Published at 17th of August 2019 8:57 am

Volume 16, Chapter 2: Sortie

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Sunday, July 4

30 minutes after Koutarou and the others departed, the surface troops led by Theia began moving out. Their destination was an uninhabited island off the coast of Kitsushouharukaze city. On that island was the radical faction's secret base. And on it, should be a weapon of mass destruction that would cause massive damage both to the surface and to the underground. Theia's surface troop's objective was to destroy that weapon, the Earth Dragon.

The girls of room 106, the Sun Rangers and 80 of Kiriha's subordinates were waiting to arrive at their destination onboard the Cradle's cargo compartment. Everyone had stern expressions as they were all aware that this battle would decide their future.

“...This is the first time I've seen this kind of vehicle.”

“We have a bunch of strange tools too, but... this is on a league of its own.”

Amongst them, the Sun Rangers seemed the most shaken. But that wasn't because of the coming battle, but because of the strange vehicle carrying them.

It had a design they had never seen before that relied heavily on curves. While they had heard the sound of boosters at take off, they were flying far quieter than a plane. On top of that the flight was incredibly stable, and it hardly shook at all. The guide onboard was filled with characters and signs they had never seen before, and not even the international standard of English could be found.

At first the Sun Rangers believed that it might be a secret weapon designed by a different country, but that confidence gradually vanished. It felt like they had been thrown into a different world, especially the more intelligent Kotarou and Hayato.

“Everyone, I know it's strange, but let's not think too much about it. Everyone has their own circumstances. The important thing is that we can land on that island without being detected thanks to this thing.”

Kenichi was filled with doubts as well, but he had no intentions of pursuing the matter.

The Sun Rangers would participate in this battle, but it was unofficial, and they couldn't make their circumstances public. It wouldn't be strange for the others to be in a similar position. As long as they were allies, it was best for both sides not to touch the subject.

“...Sorry for making you take us into consideration, Red Shine.”

Theia smiled wryly. Truth be told, overlooking it all, Theia was an invader, and the Sun Rangers enemy. It would be difficult to gauge whether they would understand even if she told them the truth. So Kenichi's consideration was a welcome thing.

“No... that goes both ways.”

“Our positions might be complicated... but there's one thing that's certain.”

There was much she couldn't say, but there was something she wanted to mention. That was that Theia and the others were the Sun Rangers' allies.

“We will only fight against those that Koutarou has decided to fight. We won't fight against anyone else.”

“Those Baron-san has...”

“You don't have to believe us. But... at least believe in his honest to a fault side. We are all in consensus of that.”

What supported Theia's and the others relationship was the time spent together and memories they had gained. There had never been any real reason or cause for it. Getting others to understand that would be hard. That's why she wanted them to believe in Koutarou, who was the central figure. She didn't have any other means of showing that they were the Sun Rangers' allies.

“If it's up to Baron-san's judgment, then we can relax.”

Kenichi nodded with a smile. Theia's words were easy for him to understand as well. His goal was simply to become a splendid hero that could fight against Baron Demon. And if it was up to that Baron Demon, then there was no need for doubt.

“That's right everyone♪ The moment Baron-sama showed that serious expression of his, it no longer mattered who these girls are♪ You're both so silly, Kotarou and Hayato♪”

“The preserved food on this vehicle is really delicious. Someone that can make food this delicious could never be a bad person.”

Megumi and Daisaku remained consistent from beginning to end. These two had completely trusted Koutarou from the very beginning. While they could be called easily deceived, their judgment this time was correct.

“We'll want to avoid any developments that would make the children cry, right?”

“Yeah. Since we're going by the name of the Sun Squad, we have to walk the path of justice.”

Kotarou and Hayato soon gave up on thinking of the true identity of the Cradle. Neither of them wanted to doubt Theia and the others. They had simply been shaken up by seeing something they had never laid their eyes on before. Nor did they want to let down the underground children they had met just a while ago.

“Thank you, Sun Rangers. You really are... the real deal.”

“We still have a long way to go.”

“Naturally. The real deal always aims for new heights.”

“Devil Princess-san...”

“I'm counting on you today, Sun Rangers.”

“Yes, please leave it to us!”

While the tension couldn't be concealed, the unity and morale of the 89 troops led by Theia was high. It was clear how fierce of a battle they would be in soon, but not having to worry about any problems amongst the troops was a positive factor.

Part 2

The surface troops landed on the southern coast of the island in question. The radical faction's base was on a hilly mountain north of this point. While Clan's Cradle was highly adept at stealth, it was best not to get overconfident and move on ahead on foot from here on. That's why the Cradle hurriedly flew off after unloading Theia and the others. From here on out, they would need to advance on their own.

While approaching the base they needed to stay as hidden as possible. So they started by securing their surroundings.

“...There's no sign of the enemy.”

Shizuka reported as she checked her surroundings. Though it was dark as the sun had set, it didn't matter to Shizuka who held the Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya inside of her. On top of that, her ability to sense presences gained through her martial arts training covered quite a wide area, and she was able to sense all creatures around her. But she didn't sense any other humans.

“I can't sense any magical power either.”

Maki who was next to Shizuka added onto her report. According to her examination of the area through spells, there were no signs of magic. Maki had been worried that Maya may have cast a magical defense network around the area, but that didn't seem to be the case.

I can't imagine that Maya-sama would let her guard down... is it that much harder for her to use magic with her mechanical body, or does she have some other goal...?

Maki knew her master better than anyone. Though she didn't sense any magic around her, she wasn't going to let her guard down.

“Ruth, how does it look?”

“There are no reactions on the EM, gravity waves or spiritual energy sensors. It seems like this region is outside of their area of precaution.”

Ruth was in charge of the scientific approach. She was operating a device floating overhead and searched the area. This device had been modified to detect auras, so it could detect spiritual energy technology as well. However, there was no reaction on any of the sensors, so the area seemed safe from a scientific standpoint too.

“Hmm... so that's a successful landing.”

Upon hearing the three's reports, Theia nodded approvingly. As she did, the Sun Rangers that had remained quiet gave their opinions.

“It's probably because there's a mountain in the way.”

“But we can't let our guard down. If it was me, I'd monitor this side of the island using cameras from the top of the mountain.”

Though small, there was a mountain on the island, making it inefficient to survey the entire island. The Sun Rangers experience told them that it was most likely that the northern side was being properly monitored, whilst the southern side was being surveyed through cameras.

“Devil Princess-san, let's hurry on ahead. Though it might be night, we'll stand out in this place.”

“You're right. Men, advance without letting your guard down.”

Theia listened to the Sun Rangers advice, swiftly made her decision and led the way forward herself. If everything went according to the schedule, Koutarou and the others would arrive at the underground world in 30 minutes. Their attack shouldn't begin until after that, but she wanted to have room to spare when the time came.

Part 3

Though it was an uninhabited island, it was still just off the coast of Japan, and there was nothing special about it. The local fauna and animals were familiar, and the climate was the same. It also seemed like people had lived here before as there was a gravel road left behind.

The surface troops calmly advanced. The members, apart from Ruth, had a reputable athletic capability, and their steps were light.

“It's at times like this where I'm grateful that there's magic.”

Yet even Ruth could keep up with the troops. This was thanks to Maki's spell. She had cast two spells on Ruth. One was a spell that slightly raised her physical capabilities, and the other was a spell that slightly lowered the environment's temperature. Both effects were minimal, but when used together there was a synergy to it. Thanks to that, Ruth could follow the others without running out of breath.

“I'm glad I could be of help, vice captain.”

“It's a big help, Indigo Knight-dono.”

While the Satomi band of knights sounded impressive, being formed by the Blue Knight, there were currently only two other members apart from Koutarou. Currently, the band of knight's only weapon was their teamwork. But fortunately, that teamwork was excellent.

“How nice, it looks so fun... I should join too.”

Shizuka sent the two an envious glance. Shizuka was part of the cooking society in the school, but its activities stopped at cooking. To Shizuka, the Satomi band of knights looked like the activity of a sports club.

The captain, Koutarou, and the vice captain, Ruth, were both without a doubt knights, but Maki was closer to an accountant. And soon, Sanae and Harumi were hoping to join as secretary or in charge of chores. At this rate it wouldn't be long before it was a liberal arts band of knights. Theia who believed a band of knights should be just that, wanted more soldiers to join.

“Then how about you join with the princess knight, Theiamillis?”

“The mysterious and beautiful knight that appears in the Satomi band of knights' time of need. And her identity is princess Theiamillis of all things... Hm, that route wouldn't be too bad either.”

In Theia's mind she was wearing a cute armor with a flower motif as its design and a mask studded with jewels concealing her eyes. It wouldn't feel too bad protecting Koutarou, rather than only being protected.

“Wait, Theia-chan.”

But the next moment, Shizuka's smiled instantly vanished.

“...There's something there. Behind the bush in front of us.”

Shizuka's sharp senses picked up someone's presence. There was something holding hostility on the other side of a bush slightly to their left.

“Nobody move. Ruth, 50 meters away in our 11 o'clock direction.”

Theia signaled the 85 behind her to stop using her hand, and had Ruth search the point Shizuka had mentioned. Since Shizuka's expression had changed, it wasn't just some critter. Danger was approaching.

“Your highness, it seems to be a pack of medium sized beasts. Four in total.”

“Not good... there's a magical reaction. They were either made from, or strengthened by magic.”

Ruth and Maki quickly identified the enemy.

“Everyone, get ready for combat. Don't assume they're simple beasts. Defeat them on sight!”

Theia judged that fighting could not be avoided any more.

The southern side has been turned into these magical beasts' territory, and they patrol the area. They'll catch their own food, and would heal from minor wounds... they're ideal for guarding a large area for a long period of time.

While the radical faction had spiritual energy weapons that could guard an area, but having them patrol a large and irregular area would create a problem with maintenance. While they could gather spiritual energy from their surroundings, the parts would gradually be worn down.

On that point, creatures controlled by magic didn't require maintenance. Turning the area you wanted them to guard into their territory, they would continue guarding the area until they died without the need for supplies or maintenance. Since magic was manual labor, large numbers were difficult to prepare, but that was no problem for this kind of usage. The radical faction was putting the magical technology that they had gotten to good use. If that line of thinking was correct, a delay in preparations would be fatal.

Part 4

“Spread out into squads and combat under the commands of the squad leaders.”

The girls of room 106 spread out, each of them leading 20 conservative faction soldiers. This was how the surface troops fought.

“Sun Rangers, I'll leave you to your own. Fight according to your own judgment.”

“Roger that.”

The remaining five, the Sun Rangers, were treated as a flying column. This was both because of their political position and in order to make use of their plentiful experience.

“They're coming. Everyone stay calm.”

Before Shizuka finished speaking, four beasts leaped out from the bushes. They looked like dogs at first glance, but they were far bigger. They were biological weapons created through magic.

“Gaaoooo! Gaaoooo! Grrrrr!!”

Angered because their territory had been invaded, the beasts charged towards the surface troops as they roared loudly. They moved far quicker than dogs, if anything it was closer to cheetahs. It also seemed like they possessed some intelligence as they zig-zagged like gazelles to avoid the guns. Their targets were the girls in charge. Their instincts had correctly seen through who the leaders were.

In response the surface troops formed two lines and faced off against the beasts. However, because of the beasts' swift movements, the spiritual energy beams fired missed and flew far off.

Having evaded the rain of fire through their extraordinary movement abilities, the beasts closed in on the girls.

“Blue Knight! Emergency deployment of the distortion field!”

But if you were to call the beasts extraordinary, then so were the girls. The first among them to go on the counter offensive was Theia, with her excellent sense for battle. While blocking the claws aimed at her with her barrier, she scolded the 20 restless soldiers.

“Men, don't try to take aim, simple fire straightforward! Seal of the area it can move through! Fire!!”

Having recovered through Theia's voice, the soldiers fired their rifles as one.

The sound sounded almost like a single shot. Because they had all aimed for the beast last time their arc had simply been 20 lines. However, since they fired straight forward this time their attacks covered an entire plane and assaulted the beast.

“Graaaaa!!”

The beast jumped into the air without hesitation. Thanks to its speed it escaped with just some burnt fur, but its pride had been crushed. Determined to crunch down on the arrogant human, Theia, who had burnt its prideful fur, the beast scanned the area for her in the air. Once it landed it was going to attack her again.

“Hmm... even though you might be strengthened, your instinct when faced with danger is still that of a dog's.”

However, by the time it found Theia, the beast realized its own defeat. She had a fearless smile and a powerful shine in her eyes. The beast had made a great mistake by assuming she was the smallest and weakest of them all. The beast's instincts told it that it was facing a wolf in sheep's clothing.

“Blue Knight, Recoilless Pile Driver.”

“As you wish, my princess.”

That golden wolf's mane fluttered as she attacked the beast. In her front legs, golden thick and bulky claws appeared, and the beast that was free falling had no way to avoid them.

A kaboom rang out.

The wolf's claws, the mechanical pile driver, was a weapon that shot a hammer head out by detonating gunpowder. Simply put, it was a cannon used at close range. The hammer was driven into the beast's side and it's incredibly destructive power was demonstrated as the beast was beaten down in a single strike.

“...As expected from Theia-chan. You beat it right away.”

Impressed by Theia's work, Shizuka wielded her own fists. When it came to pure combat capability, Shizuka was stronger with the Fire Dragon Emperor within her. But when adding in their 20 subordinates as well, Theia was stronger. Shizuka was an amateur at commanding, and she would end up focusing on herself, she wasn't able to make full use of her squad. That's why Shizuka was impressed by Theia.

“I can't stand here admiring her, I have to work hard too!”

Shizuka swung her leg and kicked the beast attacking her. The kick struck the beast's front leg, but the beast readjusted its posture and landed as if nothing had happened. It lightly dragged it's foot, but it hadn't suffered any decisive damage.

“Everyone, please!”

With distance having opened up between them again, the conservative faction began their attack once more. A bunch of spiritual energy was fired from the rifles and poured down towards the beast. Several of the attacks hit, probably because it had slightly slowed down from Shizuka's attack. The hits stripped the beast of its stamina, but it wasn't enough to defeat it, and it opened its jaws to crunch down on some of the nearby soldiers.

“I won't let you!”

Not going to let that happen, Shizuka rushed towards the beast. This had repeated itself a couple of times. Shizuka would protect the soldiers from the beast, and the soldiers would cover Shizuka's openings. Because of her lack of experience, she naturally stayed on the defensive.

“Should I help?”

“It's not your turn yet, uncle!”

Shizuka's fist struck the beast's face. Starting to panic from the accumulated damage, the beast's urge to attack grew stronger and Shizuka's fist completely threw it off balance and the soldiers' that the beast had aimed for escaped danger. Confirming that with a side glance, Shizuka continuously attacked.

“What does gaining a little weight do. It's not like it actually increases.”

“I don't want others to think I've gotten heavier!”

The dragon inside of Shizuka offered to help, but she felt it wasn't the time for that yet. Considering what was going to happen today, she wanted to avoid wasting magical power and her circumstances as a maiden were probably mixed in as well.

“Won't you be more well liked by the other sex with some more mass on you?”

“That's only common sense for you uncle!”

Fortunately, Shizuka's decision was correct. Having accumulated enough damage, the beast was no longer able to avoid Shizuka's attacks. Once that happened, the fight tilted towards Shizuka's favor.

“A human girl is more well liked when she's small and cute!”

The last kick using all of Shizuka's strength struck the side of the beast's head and lost consciousness.

“...I don't believe you could be considered small and cute from the moment you could defeat monsters without weapons.”

Thus, the fight ended with Shizuka's victory, but she didn't seem very pleased.

Shizuka fought by standing on the front lines herself, Maki on the other hand, did the opposite. The magician Maki fell back and focused on supporting the soldiers.

“Keep it up. Everyone stay calm and continue attacking.”

Maki's most skilled type of spells were mind manipulation and reinforcing, simply put they were spells dealing with the mind and improving people's conditions. Using that, she increased her squad's combat capabilities, and obstructed the beast.

“Gaaoooo! Grrrrrrr!”

The soldiers attacked the beast. Only about ten percent of the attacks hit, but they were far more accurate than the other squads. This was the result of Maki's spell that increased the soldiers' reaction speed. As a result, only Maki's squad weren't overwhelmed by the beast's movements and gradually damaged it each time they attacked. The beast was so focused on dodging that it never found an opportunity to charge forward, all it could do was letting out roars of anger.

“...Amplify – Fear.”

Maki unleashed a spell that limited the beast's movements even further. Maki's spell didn't deal direct damage, but rather affected its mind. The spell amplified its fear, fueled its irritation and robbed it of its calmness. This proved very effective against the beast and its movements visibly grew worse. Once its movements worsened, the soldiers' attacks hit. There was no need for Maki to attack herself.

“Force Field – Modifier – Area Effect.”

Maki would protect the soldiers with a defensive spell from time to time. It wasn't that hard to block an attack from a slowed beast, and Maki safely enclosing the beast's attack.

While it wasn't a flashy way, the beast couldn't attack or defend. That amplified its fear and irritation even further. The more it fought, the more it drove itself into a corner. It was a frightening strategy fit for a mind manipulating magician.

“Grrrr, Gaaaaaaaaa!!”

Eventually the beast completely lost its calm and charged at Maki. It ignored the fire raining down on it and forcibly broke through the line of soldiers to leap at Maki.

“Tiny Memory Flash – Modifier – Touch Trigger.”

Maki on the other hand remained calm. She calmly chanted a spell and an indigo light wrapped around her cane. Holding the cane as a spear she faced down the beast charging her.

“Goooaaaa!!”

“I'm sorry... that said, you'll forget it in a moment.”

The tip of Maki's cane touched the beast. As it did, all of the magic cast on the cane flowed into the beast. The spell in the cane was Maki's specialty that erased memories for a few seconds. The beast that had no knowledge of that spell had lost sight of Maki despite her being right in front of it. Having its memories rewound by a few seconds, it looked like she had instantly changed her position.

“I'll leave the rest to you.”

Maki walked away from the beast that was at a loss. The next moment, the soldiers fired a rain of spiritual energy beams at the stopped beast. Not even the beast could do anything about this and it collapsed, no longer moving.

While three of the girls were fighting well, Ruth was being pushed back. Since she was better at managing information than moving her body, she was a bad match for the swift beast.

“Everyone, please don't step out of the distortion field!”

Ruth was wearing a powered armor, acting as a shield for her squad. Compared to standard barriers, the armor's barrier's output was higher. It performed more than well enough to block the beast's attack. Her squad attacked from behind. Since Forthorthe's barriers couldn't block spiritual energy, the attacks passed through the barrier, making a one-sided attack possible.

“Gaoo, Grrrr!!”

However, the beast moved swiftly, and soldiers' attacks couldn't hit. As a result, neither side could seize an advantage.

This isn't a good situation...

Irritated by the situation, the beast moved around Ruth in an attempt to attack the soldiers behind. Ruth desperately tried to prevent it, but since the beast was faster she was at the mercy of the beast. At this rate Ruth would run out of stamina before the beams would hit.

“Are you okay!?”

“Sun Rangers!”

Having noticed that Ruth was having a hard time, the Sun Rangers moved to back her up.

“Megu-chan, drive it away with your gun!”

“Be careful, Daisaku-kun.”

Red, Yellow and Pink placed themselves in the way so the beast couldn't get around.

“The wind is south-southwest, wind velocity one meter. Humidity is 68%. There's no need to correct with this wind speed and direction.”

“Roger, moving to shoot... firing!”

Attacking was left to the remaining two, Blue and Green. The two were partners and they sniped the beast at a distance. It should be difficult to avoid this attack.

“Gaooo!!”

“Miss!”

“Damnit, it's too fast!”

“Hayato-niichan, nothing will come from complaining.”

“I know, I'm loading the next bullet!”

However, it was virtually impossible to hit the swift beast. It was difficult just finding it with the scope. Before they could even get to the problem with the beast dodging the bullets, they ran into a problem of aiming at the beast.

“We have to stop it from moving somehow...”

“There's no need to worry, Red-san. Now that you are here we can win.”

“Eh?”

“Please use this data.”

Ruth sent data to the weapons that the Sun Rangers were using. The weapons that the Sun Rangers were currently using were borrowed Forthorthe weapons. It was only natural that they could share data.

“This data is?”

“It's a simulation model of this monster's habits. Though accuracy is low, you should be able to get a grasp of the timing of when it stops.”

Ruth had been gathering information on the beast while staying on the defensive, creating a simulation model on its movements. She was originally planning on using it herself to go on the counter attack, but fortunately, the Sun Rangers that were better at attacking than her had appeared. There, Ruth provided them with her simulation model and left attacking to them.

“We can do this, Hayato-niichan!”

“Alright!”

When Green's shooting support computer executed Ruth's model, a prediction of where the beast would be in two seconds appeared in Blue's scope. According to Ruth's calculation, the prediction had a 60% probability. But that was enough.

“Nii-chan!”

“Firing!”

“Miss!”

“Reloading!”

Blue's first shot missed. However, Blue reloaded his gun without getting depressed. Then, the beast moved just as Ruth's simulation model had predicted, and the beast slid into the center of Blue's scope. And in that place it stopped for a moment. The two didn't let that opening slip by.

“Now!”

“Firing!”

The bullet fired from Blue's rifle hit the center of the beast's body just as aimed. The bullet fired was a special taser bullet that discharged a high voltage upon hitting its target. Overcome with such high voltage, the beast's body stiffened up and stopped moving. A single taser bullet wasn't enough to incapacitate it.

“Megumi, the legs!”

“Got it!”

However, the Sun Rangers didn't stop their attack there. Using a gun, she shot the beast's legs. With its legs injured, the beast fell towards the ground.

“Let's go, Daisaku!”

“Yeah!”

Finally was Red and Yellow. Yellow acted as a step and threw Red high up into the air. After flipping once through the air, Red held his sword in both hands. Below him was the point where the beast had collapsed.

“This is the end!!”

Red brought down his sword onto the head of the beast that was struggling to get up. As he did, electricity was discharged just like Blue's bullets. Suffering from both the sword's strike and electricity, the magically strengthened beast lost its consciousness.

Part 5

The four beasts were defeated a few minutes after Shizuka had sensed their presence. All four had lost consciousness and laid collapsed on the ground.

“Devil Princess-san, I know how this might sound but... was it really okay to not kill them?”

Though they were originally dogs, they were now modified weapons. Once they regained consciousness they would probably still be hostile, and they must be miserable, living as weapons. The Sun Rangers point was quite justifiable.

“They're unfortunate dogs... but strategic convenience wins out this time. Though they might not be intelligent enough to contact their owners on a regular basis, they've probably been made to let them know of their deaths.”

Theia had avoided killing the dogs because she was thinking ahead. Her intuition told her that they shouldn't kill the dogs. If the dogs died then there would be an absence of guards. In that case, there might be a mechanism to let the owners know if that happened. Theia's and the others goal was just to reach the secret base, and for that purpose, risks needed to be kept at a minimum.

“I see... that does seem like a possibility.”

The Sun Rangers seemed convinced, but Ruth who was listening nearby wasn't. She smiled and spoke to Theia.

“Your highness, you can admit that it's just because you felt sorry for them.”

“I don't really...”

“Really?”

“...I-It's because I felt sorry for them.”

Theia had another reason for not killing the dogs other than the strategical one, and with two reasons there was no reason to go out of their way to kill the dogs.

“Satomi-kun would surely praise you.”

“Yeah, Satomi-kun looks like he likes be― animals.”

“W-Well, I guess everything worked out alright... That's right, Maki. Could you keep them asleep for a while?”

If the beasts woke up they would very likely become a threat again. That's why Theia wanted to keep them asleep until the battle was over.

“For better or for worse, that's the kind of magic I specialize in.”

Maki was a magician who focused on mind manipulating indigo magic. Causing someone to fall asleep was her specialty. But the current Maki felt somewhat saddened by that. Maki having a wry smile as she nodded couldn't be avoided.

“That would really help. Please do so right away.”

“...As you wish, princess.”

Theia's bright smile felt reassuring as it was like Theia was saying that Maki was fine the way she was.

Share