Published at 16th of August 2019 9:31 pm

Volume 6, Chapter 6: Kurano Kiriha

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Sunday, December 20

At first, Koutarou assumed the vibrations he could feel were from the roller coaster passing by. But the shaking was too intense for that to be the case, and it showed no signs of dying down anytime soon. He also felt like the shaking was coming from below. It would be unnatural for vibrations from the roller coaster to come from there.

“What is this?”

While Koutarou was confused, the shaking started growing in intensity. At first it was just a small shaking, but now it felt like small impacts kept assaulting the bottom of Koutarou's feet.

Koutarou wasn't the only one confused; the other visitors around him were as well. The sudden earthquake clouded their expression, even more so since they were about to get on a roller coaster.

“Could this be!?”

However, Kiriha's expression clouded over even more. The moment she felt the shake, her expression regained its normal sharpness. She had a guess regarding the vibrations.

“Karama, Korama!”

Kiriha quickly called out for her two haniwas. The next moment, they appeared by her side. Without even hearing her order, they had taken action.

“Yes Ho-, nee-san! We can detect it from our side too Ho-!”

“Analyzing the vibration pattern, reaction of a spiritual power generator detected. Analyzation complete, there's a 97% certainty that it's an underground submergence boat Ho-!”

In a hurry, they reported a lot of information. Hearing their reports, Kiriha's expression turned even more severe.

“I thought so! What's the situation!?”

“It's at a depth of 20 meters and surfacing!”

“They're planning on coming up to the surface Ho-! Their predicted surface point is 50 meters to the south-southwest!”

“Preposterous! In a place like this!?”

Kiriha jumped over the fence of the terminal and headed outside, running towards the predicted surface point.

If the haniwas’ information was correct, this vibration came from a vehicle that the People of the Earth use to get to the surface, the underground submergence boat, or submarine. And that was now about to appear on the surface, in the middle of this crowded amusement park.

“Kiriha-san!? What's wrong!?”

Koutarou ran after Kiriha, calling out to her repeatedly.

“This is bad... if it was just a scouting force, it wouldn't appear in a place like this!”

Koutarou's words didn't reach Kiriha's ears as she was panicking. What caused her to panic was that an Earth Empire's submergence boat was about to appear.

Kiriha's direct subordinates didn't use an underground submergence boat. Since they wanted to peacefully invade, they had no reason to use one to begin with. If they were to carelessly use a submergence boat, it would definitely stand out. So there was no way they would appear here of all places.

The only time she could imagine it happening would be in the case of an emergency, but in that case, she would be contacted ahead of time. Since that hadn't happened, there was only one possibility left.

“Such a reckless action!”

Kiriha ground her teeth.

There was only one reason for an underground submergence boat to appear. The radical faction, or a part of it, had decided to recklessly appear on the surface and use military force. Since their purpose was to show off their power, they didn't care if they stood out. If anything, they would choose a place with lots of people on purpose. The submergence boat was surfacing to attack the people here.

“What's wrong, Kiriha-san!?”

“Ho-! There's an attack Ho-!”

The two haniwas responded to Koutarou's question. They floated next to him and chased after Kiriha.

“An attack!? What do you mean!?”

“The people that don't approve of nee-san's way of doing things are coming to the surface to attack people Ho-!”

“I see, so it's that radical faction Kiriha-san mentioned!”

Since there was a faction that wanted to invade the surface using force, Kiriha couldn't seize room 106. Nor could she fail at seizing it.

Hearing what Karama had to say, Koutarou remembered Kiriha saying that a while ago.

“That's right Ho-! So nee-san is planning on stopping them Ho-!”

“So that's what she's doing!”

Having understood the situation, Koutarou chased after Kiriha's back.

As a pacifist looking for her first love, Kiriha couldn't overlook the radical faction's reckless actions. Trying to stop their attack, she was hurrying to their predicted surface point.

“But this is dangerous Ho-! At this rate, nee-san will be killed Ho-!”

“The radical faction only thinks of nee-san as a nuisance Ho-!”

“Then hurry up and contact your allies! Get them to do something about this situation!”

“Understood Ho-!”

The radical faction despised Kiriha, who hated the use of military force. The chance of them listening to Kiriha was low, and in this situation, there was a chance that they would kill her and make it look like an accident.

“I won't forgive them! I definitely won't forgive them for attacking the surface!”

Even though she knew that, Kiriha still had to go. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to protect what was precious to her.

At that moment, the asphalt in front of Kiriha cracked, and a giant something appeared. It was a black cylindrical structure, several meters long and made out of metal. It broke through the ground and towered vertically, looking like something similar to a chimney.

Part 2

Shizuka and Yurika carried an unconscious Ruth, lending her a shoulder each. They were headed towards the medical office inside the amusement park, planning to lay her down on a bed until she woke up.

“Nijino-san, keep it together.”

“But, it's heavyyy!”

However, since Yurika was weak, her walking was pace slowed down considerably. Losing to Ruth's weight, her body began bending.

“That's pathetic...”

“Yurika, you can do it! Show us your cosplay spirit!”

“Even if you say that...!”

In reality, Theia was stronger than Yurika, but because of her height, she couldn't work together with Shizuka to carry Ruth.

“Do you want me to help you?”

“Absolutely not, anything but that!”

Sanae offered to help, but because of her fear of ghosts, Yurika refused. Even if she got stronger, she didn't want to be possessed. In that case, Sanae could only help using her poltergeist. But since her abilities weren’t intended to be used over a long period of time, it wasn't that much of a help.

“Then give it your all!”

“I think it's cruel to expect that from Yurika.”

“Satomi-saaa~n, save meee~!”

Yurika was once again in trouble with something that didn't matter. And once she got into trouble, she relied on others, just like always.

At that moment, they heard a large sound coming from the left. It was a loud sound similar to an explosion, alongside it was the sound of things breaking.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Calm down, Nijino-san, Ruth-san will fall!”

“What, what just happened!?”

“Theia, over there!”

Surprised by the loud sound, the four girls looked towards the direction of where it came from. When they did, they saw a cylindrical pillar appearing behind the buildings. The black cylindrical structure stood out from the other fairytale like buildings.

“What is that!? Ruth!... is still unconscious...!”

Sensing that something bad was happening, Theia used her own armband to gather information and sent the unmanned aircraft towards the pillar.

“That's Koutarou and Kiriha! And who are those guys!?”

Through the screen projected from her armband, Theia could see Koutarou and Kiriha, and a man facing them. From inside the pillar came several more men and women carrying weapons, protecting the mysterious man.

“Is it some kind of event?”

“What kind of event would tear through the ground!?”

“Well, that's true...”

The men facing Koutarou and Kiriha had come through the pillar sticking up through the hole in the ground. But who could imagine an event that required tearing a hole in the ground? It was more reasonable to imagine something else was happening.

“Then that would be bad!! Does that mean that Satomi-kun and Kurano-san are facing off against people with weapons!?”

By the time Shizuka shouted that out, Theia had already begun running. She had left the others behind and ran as fast as she could.

“Koutarou!!”

I have a bad feeling about this!

Theia had noticed that Kiriha was hiding some troubles and that Koutarou was getting involved in it. Once she saw the mysterious man, she sensed the danger Koutarou and Kiriha was in faster than anyone else.

Please be alright, Koutarou!

The princess was rushing to the site where her vassal was in danger. It was an action that was unusual for a royal princess, but Theia couldn't help herself. She couldn't think of anything but Koutarou.

“I'm coming too!”

Still not understanding the situation, Sanae sensed the severity of it all from Theia's behavior and quickly pursued her.

To Sanae, Koutarou wasn't just a roommate. While the 'Family Safety' charm was still hanging from her neck, she had a reason to rush to Koutarou's aid.

“Ah, wait, you two!!”

Shizuka's voice didn't reach Theia. Sanae heard her but she was planning on going along with Theia to meet up with Koutarou. Seeing that, Shizuka decided that she was going to head towards Koutarou and Kiriha as well.

“Nijino-san, let's take Ruth-san to that bench over there!”

“Ah, y-yes!”

Urging Yurika, Shizuka laid Ruth down on a nearby bench. She was planning to keep her here until she got back.

“Nijino-san, please take care of Ruth-san! I'm worried about those two going alone so I'm going too!”

“I-I understand!”

“I'm counting on you!”

Shizuka ran after Theia and Sanae while listening to Yurika's response. She couldn't leave those two alone if they had flown off the handle.

“...U-Uhm...”

Yurika looked back and forth between the sleeping Ruth and the three girls running.

If I just leave them be, I feel like there'll be a big commotion...

Yurika began growing more and more anxious.

Unlike normally, there were lots of people here. And if Theia or Kiriha were to bring out their weapons, there would be repercussions. There might be people that would get hurt, and even if there wasn't, the situation would become messy.

“...I should go too.”

Yurika pulled herself together and nodded once, full of determination.

To prepare before any possible battles, she would raise a ward to keep people away and keep people safe while avoiding being seen. It was a job only Yurika could do.

“If Satomi-san was arrested, I would be troubled.”

For the sake of the people coming here to play, for the sake of Harumi and for the sake of graduating together with Koutarou, Yurika determined to go to battle at her own battlefield.

“Come, Angel Halo!”

Her very first job was to cast a protective barrier on the unconscious Ruth.

“...I'm sorry, Ruth-san. Just wait here for a while.”

Whispering those words into Ruth's ear, Yurika held the cane that appeared in her hand above her head and started incanting.

Part 3

Shijima Tayuma was an extreme man, even within the radical faction.

He was extraordinarily proud of being of the People of the Earth, and he had always found the thought of his people being driven underground incredibly provoking. In the recent years, he had gotten even more provoked and irritated by the large amount of People of the Earth admiring the culture on the surface.

Since that's the kind of man he was, when the leader of the People of the Earth, Kurano Daiha, had decided to invade the surface, he had been happy enough to break into dance. He was certain that he would finally be able to regain his nation's glory. However, shortly thereafter he was horribly disappointed. The surface invader's commander, Kurano Kiriha's suggest plan of invasion was the complete opposite of what he had wanted.

To Tayuma, Kiriha's peaceful invasion seemed like she was selling off the nation's pride and glory. He believed that using force to regain what had been stolen was justice. What Kiriha had been so scared of was that difference in justice, but Tayuma was so sure of his justice that he didn't bother listening to Kiriha. He disregarded them as the words of a loser that had lost courage.

What further fueled this difference in view was the clan Tayuma was a part of. The Shijima clan was a warrior clan that had earned their reputation through bravery. Even if a harsh war awaited them should a military invasion happen, Tayuma didn't mind as it would only be a chance to show off his own courage and justice.

His pride as a People of the Earth, his pride as a member of a warrior clan, his ambition to make a name for himself in a war and the anger he felt when his hopes for a military invasion had been betrayed all worked together to make him suddenly take reckless actions. Roughly a year had passed since Daiha had decided to invade the surface. Tayuma's patience was now at its limit.

So Tayuma led his own men to the surface. Their goal was to show the world that the People of the Earth existed through the use of military force. By doing that, they would be declared enemies by the surface dwellers and the People of the Earth would be forced to use a military invasion. That was Tayuma's plan.

However, Kiriha wouldn't allow that. If she did, it would be the same as pulling the trigger on a conflict that would last for several decades. If that happened, the People of the Earth would be ruined before they could take over the surface. So Kiriha stood in Tayuma's way, with resolute determination.

“Just what is the meaning of this, Shijima Tayuma!”

Kiriha glared at Tayuma, several in front of him and scolded him in a cold voice.

“Well, it looked like you were having trouble with your invasion, so I came to help. I'd prefer it if you thanked me.”

Despite Kiriha scolding him, Tayuma still had a confident look on his face. Tayuma was a man that had passed his forties, so he considered Kiriha, who wasn't even in her twenties, as a little girl only skilled with words.

He had a big body, and wore clothes similar to a chief Shinto priest. The eight subordinates behind him were wearing similar clothes, but theirs looked easier to move in. The subordinates were wearing a military uniform while Tayuma was wearing a formal uniform.

“Pull your troops back, Tayuma! Do that and I'll overlook you taking the underground submergence boat!”

“I can't just do that. The time to reclaim our stolen glory has finally come!”

Tayuma completely refused Kiriha's orders. He showed no hesitation whatsoever. Tayuma had come here after making up his mind.

Reclaiming their stolen glory...?

Standing next to Kiriha's side so as to make sure he wouldn’t get in the way, Koutarou remembered that he had heard those words before. They were words that Kiriha had said when they had first met. She had probably just said those words to alert him, but seeing her reject those words now made him feel at ease.

“Do you even understand, Tayuma!? Just showing the underground submergence boat to the people on the surface is dangerous enough! Taking military action on top of that will only create a war!”

“That is just my wish! I'll dispel this long-held grudge in a war and show the world the power of the Shijima clan and reclaim this bountiful surface!”

Kiriha's role had been changed. In the past, Koutarou had obstructed Kiriha from getting her way, but now, it was Kiriha who was obstructing Tayuma to keep him from getting his way.

Kiriha-san is serious...

Kiriha trying to wisely persuade Tayuma was proof that what she had said before was true. Koutarou believed in her, but seeing her take action like this made him happy.

“Ridiculous! Are you so obsessed with fighting with the surface dwellers that you'd bring ruin upon the People of the Earth!?”

“We only need to win before that happens! And if we don't, it would still be an honor! Rather than living as dogs, the People of the Earth would be better off dying prideful deaths as wolves!”

“It's not like wolves are always fighting! You are just a mad dog!”

“You impudent little girl!”

Angered by being called a mad dog, Tayuma raised his right hand.

As he did, the eight men and women surrounding him raised their weapons. The weapons looked different from modern weaponry, and more like ceramic, similar to Karama and Korama. The weapons weren't just similar to Karama and Korama, but they were also spiritual energy weapons made by the same technology.

“Kiriha-san!?”

“It's okay, Koutarou.”

Koutarou began panicking when Kiriha had guns pointed towards her. If they were just going to talk, he wasn't planning on interfering, but if it turned into a battle, he couldn't just sit still. He couldn't just stay quiet and wait for the triggered to be pulled. However, Kiriha was calmly staring at Tayuma.

“...Tayuma, do you know what pointing guns at me means?”

“I'll just report to Daiha-dono that the commander was betrayed and killed by the surface dwellers.”

“So you really did have it all planned out from the start.”

Tayuma had been planning to kill Kiriha from the start. That's why he had appeared where she was. If he reported that the peaceful Kiriha had been killed by surface dwellers, the People of the Earth would call for a military invasion. It was all going according to plan.

“That said, just killing you right now wouldn't be fun. First of―”

However, before Tayuma could move on to the next part of his plan, a familiar voice entered Koutarou's and Kiriha's ears.

“I've found you, underground people! Get away from those people!”

“Who goes there!?”

Surprised by the voice, Tayuma hurriedly turned around. The voice came from the roof of a nearby attraction.

“Red Shine!”

“Blue Shine!”

“Green Shine!”

“Yellow Shine!”

“Pink Shine!”

“All together we are The Sun Squad, Sun Rangers!”

Wearing colorful suits, the group of five posed, it was the heroes of justice.

“Wherever there is love, there is justice! In this world―”

“Open fire!”

While the Sun Rangers were still introducing themselves, Tayuma ordered his men to fire. As he did, the eight soldiers pointed their weapons towards the Sun Rangers and pulled their triggers.

What came out of the guns weren't bullets, but focused spiritual energy. They were spiritual energy beam rifles. The beam had the same effect as when Sanae used her poltergeist to attack directly. However, since the beam was focused, it held far more power than Sanae's attacks.

“Aaaaghh, we were still introducing ourselves!!”

A large explosion occurred around the Sun Rangers. The rifles’ power was overwhelming, and eight shots hitting caused a large explosion and the Sun Rangers were easily blown away by it.

“We just came and this is what we geee~t!?”

“Even though I came wearing blueee~!!”

“Nooo~, Baron-samaaa~!!”

“Ahh, my baked potatooo~!!”

“...It turned into charcoal.”

The Sun Rangers drew a beautiful parabola as they were blown away. Although they had been sent flying the moment they appeared, thanks to the strength of their suits, they survived without suffering any serious injuries.

“What did they even come here to do...?”

Watching the five fly off, Koutarou sighed.

The Sun Rangers had appeared after their sensor had detected the underground submarine. They had actually done the same yesterday; in the end, they had detected Kiriha's haniwas, but what they first picked up was the submergence boat searching for Kiriha.

“Tayuma-sama, I believe they're the reported hindrances.”

“I see. So they noticed our movement and came here to get in our way. Quite admirable hard workers, aren't they? Kukukuku.”

Tayuma had his subordinates investigate the surface in preparation for a military invasion. A different battle squad from the Sun Rangers had then successfully obstructed the scouting party. The Sun Rangers had been misfortunate to face the underground's army, rather than a scouting party.

“Karama, Korama, full power to the spiritual energy field! Use elemental attacks as your weaponry and focus the rest of the energy into the field!”

“Roger Ho-!”

“HoHo-!”

The Sun Rangers’ appearance hadn't been for naught. Taking advantage of the eight soldiers attacking the Sun Rangers, Kiriha called over her haniwas and prepared for battle. The two haniwas floated next to her and enveloped themselves, Kiriha and Koutarou in a yellow light. The spiritual energy shield the two haniwas had created was thick. With this, they would be able to endure an attack from eight people. Following up on the shield, fire and electricity that would be used for attacking began running through the haniwas bodies.

“Oh, the automatons the Kuranos are so proud of? However, unlike those things designed for defense, ours are for combat!!”

A clay doll about a meter in height floated up next to Tayuma. The clay doll looked like it was made from ceramics, like Karama and Korama, but its shape was more of a square, and the design was very aggressive. The clay doll was a robot weapon just like Kiriha's haniwas.

“First, you attack with numbers and now with force? Shijima's bravery must be very cheap.”

“Say whatever you want. That's just how war is! Jakko! Activate the spiritual energy field neutralizer!”

“Gaaaaa.”

Receiving Tayuma's orders, the clay doll roars and began emitting an orange glow. The clay doll then slowly approached the haniwas.

“Nee-san! He's begun eroding our spiritual energy field!”

“This is bad Ho-! We're losing in generator output Ho-!”

As the clay doll got closer, the yellow light enveloping Koutarou and the others grew weaker. This was due to the ability the clay doll had that allowed it to break through spiritual energy shields.

With one side trying to create a barrier and the other trying to destroy it, the side with the most power would win out. In this scenario, Karama and Korama were at a disadvantage. The haniwas were only about 30 centimeters tall, compared to the clay doll’s one meter height. Because of their large size difference, even together, they had less power than the clay doll. At this rate, their shield would be peeled off in no time.

“Tayuma, are you saying you won't stop fighting no matter what?”

“A foolish question! Now that we've come up to the surface, we can't return with nothing to show for it!”

“I understand. In that case, I'll prepare myself as well.”

Before Kiriha could finish speaking, she shook and gripped her left hand. Before anyone could realize, it was now covered by a blue gauntlet. This was a weapon from Kiriha's armory in her secret base.

“I definitely won't let you steal anything!”

Having never held a weapon up until now, Kiriha was now brandishing one of her own. Since she sought a peaceful resolution, she had taken up arms to prevent a war from breaking out, no matter what.

“Wahahaha, how are you going to defend it all on your own!?”

Tayuma sneered at Kiriha. Convinced of his victory, he was now looking down on her.

“There's no one on this surface who would ally with you! The ones you're trying to protect won't protect you! Just sit there on the sidelines and watch as the future you fought for meets a tragic end!”

Tayuma raised his own weapon and pointed the barrel at the roller coaster.

“Curse you, Tayuma! I won't let you attack the surface!”

With Tayuma pointing his barrel towards the roller coaster, even the cool headed Kiriha began panicking. The amusement park was important to Kiriha, and amongst the attractions, the roller coaster was extra important. Kiriha then pointed her left hand, clad in a blue gauntlet, towards Tayuma.

However, Tayuma's subordinates stood in the way, blocking Kiriha. They were all pointing their guns at Kiriha and because of that, she couldn't attack Tayuma.

“Kuh!”

With Karama's and Korama's spiritual energy field being eroded by the clay doll, Tayuma's subordinates might be able to penetrate it. So Kiriha couldn't just attack and give the subordinates a chance to counterattack.

“Kukukuku, how whimsical of you to try and protect this scrap heap.”

Tayuma slowly aimed in on the roller coaster as if showing off to Kiriha.

“Stop it, Tayuma!”

“Your voice is starting to sound much better. I wonder what kind of sound you'll make when your beloved scrap heap collapses.”

Tayuma ridiculed Kiriha as he put his finger on the trigger.

However, before he could pull it, someone swung a fist towards him.

“Guwah!?”

“Quit messing around you bastard!”

The fist belonged to Koutarou, who Tayuma had completely forgotten. But it was only obvious for him to forget; nobody would expect an unarmed surface dweller to do anything. The same was true for Kiriha; her eyes were opened wide in surprise.

“Koutarou!?”

“There're things you just can't do!”

Koutarou yelled at Tayuma who had fallen over. He was unbelievably angry. He had completely forgotten who his opponent was and that his opponent was armed. He only remembered one thing, and that was that he definitely couldn't forgive Tayuma's actions.

“This is a place where everyone makes memories!”

“That's laughable!! What about it!? We don't care about that!!”

Tayuma wiped his mouth as he stood up. Having been punched by Koutarou, it was now bleeding. Tayuma's pride didn't allow him to accept that a younger man had hit and injured him. He glared at Koutarou as his anger grew in intensity.

“I could never let someone that calls this place laughable invade the surface! Kiriha-san would never call this place laughable!”

“Quit your howling, brat! In that case, I'll kill you first!”

Koutarou came swinging against Tayuma again. To fend him off, Tayuma pointed his gun at Koutarou. Because of their short distance, Tayuma barely had to aim to hit Koutarou.

However, Tayuma's gun didn't fire once more. All of a sudden, several laser beams came pouring down from the sky and penetrated his gun. The attack destroyed his weapon and scattered the electronic system inside all over the ground.

“What!?”

“Good job, Theia!!”

Koutarou then swung his fist.

His fist struck the surprised Tayuma directly in the face. Having been punched in the face again, Tayuma fell down.

“It's not 'Good job, Theia', it's 'You saved me, my princess'!”

Theia's voice rang out from above Koutarou. The next moment, a one meter long, sturdy and compact aircraft-looking machine descended next to him. It was the small fighter that Theia had used to follow after Koutarou and Kiriha yesterday and today.

“You saved me, my princess.”

“You're always so reckless, really...”

Theia's amazed voice could be heard from the small fighter. The fighter had been left on standby above Koutarou and Kiriha and would protect them if things got dangerous.

Theia had given a sign only Koutarou would notice and looked out for a chance to attack together. In the end, Koutarou had gotten so angry that he went swinging at Tayuma before Theia could attack, but it did work out as planned.

“Theia, stop prattling and hand over the sword!”

“That's not it; you say 'Please give me the sword, Princess'!”

With Tayuma being attacked, his subordinates wouldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Half of the eight subordinates changed their aim from Kiriha to Koutarou. But by that time, Koutarou was already prepared to fight. He had pulled out a sword from a black hole that had opened up in the air and held it with both hands and took a stance. It was the treasure sword, Saguratin, and it had Theia's golden flower crest engraved in it. The stance was an old Forthorthe sword fighting stance.

“Smoke Discharger!”

As Theia spoke up, white smoke covered Koutarou. The smoke was being produced by a globe the small fighter had launched. With a fast chemical reaction, a large amount of smoke was created and almost instantly robbed the enemy of their vision.

“You idiot! I can't see anything either!!”

Koutarou lowered his posture and complained to Theia. While Tayuma's subordinates couldn't see through the smoke, the same was true for Koutarou.

“Calm down, Koutarou! It's all according to plan!”

“Koutarou!”

The next moment, Koutarou felt a familiar presence around his neck.

“Is that you, Sanae!?”

“Yes!”

He then heard Sanae's voice next to his ear. Sanae and found Koutarou in the smoke and was hanging off his back like always.

“I'll find the enemies for you!”

At the same time Sanae said that, Koutarou could see several glowing things inside the white smoke. The lights all had the shapes of people, moving carefully through the smoke.

“What is this!?”

“It's the opposite of when I can taste what you eat! I'm showing you what I can see!”

“I see, that's convenient!”

Having understood the situation, Koutarou began running.

The moving lights were all people. He could tell Kiriha apart from the rest since she had haniwas, and that meant the rest were Tayuma's subordinates. He couldn't give up this opportunity.

“You better compliment me lots after all of this is done♪”

“I know, I know!”

Using his sword, Koutarou destroyed the subordinates’ weapons one after the other. Koutarou and Sanae didn't have any memory of it, but this was the second time they had done this. Because of that, Koutarou was more easily able to accept the situation.

“This is not the kind of fighting a knight should be doing but...”

“No, you're a genius, Theia!”

Koutarou then used the flat of his sword to knock the unarmed subordinates unconscious. Having suddenly been blinded, they had no way of preventing Koutarou's ambush. They panicked and fired their guns at random, but that wasn't enough to recover from this situation.

“R-Really? You really think so?”

“Yeah, I owe you one.”

It was true that this kind of one sided fight wasn't something praisable for a knight. But Koutarou was thankful he didn't have to fight to the death. Since Koutarou knew of Kiriha's wish, he was even more so. Which was why Koutarou was extra thankful for Theia's plan.

“Koutarou, the smoke is clearing.”

After Koutarou had knocked out the four subordinates targeting him, the effect of the smoke-producing globe cut out and the smoke cleared. Since the amusement park was near the sea, the winds began blowing during the evening. Once the smoke stopped being produced, it disappeared almost immediately.

“So you've cleared things up over there too. Good job, Satomi-kun.”

“Landlord-san.”

Once the smoke cleared, Tayuma's four other subordinates were all lying on the ground. Instead, Shizuka stood where they were standing wearing large goggles. She had taken advantage of the smoke to sneak in and dispatch the four subordinates targeting Kiriha.

“Glad to see you safe, Shizuka.”

“As a martial artist, this wasn't a worthy fight when using this kind of goggles. It should be done using the mind's eye.”

Talking to Theia's voice coming out from the unmanned fighter, Shizuka took off her goggles. The goggles allowed the user to see infrared light, which let her see through the smoke.

“D-Damn, to think you had that kind of ambush lying in wait...”

Tayuma that had been knocked down by Koutarou a second time stood up. As he did, the clay doll separated from Karama and Korama and headed over to Tayuma to protect him.

“So what will you do now, Tayuma? Are you still planning on fighting?”

Kiriha approached Tayuma still wearing her blue gauntlet on her left hand. She was determined to use it if she had to.

Despite his disadvantage, Tayuma gave Kiriha a cold glare and boldly responded.

“That goes without question! If I can turn you into a sacrifice here, the People of the Earth will choose war!”

Even if Tayuma and his group were defeated here, as long as Kiriha died, the other members of the radical faction would manipulate the truth and agitate the People of the Earth. By doing that, the result would turn out the way Tayuma wanted. He only had to ignore whether he personally won or lost.

“Do you think you can do that in this situation?”

“I don't.”

Kiriha, Koutarou and the others surrounded Tayuma. Even he knew that killing Kiriha would be difficult. Despite that he still laughed.

“However, the sacrifice doesn't have to be you!”

Tayuma smiled triumphantly. It was almost as if he had predicted this outcome.

“I see, your aim isn't me, it's―”

At that moment, Kiriha realized Tayuma's aim.

“Jakko, release the safety device!”

“Gaaaaa.”

“Karama, Korama! Focus the spiritual energy field around that automaton! Full power! I won't mind if you burn out your circuits! Block it no matter the what!”

“You're too late! Jakko, self destruct!”

“Gaaaaa.”

Kiriha and Tayuma gave orders at the same time. But since his order was shorter, Tayuma finished faster. Karama and Korama would not make it in time. Even if they did, having being weakened by the erosion, it wasn't a sure thing that they could block the explosion.

“Kukukukuku, Hahahahahaha, I win!”

Convinced of his victory, Tayuma burst out laughing. It all went according to plan.

Tayuma's strategy had two kinds of goals.

The primary goal was to assassinate Kiriha with his own hands. Once this goal became impossible, he started on his secondary goal.

The secondary goal was to self destruct the clay doll and turn himself into a sacrifice. Although they might not have had the influence of the Kurano clan, the Shijima clan still had considerable influence. If they just made it out so that Tayuma had been attacked by the surface dwellers and his automaton exploded in the process, they could then turn Tayuma into a martyr that was a victim of the cruel surface dwellers. And if the self destruct managed to get Kiriha involved as well, it would be the best possible outcome.

The reason behind the several scouting parties was to drag out the surface's battle squads. By doing that, they could put the blame on them instead. In reality, the Sun Rangers had appeared, which was why Tayuma hadn't attacked Kiriha until that point.

Once the Sun Rangers had appeared, all they had to do was destroy Karama and Korama that held detailed records of the events. The reason Tayuma had brought out a clay doll with the ability to nullify spiritual energy fields was to make absolutely sure that Karama and Korama would be destroyed. All he had done after that was to buy time for the field to get eroded.

Failing that, he would self destruct the clay doll and become a sacrifice himself. And if possible, the best outcome would be to kill Kiriha as well, but at worst all he had to do was destroy Karama and Korama. Kiriha's testimony alone couldn't overturn the radical faction’s combined testimony. Which meant that if just Tayuma died, it would be enough to shake the People of the Earth's opinion of the surface dwellers.

“With this, the People of the Earth can reclaim their glory! And I'll stand alongside the heroes of history!”

It was Tayuma's victory. The clay doll would explode and Tayuma would die. At the same time, the haniwas would be destroyed, leaving no evidence behind. Making use of this situation, the radical faction would call out for the destruction of the surface dwellers. The age of war that Tayuma hoped for would begin.

The clay doll exploded. Tayuma's laughter didn't stop.

“W-Whaaa~t!?”

Until the explosion was blocked by Karama's and Korama's spiritual energy field, who weren't supposed to be able to put up the field in time.

“That's impossible! How!?”

The field was supposed to have been just a moment too late. Tayuma's order had been faster. And even if they had made it, the field had been eroded by the clay doll. Either way, they shouldn't have been able to block the explosion.

“It seems like the explosion was smaller than I thought.”

Not missing her chance while Tayuma was astonished, Kiriha closed in the distance between her and him. He noticed that Kiriha was closing in, but because of the large shock of his plan failing, he was unable to move.

“Quit messing around, as if that could happen! This is some kind of mistake!”

Tayuma couldn't accept the situation. The clay doll had more then enough power to kill him. Since he had confirmed that countless times in simulations, there was no mistaking it. Karama and Korama weren't supposed to be able to block it. But the explosion had been blocked, and Kiriha was now closing in.

“Then you were simply hated by the goddess of creation!”

The gauntlet on Kiriha's left hand began glowing. The gauntlet worked by turning the wearer’s spiritual energy into fire and electricity. At this time, Kiriha's spiritual energy was being turned into electricity.

“War will begin! I will become a hero! The People of the Earth's history will―”

“Allow me to advise you on something.”

Kiriha's left fist sunk into Tayuma's body while he was yelling. At that moment, the electricity around Kiriha's fist flowed through Tayuma's body.

“Guhah.”

Through precise control, the electricity knocked Tayuma out without killing him.

“...Next time, don't skip out on the prayers. For your own sake...”

Tayuma lost his consciousness and fell down on the spot. Seeing that, Kiriha had a somewhat sorrowful look on her.

“Ah, it looks like it ended safely.”

Someone was watching over Kiriha's and Tayuma's fight from afar. However, that wasn't the goddess of creation that Kiriha had mentioned, but a girl wearing a frilly pink costume. That girl was none other than our magical girl, Rainbow Yurika.

“Now I can finally climb down.”

Suppressing her fears, she had climbed up a tall pillar and watched over Koutarou and the others battle from afar and supported with her magic if necessary.

“I feel like I've gotten good at using my magic in secret.”

She had set up a ward to keep people from gathering, reduced the falling speed of the blown away Sun Rangers to keep them alive and protected the amusement park and its visitors when Tayuma's subordinates had begun firing at random.

“I'm so glad everything worked out.”

And to top it off, she had contained the clay doll’s explosion.

Yurika had cast a defensive spell on the inside of Karama's and Korama's spiritual energy field. The explosions power had been terrific, but thanks to the two layered barrier of magic and spiritual energy, they somehow managed to contain it.

They had almost not made it in time, but Yurika had somehow managed to pull it off. Nobody else knew it, but today's hero was Yurika.

“Now all I need to do is head back to Ruth-san and everything will be fine.”

However, unlike every time up until now, she felt like it was a good thing that nobody knew. Problems should be resolved using your own power. Knowing that they would be helped through magic, a lot of people would stop trying. This was another sign that Yurika had grown.

And this was also for Yurika's sake. She wanted to stay as a normal girl for as long as possible.

“...But how do I get down from here...?”

Having used magic to her heart's content, Yurika had temporarily used up all of her magic power. Because of that she was unable to climb down from the pillar she was on.

“Save meee~, Satomi-saaa~n!!”

To Yurika, rather than having everyone know she had helped, she was more concerned with surviving this crisis.

Part 4

A few days later, another evaluation meeting was being held in the Sun Rangers’ base. They had finally decided on their five individual colors, but today they were all wearing white. The damage they had suffered from the explosion and following crash had not been insubstantial. They were all wrapped up in bandages.

“All of our past problems have been solved, and we've confirmed that the enemy is being active in this region as well, but now we have discovered new problems.”

Like last time, Professor Roppongi was writing on the whiteboard.

“...And that's that we're all terribly weak.”

“We didn't even stand a chance.”

The White Shine with hair sticking out from under the bandages dropped his shoulders. As he did, the small White Shine next to him continued talking.

“Besides, in the other regions they would run as soon as they saw our allies, but here they came charging at us.”

“Yeah. They shot at us without hesitation. Not to mention, their weapons had a lot of punch behind them.”

The White Shine wearing shades spoke bitterly. He was confident in his firearms-handling ability, so he was quite dissatisfied with this defeat.

“Still, we were saved by the strength of these suits. It's almost a mystery that we survived.”

“I was sure I would die when Megu-chan came falling down at me.”

“Daisaku-kun, you don't need to put it like that!”

When the fat White Shine had been blown away, he had become the female White Shine's landing pad. Thanks to that, his injuries were just that much more serious. The female White Shine felt bad about it, but since she had a stubborn side to her, she protested.

“On the other hand, the underground people were defeated by citizens that happened to be on the site.”

“Which means that their weapons are powerful, but the soldiers themselves aren't all that strong?”

“Most likely. They might just have been recruits as well.”

“I see... so the situation was the same for both of us, but we lost due to the difference in firepower...”

“If my prediction is correct.”

Roppongi and the short-cut White Shine nodded at each other. However, the mini White Shine that had listened to them had a different opinion.

“But it might be that the citizens that defeated them are just special. It was Baron Demon-san and the others that did it, right?”

“That's right! Baron-sama is strong!”

Once Baron Demon's name came up, the female White Shine's eyes started shining. In her head, Baron Demon was already a deity. After hearing of his victory, it was like she was dreaming.

“Noo~, I want to be captured and tortured by Baron-sama as soon as possible! Ufu, ufu, ufufufufu...”

“...Megu-chan's opinion aside, if normal people could win, won't things work out if we try harder?”

The large man covered in plastic casts summarized the topic.

If Baron Demon could overcome the difference in firepower with ability, they should be able to do the same as long as they worked harder. If anything, they had a higher chance of doing so than Baron since they had their suits.

“Daisaku-niichan, do you mean that we should practice on our moves and come up with strategies?”

“Yeah.”

“Practice, huh, that's my specialty.”

“Strategies... Hey, I've been thinking, but shouldn't we just stealthily snipe them? We even have detectors.”

“Stupid, do you want to be scolded by Baron-sama again?”

“Then if we increase our numbers―”

“Quit messing around!! Hayato, you really don't get it!! Didn't you listen to a word of what Baron-sama said!?”

“T-That's not it, but...”

The discussion got complicated once more. Their first battle might have been a loss, but their morale was still high. They wanted to be able to produce results the next them they were sortied. All members shared that same wish.

They had finally been able to get to do their job since their demotion, so a failure or two wasn't worth considering. Whether they lost or were made fun off, they would get up as many times as they had to. At least in that aspect, they could be called heroes.

The Sun Squad, Sun Rangers’ battle had only just begun.

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