Published at 17th of August 2019 9:14 am

Volume 19, Chapter 4: Raid

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Sunday, September 19

Darkness Rainbow leaving Crimson behind as a decoy in the battle the other day was their last resort. Since they prioritized the individual's desire, nobody would sacrifice themselves for the sake of their allies. In other words, no matter how much Crimson loved fighting, she was more suited for being a decoy with her injuries. But she wouldn't act as a decoy without any insurance. The plan had been that Crimson would act as a decoy and then be rescued. While there was a risk, Darkness Rainbow had no choice but to save Crimson. The one in charge of the rescue operation was Dark Green.

Just hang in there a little longer, Crimson...

In Dark Green's case, she would probably save Crimson even if she didn't have to. Green probably wouldn't admit it, but she thought of Crimson as more than just an ally in Darkness Rainbow. Possibly because they had spent so much time together, Green had started feeling something like friendship towards Crimson. Thanks to that, Green was in high morale. She felt a strong sense of duty as she thought that she had to save Crimson no matter what. In the future she had seen, Crimson was indispensable.

“As expected, the chances of being able to rescue her is higher after she's been moved”

Green looked at the Blue Tower where Crimson was being held from an elevated position in the suburbs. From there she used several spells to gather information. And using that gathered information she was coming up with the most reliable rescue plan.

At first there were three different plans to rescue Crimson. Those were before she was being moved, during, and after. Trusting her own ability, Green chose the last option, to rescue Crimson after she had been moved. Before the move, Rainbow Heart was moving erratically, making the future difficult to forecast, during the transfer, Green's own actions distorted the future. As a result, her forecasts were most accurate after the move had been complete.

“...Crimson is definitely being held around that area...”

As Green expected, she was steadily gathering information. Crimson was being held in a room that didn't accept magic, but while normal magic couldn't see into the room, future forecast was special. There were several cells that could contain magicians in the tower, and Green's forecast were split between the top of the tower and underground, but considering the flow of people, the chances were higher that she was being held at the top. Moreover, the spiritual energy sensor that she had brought with her from the underground picked up a weak reaction to Crimson's aura from the very top. The accuracy of each was at 60% or so, but the chance of both being wrong was below 15%. That's why Green determined that Crimson was being held in the top of the tower.

“The past us would have had a hard time succeeding with this rescue, but... we're different now”

Green operated the computer on her arm and gave orders to the weapons group she had left nearby. This weapons group had been brought to her by the People of the Earth and Elexis, so they didn't exude any magical power at all. She also had concealed fighters that flew in the air without making a sound. Combined with her diversion spells, it wouldn't be hard to get through Rainbow Heart's surveillance network.

“Just wait Crimson. I'm coming to save you right now!”

Dark Green had a grim past where she had lost someone precious because of her inability to see the future. That's why her desire to save Crimson with her forecasts was so strong. She didn't want to repeat the same mistake again.

Part 2

To Yurika, battles weren't something she started, but just sort of fell into. She would then desperately fend off the attack and return to her usual life. She had always been repeating that and because of that, her determination to start a battle was heavy. One could say that she had been cornered to that point. While she had determined to battle it wasn't that this was something she wanted, so she would sometimes show hesitation. Now was one of those times.

“....”

Yurika was eating dinner within the Blue Tower. However, she wasn't moving her hand or mouth. She simply stared into her bowl while holding her spoon. She seemed to be looking past the bowl of soup and was looking at some faraway place.

“Yurika, aren't you going to eat?”

”Satomi-san...?”

Because she was like that, Yurika didn't notice Koutarou until he called out to her. When Yurika looked up, she saw Koutarou sitting on the other end of the table, eating dinner.

“Are you nervous?”

“Y-Yes... I'm so worried about the future...”

Yurika wasn't moving out of nervousness and worry for the future. While Yurika had matured, this was the first time she had moved ahead with a battle she had initiated. For the first time in her life, each and every one of her decisions would affect the lives of many people. Up until now her hand had always been forced as the enemy appeared, or cooperated with someone else in a battle, so she only had to focus on the thing in front of her. But now she had to create situations like that herself. Hesitation and pressure seized control of Yurika.

“I thought so”

”You noticed?”

“Yeah. That's only normal for a commander on their first campaign”

Koutarou dropped his shoulders and smiled wryly at Yurika's question. Because Koutarou had been running around the battlefield in the past Forthorthe, Yurika's reaction was familiar to him.

“If you make the wrong decision, many people will die. And that's why you're frozen. Everyone feels the same way before a big battle. Other than those who don't value the lives of others”

Maxfern, Dextro or Tayuma probably wouldn't care, however a normal commander would. Your allies possibly dying from a miss in judgment was something anyone would fear. Even more so on your first campaign.

“You too, Satomi-san?”

“Yeah, I was scared too. Everyone were such good people. They were earnest to protect their country... and they might die with just a word from me. So I understand how you feel”

Koutarou used the legends as reference as he acted, but those were without a doubt his own decisions. There were successes and failures. There were many battles he wanted to redo if he had the chance.

“What should I do?”

”Don't try to do anything special”

”Something special?”

“For example... like trying to do everything yourself. It's a mistake people tend to do”

Since your allies were in danger, you should be the first to jump into danger, at first glance this looked the correct decision, but it wasn't. The situation would change as time passes, that's why always standing on the frontlines yourself was strange. But if you didn't accept that out of guilt, the entire plan would be distorted. The results of that need not be said.

“Just trust in your allies and do what you always do. That's the best”

If you tried to do something you weren't using, those around you would hesitate as well. Acting like normal would be the most natural way to carry out any plan. While that sounded obvious, one tended to forget when the lives of many were at stake. Koutarou thought that battles really are difficult.

“... If I was the strongest magical girl in history, nobody would have to fight...”

Listening to Koutarou, Yurika stared at the palm of her hand. If the power in that hand was strong enough to pierce the heavens, Yurika could have fought against all of the enemies alone. But because she couldn't, all of her allies would have to expose themselves to danger. Yurika felt really bitter about her helplessness.

“You're right. I think the same thing every day. If I was an invincible hero, you or the others would never have to fight again”

“Satomi-san...”

Koutarou smiled wryly again. He strongly agreed with Yurika's opinion. Yurika looked at Koutarou with surprise. She had convinced herself that Koutarou didn't have any worries like that.

“But... when I said that, Sanae told me something interesting”

Koutarou's smile changed type. The kindness in it grew more obvious.

“Sanae-chan did?”

”Heroes are fun because they are play pretend, a real hero has it hard”

“It's fun... because it's play pretend...?”

“Just think about it a little. If you were the strongest magical girl in history, what would have happened since the day we met and onwards?”

”If I really was the strongest in history...”

Yurika reimagined her everyday life with Koutarou and the others with her being the strongest. She probably wouldn't have flown through the window when she first arrived. She also would have stopped the first incident without anyone noticing. She would have won the obstacle marathon alone, Sanae wouldn't have been kidnapped by the ghost hunters, and she probably would have noticed Clan's attack ahead of time and prevented it. At first glance, those seemed like a wonderful everyday life with nobody being exposed to danger. But―

“... I would have been able to solve all of the incidents on my own, but... I would probably still be alone...”

History's strongest Yurika would have been alone. Because every incident would be resolved before they came to light, Koutarou and the others would never get any opportunities to understand each other. But even before that, she might have thrown Koutarou and the others out of room 106 because it was dangerous.

“That's right. Because you're imperfect, we obtained the time to understand each other and we began to treasure each other. I'm sure the strongest in history version of you wouldn't feel this strongly about us”

”So I began treasuring everyone because I was weak”

“It's not just you. Everyone was”

”Everyone too... that might be true”

Convinced, Yurika nodded her head.

“And if you suddenly became the strongest in history, the enemy wouldn't fight you directly, but go after us or the people in the city. They wouldn't be foolish enough to fight against the strongest”

”That's why it's play pretend heroes... I was only looking at the convenient parts of being the strongest in history...”

The strongest in history would be all alone. Because they were imperfect they could form bonds. It would be impossible to form many bonds as the strongest in history. In the current situation where her identity was known, if Yurika suddenly were to become the strongest, the enemy wouldn't fight her. They would target others to lower the risk of defeat. Reality wouldn't work out like pretend heroes.

“Yurika, what do you think we should do?”

”Uhm... grow strong with everyone and work together?”

In the end, Yurika reached the same conclusion as Koutarou. It didn't matter if someone did something heroic from time to time. But truly becoming a hero would lead to all kinds of unhappiness. Yurika didn't want that, so she reached the conclusion that everyone should be equally strong. A gathering of strong people with no heroes. Yurika believed that would be the safest way.

“I think so too”

“Ah...”

When Koutarou agreed, Yurika felt relief and her expression eased up a little. Koutarou told her how he felt.

“That's why you should believe in us. Nobody expects perfection from you. We accept that we're imperfect and desperately work together”

Sanae would put him in a scorpion lock if he left her behind again. Harumi vowed to walk alongside Koutarou. Kiriha forgave Koutarou's weakness. Theia and Ruth declared that they would make Koutarou happy, even if they had to use force. Maki prayed that Koutarou would have a happy life. When Koutarou had grieved his lack of power, Shizuka had told him that wasn't true. Clan had worried about her imperfection alongside Koutarou in the past world.

Everyone tried to hold hands. If one looked at it from the other side, it meant that they were denied perfection. Those who were perfect didn't need others. They had the power to do anything and they didn't feel loneliness. Like an omniscient god, they would continue existing on their own. However the girls and Koutarou didn't want that. Rather than being perfect on their own, they would rather hold hands as a group of imperfect people.

“Satomi-san...”

Desperately working together and holding hands seemed just right to Yurika. She felt like Koutarou and the others desired that, and she did as well.

“You're right, it's pretty hard... but I'll try to think that way”

Even though she knew that being imperfect and normal was correct, it was hard to get rid of that heroic desire. But Yurika began wishing that she would eventually feel that way.

“You're fine that way. I'm desperately telling myself that too”

”Ahaha”

Yurika's expression finally returned to a smile and she wiped away the tears that had started forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Thank you very much, Satomi-san. I feel a little better”

She was allowed to rely on her allies. She could rely on Koutarou and the others, and the soldiers too. Everyone was imperfect, but they would give their all to fight. Heroes weren't needed, or maybe everyone were heroes. It didn't matter. Having finally reached her answer, Yurika felt some relief.

“So eat. Nothing will start on an empty stomach”

Seeing Yurika's smile, Koutarou felt relief as well.

“Yes!”

Yurika began eating again. Strangely enough, while she had barely been able to get the food down, she was now able to eat normally. Yurika began thinking that this was what it meant to not be alone as she ate.

“Hey, Satomi-san”

”Hm?”

“Could you eat the green peppers?”

”Eat it yourself”

”I'm imperfect so you have to help me!”

A thud rang out.

“Just shut up and eat!”

“Oka~y, uuuhh, I'm sorry for saying something stupid”

Getting hit hurt. But the strongest in history Yurika probably wouldn't get to have Koutarou hit her. That's why Yurika was happy that she was allowed this.

After eating for a while, things Yurika disliked began piling up on the plate. However, Yurika continued to push away the things she disliked with her fork and focused on the things she liked. She would leave the inconvenient food for later. Something that would resolve it might happen sooner or later. This was Yurika's usual way of thinking.

This starts happening as soon as she cheers up!

Koutarou began thinking of punishments for Yurika, but before he could get into action, it began.

BOOM

“Kyaaa!?”

”W-What!?”

That was a roaring sound and quake that shook the entire Blue Tower. It was like an intense lightning bolt and earthquake had struck the tower at the same time. Tables and chairs fell over and plates were thrown around. However, the sound and shake only struck once, so Koutarou supported himself on a sturdy stone wall and quickly stood up.

“Yurika, are you okay!?”

”Y-Yes, somehow!”

Koutarou ran over to Yurika and pulled her up on her feet. Yurika's head was covered in green peppers, carrots and celery, but she didn't seem to be hurt.

“But still, just what is― Ah!?”

Yurika had hit her waist and seemed to be in pain, but her expression sharpened after she stood up. She had a hunch of what had caused the roaring sound and quake.

“Let's go, Yurika!”

”Yes!”

The atmosphere around Koutarou had flipped as well. They were no longer two classmates that got along. When they sprinted upstairs, they had the faces of a knight who had gone through countless battles, and one of the magical kingdom of Folsaria's arc-wizards.

Part 3

The explosion in question had happened just outside the Blue Tower. The cause of it was the guided missile that Dark Green had gotten from Elexis. The warhead which had been designed to concentrate the explosion forwards easily punched through the magic barrier and the outer stone wall. Crimson could be seen from the hole in the wall.

“*cough* *cough* G-Green”

“Crimson! I'm glad you're okay!”

Crimson was having a coughing fit from the dust caused by the explosion, but didn't seem to be hurt. Seeing her like that, Green instinctively started tearing up. She was the only one who deeply regretted not being able to bring Crimson home during the last battle.

“Do- *cough* don't give me that, *cough* *cough* who would do that? Firing a missile *cough* into the room your ally is being held in. W-What would you do if I died?”

Crimson had begun tearing up as well. However, this was because the dust had gotten into her eyes and she had a hard time breathing, not because of her reunion with Green. Though it wasn't like she wasn't happy.

“It's fine, I made sure of it with my future forecast”

”By the way, what was the chance of success?”

“There was a 95% chance of success”

”Then there was a 5% chance that I would be hurt!?”

”No, there was a 15% chance that you would be hurt”

”... Then there was a 5% chance I would die...”

Green had used her future forecast to search for Crimson's position and then fired the missile from the distance furthest away. Of course, a forecast is a forecast, there was still a chance that Crimson would be in a different place. In the case that Green attempted this way of rescuing, there was an 80% chance of Crimson being unharmed, a 15% chance that she would be be injured. Combined it was a 95% chance of success. The remaining 5% were Crimson dying, which would of course be a failure. Green had fired the missile, well aware of the risk. It was only natural for Crimson to be fed up.

“Wasn't there a better way!?”

“There was... but this had the highest chance of success”

“... I'm interested, but you don't have to say anything”

”I don't want to remember them so thank you”

“It was that bad!?”

Green had thought up of several other ways of rescuing Crimson, and out of those plans, shooting the cell with a missile had the highest chance of success. Rather than Green being aware of the risk, this had the smallest risk involved.

“Wait, Crimson. The enemy is coming”

Green's future forecast which she had been maintaining for a while now told her that the enemy was coming. The most likely future was Yurika and Koutarou breaking through the door in 30 seconds.

“... You'll be telling me the details when we get back”

”Of course. But for that we'll have to escape first”

”And my cane?”

“I've brought a spare”

Green said and tossed the cane over to Crimson. Dark Yellow had made this cane a while back. During their preparations for the decisive battle with Rainbow Heart, Dark Yellow had been in charge of creating magical weapons, and this cane was one of those. Since this wasn't a personalized cane, it had a rough make and there was a limit to how much magical power could be infused into it, but it was much better than nothing. During the fierce fighting, it would be an easy but fatal mistake to lose your cane, so this was a useful and suitable preparation.

“Crimson, make yourself lighter and get on”

“Got it... Weight Saving”

Green was riding on top of a flying automated weapon and had flown up to the cell on the top floor. By escaping on a scientific weapon, the amount of magic they would use on their escape would be reduced, making it harder to follow their trail through magic.

Part 4

After making sure that Crimson and Green had left, Koutarou and Yurika entered the cell.

“It looks like it went well”

”No, we can't be sure yet”

The truth was that they could have burst into the cell before Crimson and Green left. But they chose not to... that was part of their plan.

Yurika had decided to attack Darkness Rainbow's base, but there was still one big problem. And that was that she didn't know where it was. In order to find out, Kiriha suggested that they used the captured Crimson.

Kiriha's intuition was that Darkness Rainbow wouldn't just abandon a magician on Crimson's level. However, a rescue operation might be costly, so it wouldn't take place unless the success was past a certain percentage. Koutarou and the others didn't know that Darkness Rainbow had made a deal with Crimson that she would be rescued after being used as a decoy, so in order to induce a rescue operation they purposefully created an opening.

After the battle the other day, Crimson had been held in a safe house that Rainbow Heart had prepared in Kitsushouharukaze city. It would be easy to attack with a large enough force, but the problem was that Darkness Rainbow didn't know of its location. Koutarou and the others didn't have the time to allow for Darkness Rainbow to find the safe house. That said, leaking information was too obvious. So what Kiriha thought up of was having Crimson moved.

First they would create an easier to understand opening in the form of moving Crimson. If they weren't attacked then either, they would at least let Darkness Rainbow know that Crimson was being held in the Blue Tower. Kiriha's plan was to allow Darkness Rainbow to rescue Crimson and then follow them.

Everything went according to plan and Green attacked their opening and rescued Crimson. All that was left now was follow after them and discover the location of the base.

“Fufufu, it's finally time for Sanae-chan to shine!”

”It's our turn Ho-!”

”We'll show them the power of friendship Ho-!”

It was Sanae and the haniwas job to follow Crimson's and Green's trail. Sanae's ability to see auras would be enhanced through the haniwas spiritual energy technology. This greatly improved her ability and made it possible for her to follow after Crimson and Green despite them concealing their trail.

“Koutarou, I'm leaving her behind so follow after me. Let's go, Karama-chan, Korama-chan!”

“Leave it to us Ho-!”

”Ane-san, we're off Ho-!”

The excited Sanae left Sanae-san behind as Sanae-chan left her body and exited the hole in the wall. The haniwas followed suit, not going to give up their time in the spotlight. The three were far away before Koutarou and the others could say anything.

“I'm kinda... sorry”

The left behind Sanae-san blushed and apologized. Sanae-chan had most of Sanae's energy and childishness, while Sanae-san had most of Sanae's mature points. She was always the one feeling awkward.

“Don't worry, she's fine that way. So how is it looking on their end, Sanae-san?”

“Uhm... it seems like the enemy's obstruction magic is rather ingenious. Following them on her own would be hard. But thanks to the haniwas she is managing somehow”

”I see. Alright, we should follow after them too!”

Koutarou and the others rushed out of the room in the opposite direction of Sanae and the haniwas, heading down the stairs of the tower. Apart from ghost Sanae and the haniwas that could conceal themselves, Koutarou and the others would stand out if they chased after Crimson and Green in the sky. Chasing after the three from the ground was safer and more certain.

Part 5

The climate of the four seasons in the magical kingdom of Folsaria were similar to that of the higher latitudes in the world, and the temperature was somewhat lower than that of Japan. As a result, the forests consisted of tall conifers and combined with the colder climate, it gave off a wintry impression.

“... The question is if these really are conifer or not”

Koutarou looked at the trees and smiled wryly. The trees in the forest looked like conifer at first glance, but they might just look similar. This was the forest of a different world. Clan was the one to answer Koutarou's doubt.

“I don't believe these are strictly conifers, but very similar trees”

”Why?”

”The physical condition and climate of this are very similar to that of Earth, so it wouldn't be strange for the same evolution to have occurred”

“Is that so?”

“Us Forthorthians and you Earthlings being so similar is all the proof needed”

”Now that you mention it...”

A similar environment would give birth to a similar nature. Even in a narrow case like the environment of Earth, several cases like these had been noted. Mammals and marsupials separated by vast oceans had evolved into similar creatures. Clan's conclusion was that things that had evolved in similar environments and into similar appearances were probably not all that different.

“... The real problem is that we lost sight of Darkness Rainbow because of this forest

Kiriha joined in the conversation and shrugged. As she said, Crimson and Green had dived into this forest during their escape. As a result, Sanae had lost sight of the two once they entered the forest. Crimson and Green concealed their auras, and their spiritual energy blended in with that of the forests, making it impossible to sense them from afar.

“But it will be okay! A forest won't be enough to deceive our eyes!”

”You can't deceive friendship Ho-!”

”We only need to carefully examine things Ho-!”

However, losing sight of the two only applied when chasing after them from above, there were no problems with carefully advancing from the ground. Sanae had merged back into one, and heightened her abilities. Moreover the haniwas were attached to her head from each side, enhancing her abilities even further. This made pursuing Crimson and Green possible.

“Sanae, how does it look?”

“Uhm, I think we'll catch up to them soon. Their auras are getting thicker, little by little”

”Your Highness, Dark Crimson was injured, so she might be slower than us”

“This is our chance. Let's get close enough so we can catch a glimpse of them”

Theia believed that Crimson and Green had a reason to entered this forest other than to just to escape the eyes of their pursuers. She figured that this forest was part of the escape plan and that some preparations had been left there to aid them in their escape. The difficulty of following their aura was more than enough proof of that.

If things were as Theia suspected, she wanted to get them in view before something happened. If she did, chances were Crimson and Green wouldn't be able to shake off her pursuit. She wanted to hurry so that they could find Darkness Rainbow's base.

Koutarou and the others hurriedly walked through the forest. After a couple of minutes, Shizuka suddenly stopped. She then raised her right hand and pointed straight forward.

“I see them... they're over there”

“Are you sure?”

Koutarou looked in the direction Shizuka pointed, but sadly he couldn't see anything. It was too far away for any human other than Shizuka.

“Yeah. I can see that poor taste of a mantle”

Shizuka had good sight to begin with, on top of that with the Fire Dragon Emperor's power within her, she could see better than a hawk. Ruth and Clan used their equipment to find Crimson after Shizuka pointed it out.

“I've confirmed it here too. I'm displaying the image”

Ruth gave an order to the computer and showed a hologram in the air. In that hologram a red something could be seen.

“You can't tell very clearly by this... instead try this”

Clan fiddled with her bracelet and replaced with image with an analyzed CG model. What was displayed was a CG model of Dark Crimson wearing a dark red mantle.

“Good work. Don't lose sight of them, Ruth”

”I'll try”

”Pardomshiha, I just found it by analyzing the footage, but there seems to be a specific pattern in the thermal radiation. This might be because of a spell”

”Thank you, Clan-sama!”

Ruth checked the thermal radiation after Clan pointed it out, and there was indeed a pattern. There seemed to be an irregularity because of camouflage or obstruction magic. Ruth inputted that pattern into her computer and began her pursuit in order to not lose sight of Crimson.

An irregularity with Green's camouflage when she's specialized in information type magic...?

However, Maki had her doubts. Dark Green was skilled at future forecast, which was part of information type magic which she specialized in. As such she was skilled at all types of information type spells. In other words, illusions, obstructions and camouflage were her forte. That's why, while the effect may have been weaker for some reason, but the effect should be stable and without irregularity. Because if that, if there were any irregularities in her information type spells, then― having thought that far, Maki hurriedly warned everyone.

“They're attacking! The Crimson you see over there is showing herself on purpose!”

There was at the very least, some reason for Crimson's appearance being seen. Maki's theory was that Green had purposefully cast an imperfect spell, or Crimson, who was bad at those kinds of spells, was acting on her own. Either way, considering that they were being pursued, it was likely that they would launch an attack here.

Part 6

Maki's warning came out just as Green was about to attack.

She saw through it!? As expected of Navy!! Even though she's brainwashed, the indigo magical girl is still present!!

Green clicked her tongue in her mind, as she carried out her attack on Koutarou and the others. While she had been seen through, she didn't have the choice to not attack once Crimson had been spotted.

“Go, you guys!”

Green's attack was an ambush using the automated weapons group. Green had hidden the weapons in the forest before hand and lured Koutarou and the others into the optimal place to ambush. While they were distracted with Crimson, she would attack. During this time, she had to use her spell to conceal the weapons, and because of that she was some distance away from Crimson acting as decoy. In other words, Maki was pretty much spot on.

“Lots of energy reactions! The enemies are all around us!”

By the time the automated weapons began their attack, Green undid her spell and Koutarou and the others noticed that they were surrounded. Their numbers were over 30 in total. Surprised by the number, Ruth's voice unintentionally trembled.

“Mass Protection!”

The first one to act was surprisingly Yurika. She had begun moving the moment Maki warned them, so her spell was activated right after the automated weapons appeared.

The automated weapons fired off their machine guns with a loud ratatat, but they bounced off of Yurika's defensive spell. With this many enemies however, the barrier would only last for a few seconds. Though those few seconds allowed Koutarou and the others to rally.

“Everyone, focus on protecting yourselves! Don't force yourselves!”

Koutarou attacked the humanoid weapons as he instructed the girls not to force themselves.

The automated weapons were both from Forthorthe and the underground, and on top of that they had also been enhanced with magic. With more than 30 of them, each person had to defeat three each. On their own, they weren't all that dangerous, but they were extremely dangerous when attacking all together. While Koutarou and the others might be thinking of fighting three each, the automated weapons weren't necessarily going to let them.

“Such lavish hospitality, automated weapons and all!”

Theia attacked the automated weapons with the assault rifle equipped on her right arm while complaining. The current Combat Dress she was using was Command Green and it came equipped with an assault rifle, a grenade launcher, standard throwing grenades and a heat knife for close combat. They were weapons focused on versatility. Because of she had less attack power than with Assault Red and had to aim for weakspots to defeat her enemies. Her accuracy improved with her equipment focused on information gathering, but Theia's personality didn't match up with those kinds of weak attacks. As a result, Theia grew quite frustrated.

“You're wrong, Theiamillis-san! Take a closer look at the enemies!”

”What do you mean!?”

”These enemies are all prototypes and test models, or things that have received emergency repair! They've gathered the ones that can be used as sacrificial pawn!”

The automated weapons that had surprised attack were rich in variety. They were experimental prototypes, made to examine production, or weapons that had been damaged in the previous battle and repaired. These weapons were irregular and difficult to use in a real battle.

In other words, losing these automated weapons wouldn't hurt Darkness Rainbow at all. In fact, losing them to avoid pursuit was the best possible use for them.

“In other words, the enemy is planning to escape during this opening! Hurry, Ruth!”

“Yes, Kiriha-sama!”

Despite the ambush, neither Green nor Crimson were attacking. The enemy consisted of irregulars useful only as sacrificial pawns. Kiriha could read the enemy's intentions from their actions. That was when Crimson who had linked up with Green some distance away let out a proud laugh.

“Bingo! But you're too late!”

Having outsmarted Kiriha after being on the receiving end of her intellect, Crimson was in great mood.

“Crimson, quit playing, let's go!”

But the careful Green scolded Crimson, and left the area with a couple of automated weapons as guards. Playing around would only increase the danger. Green was also happy to have outsmarted Kiriha but she still couldn't let her guard down.

“I know. Geez, you're so strict...”

Crimson hurriedly chased after Green. She was now having conversations she used to have with Maki with Green. Crimson secretly felt disappointment that her position hadn't improved even after Maki had left.

“Koutarou, should I chase after them!?”

Seeing the two run away, Sanae got really worried, and thought of chasing after them with her astral projection.

“No, protecting yourself takes priority right now! Don't force yourself!”

Koutarou stopped Sanae, worried for her safety. When Sanae-chan astral projected herself, t he left behind Sanae-san's spiritual energy greatly decreased. In this kind of situation when the enemy was all over, reducing her spiritual energy was too risky.

“But...”

”Sanae, you don't have to force yourself to become a hero! There's still something we can do!”

“...Okay”

Sanae wanted to be of use to Koutarou, but in the end she was persuaded and stayed here. Remembering what she had spoken with Koutarou about, Sanae knew that being that told that she didn't need to become a hero was the same as being told she was loved.

“Alright, Love Love Heart, Eternal Beat!”

If she couldn't chase after Crimson and Green, she could at least defeat the enemies near Koutarou. Burning with motivation, Sanae unleashed an explosive amount of spiritual energy. The vast amount of spiritual energy warped the laws of physics and glowed to the point of normal humans being able to see it. She looked like she was wearing a golden glowing robe of feathers.

“Eternal Angelic Shoot!!”

While wasting spiritual energy with her glowing robe, Sanae fired off arrows of light made out of spiritual energy. They flew straight forwards and stuck into the humanoid weapons in front of her. The massive spiritual energy was released and torn the automated weapons asunder. Thanks to her appearance, Sanae looked like a heroine from her one of her beloved anime.

“That girl... Sanae, just who is she?”

“Have you forgotten already Uncle? She's the former ghost who used to live in Corona House”

”I know that, but I can't imagine that's all”

“She really is amazing. To think a normal human could do that much...”

Shizuka smiled wryly as she crushed the automated weapons with her fist. In terms of simple combat prowess, Shizuka was far above Sanae. However, that was because she had the power of the Fire Dragon Emperor within her. Shizuka's own strength was within the human limits of a martial artist. In contrast, Sanae was exceeding the limits of man on her own. It was only obvious that Shizuka and Alunaya would be surprised. And because of that, Alunaya began suspecting that Sanae wasn't just a normal human.

“I'm jealous, her weight doesn't increase either”

”Then let's finish this up quickly”

”You don't have to tell me that. Let's go, Uncle!”

”Understood!”

Shizuka began swinging her fists again. Her appearance when fighting enveloped in flames gave of the feel of power.

“Satomi-kun, I'm casting a spell on the sword!”

“Please do, Sakuraba-senpai!”

Koutarou and Harumi were also working together, though in a different way from Shizuka and Alunaya. Since they were pursuing Crimson and Green, Koutarou had been equipped with Saguratin, as Signaltin was too powerful and would be detected. They were then ambushed, and Koutarou never had the time to call out Signaltin, so he was fighting the weapons with the sword he had in hand. Harumi was supporting Koutarou. While the sword was different, her role was the same.

“Gather, spirits of water! Dance, spirits of wind! Combine these two powers and appear, spirits of lightning! With the wrath of the god of thunder, condemn my enemies!”

No matter how far away they were, Harumi was connected to Signaltin through the crest on her forehead. That was why she had been able to travel through an endless time and a countless distance and reunite with Koutarou. It didn't matter if this was a different world. With her hair shining silver, she infused Saguratin with pure white magical power.

“Appear! Thunder God's Sword of Brilliance!”

The magical power poured into the sword turned into powerful electricity. With this, the sword could shock whatever it came into contact with. Without ruining Koutarou's fighting style, his offense and defense was enhanced by adding Harumi's magic onto his sword skills.

“Phew”

Koutarou exhaled slightly as he swung the sword he was so familiar with around. As he did, he hit the claws of a beast type automated weapon, and at the moment they came into contact, the weapon stopped moving as electricity flowed into it. Of course, the weapon had protection against its weakness, and it was only stopped for a short moment. However, that moment allowed for Koutarou to return into an attacking position and attack again. When the beast type automated weapon could move again after a short period of time, the tip of Koutarou's sword was already sticking into its body. Being struck by both the sword and the electricity within, the beast type automated weapon was tragically torn asunder.

While Koutarou and Harumi were showing off splendid cooperation, another pair wasn't losing to them. Those two were the magicians Yurika and Maki.

“Greater Acid Splash!”

Yurika sprayed out a strong acid from the tip of her cane and it rained down on the automated weapons attacking the two.

“Keep it up like that, Yurika!”

The next moment Maki swung her cane, converted into a greatsword, at the automated weapon covered in acid. The automated weapon being attacked by Maki used its own knife to protect itself, but as the greatsword struck the knife, the automated weapon was unable to withstand the impact and its arm fell off. Yurika's acid had seeped into the weapon from its openings and weakened it.

While Maki had defeated the enemy in a single strike, because she was using a greatsword she was left wide open after attacking. Protecting Maki during this moment was Yurika's job.

“Poison Cloud!”

Yurika enveloped the automated weapons holding guns and aiming for Maki with a poisonous cloud. As she did, the weapons stopped moving one after another and collapsed on the spot. Because of that, Maki was never attacked.

“... To think that poison would work on machines... Yurika is just full of surprises...”

The saved Maki found herself impressed. From a magician's common sense, using poison against a machine was not possible. Normally it was used against living creatures, as the poison spread through the body by inhaling it. But the truth was that poison not only deteriorated electric components, but it also had the property of being very conductive. Because of that the computer began malfunctioning and the high voltage parts were shorted. Common sense was getting in the way so nobody had tried, but poison could be used to destroy machines.

“Impressive... hey, what is it, Yurika”?

“No, I just got some dirt in my eyes...”

While Yurika had effectively used her magic to achieve great results, it was uncertain if this was her ideal way of fighting or not.

Part 7

The automated weapons had held an overwhelming numerical advantage, but Koutarou and the others had been dominated the fight from start to finish. The results spoke for themselves as after a few minutes, all of the automated weapons had been turned into scrap. Moreover, since they had been fighting with caution, they were hardly hurt. The biggest injury they had sustained was Maki scratching her knee.

However, not everything had gone as well. There was a price to pay for not forcing themselves.

“No good. This area must have been holy ground, as passing through here makes it impossible to follow the spiritual energy”

”The spiritual energy of the land is too high Ho-!”

”Performing a detailed investigation on the outside of the holy ground will take too much time Ho-!”

The price to pay for their victory was that they had lost sight of Crimson and Green again. The direction they had escaped in was rich in spiritual energy, and it completely covered up their trail. The faint remnants of their spiritual energy not being covered up by magic mixed in with the spiritual energy of the land and Sanae and the haniwas lost track of it.

It would be possible to follow them once they left the holy ground, but they had no clue of where they would exit the holy ground. As a result they had to investigate the area outside of the holy ground, but as time passed, the trail of spiritual energy would grow weaker, making it impossible to detect before long.

“This is just Green's strategy coming out on top. She must have come up with this strategy after a great deal of planning”

Maki, who knew how Darkness Rainbow thought, reached that conclusion. Having rescued Crimson on her own, she must have been convinced her strategy would work. Her preparations were all set, and she surely had methods to evade all kinds of pursuit. Making this many preparations in such a short amount of time was far from normal, and Green's abilities deserved praise.

“I really should have chased after them at that time...”

Sanae sadly dropped her shoulders. Koutarou had told her not to force herself, but considering the situation they were in, she regretted her decision.

“It's okay, Sanae-chan”

However, Yurika smiled at Sanae. Unexpectedly, the person in charge was not disappointed in the slightest.

“Why?”

”Because we have a plan too”

”We do? What plan?”

Sanae's eyes opened wide in surprise. She was of course surprised that there was a plan, but she was also surprised as Yurika was so confidently mentioning it.

“Well, that's―”

Just as Yurika was about to explain the details to Sanae.

“Your Highness, Yurika-sama, I've confirmed the beacon. The detached force are successfully continuing their pursuit of Crimson and Green”

Ruth who was fiddling with her bracelet reported. Hearing that, Sanae's eyes practically bulged out in surprise.

“A detached force!? We had something like that!?”

”It was properly explained at the meeting remember?”

“R-Right. Tehehehe...”

The meeting had been drawn out and boring so Sanae hadn't really been listening. As a result, she had no way of knowing anything about a detached force. So all she could do was cover up with an embarrassed smile.

“S-So, what about the detached force?”

“Well―”

Yurika began explaining to Sanae again, and this time there were no obstructions.

Just like how Darkness Rainbow expected there to be a pursuit. Yurika and the others expected Darkness Rainbow to expect a pursuit. Though they didn't expect Darkness Rainbow to strike so suddenly.

However, they couldn't predict what kind of method Darkness Rainbow would use to evade pursuit. There were far to many possibilities, so having a plan for each individual way. So instead, Kiriha had the idea of aiming for the gap in Darkness Rainbow's awareness.

Kiriha focused on the automated weapons that had been destroyed during their last battle. She chose the ones that used spiritual energy technology and repaired and modified them to get them under her control. Since this was originally the People of the Earth's technology, and the radical faction scientists that had made them were also under her control, the modifications were not all that difficult.

When Green rescued Crimson, she had two of these modified automated weapons infiltrate her ranks. The IFF identified them as friendlies and their individual identification numbers were faked. With so many automated weapons around here, it would be difficult for Green to detect them. Moreover, even using her future forecast, it would be next to impossible to notice that the automated weapons had very slightly increased in number. Even if she did notice, it would be too late to stop the modified automated weapons from activating.

They were infiltrated into Green's ranks and left be for a while, only for them to be activated if need be. Green commanding a large amount of automated weapons and using her future forecast for the near future was the hole in awareness that Kiriha had targeted. Using her excellent brain, she had found this small hole and splendidly threaded through it.

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