Horizon:Volume 9A Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Attacker in the Darkness

You are meant to be there

You are going there

When you look back

That is a bottomless home of monsters

Point Allocation (Counterattack Begins)

●

Yoshiaki sighed in relief when the Azuchi’s side flip passed its peak.

“We’ve gotten through the entrance and the approach. From here on, we’re on the battlefield with the Shibata forces.”

She was in the sky above the 1st port ship. Angie was above the 1st starboard ship and they had both been using Zwei Fürstin in anti-ship mode to blast as much of the Sakuma fleet as they could manage, but…

…The final armor purge was a close one.

It had happened behind them, so they hadn’t been able to react.

Yoshiaki hadn’t expected the enemy to have multiple stages of tricks that could hold off the Azuchi’s main cannons. And…

“Even that small, a full surface purge of a warship isn’t normal.”

That pushed her and Angie back. The Ten Spears and the Azuchi’s six ships had only just barely defeated a group of ordinary warships, even if they were the Sakuma Fleet.

Retreating Sakuma hadn’t grown complacent or careless. They had only managed to fight off that opponent because…

“It all came down to the last thing Takenaka said.”

Yoshiaki doubted they could win with power alone. So…

AnG: “Kime-chan, are you glad you came?”

Kimee: “I will be once this is over.”

They would be facing even more powerful opponents soon. She and Angie would provide covering fire from the sky, but the ground unit would be facing Shibata and Niwa, which wouldn’t be easy.

As for Hachisuka…

“Hachisuka.”

Yoshiaki checked her Magie Figur to see Sakuma was still on Genbu’s shoulder while the Azuchi performed its flip.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Riding it is way different from watching! This is crazy! Do I have gravitational control to thank for my feet staying put while we spin around!? You people have a lot of money!”

“Be quiet.”

“Huhhhh!? What’s that!? I know you said the bridge doubles as the academy, but do you have a medical center below it!? Where’s the cafeteria!? Is that it!? Where Takenaka’s sticking her head out the window and puking!?”

“Be quiet, POW.”

“Sorryyyy! So sorryyyyy! I’ll be quiet! Quiet as a whisperrrrrr!”

Glad I’m not near there. I might just shoot her.

AnG: “You’re a lot like Shouroku, so you must be super irritated by this.”

Kimee: “Don’t worry. I’m older, so I can handle it better.”

AnG: “That just means your fuse is a bit longer, doesn’t it!?”

Probably so. And the Azuchi had just reached the peak of its path. They had been rising this far, but now they would descend and gain speed all at once. But…

…It’s time to go.

The Azuchi was circling behind the Shibata Team.

Next, they would be battling the Shibata Team.

●

Yoshiaki didn’t know if this battle should be called infighting, a history recreation, or something else entirely.

Maybe I should wait until it’s over to think about that too, she decided.

But she did see a pattern in the lights on the ground. That was the Shibata Team’s battle formation spread out below. She could make out the rear side – which was to the north – from the lamp lights. And there she saw…

…Wait…

Kimee: “Takenaka! Something isn’t right about their formation!”

Kuro-Take: “Um, yes, I see it. I eroed on reflex as soon as ‘Azuchi’-san told me, so I’m feeling better now.”

What was going on down there?

Yoshiaki looked down at the ground where the Shibata Team’s formation was illuminated by the lamp light reflected off the snow.

Kuro-Take: “They’re facing north, aren’t they? Which means they predicted we would be circling behind them like this.”

What that meant was obvious at a glance.

Kuro-Take: “The Niwa Team on the south face was pointing south to face the Azuchi’s approach. But the Shibata Team in the center was pointing north. He must have guessed we would flip over them.”

Then it came.

Artillery light rose from the Shibata Team fleet spread out in the darkness below.

Alarms and the voice of “Azuchi” raced through the six ships a moment later.

“Artillery fire detected below! It is the Shibata Team! We will now accelerate to leave this airspace and stop north of the Shibata Team!”

That created a certain layout.

“We will be facing the Shibata Team! All hands, prepare for battle!”

●

“Now, then,” said Niwa as she viewed the rising clouds and listened to a great mass descending in the sky north of her.

It was night, but the clouds were rising. Beyond the Shibata Team’s cannon fire, the wind sounded like it was rupturing.

That was because a ship of the Azuchi’s size was descending from a side flip.

That ship was the size of a city. Its pressure on the atmosphere produced clouds and a great wind. It had to be using cushioning spells just like the Musashi did, but that wasn’t enough to negate it all.

Below the Azuchi, the atmosphere was compressed and then tried to escape, initially lowering the temperature and then sending a powerful wind rushing out.

…But Hirano-san is aboard this time, so they should be fine.

Hirano was a representative of the Tsurugi Shrine, so she would have greeted the local gods in the region below. Those gods could manipulate their land’s environment, so by making offerings of sake until the descent was complete, the climate changes caused by the Azuchi could be considerably reduced.

Shibata had predicted the Azuchi would descend to the north and so directed his fleet northward. Cannon fire continued to rumble from that direction, but return fire would be starting soon. But in addition to that…

“Now, then. Oh, I already said that, didn’t I?”

Niwa faced forward.

To the south. She could see the forest the Azuchi had passed over and the few remaining ships of the Sakuma Fleet were descending toward the center of Niwa’s battle formation.

“The members of the Sakuma Team who scattered and abandoned ship are gathering here, aren’t they?”

She gave an order and raised her right hand.

“That’s fine with me. Quickly arrange to receive them!”

●

Sakuma saw it from atop the descending Azuchi.

…My ships are returning?

From Genbu’s shoulder, she saw a few surviving ships gathering beyond the Shibata formation.

Similarly, the people who had abandoned the destroyed ships were gathering from the southern forest.

They were all being taken in by Niwa’s unit to the south and they would likely fight as part of her formation.

Their battle was not over yet. And based on that…

“Argh. Now I want to join them.”

“What a pain.”

Was Hachisuka annoyed with Sakuma, or did she mean it the same way Sakuma did? Sakuma didn’t feel like asking, but she could tell they were seeing and experiencing the same things.

“But now what? Niwa’s reinforced herself with my people, so what are you going to do?”

“We’re already doing it.”

“Huh?”

Her question was blown away by a great noise, along with all else.

To the sides, from the rear, and dead ahead, the Azuchi had fired its main cannons straight out horizontally.

…What is this?

The shots were not angled down to hit the Shibata Team’s formation. The barrage crashed into a wall of warships.

Sakuma visually followed the shells and saw a great many lights appear all at once.

Defense barriers had opened in front of the fortress wall formed by a row of Shibata ships.

The shells hit. Ether light shattered. Loudly. But…

“You’re continuing this meaningless shellfire!?”

As powerful as the Azuchi’s main cannons were, the ships Shibata had placed along the perimeter of his formation were all defense ships and warships that were either ironclad or of a similar class.

So why would the Azuchi continue this barrage against them?

“Below!?”

Just as Hachisuka had hinted, the Azuchi had sent out a ground unit.

With the Azuchi’s descent complete, they would be dropping down from the bottom of the ship. And to keep any artillery fire away from them, the Azuchi’s long range main cannons were providing covering fire. So…

“Is the ground battle beginning!?”

●

Yoshiaki felt a chill as soon as the Azuchi settled down between two northern mountains.

This had nothing to do with the air temperature. She had been following along within the Azuchi’s gravitational control field this entire time and that field hit her harder than expected, subtly affecting her circulation and shifting her organs.

As the Azuchi slid backwards, it must have used its thrusters to forcibly push itself forward and negated the recoil with gravitational control. The discrepancy between her actual movement and the forces acting on her body affected her on the inside, giving her a falling feeling like she had suddenly broken through the floor.

There was no point in doing anything about it. A health control Magie Figur activated and quickly adjusted her senses from top to bottom, as if reversing the chill.

AnG: “Kime-chan, this is probably what the boys mean when they say they can feel a ‘squeezing in their balls’. Y’know, like on a thrill ride.”

Kimee: “I will have to thank ‘Azuchi’ for this valuable experience.”

But light shot in from directly ahead.

That was the cannon fire coming from the Shibata Team’s fortress ships.

They were sending accurate attacks to the now-stopped Azuchi.

Probably because their descent had reached its lower limit. Before, they had only been firing after the path of the side flip, but now they were firing from head on.

The Azuchi was entering a true firefight with the Shibata Team’s ships.

The Azuchi was floating and fully exposed.

The Shibata Team’s ships were landed and also fully exposed.

It was a nearly motionless exchange. But one thing caught Yoshiaki’s attention.

Kimee: “Now, can they break through that formation? That’s up to our elite ground unit. Kasuya, clear us a path.”

●

Kasuya breathed in the outside air.

She wore a pair of silver crosses on her back and, even though it was late summer, she wore an M.H.R.R. winter uniform with a scarf installed with a defense divine protection.

The situation was already underway. They were currently in the stern standby station on the Azuchi’s 1st central ship.

Only around 200 would be following her. But…

“Here we go!”

The large door was opened just enough to let in the air, but now it opened vertically.

They were at the stern, facing backwards. The Azuchi was moving forward a bit to avoid sliding backwards after its descent. They would be using that movement to jump out to the front.

A forest rushed by below. They had to be at least 120km out. But…

“Okay.”

Kasuya raised her right hand and, rather than jump down, she stepped out into empty air.

The fall was about 150m. Katagiri predicted the descent would take around 12 seconds when using a descent spell.

“Brace for landing!!”

Did her voice reach those under her command? It didn’t really matter. The Hashiba Team’s greatest strength was their ability to manage on their own. But didn’t Kiyomasa just ask the underclassmen to clean her room?

At any rate, she had to focus on herself. She pulled a spell charm from her pocket while she fell rapidly at an angle.

It had no activation button. The simple activation system would trigger as soon as she pulled it from its paper case.

The spell caused the charm to turn transparent and become a lernen figur. And when she held it up like a visor…

…I can see!

The lernen figur let her see through the night. The night vision spell was derived from the divine protection of “God is all-seeing”.

She fixed the lernen figur in front of her eyes. That said, her Lou-Garou blood meant she already had good night vision and could detect things by scent. But she needed some information that didn’t provide her.

“Uh, oh!”

She was descending toward the tree branches. And she still had the Azuchi’s speed with her. She would not fare well if she crashed into a trunk or branch at that speed.

Those obstacles were all outlined by red light in the lernen figur.

She saw a tunnel of trees drawn out ahead of her. And…

…The shortest path!

Which route was best for landing without reducing speed? Everyone’s lernen figure was linked to the Azuchi above and it provided a blue ribbon line indicating the best path.

A moment later, she plunged into the forest.

The wind of her descent rustled the leaves, but she continued on, more forward than downward.

Below, she could see the ground illuminated by the battlefield lights and the moonlight. And below the forest trees, she saw…

“Snow!”

After checking its location, she grabbed a tree branch, threw herself forward, and tapped the heels of her boots together.

Immediately, she felt the sensation of solid ground below her feet.

She didn’t even need to look. Skate blades made of ether had formed on the front and back of her boots.

This was why she had wanted to maintain Azuchi’s momentum during her descent.

“Everyone, prepare to skate!”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, 12 seconds had passed. But she was no longer waiting to land.

She sent Azuchi’s momentum forward as she skated along.

The blades below her feet scattered the snow, but she did not sink down into it. Her forward momentum caused the ether blades to slide along the snow with a scraping sound. She heard many more of the same sound from behind her.

They were all following along. In that case…

“Now we charge!”

●

“Takenaka-sama! Kasuya’s unit has descended to the forest below and has begun skating out ahead. She lost four. Those four will continue on foot and join with the rest later. …Takenaka-sama? Are you listening? Shaja.”

…This divine transmission from “Azuchi” sounds like a lecture, but I do appreciate it.

And I honestly wasn’t really listening, thought Takenaka. Because…

“Sorry, Takenaka-sama! The Deskwork Division will secure the dining hall!”

“Securrrrring!”

The name inheritors not participating in Shizugatake and the students ordered to do deskwork rather than combat hurried to fix in place anything movable.

Everything had been reinforced in advance since they had planned the side flip maneuver, but the feint maneuver and reverse maneuver they used against the Sakuma Fleet had caused some problems. Hirano had managed to keep the power system stable, but from an welfare perspective, the Azuchi was a fairly dangerous place to live.

…That’s the high damage affecting us.

But we defeated Sakuma-san in the end, so it was worth it, she concluded. She noticed Asano was here. Multiple posts had reported her as something of an airhead, but…

“Yesss, yesss, yesss. Here’s the liiist.”

She handed all the participants a lernen figur.

While listening to distant cannon fire that sounded something like the roaring of the ocean, Takenaka checked the lernen figur she was given to see a diagram of the dining hall with a shelf highlighted.

…I didn’t know there was a shelf there.

For that matter, all the shelves and tables had already been blown away.

But Asano was already moving on to another room. And the students reinforcing the dining hall were facing the location of the shelf Asano had indicated.

There was nothing there. But…

“Here!?”

One student grabbed empty air and opened it. The interior of a shelf appeared there.

…Oh, that’s her storeroom spell.

Several shelves opened in empty air. They disappeared if you weren’t viewing them from the right angle, but the interior continued on further than the wall behind them. There had to be a lot of supplies and equipment inside.

“I see,” was all Takenaka could say.

Asano’s job was to split up her storeroom spell and leave it in crucial locations. If you needed something put inside, you only had to go to the hangar and ask the engine division’s maintenance team. The automata were in charge of determining the ideal locations. As long as the spell’s “lid” was on, nothing would spill out during the Azuchi’s sharp maneuvering.

Asano had probably thought up and suggested the idea herself. Because her spell was unique. And also…

…What she accomplished during the summer training camp.

Takenaka could tell a lot would become apparent during the Battle of Shizugatake. That made her want to break through the battlefield the best she could, so she made further preparations. And…

“Oh, Takenaka-sama! Can you come over here!? We’ve finished securing everything!”

Even as they said that, a push sent the table below her sliding along. They were moving it toward the table fixed in the center of the dining hall. When her table hit that one, her momentum sent her skidding onto the central table.

Then the chef walked up to her and set down several plates and pots.

“Now, eat! I know you’ll just throw it all back up, but you still need food! Also, don’t sit on our tables!”

He has a point. But…

“Takenaka-sama!”

While she moved into a chair instead, a lernen figur from “Azuchi” appeared next to her.

“We are having trouble supporting the ground unit’s approach! The Shibata Team has increased the density of their artillery fire. In another 10 seconds, the Azuchi will stop its advance and Kasuya’s unit will continue on ahead. Shaja!”

●

Kasuya realized the Azuchi had slowed in the sky above.

Most of her people were keeping up with her. They had all been selected from M.H.R.R.’s mountain unit. She had done a lot of her training with them and she had been friends with a lot of them ever since. Which meant…

“Kasuya! I’ll move out ahead! Because I have better eyes!”

She was accompanied by students her own age. A lot of them, while not locals, had lived here at some point. Many had worked with, worked for, or helped guard the Shibata forces, so they had been the best choices for this ground unit.

Their primary job was to reach the Shibata Team’s battle formation and the warships forming their fortress wall.

They skated along.

“Kasuya!”

One, an upperclassman girl, moved out ahead.

“You probably don’t know me after everything that happened and with your promotion.”

“No, I know you. You are Kousaka Kageyu. You work for Miki Academy Chancellor Maeno Nagayasu and you will be busy gathering information on Akechi after Honnouji, won’t you?”

She knew she and the rest of the Ten Spears held a special position, so she had made sure to learn about those around her. And that included the ones joining her now.

“You are Inada Daihachirou. You work for us – that is, for Hashiba. You hurriedly inform us of Maeno Nagayasu’s circumstances and of the plan for the Great Return, so you make Hashiba’s Great Return possible.”

It was probably Takenaka’s doing, but most everyone here was involved with the Great Return and the Battle of Yamazaki that come after the Honnouji Incident. Kousaka and Inada’s history recreations were related to the process leading up to those things.

So once the Azuchi’s crew gathered after this battle, they could shift right into the Battle of Yamazaki.

Kousaka smiled while skating alongside Kasuya.

“Sorry. I’m through feeling inferior. You don’t have to be a big name to be a name inheritor,” she said. “And the thing is, my Chancellor is already gone. He killed himself a bit ago.”

Kasuya knew that. That was part of an incident anyone from Hashiba would know about. In other words…

“As part of the Hidetsugu Incident, right?”

“Testament. Because he knew how important Hidetsugu-sama was. Given the later rise of the Date clan, he said we should avoid any real losses there. His advice was rejected and he had to go through with his suicide. Leaving behind a message to Hashiba saying such things shouldn’t happen. And what happened then? Thanks to Hashiba’s decision, Date and Mogami are now our enemies and Musashi is more powerful than ever. I thought Hashiba was such an idiot. I still do, honestly. But,” she said. “Maybe we have more important things to worry about? There are things we aren’t privy to. No one at our level is told anything about the Genesis Project, but I can still make some guesses. It’s supposed to end things but not let it end, right? So if we can’t make that happen, will my issues not matter anymore?”

“Testament. I won’t presume to say I know how you feel, but I have experienced something similar.”

That was…

“I have a memory of someone I cared for leaving me out of her care for me.”

“Testament. Is that so?”

Kousaka said “Is that so?” again while stretching a hand upwards and slapping a tree branch.

The branch bent like a whip and cracked at empty air.

Immediately, a sudden light pierced the darkness and tore into that branch.

…A bullet!

At the same time, Kasuya sensed a presence rushing their way from the mountains. A scent too. The scent was a combination of metal and spell gunpowder.

“Here they come!” shouted one of her comrades.

Kousaka and Inada exchanged a glance and a smile.

“Messengers, scatter to the sides! This battle will take more than unpowered skating! You know who we’re up against, don’t you!?”

They did. The enemy arrived from the mountains on either side and raced alongside them while firing their guns.

“These are the remnants of Takigawa’s tactical skating team from Oda! After the Siege of Kanie Castle, they chose this as their final battlefield!”

●

The Takigawa remnants saw this as their chance to settle the score.

“Kasuya Takenori!”

Their ninja techniques allowed them to quickly and silently approach and carry out an assassination. They had skate spells open on the soles of their boots, so they could skate on water, ice, or snow.

And so…

“Kasuya Takenori!!” they all shouted.

That was their only reason for being here. It all went back to the Siege of Odawara, that battle fought just before the fun of summer break.

They had lost their commander Takigawa Ichimasu there.

The final showdown had been between Takigawa and Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer. That 5th Special Duty Officer had ended the battle by seeing through Takigawa’s physical copy strategy. But…

…Sorry.

We know it isn’t fair to blame you, they all thought while increasing the speed of their attacks and their skating. But even so…

“Takigawa-sama fought you before she fought Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer!”

Yes. Takigawa’s part of the Battle of Shizugatake was completed early, during the Siege of Odawara.

And Takigawa had lost.

Against Kasuya Takenori, who led the enemy unit below.

Afterwards, they had placed the badly injured woman on a small transport ship and sent her to her hometown. She was already growing cold by that point, but it had looked like she was smiling at them and they had all cried.

And before they could do anything about it, summer break had begun.

At the same time, the Kantou Liberation had happened and they had temporarily joined Sakuma’s team while seeing which way the world would go.

All while noticing how nothing ever went the way they thought it would.

They knew it wasn’t fair to blame Kasuya. But…

“If not for you, Takigawa-sama might not have lost to Musashi’s 5th Special Duty Officer!”

“If Takigawa-sama had won, the Kantou Liberation might not have happened!”

“If that hadn’t happened, we might not be fighting each other here!”

Takigawa had hoped to minimize these kinds of internal conflicts.

She had known Shibata quite liked Hashiba and that the top levels of P.A. Oda were a close-knit bunch even as they spread apart.

So she had hoped to carry out the Genesis Project while valuing those things.

“But that one event distorted and eliminated our dream!”

That wasn’t Kasuya’s fault. They knew that. But they did have a clear reason for being here.

“For Takigawa-sama!”

They all performed three flips during their skating descent, drew their blades, and aimed their rifles.

“We will avenge her! Avenge her on the snow!!”

●

“I had a feeling Takigawa-san’s people would show up here.”

Niwa looked to the night sky while watching the Sakuma Team’s remaining personnel and ships gathering within the Shibata Team’s formation.

…No one ever does what anyone wants, do they?

Niwa knew Takigawa hadn’t liked infighting. That was why she had completed her history recreation of Shizugatake by dueling Kasuya Takenori during the Siege of Odawara.

She had decided a one-on-one duel was preferable to a battle between large groups at Shizugatake.

Of course, she hadn’t done so just because she cared about her allies.

She would have also realized it would preserve P.A. Oda’s forces, leaving them greater strength to combat Musashi.

After Shizugatake, Hashiba still had to face Musashi at the Battles of Komaki Nagakute and Sekigahara. Takigawa had thought reducing Hashiba’s forces before that would be a waste.

Niwa understood Takigawa’s thinking perfectly well.

That was why Niwa was participating in Shizugatake in Takigawa’s place now.

Which meant she was acting as Hashiba’s enemy.

She knew some would see this as wasting all of Takigawa’s efforts.

“But…”

Takigawa was gone.

However, there were those who would take issue with her absence.

So Niwa had taken her place.

She was not acting as Takigawa’s replacement to accept those who had adored Takigawa.

She was taking on the name to make it clear that Takigawa was truly gone.

But, she thought.

…I didn’t think it through.

Takigawa’s people, who had nowhere else to go, had hitched a ride with the Sakuma Team.

“If you hadn’t taken Takigawa-sama’s place,” they had told her, “we would have participated as independent mercenaries.”

She was not Takigawa, but they had served under Takigawa.

“We too will retire after this, but we thank you for letting us retire as the Takigawa Team and not as simple mercenaries.”

“Honestly, I didn’t want you here,” Niwa had said, sounding truly exasperated. “The idea was to be a ‘fake’ Takigawa-san so you didn’t have to show up. I mean, are you sure you want to do this? She didn’t like infighting.”

I really don’t want to say this, she thought, but she said it anyway.

“I think Takigawa-san really cared for all of you.”

She wasn’t talking about herself, but those embarrassing words still led the Takigawa Team to bow their heads.

The lieutenant who had served as Takigawa’s aide raised her head and smiled.

“Takigawa-sama didn’t like to open up, did she?”

“Shaja. She didn’t. And I can see now that feelings don’t always travel in just one direction.”

What Niwa had thought was for the best had actually made things worse, but the people here appreciated what that had given them.

It was impossible to decide what happiness meant for someone else. That was true for Niwa and Takigawa as well.

But Niwa still wanted to direct things in a positive direction. And…

…What do I do about the people who are happiest when things head in a negative direction?

Like Shibata.

He too was probably going to “retire” here.

She could make a pretty good guess how he would do it too. But…

“That wasn’t fair, Takigawa-san.”

Because…

“You went on ahead, leaving all of us to see this through.”

What a pain, thought Niwa, moving her gaze from her own formation to the Azuchi stopped in the northern sky.

The Takigawa Team and the Kasuya Team had to be battling below that massive ship. And…

“We need to get our next move underway. To liven up this festival.”

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