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Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 7, Chapter 7: Answer and Prayer
Volume 7, Chapter 7: Answer and Prayer
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Sunday, January 24
A strong spotlight shone on Harumi and Koutarou.
Harumi was wearing a pure white dress and a silvery tiara. Her expression was filled with affection as she stared at Koutarou. Since the other lights had been shut off, it was as if Harumi's body was glowing in the dark.
“...I asked you not to come, countless times.”
Harumi's smiled vanished for an instant as she criticized Koutarou.
“Excuse me, but to me it sounded like a cry for help.”
In response, Koutarou smiled instead.
Wearing a metallic armor, Koutarou was facing Harumi. It was the replica armor that controlled Theia's battleship, the Blue Knight. The blue armor was large and made Koutarou's body, that was big to begin with, look even more gigantic and powerful.
“Thank you for coming, Lord Bertorion.”
Harumi smiled once more. Unlike the smile from before, this was the kind of smile she would only show someone special.
“My life and my sword exist for her highness.”
Koutarou lightly smiled and nodded towards Harumi. He swung the sword in his hand about before he slowly put it back in its sheath.
The tip of the blade drew an elegant circle. To the spectators, it looked like silver moon.
It was now Sunday, January 24, the day the play would be performed.
Fortunately, despite being set on a weekend, a lot of students, their families and locals flocked to watch it. Because of that, all of the prepared seats had been filled and people were standing up to watch. Because of how popular the previous play had been, the expectations for this play were huge.
And living up to the expectations, the performance was proceeding smoothly. The acting, impressive action scenes and large scale contraptions were all well received. The audience had been stirred up several times.
The scene that had gotten the audience the most worked up in particular had been the scene where the Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya, flew above the stage. Yurika who enjoyed being in the spotlight had gotten full of herself and began rampaging around the edge of the stage, causing children in the audience to start crying.
And such, without any major troubles, the story was reaching its conclusion. Only two scenes now remained: the coronation scene where the Silver Princess ascended the emperor's throne, and the final scene where the Silver Princess and the Blue Knight parted.
With their scene finished, Koutarou and Harumi returned backstage, entering a battlefield. The set pieces that had been used were filling up the area and a large amount of people were moving around.
“Drop the curtains for now! We're changing the set!”
“High beam A-4 is gone!”
“What do we change it with?”
“Clothes! Where are Sakuraba-san's change of clothes!?”
“Change it with the coronation scene! Hurry up!”
“Make up for it with B-4 next to it, watch out for the difference in angle though!”
“Are all the aristocrats here!?”
“They're here!”
“I don't know!”
“Are they, are they not?”
“I said they're here!”
Although a procedure for how to deal with scene changes had been put in place, things weren't going as planned during the actual performance. According to their original schedule, they wouldn't have to rush this much, but in the end it happened. However, since the play was proceeding properly, they were doing good for amateurs.
“Saaa~tomi-saaa~n, Saaa~kuraba-senpaaa~i.”
While the backstage was overwhelming Harumi and Koutarou, Yurika passed by still hung up by wires. She was still wearing her Alunaya costume and moved her limbs and tail to appeal to the two.
She had no more scenes in the play, but it was next to impossible for Yurika wearing the giant Alunaya outfit to move around backstage. Because of that, Yurika, still hung up by wires, was being carried off to the back of the gym where luggage was being deposited.
“Everyone seems to be having a hard time...”
After seeing Yurika off, Harumi looked around the backstage once more and sighed. Just looking at the state the backstage was in, anyone could tell how hard of a time the staff must have been having. Harumi earnestly felt that everyone's hard work was amazing.
“This is not the time to act like it's not your problem.”
“Eh?”
While Koutarou was smiling wryly at Harumi's amazed appearance, the stage manager came from nowhere and casually grabbed Harumi's arm.
“Kya!?”
“There you are, Sakuraba-san, hurry up! We have to change your outfit!”
“R-Right! I'll see you later, Satomi-kun.”
“Leave that for later, just hurry Sakuraba-san!”
Harumi was forcibly pulled away by the stage manager.
“Ahaha, you seem to be having a hard time yourself, Sakuraba-senpai...”
Looking at Harumi's back, Koutarou laughed. Unlike Koutarou who had no appearance in the next scene, Harumi did. Since it was the scene where the Silver Princess was crowned empress, she had to wear a crown, robe and a scepter. Like the other staff, Harumi didn't have much time. She wasn't in a position where she could take it easy.
Theia and Ruth were also in the direction Harumi was being pulled in. Since Theia had the role of the Silver Princess's little sister, the Golden Princess, she had an appearance in the coronation scene. So Theia was waiting next to Ruth wearing a different formal dress from normal.
“Move it, Satomi! Get out the way!”
“Oops, sorry!”
The large props team carrying a set piece came moving through. Since Koutarou was in their way he hurriedly moved.
“Move it, Satomi-kun, I'm in a hurry!”
“S-Sorry!”
However, a different staff member was moving through the area he had dodged to. Koutarou quickly moved away again, however the previous event repeated itself several times. There was no place in the backstage where Koutarou could rest when he had nothing to do.
“Geez.”
“What are you going to do, Koutarou?”
“I guess we don't have a choice, let's go to the back of the gym with Yurika.”
“Roger.”
Koutarou followed after Yurika alongside Sanae who had been supporting him through the performance.
Koutarou's next appearance was about ten minutes from now, so he was better off practicing his lines behind the gym rather than standing there and getting in the way of the staff.
“Ah, Satomi-kun, if you're heading off to the luggage deposit, please take Yurika with you.”
“*roar*”
“I got it.”
“All you need to do is pull on this.”
On his way there, Koutarou received a rope from a girl from the special effects team. The rope was attached to Yurika's outfit.
“Thanks, Satomi-kun. See you later.”
“Yeah.”
The girl who gave Koutarou the rope returned the way they had come from. She had no time for rest, her next job was waiting.
“Everyone sure is working hard...”
“Yeah.”
“*roar**roar*”
Seeing the girl off, Koutarou told himself to give it his all and pumped himself up. Koutarou's next appearance was the most important last scene. The quality of that scene could affect the outcome of the entire play.
“Let's go, Yurika.”
“*roar*”
“Still, that's a pretty pathetic appearance...”
“*roar**roar*”
Koutarou and Sanae pulled on Yurika's rope and left the backstage. It was an odd sight that looked like a giant dragon being taken for a walk.
Part 2
“I'm letting you down.”
“Ahhh, wait, please wait!”
“Ei.”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Yurika screamed. When Koutarou looked up, he saw her fly by and crash into the ground with the Alunaya outfit she was wearing.
“Owowowow...”
“S-Sorry.”
“Don't tell me you're sorry! You should have let me down more gently!”
“I didn't think it would drop you so fast.”
Koutarou had left Yurika to Sanae and went over his lines before the last scene. But it seemed that decision was a mistake as Yurika laid on the ground with her limbs spread out.
After getting to the back of the gym, Sanae pressed a button to release the rope holding Yurika up. But since Sanae had pressed the button before she had lowered Yurika to the ground, she ended up crashing into the ground from about a meter high. Although the height hadn't been that dangerous to fall from, the costume she was wearing was quite heavy, and the damage Yurika suffered could not be called minor.
“What are they doing...”
Koutarou sighed and placed his Kabutonga bookmark into the manuscript and closed it before jumping off the set piece he was using as a chair.
As Koutarou landed, his armor produced a loud noise and gave off the impression that the armor was quite heavy. However Koutarou walked as if he couldn't feel its weight. Since it was a powered armor, it didn't obstruct Koutarou's movements. On the contrary of its classic look, it was a mass of advanced Forthorthe science.
“Hey, are you okay, Yurika?”
Koutarou put the manuscript in his armor and presented Yurika with his left hand.
“I'm nooo~t.”
Yurika tried to grab his hand, but the damage had been more significant than she thought. Her hand lost momentum halfway through and fell to the ground. Still lying down with limbs spread out, Yurika then began crying.
“Hey now...”
Koutarou had been amazed by Yurika at the time, but considering what happened next, not grabbing Koutarou's hand was the correct choice.
“Look out, Koutarou!!”
By the time Sanae had warned him, the heavy metal particles fired through electromagnetism were already flying towards Koutarou. The beam that had built up energy until just moments before it went out of control grazed the arm Koutarou had stretched out towards Yurika.
“Uwah!?”
“Kyaaaaaaa!?”
Koutarou and Yurika were blinded by the sudden beam and following small explosion. However, the only damage had been blowing away armor around Koutarou's left arm. Fortunately, neither Koutarou's arm nor Yurika who had been nearby were injured. If Yurika had grabbed his hand, her hand might have blown off alongside his armor. In other words, Yurika had survived thanks to her lack of guts. The only thing Koutarou felt was a scorching heat on his arm, he could be called extremely lucky.
“Ah, hot hot hot!”
“Koutarou, it's her! The girl that attacked Theia in the previous play―”
“That's right, it's me!”
Both Sanae's voice and the person who fired the beam's voice could be heard coming from above Koutarou. When Koutarou looked up, the smoke from the explosion had cleared and he could see someone's appearance in the clear blue sky.
“Prepare yourself, fake Blue Knight! The moon of Schweiger reflected on the surface in the water will be taking your life!!”
“She's-!?”
Koutarou had seen her before.
She was wearing a black and white luxurious dress with antique glasses on her face. In her hand she held an unsophisticated beam rifle while flying in the sky.
“My name is Clariossa! Clariossa Daora Schweiger Meltsfen Foa Forthorthe! Carve this prideful name into your mind as you pass through the gates of hell, fake Blue Knight!!”
It was Theia's rival Clan, Forthorthe's second princess.
There were two reasons why Clan was attacking Koutarou at this moment.
The first reason was that Koutarou had separated from Theia and Harumi.
During the coronation scene, both the Golden Princess and the Silver Princess would be on stage. However, the Blue Knight had no appearance, so Koutarou would naturally separate from the two. Separating Koutarou from Theia who had overwhelming firepower and Harumi who was an unknown foe was an important point that would affect the result of Clan's attack.
The second reason was that if she killed Koutarou now, it would make Theia grieve tremendously.
The following scene after the coronation was the parting scene between the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess. If she could dispose of Koutarou before then, the Blue Knight would be missing for the most important scene of the play. Since Clan was very well aware of Theia's attachment to the Blue Knight, she timed her attack so it would do the most damage to the play.
And with those two requirements met, Koutarou had come to the rather unpopulated back of the gym. Of course, Clan wouldn't overlook that golden opportunity.
At the same time that Koutarou spotted Clan, he put his hand on the sword by his waist.
The treasured sword, Saguratin, that Theia had given to Koutarou had protected them several times.
“You again! You're targeting Theia again!?”
Koutarou pulled his sword from its sheath and, following the teachings of Forthorthe's old school sword fighting, he drew a large circle with the blade tip.
Holding it feels somewhat off.
As Koutarou posed with the sword in both hands, he readjusted the hold on his left hand. Koutarou had always been training to use the sword while wearing the armor, so he felt somewhat uncomfortable while holding the sword with his left arm bare.
“I'm aiming for Theiamillis-san!? You're wrong, fake Blue Knight!!”
Clan grinned and grabbed her beam rifle with both hands. Even though she was floating in the air, Clan seemed to be fixed to her position; she wasn't budging or floating an inch. From several meters up in the sky, Clan accurately took aim for Koutarou's head.
“My prey for today is you! I'm going to defeat you before I get to Theiamillis-san!!”
“Me!?”
“Of course! Just you standing in front of me alive is a stain on my life!”
While Koutarou was surprised, Clan squeezed the trigger.
As she did, a beam came flying out from the fully charged rifle. Although a beam attack's effect was greatly reduced when firing in the atmosphere, at this kind of range, that flaw was almost non-existent. The beam approached Koutarou with most of the energy it had when fired.
It's fast!
Koutarou was instinctively amazed, the beam was flying towards much faster than he had thought. Much faster than the beams fired by her in the past. This was thanks to Clan's remodeling of the rifle.
“Tsk!”
Because of that, although Koutarou moved to dodge, he wasn't going to make it in time.
“Leave it to me!”
However, that's when something strange happened. Having jumped away to dodge, Koutarou's body suddenly began accelerating. It was as if something invisible had pushed him away with all of their might. Thanks to that, Koutarou avoided a direct hit from the beam, and it instead drilled into the ground and created a charred hole.
“What was that!?”
“Koutarou!!”
“Was that you, Sanae!? You saved me!!”
Clan had been surprised, but Koutarou hadn't. He knew that Sanae had used her spiritual powers to send him flying and saved him. Koutarou landed in a calm fashion, and using the momentum, began running at full speed. Although Clan had gotten the first shot off because Koutarou had been distracted by their conversation, Koutarou wasn't planning on letting her dictate the momentum. He had begun running to make it harder for Clan to aim at him and to close the distance between them.
“Curse you, quit running around!”
Two more flashes come out from Clan's rifle. Since Koutarou had anticipated these attacks, he swiftly curved his body and dodged the beams. Because of that, he was able to avoid two direct hits, however, one of the beams glanced his armor.
“Whoa!?”
Although it had just grazed him, he could feel a large impact. Not only had the beam's speed increased, but its power had too.
“Dammit, that gun is completely different from the last time!”
The beam cannon's performance had been increased in every aspect.
Looks like I'll be in trouble if I think it'll be the same as last time...
Koutarou clicked his tongue and closed in even further on Clan. Closing the distance was important for him for both defense and offense’s sake.
“I told you to leave it to me.”
Sanae laughed next to his ear, before Koutarou had realized it, she was already hanging onto his back.
“Sanae?”
“Mine and Koutarou's friendship power won't lose to the likes of her!”
When Sanae shouted that, Koutarou's view changed greatly.
“This is...”
Overlapping with what he could normally see, living creatures could be seen with a white light around them. And by focusing on that light, he could faintly tell what that creature was doing and was planning on doing.
This was the power that Sanae had given Koutarou. Doing the reverse of when Sanae could taste what Koutarou ate, she transmitted her spiritual senses to Koutarou. Thanks to that, Koutarou could faintly tell where Clan was aiming and when she would fire. There wasn't something as convenient as this when it came to a fight.
“Ehehehe~, and that's not all today♪”
“Take this!!”
At the same time Sanae cheerfully laughed, Clan repeatedly fired. Although it became harder to dodge because of the number of shots, Koutarou was able to avoid all the beams using quick steps.
What is this?
Koutarou was puzzled as he easily dodged the beams.
To Koutarou, it felt like the beams got slower all of a sudden and his body felt surprisingly light. He felt like time was moving 50% slower.
“Sanae, could this be your doing too?”
“You got it♪ Remember to compliment me after this is over♪”
Sanae responded to Koutarou's question with a bright smile. Happy that Koutarou was surprised, she strengthened the grip around his neck.
“Our strong bond has created a miracle!”
Sanae's spiritual powers had been the reason behind Koutarou's increased speed. Normally, she used this power to massage him, but by opening up his blood vessels and sending her energy through him, she could sharpen his senses and increase his reflex speed. And since Sanae who was hanging onto his back was removing any unnecessary mental noise, his movements became a lot more accurate.
Since he could tell when and where Clan would fire, Koutarou had no problems dodging her beams. That was only a given since he would start dodging before she even fired.
“You haven't fully possessed me, right?”
“Hmm~, I guess you could call it that.”
Orders from Koutarou's brain was sent throughout his body via Sanae. The current situation could be described as Sanae taking over Koutarou's body, but moving as he wanted.
“I guess I have to make some sacrifices to survive, but that's scary...”
“It's okay. I love you after all♪”
Koutarou jumped with all his might towards Clan who was above him. He was planning on swatting her down with the sword he was grasping in two hands. Clan was high enough so that Koutarou would normally be unable to reach her, but thanks to the powers given to him by the armor and Sanae, he could easily reach her.
“Well done! However-!”
Attempting to distance herself from Koutarou, Clan rose up further into the sky. Because of that, Koutarou's sword only hit air.
“It missed!?”
Koutarou then continued flying towards the ground and landed. However, the moment he landed, Clan rained down beams upon him.
“Koutarou!”
“I know!”
The mantle Koutarou was wearing on top of his armor for the last scene was burnt and the armor reported of minor damage. Clan aimed for the moment when he was landing, so Koutarou was unable to avoid damage, even with Sanae's help.
“Koutarou, let's fly too! This armor, can fly right!?”
“So I hear, but I don't know how!”
“You're kidding!!”
The armor Koutarou was wearing served to control the battleship the Blue Knight. Since the battleships pilot would normally wear it, the armor naturally came with all the functions a space suit had. Flying through the skies was one of those functions, but since Koutarou was only using the armor for the performance, he didn't know anything unrelated to that. The legendary Blue Knight could supposedly fly through the skies, but they couldn't use the armor's powers in the play.
Because of that, Koutarou currently had no way of counterattacking at the moment. Since Clan was attacking from out of his reach, he was helpless. While dodging the beams, Koutarou racked his brain, trying to come up with a solution to this problem.
“Curse you! Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something!?”
In response, Clan got more frustrated. Although Koutarou could no longer counterattack because of the height, her beams could no longer hit the fast moving Koutarou. The rifle was much easier to handle compared to the beam cannon from before, but Koutarou was moving much faster than the data she had on him from the previous fight, so despite her accuracy working together with the targeting computer, she still couldn't score an effective hit on Koutarou. The distance between her and Koutarou and Sanae keeping a guard of Koutarou's blind spots were the primary reason for the lack of hits.
“In that case!”
Annoyed, Clan touched the button attached to the body of the rifle. When she did, the information flowing from the rifle to her bracelet was cut off for a moment before hurriedly sending data again. She had changed the rifle's attack mode and rebooted the targeting computer.
“Not even you can dodge this!”
Clan smiled as she pointed the muzzle of the rifle at Koutarou again. It was an amused smile similar to a cat cornering a mouse. If Koutarou saw it, he would definitely be reminded of when he had first met Theia. Clan was so confident in her next attack that it allowed her to smile like that.
“Koutarou, in that case, I'll fight her directly― Look out, run, Koutarou!!”
Sanae was the first one to notice it, and she hurriedly warned Koutarou.
Up until now, whenever Clan had attacked, Koutarou and Sanae could sense her hostility, represented by small circles a few centimeters in diameter. The circles corresponded to the anticipated diameter of the beam and Clan's aim, so by moving his body away from the circles, the beams would miss.
“What!? That's―”
“Quit talking and run! You can't avoid this―”
“You're too slow, fake Blue Knight!!”
Before Koutarou could take evasive maneuvers, Clan pulled the trigger.
I see, this is what she meant!!
Koutarou sensed Clan's hostility shortly after Sanae did. What had appeared large circle several meters in diameter.
“TAAAAKEEEE THIIIIISSS!!”
A gigantic cone beam came flying out of the rifle’s barrel. It had been created by scattering the beam; it could be called a beam shotgun.
Although the width of the beam got larger when scattered, the amount of energy required to fire a shot increased and the effect of the beam was reduced. It was a useful method of attacking when surrounded by a large amount of enemies.
“Koutarou!”
Sanae closed her eyes and held onto to Koutarou, as if she was trying to protect him. But as a ghost, Sanae was unable to do so. The beam would pass through her body and scorch Koutarou. Knowing that, she felt just how powerless she really was.
“Dammit!”
Koutarou jumped with all of his might, trying to get out of the beam's range. However, completely dodging the attack seemed hopeless. If a normal beam was like a faucet, the scattered beam was similar to a shower. Although the total amount of water was the same, the range was completely different. Although the power dropped, Koutarou wasn't enough of an optimist to think he'd make it out unscathed.
It looked like the beam was about to hit Koutarou. However at that moment, the voices of two girls could be heard.
“Karama, Korama! Spiritual energy field at full power!”
“Blue Knight! Maneuver suit, activate battle mode! Override input and put emergency boosters on the back and legs at full thrust!”
Those two were Kiriha and Ruth, still wearing their outfits from the play. Kiriha was shouting while facing Koutarou and Sanae while Ruth was giving orders into her bracelet.
“Leave it to use Ho-!”
“Karama-chan, Korama-chan!”
“Ho-, Sanae-chan, everything will be alright now Ho-!”
Simultaneously to the two girls appearing, two haniwas appeared next to Koutarou and Sanae. Responding to Kiriha's command, the two haniwas deployed a shield to protect Koutarou, Sanae and themselves.
“As you wish, my lady.”
There was one more change. After Ruth's bracelet responded like always, the back and leg parts of Koutarou's armor began spewing out flames.
They were the flames of the boosters the armor was equipped with. Normally, the armor would manipulate gravity, just like its barriers, to fly. However, when a large amount of thrust was required in the case of an emergency, boosters using conventional propellants were used as assistance. The boosters in the back and legs spewed out a large amount of flames and rapidly accelerated Koutarou's body forwards.
“Uooooo!? W-What!?”
“Kyaaaaaaa!!”
Being accelerated by the boosters overwhelming thrust, 90% of Koutarou's body had gotten out of the beam's range while Karama and Korama blocked the remaining 10% of his body with their barrier. Normally, their barrier was intended to defend against spiritual energy attacks, so it wasn't well fit for blocking something like a beam cannon. If the attack had been the normally concentrated beam instead, the haniwas would probably have been unable to block it. However, the haniwas’ barrier was enough to block a scattered beam like this one.
“More of them!? Pardomshiha and... that girl!!”
Clan was more irritated about Ruth and Kiriha's appearance than her attack being blocked. She recalled having suffered at the hands of Kiriha last time around, so she held a strong sense of hostility against her, second to only Koutarou and Theia.
“Koutarou!”
“Satomi-sama, are you alright!?”
As Koutarou landed while tearing up the ground, Kiriha and Ruth came running up to him. Cautious of their appearance, Clan gave Koutarou and the others a hateful glare, but she couldn't attack right away. Meanwhile, the haniwas got between Clan and Koutarou and the others, protecting them.
“You saved me.”
“I'm just glad you're safe, Satomi-sama.”
“Nice timing!”
“I was surprised when I got a warning about the armor’s left arm being damaged right after I got off the stage, Satomi-sama.”
Kiriha and Ruth had only gotten to the back of the gym because of the alarm set off by Ruth's bracelet. Since the armor Koutarou was wearing was equipment belonging to the Blue Knight, it was only obvious for a damage alert to reach its operator, Ruth. Having been alerted to the abnormal situation, Ruth and Kiriha, who had finished at the same time, hurriedly ran towards Koutarou.
“Koutarou, use this.”
Unlike Ruth, Kiriha's expression remained unchanged and presented Koutarou with a blue gauntlet as Clan was glaring at them.
“This is the thing you used―”
Koutarou remembered seeing the gauntlet in his hand from before. Unlike the armor Koutarou was wearing, it had a somewhat Japanese feel to it. It was her personal weapon she had used to fight her out of control allies.
“That's right. When facing someone like that, you need a ranged weapon, right?”
Looking at Clan floating in the sky, Kiriha sensed that Koutarou would be at a disadvantage with only his sword, so she planned on giving him her gauntlet to compensate for his disadvantage. For better or for worse, the armor on Koutarou's left arm had been blown away, so it was convenient for defensive purposes as well. And since Koutarou felt uncomfortable holding the sword with his bare hands, it was useful in that sense as well.
There was also the method of Kiriha using this to cover him from the ground, but aiming for someone flying in the sky from below was hard. So Kiriha felt it was best that Koutarou used the weapon.
“Thanks, but how do I use this?”
“Don't worry. Sanae knows how.”
“I don't. I've never touched― actually, I think I can, Koutarou!”
Sanae revealed a big smile as Koutarou fit the gauntlet on his left hand. It was a smile fitting of a child that just found a new toy. The moment Koutarou touched the gauntlet, Sanae got a feel for its structure and completely understood how to use it. The weapon was easy to understand for someone who used spiritual energy, like Sanae.
“Right then, let's counterattack!”
While getting a feel for his left hand, Koutarou held his sword with his right hand.
“And then like this!”
A glowing red fireball appeared in Koutarou's left hand, creating a powerful electromagnetic field around it. The field would shoot out small bolts of lightning from time to time and the red fire would grow stronger.
The flame and field were because of Sanae. Using the gauntlet that converted spiritual energy into elements, Sanae's immense spiritual energy created an almost inexhaustible supply of fire and electricity. The fireball was hot enough to scorch the armor of a spaceship, while the electricity created enough electromagnetism to overpower said armor's electromagnetic defenses and cause errors in its main system.
“Sanae-sama, please reduce the output of the fire and electricity a little. At this rate, Satomi-sama will be scorched first.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Satomi-sama, I will remain here and provide support.”
“I'm counting on you.”
“Karama, Korama, stick with Koutarou. I'll give you further instructions when needed.”
“Understood Ho-!”
“Got it, Nee-san!
The two girls remained to back up Koutarou and Sanae, and on Koutarou's side were Karama and Korama. Koutarou and Sanae took to the front lines, Kiriha would assist them with her haniwas and Ruth would support Koutarou.
“...Ah, looks like they're serious...”
There was also one more person supporting Koutarou from the shadows. That was Yurika, who still lay collapsed inside Alunaya.
There was plenty of room inside the giant dragon costume. Yurika had called forth her magical cane and was secretly helping. As examples, she had cast a ward to keep people away, increased the armor's defensive powers, and increased the density of the air between Koutarou and Clan to get in the way of the beam amongst other things.
“Now then, the last scene is waiting, so let's hurry up and beat the villain and head for the happy ending!!”
Koutarou roared while glaring at Clan floating in the sky. There was no way he could lose. Koutarou was certain of it now that he gained several powers.
Close-range fighting, long-range fighting, information and magic. Although it was a hastily constructed team, they had a splendid balance between offense and defense.
Nine months had passed since the invaders had appeared in Corona House's room 106. The power that had scared him back then were now being used to protect him.
Part 3
Although Ruth hadn't had the chance to shine in close-combat fighting yet, her true value was revealed when she began supporting Koutarou from the back.
“Kiriha-sama, I have finished analyzing the electromagnetic pattern before Clan-sama fires!”
“Can you communicate the timing to Karama and Korama!?”
Using the sensors dispatched from the Blue Knight, Ruth gathered all kinds of data and analyzed it. She then filtered the data for the information that would be useful for Koutarou. The information she had ranged from weapon and defensive performances to the surrounding geographical features. She even had information about Koutarou's and Clan's various habits.
“I can use the laser communication positioned on the shoulder area of Satomi-sama's armor!”
“In that case, there's no need to worry about any jamming!! Do it right away, Ruth!! You heard us, right, Karama, Korama!?”
“Got it! Setting one of the spiritual energy field triggers to receive it Ho-!”
“Ruth-chan, you're a big help Ho-!”
The filtered information was then processed by Kiriha and she made the appropriate decisions. The armor's settings changed to adapt to Koutarou's fighting style, the adverse effects of the electromagnetic field emitted from Sanae using the gauntlet were changed, Karama and Korama's emitted barrier were synchronized to react to Clan's shooting. Kiriha's continuous quick and correct instructions turned the situation of the battlefield even more to Koutarou's favor.
As expected from Kiriha-sama... nobody can keep up with her sharp mind...
Processing vast amounts of information, Ruth secretly felt relieved. She couldn't keep herself from feeling so by Kiriha's great intelligence. Thinking about it, it was strange that they had not been beaten by her shortly after they met.
At that moment, above the two girls, Karama and Korama repelled Clan's scattered beam with their barrier.
Thanks to that, Koutarou was completely unscathed.
“These things again!? They just keep moving around!!”
Irritated, Clan changed the setting of the rifle so the beam would regain its focus and repeatedly fired towards Koutarou and the others.
“Koutarou, she's firing lots of those things again!”
“It's okay, I can see them all!!”
“Ho-, HoHo-!”
“Too slow Ho-!”
However, her desperate attack couldn't harm Koutarou who was under the effect of Sanae's spiritual powers, nor even the haniwas.
Ruth's information sure is accurate... has her meticulous nature revealed itself...?
Kiriha slightly smiled as she looked at the haniwas. It was a smile created by a mix of joy and admiration. The haniwas had been able to dodge the beam thanks to Ruth's accurate information. If she had not finished her analysis, the haniwas would probably either be destroyed or use up a lot of energy to block the attacks. So while she was thankful for the accuracy of Ruth's data, she smiled at Ruth's meticulous nature.
“Let's go, Sanae!”
“Yeah!”
Dodging the rain of beams, Koutarou closed in on Clan. The armor's flight capabilities made it seem light on the contrary to the armor's looks. While manipulating gravity to fly, by igniting the emergency boosters and the thrusters used for posture control, it allowed him to fly freely, like Sanae. Clan flew through manipulating gravity as well, but Koutarou who had extra propelling devices could move faster.
“Koutarou!!”
“Please!”
Koutarou swung the sword in his right hand, and at the same time Sanae manipulated his left to shoot out a fireball and a lightning bolt.
“That left hand is annoying! But it's just a toy compared to the Blue Knight's gauntlet!”
Clan shifted all of the energy she was using to fly into her barrier.
When she was flying, the barrier was weak and would be unable to block Sanae's fireball or electricity. On top of that, the fireball and lightning bolt chased after her like a missile. Sanae used her spiritual powers to twist their trajectory. Clan might have been able to dodge them with her mobility, but it wasn't a wise bet.
So Clan stopped flying for a moment, and while free falling, she poured all of the freed up energy into her barrier. She had to block the fireball and lightning bolt before she could carry on.
Countless translucent, white hexagon tiles appeared around Clan. It was a repulsion barrier created by the device attached to the back of her waist. As the fireball and lightning bolt crashed into it, the barrier erased them while making a grating noise.
“Next is-!!”
But Clan had no time to rest. She pointed her beam rifle forwards. At that moment, Koutarou was flying towards her. While Clan had strengthened her barrier, Koutarou had closed the distance.
“Take thiiiiis!!”
“As if I'd be taken down that easily!!”
Koutarou swung his sword at full force, aiming to break through her barrier. In order to prevent him, Clan pulled the trigger on her rifle.
“It won't work Koutarou!”
“No, it'll be fine!!”
Sanae warned Koutarou of the danger, but he swung his sword without hesitation.
I can do this! I can win! As if I'd let her ruin our play!!
Koutarou was really angry. Clan had come and gotten in the way of their plays twice for her own selfish reasons now not to mention the fact that she was trying to kill Theia. A blinding rage drove Koutarou forward. And in response to his powerful will, the treasured sword, Saguratin's blade began shining with a pure-white light.
What happened next left Clan at a loss for words.
“Uoooooooooooooo!!”
When the beam fired from Clan's rifle came into contact with Koutarou's sword, the sword carried on forward and cut the beam in half. The split beam wavered and flew off to the sides.
“What, that's!?”
Clan couldn't believe what she had just seen.
That's impossible, how could he possibly do something like that!?
Like Theia's Saguratin, Clan had been forged and given a treasured sword at birth. But that sword had no special powers. It was just a commemorative gift to celebrate her birth; both Clan and Theia's swords were just supposed to be normal swords.
Even if the armor was supplying the sword with power, she couldn't imagine it could supply enough energy to be able to cut a beam in half. It wasn't something a personal combat suit's generator had enough output to do.
Because Clan was so well versed in science she understood that Koutarou's power was abnormal, and couldn't help but feel surprise and fear.
“Oh no!”
At that moment, the glowing white sword's blade closed in on Clan. The barrier had already used up a lot energy blocking the fireball and lightning bolt, so Koutarou's sword cut through the barrier like it was paper.
Koutarou then aimed for Clan with his returning swing. With the barrier completely erased by the previous attack, Clan was completely defenseless.
I'll get hit!?
Realizing that, Clan unhesitatingly threw away her rifle. She couldn't possibly dodge Koutarou's attack while carrying around that large, heavy rifle. She kicked it away and distanced herself from Koutarou.
The next moment, Koutarou's sword cut the rifle in half. The rifle caused a small explosion and fell down towards the back of the gym in pieces. While his vision was blocked by the explosion, Clan put a lot of distance between herself and Koutarou.
“So close!”
“But with this she's unarmed!”
As the explosion cleared, Koutarou grabbed his sword in both hands and pointed the tip of it towards Clan.
“If you're going to give up, now would be the time.”
“You want me to surrender to some neanderthal from a backwater planet!? Quit joking around!!”
Unarmed, Clan bravely refused to surrender. Having lots of pride like Theia, Clan simply couldn't accept having to surrender.
I guess that's expected from a princess... But what would Theia do in her situation?
While staring at Clan, Koutarou thought of Theia. In the past, Theia probably wouldn't have accepted having to surrender, just like Clan was now. But Koutarou felt that if the current Theia were to lose despite her best efforts, she would accept her defeat and praise the other party.
I guess you could call it a princess, no, a ruler's composure...
That was the fundamental difference between Theia and Clan. And being able to sense that was proof of Koutarou's acceptance of Theia.
That said, when she's playing games with me, she will probably never accept defeat...
The side of her that's a princess, and the childish side of a girl of age; right now, Koutarou accepted both those sides of Theia.
“I can't accept a joke like surrendering... but...”
While Koutarou was thinking of Theia, Clan was racking her brain about her current situation.
To think the fake Blue Knight had this much power...
Clan hadn't just simply attacked. She had sent home her personal battleship, Hazy Moon, to Forthorthe using autopilot and attacked Koutarou when he was separated from Harumi and Theia.
Of course, Clan hadn't underestimated Koutarou. She had analyzed the data from their previous battle and prepared her equipment so she could win against that. The beam rifle, her flying and her barrier would have been more than enough to win against Koutarou two months ago.
However, once put into practice, the results spoke for themselves. Clan's attacks were completely ineffective and she couldn't block Koutarou's attacks. Everything had completely exceeded her expectations.
Without my weapon, I'm definitely going to lose. Since they are faster, I'm going to have a hard time escaping too. But I still have that!
Clan grinned despite her hopelessly desperate situation.
What's up with Clan...?
As Koutarou had a bad feeling about her expression, Clan shouted out.
“Come, Cradle! Prepare to fire the super-space-time repulsion shell!”
It was the last resort that Clan had prepared.
What Clan called the Cradle was the small spaceship she was using.
In order to make Theia and Koutarou let down their guard, Clan had sent her personal battleship, Hazy Moon, back to Forthorthe. The Cradle was one of the spaceships onboard the Hazy Moon that she had used as her base of operations.
The Cradle served as an escape boat and had enough equipment to serve as an emergency base of operations. She had hidden the boat in the nearby mountains and used it as her base while observing Theia and Koutarou and creating her weapons. The beam rifle and her flying device were amongst the weapons she had created. She had also created the repulsion shell she had just mentioned.
“Fake Blue Knight, it doesn't matter how strong you are when faced with the Cradle's super-space-time repulsion shell!!”
Clan put her hands on her waist and boasted triumphantly. A strong will could be seen in her eyes through the glasses and her expression was overflowing with confidence.
Behind Clan was the spaceship, the Cradle. The egg-shaped spaceship had appeared using the same way Clan and Theia would summon their weapons. Although it was a small spaceship, the Cradle was still several dozen meters big. Its stately figure overcame even Clan's and it displayed its overwhelming sense of existence to the surrounding. If it wasn't for the ship's impressive stealth capabilities and Yurika's magic, the people nearby would already have erupted into a panic.
“The super-space-time repulsion shell...?”
Koutarou blankly stared at the magnificence of the Cradle. Ignorant when it came to science, he had a hard time grasping what the weapon did by just the name.
“Fufufufu, you don't have to understand.”
Clan laughed as Koutarou tilted his head in confusion.
At the same time, the Cradle's body opened and revealed two missiles, each about as large as Clan. The cradle had the shape of an egg lying down sideways. The thickest part of the egg was the bow and the thinnest was the stern. Compared to the large ship, the missiles looked small, and to Koutarou, they seemed unreliable.
“That's because you will soon experience what they do with your body!!”
However, Clan had absolute confidence in her newly created bomb, the repulsion shells that the missiles were carrying. In theory, there was nothing they couldn't beat, that's the kind of bomb it was.
The super-space-time repulsion shell was something that Clan had been developing for a long time. The features of this weapon was that it could, as its name suggests, manipulate space-time. When this warhead was activated, it deployed a gigantic energy field that forcibly removed everything in that space from this universe. Regardless of how fast the enemy was or how powerful their barrier was, they couldn't escape or block an attack that would throw them out of this universe.
The attack was similar to a warp hole, but when warping, the destination was still in the same universe, so one would return there. And with missiles this size, there was a limit to how far they could warp, but there was no return once thrown out of the universe. One would need to develop the same technology to come back, which would be rather difficult when isolated on the outside of the universe.
It was next to impossible to evade. If it hit, there would be no returning anymore. That was where Clan's confidence came from.
This bomb had been completed just the other day. Clan had a prototype ready two months ago when she had attacked Theia, but Yurika had knocked her out before she had the chance to use it. Desiring a complete victory, Clan had waited for this weapon to be ready before attacking Koutarou. She wanted to defeat Koutarou no matter the cost; the repulsion shell was the proof of her determination.
Koutarou was of course unaware that. So at this rate, Koutarou was sure to be hit by the missile, but that was when Koutarou heard a voice informing him of the danger.
“Koutarou-sama, you can't let Clan-sama use that weapon...”
That voice didn't travel through the air as sound, instead of it entered his head directly. It was a voice that he would never have been able to hear if Sanae hadn't strengthened his senses.
“Who's there!? What are you saying!?”
“What's wrong, Koutarou!?”
“That weapon will bring extraordinary destruction...”
While Koutarou was still puzzled by the sudden voice, an image appeared in his head. It was the sight of the super-space-time repulsion shell being fired somewhere.
Koutarou saw people of a seemingly high status wearing similar clothes to what the nobles in the play were wearing, and people holding canes and wearing long robes. In their surroundings were various abnormal looking monsters. The monsters were holding a bottle filled with something black and spread out their wings, trying to take to the skies.
The repulsion shell was flying towards them. There was a terrific flash, and a giant glowing cube was created. Everyone caught inside it was erased along with the ground. The only thing left was a giant hole and earthquake that could shake the planet.
When that terrifying image was sent to his head, Koutarou suddenly looked down towards his feet. He saw the Kitsushouharukaze high school and the gym; the cube that would be created by the super-space-time repulsion shell could easily fit both inside of it.
“I won't let you!!”
“Koutarou!?”
Immediately after that, Koutarou stormed forward. Sanae desperately struggled to hold on to Koutarou as he suddenly sprang into action.
If the repulsion shell was fired, there would be a lot of destruction. That had to be avoided at all costs; that was the only thing Koutarou was thinking about.
The only reason he had for that thought was the voice and image he had heard and seen, but he felt like he could believe it. The image was realistic and he could feel a straightforward kindness in the voice, he couldn't imagine it to be telling him lies.
“What's the matter all of a sudden, Koutarou!?”
“I need to destroy those missiles! We can't let her use them!”
Koutarou answered Sanae's question while setting the boosters on the armor to full power. Koutarou shot through the sky like a meteor. Intense winds swirled around them and roared loudly, so Sanae had to scream for Koutarou to hear her.
“What? Do you mean they're mushroom bombs!?”
“Something like that!”
By mushroom bomb, Sanae meant nuclear weapons. Koutarou nodded at her next question and sped up even more.
“That's why I need to destroy them before she can fire!”
The armor’s computer system screamed out as Koutarou sped up faster than what the armor had been designed for. But right now, Koutarou didn't have the time to worry about that.
“Will you be okay doing that, Koutarou!?”
“...That's why this is goodbye, Sanae.”
“Kyaaaaaaa!?”
Sanae was blown away from Koutarou's body all of a sudden. She hadn't been blown away by Koutarou, instead she was unable to hold on to his body as she felt something like electricity coursing through her.
“W-Wait, Koutarou!!”
Sanae quickly tried to chase after Koutarou, but something like an invisible wall stopped her and she couldn't follow him.
“Why!?”
That was the first time she had ever felt Koutarou clearly reject her ever since she began clinging onto his back on a daily basis.
Part 4
Having finished up her part in the coronation scene, Theia arrived at the back of the gym at the same time that Sanae was blown away from Koutarou. The only ones on the stage now were Harumi and some extras. The Silver Princess was holding a speech after becoming the new empress.
“Your highness!!”
“Ruth, what's the situation!?”
Though detailed information was being sent to Theia's bracelet, there was an unavoidable delay when the information was being sent. So she quickly asked Ruth for any new information.
“Just a moment ago, Satomi-sama was overwhelming Clan-sama, but she has summoned her spaceship and is seemingly trying for a large-scale attack.”
“Have the Blue Knight bombard her!”
“It's impossible! A little while ago a remarkable disturbance in both radio and hyperspace communications occurred, and I can't contact the Blue Knight!”
“What!?”
The reason for the disturbance was the super-space-time repulsion shell. In order for it to throw its target out of this universe, it had to save up energy a lot of energy. As it did, it created a large distortion in the surrounding space, and as a result, communications were blocked.
“It's mortifying, but there's nothing we can do right now except leave it to Koutarou.”
“Koutarou!”
While grinding her teeth, Theia stepped forward and looked up into the sky alongside Kiriha. Up in the sky was a knight wearing blue armor and a large spaceship.
Koutarou...
Seeing Koutarou dash forward out of her reach, Theia felt anxious, like she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. The next moment, Sanae's words proved that feeling right.
“Everyone, do something! Stop Koutarou!”
“What is it!?”
“Koutarou is on a suicide mission!”
When Theia heard Sanae's word, she felt the world ground to a halt.
Aware of Koutarou's approach, Clan ordered the Cradle to counterattack. In order to fire the repulsion shell, the warhead needed more time to charge. In that time, she couldn't let Koutarou get close.
“You've finally appeared, Theiamillis-san! But it's already too late! Your play won’t have a happy ending!”
“Clan, I won't let you get in the way of this play!”
While dodging the barrage created by the Cradle, Koutarou closed in on the repulsion shell on the lower side of the hull. As he was pushed for time, Koutarou didn't approach unharmed. The beams and lasers had scratched him repeatedly, and his face and body were covered in wounds, just like the armor.
However, Koutarou didn't flinch. What supported his courage was his promise on Christmas. That day, Koutarou had sworn to make the play a success to a lot of people. He couldn't let Clan destroy it for her own selfish reasons.
“This play is a small dream a caged bird saw!”
Koutarou knew how Theia felt about this play. It was a wish involving her admiration of the Blue Knight and desire to protect her mother. And this play embodied that wish; it was a small wish from Theia who was unable to live the way she wanted. Koutarou couldn't allow Clan to stamp out that dream.
“Can you protect everything!? You can't even protect your friends with that sword alone!!”
“I'll show you I can protect them!! That's because they all have to succeed with their invasions!!”
That was the answer Koutarou had finally arrived with in the midst of a fierce fight.
Koutarou wanted all of the girls’ invasions to succeed. He wanted to let Sanae wait in that room for her parents. He wanted Theia to complete her trial, to earn the right to become empress and protect her mother. He wanted Kiriha's people, the People of the Earth, to safely migrate to the surface. He wanted Yurika to live like a normal classmate.
He wanted all of them to win. He wanted all of them to grasp the future they wished for. Fulfilling all of their wishes might be hard, but he couldn't let all of their wishes be stomped out right now.
“Ooooooooo!!”
So Koutarou wouldn't stop.
Even if he was scorched by beams or penetrated by lasers.
“Stop it Koutarou!! Obey my orders!!”
Even if he made the golden glowing princess cry.
“You're my knight, aren't you!?”
“...Sorry, Theia.”
Koutarou simply let his sword shine bright white. He didn't care where that white light came from, or why it was there. As long as that light shone, he could protect everyone.
That was enough for Koutarou.
“Search for... a replacement knight right away.”
“Wait, Koutarou wait!!”
And Theia finally realized her own feelings.
“Even if I find a replacement knight, there's no replacement for you!!”
That was Theia's answer. Theia truly desired Koutarou.
However, by the time she reached her answer, Koutarou's sword had cut the super-time-space repulsion shell in half.
At that moment, a giant glowing cube appeared above Kitsushouharukaze high school.
From the top of the stage, Harumi knew what had happened. The sword-shaped crest on her forehead let her know that Koutarou's presence had vanished.
Koutarou-sama...
While thinking about Koutarou, Harumi ran across the stage in accordance to the manuscript. Realizing that the Blue Knight was nowhere to be seen, the Silver Princess ran looking for him.
Farewell, Koutarou-sama...
Everything up until now had gone just as she had been informed, but she didn't know what would happen from now. Although she had a lot of power, she was not all-knowing.
And please, stay safe...
So Harumi, like the Silver Princess she was acting, prayed.
She prayed that she would meet her precious person that had vanished once more.
