Horizon:Volume 9B Chapter 42

Chapter 42: High Altitude Fate Bringer

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.

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