Read Daily Updated Light Novel, Web Novel, Chinese Novel, Japanese And Korean Novel Online.
Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 21, Chapter 5: Second Coming of the Legend
Volume 21, Chapter 5: Second Coming of the Legend
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Sunday, November 7
Regardless of how much technology the Blue Knight and the Hazy Moon carried, they still needed to replenish supplies. When it had just been Theia and Ruth, the need hadn't been all that big, but once the Elfaria faction people came onboard, the need increased. Fortunately, they were able to resupply from the People of the Earth on the surface. And with the existence of the transfer gate, there was no need to go down to the surface. If there were any problems, that would be that a lot of people were necessary if they needed to resupply in a hurry. They didn't have any fully automated devices like in Forthorthe. Because of that, Koutarou and the others were helping with the resupply so they could depart as soon as possible.
“Ruth-san, where should I carry this?”
”The right leg calf's 12th warehouse”
“Okay, to the right leg calf's 12th warehouse”
Koutarou wrote the destination on the cart's plate. Because there was a large amount of supplies to be carried, if they mixed up the warehouse they were stored, there would be a lot of trouble. Finally, Ruth checked the plate and the preparation to move the supplies were complete.
“Wait!”
That was when a helmet wearing Sanae ran up.
“It's dangerous so go slower
“Okay, okay”
Sanae was pushing a cart like Koutarou was. For safety reasons, two people worked together as a team, and today, Sanae was Koutarou's partner. Because of that, she was headed for the same destination.
“So, where are we going next?”
“Next is the opposite leg, the right leg calf's 12th warehouse”
“Okay, right leg calf's 12th warehouse... Koutarou is it right from the way we're looking?”
“No, it's the right from the Blue Knight's perspective”
The Hazy Moon's resupply was already complete. The delay on the Blue Knight's resupply was because of its hull structure. Normally, the main warehouse was kept on the bottom of a ship to keep it accessible from everywhere. This also made the center of gravity more steady. However, because the Blue Knight was structured as a humanoid, leaving all of the supplies in the lower body of the ship, supplies would be very hard to access from the upper body. So instead, warehouses were constructed in both the arms and the legs. Which meant that there were a lot of destinations to keep track of, slowing down the resupply work.
“Because of the weird shape, carrying supplies is hard”
”You should have just made it round instead of being so picky”
”Less talking, and get to work!!”
”Okay okay”
”I get it, geez...”
Being yelled at by an angry Theia who was supervising the entire work, Koutarou and Sanae pushed their carts towards the gates. The gates directly connected the People of the Earth's warehouse to the Blue Knight's warehouses. The two approached the gate leading to the right leg calf amongst the many gates on the wall.
“Waaaah, Shizuka-san, where are you!?”
Just as the two were about to enter their gate, Yurika came running out of it in tears. She was pushing a cart like Koutarou and Sanae, but for some reason she was alone.
“Yurika, what happened!?”
“Satomi-san, Satomi-san, please help me! Shizuka-san disappeared all of a sudden!”
Yurika had paired up with Shizuka but she seemed to have separated with her, and she returned here in tears.
“Landlord-san did? Where were you carrying your supplies?”
”Koutarou, it says the torso's 22nd warehouse”
“Which means... calm down and listen, Yurika”
”Where did Shizuka-san go!?”
”Like I said, calm down”
”O-Okay”
Koutarou lightly flicked his finger at Yurika's forehead, and she began to calm down. Since this was repeated almost daily, her response was pretty much conditioned.
“Yurika, you're the one who disappeared”
“Hueh?”
”This is the gate connecting to the right leg calf. The torso is the middle one”
“It's not here!?”
”Yeah, yours is over there”
“Shizuka-saaan!!”
Having finally realized her destination, Yurika ran towards the gate leading to the torso without saying thanks. The Blue Knight being humanoid had the biggest influence on Yurika. Just today, she had gotten lost five times.
“Koutarou”
”I know what you want to say. But there's no time”
”That's not it... is the destination written on her plate really meant to be the torso's 22nd warehouse?”
“... Sanae, don't say scary things so casually”
Koutarou and Sanae suppressed their unease as they passed through their gate. The resupply would still go on for a bit longer. They couldn't afford to delay their own work to worry about Yurika.
Part 2
The space battleship, the Blue Knight, was over a kilometer long humanoid structure, and just the part below the knee was 250 meters long. Koutarou's and Sanae's destination was the 12th warehouse there. Because the gate was located right under the knee, there was still a 100 meter distance to the 12th warehouse. During those 100 meters, Koutarou and Sanae crossed paths with several people. The Forthorthians that had come with Elfaria, and the People of the Earth. All of them were working on resupplying the ship. And one thing they all did was to bow to Koutarou.
“Hehehe, everyone's greeting Koutarou”
Noticing that everyone was greeting Koutarou, Sanae smiled happily. Her smile was as if she was the one being praised. She was happy that Koutarou was being praised, and she was aware that he was being of help to troubled people.
“Even though there's no need to”
”That's not true. You helped them all after all”
”You all worked hard too, so it's not like I'm all that important”
”It helps me when you're getting all the praise. I get a funny feeling if I get thanked”
“I get a funny feeling too”
Koutarou on the other hand felt perplexed. There hadn't been a single incident that Koutarou had resolved on his own, yet he getting all the gratitude himself felt off.
“You're the leader so just give up. Red does a lot of things as the representative”
“I'm Blue though”
“Blue is the Blue Knight's color. If you admit that you are the Blue Knight, it's only obvious that people would thank you, Reios-sama! Ohohohoho!”
Sanae responded to Koutarou by mimicking Elfaria in a very unnatural way. As she did, Koutarou\s expression turned bitter.
“Don't you mimic Elle. I won't forgive you if you grow up into an adult like her”
”Oka~y”
Though she had tried to be a little mischievous, Sanae basically wanted to be a good girl before the person she loved, so she had no intentions of turning out like Elfaria. Her mimicry just now was just a little prank.
“But the truth is I want Koutarou to just be our hero”
”That would work out better for me too”
“Aha, so you're fine with being thanked by me and everyone else then?”
“I'm grateful to all of you too after all”
”I see, that's probably true”
”It balances out right?”
”Yeah... hey, am I working out as your Kabutonga?”
“Yeah. You can take pride in it”
”Ehehe”
Just as the two reached a pause in their discussion, the two reached the 12th warehouse. Sanae ran up to the door with a bounce in her step and pushed the panel by the side with her hand.
“Open Sesame!”
Immediately after Sanae's overly theatrical performance, the door slid opened without a sound. The door the warehouse opened by a combination of voice-print and the capillaries in the palm. Sanae loved this and repeated the same thing every time she came.
“You love doing that, don't you”
”Opening the path for your own fate is Sanae-chan's principle!”
“Talk about exaggerating for just a door”
”Tehehehe”
The 12th warehouse was several meters in both length and breadth. It was wide enough for both of them to enter with their carts without it feeling too tight. The two stopped their carts and worked together to unload the containers.
“What's in this box?”
”Uhm, mostly food. It says potato on the side of the box we're carrying now”
”Isn't it bad having food in a faraway place like this?”
“If there's a fight, we don't know what parts of the ship will get damaged, so it's best to split it up and keep a little of it everywhere”
”Oh... so there's a lot of thinking put into this”
There were two containers loaded on each of the carts. The containers were the same size as large cardboard boxes and they were specially prepared to be able to preserve their contents for a long period of time. But since the gravity on the Blue Knight was being controlled to make it easier on the work.
“That should do it”
“Alright, let's go back!”
Work ended in a few minutes, and the containers perfectly fit in the open space. The two left the warehouse in order to carry more supplies.
“Kyaaa!?”
”What!?”
That was when a warning siren suddenly blared throughout the passage. At the same time a red revolving light turned on, fueling the tension further. The two stood still, surprised by the sudden alarm, but looking at the revolving light, the two calmed down and looked at each other.
“Let's go, Sanae!”
“Yeah!”
The two began running, leaving their carts behind. They couldn't tell what had happened from just the alarm. However, both of them knew what time it was. Regardless of what was happening, their first priority was to get to Theia and Elfaria and protect them.
Part 3
Shortly after departing on their mission to capture Elfaria, information was delivered through the Melcemhein band of knights to Lord Bandarion. It was information that the Blue Knight's combat potential was above normal. The origin of the information was unknown, but since it came through the Melcemhein band of knights, it was hard to believe it was a complete lie. But even if the combat potential was above normal, it was still just one ship. They knew they wouldn't lose, but some countermeasures were required to keep the damage to the minimum.
Fortunately, there was a continuation to the sent information. It was information regarding an illegal organization on Earth that was resupplying the Blue Knight. The information pertained not just to the size of the organization and their combat capabilities, but also the location of their base and plans over it. They were contents that practically told them to challenge Elfaria to a surface battle.
“With this detailed information, I guess it's only natural for the sender not to reveal themselves”
”Even if we sent a spy into the Elfaria faction, they would be in danger if they revealed the location after all”
At first, Lord Bandarion and Director-General Granado didn't trust the information. At most, they just couldn't ignore it as it came via the Melcemhein band of knights. But with information pertaining to an illegal organization on Earth being included, they instead started assuming the information was reliable. There was no need to go this far with false information, so it was more likely that the Melcemhein family or someone close to them had a spy in the Elfaria faction ranks.
“And... if we attack Majesty Elfaria by relying on this information, it would be like telling the sender that we want to cooperate”
”Considering the accuracy of this information and the timing... I can think of one more who sent this information apart from a spy... that DKI boy”
Lord Bandarion suspected another possibility, namely the young CEO of DKI, Elexis. Even though he wasn't a spy, he could still have access to this level of information, and he should also have a motive.
“Now that you mention it, he hasn't appeared in the public lately... could it be that he's been on Earth ever since he attacked the Blue Knight?”
“If you think of it like that, then it makes sense. He continued his activity on Earth for some reason, and once the situation changed he returned to Forthorthe. As a result, he has more accurate information than we do in regards to Earth. Perhaps that's why he knows that we'll lose if we attack from the front”
“That can't be... would my fleet be destroyed by a single ship...?”
Director-General Granado could hardly believe it. This time, a fleet even larger than when Elexis attacked the Blue Knight had been dispatched. If they were to lose even then, then just how much combat potential did that one ship truly have. Being the Director-General of military affairs and the science and technology agency, Granado understood just how frightening that aspect really was.
“It might be because of that illegal organization mentioned”
Lord Bandarion didn't fear the Blue Knight as much as Granado did. Instead, he suspected that the illegal organization had something to do with it. The truth was that they would lose from going up against the Blue Knight with its true specs plus the Hazy Moon, so Lord Bandarion was close.
“The reason aside, that boy will use this incident to tell us that we're better of teaming up with him. In other words, it's a sales pitch”
“And at the same time, he's judging us?”
“That's right. If we use this information to secure our victory, it would mean that we have high regards for his value. It would also prove that we have that much intellect and capacity”
”If we instead were to ignore him and lose, it would show that there's no point in teaming up”
”Seriously, what a shrewd boy”
“What should we do?”
“For starters, we'll confirm the validity of the information. Are the maps and plans over the base accurate, and are there any space-time distortions in that area... that will become the decisive factor”
”I'll make a note right away”
They still didn't know if the DKI boy, Elexis, was the one who had sent them the information or not. Lord Bandarion was convinced of it, but they would still need to confirm it. In regards to that, the validity of the information would indirectly prove it was from Elexis. And if that was the case, then they'd have to accept Elexis' unexpressed offer. That was what Lord Bandarion meant by shrewd boy.
“Fufufu... still, we've gotten old”
“Ha?”
“While we were thinking of what to do, the younger generation made its move. Just like we did in the past”
”But in the end, you will be the one to stand at the top, Bandarion-sama”
”I intend to. I won't let that boy do as he pleases just yet”
Lord Bandarion felt like it was only natural for someone like Elexis to appear, just like he himself had in the past. However, he was confident that he would be the one to seize control of the country. That's why Lord Bandarion decided to challenge Elfaria and the others to a surface battle like the information hinted at. Doing that would prove how accurate the information was, and he should be able to get a better grasp on Elexis' abilities and intentions. Lord Bandarion's side would need to judge Elexis as well.
Part 4
With those circumstances, the coup d'état army attacked the surface in a very faithful to basic way. Because the reliability of the information was still in doubt, they couldn't make any bold attacks. The fleet commander wanted to keep the betting to just choosing to attack the surface.
The plan of attack was very simple. As a result of prior observation, they had determined that the Blue Knight was currently in the middle of receiving supplies from the base in question. Now that they were immobile was the time to strike, but as they had no relations with Earth, the army couldn't officially enter. So instead, the special forces that was travelling with the fleet was dispatched to infiltrate the enemy's base. They would use the gate that should exist within the base to infiltrate the Blue Knight and capture Elfaria.
At first glance this seemed like a difficult mission, but it wasn't as hard as it looked. Being heavily automated, the Blue Knight had little crew. As long as they could deceive the IFF, they wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by the defense mechanisms. As this was a former allied ship, doing that wouldn't be all that hard. As a result, whether they could get through the gate or not would determine if the mission succeeded or not. However, that was just common sense in Forthorthe. The truth was that it wouldn't be as simple as they thought.
“Two of the spiritual energy sensors that's been set up in an outer perimeter around the base have detected approaching suspicious individuals Ho-! The fourth sensor on the southeast side and the third sensor on the north side have gone off Ho-!”
“There's nothing that can be seen when observing the spots with the optical cameras Ho-. But when we look closer, we can see some men wearing clothes that change colors like a chameleon getting closer Ho!”
The first to detect the enemy was the People of the Earth's technology. As the Forthorthe army had no spiritual energy technology, they easily tripped the spiritual energy sensors. The alarm from when Koutarou and Sanae were in the warehouse came from this.
“It's the active camouflage clothes that the Forthorthe special forces use. They're easy to pinpoint because the quality is poor”
Ruth used her unmanned scout to gather more details on the spots Karama and Korama had specified. Clan added in her image processing and gave Koutarou and the others a clear image of the men the haniwas mentioned.
Of course, the men still hadn't noticed that they were already detected. Clan had called the quality of their camouflage clothes poor, but that was just when comparing it to Clan's technical level. They were high in quality for mass produced goods. On normal missions, they wouldn't be detected until they were very close. This wasn't the mens fault, but rather because of the unexpected high level of technology from Clan and the People of the Earth.
“In total there are 45 of them, huh. That's quite the number”
A group of men wearing matching battle fatigues were being projected as a hologram before Koutarou. Koutarou and Sanae ran towards the gate leading to Earth while looking at the hologram.
“Hey, Koutarou. Why are their numbers different?”
Sanae who was looking at the same hologram tilted her head in confusion. For some reason, there was a different number of men on the north and southeast side. 15 men were approaching from the north side and 30 from the southeast. Their numbers were unbalanced for a pincer attack.
“The group with less men on the north side are probably going to run distraction. Analyze the details of the footage, the north side should have more long range weapons”
”Kiriha-sama is correct! Only the men on the north side have large weapons!”
”The north side men will attack us with long range weapons. And while our attention is turned to the north, the 30 men on the south east will rush in. Based on the position, it's almost certain that their aim is the gates in the warehouse. They're after Elfaria-dono on the Blue Knight!”
Kiriha's brains made the aim of the special forces clear. The warehouse in the base was on the southeast side of the site. It was a very simple and logical plan consisting of a diversion in the north and the shortest possible distance to their objective”
”Ruth and I will take care of the north side! They're 100 years to early to go up against us in a long range battle!”
”Please leave this to us, Master!”
“Koutarou, you take Shizuka with you and head south east!”
”Okay! Landlord-san, let's meet by the gate!”
”Yes, I'm almost there!”
Knowing their opponent's plan, Theia could handle this. Matching the opponent's strategy, Theia effectively placed personnel.
“Maki, you come with us! We might need your backup just in case!”
“Okay, I'll come to you two”
”I caaan't! I don't know how to get back!”
“Wait a minute, Yurika, where are you right now!?”
”I'm by Elfaria-san! I got some tea and snacks from her!”
“So you couldn't meet up with Shizuka after all”
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it wasn't on purpose!”
Yurika was in an unexpected place. Her original destination was the torso's 22nd warehouse. But in the end, she never reached it, and for some reason she ended up in the residence division and met up with Elfaria. Elfaria had helped her when she was lost.
“No, good job Yurika! You just stay there!”
”You protect Elle! Got it!?”
“O-Okay!! I'll do my best!!”
While it might have been unexpected, it was the correct thing to do considering the circumstances. As Yurika could use all kinds of spells, she could respond to any situation, and was the most suitable to protect Elfaria.
“Harumi, you go with Koutarou! We have to consider his sword after all”
“Yes, I understand!”
“Kiriha you move freely based on the situation!”
”Got it. Karama, start off with assisting Theia-dono. Karama, you come with me to Koutarou”
“Gotcha! I'm off Ho-!”
”I will protect Ane-san Ho-!”
“Clan, you stay as back up! Unless something serious happens, don't come out!”
The only one hard to use was Clan. Her Schweiger family had an amiable relationship with the military, and things would get complicated if they suddenly turned hostile towards one another. Moreover, the Hazy Moon wasn't officially at Earth, so she couldn't allow herself to get spotted by the military for multiple reasons.
“You don't need to worry, I know my own position! But Yurika, if things really become dangerous, don't hesitate to bring Elfaria with you here!”
”Thank you very much!”
Theia, Ruth, Maki and Karama were in charge of intercepting the troops from the north in charge of the diversion. And Koutarou, Sanae, Harumi, Shizuka, Kiriha and Korama would be fighting against the main force from the southeast. Yurika would be by Elfaria to protect her in the worst case scenario. Clan left her Cradle on standby in the sky, and moved to assist Koutarou and the girls. For teams divided up so quickly, they were well balanced in terms of offense and defense, and they were a good match for their opponents. As expected, when it came to battles, Theia was without a doubt a genius.
Part 5
By the time Maki and Karama grouped up with them, Theia and Ruth were already preparing to attack. Being as impatient as she was, Theia was going to launch an attack first, and not being able to let her lord fight on her own, Ruth followed suit.
“Ridiculous, trying to defeat me with just 15 people!”
The missile launcher attached to Theia opened all of its hatches at once. The Battle Dress that Theia was currently wearing had a yellow base color. The name of it was Guardian Yellow, which had equipment specialized for base defense, and in exchange for its massive firepower and defenses, it had unremarkable mobility. It was equipment intended to fire missiles and large-scale cannons while being protected by a sturdy barrier and anti air guns. It was perfect for the current situation.
“Ruth-chan, I'm sending over the spiritual energy sensor data, Ho!”
“I've got it. Your Highness, all 15 of the enemy force have been targeted”
Karama, who had come with Theia, had an accurate reading on the location of all 15 of the special forces. Ruth received that data and processed it before sending it forwards to the fire control system for Theia's Combat Dress. In other words, both Karama and Ruth were in charge of guiding Theia's missiles.
“Maki, can you enhance my senses!?”
”Leave it to me, that's my specialty! Keen Sense, Lightning Reflex!”
Next, Maki who had only just gotten there cast two spells in succession. A spell to enhance the senses, and a spell to improve reflexes and motor functions. Both were perfect for accurate and swift attacking, and for someone who specialized in mind manipulation type magic like Maki, they were easy to cast. As a result, Theia's senses became sharper than a wild animal and her movements were more accurate than an artisan's.
“Fufun, I'll show you what it means to fight against me!”
Theia laughed fearlessly and held a large-scale cannon with both hands. The cannon was over twice the length of Theia and from a long distance it looked like she was holding a long spear.
“Release firearms control on the Warship Hybrid Cannon, manual bombardment!”
“As you wish, My Princess”
Theia released the computer control on the cannon as she would control the cannon to attack herself. Theia spotted her targets with her eyes that now had vision sharper than a hawk. With her improved accuracy of movements, her aim didn't waver even a little. Being enhanced by spells, she was now far more accurate than the computer would be.
“Anchor!”
Two loud cracks rang out.
Next a stake stabbed into the ground from each of her feet, fixating her body to the ground. The weapon she was holding was on a level beyond what a person could control. After a shell was fired from a gunpowder blast, it was then further accelerated by an electromagnetic barrel. It was literally shot out too fast to be seen. As a result, it was impossible to fully kill the recoil even with Guardian Yellow's weight and Forthorthe's technology. So fixating herself to the ground using primitive means like that was necessary.
“Blue Knight, raise the flag!”
“As you wish, My Princess”
The preparations to attack were complete. Immediately after that, a flag with a golden flower spread out overhead. It wasn't a flag with physical form, but was drawn in the air by lasers. The flower was exquisite and beautiful.
“Men, are you listening!? We will begin our attack now!!”
This combat flag reported when Theia herself was taking to the battlefield. It was there to show off her existence to both friend and foe. Forthorthe royalties don't use sneak attacks. They fought and defeated their enemies fair and square. The big flag that spread several meters in each direction boldly fluttered with the wind.
As the golden flag waved in the sky, the special forces, approaching the People of the Earth's base from the north, fell into panic. Special forces with a lot of training under their belt, fell into panic.
“Receiving an IFF signal!! Confirming the combat flag. Gold. Flower. It's princess Theiamillis!!”
“The princess herself is on the front lines!?”
”Leave that for later, that flag means that we've already been dete―”
The next moment, a certain something assaulted them.
Kaboom
“Uwah!?”
First off, they were hit by a sound large enough to shake the entire forest, and at the same time they barrier protecting the entire group was destroyed. The shell fired straight at the special forces pierced through the tough barrier and smashed the generation device to pieces. Not stopping at that, the shell with massive kinetic energy behind it continued to smash several mobile weapons behind the forces. The sound they heard was just a reminder of it. It was a shock wave created from the shell too fast to see.
“Squad leader, a message from headquarters, a high energy reaction detected from the Blue Kn―”
“Get doooown!! They're bombarding the surface!!”
Next they were assaulted by several pillars of light. It was a surface bombardment from the Blue Knight in orbit, and it only shot the mobile weapons protecting the special forces.
“Emergency alert! 30 anti-personnel missiles are approaching, take evasive actions!”
Finally, missiles assaulted them from above. Their strategy support computer was urging the special forces to evade, but they had just thrown themselves on the ground to avoid the bombardment. There was no way they could dodge.
“Impossible, anti-personnel missiles without a lock-on!?”
The missiles were accurately being guided towards the group. However, that was strange. There had been no signs of a radar lock on until now. The missiles were too spread out to be using heat or optic guidance. It was possible that the missiles were being guided by the Blue Knight's optics in orbit, but there would be slight lag due to communications, so it wasn't suited for use with anti-personnel missiles. Yet the missiles were flying straight towards the soldiers. Two missiles directly hit each of the soldiers that had dived to the ground.
“Uwaaaaaah!? … Wait, what is this!?”
“It looks like... paint”
”They're mock missiles for practice!”
However what confused the soldiers further was that the missiles weren't carrying the usual payload, but paint for practice. Their bodies were unharmed and instead they were covered in the colors red and yellow.
“I don't know what's going on, but we're saved!”
“Luck's on our side!!”
The soldiers were simply happy that they were okay. However, there were those among them that weren't rejoicing. They were the squad leader and his retainer.
“... So this is princess Theiamillis...”
”Squad leader, did princess Theiamillis mix up her missiles?”
“A gun is one thing, but there's no way she'd mix up missiles”
”Then, why?”
“Can't you tell? This is the princess warning us”
“Warning us?”
”We were just killed three times by Her Highness' attacks”
What if the shell fired from the cannon wasn't a simple armor piercing shell.
What if the Blue Knight's surface bombardment hadn't just hit the mobile weapons.
What if anti-personnel missiles hadn't been mock missiles.
The soldiers would have without a doubt died. Assuming that all three times were simple coincidences would be foolish. Instead it was a message to them from princess Theiamillis.
“She could have done it if she wanted. She won't show any mercy next time. She's telling us that if you don't want that then retreat or surrender, pick whatever you please”
The soldiers were now all staring at the squad leader. His words sent a ripple through their minds. The squad leader's retainer spoke out.
“Now I really don't get it, why would Her Highness do that? Wouldn't it be safer just to kill us?”
”It's probably the same reason as Her Majesty Alaia. Princess Theiamillis is from the Mastir family and we are Forthorthe citizens”
“... Squad leader, has Her Majesty Elfaria really committed the crimes being broadcasted?”
It was a natural doubt. Empress Elfaria had embezzled public funds and even murdered to hide it. However, when facing against her daughter, princess Theiamillis, she showed justice and affection. So it was only obvious for the soldiers to feel like that was a major contradiction. As it had happened in a battle with their lives on the stake, the soldiers felt that especially strongly.
“I don't know either... no, I can't tell anymore. However, that's why there's something I know for certain”
”And that is?”
“That the people we are point our guns at truly are royalty of Forthorthe.”
They looked towards an opening in the forest. There they saw the smoking barrel of the cannon that had just fired a shell at them, now facing skyward, and a girl with blonde hair boldly stood there. Seeing the girl with her long barrel and the flag above her, it looked like she was physically raising her flag.
The girl's name was Theiamillis Gre Mastir Sagurada Forthorthe.
Both her golden hair and the flag above her fluttered in the wind.
Part 6
The explosive sounds from Theia's bombardment in the north could be heard in the southeast as well. And as if that was their signal, the force approaching from the southeast began moving. They left the forest they were hiding in and ran towards the base's warehouse. Their goal was the gate within, and Elfaria who should be beyond it.
“Hurry up, we're going to capture her before the gate closes!”
The commander in charge of the forces hurried the soldiers. They didn't have a lot of time. It took several hours to create a transfer gate safe for humans to pass through, but once set up it only took a few seconds to open and close. But when it came to larger gates used to transport supplies, it took at least a few minutes to close and open due to the space-time distortion. If the forces made it through the gate during those few minutes, they could forcibly enter the system and keep the gate open and take over the Blue Knight. As a result, they worked under the assumption that the gate would close a few minutes after the battle up north began. They had to move as quickly as possible.
“They're coming, hurry up, Koutarou!”
Sanae had a grasp of the enemy's positions. In total there were 30 of them. They were shortening the distance quickly while leaking hostility. If they space out, the enemy would get into the warehouse, so Sanae hurried her allies.
“Koutarou, you and Shizuka take the lead”
”Leave it to us! GOL, your targets are everyone in front of us”
“IFF set, targets are the 30 men and the mobile weapons to our front. Enemy forces show signs of military action. GOL is beginning its attack”
“... You work fast as always”
”I am honored by your praise”
”Uncle, could you use most of the magical power for defense?”
”Are you fine with the offense?”
“I only need that if the enemy is though. If I go too far they'll die”
”That's true”
Following Kiriha's instructions, Koutarou and Shizuka charged the enemy. It was far too casual of a charge, but that wasn't a problem for these two. GOL was protecting Koutarou, and Alunaya was protecting Shizuka.
“Sanae, you suppress the enemy from behind Koutarou and Shizuka”
”I'll do my best to be annoying!”
At this level Sanae would be fine, but as Sanae dodged attack by reading the enemy's aura, she ran the risk of getting hit if the enemy attacked someone else. So Sanae's job was to stay back and push back anyone that tried to rush up.
“Harumi, you stay at the back with me”
“Yes! Satomi-kun, the same as always?”
“Please do”
”Korama, protect Harumi”
”Got it! Will you be fine on your own, Ane-san Ho?”
“That's why I'm at the back, just in case”
”Ane-san sure is responsible Ho-!”
In the back was Harumi, Kiriha and Korama. Harumi would use magic to support the others from the safer back lines. Kiriha did the same using a beam rifle that fired spiritual energy, while commanding from the rear where she could keep better track of things. Korama would protect Harumi who slowed down whenever she cast spells. The back lines were all about protecting your allies.
“To think they'd come at us with just five people”
”They're either brave or stupid...”
”They just probably can't fall back because they have to protect Her Majesty Elfaria”
“So loyal subjects, huh”
”Give it your best. They're a troublesome type of enemy regardless of situation”
Meanwhile, the imperial army's special forces with their abundance in experience weren't underestimating Koutarou and the others. Courageous, reckless, loyal, they were all dangerous reasons. Mercenaries working for money were a lot more logical.
However, this time around, their opponents were irrational for a completely different reason. That reason was that the very existence of the one charging the special forces were irrational. The one that embodied irrationality the most, was the knight in blue armor leading the charge.
“An awfully antique guy is coming”
”That armor is the master/slave controller in order to move the Blue Knight. Though it seems to also function as a space suit in extreme environments”
”So it looks classic, but it's state of the art on the inside, huh. No matter, send the mobile weapons out front!”
The special forces of course had data on the Blue Knight, and they identified the armor Koutarou was wearing right away. They were of course well aware of its performance. As it was used by royalty, its specs were high, but weaker than normal because of its antique design taking priority. So overall it shouldn't be that different from the power suit the military used, so Koutarou on his own was hardly a threat. They should be able to win if they have the mobile weapons deal with him.
“... I thought I taught your predecessors not to judge your opponent by their appearance”
Koutarou unsheathed Signaltin and Saguratin hanging off his waist, and held one in each hand.
“Warning. Enemy mobile weapons approaching, detected lock-ons. Estimated the scale of the attack from the energy reaction. Chance of defeat is estimated at 64%. Activating active barrier”
“I'll leave the soldiers and defense to you. I'll deal with the big ones”
”Strategy algorithms are recommending an immediate withdrawal”
”We've worked together for quite a while now. It's about time you understood what I'm planning on doing”
”This main system will pray for your fortune and glory in the place of the nation of Forthorthe”
“Well said, that's more like it!”
Obeying Koutarou's order, GOL changed the aim of the laser cannon on the right shoulder. It had been giving suppressing fire so that the enemy couldn't advance until now, but it stopped for a moment. Instead it kept a watch on approaching enemies. As Koutarou had moved forward far enough, restraining the forces wouldn't be necessary any more. From now on, GOL's job was simply to protect Koutarou.
“That said... using mobile weapons against an enemy of unknown strength is correct. Though I can't say I like the reliance on pure force”
With a sword still in each hand, Koutarou charged the approaching mobile weapons. In total there were three of them, all just above three meters tall, shaped like a cross between a tank and a plane. Normally it slid above the surface and worked as infantry support, but it could fly in the sky for a short amount of time and act as a plane. Since it didn't carry people on board it was very mobile, and for infantry it was the kind of opponent they least wanted to go up against.
“That guy... he must be an idiot. Just one of those mobile weapons can wipe out an entire platoon of infantrymen, and there are three of them? Or does he have a death wish?”
”It must be because he's ignorant. Lacking knowledge is quite frightening”
The soldiers were dumbfounded as they watched Koutarou charge the mobile weapons without hesitation. That said, there was no way for a human from a planet without any diplomatic relations to Forthorthe to know the power of a weapon he sees for the first time. That's why instead of sneering at him, the special forces felt like it couldn't be helped. However, the truth was that the special forces were the ones who didn't understand.
“Seriously. I think so too... I'm counting on you two!”
“Go! Blow them away with my Love Love Sanae-chan Sword!!”
”Satomi-kun, I'm maximizing Signaltin's power when you hit!!”
Saguratin began shining golden as Sanae infused it with her spiritual energy, and Signaltin responded to Harumi's will and began glowing silver. The glow on both swords was strong. As they were going up against a machine, neither of them needed to hold back, and they went all out from the start.
“Bertorion, the upper part sticking out from the frame is what's creating the distortion field for that unit”
“That thing, huh!”
Clan who was observing from above, told Koutarou about the mobile weapons weak spot. Koutarou found the spot he was told about and raised his arms upwards in a cross shaped motion.
“Look carefully! This is the opponent you have you defeat!”
Despite a large amount of energy gathering in the swords, the three mobile weapons continued advancing without doing anything. They advanced under the assumption that they were fighting an opponent with primitive weapons. There were some of the special forces that had a bad feeling when they saw the swords glow, but before they could do anything, it happened.
First was Saguratin. Koutarou swung the sword, and the trajectory from the swing created a blade of spiritual energy that spread wide and attacked the three mobile weapons. As Forthorthe barriers couldn't protect against spiritual energy, the attack passed through it and destroyed the barrier generation devices.
Next was Signaltin. Koutarou passed through between the space between the center and right mobile weapon. At that time, Koutarou swung his sword to both sides. Without their barrier, the mobile weapons couldn't block Harumi's instantaneous release of power from Signaltin. And they were easily cut in half like a hot knife through butter.
Finally was the gauntlet built into the left hand of the armor. Koutarou focused Sanae's spiritual energy in Saguratin into the gauntlet and created a powerful electric charge, before unleashing it at the final mobile weapon. The lighting bolt flew into the large hole where its barrier generation device had once been and unleashed its energy, breaking the mobile weapon to pieces.
Those three events happened in a single breath. It was so fast that not a single of the special forces could understand what had happened. To them it looked like after Koutarou swung his swords, the three mobile weapons were destroyed.
“That's about what you can expect from something that's not Elexis' machines”
After confirming that the mobile weapons were all destroyed, Koutarou faced the special forces again. He didn't have a single scratch and his polished blue armor was being lit up by the flames of the destroyed mobile weapons.
Of course, the mobile weapons weren't silently waiting for Koutarou to attack. Once they were close enough they began their attack with their standard anti-infantry weapons, heavy machine guns. However, unable to keep with Koutarou's sudden acceleration, only a few of the bullets hit. And those that barely hit were unable to pierce the barrier formed from multiple different powers, and were easily deflected.
In order to defeat Koutarou, anti-mobile weapons weaponry was required. But the three mobile weapons were destroyed by Koutarou before they could notice.
“Who the hell is he!?”
”What just happened!?”
”Why are the mobile weapons destroyed!?”
This astonished the special forces. The ability to destroy three mobile weapons without difficulty meant that the knight before them had more than enough power to easily defeat three infantry platoons in an instant. What's even worse was that they didn't even have enough men for a single platoon. A mere 30 men out of the 40 required for a platoon.
“C-Calm down, no matter how strong he is, he is just human! He'll go down from a single bullet!!”
“The commander is right! Calm down and remember your training!”
”It's not like we've only trained fighting against weaker opponents!!”
Suppressing his own panic, the commander encouraged his subordinates. With the help of the vice-commander and squad leader, the panic in their ranks began settling. However, their misfortune had only just begun.
“That might be true if it was just Satomi-kun on his own”
”Eh!?”
A fist entered the view of the commander who just finished scolding his subordinates. It was a girls fist, but in contrast to its lovely appearance, it smashed in the commander's face with a frightening amount of momentum, and just for the moment the fist collided with the commander's face, it increased in weight, giving off an impact like being whacked by a large hammer.
“Gah”
”C-Commander!?”
Being surprised by an attack like that, the commander never stood a chance. He easily lost consciousness as he was sent flying and crashing into the ground. That vivid blow astonished everyone who saw it. Including the person who threw the punch.
“Uncle, that was too much!! Didn't he die from that!?”
”Don't worry, I held back so he's still alive. Well... he might have broken a few bones”
Shizuka was the one that punched the commander. While Koutarou was attracting the special forces' attention, Shizuka closed in on them and launched a surprise attack. Normally, a girl ambushing a special forces unit with her bare fists was just suicidal, but fortunately or perhaps not, the girl was not normal. Thanks to the powers of the Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya, her combat capabilities were on par or above that of a mobile weapon. Shizuka couldn't be harmed by their weapons, and they couldn't block her attacks.
“The commander is down! Counter attack!”
“Fire! Fire!!”
“You brat!!”
Shizuka's surprise attack didn't shake up the special forces as much as Koutarou did. Being technologically advanced, Forthorthe had several small or hard to identify weapons, so the special forces assumed that Shizuka was just using one of those. That's why they pointed their guns at Shizuka and counter attacked like they had trained.
A rapid series of bangs.
“Woah, Uncle, I'm seriously relying on you for defense, okay?”
”Don't worry, I will definitely protect you”
Shizuka was under attack by a dozen or so people, and the roaring sound made it feel like she was inside a thundercloud. Though she was being protected by the Fire Dragon Emperor's powers, she didn't like being shot by guns. Apart from her powers, Shizuka was just a normal girl. However, she wasn't alone. She had companions to lighten her load.
“Ane-san, I'm in position Ho-!”
”Shizuka, we will give you covering fire. Rest easy and fight as you like”
”Kiriha-san! Thank you!”
After thanking the voice from the comms device, beams came raining down from above. The beams were mostly aimed at the enemies behind Shizuka, and made them faint. These were Kiriha's and Korama's attacks.
The spiritual energy beams that Kiriha fired reflected off of Korama's Spiritual Energy Field and assaulted the soldiers. Using this method, Kiriha could stay in a safe spot, and Korama who was reflecting the beams was clad in the Spiritual Energy Field and wouldn't have to worry about a counter attack. Moreover, firing from above meant that there was no need to worry about the position of allies or the geographical features of the area. To the special forces, they were simply being attacked from above by an opponent they couldn't see and fainted without being able to do anything.
“Harumi, we can't lose either!”
”Yes, let's do our best!”
Sanae and Harumi joined in to attack as well. There had been more than the first three mobile weapons, but they had already been eliminated by Koutarou. As a result, the two could move freely. With Sanae's random attacks and Harumi's magic joining the fray, the special forces dropped in numbers quickly.
“... T-This power... just who are you guys...?”
The last one standing was the vice-commander. With trembling hands he pointed the barrel of his weapon at Koutarou and instinctively asked that question. He couldn't help but ask.
One boy and four girls had easily dispatched of 30 special forces and six mobile weapons protecting them. Despite it happening before his eyes, the vice-commander couldn't believe it. To him it made more sense for this to all be an illusion.
“We're―”
Koutarou hesitated how to answer for a moment. Theia's friends felt like it was right. But in this situation there was a more apt response.
“―We're an organization formed under the name of princess Theiamillis. The Satomi band of knights”
”The Satomi... band of knights...?”
”Yes. Though I don't know if you could call us an official band of knights or not”
After hearing that, the vice-commander was knocked out by Koutarou. He and the rest of the special forces would later return to their fleet and report on the details of what happened, and the mysterious band of knights, the Satomi band of knights would be left on Forthorthe's records.
The first official record of the Satomi band of knights was an overwhelming victory with 0 casualties on either side. In future generations this would be known as the first appearance of the legendary band of knights known as Theiamillis' band of blue knights.
Part 7
In total 45 men had attacked the People of the Earth base. 15 men in charge of diversion from the north, and 30 from the southeast. Koutarou and the others had successfully captured all of them.
After a minor skirmish, the 15 on the north side accepted their defeat and surrendered. The 30 to the southeast resisted until the last man, but were all defeated. Currently all 45 were captives and held in a room onboard the Blue Knight. They weren't criminals, but taking them with them was dangerous so they would eventually be freed.
“I'm glad everything ended without any problems”
Yurika had been with Elfaria on the bridge the entire time. Once she heard that everything had ended safely from Koutarou and the others who all gathered, she showed a big smile. She would fight when she had to, but since her personality was fundamentally incompatible with it, she was happy to hear that both friend and foe were safe.
“You were just watching so it was easy for you”
“But, but, if I had a chance to shine that would mean that Sanae-chan and the others would fail”
“Isn't it great that you didn't have to do anything, Yurika!”
”That's right. Nothing happening is the best”
In the end, Yurika only drank tea together with Elfaria, but nobody complained about that. They all felt the same way deep down inside.
“So Theia, what do we do now?”
”If we laze around here any more, the enemy will attack again. We'll give up on resupplying here and leave as quickly as we can”
However, there was no time to feel relieved. While they had safely repelled the special forces, the fleet from Forthorthe was still present. If they casually continued to resupply, there would be another attack from another squad. So Theia decided to stop with their resupplies there and depart right away.
“Give up? Are there enough supplies?”
However, if they departed without enough supplies, there would be no point. That's what Koutarou was worried about.
“Enough or not, even if we continue resupplying, the enemy will show up again before long. We can't resupply any longer”
”Pardomshiha, how much has been resupplied?”
“Just under 80%”
“Then there shouldn't be any problems when we add it in with the Hazy Moon's supplies”
Fortunately, the Blue Knight was roughly 80% done with its resupplying. Combined with the Hazy Moon's supplies, there should be enough. Koutarou wouldn't need to worry.
“I understand, let's depart right away”
Elfaria agreed with Theia. However, there was still something they had to do. There was one more passenger they needed to pick up before heading to Forthorthe.
“Yurika, could you bring Nana here?”
”Okay, I'll be right back”
Accepting Theia's request, Yurika jumped out the gate on the bridge of the Blue Knight. Nana would also be accompanying them for the trip to Forthorthe. She was currently getting maintenance on her artificial limbs on the People of the Earth base. She had just been in a major battle and was about to leave on a long journey, so she was receiving thorough maintenance just in case. But since they were departing right away, they had to call for her. It looked like the continuation of her maintenance would be held on the Blue Knight.
Thus Koutarou and the others decided to leave for Forthorthe right away, but that presented its own problems, which Harumi pointed out.
“But... even if we depart, that fleet is near Earth isn't it? Can we really leave quietly?”
Harumi was worried if they could really avoid a battle. The fleet that had come to Earth was less than 1% of Forthorthe's ships. Even if they were to fight there would be no end, and they'd surely run out of supplies. That's why they had to avoid fighting as much as possible, but that too was difficult. This was a problem with warp navigation.
Heading to Forthorthe from Earth, they would need to warp several times. Warping used gravity to bend space to bring the current location and destination closer and forcibly opening a hole to cut through. This made it easy to affect with other gravitational fields and the influence on its surroundings was significant as well. At short distances it was possible to cancel that influence out, but it wouldn't work on longer distances. That's why they wanted to avoid warping out near Earth. That meant that they would need to properly distance themselves from Earth before warping, but it was hard to imagine that the enemy fleet would allow it. It was very likely that they would be found while moving and get attacked.
“The fleet consists of six ships. If Reios-sama controls the ship, it's still winnable”
Koutarou and the others already knew the size of the enemy forces. Combining the powers of the Blue Knight and the Hazy Moon, they could guarantee a victory. They had two royal-class battleships that normally served as the flag ships on large fleets, so they have an overwhelming combat capability.
“Wait, Elle. That would be bad for Clan. If things turn out poorly, she won't have a place to return to”
Clan wasn't officially on Earth, and her Schweiger family were rivals with Theia's Mastir family. Moreover, the Schweiger family was deeply connected to the military. If Clan were to side with Theia and Elfaria, it wouldn't just affect her, but her family as well. Not only would she become a wanted fugitive, but she might be cut out off the Schweiger family, or the family's existence itself might be threatened. Koutarou didn't want to put Clan in a dangerous position like that, and while Schweiger and Mastir might be rivals, they were still royalty. Koutarou wanted to avoid involving Clan and the Schweiger family in any strange troubles.
“Now isn't the time to be talking about that. We will be fighting against the imperial army, no, the coup d'état army from now on, right? You shouldn't have any room to worry about me”
However, Clan clearly shook her head. Her eyes and expression were sterner than normal. As she was royalty, and because of her own pride, this wasn't something she could just run away from.
“Even if the war is won, if you're left on your own, I'd feel terrible”
“I'm not alone anymore. I have you and Theiamillis-san and the others. No?”
”That's true, but...”
”Or... did you already forget that promise?”
”A promise... we did make one, didn't we.... hmm...”
Koutarou recalled the promise Clan was talking about. In the past, he had promised her that if she ever lost a place to call home, he would let her live in room 106. Back then they were protecting the citizens of Forthorthe against the coup d'état army as well. The situation was the same as now. That's why Clan had no hesitation what so ever. When faced with those clear eyes, Koutarou couldn't find any words for a rebuttal.
“Clan-dono, try not to bully Koutarou that much”
That was when Kiriha lent a helping hand to Koutarou who was at a loss for words. She continued talking with a special smile she only showed these two.
“Koutarou doesn't want you to separate yourselves from your family. At least not until there is no other choice”
“Kii...”
Clan turned her tone down a little. Clan was well aware of Koutarou's and Kiriha's family situation.
“Besides, it's not determined that we have to fight yet”
“Really, Kiriha!? What should we do!?”
”We'll make full use of Clan not officially being here”
Kiriha returned to her usual wicked smile and began explaining the plan to escape from Earth.
Not having expected to suffer a disastrous defeat on the surface, the top management on the fleet fell into chaos. Not only was their diversion and surprise attack completely seen through, but they couldn't defeat a single enemy. Moreover, their opponents were less than ten girls. It's only obvious they'd feel confused.
“Calm down!”
”But Admiral”
“No matter how strong their soldiers are, that doesn't make the Blue Knight stronger! All will be fine as long as we don't let them escape!”
But with the Admiral scolding them, the confusion started to vanish. Regardless of how strong the enemy was, that didn't matter once they were on board the Blue Knight. According to the information from Forthorthe, the Blue Knight was more powerful than its recorded specs, but in the end it was just a machine. There was a limit to its strength.
“I apologize for losing my grip... so Admiral, what do we do now?”
”To begin with, we will continue observing the Blue Knight”
The Admiral's powerful voice reverberated through the bridge of the carrier. His determined tone let everyone sense his strong will. That made the soldiers more positive and allowed them to recover from their defeat on the surface.
“We're not doing anything? But wouldn't we give the Blue Knight a chance to launch the first strike?”
The carrier's captain was worried that the Blue Knight would attack when they casually continued to observe the situation. The carrier was the slowest ship in the fleet, and the prime target of an enemy attack. It was an occupational sickness of his to pay attention to any signs of an attack.
“Neither we or them want to set anything off on the Earth orbit”
Neither side wanted to fight in the orbit of a planet they had no diplomatic relationship with. Just placing a military fleet in orbit without permission could already be interpreted as an act of aggression. But a battle in orbit would remove any legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and that was true for the Elfaria side as well.
The only exception would be a short decisive battle on the far side of the moon, but that kind of situation required an unspoken agreement between both sides. That's why the carrier captain had no need to worry.
“We have the advantage of time on our side”
“Indeed, we don't have to make move, but they need to make a move sooner or later after all”
“They should want to avoid battle and enter warp. In that case they would need to leave Earth orbit or go to the far side of the moon. We will only get in the way to keep them from doing that”
In order to warp away, the Blue Knight would need to leave Earth, and the fastest way would be to do so from the far side of the moon. Doing it from anywhere else would require them to get further away. So the Admiral would place the fleet on an orbit slightly further out than the Blue Knight and once the Blue Knight made its move, they would block the path.
“Admiral, the Blue Knight has made its move!”
”Chase after them right away! … They've made their move sooner than I thought. So they're planning on departing before we can get into a more advantageous position, huh. Smart and swift. It seems like they have a competent commander or advisor on their side”
“The Blue Knight has deployed a stealth field”
“They're being chased by our allies, so they won't be able to escape with just that. Which means, they'll duck behind Earth for a moment. Alright, full power to engines! Don't lose them!”
Like Clan's Hazy Moon, the Blue Knight also had a stealth function to avoid pursuit. However, it wasn't as advanced as the Hazy Moon's, and with careful analysis it was possible to track the traces they left behind. Moreover, the coup d'état army had information on the Blue Knight, making it even easier to track.
The problem was that if they lose sight of the Blue Knight for a moment, it would be difficult to pick the trace of the ship in the wide space again. That's why the Admiral assumed that the Blue Knight would use the Earth as a shield to hide for a moment. And his reasoning proved correct. The trace of the Blue Knight trailed the exact trajectory he expected and flew around the Earth.
“Send the destroyers forward! They don't have to attack, just don't lose them!”
Like with normal vehicles, the bigger the vehicle the slower it was to accelerate. As the Blue Knight was designed for royalty to ride it was often targeted by the enemy, and was therefore created as high-performance as possible. But even then, it's size had an effect, and a destroyer had better acceleration. That's why as long as the destroyers were sent forward, they wouldn't lose sight of the Blue Knight.
“The Blue Knight is entering the shadow of the Earth”
“And the destroyers?”
”They made it in time. They're continuing observation”
As the Blue Knight entered the Earth's shadow, the carrier the Admiral and the others were onboard couldn't observe the ship any further from its current position. However, having the two destroyers proceed ahead kept them from losing the Blue Knight.
“Send the destroyers in front of the Blue Knight. Push them back and don't let them leave the planet. I'll repeat again, do not let them attack
“Understood, I'll have―”
That was when the expression of the operator carrying out the Admiral's orders changed.
“―A-A-Admiral! We've detected a space-time distortion on the far side of the moon!! The pattern matches the Blue Knight!!”
The operator reporting in was practically screaming. He himself could barely believe what he was saying.
“Impossible, then what's the Blue Knight we're following!?”
The hologram of the Blue Knight that just entered the shadow of Earth was still being displayed. It's not like it had suddenly moved. There were to reactions to the Blue Knight.
“Message from the destroyers! After close examination, what we believed to be the Blue Knight was actually an information pod!”
“We've been had, the Blue Knight's stealth capabilities were better than we thought!!”
That was when the Admiral realized that they been tricked. The fleet that had misidentified the information pod as the Blue Knight completely turned their back on the Blue Knight. With that they couldn't stop the ship from escaping. After that, the Blue Knight could leisurely move to an area they could warp out, leaving the 45 captives behind in a lifeboat.
Part 8
The critical portion of the plan was that the coup d'état army didn't know of the existence of Clan's Hazy Moon. So Koutarou and the others used Clan's observation equipment to gather data on the Blue Knight's data when in stealth, and created a decoy that would leave the same trace as that. Making the information look like the Blue Knight was difficult, but making it look like a cloaked Blue Knight that couldn't be physically seen wasn't all that hard.
The Blue Knight, using it's stealth, joined up with the Hazy Moon to completely conceal itself using Clan's own developed stealth field, and at the same time the decoy was launched. The coup d'état army fell for the decoy and left the Blue Knight and the Hazy Moon, completely unaware of their existence.
After that it was very simple. Once there was enough distance between them and the fleet, the Blue Knight warped towards Forthorthe on its own. The reason the Hazy Moon didn't come with was because they couldn't hide a warp reaction. That's why the Hazy Moon would warp after the fleet left Earth to chase after the Blue Knight.
“Adults were made to dance on top of the palm of Kii's hand...”
Kiriha had of course been the one that came up with this plan. Making full use of Clan's technology, Kiriha avoided a clash with the fleet and allowed the Blue Knight to escape Earth. At the same time, Clan was kept hidden until the very end. It was an escape on the level of art.
“... No wonder I couldn't win against Theiamillis-san... geez...”
Clan recalled challenging Theia who had Kiriha on her side, and smiled wryly. Thinking back to it, she wondered how she could do something so outrageous.
