Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou:Volume 7 Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Last ChanceTransient War Fire

―This strategy has become a battle for the sake of swordsmen.

Before the [urban war] began, Akane said those words and raised the morale of the swordsmen who were apt to feel menial and made the mood of the Magika Stigma who apt to act haughty tense.

Yokkaichi city that bordered the Aichi Prefecture functioned as the entrance to Mie prefecture and were boasted as <Alchemy Industry City> with the biggest population inside the prefecture. The large scale workshops that were lined in a row there gathering the trashscrap material from throughout Japan. The scrap materials were recycled using alchemy and re-manufactured as new products and then those were circulated once more throughout Japan. As the central part of sustainabilityenvironment durability for the current era Japan, this city was a metropolis that never slept, operating day and night.

When Japan’s Knight Order invaded the territory of Yamato from Nagoya to Mie prefecture, Yamato’s defensive army intercepted them in this industrial city. ―It was the raising of the curtain for an [urban war].

First, Japan’s Knight Order sieged the city where Yamato’s army was waiting in ambush. And then following the command of Akane who was the commander, that ring of siege was narrowed little by little.

“…Looks like these guys don't intend to forcibly bring this battle into a field battle like in Sekigahara.”

In the encampment far behind the front line of the battle, Kanon who was, like Akane, a commander, started such conversation to Akane. Different from a field battle where the field of vision was great, obstructed by the architectural structure of lined up buildings, they couldn’t take a look at the situation at the front lines from here.

During the [Magic War・Sekigahara], Yamato burned down private houses and fields of crops, turning it into a wasteland of rubble and met the advance of Japan, bringing the battle into a head-on collision without any petty tricks.

Kanon thought anxiously whether they would be doing the same thing again.

“After that, they met with large opposition from the people of west Japan haven't they?”

Akane answered mixed with a deep sigh.

“Until now Yamato made use of the pretext that [they obtained the divine protection from Japanese Mythology] as their flag to get the support from the people. However that pretense had been exposed. Right now Yamato’s foundation as a country had already become really tattered. They would not take such forceful strategy anymore.”

―With Kazuki’s success in his infiltration mission to Ise Imperial Shrine, the majority of Japanese Mythology’s Divas had returned to their senses from their Wild God state and withdrew their cooperation from Yamato.

Japanese Divas’ that were still cooperating with Yamato were only Divas from the [Izumo Faction]. There were two types of Japanese Diva, those who had their roots from Wakoku and those who had their roots from Izumo.

Yamato’s bluff that claimed [We are exactly the rightful ruler of Japanese archipelago that have obtained the divine protection of Japanese Mythology] had been exposed as a big fat lie due to Kazuki’s conspicuous service.

Surely right now the soldiers of Yamato were completely agitated as to what they really should believe in and fight for.

―The reality was, after that battle, the refugees from Yamato to Japan kept increasing day by day.

Right now, Yamato’s provisional government was being cornered both from the inside and outside.

“…If they burned down houses and fields like that, of course the rebuilding would be really difficult. As expected in war there is really nothing satisfactory huh.”

Even Kanon who had a bottomless cheerful personality became gloomy when she recalled the scene of the devastated wasteland.

Even in the case where alchemy was developed in this current era, rebuilding that wasteland of rubbles into what it was like before is not a simple matter. …Things like the town’s history and the people’s memories, there were things that by no means could be recovered just like how it originally was.

{There are none of Loki’s troops in the enemy’s camp! Those who use Summoning Magic are only a few Shrine Maidens and the reinforcement troops from China!}

Akane’s wireless device in her ear transmitted the voice of the swordsmen at the front line.

It seemed that Loki and the other illegal magicians withdrew their hands from Yamato.

It was a situation that Kazuki had informed her before, where he predicted that the situation might develop like that. When Kazuki infiltrated Ise Imperial Shrine, he caused friction between Loki and Aisu Ikousai who was an upper echelon of Kenshitou.

Loki betrayed his promise with Ikousai and the relation between the two became something impossible to restore.

From the previous battle, Yamato lost two of their important trump cards that were [Shrine Maidens] and [illegal magicians] simultaneously.

However they couldn’t let their guard down ― because of some unknown developments, Yamato received reinforcement from China.

“But that war where there is nothing satisfactory will soon see a ceasefire.”

Akane murmured with a distressed voice. By no mean was that fact something one could be happy about.

Because of China’s appearance―this war would soon end.

When China intervened in an internal conflict of Japan archipelago, the other Magic Advanced Countries also became unable to just stay quiet. They judged that this battle was [something dangerous that might destroy the balance of the world], and forcefully brought the war into a ceasefire. Right now, investigation teams and envoys should be dispatched to come to Japan.

That prediction brought impatience to the side of Japan. That by no means was something delightful.

“…We cannot welcome the ceasefire just like this.”

Akane’s eyes glinted. Therefore, [this strategy] was carried out with lightning speed. Before the ceasefire happened, they had to steal back as much as possible from Yamato.

{Contact with the enemy! Commencing battle!}

The wireless device informed Akane of the opening of hostilities right at that time.

Akane’s heart tightened, she felt a strong nervousness through her mind and body.

Yamato already wouldn’t take anymore forcible strategy like in Sekigahara. However….

“For the current Yamato an urban warfare cannot be necessarily said as something disadvantageous. In urban warfare, the small number of elite’s true power comes in effect.”

The <Emperor’s Personal Corps> of Chukadou that appeared as Yamato’s reinforcement, although they were small in number but each one of them possessed an overwhelming fighting power. Akane herself still had raw memories of terror from when she was cornered by the two great Divas of <Kan’u> and <Son Goku>.

In an urban warfare where the battlefield was divided due to the countless buildings and streets, the commander wouldn’t be able to perfectly grasp the condition of the battlefield no matter what she did. She had to leave the decision making to each of the units out there.

That was also a factor of anxiety. Not to mention that right now in this battlefield Lotte was not flying in the sky.

“But you also cannot assert that the side of Japan is at a disadvantage right-☆ Haven’t we analyzed it like that?”

Kanon brightened up her voice in order to cheer up Akane. It was also just like what Kanon said.

First, in an urban warfare that was the specialty of the Chinese army, their horsemanship was also sealed.

Moreover, the line of sight would be obstructed in an urban warfare, making them unable to detect the presence of the enemy beforehand. When it was like that then when the enemy’s unit suddenly appears right in front of them, it would immediately become a close-quarter combat. In that situation the Magika Stigmas who needed chanting time couldn’t display their power.

In exchange the swordsmen took the main role of battle here. If it was about the strength of the swordsman, then Japan’s side was overwhelmingly greater.

“Akane, don’t blow your fuse already okay~. Before this you were also like that… when everything goes as planned Akane is absurdly strong but when something unexpected happens you are immediately at your wits' end! In order to make it okay even if something unexpected happen, prepare yourself fully beforehand okay~☆ “

“If you can stop panicking just by being prepared then it wouldn’t be this hard. Regarding things that cannot be predicted by all my preparations, won’t my logic have failed first? In that case I’m absolutely going to blow my fuse.”

“You declared such thing that defiantly!? We-well, when Akane is at your wits’ end then that’s my turn to shine though!!”

“That’s just a joke, thanks for cheering me up though.”

“D-don’t mention it for something so normal okay!☆ “

Hearing Akane’s words, Kanon fidgeted her small body back and forth.

“…It’s going to be fine though if that child displays a strength just as Kazuki anticipated.”

Akane neglected the fidgeting Kanon and murmured while thinking about the battle at the front lines.

A unit of several people ran on top of the asphalt road.

Kazuha who ran at the head felt something strange in their path and stopped running.

Those who followed her from behind, Kanae, Kaguya, Hikaru, Kohaku, and Torazou mimicked her and stopped running.

It was a unit that gathered the students that excelled in close-quarter combat even inside the Knight Academy.

The one who was elected by Akane as the leader was Kazuha.

Having the dubious stares of her comrades directed at her from having stopped so suddenly, Kazuha whispered.

“…The shadow of the building over there, I think there are enemies hiding in ambush.”

Kazuha pointed at the large scale workshop far ahead the road, around a few tens meters separated from them.

“How could you know that?” Kaguya’s eyes opened wide.

“I generated vibrations using general magic since a while ago, I ran while letting fly ultrasonic waves ahead of the road. I perceive the rebound of the sound waves using Perception Reinforcement MagicExtra Sense. If you do that then somehow you can know when there is a disturbance of sound waves from something moving in the shadow of a building…”

Kazuha answered even while being bashful to the Student Council President of the Magic Division.

“That, I-I’m strong in general magic after all so recently I’ve been practicing various things.”

Echo Location―a bat uses the echo of ultrasonic waves to be able to fly freely even inside darkness, what Kazuha did was imitating something like that using general magic.

“Haa?” Raising a disarrayed voice like that, Torazou was making a dumbfounded expression.

“I get the theory but, I really don’t get it…what kind of skill is that…”

“Got it, let’s approach while being prepared to be able to immediately counterattack.”

When Kaguya nodded, Kazuha released a breath of relief.

Kanae and Kohaku changed into the lead vanguard and advanced while being alert.

After that sure enough, the swordsmen of Yamato leaped out from the building cover just as Kazuha predicted.

Kanae and Kohaku composedly dodged that first wave and counterattacked.

After that Torazou and Kazuha added their attacks.

Kaguya used a defensive magic that reflected pain and made her opponent swordsman that slashed at her forfeit their will to fight.

Hikaru was preparing to summon [Maimur] but―far before she could complete her chant, the small skirmish had been resolved.

The enemy platoon that ambushed them collapsed with confused expression as if saying that they didn’t know what had happened.

“Just as expected from Mikohime-sa…Kazuha-senpai!”

Kohaku directed eyes of respect at Kazuha and cheered at her.

At the side, Kaguya was looking down with a quiet expression.

“…Certainly it’s amazing. A practical application of general magic in real battle like this is…. Perhaps I’m too easy-going relying so much in only Summoning Magic like this.”

Kanae too was looking down in self-reflection.

“General magic, is it…. I too am getting too caught up in just sword skill and magic sword. While being self-conscious of my small build and powerless handicaps, to be this blind is really hard to forgive…”

Kanae’s expression turned grim in the blink of an eye from her fury for herself. Kazuha was scared off from that look of Kanae.

“Co-compared to you two, someone like me is just a half-baked small person that is Jack of all trades and master of none in the end!”

Kazuha’s face blushed red and she waved her hand left and right repeatedly.

These two were said to be the strongest in the Magic Division and the Sword Division respectively. For her who was a poor student to be stared at by these two like this was totally unbelievable.

“Kaguya, right now you are thinking that you want to fight Kazuha-san and defeat her right?”

Hikaru was poking at Kaguya’s side from the flank. Kaguya shook her neck in panic even while being startled.

“The-there is no way I’m thinking about such thing at my comrade!”

Kaguya was raised while receiving suggestion from her father that she [had to be the strongest], she had climbed as far as the Student Council President by systemically challenging a duel to all students that looked strong in the Knight Academy.

Thanks to Kazuki she was liberated from that [suggestion to be the strongest] that seemed like a curse, but even so a long time habit that had become a second nature couldn’t be removed that easily. Witnessing a strength that didn’t exist in herself provoked a reaction from her.

“Rather than that let’s just move forward quickly!”

When Kazuha concluded the topic like that, Kaguya stopped the idle talk and inspected the collapsed swordsmen.

“…The Magika Stigmas from China are not mixed among them, just a platoon of swordsmen. This is a hit isn’t it? Akane-senpai said that to the end this advance is only a [diversion]. What we are doing is only buying time. If we meet the extremityMagika Stigmas of China, don’t overdo it too much and just escape.”

All present nodded altogether. The toughness of the reinforcement from China had been beaten into their body.

Kaguya-senpai looked up to the sky. It was a very dim sky that fast approaching evening.

“If we can just buy more time, then for the rest Otouto-kun should be able to make the plan succeed for us…”

In the sky that she looked up, blue magic power light left a trail behind like the cloud of airplane and flew far away.

While Kazuki was leaving behind a trail of magic light power, he traversed the sky together with Lotte.

They were steadily getting far away from the battlefield and went even further in from Mie prefecture, flying into Nara prefecture.

The soldiers of Yamato too soon noticed Kazuki and Lotte in the air, but the attack magic that were fired by the few Shrine Maidens were immediately left behind by the acceleration of [Deep Striker].

Using the battle on the surface as a decoy, they did airspace incursion with just the two of them.

Kazuki and Lotte were the two who could fly in the sky the fastest among Japan’s Knight Order. Surely even among the people of Yamato there was no one that was able to reach their speed―they wanted to believe that.

The attack objective of the two was <Isonokami Shrine> in Nara prefecture.

―Among the refugees from Yamato, there was also the higher-ups of Yamato’s military authorities, the top brass mixed inside.

From that person, an information that couldn’t be overlooked such as [Sacred Treasures are gathered in Isonokami Shrine and it was turned into an armory] was conveyed to the Knight Order.

According to that refugee’s story, the shrines in each region of Japan were defiled due to Yamato’s scheme but Isonokami Shrine was the only exception that was still safe. Why was Isonokami Shrine the only one safe―that informant didn’t know the reason but the answer unexpectedly came out from among Kazuki’s friends.

{Ah, over there was the shrine that deified me.}

It was the Diva that contracted with Kazuha, Futsunushi no Kami.

Futsunushi no Kami was the Diva that was deified in Isonokami Shrine. But when Kazuha-senpai became enrolled into the Knight Academy’s Sword Division, he was also changing his residence to Tokyo together with Kazuha-senpai.

Isonokami Shrine that was left behind and became empty after the Shrine Maiden Kazuha-senpai and Futsunushi no Kami were not there anymore became worthless for Yamato to bother to reach their hand because there was no target that they could turn into a Wild God.

That was the reason that place was safe.

Not only that―from what Futsunushi no Kami said, Isonokami Shrine had the role as an [armory] in Japanese Mythology.

When Sacred Treasures were made as an [offering] there, the Sacred Treasure would be filled with magic power which amplified its supernatural power.

According to the information from the refugee, it seemed Yamato transferred and gathered the Sacred Treasures they had in custody inside their territory to Isonokami Shrine.

Because the Sacred Treasures that were discovered in Japan were stored in custody shared between Kantou and Kansai, Yamato had already possessed a considerable amount of Sacred Treasures. Then they were amplifying the power of those in Isonokami Shrine.

This meant that this was the trump card that Yamato kept hidden until now, their last resort.

“…Why have those Sacred Treasures never been used in the battle until now?”

Lotte who was flying at Kazuki’s side leaked out a questioning voice.

“Perhaps it is not a trump card against Japan, but they intend to use it as a trump card against Loki and his group? Ikousai and her group didn’t trust Loki. While Loki and his group are still their comrades they are going to make use of their power conveniently while trying to hide their own trump card.”

Before that trump card could be used―they were going to assault the place and plunder it. Sacred Treasures Pillaging Operation.

When they confirmed whether the refugees' words were the truth or not with magical interrogation, Regiment Commander Yamagata immediately drafted this operation. Not even a week had passed after the battle at Sekigahara when this plan had progressed and was now being carried out. It was exactly a lightning fast and prompt decision.

That Commander Yamagata and the top brass of the Knight Order were being impatient, Kazuki too clearly understood it. With the ceasefire between Japan and Yamato that they would soon welcome, it was not something that one could feel delight for Japan’s government.

It was because Japan was the one who had their territory completely stolen due to this civil war. To completely enter the ceasefire with Yamato’s provisional government still not defeated like this could be said that it only meant a defeat in reality. The humans at the top of the Knight Order and the government would surely get asked by the mass media and the populace to take responsibility for this.

Even if they couldn’t avoid a ceasefire, at the very least they had to obtain some kind of achievement, if not―this forcible operation was decided promptly from such severe thought like that.

If they could enter the ceasefire with Yamato in the state of having lost their trump card, then they could grasp the initiative from this side in the discussion after the ceasefire.

They might even be able to drag out some concession and capitulation from Yamato….

This was their last chance before entering the ceasefire.

“…I get it that this is our last chance but… to be made to go along with this sloppy strategy for the sake of those big shots evading responsibility just doesn’t make me feel any enthusiasm.”

Kazuki unintentionally spoke to himself.

Actually Kazuki thought of this as a sloppy strategy.

Making the Knight Order’s attack to Yokkaichi a diversion and attack the Isonokami Shrine from the sky. Because there was no other magician that could fly in the same speed like them, the assault members were only the two, Kazuki and Lotte.

Yamato most likely concentrated all their battle strength to defend Yokkaichi which was an important base for them. But in the unlikely event that there was a powerful defense squad placed in Isonokami Shrine, there was nothing they could do with just the two of them.

He thought that Yamato right now didn’t have that much allowance to spare such manpower but….

Akane-senpai said [if there are defense squad then abandon the operation and escape] to him.

The commander of Yamato that saw Kazuki and Lotte went flying somewhere might guess their aim and divided the battle strength in Yokkaichi and directed them to be their pursuer. If it became like that then a time limit would be attached to the operation. Before their pursuer caught up, they had to quickly finish pillaging the Sacred Treasures.

It was no good if there was a defensive squad positioned in their destination and it was also no good if their pursuer caught up.

A difficult operation.

At any rate Kazuki thought inside his heart [This again]. Just three days before this, he was made to infiltrate the enemy territory only with Kazuha-senpai. When he thought that was the end of it now he was told to infiltrate the enemy territory with Lotte.

{Rather than calling you King, you are more fitting to be called a handyman.} Leme communicated with Kazuki using an amazed voice inside his head.

Kazuki too was amazed. …To depend completely on a mere student like this, is this country going to be okay?

“As for me I’m fine with this desu, Kazuki-oniisan.”

As if seeing through the worry inside Kazuki’s heart, Lotte said that.

“Rather than such thing this is a flying rendezvous with just the two us desu, Kazuki-oniisan♪”

Lotte turned her smiling face to Kazuki as if in order to calm down Kazuki’s feeling.

If something happened, at the very least he had to protect her to the very end….

Kazuki looked behind him while flying through the sky. They had left the battlefield of Yokkaichi really far behind them.

The scenery below them had completely changed from the town into a vast expanse of mother nature. They were clearing the [Suzuka mountain range] that grew many greenery at this early summer in a straight line from the side. It was a rugged mountains that was highly famous from the historical event of <Iga’s Pass> of the Tokugawa's. Inside the mountain the isolated city of Iga was visible.

The end of the mountain range was visible in their path. The aviation picture of Isonokami Shrine that was located in the border between the mountain and the city had been beaten into their head before the operation, they were locating the shrine while recalling the picture inside their head.

There it was. It was an important shrine with a long history, but its size was unexpectedly small.

Kazuki and Lotte didn’t slow down for even a bit and swooped down as if they were sucked.

The several swordsmen in the shrine’s ground noticed Kazuki and Lotte approaching and raised their voice.

“They really come!” “Stop them!” “How!?”

They were the shrine’s guards. It seemed they were notified about Kazuki and Lotte’s assault from Yokkaichi.

The soldiers’ reactions were really lacking in resolve and training. Just as expected all the proper soldiers were invested in the defensive battle of Yokkaichi.

Even the chickens that were strutting around the ground briskly sprang up and left the place in great panic.

Kazuki and Lotte matched their voice and cast the same magic simultaneously.

“”I reached my hand to the height of Babel becoming the supreme ruler! In accordance with my life o lightning, praise the reckless courage of human race! Blitzkrieg””

Blue magic power light materialized, then assault spears with height that reached even twice the stature of a person were equipped in their dominant hands.

Sub-arms stretched out from the [Deep Strikers], so they could withstand the impact they fixed their arms in place.

If their opponent were only several swordsmen who didn’t have the support of Magika Stigma, then this was simple.

Kazuki and Lotte directed the tips of the assault spear to the swordsmen and keeping their momentum without slowing down―

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Screams were reverberating. *DON!!* Along with such sound of impact, the gravels of the grounds and the soil below it danced up and a big hole was opened on the surface. The swordsmen of Yamato were blown away to the other side of the cloud of dust, then they crashed into the wall of the shrine office that was right there and fainted.

Kazuki and Lotte who landed dispelled their weapons and looked around restlessly to confirm their surroundings.

They were just right in the middle of the Isonokami Shrine’s grounds.

In their left side there was a large shrine archway, in front of them was the shrine office, and in their right side was a stone stair that continued to the main shrine.

As for human presence…was these guys the only one here? As expected, putting several numbers of worthless soldiers like this as guard was their limit, it seemed that Yamato didn’t have the allowance to post a genuine defense squad here.

Then…they could do this!

“Kazuki-oniisan, it’s in the main shrine right desu!?”

Lotte confirmed the operation’s objective to Kazuki. Kazuki silently nodded and start running up the stone stair in the right side.

When they examined the map of Isonokami Shrine, they had narrowed down the places that looked fitting to be used to store the Sacred Treasures into two, those were the [ritual tool warehouse] and the [main shrine]. Between those two places, if their objective was not merely keeping the Sacred Treasures but to gather power into the Sacred Treasures, then surely the main shrine that should be called as the central part of this shrine was the most likely choice.

Due to the hanging lanterns that were hung down here and there, the gloomy grounds in the evening was faintly illuminated. Kazuki and Lotte rushed up the stone stairs while being filled with the atmosphere of mysterious profundity and finally arrived at a vermilion tower gate that continued to the main shrine.

―In front of the gate, there was a person’s shadow waiting for them.

Even inside the faint darkness, she was clearly reflected in their eyes thanks to how standing out that vibrant kimono she wore.

“…Aisu Ikousai!!”

Kazuki yelled. Inside the faint darkness that was illuminated by hanging lanterns was a glamorous figure in a kimono. With the background of a historical shrine’s tower gate, that standing figure spontaneously became a picture that looked so bewitching.

“I was waiting for you, Hayashizaki Kazuki…for the sake of resolving this fate between you and I.”

Beside Ikousai, there was a woman of Yamato wearing Shrine Maiden’s clothes accompanying her. Yamato’s Shrine Maiden―a Drive Magika Stigma whose body even now was possessed by a Wild God of Izumo side.

For Aisu Ikousai of all people to be posted into an underling work like being the guard of Isonokami Shrine for no reason at all shouldn’t be something impossible. She was waiting here in ambush with the conviction that Kazuki would come.

An ambush. Something cold ran through his spine. This operation had been leaked to the other side.

…Might this be the work of the spy inside the Knight Order?

…No, was I the one that got sniffed out by the spy? Kazuki harbored a dark belief.

Commander Yamagata and Akane-senpai communicated this operation as nothing more than [Yokkaichi’s Recapture Operation] to the higher ups. Only the minimum air battle strength that were Kazuki and Lotte were sent to Isonokami Shrine without informing anyone.

Those who knew about Kazuki’s attack to Isonokami Shrine were only Commander Yamagata and Akane-senpai and Kanon-senpai, and then his companions of the Witch’s Mansion.

Even so for this operation to be still leaked out, in short…the source of the information leak was themselves.

Until now the spies of Yamato penetrated the Knight Order’s chain of command and then they leaked the flow of information there into Yamato secretly. If they worked like that then the operation this time shouldn’t get leaked.

However from how the battle went until now, even the spies had surely noticed that Kazuki and his group were moving independently from the Knight Order’s chain of command. Having noticed that Kazuki was always there in the center of the operations that outwitted Yamato, there was no mistake that the spies had then secretly snooped around Kazuki’s action.

Kazuki had the confidence in his own senses’ sharpness. However at the time when they drafted this operation in a rush and then while making preparation with Lotte hurriedly, during all that mess he had no confidence that he was able to detect some kind of magic or listening device around him with certainty.

They got him. His side’s spy countermeasure had been backfired completely.

With this it was just doing the same thing repeatedly. Just as he thought, it was fundamentally necessary to eradicate the spies.

“…Destined opponent. Kazuki-oniisan, are you actually an intimate friend with that woman desu?”

Lotte who lined up at Kazuki’s side looked upward at him wonderingly.

“There was no way that’s possible right, she is a sworn enemy that cannot be allowed to live under the same sky that I have to absolutely defeat.”

“Don’t say that so contemptibly. For you to be like that even though I was really looking forward to the rematch with you that I set the stage of our decisive battle like this.”

Ikousai’s mouth distorted faintly and she reached her hand to the katana on her waist.

Kazuki too vigilantly reached his hand to the katana on his waist, both of them sounded the clinking sound from the mouth of their sheath at the same time.

Lotte compared alternately the two that were heightening the feeling of tension.

“Rather than a pure hostility, a more different emotion is whirling between you two…actually you two get along well right desu?”

“Wrong, she is the worst enemy.”

“Calling me the worst really hurt here, my worthy rival.”

Kazuki earnestly glared while Ikousai was floating a faint smile. That composure of hers was ominous. There was something.

“For Kazuki-oniisan to disagree with the other person’s feeling like this is really rare desu.”

Lotte tilted her head.

“O furious honored god descending down from sky, bring forth and build unprecedented uproar right here! Thy august name is <Susanoo no Mikoto>! Reside in my body, rage following your violent emotion!!”

Magic power like a storm seethed out and Ikousai’s appearance transformed into her Magic Dress due to the Astrum ConnectionAccess. Fitting for the contractor of Susanoo, a wild jet black costume like the sky in the middle of storm. Only the katana attached in her waist was not broken down into Origin ParticlePrima Materia and retained its shape.

Kazuki noticed the out of place feeling. Ikousai was wearing two katanas on her waist.

When he encountered her in Ise Imperial Shrine she was supposed to only wear one katana.

The Shrine Maiden beside Ikousai was also shining with blue magic power light from flowing power to the Wild God inside her own body. The two enemies finished putting in order their battle preparation.

“You only brought one person along with you? You really have insufficient manpower right now don’t you? Have you also exiled Loki and his battle strength?”

“I know that you are coming with only two people. Where is the need of coming here bringing a lot of force? …Hmph, Loki and his guys are reassigned as the guard of our capital city. No matter how bad she is, that girl is also one of the top that rule Yamato. If they are to just suddenly get exiled, the soldiers will get agitated then. But that girl will not trespass the holy battlefield between you and me for the second time!”

Hearing that unexpected reply, Kazuki felt a freezing chill.

For Loki to not get exiled even though they had conflicted with each other until that far, that was the same as saying that the influence of Kaya inside Yamato was just that great.

But of all things for Kaya and her group to be retained in the capital of Yamato―if Kazuki and Lotte defeated Ikousai in battle, what would happen after that…!

“Are you sane leaving alone the illegal magicians to take care the center of your country while you yourself are coming out to the battlefield!? If you guys get done in by us, Yamato is going to get taken over by the illegal magicians isn’t it!?”

“Do you still have any composure left to worry about that! I won’t suffer a defeat for the second time against you! We have obtained the cooperation of Chukadou. With the [Power of Usurpation] of Susanoo, your King’s Authority, and then someday the King’s Authority of China’s King too, I’m going to plunder them all!”

This girl…is she not thinking about anything else other than plundering power from somebody!?

For her everybody around her might be nothing else other than objects to be used.

“Lotte, please take care of the Shrine Maiden over there. The other side perhaps is also intending to do the same thing.”

“Roger desu.” Lotte nodded.

If it was with Lotte’s chanting speed then there wouldn’t be that much of a difference even against a Drive Magician as her opponent.

Ikousai didn’t even pay a glance to Lotte, she turned to Kazuki and lightly kicked the ground.

“What is dedicated here, is a scattering flower dance like a storm! O honored god that call the storm, please grant thy breath on the back of I who dance under the heaven! Fujin Kenbu!!”

A fierce tailwind blew on Ikousai’s back. This magic generated freely a favorable wind that adhered to the movement of oneself, a reinforcement magic that accelerated every single movement taken by the body.

With a terrific speed that was in contrast with her light movement, Ikousai stepped into the range. Ikousai drew the katana on her waist.

Right now she was not using [Aoiro Yasha] was surely because she was cautious against having her breath run out in a protracted battle.

On the other side Kazuki was―right now he was already unable to use Beatrix’s strengthening magic.

It was because the Einherjar had completely cancelled their stance of cooperation with Japan.

He had to use a different method to compete with Ikousai.

“O flow of atmosphere, converge in this body, become the storm that reject the resented person! The eye of typhoon is exactly my throne! Storm Fort!”

Kazuki burst out wind around his own surrounding. His body was enveloped with a tornado.

And then he directed the wind at Ikousai, offsetting Ikousai’s tailwind.

…If he couldn’t strengthen himself, then he would contest her using obstruction.

“Mhh-!?”

Just when she was about to unsheathe her sword in an Iai draw she was bathed by severe wind from the opposite direction, making Ikousai’s swordsmanship become disarrayed. Kazuki leisurely dodged that attack of hers.

…The distance was slightly different compared to their confrontation before.

Looking at the blade that hit the empty air in front him, Kazuki noticed that fact.

She didn’t change the distance with her specialty [Shiraba Kagerou].

…Ikousai was using a different sword from the one that she used in Ise Imperial Shrine. For a swordsman to use a different katana and not the specialized katana that he was used to handle, there must be a considerable reason behind it.

Kazuki returned back an Iai draw at Ikousai. Facing that horizontal flash of counterattack, Ikousai forcefully bent backward even while that action broke her posture. Ikousai’s leg pitched backward. Kazuki didn’t let that chance escape and stepped inside her range trying to drive another attack. But―,

“Tenrou Kaidan!”

Ikousai crashed an impact of Psychokinesis diagonally on her wavering back, and forcefully circled to Kazuki’s side. It was a high speed movement that was absolutely impossible using only living flesh body, moving from an unnatural stance to an inconceivable direction. From there a severe thrust was unleashed to Kazuki.

But Kazuki Foresighted the magic power and was able to react.

He smoothly dodged his body from the thrust and slashed back in return.

Blue magic power light shone. Ikousai’s body staggered from the impact of the smashed magic power.

“Thy fury is the joy of the war shrine maiden. Answer the kagura of soul summoning burst out the storm of outcry, divide the cloud and please descend here…spirits and demons in this body! Super Strength InvitationChouriki Shourai!!”

But while receiving damage, the girl accomplished her spell.

A magic that further strengthened her. Ikousai’s Body Strength Reinforcement MagicEnchant Aura was doubled.

Treating her broken posture as not a big deal, she sent a counterattack at Kazuki with her reinforced speed and power.

From a thrust the blade was reversed and became a flash of a slash. Kazuki gave up evading and concentrated the wind of [Storm Fort] in one spot and attempted to kill the momentum of Ikousai’s attack.

However even after receiving that wind, Ikousai’s severe attack didn’t feel like it slowed down for even a little bit.

A severe attack tore apart Kazuki’s defensive magic power.

“Kuh…lightning fall on my body and I obtain lightning thought god speed…wake up the sleeping lion! Ride Lightning!!”

Kazuki too even while receiving damage finished chanting a reinforcement magic.

Ikousai and also Kazuki accelerated their movement together.

This time too the curtain for offense and defense in supernatural speed that was absolutely impossible for average swordsman was opened.

The previous match was won by Kazuki, but who knew how the result would turn out this time. ―Before, Ikousai’s lack of experience in [battle against opponent that was above herself] was exposed and she fell behind Kazuki.

But due to how he couldn’t use Beatrix’s strengthening magic, this time Kazuki’s speed and power were both inferior. He couldn’t not recognize the inferiority of his spec.

However he believed that he had gotten used to this girl’s swordsmanship from their fight before.

He saw through her speed and parried her strength like a willow branch. With that ardor, Kazuki crossed swords with Ikousai, the state of the battle then were brought into a sword locking contest.

―At that time Ikousai’s katana suddenly emitted a blue magic power light.

“Curse this body, <Muramasa>! Battou Kaikon―Muramasa of HazeOboro no Muramasa!!”

…That’s, Sacred Treasure!?

Kazuki’s katana slipped through Ikousai’s katana unhindered.

Not only did his blade slip through Ikousai’s blade, it even slipped through Ikousai’s body that was in its way. There was no resistance felt from his blade. Even her presence gone. As if Ikousai had completely became a ghost.

Possibly her solid body was turned completely into a vapor by that Sacred Treasure.

“Is that the Sacred Treasure that was dedicated in Isonokami Shrine!?”

Ikousai slipped through Kazuki like a ghost and moved into his back. And then at Kazuki’s back, Ikousai’s presence and existence was realized back into how she was before.

Without even any time to turn back, he was slashed from his back.

The powerful attack that broke through the wind armor of [Storm Fort] blew Kazuki away in a pitching forward posture.

Kazuki rolled forward in order to escape from his opponent’s distance.

But Ikousai mercilessly filled the distance and assaulted him in her pursuit.

…What he needed to put in order was not only his stance, but also the inside of his head.

What was happening right now? Was Ikousai turning into a ghost?

No, it was hard to imagine a magic phenomenon that turned one’s own body into a ghost.

Haze―Ikousai changed her body into an existence that somewhat ambiguous without a definite shape.

The Ikousai right now was just resistant against a mere physical attack.

“Burn to ash everything you touch…the scorching heat of rejection without any place to go! Self Burning!”

With an immediate judgment, Kazuki enveloped himself in an armor of flame. He mixed together the wind of [Storm Fort] that he chanted before with the flame. The wind brought oxygen to the flame and amplified its power.

The intensely raging flame wind was concentrated into the blade by Kazuki using Psychokinesis.

Like this he could inflict damage―no matter how powerful of a Sacred Treasure it may be, it shouldn’t be something so great that could manifest a grand magic that vanished the holder’s existence itself.

Even though she didn’t possess a fixed shape and slipped through him, that didn’t mean that there was no existence there.

She existed. So there was no reason why she couldn’t be burned.

Ikousai went “Hou!” and leaked out a voice of admiration.

Kazuki swung a single horizontal flash of blade just when he was turning back to Ikousai behind him.

“…But unfortunately your movement is slow! Aoiro Yasha!!”

Ikousai’s movement sped up even further, Kazuki’s counterattack just hit an empty air.

[Aoiro Yasha] ―It was Ikousai’s secret technique that temporarily augmented her own explosive power by manipulating her own blood flow with Psychokinesis. It was a double edged blade that would cause a backlash to her body when she used it continuously for a long time, but Ikousai saw through a critical point of the battle here. Without even leaving afterimage behind, Ikousai circled to Kazuki’s blind spot.

There was too much difference in their physical ability…!

Kazuki just barely reacted against the attack from his blind spot using his Foresight of the magic power, he blocked the blade.

From there the situation was brought into a sword locking contest. Kazuki felt relieved. In a sword locking contest it became a contest of reading each other’s movement. If it was with this blade clad in flame, she couldn’t escape like before by slipping through him.

…That relief vanished in an instant. Kazuki noticed that Ikousai’s katana which was entangling with his katana in front his eyes had become a different thing than before before he realized.

That’s right, Ikousai brought two katana here different from before.

...This girl, before he realized it she had already changed Sacred Treasure!?

“Raise your howl, <Kotetsu>! Battou Kaikon―Tiger and Lion Picture Folding ScreenShishi Ko Zuhyoubu!!”

From the Sacred Treasure of Ikousai that was entangling with his blade, when he thought that a vision of [tiger] was emerging out from it, suddenly it materialized and howled while leaping at Kazuki’s throat.

“Kuh, this guy!” Kazuki tried to shake off the tiger with a kick clad in flame.

But the magic tiger didn’t fear the flame and came biting at Kazuki with a determined ferocity.

“Tenrou Kaidan!!”

In the middle of that, Ikousai’s voice and *PAAN!* sound like something was bounced rang out.

Ikousai’s body instantly flew to Kazuki’s blind spot using a jump by means of Psychokinesis.

“Hahaha! Just try it if you can really Foresight this!!”

There is no way that he can. Kazuki’s attention was stolen by the tiger.

Kazuki completely lost sight of Ikousai’s movement.

“Polishing the black steel of heaven o Totsuka no Tsurugi…release the flash that gouge the storm! This is the Orochi no Aramasa…the descend of tearing limb from limb, Ame no Habakiri!!”

Susanoo’s Sacred Treasure was created in Ikousai’s hand and it was swung down on Kazuki from behind.

Kazuki was slashed eight times.

Ame no Habakiri―it produced eight streaks of slashes with one swing multiple time, a Sacred Treasure that tore apart the enemy under one attack. Its damage was eight times the normal in one attack.

Kazuki received that damage from outside his consciousness where his Resist was thin.

It was a heavy damage. While Kazuki was blown away forward, he kept rolling in order to try to escape from Ikousai. However that was not allowed and the tiger too came attacking at Kazuki.

Kazuki wrestled with the large body of the tiger and his body’s movement was sealed. His head became pure white. …This is bad, the spell he was in the middle of chanting is going to disperse from his impatience. Calm down.

The tiger bit at Kazuki’s neck and his defensive magic power scattered.

Kazuki stubbornly preserved his cool and he thrust back his katana into the tiger’s torso in a simultaneous strike with each other.

The beast that was formed from magic power scattered around blue magic power light and vanished.

From the other side of the dancing apart magic power light―Ikousai was stepping in closer to him.

Without even giving him any time to breathe she was going to swing down Ame no Habakiri at Kazuki.

But that action was just as expected, if it was a swordsman then anyone would surely do such an action.

“O the ruler of flame’s calling voice, liberate the fury of the earth’s bottom! Open the gate of my rampart right here…tower in the heaven and earth, partition the impurity! Fire Wall!!”

Almost at the same time with the tiger’s termination, Kazuki invoked the magic from the chant that he just barely maintained.

“Muu-!?”

Ikousai foresighted the outbreak of the magic power and put a sudden brake to her step-in before taking a step back.

A magic circle spread out on the surface, a high and thick wall of flame spouted out as if to separate the two of them.

It was Phoenix’s magic that was invoked aiming for a surprise attack.

Even how Ikousai didn’t fall into the trap and brake herself just moments before the trap activated, was according to his assumption.

That was because the first time Kazuki faced this magic from Mio, that was exactly what he did.

Right at that timing, Kazuki gathered all the remaing power of wind from [Storm Fort] that enclosed his body and blew it all to the flame wall in one go.

The wind cannon crashed into the wall of flame. Ikousai, who stepped back in the location with just a paper thin difference from the wall of flame was swallowed by the leaning forward flame. Blue defensive magic power light shone inside the flame.

…It was a small attack, but it was a single repayment from the state where he kept getting done in just now.

In that moment Kazuki finally put his standing stance in order and recovered some distance back.

He took a single breath.

“…You still have some more trick remaining as a magician huh.”

Ikousai whispered after the flame wall was extinguished.

Those words of hers were as if she was saying that the conclusion between them as swordsman had been reached.

He was the victor when they battled each other in Ise Imperial Shrine before, but originally their true strength were even with each other. The line between victor and loser was drawn from the slight difference in experience. If the opponent had just a little extra in her, the situation would be reversed.

The Sacred Treasure of Isonokami Shrine….

“Certainly you won’t say that this is cowardly. Even I don’t have the intention of losing against you the second time. I left behind my beloved katana and choose these two pieces…for the sake of surpassing you bastard, this is my best where I have exhausted myself.”

The sword technique with the appliance of general magic, the strongest class Summoning Magic of Japanese Mythology, and then the strengthened Sacred Treasures.

The current Aisu Ikousai had everything. And then more than that she didn’t have even a single fragment of negligence.

Strong.

In regards to that, Kazuki didn’t expect that he would have his rematch with Aisu Ikousai here.

He absolutely didn’t feel any longing for Beatrix. But even so, if he could use the magic that girl used, if his bond with her was still remaining…. Such conception flashed through his head.

After getting back to square one like this, what was he going to do next? Inside Kazuki’s head there was no plan appearing that could break this deadlock.

“Kazuki-oniisan, are you okay desu!?”

Suddenly Lotte’s voice reached him from outside the fight with Ikousai where he focused his mind to the extreme.

“Ru, Run o flash of sword, <Nagamitsu>!”

It was the voice of Lotte calling out the power of Sacred Treasure totteringly.

A blade of light came flying right from the side to Ikousai who was facing Kazuki.

“…What-!?” Ikousai leaped back in fluster.

Kazuki and Ikousai directed their sight to Lotte simultaneously.

Lotte had already finished dealing with the Shrine Maiden. She was holding Sacred Treasures of katana and spears in her left side while her right hand was wielding a single Sacred Treasure. Even if she couldn’t go as far as using the technique to draw out the Sacred Treasure’s maximum power by interacting with it―[Battou Kaikon], she still liberated a fragment of that power toward Ikousai.

“You bastard…that’s the Sacred Treasure from the main shrine!!”

It was an inexperienced strike, but that attack checked Ikousai in place and it was enough to light a fire in her fury.

“Dance the wing what is scattered is spark. Trail behind the spiraling wind, become the bullet that gouge life! Flap your wing and shot out! Barrett!!”

Kazuki didn’t miss that opening and launched a flame bullet. “Uwaa!” Ikousai raised a scream and staggered. In a split second Kazuki swung down his katana from above his head and cut her.

In panic Ikousai blocked that attack with her blade facing sideways.

{Kazuki, that person cannot use the power as the King of Japanese Mythology. It’s no good for you who is the King of Solomon Mythology to lose. …Why didn’t you use Zekorbeni?}

In the instant of [time of calm] where blade and blade locked at each other―a telepathy from Leme reverberate in his head.

Zekorbeni. It was the pendant-type Magic Dress that he was newly bestowed from Leme when she recognized Kazuki as King. With that pendant he could do Diva Drivepossession from Diva of a girl whose positivity level was more than 150, granting Kazuki with the chanting speed of average Possession SummoningDrive.

But the magic power consumption using that was high because of the large amount of magic power flowing into the circuit that became thicker and shorter in without stopping. It was a [trump card] that couldn’t be used easily because he thought that he had to save it so even if there was something unexpected that happened, he could escape while taking along Lotte with certainty.

{You said that it consume a lot of magic power? As for that…you have to become able to control the power of King a bit better.}

Listening to what Leme was saying dissatisfiedly, Kazuki replied {I know already} in his mind.

“Lotte! I’m okay, so you just walk off with the Sacred Treasures that you can carry off with both of your arms!”

Light emerged out from Kazuki’s chest, Zekorbeni was generated.

Kazuki grasped that pendant with one hand and yelled with voice filled with determination.

But that determination was obstructed by Lotte herself.

“Kazuki-oniisan, some kind of large magic power is approaching with great speed!!”

Lotte’s detection of magic power was not inferior even compared to Kazuki and Ikousai. Both of them too immediately noticed, they looked up to the dim sky―someone was approaching here from the eastern sky the same where Kazuki also arrived from!

“Just wait a second here, both of you! How can you two just leave me alone in a boring battlefield while having fun fighting together! Son Shouryuu has arrived!!”

What entered their eyes was an approaching golden colored cloud. On top of it was a young boy that stood imposingly with both his arms crossed. Looking at a glance he looked like he was going to fall from the wind pressure, but his posture didn’t stir an inch.

Young boy―even seen from Kazuki who was still a high school student, calling him with the expression of still a young boy was appropriate.

Much less a middle school student, if one was careless the boy’s height and features could also look like someone around elementary school student.

Somersault Cloud. The two leaders of China’s soldiers that attacked Akane-senpai and Kanon-senpai were said to be contracted with Kan’u and Son Goku. This guy is the magician that is contracted with Son Goku! It was still better than a reinforcement of a hundred people, but a Magika Stigma that was likely one of the strongest in Yamato’s camp had came!

“Son Shouryuu!!” Ikousai yelled.

The young boy that was called Shouryuu somersaulted from on top the cloud and got down to the ground.

“There were some fellows that broke away from the battlefield with great speed so I especially chased them and came here you know! This means that battlefield is just a distraction, and their true aim is to attack this shrine huh. So, big sis Ikousai already guessed it beforehand and waited for them here right!?”

Shouryuu unexpectedly had a fast thinking.

After saying all that with dizzying speed, ―he turned a dissatisfied face to Ikousai.

“Why didn’t you tell this to us who is your comrade if you know about this beforehand! This guy is the King of Solomon right!? If we beat this guy isn’t it our side’s victory!? It’d be better if we ambush him with all member of the China’s Imperial Guard!!”

“Shut up brat!” Ikousai roared thunderously. “This guy is my prey! I won’t allow you to interfere!”

“Wh, wha-!? What’s with that way of talking…this means you, you plan to monopolize this for yourself huh!? Doing an interesting fight yourself while keeping it secret from me is just unn―faa―iir―rightt-!? I’m joining in too―!!”

“Kuh…talking won’t get through to this fellow in different meaning from Loki…! I absolutely won’t tolerate it if you lay your hand on my Hayashizaki Kazuki!!”

Ignoring Ikousai’s words, Shouryuu interposed unhesitatingly between the two. Ikousai went “You bastard-!” and raised her voice while swinging Ame no Habakiri in the space between Kazuki and Shouryuu, obstructing the two.

This startled Shouryuu and he looked back at Ikousai.

“You, what are you planning to do pointing your blade to the comrade that came far away from China really! Don’t screw with me, shénjīng bìng (is something wrong with you)!?”

Shouryuu reflexively cursed in Chinese.

Using that opening, Kazuki exchanged gaze with Lotte.

Lotte guessed everything from just his gaze and nodded. And then the spell chanting began.

A powerful reinforcement of the enemy―the operation was a failure. Retreat!

Kazuki estimated the timing and dashed at Lotte before embracing her.

Lotte cast [Deep Striker] with an exact timing.

A huge thruster unit was equipped on Lotte’s back and then she launched herself together with Kazuki that was holding at her high to the sky with enormous flame trailing behind them.

Ikousai and Shouryuu noticed simultaneously “”What-!?”” before yelling and looked up to the sky.

The resoluteness of the decision to escape and using Lotte’s Telepathy ability to its fullest, how Kazuki and Lotte matched their timing without giving any signal to each other managed to take the two by surprise.

“Wait, Hayashizaki Kazuki, don’t you run away from me-!!”

Ikousai jumped the air using [Tenrou Kaidan] and tried to chase the two who were flying.

However the speed of [Deep Striker] really couldn’t be caught up.

“…Just remember this, this time is my victory after all-!”

Ikousai who gave up fell to the ground while yelling.

“You think you who underestimated Lotte and got the Sacred Treasures stolen can be called the victor huh-!!”

Hearing the words Kazuki left behind, Ikousai was “Unuu―!” and raised a vexed voice.

When Kazuki and Lotte gained enough altitude, the force of the thruster was tilted from vertical to horizontal, they flew heading to the direction of Nagoya. Lotte laughed “Ehehe♪” being embraced tightly by Kazuki like this continuously.

“The rendezvous at the departure was also great but, the return home like this is nice too right desu-“

“But we also cannot be like this until we arrive. …Deep Striker!”

Kazuki too cast [Deep Striker] later than Lotte, then he separated his body from Lotte.

Lotte dropped her shoulder in disappointment. Ikousai had fallen behind however…,

“Waitt―! Fight mee―!!”

A shrill voice of a young boy was following them from behind.

“Kazuki-oniisan, he caught up!!”

Shouryuu who stood on a golden cloud was following them even now. In the first place that cloud had a speed that was not inferior against [Deep Striker], that was why he was able to catch up with them from Yokkaichi until here so quickly.

The Ishinogami Shrine on the ground had already looked like a speck of rice from here, but the Somersault Cloud was following them from that spot while trailing behind a golden trail―he approached near in the blink of eye.

The other side was fast!

“Howl! The civilization grant human destruction! The roar of wisdom scorch, break thy body, burying that dignity under the rubble!! Mitraileuse!”

Lotte equipped a gatling gun and directed one of her hand behind, scattering rain of bullets. However Shouryuu didn’t even try to dodge and Resist the bullet right from the front deflecting them. It didn’t even slow him down.

It was impossible to shake him off.

“Lotte! There is no other way to return to Nagoya other than fighting this guy here!”

Kazuki resolved himself and made an U-turn, facing Shouryuu.

Lotte stayed slightly behind Kazuki and took the stance of supporting Kazuki.

“Awesome, come just like this! We are going to play until you break yeah!! …Taking hold of the leading part is possible! O divine rare steel that hold infinite mass, hand down the strike that inflict certain kill to all evil! Nyoikinkobou!”

Inside Shoryuu’s both hands, a deep red pole was created before it was grasped.

“Gouge!!” With Shouryuu’s thundering voice, the pole ignored the law of conservation mass and elongated, approaching near Kazuki.

Fast. But Kazuki Foresighted it and already evaded from the point where the pole was elongating.

The pole that struck empty air shrank back as if rewinding, then after Shouryuu adjusted its angle, he directed it once more to Kazuki and it elongated. All of that was not Shouryuu drawing back the pole and thrusting it forward again, but because of the piston movement of the pole that lengthening out after shrinking back, it was even faster than any barrage of any kind of bojutsu master.

Kazuki spontaneously gulped his saliva. ―There was no doubt that most likely in Shouryuu there wasn’t any knowledge of martial arts whatsoever.

However that pole just by directing it to the enemy, made it possible to launch super high speed barrage into infinite distance automatically.

A powerful weapon that laughed derisively toward any martial arts training!

Kazuki who escaped using [Deep Striker] was pursued by consecutive strike from a pole that possessed thickness and force like the rapid fire of gatling gun bullets. The closing in attack that was like a [wall] of barrage was not something that could be evaded even with Foresight.

Lotte turned to Kazuki and chanted a magic.

“O wisdom that is piled up throughout human race’s history, became the multiple piles of armor that armored the body of that person! Heavily, thickly, reject every act of barbarity! Seusenhofer!!”

Lotte created an armor that shone white on Kazuki’s body in a close call.

*GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!* With the raising terrific sounds, the pole tore apart the armor in the blink of eye. On top of its speed, there was also its amazing destructive power!

“Lightning fall on my body and I obtain lightning thought god speed…wake up the sleeping lion! Ride Lightning!!”

Because he believed that Lotte would chant a defensive magic on him, that was why Kazuki chanted a different magic.

The electric signal inside Kazuki’s brain was sped up and his thought power increased in activity. The force of the flame that spewed out from [Deep Striker] heightened and he accelerated all of sudden―Kazuki instantly circled outside Shouryuu’s line of sight.

“Uoo!? I can’t see him! Where is he!?”

No matter how fast the pole contracted and shrank, if the user couldn’t confirm by sight then the pole also couldn’t lengthen out.

I want offensive power. Just in the timing when Kazuki thought such thing, Lotte invoked a magic to him.

“Blitzkrieg!!”

On the dominant arm of Kazuki who was charging, a gigantic charging spear was created.

“Uoooo, I know it’s bad if I don’t know where he is going to come from! I feel a bad pressure!”

Shouryuu that lost sight of Kazuki screamed.

“Eei…o rock monkey of immortal body born and blessed by the aura of heaven and earth and alchemy of the heaven, please share thy grace in my body! Law Heaven Phenomenon Earth・Rock Monkey TransformationHouten Shouchi・Ishisaru Henge!!”

Shouryuu emitted a glaring light in a flash, right after his body hardened from obtaining the color and hardness of rock. Kazuki’s thrust that surpassed the speed of sound *GAKIN* was blocked by a hard sensation.

Rock―even the electricity was made ineffective.

Kazuki’s strike was abated from the hard to believe defensive power that suddenly appeared. Even so Shouryuu scattered around a few lights of defensive magic power and he was blown away altogether with the Somersault Cloud.

―Even his defensive magic power was thick. His Resist technique was not as skilled as Kaguya-senpai or Beatrix, but the amount of his pure magic power was overwhelming.

Moreover magic power underwent a sudden growth from the age of high school student until adult age where it would reach the peak of the growth. But this young boy, no matter how he saw it, was still around middle school student’s age, an age where his magic power was still half-way developed. …What a monster.

While Kazuki shuddered from how his spear was repelled, he swiveled in high speed. He was going to charge at him from his blind spot again. Just like breaking apart a huge rock, there was no other way to fight other than kept charging no matter how many times at the owner of this enormous magic power and inflicted damage little by little.

“…Aa, shit! If you are going to keep charging from places I cannot see then even I have an idea yeah! …Genshin is overflowing right here, build the shape of mine unlimited body! Law of Body Outside BodyShingaishin no Hou!!”

After Shouryuu chanted a magic with frightening concentration even while his magic power was thoroughly smashed, he took a large deep breath. Thereupon his magic power instantly swelled out, after that when Shouryuu blew out the breath from his mouth, from there tens of small Son Shouryuu flew out.

“!?” Kazuki was shocked and he drew back his charge before taking some distance.

The clone of small Shouryuu that were vomited out like a cluster of germ gradually became bigger when they were blown outside and grew to a size that didn’t lose to the original Shouryuu himself.

No, the swarm of Shouryuu that covered the sky completely had already became so like the original that one couldn’t differentiate which one was the original unless one concentrated and looked out for the magic power. Moreover those clone bodies were all riding Somersault Cloud and holding Nyoibou in their hand.

The eyes of the several dozens Shouryuu looked around the surrounding area gogglingly. No matter how much a master of martial arts one was, in this space it was already impossible to find Shouryuu’s blind spot.

―An ill feeling flashed through Kazuki’s mind.

“Lotte, get away! Run away as fast as possible…tch!!”

“Destroy, destroy! Destroy everything all of me!! Just destroyyy, Nyoibou!!”

The several tens of Shouryuu moved randomly on their Somersault Cloud in high speed while they brandished around the Nyoibou in their hand making it shrank and elongated like a piston. All inside his line of sight was filled completely with trajectories of Nyoibou.

The next moment, a terrific impact came.

That was a small microcosmos of strike where all the space was filled completely with strikes.

This is bad! …All of his defensive magic power was going to get smashed wholly just in an instant!

…Zekorbeni!!

Kazuki summoned a pendant on his chest and he concentrated his mind into it. He became strongly conscious of his bond with Mio who was separated far away from him, from that bond he drew out the mental body of Phoenix and resided him inside the pendant. The pendant that was possessed by a Diva fiercely spouted out flame.

“Mode・Phoenix!!”

Kazuki performed Phenomenon RequestOrder directly into Phoenix who was in Drive inside the pendant. Due to this even Phoenix’s high level magic that originally needed long time of chanting became able to be Cast even in a short time. In exchange, a large amount of magic power was poured into the thick circuit in one go and he felt like his mind withered away.

But if he just left this alone than to escape from this infinite strikes that continued eternally was…!

“…O undying bird that soar from twilight to dawn, please grant that wing of hope on my back! The destruction for the sake of rebirth right here…! Blazing Wings!”

While his magic power got scraped off crunchingly from the strikes, Kazuki spread out gigantic flame wings from his back. Compared to the same magic that was chanted in a normal time, that flame wings was so large like a cloud that covered the sky.

Kazuki rotated his body in a swirl and waved around the wings of flame. The gigantic belt of flame with the diameter that even reached several dozen meters swallowed the several dozens of Shouryuu clones in the surrounding.

The clone bodies of Shouryuu that was swallowed into the flame all became motes of light one after another and vanished.

The clone bodies that escaped from the difficulty fired voices of agitation from their mouths.

“Crap” “Crap” “Crap” “What the hell is that, awesome” “Now that I remember, this guy is a King” “That’s so, so this is a part of Solomon King’s Authority” “On top of one vs two this is frankly awful” “But exactly because of that this is interesting” “Right, this is interesting” “Yossha, from here is the main performance yeah!”

The wings of flame turned to the clone bodies of Shouryuu and Kazuki extinguished them one after another.

At the last the original Shouryuu remained. Shouryuu glared at Kazuki with eyes in high spirits from his vigor. While Kazuki was making the clone bodies his opponents, it seemed that Shouryuu was chanting some kind of magic.

With expression that projected strong confidence, he was going to cast that magic he chanted―right at that time.

“Warning! Immediately cease the battle!”

Suddenly a cold voice of a female rang out from the far away. It was a loud voice that was amplified by magic power.

“Warning! Immediately cease the battle! I will begin to attack those who don’t comply with the warning-!!”

After the voice, a thunder ran horizontally. A giant thunder from beyond the west ran into right in the middle between Kazuki and Shouryuu. When that thunder vanished, from there a single figure of a woman appeared.

Riding thunder to appear here―rather than that it was as if the form of the woman was changed into a thunder.

She was a woman that was clad in a Magic Dress that looked similar to a pure white dress. Her platinum blond hair and dress’ sleeves fluttered in rustle from the strong wind of the sky.

She had a look and skin color that was obviously not Japanese or Chinese.

That gaze of hers had no wavering in it, emitting a sizzling silent pressure.

“I, Ilyailiya Muromets!!”

Shouryuu was…raising a voice that overturned his impression of this flawless young man from how shook up he sounded.

The woman called Ilyailiya turned at Shouryuu with a clear light blue eyes.

“…I’ll overlook the impertinence of calling my name without honorific because you are not someone that I don’t know. Rather than that…I should have already advised Yamato to [propose to Japan for the occassion of ceasefire arrangement]. After all rather than entering ceasefire because of other country’s intervention, proposing the ceasefire from oneself beforehand will make your position better later on. Despite that why are you still taking combat action, explain yourself.”

“The one who started the fight is Japan! When we thought of making the preparation to propose the ceasefire agreement just like you told us, they suddenly came attacking us with incredible force you know! It’s still around one week after Sekigahara yeah!? It’s unbelievable but, we can’t just stand around and not intercept right-!?”

“…I understood the situation. In various meaning I didn’t make it in time, that’s it. Then with I who stand as the mediator, halt the battle right now immediately.”

“…Screw that! In front of a toy this delicious, how can I just stop fighting…”

“I have predicted that response. Your belligerent personality makes the situation complicated. Therefore I have begun attacking already.”

“What, already?” Shouryuu made an expression of realization and looked up, then yelled. “…UOOOO, from the sky!?”

―From the sky above, several dots of light blinked in a momentary flash. Those small dots of light became bigger in a blink of eye and covered Kazuki and Shouryuu overhead completely.

It was falling while spouting out flame from the air friction of the atmosphere, countless numbers of meteors.

“Sayonara. If it’s you then you won’t die that easily.”

Ilyailiya became a thunder once again. The humanoid light that was half human and half thunder first turned up below Kazuki where she held Kazuki under her arm.

Right there because he didn’t feel any ill will or hostility, Kazuki let himself get taken away just like that.

Next she rushed under Lotte who was separated far away and then she also carried Lotte under her arm.

Both of them were carried under her arms and escaped outside the attack range of the meteors with undoubtedly a lightning speed. It was a speed that struck them with admiration. This female magician was far and away―in a different dimension of speed even more than [Deep Striker] or Shouryuu’s Somersault Cloud. In an instant only Shouryuu who was the only one left right under the countless meteors.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOII-!!”

Shouryuu raised a scream while rushing his Somersault Cloud, but with that speed he was unable to get away from the range of the meteors. The meteors rained down on Shouryuu one after another.

“GYAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

The instant the meteor crashed into Shouryuu, the trajectory of the meteor changed from vertical into straight horizontal. There was no mistake that it was controlled according to Ilyailiya’s will. It was an unnatural movement that ignored gravity.

“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

The meteor brought Shouryuu horizontally far away east to the direction of Pacific Ocean.

That scream of his gradually became smaller and then vanished.

“If you crash into the ground surface just like that then it will bring about damage, therefore I will vanish the meteor after it brings you around the area just before Hawaii. I want you to be relieved.”

While saying such with emotionless voice that made one feel even some brusqueness, Ilyailiya let go Kazuki and Lotte.

Kazuki and Lotte were hovering back with their own power using [Deep Striker] and faced the girl.

“Who in the world are you…?”

…The attack magic before. The phenomenon body she invoked was similar to both Ryuutaki-senpai’s Union Magic.

However even though it was a magic of such scale, he didn’t grasp the signs of her chanting and invocation at all. Even her magic that changed her into thunder and moved in high speed was also like that.

She cast magic without any omen of magic power. What in the world was this power….

“O soldiers of Japan, first let me apologize for my impoliteness of visiting Yamato’s side preceding your side.”

Her short conversation with Shouryuu before this displayed that she was an acquaintance of that young boy.

“…I am the envoy from Russia Empire. I came to give my counsel to put a ceasefire in this conflict that might destroy the balance of the world. I want you to somehow accept the ceasefire.”

Ilyailiya said while bowing her head uneventfully.

The envoy from Russia…! Kazuki worked his brain in fluster. What kind of matter this is?

From her way of talking just now, it seemed she had visited Yamato and sent her advice to them.

Her mouth said that she apologize but, it was obvious that Russia was leaning closer to Yamato rather than Japan. Kazuki harbored a suspicion to this person that stood in front of his eyes and stared intensely at her vigilantly.

“My name is Ilyailiya Muromets. We exchange contract with the supreme deity of Mythology that governed all phenomenon of heaven, <Svarog>. I am the Emperor of Russia Empire. Thunder EmperorGrozny Basilleus, that’s what the people and other countries call me.”

Kazuki’s face instantly turned pure white. Russia’s, Emperor…!?

“It is my pride that I can run faster than anyone in my country. Therefore I came here alone. O soldier, I want you to guide me into Japan’s territory.”

It seemed that Ilyailiya didn’t know that Kazuki was a King. But he was just a student, so she was also not wrong.

Kazuki nodded without correcting her.

“I understand. However even on the ground is still in battle…”

“That worry is unnecessary. I heard that Britain and Italia are also coming here. They are surely slower than me, but right about now should be a suitable time for them to finally advice the ceasefire on the battlefield on the ground. …Now, I will match my speed with the two of you, so show me the way.”

―This day, a ceasefire was formed in the civil war between Japan and Yamato.

In reality, that fact had the meaning that Yamato was recognized as a country in the international community.

Translator's Notes and References

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