limply to the side while Horizon sidestepped Hashiba’s pointing line and looked behind her.

The 1st Special Duty Officer stood there. Horizon tapped him on the shoulder.

“Tag! You’re it, Tenzou-sama! No tag backs!”

“Wh-what just happened!?”

Mitotsudaira made sure to step away from him and she saw the Technohexen do it too. But she had a feeling Noriki was the first one to move away. Meanwhile, Asama opened a sign frame.

“Let’s see. Tenzou-kun, that may have counted as passing her bad luck onto you. I’ll apply an emergency exorcism for now, but you should really visit the Asama Shrine with Mary later.”

“Wh-why is this such a big deal?”

“Because this is such an important location.”

Asama had a point there. Mitotsudaira’s nonhuman side was reacting strongly to all the ether rising overhead. The Technohexen’s wings were bristled, making them look twice their usual size, and Mitotsudaira could tell her senses were sharper than usual.

Then her king spoke to Hashiba.

“Don’t worry. I won’t die.”

“Why not?”

“Cause if I started to die, none of the others would let it happen.”

Mitotsudaira nodded. Asama nodded too and Kimi reacted with a slight smile. The others likely must have reacted similarly. Even Horizon.

So Hashiba released a breath.

A laugh.

“I do hope you are right. But…I cannot accompany you that far.”

She swung her arms out and down.

As if in response, the air split behind her and nine shapes were ejected there.

…Spears!?

They first looked like a closed fan, but this was something different.

It was a group of wings.

One long, arrow-shaped wing made of white metal stood straight up in the center and eight more fanned out to the sides with all of them pointing a bit upwards.

“Each of them is shaped like a coffin.”

“My awful father must have finally begun his obsession with cool, powerful-looking designs.”

“Except these must have been created a long time ago. And…”

“Yes.” Horizon nodded. “They must be storage boxes for the Logismoi Oplo. Some father he is not giving me anything and then giving Lolizon all this.”

It sounded like her glaring complaints were going to continue for a while, so Mitotsudaira and Asama worked to calm her down. Meanwhile, Masazumi asked Hashiba a question.

“Do you intend to fight us?”

“I intend to stop you.”

“Why?”

“I already explained that.”

“Judge.” Masazumi accepted Hashiba’s explanation. But she wasn’t done speaking. “I appreciate your concern for this idiot and Horizon. But whether or not they die is our concern, not yours. Don’t you understand that?”

“That is incorrect,” insisted Hashiba without a moment’s hesitation.

How is it incorrect? wondered Mitotsudaira.

“Can you explain why it is incorrect?”

“By the time you understood, the Honnouji Incident would have begun.”

“Eh?”

That question came from several people in their group, not just Mitotsudaira.

And Hashiba shook her head. While spreading her arms toward the sky.

“Please leave. If you do, then this can end with you unharmed and unenlightened.”

“One question.” Horizon suddenly raised her head. “Will any lives be lost here?”

●

Hashiba considered that question.

She could just lie. But if she did, it would make him sad. As incomplete as she was, she knew that much.

…Yes.

This was a problematic question. If he learned the answer and then left, he would feel sorrow. So she knew what she had to say.

“I cannot answer that question.”

“Judge. I see.” Horizon Ariadust punched her palm hard. And she cracked her shoulders. “Bring it on, Hashiba-sama.”

“Why…” Hashiba knew her protests were meaningless even as she made them. “Why would you say that!? Do you have any idea the pain that awaits you if you continue down this path!?”

“Then do you know the happiness that awaits me if I continue down this path?”

“–––––”

“I know this is all talk. I am aware I am setting myself up for a ‘told you so’. But…”

But…

“I recently learned that all situations and environments include happiness that you yourself fail to notice until looking back on it in the future. Have you experienced this, Hashiba-sama?”

“I…”

Had she? She kind of understood what Horizon meant, but she also felt like it wasn’t quite what she was thinking of. So…

“…We must fight.”

“Judge. It seems so. We have differing beliefs in what will bring happiness in the future. Which puts us on different paths from which we refuse to budge. I have determined this is a conflict worth settling. So…” Horizon Ariadust clenched her right fist. “Yes, I will settle this with violence!”

Some of the others tapped Horizon on the shoulder, moved in front of her, and said things like “c’mon” or “there’s a thing called subtlety” or “you can leave some things unsaid”. A few seconds after that, the Vice President tapped her shoulder and she decided to give it another try.

“Let us have a conversation of a physical nature.”

Several thoughts raced through Hashiba’s mind in that moment, but she decided to voice none of them after seeing the pleading looks in the rest of the Musashi group’s eyes. Instead, she said “testament” and took a breath.

“Very well!”

She began by activating her weapons.

●

“So it’s begun,” said Ishikawa looking back toward the white wall of the stealth barrier in the southeastern sky.

She was at a restaurant in the cargo wharf on the border of Lake Biwa Azuchi.

At lunchtime customers ate at the counter there and it served bentos and rations, but at night they dragged out chairs and tables to make it into a simple cafe.

…Not many people know about this place, but it’s really good.

Ishikawa was drinking sake while munching on a fish paste made with the fish caught in Lake Biwa.

Around her, the preparations for Honnouji were shifting into preparing supplies for the Azuchi.

Of course, the Azuchi would only be flying by overhead with their gravitational cruising. The supplies couldn’t be loaded onto transport ships, so the Azuchi would be releasing some towing belts behind it to secure as many of the supplies as possible.

The speed difference would affect the Azuchi too, so…

“Hurry up and load the cargo onto high-speed ships that will then accelerate along the Azuchi’s course! The Azuchi’ll catch up in no time, so we need to send the ships out as soon as they’re rea- oh, having a drink, Ishikawa-sensei!?”

“Yes, I am, Kuki-kun. Is this fish paste a relative of yours?”

“I don’t know any unauthorized black bass. So they certainly aren’t related to me.”

“Is that so?” said Ishikawa, staring down at the half-eaten fish paste on her plate. “Maybe I should get it cooked.”

“Sensei, have you been drinking a lot today?”

“You ask the same thing every time I come here.”

She smiled and the chef beyond the counter nodded at her.

“Because if I don’t, you’d end up overdrinking like you did the first time. I know what you’re like.”

“Damn, so you’ve figured out I’ll do what people ask of me as long as I don’t have a reason not to.”

She licked the sake cup to get the fish paste’s damp saltiness out of her mouth.

…That’s why I ended up leaving the Musashi.

It’s shameful I made them worry so much, but if I let them insist it wasn’t a big deal, I had a feeling I would never get back on my feet again. I know they were just telling me not to worry and to get some rest, but that isn’t how it works for me.

Others are like amateurs to me. I can take comfort in their words, but I must not obey them. That’s why I came here because I thought I should. I learned a lot as a result, but…

“Now, will I have a chance to settle things with Oriotri or not? And will our students give us a proxy battle?”

“Sensei, you’re always so dangerous and intense. That can’t be fun for them.”

“And for you?”

“At my age, I’m usually lost in thought at this time of day. But since you’ve started showing up, I keep getting strange orders and demands to remake things, which has kept my mind off the heavier stuff. I’ll get in some new ingredient and just know you’ll grab it and demand I cook it. And then it turns out I’m right.”

“Ha ha. I find coming here helps me think.”

“What are you thinking about today?”

“Well.” She licked the sake glass, burning her tongue, and looked to the southeastern sky. “All I can think about is what must be happening out there.”

●

Hashiba first drew a sword from the left wing. It seemed to be made of bone.

“Phos Kenodoxia!”

As long as the user kept their vainglory, their defense would be boosted to the max.

It was generally meant for use by an individual, but because it was applied to anything protecting them, it would provide the greatest defenses to their defenders and those defenders’ power. Here, it would apply to the defense barriers protecting the stage from the rear and the wide-range barrier protecting Honnouji as a whole. It allowed her to possess large-scale defensive power.

…So I need to start by raising my guard!

She looked forward to see her opponent’s decision.

Horizon Ariadust was groping the chest of the Mito Lord. Then she tapped the girl’s shoulder.

“This will work! Phos Hyperephania!”

What?

●

Horizon was glad she had put in so much mental training.

…I practiced extracting pride from Mitotsudaira-sama!

At showtime, you only had to do it like in practice. And in practice…well, that just had to be practice. But the pride received via Mitotsudaira was definitely at work. When Horizon drew the bone-like hammer from behind her…

“As long as their pride lasts, the user’s attack power will be unbeatable!”

So she ejected the next Logismoi Oplo.

“Muneshige Cannon!”

She fired it as soon as it appeared. That was the usual way with that one. The power was set to 80% by default, but she cranked it up to the max.

Immediately, the virtual cannon formed and the tearing attack launched from the end.

Hashiba immediately responded by ejecting another weapon.

“Akedia Katathlipse!”

●

The tearing and binding powers collided.

As both attacks continued for ten or so seconds, Asama heard Toori’s voice.

“Asama! Is there anything I can do!?”

She considered that.

…Is there anything? He can’t use his ether supply spell this far from the Musashi.

“Well, I think she might like it if you sat down and behaved yourself for once.”

“What!? You expect me to be that passive!? I want to do something! Do! What if I cheered her on!?”

“My king? That would only rub Horizon the wrong way.”

“Nate! Please give me some useful advice!”

“I have some,” said Horizon, still firing. “Toori-sama, if you sit here and place your hands out in front of you, you will be in the perfect position to provide a relaxing seat with your shoulders. Yes, just like that. That will provide the perfect amount of support…for Persona-kun-sama.”

“Heyyyyyyyyyy! Pe-yan, you’re super heavy! And solid too!”

With him pinned down, Asama focused on Horizon.

“Horizon! You need to hurry up and hit her with that!”

“Have you forgotten, Asama-sama? This is the Muneshige Cannon! Which means…”

Just as Horizon said that, the ether light exploded between her and Hashiba.

Their powers had pushed really close to Hashiba, but they had run out of fuel. The attack forced out by the last dregs was quite powerful, but it happened for them both, canceling each other out. In conclusion…

“It missed!”

●

Hashiba stored Akedia Katathlipse while watching the Musashi group get all worked up over something.

She heard comments of “I knew it!” and “not again!”, but…

…That must be nice.

Would she have been surrounded by that kind of excitement if the Ten Spears were here?

But it was time to turn this around. While they were carrying on, she swiftly grabbed…

“Maska Orge!”

●

Horizon sensed danger from Hashiba’s attack.

Maska Orge’s attack range could be altered to an extent. It could be launched in a straight line, or it could be spread out in a fan shape. It appeared to automatically decide what to do based on the arrangement of the enemies within range, but Horizon had another question.

Unlike Hashiba, Horizon’s defenses had not been boosted.

She figured only Aspida Phylargia was guaranteed to deflect Maska Orge.

But Aspida Phylargia was a shield and thus defensive in nature. Since her defenses were not being boosted, Aspida Phylargia could only protect her and those directly behind her.

She could see who wouldn’t be covered.

“Let’s see, Ohiroshiki-sama, the warriors, and, oh, I guess Toori-sama too.”

“Whaaaat!? Why do you sound like you don’t care!?”

A solution called out to her.

“Horizon!”

That was Mitotsudaira. Horizon understood what she was getting it.

“You want us to all follow your lead and use the Flat Chest Evasion!?”

“Give Aspida Phylargia to me!”

●

The timing would be down to the wire. But…

…I will make it work!

“Mitotsudaira-sama! I fail to understand, but I trust you!”

Trust is important, thought Mitotsudaira as she caught Aspida Phylargia with her silver chains.

Immediately afterwards, she needed to block Maska Orge with Aspida Phylargia.

Currently, Horizon was using the offense-focused Phos Hyperephania. So…

“Shield bash!”

She used a burst of speed to send the shield along the same line as the Maska Orge blast.

●

Hashiba realized Maska Orge’s power had been deflected mid-flight.

The other side’s attacks were being boosted. Horizon Ariadust had made a prideful action against the Mito Lord, so it made sense her attack here would be boosted.

Meanwhile, Hashiba’s Maska Orge attack had no such protection. Because it was her defenses which were boosted. But…

“Eh?”

Aspida Phylargia did not slow down after deflecting Maska Orge.

“Kyahhhhh!”

Hashiba frantically dodged to the side just before Aspida Phylargia plowed through the spot she had been standing in and slammed into the nearby defense protections.

●

After hearing a loud impact, Mitotsudaira saw defensive ether light spray several meters high.

That had been a splendid attack. But…

…Oh, I forgot.

It was only yesterday when she had first given her silver chains a burst of speed like that, so she still wasn’t used to it. She was still accustomed to the old speed, so she had been slow to pull back.

She quickly pulled it back and returned Aspida Phylargia to Horizon, but Horizon held onto the shield and sent Mitotsudaira an expectant look.

“Well done, Mitotsudaira-sama! I grant you 5 points! Now, let’s do it again!”

“No, um, I’m not sure about that.”

“Nate! Keep that up and we’ve got this in the bag! We can win this! Hell yeah!”

“Oh, my king, you flatter me.”

Almost Everyone: “So you like it when he says it!?”

…He is my king, after all.

But Hashiba silently fired Pheugos Gastrimargia at the Aspida Phylargia Horizon was holding up, so they couldn’t use it for a bit.

“Eh?” Everyone stared in shock at the casual turn of events and her king turned around in sudden realization.

“Hey, Monkey Girl! That wasn’t fair! You have to shout the attack name or weapon name when you use it!”

“Th-that was perfectly fair! It’s your fault for not taking this seriously!”

“I’m deadly serious! Are you saying you can see my thoughts!?”

“I-it’s so obvious I don’t have to! All you ever think about is goofing off and girls!”

Uqui: “She’s got you there.”

Horizey: “Ouch, Toori-sama. A harsh judgment from one of our own. Now, what call will Referee Kimi-sama make…oh, a blue flag. We are clear to continue!”

Why am I not surprised? thought Mitotsudaira as Hashiba silently began activating Stithos Porneia.

“Horizon! Use the one that can stop Hashiba’s one!”

●

Hashiba didn’t like Stithos Porneia very much.

The name was awkward and it was really long. She couldn’t help that she was short, but the Logismoi Oplo hadn’t been adjusted for her size and she had a hard time swinging this one around.

But if she managed to activate it, it would more or less end this.

She had already prevented them from using Aspida Phylargia, which acted as the foundation of their defense. If she could also use Stithos Porneia to defang their weapons, it wouldn’t be enough to dismantle their Logismoi Oplo, but those weapons would need to be reinitialized and readjusted to escape her control.

That would remove their offensive boost and leave them with only Pheugos Gastrimargia and Phos Kenodoxia to work with. Hashiba would still have Phos Hyperephania, so if she managed to stop Pheugos Gastrimargia with Aspida Phylargia, she could carry vainglory and pride at the same time.

Then her offense and defense would both be boosted.

From there, she wouldn’t even need the Logismoi Oplo. She could end this just by calling in the automata who had been temporarily evacuated. And before that happened, she could probably convince them to leave on their own just like she had wanted in the first place.

That was why Stithos Porneia was so important.

…Okay!

Just as she swung the weapon, Horizon Ariadust drew her own Stithos Porneia from behind her.

“Too slow!”

Horizon Ariadust couldn’t activate hers before the field produced by Hashiba’s engulfed it.

“Nothing you can do will be fast enough!”

The Mito Lord immediately threw their Stithos Porneia at Hashiba with all her might.

●

“Kyahhhhhh!”

Hashiba frantically held up Aspida Phylargia, but she must have still sensed danger from the spinning hammer. Asama watched as Hashiba rolled to the right for some emergency evasive action.

Then Horizon’s Stithos Porneia crashed into Hashiba’s Aspida Phylargia. A metallic clang sent Hashiba’s Aspida Phylargia skidding along the floor. And the Stithos Porneia she had thrown away produced a spray of ruptured ether light to show its activation had failed now that it was no longer being held.

The light shattered and Hashiba scurried over to collect Aspida Phylargia.

Asama glared over at Mitotsudaira who was busy pulling back Stithos Porneia with her silver chains, but the wolf raised her right arm toward Horizon in a pose of triumph.

“So close!”

“You nearly had her, Mitotsudaira-sama! Have another 7 points! Hashiba-sama really panicked there. And all we did was throw a Logismoi Oplo at her! The coward!”

Worshiper: “Who are the villains here again?”

Gold Mar: “I know the winners get to make that call, but this still seems silly.”

Was that really a good idea? wondered Asama, but the tides had turned in their favor.

“Now that she can’t defang all our weapons, we can all attack her at once!”

“Indeed, Asama-sama. And since your attacks are the gold standard for unstoppable, all our attacks will be boosted to your warship-sinking levels! So feel free to launch as many arrows as you like!”

…Um, I think you misunderstand.

But Horizon was already raising the Stithos Porneia she had received from Mitotsudaira.

The previous attack had been purely physical. It hadn’t been activated. So…

“Time to disarm her!”

Just as she swung the weapon down, Hashiba launched an attack.

…Huh?

This came as such a surprise that Asama wasn’t able to react right away.

Hashiba fired her Pheugos Gastrimargia at Horizon’s Stithos Porneia even though she had supposedly fired it earlier.

●

Mitotsudaira saw the weapon’s second attack.

The greater a Logismoi Oplo’s power level, the longer it took to recharge. And neither side was in position to hold back during that previous exchange, so Hashiba would have fired it at max power. And yet she had just fired it a second time.

“––––!”

The field of effect had already spread out from Horizon’s Stithos Porneia, but Pheugos Gastrimargia shattered that field, stopping its spread.

…What was that?

Mitotsudaira looked to Hashiba and then realized what had happened.

“You used Aspida Phylargia, didn’t you!?”

That shield provided more than just an excellent defense. The ether fuel stored within it could be supplied to other Logismoi Oplo.

When Mitotsudaira had made her physical hammer attack earlier, Hashiba had fled with Aspida Phylargia at the ready, but…

…What if that was an act to keep us from targeting her Aspida Phylargia with our Pheugos Gastrimargia?

Then she had pretended to go back to collect it while actually supplying fuel to the already-used Logismoi Oplo. Which had set the stage for this counterattack.

Meanwhile, Horizon’s Aspida Phylargia had already been hit by Pheugos Gastrimargia, so it couldn’t be used right away.

Of course, they had a way to stop Hashiba’s Aspida Phylargia.

Horizon still hadn’t fired her Pheugos Gastrimargia. That could be used to stop Hashiba’s Aspida Phylargia. But…

Vice President: “There is one surefire way of stopping the Honnouji Incident.”

That was…

Vice President: “That stage is likely a key part of tonight’s process, so we can fire Pheugos Gastrimargia there to overload and destroy it. Then they can’t continue.”

●

Horizey: “I should have known Masazumi-sama would have the exact same idea as me!”

Me: “Then why’d you just jot down Seijun’s idea in your notes real quick?”

Scarred: “But what other options do we have left?”

10ZO: “Phos Kenodoxia, which boosts defense, and Akedia Katathlipse. And she has Phos Hyperephania, which boosts attack, and Lype Katathlipse.”

Art-Ga: “I’d honestly prefer if we saved Phos Kenodoxia for when we’re leaving. Having some way of defending ourselves when Honnouji goes boom could make all the difference.”

Gold Mar: “As hard as it is to believe, I get the feeling her Muneshige Cannon might actually hit us. What do you think Gin-chan?”

Tachibana Wife: “Master Muneshige! Master Muneshige! You don’t need to create a site on the Hashiba page!”

●

Hashiba was concerned about the enemy’s Pheugos Gastrimargia.

That destroyed its target by overloading it. That meant it could stop a Musashi-class enemy, but it was a very dangerous thing given what they were trying to accomplish here tonight.

Nari Nari Nari: “I have decoupled the stage system from the defense system just in case they do fire it. The defense system will still overload, but the main stage system will remain intact. …I hope anyway.”

Mitsunari didn’t sound confident, but that was probably due to how loosely-defined the Logismoi Oplo abilities were. Even with the weapon OS controlling them, they were based on emotions and it wasn’t always clear how far their effects would go.

It was hard to judge, but that would probably still be better than letting Lype Katathlipse hit the stage.

Hashiba had been right to start with Akedia Katathlipse. It delivered a wide-range binding power, but Lype Katathlipse had the greater direct attack power.

Still, she couldn’t let her guard down. Even Akedia Katathlipse had a basic cannon blast that carried the binding power.

…And their attack power is being boosted.

It was so hard to deal with them when even a weak power was boosted to the max.

So she made her next move. She only had one weapon capable of firing.

“Lype Katathlipse!”

●

Tenzou thought, This is the opposite of before.

Before, Horizon had been using Lype Katathlipse. But now Horizon was using Akedia Katathlipse.

Horizon drew the giant single-blade sword from behind her. It had already activated.

“Go!”

The binding blast crashed into the tearing power of Hashiba’s Lype Katathlipse.

●

They fired on each other, thought Asama.

“Horizon! Let me help!” he said, supporting Horizon from the left.

This would probably be their last exchange of cannon fire.

After this, they had to find some way of using Pheugos Gastrimargia on that stage.

…If our boosted attack power is still intact, we can all fight.

Of course, Hashiba’s defenses would still be boosted too. The system activating the defense barriers around the stage had to be city-class. When considering how to break through something like that, the word “war” came to mind. So this had to be the last exchange. And Asama knew what to say.

“Don’t let her win!”

Even though their attacks were boosted, Akedia Katathlipse’s attack was weaker than Lype Katathlipse. In the previous exchange, Horizon’s attack had pushed in toward Hashiba. So the reverse would happen here. Except…

…You can do it!

These weapons were based on emotion and Asama trusted that Horizon was the superior there. So she prayed. She prayed since that was her job as a shrine maiden. But…

“Eh?”

A moment later, a different result presented itself. The wide-range barrier defense system surrounding this central hall suddenly activated. A net of ether light spread out all at once.

●

…What is this!?

The wide-range barrier that activated across the ceiling was meant to support the ether pillar rising far overhead. The barrier did not descend into the hall, so activating it to this degree would require sending power all the way up there.

But what had caused this?

“Did the Musashi fire on it from outside!?”

“No, that isn’t it!”

Mitotsudaira pointed out ahead.

Toward Hashiba. Where Horizon was currently firing Akedia Katathlipse.

A black bundle of power was racing straight up from there.

That was Lype Katathlipse’s tearing. For some reason, instead of aiming it at Horizon, it was aimed…

“Up!?”

Novice: “Oh, no! Listen! What she’s doing is-”

“Mitoooo!”

Horizon was busy firing and Toori was supporting her. Mitotsudaira must have understood that because she readied Excalibur and shouted.

“Hashiba used Lype Katathlipse as bait to get us to fire Akedia Katathlipse! That way she can stop it with Aspida Phylargia and store its power as fuel!”

●

Tenzou saw it.

…Is that…?

As Akedia Katathlipse’s attack began to fade, he saw Hashiba directing Aspida Phylargia their way, just like Mitotsudaira had predicted.

And with her other arm, she was aiming Lype Katathlipse toward the ceiling.

She hadn’t tried to negate Akedia Katathlipse’s attack.

Instead, Lype Katathlipse’s attack faded away along with Horizon’s.

But something else produced light in its place: Aspida Phylargia.

The big shield had stopped Akedia Katathlipse’s attack and stored the ether fuel inside itself. But…

“Look at her…”

Aspida Phylargia was not large enough to cover an entire person. So the parts sticking out took damage and were bound.

The binding pressure had damaged Hashiba.

The worst damage was to the right arm that had held up Lype Katathlipse. Her M.H.R.R. uniform’s sleeve and the automaton arm below it were crushed as if in a massive fist.

Her right leg was damaged in the same way. She had been holding Aspida Phylargia low, so that leg must have been sticking diagonally back to keep her balance when the attack hit the shield.

Her skirt and tights were torn and everything below her ankle was crushed.

But the rest of her had survived. She stared straight at them from behind the shield.

And she took action. Just as Horizon’s Akedia Katathlipse faded away, Hashiba ejected something into her hand again.

…Stithos Porneia!

She was going to disarm them. Which meant…

“Please leave!”

Hashiba begged them as she tossed aside Aspida Phylargia and raised Stithos Porneia in her left hand.

She intended to end this.

●

Horizon pulled Pheugos Gastrimargia toward her with her right hand.

But it was too late. The sign frame that would tell her it was ready to fire instead told her it was still preparing.

Asama: “That’s because of Akedia Katathlipse! Hashiba was prepared for this, but Horizon still can’t switch so quickly after firing one! Someone support her!”

Two people stepped forward in response: Mitotsudaira and Futayo. The wolf’s very first step sent her leaping forward with a burst of speed and the blue warrior raced after her. The two of them went straight toward Hashiba.

“…!”

Mitotsudaira made a close-range attack with Excalibur and Futayo made a cutting attack with Tonbo Spare.

As soon as the two attacks rushed in from the sides, light burst from their hands.

Thanks to a pair of defense barriers. A maid-like figure composed of light had appeared in front of Hashiba.

10ZO: “Is that Ishida Mitsunari!?”

…Who?

Probably some VIP on the other side. She was glowing. And she had activated multiple defense barriers to deflect Futayo and Mitotsudaira’s attacks.

●

Hashiba realized the situation had just simplified. All she had to do was use Stithos Porneia. If she struck the floor with it, Musashi would be disarmed. Then she could have them leave.

It had all come down to that. So…

“Thank you, Mi-chan.”

“Please call me that from now on.”

Mitsunari looked back as she said that, so Hashiba nodded her acknowledgment. Then Hashiba raised Stithos Porneia in her left arm and used her full body to swing it.

Musashi couldn’t do anything in time. They shouldn’t have any options left.

Just as she felt certain this would work, Mitsunari’s eyes widened while looking back this way.

Widened in surprise. It was Hashiba who had taught her that expression. But…

…What did she see?

Hashiba was mid-swing. Since she had swung with her full body, she was bending over, which swept her view around back behind her.

The object causing Mitsunari’s surprise was behind Hashiba and a bit to the right.

It was a black left arm.

●

“Eh!?”

Hashiba expressed her surprise while recalling what she had seen earlier.

…What was Horizon Ariadust doing?

Yes. The Musashi Chancellor had been propping her up.

Hashiba had assumed that was so she could make her final attack, but apparently not.

…Was it to hide that her left arm had detached!?

Mitsunari couldn’t get her defense barrier up quickly enough. Hashiba was in between Mitsunari and the arm and Mitsunari had missed the timing needed to eject the barrier.

Plus, Hashiba was in no state to deal with an opponent behind her. So…

“Kh…”

She saw the left arm holding a stone. That was a physical weapon it had found somewhere. And Horizon Ariadust shouted the name of the attack using that stone.

“Horizon Memorial Attack!”

The boosted attack power struck Hashiba from diagonally behind her.

●

“Hashiba-sama!”

Mitsunari vanished into a divine transmission right as Hashiba flew over the front of the stage and crashed into the eastern audio equipment.

Hashiba’s automaton body knocked over several speakers and supports, producing snapping and tearing sounds.

“–––––”

Her left hand rose just once and then froze.

She came to a stop past the destroyed equipment and buried in a large speaker.

She was no longer moving. She must have been in a paused state because her hand was still raised toward the pillar of light and the moons.

The Musashi side had won.

●

…We did it.

Naito accepted this fact half in appreciation and half in shock.

The left arm had returned and the warriors were tossing it into the air to celebrate. This ended after three tosses, but according to its owner…

“Please return to me. We need to fire Pheugos Gastrimargia and end this.”

That reminded everyone that this wasn’t over yet. But Naito was curious about one thing.

“What happens when this thing overloads and destroys itself?”

“I’d rather not say it…but it could cause a bigger boom than Mikawa. It could result in a crater twice the size of Lake Biwa.”

“Yeah…” they all said, their enthusiasm gradually fading. The celebrating warriors were now silent, but they did exchange a glance and some words.

“So what do we do?”

“We should probably secure an escape route first just to be safe.”

“Shouldn’t we inspect the stage to make sure we know where to shoot it?”

Horizon turned them and their worried comments.

“You are quite right. Firing right away would be a bad idea given the circumstances.”

She nodded to them all. And…

“So let’s see what happens if I do it anyway.”

Horizon fired Pheugos Gastrimargia toward the stage.

●

She really never changes, does she? thought Naito as she watched the course of the flying arrow and prepared herself for what was to come.

Pheugos Gastrimargia was an arbalest. She had seen M.H.R.R. Emperor Matthias fire it at Magdeburg and Nördlingen, but range aside, its speed wasn’t all that great.

…Hopefully nothing intercepts it.

The flight would only last a few seconds, but she still activated a motion sensor and an auto-fire spell.

It immediately detected motion.

“That’s so fast.”

It happened so suddenly Naito spoke out loud as she looked to the detected motion.

It came from Hashiba.

…She’s recovered already!?

Naito viewed Hashiba through the Magie Figur that had locked onto her. But…

“Huh?”

Hashiba wasn’t moving. She was still collapsed on a giant speaker like it was a bed. Her hand was still raised toward the center of the night sky.

She wasn’t the source of the motion.

Some sign frames were.

●

Naito had a bad feeling about this. So she stepped forward to let Asama, Mitotsudaira (who had returned to the group), Masazumi, and the rest see her Magie Figur.

She had zoomed in on the area around Hashiba to capture the details. Enough sign frames had appeared to hide Hashiba from view.

“Hey.”

The warriors behind them had noticed too. More and more sign frames appeared around them all and on the stage.

“–––––”

An alarm began sounding. But it was played by trumpets and sounded more like a fanfare.

What was this? The answer was displayed on the extra-large sign frames coming from Hashiba.

<Entering OS preservation mode: Hashiba Toukichirou → Oda Nobunaga: transferring to P-01m: confirmed.>

<Project Number 13-03: Genesis Project: starting: confirmed.>

<Oda Nobunaga: OS transfer complete: preservation mode canceled: releasing: confirmed.>

Some familiar terms were lined up alongside confusing ones, but it was all in motion.

Something was beginning. So…

…This is not good!

Naito looked up just in time to see Horizon’s arrow strike the stage.

●

To Asama’s eyes, it appeared to be erased.

…No, that isn’t it.

The fighters with good eyes would have been able to tell. Countless sign frames had popped up and surrounded the arrow while even more reports, both large and small, appeared in the air at the center of the hall.

The Logismoi Oplo attack burst and shattered at the center of the stage.

And the alarm was drowned out by an even louder sound. It sounded like a blast on a large horn. The deep rumble shook the air from the center of the stage.

Asama could see the center of the white stage opening. A rectangular hole formed there.

The area below was not dark. It contained a white chill and bluish-white ether light.

She could tell something was rising from below.

The alarm and the horn grew louder and the ringing of a bell joined them from above. Red warning spotlights shined from the upper edges of the hall’s inner walls, the bell ringing as each one activated.

The atrium hall built above the stage was now a gathering of several different sounds.

But a command had been sent.

Something was coming. Sensing that, the warriors’ gunners fired preemptive shots. They aimed for the stage, more to get an accurate range than anything.

“Fire!”

As soon as the lieutenant shouted and the gunshots rang out, two things happened.

First, new sign frames appeared.

<Automatically retrieval of M-type Logismoi Oplo: authorization confirmed: executing: confirmed>

They appeared where Hashiba’s Logismoi Oplo were, showing off their scattered locations. At the same time, ether light scattered from the edge of the Logismoi Oplo and they vanished.

…Were they stored in another space?

Why? wondered Asama, but there had to be several reasons. Regardless, this meant everything that had happened here had been erased.

The gunners’ bullets were stopped just before reaching the stage.

By defense barriers. One appeared for each bullet, loudly deflecting the metal. Asama could tell how powerful they were by the fact that they remained intact. But…

“Hey, look.”

Naruze pointed out ahead for everyone gathered around Naito’s Magie Figur.

But she didn’t really need to point. For a while now, a giant sign frame had been hovering past the defense barriers that had deflected all the bullets.

“What is that huge logo?”

It had a rainbow gradient moving from top to bottom. And the surrounding writing was given a golden metallic shine.

“What a lame design…”

●

“M-maybe it is! But this kind of thing is common for local businesses! So let’s see what this is about!”

Why am I defending it? wondered Asama as she read what the logo said.

<Genesis Project: judgment weapon modifications confirmed: activation available: …Welcome to our Apocalypse stopping show>

That wasn’t all. Someone rose up from below the text.

An elevator carried her up onto the stage.

She wore a white cloak over her clothes and her black hair was worn up in a high ponytail.

“Excuse me. Or should I say long time, no see. …I am Oda Nobunaga.”

Everyone gasped when they heard the voice and saw the face.

Nobunaga gave the reason why as her clothing and decorative chains swayed in the billowing smoke.

“Or should I call myself the original Horizon Ariadust?”

Chapter 61: The Star of Honnouji[edit]

I decided not to give the answer I knew

Because I wanted to hear a more amusing answer

You could call it the feminine dreams of my heart

This is what it means to say a human life

Is nothing compared to the life of the universe

Point Allocation (Wrap It Up)

●

“So I know what I need to do and it’s already begun, so how about we have a nice chat? There’s plenty I would like to tell you as Nobunaga.”

Masazumi’s first reaction was to look at the others.

Asama was using an audio spell to send a prayer to an entertainment god. The god sent a vibration into the air to cancel out the alarms and other noises. What Masazumi could still hear seemed to be coming from more of a distance now, but…

“Well, this is awkward. We didn’t even have to do anything to draw her out.”

“Have you already forgotten the Logismoi Oplo battle leading up to this, Masazumi?”

“Oh, right. That,” said Masazumi as she turned back toward Nobunaga.

Now that she knew the others were safe, she raised her right hand.

“I will make two things clear up front: we want to know what the Genesis Project entails and, depending on that, we might want to stop it. That is why we are here. Once we’re done with that, we will leave. Any questions?”

“Testament. So you are saying you are here to assess the situation? Testament, I understand. I agree that this encounter could have a pleasant conclusion.”

“With that out of the way,” added Masazumi. Maybe this wasn’t the best thing to ask here, but, “Who are you?”

“I am Oda Nobunaga’s name inheritor. And I am the original Horizon Ariadust.”

Nobunaga raised her right arm and pulled back the white sleeve with her left hand. This revealed a pale-skinned arm, but also…

“She has scarring on her shoulder just like my king.”

Not just a single scar. Many. Not as many as Mary, but large scars drew rope-like lines across her shoulder as if tying the arm in place.

“I have 81 scars across my entire body. And if we include my internal organs and bones, some of those were shattered or ruptured, making the actual number truly incalculable. I received these injuries in an accident on the Musashi 10 years ago.”

“Not so fast!!” shouted the idiot. “What color is your underwear!”

“Black.”

The idiot froze.

“Oh, no. Maybe she is the real one.”

Horizon kicked the idiot in the crotch hard enough to lift him 20cm from the floor, but Masazumi felt he really deserved that one. And…

“How can that be? You call yourself the original, but our Horizon here has her soul. She is very real.”

“You tell her, Masazumi-sama! I am the real Horizon! I am real! She must be a fake trying to trick us! Besides, can that fake remove her arms or perform comedy routines at a cafe!? Now, Masazumi-sama, stare deep into my eyes and listen carefully. You are feeling sleeeeepy. Very, very sleeeepy!”

“Horizon-dono, It is impressive you can behave like normal under these circumstances.”

Crossunite was right. But Masazumi kind of understood.

First, she gestured toward Horizon.

“Let me see if I have this right… Horizon’s soul is here. But her body and brain are all automaton parts.”

Next, she gestured toward Nobunaga.

“Meanwhile, you have Horizon’s body and brain, but your soul is an automaton part?”

“Testament. It would be more accurate to say this body is being viewed as a machine and an OS was loaded into it. The process by which people join with gods of war was reversed to send a program into a human body.

“So,” said Nobunaga.

She gestured at herself.

“The best way to describe me is a fully biological automaton who retains Horizon Ariadust’s memories.”

Everyone exchange a glance at that.

None of them said anything for a while. But eventually Naito took a stab at it.

“Looks like Horizon’s personality really was one-of-a-kind.”

“Y-you really know how to come out and say the thing we were all thinking, Naito-dono!”

“Heh. Merely retaining my memories is not enough to copy my expert-level personality. Because she lacks the proper soul. That is what you need to be Horizon!”

Yeah, thought Masazumi. Everyone in our class has a mental fortitude of steel so strong it could withstand an earthquake.

Probably everyone had their own thoughts on this, but that could come later.

“Nobunaga, I think I understand something now.”

“What might that be?”

“You being what you are and Hashiba being what she was were both necessary for the Genesis Project, weren’t they? And our Horizon being what she is is necessary for a future beyond the Genesis Project that not even Lord Motonobu could predict, isn’t it?”

“I honestly don’t know concerning your end of things. But you are correct that we exist for the Genesis Project.”

“Then what is the Genesis Project? Depending on your answer, we might assist you or we might oppose me.”

Nobunaga smiled a little at that.

Still smiling, she brought her hands together and asked a question.

“Um, do you mind if I just explain it all for you? I’ve been looking forward to it for so long.”

Because…

“I know this is one-sided, but I have finally been reunited with the people from the 7-8 years of memories I have from 10 years ago. So can I speak with them for a bit? Would you be willing to grant me that?”

●

Sensing an awkwardness in the air, Masazumi exchanged a glance with the others.

“What’s this about? The final boss says she wants to explain everything to us.”

“She is being awfully friendly.”

“Does this mean she treasures Horizon’s old memories?”

“Probably,” agreed Masazumi. She turned toward Nobunaga again and gestured to the idiots. “So from your perspective, you’ve been waiting to meet these horrible people?”

“Testament. But I was ordered not to directly contact them. Especially once you became our enemy. So I asked the others if I could at least speak with you while waiting for the Genesis Project to activate.”

Because…

“For me, everything stopped 10 years ago. Even if you are my enemy now and even if I can’t tell you what’s happened…I didn’t want to leave any regrets between us.”

“How do we know you aren’t just stalling for time?”

“I have determined the Genesis Project can no longer be stopped. That is why the others allowed me this time. But I doubt you see it that way. I heard earlier that you want to know about the Genesis Project.”

So…

“I may be your enemy here, but for me this is a reunion with my old friends. So how about we use a discussion of the Genesis Project to bring us together?”

After a pause, Naito made a comment.

“Wow. Even if the black hair doesn’t match, its still kind of weird hearing a logical argument coming from someone who looks so much like Horizon.”

“Hm,” said Horizon. “Since I am always the most sensible person in the room, she receives a greater gap bonus for this. What an advantage!”

You’re the grand master there, thought Masazumi, but she was relieved to find Horizon was her usual self.

So she held a hand out to stop the others and approached the stage. Behind her, she could hear the others gradually settling down.

Vice President: “I didn’t expect them to explain everything for us, so use this chance to get as close to the stage as you can. And prepare to move. You need to be ready to charge as soon as something happens.”

10ZO: “I’m sure she will expect this, but it’s still a good decision.”

She nearly said “I’ll leave the rest with you”, but he probably saw it the other way around. So instead…

“Judge. Very well. We accept your invitation. But can you tell us one thing up front?”

She knew exactly what to ask.

“What is the Genesis Project? We probably don’t have much time, so just give us the highlights.”

“Testament.” Nobunaga breathed a sigh of relief as her shoulders relaxed. The feathers decorating either side of her cape’s neck and her decorative chains swayed in a familiar way.

…She has the same taste in fashion as the idiot.

Then it hit Masazumi that Nobunaga must have spent the past 10 years gathering information on them.

The Aoi Sister may have had the same thought because she adjusted the idiot’s decorative feathers and chains to get them back in place.

“Yes, that alone is enough for me to trust that copycat of Horizon and my foolish brother.”

Asama and Mitotsudaira nodded and Horizon eventually spoke up.

“This is another way you are the opposite of me and my eternal pursuit of originality, but I am aware that is another way to live one’s life.”

Nobunaga inclined her head once before opening her mouth.

“In lieu of an invitation, I will tell you about the Genesis Project. It is terribly simple, really. …We will execute Destiny.”

●

“So that’s it,” said Neshinbara, shooting to his feet on the stairs leading to the Asama Shrine.

He scratched his head trying to recall the data he needed.

“Lord Akechi told us that the people of the Age of Dawn were faced with such a harsh environment they tried to get destiny on their side.”

Their method had been a simple one.

“They used the environmental gods to…give destiny a personality.”

●

Nobunaga opened an insha kotob while everyone approached the stage.

She displayed a document on the Age of Dawn. She had put it together earlier because she had figured they would want to know this.

She remembered everything from 10 years ago, but she didn’t know how valuable this information would be to them now. So she had prepared all of the top-level information related to what they were pursuing.

She was allowed to give this away now. She had been given permission. So she gestured toward the screen with her hands as she spoke. Behind her, she displayed an illustration of the legendary meeting between the people and the environmental gods.

“Yes. In the Age of Dawn, Destiny was given a personality. This personality was put in place by the people, so instead of feeling automaton-like annoyance, this personality was truly dedicated to serving people. But there was a fear that people might try to use Destiny for their own purposes, so this was kept a secret and the truth was hidden in the Imperial Palace.”

And…

“The people eventually forgot and grew focused on their political conflicts based on the Testament. Some people gained social status and interests from politics and other decisions, but others lost those things. At times, people even lost their lives. And…while some people were lost, the world kept on turning and those losses had to be accepted.”

So…

“Eventually, Destiny grew tired of it all. No matter how much she tried to improve things, there were people who died. And people who were killed. As the unstoppable current of time continued flowing through her hands, more and more people were lost. It happened over and over and it left a stronger impression than the joy and the births. But Destiny realized something: without her, no one would die. The precious people it was her duty to save were dying because of her.”

●

“Do you understand?” asked Nobunaga. “Approximately 160 years ago, Destiny began a process. What do you think that was?”

Masazumi didn’t have an answer.

…What could it be?

She could think of a few possibilities, but someone else responded before she could narrow it down further.

The Aoi Sister crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows a little as she spoke.

“She tried to die, didn’t she? But she was gutless and chose a slow death.”

“Correct, Kimi-sama. Destiny began a process that was much like slitting her wrists. She removed the current of destiny from the ley lines, allowing it to begin thinning out. Eventually, everything would become so thin it disappeared.”

In other words…

“You know this as the Apocalypse.”

●

…Wait just a minute.

“Um,” said Asama, finger on her chin.

This honestly seemed too speculative for her liking. She could kind of understand destiny having a personality since she had seen the Emperor automaton at Lord Akechi’s place. But…

“Destiny is…trying to kill itself?”

“Asama,” Kimi said quietly. “She’s like a child. Probably. …You remember, don’t you? You too, Naruze.”

That reminded Asama of something. A moment later, Naruze snapped her teeth shut with an audible clack and opened an image in a Magie Figur.

It was the relief of the faceless child seen in the underground Houjou ruins.

“Because she is everyone’s destiny, she is a combination of us all and thus has no face. And because she wishes for happiness, she was designed to be a child?”

Nobunaga’s only response to Naruze was a smile. And then a question.

“What happens when a pure child loses a loved one and it is their fault?”

Asama already knew the answer to that. She had seen it for herself 10 years ago. But Nobunaga said something else.

“I don’t know the answer. Because I was the one who died.”

She got us there, thought Asama.

What had happened to them 10 years ago when they lost Horizon?

He had returned, but he had seemed like someone else and he had tried to die.

If Kimi hadn’t been there for him, he might have followed Horizon into death.

Asama recalled how helpless she had felt back then. She recalled the guilty relief she had felt when the weeping siblings visited her and how she had sworn to never let that happen again. But…

“Destiny was always alone…and felt responsible the deaths of so many.”

“Correct,” said Nobunaga. “She endured it for thousands of years, but she realized she couldn’t take it anymore. The people also managed to predict this, so they worked constantly to soothe Destiny through the Emperor in the Imperial Palace and tried their best not to put too much pressure on her.”

Asama sort of understood what Nobunaga must mean.

“Instead of trying to add any unnecessary interpretations into the history recreation, they tried to stick to the basics, didn’t they? Even when there were deaths, they would try to save those people if possible, but when it came to famous recreations, they went along with it like it was their duty.”

She could think of countless examples.

…They’re especially common in the Far East after the rise of the samurai.

“So around 160 years ago, it is thought Destiny began an irreversible release of the ley lines. This affected the functioning of anything related to the ley lines at the time…and you know what this led to, don’t you?”

Novice: “Yes. The Harmonic Unification War.”

Asama was honestly not sure what to think about having to take his answer so seriously.

They had already heard the beginnings of this from Akechi Mitsuhide. But looking at it all as a whole…

…Shinto has so many taboos related to the Age of Dawn.

Which meant all of this made sense so far.

If destiny had been given a personality and if it was based on accessing the ley lines, then that would have been a job for Shinto since they handled infrastructure maintenance at the time. That would explain why the Emperor was kept in the Imperial Palace.

And that led to Shinto’s current privilege and prosperity.

To Asama, this felt like a shaking of the very foundation she stood upon. But…

“Asama.” He and Horizon looked her way. “I’m thankful to have you with me, so focus on that.”

After a pause, she nodded. Kimi patted her back and she felt no urge to brush the girl off, so she may have let his comment affect her too much. Regardless…

“This feels like several familiar examples and speculations coming together nicely.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” said Mitotsudaira. “It reminds me of the past. When I was going through a hard time, but my king was there for me. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for that…but if you didn’t have anyone like him and you couldn’t lash out like I did, I can see how you might try to defile yourself in another way.”

Several comments of agreement came from the others.

Some had been through something similar, some had been part of it with others, and some had simply seen it happen.

But there was one thing they all had in common.

…Someone was there for us.

But what if they hadn’t had anyone? And what if, day after day, more of their loved ones continued to die because of them? What if they couldn’t go to anyone for help and had no way to stop it, so they could only watch it continue to happen?

A terribly old memory came back to Asama.

After they had lost Horizon and he was gone too, Kimi had asked Asama to stay over at the Aoi home because she was “scared”.

That night, Asama had sensed someone’s presence in the cafe and gone out to check, but no one was there.

That had scared her and, in that moment, she had understood what it meant to lose someone.

That fear had led her to stay away even after he returned. Because she was afraid of feeling that way again.

She had gotten over it now, but there was still a part of her that existed because of the fear she had felt that night.

Because she had felt loss and felt the helplessness of being unable to do anything about it, she now understood the joy of being able to help. But…

…What if I still couldn’t do anything and I kept losing more and more loved ones?

Yikes, she thought.

Different people would view it differently, but this was how she saw it.

She guessed destiny hadn’t been able to live with herself. She would have felt fear and helplessness, had no one to go to, and felt like everyone was blaming her. It all would have led to a certain question:

…Why did you give birth to me?

Or to put it another way, Everyone would be better off without me.

Asama had never felt that way about her parents, but it could happen under the right circumstances.

It was a depressing thought. But I’m a shrine maiden, so I need to stay strong, she thought.

“Toori-kun.”

As thanks for the support he had provided earlier, there was one thing she could say.

“We are here because we overcame our regrets and remorse, aren’t we?”

Maybe they hadn’t overcome those things as much as they liked to think, but she still believed it was true.

…Yes.

It was unusual for words to improve her mood quite this much. And her meaning must have gotten through because Masazumi raised her right hand toward Nobunaga.

“Let’s end the historical talk there.”

She waved her hand to reclaim control of the scene before continuing.

“We get the idea. We already had some understanding of the starting point thanks to Lord Akechi’s lecture. You are saying that, because destiny had a personality, it- she worked to support this world just like a person, correct? So can we think of destiny as an artificially-created being at a higher level even than a god or spirit?”

“Yes, think of her as the entire world given a personality in order to help people.”

That would make destiny an artificial god of all things. Or if Asama was going to put it in her own terms…

“Was it like the ley lines and ether were given a personality?”

“If so,” said Masazumi. “Executing destiny would be worse than the Apocalypse – it would mean the immediate end of the world. …What is the Genesis Project meant to accomplish?”

●

“I’m starting to figure it out.”

Tomoe Gozen looked up at the pillar of light and twin moons in the eastern sky while she watched the real-time meeting minutes being sent over by Musashi’s Representative Committee Head.

…Honestly.

Now she understood why the Imperial Palace had refused to allow any interpretations of her history recreation.

Her ghost body glowed faintly in the dark night. She glowed even more than usual thanks to the full moon. But there was a reason she still existed here.

“The Imperial Palace did it for destiny. We might have all survived if an interpretation was allowed, but that would have distorted other history recreations.”

Several forces took each other’s lives during the Genpei War that led to the Kamakura period. Allowing a forceful interpretation could have caused widespread changes that might have led to even more deaths.

And in the worst case, the interpretation might not even have saved their lives thanks to the other forces pursuing their own interests.

…So they “reduced” the burden on destiny by sticking to the expected and predicted deaths.

Who could she be angry with? Could she just laugh this off? Or should she think back on what happened and weep?

“Damn.”

What would Komaoumaru say if she could tell him? How would Iko react?

But that was all in the past now. And if destiny was trying to die…

“The Genesis Project must be trying to stop that.”

●

“Correct. Executing Destiny would end the world.”

The phrase “at long last” came to Nobunaga’s mind. At long last, she could tell them this. On a whim, she shook her body to rattle the thin chains. Yes, that was the exact thing he did sometimes. She had learned it by copying him.

That look of recognition on Kimi-sama’s face is enough to know I did it right. Kimi looked Nobunaga in the eye and smiled a little.

To Nobunaga’s delight, Kimi called her a copycat. Because in her memories from 10 years ago, she had always secretly mimicked those two, corrected anything that set her apart from those around her, and enjoyed herself immensely.

But now it was her turn to teach them. She would teach them what she had learned over the past 10 years.

She had no dreams for the future, so she would tell them about the world’s past.

This had been planned for much longer than 10 years.

“That is a plan was devised. If Destiny’s worries, anger, and decision to die came from having a personality, then the answer was simple: execute that personality to eliminate it.”

Do you understand?

“Weapons were designed to eliminate and destroy only the personality given to Destiny. Yes, I mean the Logismoi Oplo.”

●

“Wait a second.”

A question occurred to Tenzou, so he raised his right hand. Nobunaga turned toward him and nodded.

“Go ahead. We still have time.”

…Oh, as much as she looks like Horizon-dono, she really is a different person!

That felt rude to their Horizon, but it was the truth. This proved to him that having the same memories didn’t mean you would have the same personality. And…

“I have three questions. First, you have your own set of Logismoi Oplo, so is there some reason why two sets exist? Second…how will you execute destiny’s personality? And for my final question…”

He really wanted to ask this.

“We have been told the Genesis Project will ‘end it without letting it end’. I assume that refers to the effect of erasing destiny’s personality, but what exactly does it mean?”

●

“That was a lot all at once. Just like the Tenzou-sama I know.”

She remembered him. At their elementary school 10 years ago, that cap-wearing boy had wanted to be a ninja, so he had often trained with his ninja instructor father. He had often bragged about it, but at some point, he had become a lot more modest. He had switched his focus from baseless pride to valuable information.

She compared her old memories to the data as she formed the words.

“The answers to your first and second questions overlap a lot, so I will answer the second one first. You asked how we will destroy Destiny’s personality. First, you must consider where Destiny is located.”

“Is it underground?”

“A reasonable assumption since the environmental gods were accessed underground. However, what do you think was necessary to give Destiny a personality through the environmental gods?”

●

Tenzou thought on that.

…What was needed to give destiny a personality?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Asama glance his way a few times, so she probably knew the answer. That suggested it was related to the ley lines. So what would have been given to the ley lines?

…Oh.

He knew of something similar.

“Did it require a vessel like when Mary-dono was being sent into the ley lines?”

“Testament, that is correct. And do you know what vessel would be appropriate as the personality given to the Destiny which rules the world?”

Given the situation, he could make a good guess. The things he could see here and the information he had learned on the way here pointed to the answer.

“The orb at the end of summer.”

Pointing into the sky automatically had him pointing at the answer.

“If that orb is one of the full moons, it must be the 2nd one. That one is a collection of ether, so was destiny’s personality sent there via the environmental gods?”

“Testament,” replied Nobunaga. “Correct again. You should more or less understand now, yes? We have here a pillar of ether rising into the heavens. We will use that as an access pathway to link with the 2nd moon and send ‘death’ to Destiny’s personality.”

So…

“We have some time until the moon reaches the pillar’s path. Although by now, that time has dropped below 10 minutes. …So I ask that you reminisce with me until then. Because this is the first time I have met the people from my old memories. I have finally met the people I remember but do not know.”

●

Adele watched from a distance.

She was on a transport ship on its way to the Musashi. She had to look down from a fairly deep angle, but she could see Honnouji’s stage from the deck.

Nobunaga was on that stage as she spoke eloquently about many things.

She was an enemy, but she appeared to have Horizon’s memories up through age 7.

Adele had half-forgotten most of that, but that was when they had all played together and acted like idiots at a level their young age couldn’t fully explain.

They had treated minor incidents like major disasters and small outings like great adventures. Yes, simply crossing between ships had made them feel like heroes when they did it alone instead of in a group.

They hadn’t had a concept of enemy and ally back then. And they hadn’t understood what was going on in the world.

All of that had changed. But…

Flat Vassal: “Nobunaga doesn’t think of us as enemies or allies.”

That meant there was room to talk. So…

Flat Vassal: “I think I get now why Honnouji’s security was so lax and why her actions don’t make much sense at times. It all comes from Nobunaga herself wanting to meet us.”

●

…Of course, I wasn’t there back then!

Futayo wasn’t either, thought Masazumi because she didn’t want to feel singled out. But she couldn’t just act like a stranger here. If Balfette was right…

…Does Nobunaga see this as a visit from old friends?

She probably felt like she had invited those old friends over to celebrate the event.

It still didn’t feel very real to Masazumi, but given her old injury and inherited name, she could guess why Nobunaga hadn’t made any public appearances. Masazumi herself had avoided going outside much after her gender reassignment surgery because she needed to recover and to avoid being seen.

“Would you have wanted to contact us if you weren’t Nobunaga?”

“Of course. But Lord Motonobu stopped me.”

“Why would he stop you?”

“To prevent us from influencing each other.” Nobunaga raised her right hand. “First, I have a task for you. If you wish to take part, there is something you must provide.”

That was…

“Our research has told us that the Logismoi Oplo cannot destroy Destiny’s personality.”

●

Masazumi heard a few people go, “eh?” Herself included.

“Are you kidding me? Oh…sorry, I don’t mean to question your honesty.”

“I don’t mind at all. Go ahead, Musashi Vice President.”

“Still, sorry,” she said before asking her question. “You said before the Logismoi Oplo were built for that purpose.”

“That was the plan, yes. But later research told us they wouldn’t work. The Logismoi Oplo get their power from the user’s disgust for the associated sin. The idea was to shoot Destiny’s personality with them to have her reject her personality out of disgust. But…”

“It doesn’t work that way?”

“Testament.” Nobunaga nodded with her right hand still raised. “Our research and experimentation told us that Destiny is already disgusted by those things. So filling her with that disgust would only receive her agreement.”

“So it would make her go, ‘Right!? You get it!’ ” said Horizon.

Nobunaga smiled a little and nodded.

Mostly likely, she was amused by how her other self was so different from her.

…I think I’m starting to get an idea of what Nobunaga is like.

She was an enemy.

But she was also one of them in a way.

It was more like she was a friend who had moved away at some point. Which may have explained what came next.

“Destiny’s personality could not be destroyed with disgust for the deadly sins. So what could we do instead?”

“Admonish her. Teach her that what she’s doing is wrong.”

“Testament. Yes. It’s cruel, really. We are teaching her that and then destroying her. But we had no other choice, so Lord Motonobu redesigned me.”

“By that…do you mean your OS?”

“Testament. My model name was P-01m. The m was there in the first place and stands for ‘main’. …Lord Motonobu saw Nobunaga as the m. And I am sorry to say that I do not know what the s in your P-01s stands for. If I were your enemy, I might suggest it stands for ‘spare’ or ‘sub’.”

Gold Mar: “So like she just did?”

Worshiper: “She does like to talk, doesn’t she?”

Nobunaga smiled a little and lowered her right hand.

“It was the Logismoi Oplo control system that was modified. By which I mean the Olos Phtonos of envy. When controlled by that system, my Logismoi Oplo change like this.”

A sudden explosive blast erupted from her lowered hand and toward them.

Something was ejected in a straight line.

●

Naruze immediately readied Weiss Fräulein. Based on the size, she guessed the thing Nobunaga had ejected could be a small warship or a similarly-sized cannon.

But it was neither of those things. The approximately 50m space between Nobunaga and the Musashi group was filled by…

…An arm?

The skinny white forearm had its partially clenched hand directed palm upwards while extended toward them.

Was it from a god of war? No, Naruze recognized that shape. She had never seen it before, yet it was still familiar.

“That isn’t Lype Katathlipse…is it?”

“Testament. Well done, Naruze-sama. I had heard you had continued with your love of art and I am pleased to find you have not lost your knack for shapes.”

“Did I…use to do things like this?”

Ten years was too long ago to remember. But she couldn’t say that time didn’t matter because this girl had essentially come from that time.

“We all knew you were drawing Naito-sama while pretending to draw the flower beds.”

…Ahhhhhhhhh!

How dare she. She really is an enemy. A real nemesis.

“Margot, sh-she’s-! She’s-!”

“Ga-chan, Ga-chan, I already knew, so calm down, okay?”

Naruze looked over to see a broad smile on Nobunaga’s face. It was the innocent look of a child after a successful prank.

…Maybe this really is a class reunion.

Meanwhile, Nobunaga tapped the giant arm she had ejected.

“When the Logismoi Oplo are combined with Olos Phtonos instead of being used individually, they became ‘the deadly sins’ as a single entity. The preparatory ether material used to activate their effects is instead used to temporarily evolve them. And when fired in this state – just like your Vice President suggested – it instead admonishes the deadly sins as evil. You could call it a true lecture weapon…or a judgment weapon.”

…Dark Horizon is as bad at naming things as the real one.

Gold Mar: “It just occurred to me. From her coloration, would Nobunaga be Darkizon? I feel like someone said that before.”

Horizey: “Then that would make me Lightizon. Does that make me condensed milk? Or maybe white bean paste?”

Oh, does that make her smooth red bean paste? wondered Naruze, but she was curious about something else.

“Horizon? I’m pretty sure you’ve activated Olos Phtonos, so can you do that too?”

Horizon dismissively waved a hand in front of her face.

“No, this is all news to me.”

“Unsurprising,” said Nobunaga. “Once all of those are activated, they will form a humanoid figure 400m tall. …And while we have chosen to settle things here, this was all developed after the Logismoi Oplo were, meaning you will not have any way of responding in kind.

“But,” she said, “I am ‘stuck’ with this. I cannot rewrite the OS. Not so for you. I don’t know if Lord Motonobu saw some other possibility in that, but he left your Logismoi Oplo untouched, giving you greater freedom.”

Nobunaga smiled a little.

“Now that we have met, we will influence each other. My lack of freedom will look powerful compared to your freedom, but seeing you like this makes me more aware of how little freedom I have. …Even now I am feeling envious.”

“Then why not come join us? It’s not too late.”

This came from the Chancellor. He tilted his head as he continued.

“There’re a lot more people who would like it if you joined us.”

His words brought a change to Nobunaga’s expression.

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she smiled.

“Thank you for saying so, Toori-sama.”

●

Oh, thought Asama. This is just like 10 years ago.

The old Horizon had been a harsh joke critic and had spoken her mind without restraint. This had caused plenty of misunderstandings, but like Suzu had often said, the glimpses of her true self that escaped were so very kind and they contained an accepting sort of honesty.

Her position as Lord Motonobu’s illegitimate child meant she was accepted wherever she went, but she had made it clear she didn’t let that dull her senses.

She had seemed to build walls between herself and others, but she had also trusted them. This reaction reminded Asama of that.

The current Horizon had that side to her as well, but…

“Asama-sama, could you forcibly open up Olos Phtonos’s linkage line?”

“Um, well, I don’t think forcing it would accomplish much. But I will look into it later.”

And Asama asked a question of her own because she was curious.

“Um, may I ask something, Nobunaga? I am Asama. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, of course, Asama-sama. I have received so many updates related to you. …Congratulations, by the way.”

“For…what?”

“I hear you have finally achieved a blissful marriage with Toori-sama. You have been taking his hand and pulling him along since elementary school, so I was so relieved when the news arrived.”

…Now I understand Naruze’s quiet groan from before!

Kimi patted her shoulder from behind, so Asama brushed her off. Mitotsudaira took a step away to avoid being dragged into this, which seemed wise. However…

“U-um, uh…that body was originally Horizon’s, correct?”

“Are you wondering if I can return it to Horizon herself?”

“Yes,” confirmed Asama. After a pause, Nobunaga shook her head.

“This body is still greatly influenced by its injuries, so it can only function for about two hours a day. It contains many artificial organs and the P-01m OS works to control those. P-01s, your soul lacks that ability, so if you did join with this body, the body would cease to function and you would die. It would probably be possible to create a copy of my control system as a subsystem and include that along with your soul, but my system could only function if it had the same privileges as your soul, which would likely lead to conflicts.”

“Judge. So creating me as a biological automaton based on that body was a compromise, wasn’t it?” asked Horizon.

Nobunaga inclined her head.

“Correct. I was given this body in order to create another set of Logismoi Oplo, so my ability to live a normal life was not taken into consideration. At first, there was no plan to strengthen the Logismoi Oplo, so the idea was to take on the Apocalypse from two different directions: your freedom and my solidity.”

And…

“When I received your memories, I statistically extracted the emotions from them. So while my judgment weapons came after your P-01s weapons, their functions are more compact.”

●

Nobunaga smiled on the inside as she said this.

Her emotions were created from the memories she had been given. Yes, which meant…

“I have remembered your past over and over again for the past ten years. While this was to create my Logismoi Oplo, it was also a strange but edifying experience for me. I reviewed those memories millions or even billions of times to understand them, yet it strangely took me no time at all to determine the process made me ‘happy’.”

She doubted any of them thought of her so strongly.

But she did have her one-way feelings for them.

Even before she awoke. Because while she slept, she had already been automatically viewing those memories as dreams.

She had dreamt of the six years before entering elementary school. And the slightly more than a year after.

During that time, she had never doubted her happiness, almost like it was her duty to be happy.

And now she felt like it was all appearing before her again.

“But I was not trapped inside the entire time. I took on Hashiba’s form.”

She had put in a lot of work in that form.

“P-02m. Because of my body’s limitations, that semi-autonomous outside-interaction unit was created to directly witness the emotional realities that I could not. Of course, to protect me, the P-01m side was stronger and P-02m did not have complete freedom, but even so, seeing all of you for the first time like that was such a joyful yet painful experience.”

“You mean the Battle of Mikatagahara?” asked the Musashi Vice President.

Nobunaga nodded.

“You understand now why Hashiba must so strictly follow the history recreation, right?”

Because…

“That was to show me every aspect of humanity without outside interference and to reduce the burden on Destiny as much as possible.”

“Now, hold on.”

He raised his hand. She already knew more or less what he was going to say.

…I did some awful things.

She had lost count of how many people she had killed. Hashiba had governed well, but that had meant some people benefited while others suffered losses. She would accept any criticism he gave.

And as she prepared herself for that…

“You have emotions, right?”

“Eh? Um, yes.”

“Then it must have hurt, right? You must’ve wondered why only you had to do those things.”

She immediately reacted to his words.

With tears spilling from her eyes.

●

“You made her cryyyyy!!”

Mitotsudaira saw everyone pointing at her king.

…L-leave it to him!

Making the final boss cry was one hell of a skill. But it was definitely a skill he would have.

Ten years ago, he had experienced the same bitterness. And she too had rejected herself, just not to the same extent.

The others likely had their own examples. But no one wanted to write it off as “it happens to everyone”.

Your feelings were your own. So everyone would feel frustrated and impatient when they felt helpless.

…It comes down to that “only me” feeling.

And her king definitely had something he wanted to say. They had lost much at the Battle of Mikatagahara.

But now, he said something else.

“It’s good that you can cry.”

Some might consider those tears to be a convenient out. They would have seen Nobunaga as crying to avoid responsibility for what she had done. However…

“When you’re the only one left, you have to save yourself or there’d truly be no one left.”

●

Ookubo saw Yoshiyasu collapse backwards with a groan.

They were on the usual stairs in front of the academy. Kanou was there too with a tea party set designed to be carried on the back and she was busy serving tea, but when Yoshiyasu arrived…

“Damn…”

“What now? Are the meeting minutes too much of a shock for you?”

“No, it’s just that I know I’m the one who has a right to make accusations here.”

Still lying on her back, Yoshiyasu looked to the blue god of war in the starboard schoolyard.

Righteousness’s overhaul was complete and was now on standby in case it was needed in the fight against the Azuchi, but…

“There’s the direct reasons like Yoshiyori and what happened during the Kantou Liberation. But Satomi has entered a new era and everyone’s approaching satisfaction there.”

So…

“I’m one who was saved and thus ‘left behind’. It’s not that I’ve forgotten about Yoshiyori or my sister, but…”

“When you’re satisfied, your old grudges fade, don’t they? Unless you want to use those old grudges for something, contentment is a major factor in getting over the past.”

“Are you accusing me of something?”

“No, that is a valid form of politics. I even used my arm in that way. …Looking back, I was being naive as a politician. The past won’t carry you in the future unless you are relentless about it.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t an accusation. Damn…”

“Is this about your family? Do you want to erect a memorial for them? Musashi has plenty of fastening spells.”

“No, thanks. Going that far would feel like favoritism.”

Oh, so she knows she shows favoritism, thought Ookubo, but she also smiled bitterly.

“It’s going to be a while yet before you can activate that white god of war, isn’t it?”

Yoshiyasu threw her arms up above her head. Seeing that, Ookubo returned her gaze to her sign frame.

“But what is this? I was suspicious when Nobunaga first claimed to be the original Vicereine…but then she said Lord Motonobu was involved. For her, this must be like a class reunion that was only allowable in this situation.”

“What do you mean only allowable in this situation?”

“I mean that Nobunaga is dedicated to the history recreation. That means she will die at Honnouji. And let’s not forget the Genesis Project. …I’m sure there’s more to it than we know, but all the preparation and resolve this must have taken for her is why she could create this time for herself.”

Meaning…

“Doesn’t this feel like her way of saying goodbye?”

●

“That should have answered Tenzou-sama’s 1st and 2nd questions, so let’s move on to the 3rd. That was about ‘ending it but not letting it end’.”

Nobunaga sucked in a breath and opened her mouth. She knew they weren’t going to agree with this part.

…This was fun.

She had waited ten years for this chance and she had finally found it here. Now that they could no longer influence any of this, she knew exactly what to tell them.

“Do you know what will happen when Destiny’s personality is destroyed? If you were to eliminate the mold for water from the ley lines, then all water would vanish from the world. So what if that happens to Destiny – or rather, her personality?”

The answer was simple.

“Destiny as a concept will remain, so the world will also remain. The people will remain too. But what about anything that came about because Destiny had a personality? All things born from that – all things linked to Destiny’s personality, will disappear along with that personality.”

What exactly would that eliminate?

“Civilization, culture, ideology, religion, language, and even the relationships between people will all be reset to zero, but it can all be redone. That is what it means to end it but not let it end.”

●

At first, Asama didn’t understand what Nobunaga meant.

…Anything connected to destiny’s personality?

Destiny had been given a personality to help people. If that meant that all people had been influenced by destiny…

“Heh heh. So if we think of it as all people owing destiny money…then correcting the world will also mean leaving everyone penniless. And while money and the places used to earn money will remain, no one will know how to make money.”

Kimi was right. What Nobunaga meant gradually sank in for the others, so they started exchanging looks.

And Nobunaga continued.

“Most likely, the world will reach a helpless state. Not even the gods will be able to escape this effect, so religion and spells will no longer provide any assistance. We predict the state of the world will change and the population will fall drastically.”

But…

“That is better than losing everything to the Apocalypse. …Lord Motonobu and the others arrived at that decision and created me.”

“Wait a moment,” said Asama on reflex. “Not revealing what the Genesis Project entails wasn’t very fair, was it? If people knew how you were going to stop the Apocalypse, lots of them would have tried to stop you.”

“If we had done that, we would have met the same fate as Akechi-sama.”

Asama knew what that had to mean.

…The Double Border Crest.

She felt like saying that aloud would cause it to appear. Fortunately, Nobunaga seemed to know what she was thinking.

“That appears to the people who once tried to stop Destiny’s suicide and those related to them. That is Destiny taking people away both so they will not stop her suicide and to keep her company.”

So…

“If we went public with the Genesis Project, we and anyone who agreed with our plan would be taken away. This applies both to the Genesis Project and any other way of ‘stopping’ Destiny. Once a method is both effective and being actively worked on, Destiny will move to interfere.” Nobunaga nodded once. “She too is desperate. She is like a child begging to be left alone.”

“Then,” said Asama. “Is there no better way?”

“I have not been ordered to find one. That is not what I was made for. So if possible…um, I would like for you to find one.”

Everyone looked to Horizon.

Horizon dismissively waved a hand in front of her face.

“I wasn’t ordered to do anything at all, so I’m free to do whatever I want.”

“Yes,” nodded Nobunaga before tilting her head and smiling sadly. “But that isn’t a very useful answer.”

It really isn’t, is it?

●

“I can’t believe this,” complained Asama while Mitotsudaira had to rethink a few things.

…So Nobunaga sees the Genesis Project as her role, but she hopes there is another solution.

“The Genesis Project is too risky. And…”

She looked to her king. And to Horizon. Then to Asama, Kimi, and the others.

…All these relationships will disappear?

She had done a lot of fighting with her mother, but that too would disappear.

Even if she saw them again, they would be strangers. And without language, they would have a hard time communicating.

“It’s the collapse of Babel. The people earned the wrath of god, the world lost all language, and the people lamented,” said Masazumi.

“It will also affect the 2nd moon, so it is expected to cause a great flood on the surface,” said Nobunaga. “That is why P-02m distributed materials and transport ships across the Far East. She took Kantou in order to leave materials and ships there. …Even if the people do not know how to use them, they will know they can use them for shelter.”

“I see the Genesis Project is aptly named.”

It was starting to sound like everything had been in preparation for this.

“But,” said Nobunaga. “All sorrow, rage, and other painful feelings will be erased too. So many people lose their loved ones in this age, so being freed from those feelings could be seen as a plus.”

“I oppose this.”

A plain voice rang out. It was Horizon’s.

“I fully oppose your idea.”

●

Horizon spoke.

“I recently learned that sorrow, rage, other painful feelings, and your own past mistakes can all be looked back upon in happiness if you live on. But if you erase them as if none of it ever happened, then it loses all meaning.”

And there was something else she wanted to say most of all.

“Executing the personality given to destiny means destiny will effectively die. …I cannot support a solution that means killing destiny.”

“Then what will you do?”

“Judge,” she replied, holding her head high. “I will ask that someone – someone other than me – finds a better solution.”

Everyone stared at her in disbelief, but she chose to ignore them.

Chapter 62: The Honnouji Weirdos[edit]

How

In the world

Did this happen?

Point Allocation (Positive Thinking!)

●

What am I supposed to do about this? worried Masazumi as she heard a quiet laugh from Nobunaga.

“I like your answer. Staying hidden to avoid influencing you was worth it after all. But…”

Nobunaga tilted her head before asking a question.

“I am impressed you knew the Genesis Project would be happening here at Honnouji. What kind of investigation did you run to figure that one out? Did you send in spies and such?”

…Wait, how did we figure it out?

Masazumi looked to the others, who tilted her heads and exchanged glances. The sign frame group joined in too.

Unturning: “Come to think of it, I don’t remember doing any real investigation of the site.”

Worshiper: “Judge. Thinking back, I’m not sure when we made that determination.”

Asama: “Oh, I think it was when I made a connection between the full moon and the lucky days.”

Vice President: “No, there was an earlier hint related to the ‘end it but not let it end’ thing.”

“Oh,” said Naomasa. The view on her sign frame showed she was on Musashino’s bridge.

Smoking Girl: “It was at Sanada. During our camp there, we were sharing our thoughts on the Apocalypse and I recall discussing the possibility while tending to the fire.”

Silver Wolf: “I remember that! Then we pulled my mother into the discussion, we ended up looking into P.A. Oda’s ley line and ether consumption trends, and we decided it had to be at Honnouji.”

Vice President: “And because that discussion was being relayed to other nations, most nations began equating Honnouji with the Genesis Project.”

“Then,” said Naito, raising her hand. “I’d rather not say this, but…”

“Yeah…” said the others, ready for what she was going to say. And say it she did.

“We didn’t do any official investigating or gather any definitive evidence, did we?”

●

Nobunaga couldn’t wait to find out how her friends from a decade ago had investigated this secret project and arrived here. She was eager to hear all about their struggles if they were willing to share. And…

“Sorry, but hear me out. Um, you want to know how we decided the Honnouji Incident was the Genesis Project and why we decided to show up here?”

“Testament. I would love to know.”

She subconsciously leaned forward in excitement. The Musashi Vice President raised her right hand and hung her head.

“I suppose you could call it group psychology or maybe it was speculation layered on speculation. If I had to describe it further, I guess we discussed the issue and thought that sounded like a reasonable answer. So it was all one big assumption. We had no actual evidence.”

It took a few seconds for that to sink in for Nobunaga. And after another few seconds of thought, she finally reacted.

“Eh?”

●

Gold Mar: “She gave us another ‘eh’.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. We attack another nation and barge in to face their leader! And why!? Because of a baseless assumption! Baseless! Tasteless! Graceless! Oh, dear. Does this make us idiots!? Well, only one way to save face now: declare war!”

Vice President: “No! No war! That would only deepen our shame!”

Art-Ga: “So is this that thing where a nation thinks another nation has illegal weapons of mass destruction and invades only to find there aren’t any?”

10ZO: “Except in our case they were actually there.”

Silver Wolf: “Does that even matter when we had no evidence?”

●

Masazumi heard laughter. Directed at them.

It felt more like Nobunaga was laughing at them than with them. And after looking up to check on the activity in the sky, she looked back down at them.

“You really haven’t changed.”

“I couldn’t say since I wasn’t with them in your time, but I agree they haven’t made much progress.”

“That goes for you too, Seijun!” added the idiot.

“Very well.” Nobunaga smiled and crossed her arms. “It is nearly time. Let us begin.”

“Can I ask one more thing?”

“What might that be?”

“Do we have another chance left?”

Nobunaga’s expression shifted. The smile slowly vanished as she stared intently at them.

“To be honest, this can no longer be stopped. Even if you do stop me, the Honnouji system will kick in to support the process. The Genesis Project was designed for instant activation and guaranteed completion.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

That brought the smile back to Nobunaga’s lips.

“How much of the process do you understand?”

“Well.” Masazumi nodded and corrected her posture. “Based on what you told us about the lecture weapons, it sounded like you only had to destroy the 2nd moon with your improved Logismoi Oplo. But I take it there’s more to it than that.”

“The 2nd moon only acts as a vessel for Destiny’s personality, which is a collection of ether. Destroying it will leave her with nowhere to escape, but it will not execute the personality. Our investigation says that will only allow it to dissipate.”

“In that case,” said Masazumi. “You will offer up a skull at Golgotha. That is, you will hold an execution here and offer that up to the moon. I don’t know how it will happen…”

But she did know one thing.

“But this project requires your death.”

So…

“To prevent destiny’s death and your death, Musashi will stop the Genesis Project in accordance with our usual policy. That is our final decision.”

“If so.” Nobunaga nodded. “Then just out of curiosity, I have one question. …Toori-sama.”

Nobunaga raised her gaze to view the idiot back behind Masazumi. Masazumi looked back to see the idiot with his hands in his pockets, but he didn’t just have Horizon with him. Asama, Mitotsudaira, and the Aoi Sister were all there.

They were in their battle formation to handle it if anything were to happen.

Nobunaga narrowed her eyes in a smile as she asked the idiot a question.

“Am I Horizon Ariadust?”

●

“No, you’re not.”

Nobunaga heard his immediate answer.

There was a fair amount of distance between them, but he was there in front of her. She felt bad for putting that troubled look on his face.

“Horizon’s right here. You’re an automaton who took great care of her old memories – which I’m really thankful for, by the way. But when you were watching us from inside Hashiba, you were separated from those memories, weren’t you?”

“Toori-dono, since when can you think so logically!?”

“Don’t be dumb. I function on way more complex logic than your ‘if busty blonde, then jump for joy’. My logic has me crawling along the floor if I even catch a glimpse!”

The “real” Horizon elbowed him in the side and he doubled over, but he recovered quickly.

“In that sense, you’re like Horizon’s old memories taking on a life of their own. But that can become a thing of the past and you can become your own person in no time. And if you’re having trouble there, we can take you around and show you all sorts of stuff. So come join us.”

This made her sigh. If anything, the sigh was filled with disappointment, but she also gained something far greater.

“I really am Nobunaga, aren’t I?”

That was a relief. She drew the sword at her hip and readied it.

“I am not afraid to die.”

She moved to pierce herself with the blade.

Looking up, she confirmed the pillar of light was just about reaching the 2nd moon. And sign frames appeared around her.

<Activation: authorized>

Three more sign frames appeared overhead: a sword, a mirror, and a jewel.

These had been developed in the Imperial Palace to control the environmental gods through the Emperor.

At this point, she had already snared her target. So…

“––––––”

If she died here, her death would reach Destiny.

●

Mitotsudaira sensed pride in how everyone instantly took action.

She ran, Futayo followed, and the rest used guns or spells to try and stop Nobunaga’s blade or hands.

But they were all stopped.

“Defense barriers!”

Lots of small, antipersonnel barriers opened all at once. They were ejected to catch Futayo on the legs and elsewhere, while they focused more on Excalibur than Mitotsudaira herself.

“That won’t stop us!”

Mitotsudaira yanked on the sword as she raced on. More defense barriers appeared, but…

…I’m still closing in!

They all moved forward while talking. It felt a lot like during training, but that was to ensure the time they spent preparing wouldn’t go to waste.

They found ways to approach without triggering the defense and security systems. And they prepared spells or weapons. They used their experience of being stopped from approaching Hashiba to successfully approach this time.

They spent time and did what it took to move in and stop Nobunaga. So…

Asama: “She is a vessel! Much like the Emperor, Nobunaga intends to act as a vessel for destiny’s personality! She understands emotions, but only in the statistical sense of an automaton because she was created for the Logismoi Oplo. A vessel that understands emotions but doesn’t actually have them is perfect for accepting destiny’s personality!”

So Mitotsudaira understood what was going to happen.

Silver Wolf: “Nobunaga is using the pillar of light to access the 2nd moon. And while linked with destiny’s personality, she simply has to kill herself!”

Destroying the moon with the Logismoi Oplo wasn’t necessary.

She herself was Olos Phtonos and a vessel. So to function as a judgment weapon, she only had to summon destiny’s personality into herself and kill herself as a form of lecture.

And if it had all been brought together…

“Here it comes!”

A great form emerged from behind Nobunaga. The white winged shape resembled a god of war.

It was 400m tall.

…Is this what the huge stage was for!?

It was made up of a right arm, a left arm, a torso, wings, and two legs. Each component was made from a key bone, such as a shoulder blade or ulna, and they were all ejected in a position that guarded Nobunaga where she stood directly below them.

They all fit together.

The white whole stood as if reaching up toward the light overhead.

And ether light dropped from the center of the pillar in the sky, as if reaching a hand down toward Nobunaga. So…

“Let’s do this!”

Mitotsudaira slipped past the defense barriers, slashing through them when necessary.

The ground had begun to tremor. The light above was definitely shining brighter.

Scarred: “Master Tenzou! The crust around the ley lines is being stripped away!”

Mitotsudaira could already see what was happening.

Nobunaga accessing the moon had caused a reaction in the earth. But…

“You will not reach me in time.”

As the light from heaven picked Nobunaga up to carry her away and she tried to pierce herself with her blade, everyone raised their voices as one.

“Now!”

“Eh?”

Nobunaga looked their way just as Horizon, being held up by Persona-kun, shouted.

“Horizon Memorial Attack!”

A right arm burst from the smoke still hanging over the stage and performed an alley-oop to send the memorial stone toward Nobunaga.

It scored a direct hit.

●

“Um…I’m not complaining exactly, but did we just hit an injured girl with a gravestone?”

“I-it stopped her, didn’t it!?”

“I must admit it felt truly wonderful to use the rest of you as a diversion so I could hit her after all that ‘you will never reach me in time, mwah ha ha’ taunting.”

●

Nobunaga stood up and realized she no longer held her blade.

The previous stone attack had been surprisingly effective. That was the first time anyone had done that to her. Not too surprising, I suppose.

The beam of light stretching down from the pillar had vanished. Furthermore…

“Oh…”

All of the boosted Logismoi Oplo that had been protecting her had vanished from behind and overhead.

The safeties had kicked in after her failed suicide. And…

“–––––”

A giant insha kotob was ejected overhead, but it shattered.

The being that had severed its link to the 2nd moon and started approaching her had instead fled in a hurry.

A massive amount of ether light fell around her like snow.

It had no heat and made quiet metallic sounds while she saw something.

<Genesis Project: Primary Process Failed: Access Denied: Shifting to Secondary Process: Confirmed>

The backup plan would begin now.

This wasn’t over yet. And they must have understood this. Because…

“Hold it!”

They hadn’t stopped their charge.

●

Asama read the sign frames that started appearing all around.

…Any major undertaking like this will have a few safeties in place to ensure it’s completed in some form even if something goes wrong!

Nobunaga’s suicide had been meant to directly trigger the beginning, but the right hand had stopped that. Good girl.

Nobunaga could not kill herself without her sword. She still had her link to the 2nd moon, but since she was the Logismoi Oplo, it likely mattered that her suicide happen while she was conscious.

…Because that delivers her intent to die into to destiny’s personality.

That had nearly worked. A light had definitely descended from above while that giant god-of-war-like thing stood below. That light must have been Nobunaga’s link with destiny.

But her suicide had failed.

Destiny’s personality must have fled in a hurry. The massive amount of ether light would be the lingering traces of destiny’s personality.

While attempting a slow death, she had nearly been killed by a lecture. Even if she did want death, she wouldn’t have wanted that.

So the backup had kicked in.

“This is worse than before.”

Naomasa, who was on Musahino’s bridge, was sending in an analysis of the surrounding sign frames.

“Honnouji is ascending along the pillar of light. The engine division speculates this is meant to carry Nobunaga up to the 2nd moon as a vessel after she is made to kill herself down here. Then once destiny’s personality has been called into Nobunaga, the Logismoi Oplo will activate and that will destroy both Nobunaga and the 2nd moon.”

Art-Ga: “Isn’t that a lot more destructive than their Plan A?”

Gold Mar: “Now that destiny has figured out what’s going on and run away, they have to hunt her down.”

Smoking Girl: “Probably so. So unlike the first attempt, destiny’s personality will be extracted into Nobunaga using a spell. While the first attempt would have been instantaneous, this will take time, but the Genesis Project will eventually activate.”

Laborer: “How much time do we have?”

Asama: ‘I think it’s related to the phases of the moon, so I don’t think it will happen right away. Even if she’s brought up there now, the 2nd moon has already passed by.”

Asama felt a great burden on her shoulders as she said the words.

…I don’t know how long I can actually delay it, but…

“Hurry, everyone! I’ll do what I can to interfere!”

●

Nobunaga sensed the situation moving on to the next phase.

No matter what happened, the Genesis Project would adapt and continue.

But the others were still rushing toward her.

Some, like Naito and Naruze, were firing toward her and they refused to stop even as they broke through the barriers opened by the defense system.

…If any of those hit me, they’ll kill me!

Had they gotten their means and ends confused?

“But it won’t work.”

She might fail to physically die, but her OS as P-01m would still induce death.

If she shut down her life support management, she would die.

She had several safeties like that. But…

“Wait!”

Mitotsudaira ran this way. So did the Musashi Vice Chancellor who Nobunaga didn’t know very well.

…Yes.

She understood. For the past 10 years, especially after their Horizon had joined them at the Battle of Mikawa, they must have been constantly saving people like they were attempting to do with her now.

Good.

He and she were running this way among the rest.

And she opened an insha kotob. It would let her shut down her OS’s life support management. But just as she was about to press the button…

“I won’t let you!”

She activated a Logismoi Oplo: Phos Kenodoxia.

That boosted defense power to the max, so…

“Asama-sama!”

On that instruction, Asama skillfully activated a small defense barrier between Nobunaga’s hand and her insha kotob.

She couldn’t press the button. And the absolute solidity of that barrier meant…

“She is the same as we used to be! So…I will protect her as if she were me!”

Those words brought tears to Nobunaga’s eyes. And then it happened.

He spoke too.

“Hey! It’s dangerous up there!”

So…

“Come here!”

●

That was enough for Nobunaga.

She understood. She had spent the past 10 years remembering the past. As Hashiba, she had gained her own companions, but she had also felt a need to follow the Testament.

She had believed that she had to die as Nobunaga. But…

“You mean…I don’t have to die?”

“Of course you don’t!!” he shouted. He was falling behind the others, but she could hear him clearly. “No one was born to die, idiot!”

“Yes.”

He was right. She believed that.

She hadn’t lived all this time just to die.

But then what had she lived for?

…For all of them.

She had heard Hashiba’s Ten Spears had finished at Shizugatake and were rushing here.

Were they all okay? Had they grown?

What had happened to Shibata and Oichi? She had nothing but thanks for Maeda, Sassa, and the other great upperclassmen who had helped her. Not to mention Matthias, Niwa, and so many more.

“Thank you so much.”

Something happened as she spoke the words. The insha kotobs around her suddenly distorted and vanished.

…External interference!?

Was someone accessing her OS?

“I will stop this!”

It was Asama and her. She had opened up her P-01s OS and Asama was using that to establish a divine transmission link with Nobunaga that she could use to hack in.

Incredible. How determined are they to stop me?

These people refused to allow death.

“Toori-sama.”

Nobunaga spoke to him as he arrived in front of the stage.

“My old memories end with you reaching out your hand to me,” she told him. “I was so happy then. You must have been so embarrassed, but just because you thought you had hurt my feelings, you chased after me. I could tell just how much you cared about me. So I say this because I care about you and do not want you caught up in this.”

She spoke directly to him.

“Stay away.”

He immediately yelled back at her.

“Shut up!”

He tried to climb into the stage but couldn’t quite make it.

“Um, hey, Nate? Little help? Yeah, yeah, gently, though, gently.”

After being gently lifted up, he roared at Nobunaga.

“I got over that remorse ages ago, you dumbass! And you’re not Horizon! If you don’t get that, then until you figure it out, you should, um, wait, um…you’re Nobunaga, so you’re doing the history recreation of your death, aren’t you? Crap, what do we do about that? …Oh, right. You can give up your inherited name.”

●

Art-Ga: “This has to be one of history’s worst attempts at persuasion.”

Gold Mar: “His brain must be out of breath.”

Me: “Heyyyyy! Be a little nicer when you insult me!”

Asama: “Um, Toori-kun? We really don’t have time for this.”

●

Nobunaga made up her mind. These people would do everything in their power to stop her from dying.

And she agreed that she had not been born to die.

Her old memories had brought her here.

…Thank you.

She had been worried that the last of those memories had been holding him back.

But it wasn’t. He could live on even when she had told him to stay away.

So now she had no regrets and no remorse. She was satisfied.

“Yes.”

She had made up her mind.

She had not been born to die.

She felt she had been born to protect these people.

She wanted to protect the people connected to her and all the people with the possibility of becoming so.

She wanted as many of her relationships to survive even if all the world’s relationships would eventually vanish.

Whatever might happen to the world, she alone held the one and only possibility of letting everyone survive.

And when Honnouji’s main system activated the process instead of her…

“–––––”

Her OS forcibly shut down her life support management system.

Nobunaga had stopped. And…

<Obstacle elimination: forced transfer: execute: confirmed>

Everyone around her suddenly disappeared.

●

Mary sensed wind. She felt something like a sudden heat.

…Oh.

She looked back just as the others were ejected from empty air.

“A spatial transfer!?”

They had been forcibly removed from the center of Honnouji.

Honnouji would now use the rising pillar of light to reach the 2nd moon. And so it had transferred them away to eliminate all unnecessary risk.

…That was a ley line transfer. That shows just how close we are to the ley lines here.

Some managed to land on their feet and others didn’t, but…

“Kh!”

They all tried to get back through Honnouji’s main entrance again. However…

“Watch out!” shouted Mary as she and all the others were blasted outwards.

Something massive left the ground at the center of Honnouji. The accompanying blast slammed everything outwards.

…Was that…?

The center of Honnouji had begun to ascend. That was all.

●

This destruction had been prepared in advance.

Honnouji’s structure – which had a diameter of 2km – along with the 8 ley line reactors and the underground portion, was pulled up toward the sky.

Honnouji didn’t have any kind of propulsion of its own. The pillar of ether light created to link with the moon had supplied the large structure this ascending force.

The central domed hall and the 8 ley line reactors below rose into the night sky all at once.

Partway up, the surface dome began to self-destruct in order to reduce the weight needing to ascend. And as it left the ley lines, the reactors lost their ether supply and began to weaken. Once they ceased to function altogether, they too were discarded.

With the supply and output of power gone, the pillar of light also disappeared.

Just as that happened, Honnouji cast off its crust portion and excess, leaving behind only the frame and the center.

As the remnants of the dome scattered in the high-elevation winds, several insha kotobs formed rows in the space surrounding the center.

The rows of spells rotated like orbit lines and provided support in place of the ether pillar, stabilizing the whole.

The Musashi fired on it from below, but it simply defended against the attack.

<Ascending course: attitude control: established: execute>

It rapidly grew more distant as it rose.

On the surface, it could be seen as far away as Oushuu and Kyushu, so effectively every force in the Far East realized two things.

First, the Honnouji Incident was complete and Nobunaga was dead.

Second…

“So it came down to Plan B! This delays the Genesis Project, but it also guarantees it. Sounds like high damage, high return to me!” shouted Takenaka aboard the Azuchi.

She knew the Genesis Project could no longer be stopped.

“But I know some people out there will try to stop it anyway. If we have the strength leftover, we should go on the attack! Ending this now can only help us. …We can see the Musashi out ahead! All hands, get to your battle stations!”

Final Chapter: Victor in the Moonlight[edit]

She left me

She tried to protect me

She said goodbye with a smile

But I won’t give up

Point Allocation (None Of Us Will)

●

Nobunaga still had a shred of consciousness left.

Her life support management had been stopped, but her body’s energy stores wouldn’t vanish right away.

There was nothing around her.

…Oh.

The spell circling Honnouji had her body fixed in midair.

She was effectively nailed to a cross. This really was Golgotha. But this was how she had wanted it to end.

And when she looked down to the surface from this height…

“––––”

She could see more than just Kyou. There was Shikoku, Mikawa, and Shinshu too. She was still rising, so she would eventually be able to see all of the Far East, and probably the outer world as well.

She doubted she would still be conscious then.

But there was something else she could see.

On the ground far below, she saw lights, populated areas, and cities.

She saw large towns, Kyou, Osaka, and past that she could even see the shape of the roads in M.H.R.R.

People she had never seen or met lived there.

And she would now be protecting them all.

Her method was flawed.

The world and its people would remain, but all friendships and even familial relationships would be gone. Along with losing their memories, they would lose their languages, writing systems, cultures, civilizations, spells, and even gods. All those connections would be severed and they would not return on their own.

This form of salvation didn’t just affect history and nations – it meant the loss of individual identity.

The world would likely be in turmoil afterward. Power would take over and the world would take on a new form.

No one would remember what she had done.

But this was the only available method.

So she would do it. If no one did it, the world would end.

…Yes.

With her ascension, the world wouldn’t have to end.

I have one question, god. Oh, but I don’t mean the gods who actually respond when you call them. And I don’t mean Destiny either. If there is something bigger out there…

…Did I fulfill my role?

The Genesis Project wasn’t complete yet. But she was ensuring it would be.

“––––”

She sensed her consciousness fading while her eyes gazed upon all that she held dear.

And she wondered if she was living up to his example when he tried to save her 10 years ago.

●

Asama and the others looked up into the sky until Honnouji had risen too high to see.

They were on a transport ship carrying them back to the Musashi. The one waiting for them had moved between them and Honnouji to shield them from the earlier blast. Without that…

…We would have been pulled in by the suction caused by the newly formed hole and that would have been a disaster.

They had waited until the wind died down and now they were flying back to the Musashi. Honnouji was already high in the sky and climbing higher.

They could track the flying structure. They could estimate where it was going. But…

…I just can’t seem to relax.

Everyone was muttering comments of “damn” or “hell”.

They were stewing. But this wasn’t like at Mikatagahara. Instead of anger to mask their anxieties, this anger was directed at their own uselessness.

“We need a plan,” said Masazumi and everyone gave her a sharp look and nodded.

Horizon pointed up into the sky.

“Um, the memory album of my first 7 or 8 years of life and the bearer of my body and guts is currently ascending toward he moon. What’s the usual response to that?”

“Not sure anyone will have an answer for that one.”

Naito’s response was understandable. And Suzu spoke quietly from the Musashino bridge.

“I wish…we could have…spoken with her more.”

Would they have another chance? Asama didn’t know if her OS could be restarted.

She had wanted death, but when she couldn’t achieve it herself, the system had taken over.

Musashi had been here to stop that, but they had lost.

She heard a definite sigh come from him. And…

“We now know that my awful father has accumulated many more crimes in a greater variety of fields than we had previously thought. I wish I could give him a fierce talking to, but unfortunately nothing of him remains. As for my body…”

“Does it bother you that she took your body away like that?”

“No. From what she said, it sounds like this body is far more convenient. Regaining that one would only be a nuisance and I lack any memory of being in that body anyway. Still…I do wish I could have more thoroughly compared my awful father’s handiwork to the natural one.”

Mitotsudaira spat out the water she had been drinking. He turned around with his lips pursed.

“Hey, y’know, I did just get done saying she’s a stranger and you’re the real Horizon. Were you not listening? Is that it?”

“In that sense, she is a stranger. Even if her memories are mine. But,” said Horizon. “Those old memories link the two of us to all of you.”

“So is she like your alternate personality or something? That’s probably how she sees it. But,” he said. “She really shouldn’t try to die.”

Asama and Mitotsudaira exchanged a glance and nodded.

…That’s what’s actually on his mind.

Asama could tell that much. But he must have realized it slipped out because he immediately shrugged and…

“Your awful dad must not think an OS can have a soul. I bet he’s opposed to anthropomorphizing things.”

“You could say that’s why he asked an OS to do it. He could’ve had Horizon do it instead.”

“Oh, a supportive comment from Masazumi-sama. Now this is rare.”

“I guess,” said Masazumi with a bitter smile, so she must have known it was true. Then she pointed to the others. “With this, the Honnouji Incident is complete, but the Genesis Project remains and stopping it is going to be a challenge. The other nations are not going to be kind about this, so prepare yourselves.”

“Seijun, what’s the situation?”

“Oh,” said Asama. She opened a sign frame to show a summary of the measurements she had been taking. And with an “um”, she began speaking. “I can’t say for certain, but it looks like the Genesis Project won’t be completed right away anymore. I think the ending will come after one or two complete moon cycles. If I had to guess, the next full moon will be used to make the final adjustments and the process will actually be carried out at the full moon after that.”

“So until then…?”

“We will be in a tough spot until Westphalia at the end of October,” said Masazumi. “Also, the Azuchi is headed this way. We have to decide if we’re going to deal with them or not.”

We have so many enemies, thought Asama, but she chose not to say it out loud. Still, she was curious about one thing.

“Toori-kun?”

“Yeah?” he said, turning around. Oh, he really is forcing it, she realized when she saw his face.

It looked like he was forcing his usual intensity and Asama wondered if there was anything she could do to help.

So she made an effort to change the subject.

Horizon gave her a full-strength thumbs up of approval as she did so.

“Wasn’t that thing Nobunaga-san was wearing cute? You know, the feathers around the neck and the golden chains around the shoulders. I think Kimi was right about her copying you.”

“Yes, yes. And I saw she was wearing a boy’s long coat underneath her cloak,” said Mitotsudaira. “Her perfume smelled the same too. She even uses the same shampoo as you, my king.”

“Ho ho. Aren’t you Mr. Popular, Toori-sama?”

“When she takes it that far, isn’t it kind of stalkerish?” he said.

But he did finally smile bitterly, his shoulders relaxing.

…Yes.

His mood might dip and recover, but these waves would come whenever something happened.

Even if he knew Nobunaga was someone else, a relationship he had lost 10 years ago had vanished before his eyes yet again. Even if he had overcome his remorse, you never knew what was going to happen. Asama knew she and the others were there to help when he was feeling down, but they also had to support him before it came to that so he wouldn’t push himself too hard.

And after a breath, he spoke again.

“We will stop it.”

Asama knew what he meant.

“We will stop the Genesis Project and stop the Apocalypse. Seijun, take care of that, okay?”

“You make it sound so easy. But I guess paving the way is my job.”

“Yeah,” he said just before Kimi tugged on Asama and Mitotsudaira. Before they could react, Horizon was dragged over too to begin moshing with him.

“Heh heh. That’s right. We can’t just forget it all. Not when the fun part has only just begun. So…”

Everyone looked up into the sky as they listened to Kimi.

The pillar of white ether light was fading away like the tail of a comet.

“We must pursue the relationship that escaped us 10 years ago. We won’t let her escape into death. We will create a memorial and screw it in place, so I hope she’s ready. And while we’re at it, we can stop the Apocalypse too.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We won’t let her erase everything we have. We need to go and prove it to her. No matter what.”

–––We will stop it

Afterword[edit]

And that was Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon IX-B. First time one has been only two parts in a while. I wonder why that is. It seems like everything has been about the Honnouji Incident recently, but in a way that’s an unresolved case. After all, the motivation is unknown and the victim’s body wasn’t found. In modern times, it would be a really troublesome case.

In this period, Nobunaga was trying to strengthen his connection to the imperial court and since having the court’s approval was a lot like becoming a representative of the samurai, it feels like he was actually trying to go through the proper channels as he gathered power. That’s a lot trickier and more cultural than I would have expected from him. Makes me wonder if Hideyoshi’s power play where he crushed his opposition and only gained an official rank afterwards was his way of avoiding Nobunaga’s fate. In that sense, the way Ieyasu secured the position of shogun and used that to gather power may have been taking lessons from them both and also being mindful of the court.

Now for the usual chat.

“You can share some cringe stories from your school days if you want.”

“I don’t have much there, but there was that school vs. school music recital we did in elementary school.”

“School vs. school? Not class vs. class?”

“For some reason, we used a recital hall in the next city over. Anyway, I was one of the melodica players.”

“Oh, those things were you suck on the tube?”

“You don’t suck it. Anyway, your breaths carry more moisture than you think, so you have to clean it out. All the melodica players took theirs home the day before and I spent that night practicing and washing it out with water. When it was time for the recital, I started playing and mine stopped making any noise partway through.”

“So what happened?”

“I was wondering what the deal was, so I surreptitiously opened the air hole and shook it mid-performance and the water I’d used to wash it the night before squirted out of the air hole. The girl next to me screamed ‘eek, snot!’ and the entire stage panicked. Around five of the girls were so surprised they started crying in a chain reaction and the flute players fled to the top level of the tiered stage. I was all ‘It’s not snot! I swear it’s not!’, but our teacher threw me out anyway.”

“It’s a miracle you didn’t end up with Snot Boy as your nickname.”

Those nicknames can stick with you for a lifetime if you’re unlucky. Anyway, my work background music this time was Rebirth by Daita. That song reminds me of things when I look up at the large moon on a chilly night. This time I’ll leave you with this:

“Who made best use of the past?”

Next up will be more Hexennacht and GT as well as the Horizon phone game, so wait a while longer.

March 2016. A morning with much less pollen.

-Kawakami Minoru

Notes[edit]

↑ The Japanese name for the nandina literally means southern sky.

Back to Volume 9A

Return to Main Page

Forward to Volume 10A

[1] The Japanese name for the nandina literally means southern sky.

[1]

Horizon:Volume 9B

Cover Flap[edit]

Installation[edit]

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere - 9B[edit]

Characters[edit]

Festival Pamphlet[edit]

Characters[edit]

Glossary[edit]

A[edit]

B[edit]

C[edit]

D[edit]

E[edit]

F[edit]

G[edit]

H[edit]

I[edit]

J[edit]

K[edit]

L[edit]

M[edit]

N[edit]

O[edit]

P[edit]

Q[edit]

R[edit]

S[edit]

T[edit]

World[edit]

Study: Diagrams of the Battle of Shizugatake and the Honnouji Incident[edit]

Chapter 30: Runner on Unsure Footing[edit]

Chapter 31: Debaters Down Below[edit]

Chapter 32: Man of Character in the Conversation[edit]

Chapter 33: Outrageous Ones on the Battlefield[edit]

Chapter 34: Unknown Roarer[edit]

Chapter 35: Climbers Laying a Trap[edit]

Chapter 36: Commander in the Heights[edit]

Chapter 37: The Pair Off to the Side[edit]

Chapter 38: Bowing Girls at the Site of Reunion[edit]

Chapter 39: Ruler of the Formation[edit]

Chapter 40: Dead One at the Beheading[edit]

Chapter 41: Noisy One on the Stage of Divine Music[edit]

Chapter 42: High Altitude Fate Bringer[edit]

Chapter 43: Faller on the Battlefield[edit]

Chapter 44: Droppers Above and Below[edit]

Chapter 45: Sign Givers at the Starting Point[edit]

Chapter 46: Communicators on Standby[edit]

Chapter 47: Greeting Couple in the Shadows[edit]

Chapter 48: Near and Far Responders[edit]

Chapter 49: Straight Ahead Pursuer[edit]

Chapter 50: Fellow Countryman[edit]

Chapter 51: Unmoving Stable One[edit]

Chapter 52: Flower Blossoming in Position[edit]

Chapter 53: Enthusiastic Girl Making a Return[edit]

Chapter 54: Big One and Small One at the Festival[edit]

Chapter 55: Approaching Demon and Woman[edit]

Chapter 56: Crier on the Stage[edit]

Chapter 57: The Four in Pursuit[edit]

Chapter 58: The Shizugatake Couple[edit]

Chapter 59: Closed-In Gambler[edit]

Chapter 60: Greeter Before the Stage[edit]

Chapter 61: The Star of Honnouji[edit]

Chapter 62: The Honnouji Weirdos[edit]

Final Chapter: Victor in the Moonlight[edit]

Afterword[edit]

Notes[edit]

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