Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 19 - Chapter 6

The Return of the Magical Girl

Sunday, September 19th

Koutarou and company were able to confirm that Sariachal Castle was Darkness Rainbow’s base, but they weren’t yet sure how to attack it. They’d likely end up caught in a long, drawn-out fight if they went in the front door. And if all six leaders came at them at once, they’d be in serious danger. Koutarou and the girls didn’t know that Darkness Rainbow’s army had already sortied, so they were still weighing their options.

“We have to stop their tinplate soldiers or we won’t win, right?”

The “tinplate soldiers” Sanae was referring to were the automated weapons Darkness Rainbow had gotten from the radical faction and Elexis. Darkness Rainbow had never been able to make a decisive move on Rainbow Heart because they lacked the numbers to stand up to a larger organization. But now that they had machines to pad their ranks, they didn’t have to worry about that anymore. One of the reasons Koutarou and the others had come straight to Darkness Rainbow’s base was to try and take their weapons out ahead of time.

“But going in the front is so dangerous...” Yurika sighed, her shoulders drooping.

They couldn’t just storm the place. They needed some kind of plan. And that was where an unlikely candidate—Harumi—raised her hand.

“Satomi-kun, can I say something?”

“Go right ahead, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“Isn’t sneaking in the only thing we can do in this sort of situation?”

If they couldn’t walk in the front, they should just sneak in. It was a simple, effective solution to a rather sticky problem.

“Veltlion, I agree with Harumi,” Clan said with a nod.

Regardless of whether it was necessary or not, Clan would prefer sneaking in. Avoiding a direct confrontation was more her style.

“Yurika, what do you think?”

If Harumi and Clan were in agreement, they already had Koutarou’s ear. However, Yurika was the one in charge, so he turned to her for her opinion. After gathering her thoughts and staring at the castle for a long moment, she gave her reply.

“...Satomi-san, do you think we can do it? Do you think we can sneak into that castle?”

Yurika was worried about the castle defenses. There was a chance sneaking in might be the more dangerous option.

“It won’t be easy. Old castles like this were designed to resist infiltration.”

The same thought had crossed Koutarou’s mind. He actually had some experience attacking Forthorthian castles and fortresses, and knew that they were built with war in mind. There were likely already safeguards in place to defend it against any unwanted intrusion.

“But it’s still probably better than going in the front.”

“Okay. We want to avoid fighting—for everyone’s sake—and we don’t have much time. Let’s sneak in.”

Yurika trusted Koutarou’s judgement, but people’s lives were the deciding factor in her call. They would be walking right into a confrontation with Darkness Rainbow’s army if they went in the front, and the resulting chaos may very well spell casualties. If they could sneak in and accomplish their objective with a minimal amount of force, however, that would be ideal. Moreover, the clock was ticking. They needed to handle things here as quickly as possible, and that meant skipping fighting where possible.

Now that they’d decided they were going to sneak in, they needed to decide on a route. There, Koutarou’s knowledge of the past came in rather handy. Old castles were connected to the outside world in several ways. Like aqueducts, for example.

Older castles also doubled as fortifications. They needed reliable, defensible access to water, or else they would never withstand a siege. And in the case of the Sariachal Castle, that water came from an underground aqueduct.

“How does it look, Clan?”

“We’re in luck! The facilities from two thousand years ago are still here!”

“All right, luck really is on our side!”

Koutarou and Clan were familiar with Sariachal Castle from their time in past Forthorthe. They’d studied it rather closely while they were trying to figure out how to go about attacking Maxfern, and one of the suggestions on the table had been to infiltrate via the aqueduct. Koutarou and Clan were hoping that might still be a viable option, and as luck would have it, Clan’s scouting drone confirmed that the structure was still standing. This could be their big break.

“Kiriha-san, what do you think?”

“Our enemy doesn’t know that we have this information. So even if they use their future forecast, the chances of them predicting us infiltrating this way are low. However... we should still add an element of randomness.”

There, Kiriha pulled a small stack of cards from the front of her jacket and fanned them out in front of her. She then presented them to Koutarou and bid him draw one. Since Green’s future forecast relied on probability, selecting a plan at random—like by drawing a card—was the easiest way to thwart it.

“...Then it’s decided. Let’s go with the underground aqueduct.”

Koutarou had drawn an old card that had lost most of its foil sheen with age. It was a Kabutonga card scribbled with a young Kiriha’s handwriting. It held special meaning that only Koutarou and Kiriha understood, and when drawn in this context, it was like a green light.

Koutarou and company made their way to the aqueduct by going through a waterway accessible by a well in town. That meant travelling a ways underwater, but they all had barriers, spells to breathe underwater, and various other abilities on their side. Between them, everyone made it to their destination with little trouble.

“Here we are, Sanae.”

“Aye aye, captain! Thanks for the ride!”

“Don’t be so loud. We’re in enemy territory now.”

“Oh, right.”

Koutarou dismissed his armor’s barrier and put down Sanae, who he had been carrying on his back. Sanae hopped off of him onto the stone-paved floor like she was hopping off a bus. Right now, they were currently in a maintenance passage running alongside the underground aqueduct. If they continued this way, they’d eventually be inside the castle.

“Still, we were lucky the aqueduct and waterway were connected,” Harumi said, looking back at the waterway they’d just exited.

If it hadn’t met up with the aqueduct, infiltrating the castle would have been much harder. And without access to a water supply like this, the early Folsarians would’ve had it much harder as well. She couldn’t help thinking it was a lucky break for both of them that the waterway was there.

“Harumi, I think it’s less about luck and more about hard work. I think they purposefully dug the aqueduct all the way out here to reach the waterway. Well, I guess even then, it’s fortunate that there was water here.”

Since the castle itself had come from Forthorthe, the aqueduct was rendered useless when it was placed in a random spot. It wasn’t like the waterway it was originally connected to was sent with it, after all. So in order to get it working again, the Folsarians had extended it until it reached water. And it was indeed a lucky break that they’d found it, for there were no rivers or lakes in the area.

“So Maxfern’s castle is up ahead... It feels kind of strange.”

“To think where the final battle took place in the legend of the Blue Knight still exists... I can’t believe it.”

Theia and Ruth had a somewhat different reaction than Harumi. Sariachal Castle was a thing of legend to them. They’d only ever seen it in movies and books. And being there in person was strange. It was like they’d walked right into the legends themselves.

“At least this looks like it’s being maintained. Very good,” Shizuka said, looking around with a satisfied smile.

The town above ground had been left to ruin, which bothered her greatly as a landlord. However, since the aqueducts were still providing fresh water to the castle, they were still being taken care of. It put a smile on Shizuka’s face to see some love put into the place.

“That isn’t a good thing, Kasagi-san.”

“Why not?”

“If it’s being maintained, that means that someone here is maintaining it.”

Maki was right, of course. The aqueduct was in good enough repair that it looked like someone was cleaning it regularly, and it would be unfortunate if they happened to run into someone at this stage in the plan.

“It’s okay. Facilities like this are always serviced on a regular schedule. No one would show up to clean it at a time anyone would actually be using the water.”

“I see... That’s a landlord for you.”

Surprisingly, Shizuka’s landlord knowhow was actually coming in handy. No one would service the water line while people were using it. The risk of contaminating the water was too high, which was why maintenance was usually scheduled for very early in the morning or very late at night. And since it was the middle of the day now, Shizuka was quite sure there was no risk of running into any maintenance workers.

“Well then, we made it... But here’s where things really get interesting. What’s the plan, Yurika?” asked Kiriha.

“The controls for the weapons are probably in a command room or laboratory. If possible, I’d like to make it all the way there without being noticed. If that’s not possible, we’ll just have to break through.”

“Understood. Wait a moment... Ruth, come here for a second.”

“Yes, Kiriha-sama?”

“Use your scouts to gather information alongside the haniwas.”

“Understood.”

“Ho! You can count on us, ho!”

“It’s our time to shine, ho!”

Kiriha and Ruth then got straight to work gathering information. They wanted to reach the controller for the automated weapons without being found by the enemy, so trying to rush through the castle was a bad idea. Instead, they would take their time to scout the place and plan accordingly.

Koutarou and the others followed the aqueduct all the way to the end, and entered the castle from there. They were currently hiding in a nearby stairwell that connected the second and third floors. So far, they hadn’t run into anyone. There was hardly a sign there was anyone there at all. It was possible the place was just minimally guarded, but the castle seemed to be deserted.

“This is bad... They’ve already left.”

Koutarou could feel it. There was a particular energy, an atmosphere that built up in bases preparing to go to war. He remembered it well from past Forthorthe, and there was none of that here in the castle. All was quiet, meaning the soldiers were likely already on the move.

“They’re probably advancing on the capital as we speak. We must have missed each other on the way.”

While Koutarou and the others were chasing after Crimson and Green, Darkness Rainbow’s army was headed towards the capital via a different route. By now, Thorthe might already be under attack. But since Koutarou and the others needed to keep a low profile, they couldn’t contact anyone to confirm that things were all right. It was a tough spot to be in.

“But since Crimson-san and Green-san returned here, surely the attack hasn’t really started yet. We can still make it if we hurry!”

Yurika hadn’t given up hope. There was still a chance to prevent the fighting. It was hard to imagine that Darkness Rainbow would challenge Rainbow Heart to a decisive battle without Crimson and Green. And since they’d retreated here to Sariachal Castle, surely Darkness Rainbow hadn’t actually made their move yet. They would at least need to recover and regroup with their troops before getting serious.

“Koutarou, Yurika is right! We still have a chance if we can seize control of the automated weapons!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just continue as planned!”

From there, Koutarou and the girls carefully ascended to the third floor. The stairs they were on only connected floors one through three. That was to keep a single stairwell from being able to compromise all of the castle in the event of an attack. If they wanted to reach the next floor, they’d have to find another set of stairs to take them higher. And in order to make it all the way to the top floor—the seventh floor—they’d probably have to find another set or two after that.

“I wonder if things are going to go so easily for you...”

However, just as Koutarou and the girls exited the stairwell and started to make their way down the hall, they heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Who’s there?!”

Koutarou instinctively raised his voice and unsheathed his sword. The voice in question laughed in response.

“Now, now. That’s my question, Mr. Intruder.”

A shadowy figure stepped out from behind a pillar—it was Dark Purple. She stood defiantly across from Koutarou, a cheerful smile on her face. The other leaders then stepped out behind her. Now that Maki was gone, the six of them composed the upper echelon of Darkness Rainbow. Once they’d realized Koutarou and the others were approaching, they’d decided to lie in wait for them.

“To think top brass would come greet us personally...”

“The soldiers are all out right now, so we’re a little shorthanded. Once we defeat you, we’ll be headed off to join them as well. Being low on manpower really is unpleasant.”

“Then let me throw this right back at you: I wonder if things are going to go so easily for you...”

“Oh, did I say something like that?”

Purple remained confident, even faced with ten powerful enemies. She wasn’t the slightest bit phased by Koutarou’s remark. She didn’t appear to be all that much older than Koutarou and the girls, but her poise came from her unmistakable maturity.

She’s not as bad as Maya, but... she’ll still be a troublesome opponent...

Koutarou forced a confident expression in return as he faced Purple, all while thinking that a fight against her would be a real struggle. Koutarou knew all too well that the fighter that kept their cool the longest would come out on top.

After Koutarou and Purple’s short exchange, Yurika stepped up next to Koutarou. Negotiating with Purple was supposed to be her job.

“Purple-san, won’t you stand down?”

That was something Yurika asked her every time they faced each other. And it was a question that irritated the otherwise calm Purple to no end.

“How many times must you people repeat the same discussion before you’re satisfied?! We made up our minds to fight a long time ago! Why do you insist on asking the same thing over and over?!” she hissed.

It was quite clear this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, and it was quite clear she was sick of it.

 Purple is... What on earth?

Maki was stunned by Purple’s behavior. She was Darkness Rainbow’s de facto leader, and it was her unshakable calm that had earned her that role. To see her so worked up now... She almost looked like a different person to Maki.

Purple had gotten emotional because she saw a glimpse of her younger self in Yurika. She too had once fought against Darkness Rainbow the same way. Oblivious to this, however, Maki had no idea what had gotten into her.

“I know that there will be a fight whether or not I ask... But Rainbow Heart exists to protect the lives of the people. It’s my duty to ask anyway.”

Strangely enough, Yurika was the calm one. She knew she was in a situation that she couldn’t talk her way out of. Of course, so did Darkness Rainbow. But even so, she still had to walk the virtuous path. That was her job as Rainbow Yurika.

“Then it’s time for a rude awakening! Allow me to show you the lie you’ve been living!”

Seeing that glimpse of herself in Yurika, Purple felt like she was reliving her past. Except she was the necromancer this time. In other words, she needed to reject Yurika and what she stood for to keep walking down the new path she’d chosen for herself. She had to defeat Yurika and revive her lost love. She had to... because it was all she had.

“All right! Now you’re speaking my language, Purple!”

“Don’t get too excited, Crimson, or you’ll get the rug pulled out from under you again.”

Crimson and Green stood behind Purple on either side. The remaining three leaders, Orange, Blue, and Yellow, then fanned out behind them. And behind them all, a crowd of automated weapons appeared. Koutarou and company had come to settle things once and for all, and it seemed Darkness Rainbow was ready to do the same thing.

“Purple-san!” Yurika called out.

“It’s not going to happen, Yurika,” said Koutarou, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“But...”

“You’re right. But if you die here, what will happen to Folsaria?”

“I-I understand...”

With their enemies ready to attack at any time, any further talk could get dangerous. Yurika might simply get shot down while trying to negotiate. And since they couldn’t risk losing her here, they’d have to abandon trying to prevent the war with diplomacy.

“If it’s to protect the people of Folsaria, I will fight!”

It might not have been the correct decision, but it was the best option she had right now. Believing that, Yurika readied her staff.

“That’s right, Yurika! Now is the time to fight and protect the people you love!”

“Being a hero is hard! But it’s time to kick butt, Yurika! Sanae-chan says so!”

“The ideal would be not to fight at all, but we work with that we have. Don’t grieve your ideals being out of reach for now. Fight the good fight and continue to pursue them! Do your best! You’re only human, not some god!”

“Yes, of course! I’ll do my best!”

Above all, Yurika had friends who understood her. They knew she was really just a normal girl who hated fighting. And she was only able to fight because they were with her now. They would work together to overcome this trial, and all return to their normal, everyday life together.

“Ha, you don’t understand anything at all, Rainbow!”

Witnessing this scene, Purple’s irritation hit its limits. Yurika had no idea what it was like to lose something precious to her. She was only able to continue as a magical girl of love and justice because she had no idea what desire was like. She had no idea what ate away at Purple every day. And Purple thought it was high time she learn.

“Your fate was sealed the moment you walked in here!”

The instant Purple said that, the anomalies began.

“Network connection lost. Blue Knight can no longer be reached.”

“The comms are down?! Why?!”

“Same here! We’ve been completely cut off from the ships!”

The first anomaly was reported by Ruth’s bracelet. All forms of communication were being disrupted, severing their connection to Blue Knight. Clan couldn’t get through to her ships either.

“Satomi-san, I suddenly can’t gather any mana! This isn’t good for my magic!”

“Blue Knight! The supply of mana suddenly stopped―”

“Wh-What’s going on?! Signaltin’s powers were cut off!”

The magicians felt it next. Yurika and Maki could no longer use magic, and Harumi could no longer feel power from the sword. Effectively, they were rendered perfectly normal girls. The same was true for Shizuka, who was suddenly cut off from Alunaya.

“I’m starting to feel sick... What is this?”

“Spiritual energy field output is decreasing, ho! This is bad, ho!”

“Only 30 percent of the generator output is reaching the field, ho!”

The last to feel it were Sanae and the haniwas. The amount of spiritual energy under their control suddenly and steeply dropped off. That mostly affected the spiritual energy they could project, meaning their barriers would be significantly weaker.

“Just what is going on?!”

In Koutarou’s case, he was cut off from everything but the armor he was wearing. He couldn’t reach Blue Knight to call for Signaltin, so he would be stuck fighting with Saguratin—with less than half of the normal spiritual energy pumping through it. Koutarou’s spiritual circuity and spirit sight weren’t working like normal, either. Only his purely mechanical armor was still functioning properly.

“Let me explain it to you, boy.”

Koutarou and the others were baffled by this sudden turn of events, and even more baffled still to hear a familiar voice echo down the hall. Koutarou recognized it belonged to someone who’d been a thorn in his side multiple times now. It was Maki’s master and the former Dark Navy before her, Maya.

“Maya?! Are you doing this?!”

“Not so fast, now. It’s not just Maya. It’s me, too.”

“Elexis!”

Maya and Elexis now emerged before the group, but in a very different fashion from Darkness Rainbow. Neither of them looked ready to fight. It was like they were simply spectating.

“It’s simple. We’ve analyzed your powers and now we’re jamming them.”

“It took a lot of hard work to make this thing, you know.”

Elexis help up a metal cylinder about thirty centimeters long. It was a device specifically designed to jam gravitational waves, spiritual energy, and mana. In other words, it was the reason everyone’s powers had suddenly gone dark.

“We had to gather and analyze a lot of data to figure out how to get it to work just right. And by that, I mean only jamming your powers and not ours too. It took quite some time.”

“I see... So that’s why you left without a fight in the underground, and why you never even showed up the other day. It was all to make that!”

Koutarou finally understood what was going on. Maya and Elexis were so assured of their victory with this device that they hadn’t bothered attacking before. Darkness Rainbow had also assisted in gathering the data needed to build the device so they could use it against Rainbow Heart.

“The only element of uncertainty in this fight will be you kids.”

“If we don’t take care of you, this will probably just go the way it did underground.”

“But if we can contain that variable—you—victory will come to us on its own.”

“In other words, we have to eliminate you here.”

Ever since Koutarou and the girls had started working together, they’d become too powerful. Their whims could turn even the tides of war. They’d demonstrated as much underground. Darkness Rainbow had every confidence they could eliminate Rainbow Heart, but Koutarou and his friends were a different story. That’s why they had to take them out here. They were just too much of a liability.

“But there’s something I don’t understand.”

“And what’s that, Koutarou-kun? It’s all very logical, really.”

Elexis spread his arms out wide in a grand gesture as if to welcome Koutarou’s question. Surely it wouldn’t be anything too important.

“That’s not what I’m talking about! Elexis, you know that they’re the descendants of Grevanas and his magicians too, don’t you?!”

“Oh... I’m impressed you figured that out, Koutarou-kun.”

Elexis narrowed his eyes slightly. He’d heard the story of how Folsaria came to be from Maya, and he’d put two and two together when she told him the name of their first leader was Grevanas. Any Forthorthian would have made the connection, but Elexis was surprised Koutarou had.

Why does he know something that only the elders of Rainbow Heart should know? Did he discover it infiltrating the castle somehow? Or did the elders reveal it to him? Either way, something’s fishy. Koutarou-kun must be hiding some kind of secret...

Elexis’s suspicions about Koutarou increased. Regardless of whether he’d figured it out seeing the castle or whether the elders had shared the secret with him, there was something special going on with Koutarou. He was clearly no normal boy.

“Elexis, if you know, then why would you have them fight?! The place they want to return to is Forthorthe! You could just take them back yourself, couldn’t you?!”

What didn’t make sense to Koutarou was why Elexis hadn’t taken Darkness Rainbow to Forthorthe like they wanted. If Darkness Rainbow’s objective was to return to their true home and Elexis could get them there, then there wouldn’t be a need for this fight in the first place.

“Just taking them there isn’t enough. That won’t change Forthorthe!”

“What?!”

“If the Magical Kingdom of Folsaria remains as it is now, I can’t take them back to Forthorthe! The elders would never allow an army of magicians to intervene in another country! But if Darkness Rainbow wins, things will be different! And that’s what we need! That’s what we need to change Forthorthe!”

“Ridiculous! You’d start a war here for something that petty and pointless?!”

Koutarou was aghast at what Elexis revealed. He was trying to revolutionize Forthorthe’s current political system, and he was planning on using the Magical Kingdom of Folsaria to do it. That was why he’d struck a deal with Darkness Rainbow and supplied them with all kinds of technology. In return, they would cooperate with him once they’d finished their fight in Folsaria. And once everything was all said and done—once Darkness Rainbow and Elexis had both gotten their ways—Elexis would take anyone who wanted to go back to Forthorthe. After his revolution, Forthorthe should have no problem accepting a few immigrants from Folsaria.

Koutarou had said it was all petty and pointless, and Maya took issue with that.

“I hear you dismissing us, boy... but just how much of our circumstances do you really understand?”

Maya had a very irritated look in her eyes as she stared down Koutarou, who didn’t really know the half of things.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s true Darkness Rainbow was created with the intention of returning to our true home. But after hundreds of years of fighting, we’ve discovered more purpose than that alone! We’re not in a situation where we can just reconcile because we can suddenly return home!”

That was because of everything else Darkness Rainbow fought for. The organization was formed under the banner of returning home, but in their fight against Rainbow Heart over the centuries, things had changed. Darkness Rainbow had become a faction of like-minded people who each had individual goals they sought to accomplish with magic. Crimson wanted to get stronger, Purple wanted to revive her lost love. And right now, those people were the heart of the organization.

If Elexis had shown up hundreds of years ago when Darkness Rainbow’s main goal was still to return home, everything could have been solved by him taking them to Forthorthe. And that would make some of Darkness Rainbow’s members happy even now, but it would do nothing for Crimson and Purple. The private use of magic would still be forbidden, leaving anyone with a goal they wanted to accomplish with magic high and dry. That was why, even if they could go home now, they still had to defeat Rainbow Heart.

But the sheer amount of time the two sides had been fighting presented another problem. Hundreds of years’ worth of resentment and hatred was impossible to quash. There would be no reconciliation between the factions.

In short, Darkness Rainbow’s struggle was more fraught than it had ever been. The circumstances were delicate, and the issues complexly intertwined. Maya couldn’t forgive Koutarou for writing it all off as “petty and pointless.”

“We will defeat Rainbow Heart and return to our home in a dignified manner as partners of the new system that Elexis is creating! We have no intention of crawling back as refugees! We are the proud magicians of Darkness Rainbow!”

“If you want to stop them, then just try it, Koutarou-kun! You’ll learn the hard way what kind of power they’ve sought to this end!”

With those final lines from Maya and Elexis, the six leaders of Darkness Rainbow began closing in on Koutarou and the others. With things as they were, only Theia and Koutarou would be able to put up a fight, but even Koutarou was significantly powered down. He might just end up getting in Theia’s way. It seemed disaster and defeat were upon them.

Faced with certain death, Koutarou made the call to retreat. They would only be annihilated if they tried to fight like this. Breaking through the six leaders and destroying the jamming device Elexis was holding would be next to impossible like this, too. The only remaining choice was to run.

“Everyone, let’s fall back for now! There’s no chance of a fair fight here!”

“We’re not just going to let you escape! We knew you’d try that!”

When Purple raised her voice, automated weapons began pouring out of the stairwell that Koutarou and the others had just come from. It didn’t take a divination expert like Green to see that they were now trapped. With their objective being to eliminate Koutarou and his allies, Darkness Rainbow had deployed their forces so that there would be no escape.

“Tch! At this rate, we’ll...!”

Koutarou cut down the automated weapons in front of him with a bitter expression on his face. Thanks to his armor, he could deal with the automated weapons with ease when fighting them one at a time. But since he was swinging around a normal sword, one at a time was the best he could do. He couldn’t take them out fast enough to clear a path to the door. And with the leaders of Darkness Rainbow attacking them now too, they had to stay on the defensive.

“What’s wrong?! Is that all you’ve got when you can’t use magic, dragon girl?!”

“Oh, that’s not all! Not even close!”

Crimson had specifically targeted Shizuka, but she wasn’t using her lasers or her cannon. Instead, she’d strengthened herself with magic and was swinging her staff, now transformed into an enchanted battleaxe. In contrast, Shizuka was fighting Crimson barehanded and without the help of Alunaya’s strength or toughness. As a result, she had her hands full just avoiding incoming attacks.

“Go, Maki-chan!”

“I’m counting on you, Yurika!”

Maki and Yurika were working together to fight Green. The effectiveness of their spells was greatly reduced thanks to Elexis’s jamming device, so they chose to work together and pool their powers. Even then, however, they were only operating at about half capacity. To make the most of it, they decided to focus their mana on Maki, who could handle herself in a fight, and send her in against Green. Green clearly had the advantage in terms of magic power, but she wasn’t good in close combat. Maki and Yurika were hoping they could catch her off guard that way and force a win.

“Navy-san, if you weren’t around, then Crimson would...!”

However, Green knew exactly what they were up to. To defend herself, she trained a few automated weapons on Maki while she prepared a spell.

“Ugh!”

“Maki-chan!”

“Mirage Blast!”

“Kyaaah!”

“Stand back, Yurika!”

Yurika had cast all her magic on Maki, leaving herself defenseless on her own. Maki had to cover for both of them, which was hard while she was trying to close the distance on Green. It left them at a disadvantage, and they were both injured by Green’s spell.

“Oh? Even though your familiars have powered down, you’re still putting up a good fight.”

“They’re not familiars; they’re servants.”

“Ho! We’ve got guts, ho!”

“Let’s show them the power of haniwas, ho!”

Kiriha, meanwhile, never had any special powers to begin with. Her greatest weapon of all was her sharp mind, so she tried to fight smart, compensating for her naginata’s reduced cutting power and her weakened haniwas. It was fortunate for her that she was up against Yellow. As a specialist in defensive magic, her attack spells weren’t anything special. Even Kiriha could dodge them.

“We’re going in again, Karama, Korama!”

“No use in complaining, ho!”

“We’ll make up for what we lack with courage, ho!”

Kiriha and the haniwas’ strategy was to have Kiriha step in and attack from the front while the haniwas came at Yellow from her blind spots. In their weakened state, the haniwas didn’t have enough spiritual energy to make an effective barrier, so they’d been given a new offensive role.

“But there’s more than one way to defend yourself... Hedgehog Guard!”

However, Yellow was no ordinary magician. As a leader of Darkness Rainbow, she had more than one trick up her sleeve.

“Owowow! W-We’re hit, ho!”

“It’s spiky, ho!”

The haniwas attempted to tackle Yellow while she was preoccupied with Kiriha, but were repelled by Yellow’s barrier. That in and of itself wasn’t really a problem, but Yellow had summoned a particularly dangerous barrier. It was made of spikes, which had damaged the haniwas when they collided with it. At this rate, Yellow might be able to wear Kiriha down with her defenses alone.

“Harumi, don’t get too far away from me!”

“I’m sorry for making you fight on your own, Sanae-chan!”

“No problem! This is my time to shine!”

Sanae was desperately fighting to protect Harumi. Since Harumi couldn’t actually use magic on her own, she was defenseless once she was cut off from Signaltin. Sanae still had control of some of her psychic powers, however, which she was using to keep Harumi safe from Purple.

“Not so fast, little girl! This is just the tip of the iceberg!”

“Ugh, what a terrible personality.”

Playing along with the weakened Sanae, Purple summoned an assembly of departed souls. Sanae would easily be able to handle them under ordinary circumstances, but she was weakened and had her hands full protecting Harumi. They would eventually get the better of her at this rate.

“Sanae!”

“Gaaaaah!”

Luckily, Theia realized the danger Sanae was in and had turned her rifle on the crowd of spirits. Physical attacks had little effect on spirits, but Theia’s rifle was exceptionally high caliber and was able to deal some real damage. If Purple had chosen to summon fewer and increase their power instead, it never would have worked.

“Thanks, Theia!”

“Be careful!”

“Yeah!”

Seeing her chance, Sanae took out a few of the damaged spirits and regained some ground. It was a relief for Theia, but her opponent—Dark Orange—took her moment of distraction as an opportunity.

“Do you really think you have the time to worry about anyone else?!”

“Yikes!”

Theia swiftly jumped backward. Moments later, an orange, yellow, and red cloud appeared where she’d just been standing. It was so bright and colorful that it hurt Theia’s eyes just to look at it. Orange’s specialty was alteration magic, or the ability to change the properties of magical and nonmagical things alike. There was no way of telling what would happen to anyone who came into contact with that cloud.

“Your spells are just too slow, you see.”

“You aren’t cute at all!”

Theia had the upper hand in the fight between her and Orange. Her equipment was purely technological, so she was unaffected by the jamming device. Orange was opportunistic and had a tricky fighting style, so in a battle of firepower, Theia clearly had the advantage. Yet she just couldn’t seem to get a finishing blow on Orange.

“Ruth!”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness! Thank you!”

The reason for that was because she had to cover for her allies and was unable to focus on Orange alone. If she had been equipped with Assault Red instead of Command Green, she probably would have defeated Orange by now, but she’d also probably be out of ammo.

Meanwhile, Ruth—who Theia had just saved—was currently fighting Dark Blue.

“Why don’t you just give up? Even with all those skills you’re so proud of sealed, you have no chance of winning.”

Blue was indifferent in her attacks and spoke in a dull tone. Her specialty was summoning magic. She could call demons to attack for her, or conjure lava to pour over her opponents. She had a wide variety of options and attack modes, much like Ruth did when she had all her drones at her disposal.

“It doesn’t matter! A knight fights to protect their allies! Giving up is never an option!”

With her link to Blue Knight cut, Ruth was reduced to fighting with her beam sabers. While her skill with a blade had improved significantly, she was still more powerful with her drones and her information network. And without those trump cards, she was struggling.

“We did it, Elexis. We’ve won.”

“I’d certainly hope so after all the time and energy we put into this. I’d be massively disappointed otherwise.”

Seeing how the fight was going, Maya and Elexis were convinced of their victory. With Koutarou and the others’ abilities so compromised, they were at a distinct disadvantage and were easily being cornered by the dark magical girls and automated weapons. The battle was so one-sided that the remaining Darkness Rainbow soldiers—who’d been ordered to stand down to prevent any unnecessary casualties—were even allowed to join the fray. It seemed the outcome of this battle had already been decided.

“Damn it, I have to find a way to get everyone out of here! We’re getting destroyed!”

Koutarou frantically looked around as he fought back the enemy. He was trying to find a way to get the girls to safety. It didn’t look like anything good would happen if they stayed here. All he could see was the girls struggling and their enemies increasing. His experience told him they needed to get out.

“It can’t end here! I still haven’t―”

Koutarou took his eyes off of the mechanical soldier he was fighting for the briefest instant to scan the rest of the battlefield. When he did, it thrust its bladed right hand at his side.

“Guaaah!”

Koutarou had been attacked by so many enemies that his defenses were already compromised. The machine’s blade had no trouble piercing the weakened barrier and Koutarou’s flank underneath it. He immediately dropped to one knee from the intense shock and pain. If he’d had full control of his spiritual energy, he would have been able to use it to help dull the pain. But not now. He couldn’t even move.

“Koutarou!”

Seeing him go down, Theia let out a scream. The other girls all reflexively turned to him when they heard her shout his name, creating one giant opportunity for their enemies.

“Don’t look away in the middle of a battle! Are you girls insane?!”

“Kyah!”

“Ugh!”

“Oh no!”

The dark magical girls’ attacks rained down on the Corona House girls. They all swiftly moved to defend themselves and were able to avoid any critical damage, but they were all knocked to the ground. Now that they were prone, the next series of attacks would likely be their last. Koutarou and the girls would be defeated, and Darkness Rainbow would win. There was no longer anything they could do.

“Koutarou-kun, it’s been months since our first battle... but it seems like I’m finally about to get my first win.”

“It’s been more than ten years for me, you know? I’m just glad I got to see you get your comeuppance before I turned into an old lady.”

Elexis and Maya approached. They both thought of Koutarou and the others as opponents they had a deep connection with. They wanted to be there for their final moments.

“Elexis, Maya... You guys really got us this time. There’s nothing more we can do... You win.”

Koutarou conceded his face with a bitter smile. He truly looked like someone who’d completely given up. But seeing that, Elexis stopped dead in his tracks.

“What is it, El?”

“That doesn’t sound like something the Koutarou-kun I know would say. I think he just might be planning something. Purple-kun, kill them immediately.”

Elexis had an inkling Koutarou was trying to trick them. He’d seen Koutarou fight in the past, and he knew he was the type to defend his comrades to the bitter end. Surely he’d only give up so easily if he were trying to get his enemy to lower their guard.

Damn, he caught on...

Koutarou mentally clicked his tongue. Elexis had seen right through him. Koutarou was currently trying to overload his armor’s generator and cause it to explode. By doing that, he thought he could at least create an opportunity for the girls to get away.

“Understood. This is goodbye, intruders.”

The six dark magical girls pointed their staffs at Koutarou and the others. In a few short moments, they would all activate their specialty spells and annihilate the group.

“I won’t let you!”

Koutarou forced himself up and willed his numb legs to run right at Darkness Rainbow.

Please get away, everyone!

He would use his body as a shield and blow up his generator to give the girls a chance to escape. All he cared about was them getting to safety. He knew his plan was crazy, that it might not even work. But he still had to try.

“What a foolish man... What do you think will come from that?”

Purple sneered at Koutarou. She already knew what he intended to do, and that Yellow’s barrier would be able to block it. He would die for nothing. He would just be hurling himself into his grave a little sooner than the girls. Purple found that unbearably amusing.

Be grateful, Blue Knight, that you get to pass on with those you love. You’ll never know this desire...

Mana gathered at the tips of Purple’s staff. She and the other leaders of Darkness Rainbow would be ready to unleash their spells any second now. They, as well as Maya and Elexis, were thoroughly convinced of their victory. Victory over Rainbow Heart was sure to follow suit. It was a delightful prospect, and they all rejoiced in the imminent defeat of Koutarou and the girls from Corona House.

But unfortunately for them, the future they were so confident in was washed away by a rain of bullets. Before anyone knew it, the fight began anew.

“Guah!”

The bullets were first focused on the object in Elexis was holding, piercing it several times. He almost dropped it in surprise, but quickly secured it with both hands. He knew very well what would happen if they lost the jamming device.

“Kyaaah!”

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

Next, the storm of bullets began raining down on the six magical girls. For some reason, they pierced right through Yellow’s barrier. That should have been impossible, so it caught Darkness Rainbow quite off guard. They quickly scattered to get out of the way.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!”

Since Elexis had been attacked, Maya was enraged. She scanned the hall for the attacker, her eyes full of fury and hatred. If looks could kill, everyone in the room might have dropped dead on the spot.

“...I see you haven’t changed, Maya. You always act so confident... but the moment someone messes with something you care about, you erupt in anger.”

“That voice... No!”

“Mm, I’m afraid so.”

The mysterious attacker then revealed herself. She was petite, and had her hair bound up in her signature twintails. She had a youthful face, but keen eyes.

“Rainbow Nana! My eternal nemesis!”

Rainbow Nana had once been the strongest magical girl in Rainbow Heart. Even though she was retired, people still talked about her to this day. She was a living legend in Folsaria. The story went that she’d been seriously injured in battle and would never fight again, but here she was.

The moment Nana appeared, all of Darkness Rainbow froze. That was just how intimidating of an opponent she was. If they let their guard down for even a moment, the fight would be over instantly. Nana had claimed victory after victory over Darkness Rainbow, and was rightly feared among them.

“I’ve handed the title of Rainbow over to Yurika. I’m just Nana now.”

“So what? What kind of idiot would let their guard down because of that?”

“Honestly, I can barely use magic anymore.”

“I still won’t rest easy until I see you dead.”

Seizing the opportunity Darkness Rainbow gave her when they all froze, Nana opened fire with the gun in her right hand again. The bullets it shot were made of a combination of magical and spiritual energy. It was designed to gather and fire mana, but with Nana’s reduced mana capacity, the spiritual energy generator powering her artificial limbs supplied the gun with spiritual energy to compensate. The hybrid bullets came with a special advantage—defending against them would require two kinds of protection.

“Protection From Soul Energy!”

“Anti-Magic Shield!”

Realizing why the barrier hadn’t held up before, Purple and Yellow each cast a defensive spell. Purple’s would keep them safe from spiritual energy, and Yellow’s from magical attacks. This time, their two-fold ward successfully blocked Nana’s attack. The bullets themselves didn’t have an impressive amount of energy behind them.

“Don’t think we’re the same as before, Rainbow Nana!”

Shielded by Purple and Yellow’s spells, Maya charged at Nana. She fired her own gun, which was built into her left arm as she ran, intending to close the distance and settle things with her blade arm.

“Then let’s try this.”

However, Nana flashed a playful smile and rolled something across the floor towards her.

“Oh no!”

By the time Maya realized what it was, it exploded in a brilliant light.

Nana had tossed a flashbang. And since everyone had focused on her, it proved exceptionally effective. All of Darkness Rainbow was blinded by the flash. Everyone apart from Maya, whose mechanical body was assisting her, and Green, who didn’t rely on her eyesight to fight, was unable to move.

“Everyone, use this chance to regroup!” Nana called to Koutarou and the others.

She then ran towards Maya, who was rapidly approaching. Nana knew better than to underestimate her.

“Green, you kill the boy and the others!”

“Okay!”

The highly capable Maya engaged Nana, while Green commanded the automated weapons to deal with Koutarou and the other girls. In the present situation, it was the optimal way for them to fight.

“El, what about the jamming device?!”

“It’s all shot up! It’s only operating at partial capacity! If I bypass a circuit or two, I can keep jamming at least one of them!”

Elexis was doing his best to repair the damaged jamming device, but it was seriously compromised. He didn’t have the time or tools to bring it fully back online.

“Then make it that dragon!”

“I’m already working on it!”

Elexis concentrated the machine’s reduced jamming power on Shizuka. If Alunaya appeared now, it would all be over.

“Chatting it up with a man, huh? I guess you have changed!” Nana called out.

“And so have you!” Maya shouted back as they clashed.

Koutarou wanted to back Nana up, but most of their group was still unable to move. With the jamming down, they could use their powers again for the most part, but they weren’t able to start fighting right away. They had to recuperate and treat the most immediate injuries first.

“Men, leave Green to me! The rest of you get ready!”

Naturally, the first to take action was Theia. She was wounded and wanted to change her gear, but she knew they would be defeated if she didn’t take this opportunity to stop Green. She opened fire like she was trying to empty her clips as quickly as possible.

“You’ll never be able to handle this many weapons on your own.”

“I’ll show you exactly what I can do! It’s not like I have to win on my own, anyway!”

Green began casting spells forward while the automated weapons attacked from all sides. Theia was trying to stop them on her own, but she was horribly outnumbered. At this rate, she would be unable to suppress the enemy for much longer. It was a battle against time now.

“Yurika, Aika-san! Leave me and Ruth-san for later! Heal Sanae and Landlord-san first!”

“O-Okay!”

“Kasagi-san, I’ll heal you right away!”

Koutarou had the magicians prioritize those who would be able to get back into combat sooner. Koutarou and Ruth would both have to recalibrate their systems and summon their weapons, so healing Sanae and Shizuka, who had their own powers ready to go, would be more effective.

“Then I’m off to help Theia!”

“And I’m off to get some payback!”

“Shizuka, there’s still some interference, so I can’t use all of my strength. Don’t go overboard.”

“And to think my weight is still increasing... Unforgivable!”

With their injuries healed, Sanae and Shizuka entered the fray. That made Koutarou feel better about Theia’s position, but he still had plenty to be worried about.

“Yurika, will Nana-san be okay? She only just got better, and she can’t use magic like she could before, right?”

Koutarou was watching the fight unfold between Maya and Nana while Yurika was healing him. He was concerned about Nana, who had only just gotten her new body. Moreover, she had less mana than before and had been out of active duty for quite some time. Under the circumstances, it was especially dangerous for her to go up against Maya alone.

“She’ll be fine.”

However, Yurika, who knew Nana better than anyone, wasn’t worried in the slightest. She glanced quickly over at her best friend, and then smiled at Koutarou.

“Nana-san’s a genius magical girl, after all.”

“But she can’t use that much magic now.”

Even though she used to be a genius magical girl, she’d lost most of her body and her mana along with it. Even if she used a device to heighten what power she had left, she would never achieve the same results she used to. That’s why Koutarou was worried about her engaging Maya. It just seemed too risky.

“They called Nana-san a genius magical girl, but that doesn’t mean she was a genius at magic.”

“What?”

“She’s a genius that can use magic.”

Strictly speaking, Nana was one of the weaker archwizards when it came to magic. However, she was incredibly skilled at controlling what magic she did have and could reap great effect from even small amounts of mana. Moreover, her flashes of brilliance made her a force to be reckoned with in battle, with or without magic. Just as Yurika had said, people called Nana a genius magical girl, but the genius part came first.

“So please don’t worry. That is without a doubt the genius magical girl... Rainbow Nana.”

If Nana had been anything else, she never would have been able to fight against Darkness Rainbow on her own, and she certainly wouldn’t have been able to bring an all-out fight between them to a draw. The leaders of Darkness Rainbow weren’t so weak that they’d lose to someone just because they had an overwhelming amount of mana. That’s why, even though she now had artificial limbs and had switched from using magic to weapons, Nana was still a powerhouse. Yurika was convinced that while Nana might be weaker than she was before, she was still stronger than anyone else present. People didn’t call her a genius magical girl for nothing.

Nana had practically lost all ability to use magic. Since she couldn’t accumulate any mana in her artificial body, she could only use what little mana her organic parts still generated. Because of that, she was limited to the most basic of spells at best.

She also couldn’t store up any mana on her own without her mana core, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use an item to do it for her. She could also generate a bit of excess mana with the spiritual energy converter she had installed. And with those two things in mind, a special set of guns had been made just for Nana, Over the Rainbow.

The grip of these guns continuously absorbed Nana’s mana and spiritual energy. When fully charged, they had about fifteen shots each. When emptied, however, they would simply begin charging again. It would only be a matter of time before she had more ammo. And during that downtime, she could load them with strictly spiritual energy. The spiritual energy bullets were less powerful without any mana, but she could continuously fire them without fear of running out thanks to her spiritual energy generator. Strategically, Nana would only fire the mana bullets when she needed to break through defenses, and would rely on the spirit bullets otherwise.

“Nanaaa!”

“You’ve gotten ridiculously fast since the last time we met, Maya!”

Nana rapidly fired spirit bullets—bullets made purely of spiritual energy—at Maya. That was because she needed a lot of them to hit Maya when she was moving so fast. She couldn’t fire her magic bullets—the hybrid bullets with mana mixed in—as rapidly since there was a limit to how many she could use at a time.

“It’s just perfect to defeat you and that boy, don’t you think?!”

“It’s certainly troublesome!”

Nana tilted her head to the side. The next instant, Maya’s blade passed through the air where her face had just been.

I fired that many bullets and not a single one hit!

Nana had splendidly dodged Maya’s attack, but she was marveled by Maya’s strength. Nana’s artificial parts came with a built-in combat system, but it was only a secondary mode. Her new body had been constructed with a comfortable everyday life in mind. Maya, on the other hand, had a body built almost entirely for combat. And in that sense, she had an edge.

“But I have some other tricks up my sleeve!”

Nana spun around and lifted her arm in Maya’s direction. As she did, a glowing ball of red fire appeared in front of her hand. While small, it was still clearly a fireba spell.

“Magic?!”

“Amplifier!”

Next, the gun in Nana’s right hand began shining and a glowing magic circle appeared in front of the fireball. When she released the fireball, it shot out of her hand like one of her bullets. And when it passed through the magic circle in front of it, it grew one size larger, swelling up to the diameter of a normal fireball. When it hit its target, it would explode in a wide burst of flame, which should make it an effective attack against the swift-moving Maya.

“Quick Cast Anti-Magic Shield!”

Sensing danger, Maya quickly incanted a defensive spell with the small staff build into her left arm. Since Maya hadn’t lost her ability to accumulate mana like Nana had, she could still use spells, though not in rapid succession.

What’s going on?! Nana shouldn’t be able to properly use magic!

Thanks to Maya’s defensive spell, Nana’s attack was negated before it could do any damage. But instead of moving in for an attack, Maya then took some distance. She’d been fighting all this time under the assumption that Nana couldn’t use magic, so she needed to rethink her strategy.

“I’m surprised... I heard you were magicless now,” Maya scoffed, shooting Nana a glance that was both impressed and resentful.

Darkness Rainbow had left Nana be after determining that she could no longer use magic and was forced to retire. What Maya had just witnessed, however, turned that on its head. She genuinely couldn’t hide her surprise.

“I am.”

“Then just what was that fireball? And don’t try and feed me some lame excuse like that it was only a trick.”

“Thanks to all kinds of tools working together, I can use magic like any normal person might be able to. But it’s not my doing. And, in that sense, it is a trick.”

Nana showed off her left arm and the gun she held in her left hand. Between the two of them, she was still able to use some magic. Maya narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Nana.

“I see... I did hear a report about your apprentice having a staff that allowed anyone to use magic.”

“Correct. I’m using that in combination with the mana gathered in the guns. The only thing I’m really doing is the amplification. I still can’t use magic on my own.”

The frame of Nana’s left arm had been made by transforming the staff that Koutarou had brought back with him from past Forthorthe. It was capable of casting a wide variety of spells, but consequently at reduced power. Anything it could produce would need to be amplified to be combat worthy. However, Nana still couldn’t gather the mana to cast an amplification spell on her own. That was where her guns, Over the Rainbow, came in. They could focus her mana for her, allowing her to cast an amplification spell. So between the staff and her guns, she effectively had the magical abilities of a normal magician.

“I guess that makes us about even, huh?”

In terms of physical strength and performance, Maya was on top, while Nana won out when it came to magical ability. In Maya’s eyes, they were evenly matched overall.

“It looks like it.”

Nana agreed. It looked like their fight would drag on.

“In that case, I’ll be the one to win, seeing as I have allies on my side!”

However, Maya was still convinced of her victory. The reason for that was because she had the automated weapons at her disposal. Maya used her comms function to request reinforcements, and shortly thereafter, four automated weapons flew over to protect her.

“What a coincidence. I have allies too.”

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Nana-san!”

Fortunately, Nana wasn’t alone either. She had Yurika, who had just finished healing the others. Though their roles were somewhat reversed, this was the first time in over a year they’d gotten a chance to work together.

Thanks to the time that Nana had managed to buy everyone, Koutarou and the girls were all recovered. However, the same was true for Elexis. After finishing his adjustments on the jamming device, he boarded his personal mobile weapon to face off against Koutarou.

“It looks like you got yet another new toy, Elexis.”

“If I used the same old ones, our playtime would end the same old way.”

“That makes sense.”

“I guess I’d call this one Warlord II.”

Elexis’s mobile weapon was a five meter tall steel giant. It was an improved version of the one he’d fought Koutarou with before, and it featured a slightly different design.

“However... I can’t boast too much about the improvements this time around. It’s all from equipment Maya brought with her, so she gets all the credit.”

It seemed the modified design was the result of different magical and spiritual energy based elements being incorporated into it. It was now an amalgamation of cutting-edge Forthorthian science, Darkness Rainbow’s strongest magical powers, and the best spiritual energy technology available. So while the difference in design was slight, the overall change was significant.

“Yeah, that’s even scarier. You having friends, I mean. Your mobile weapon alone isn’t all that much of a problem.”

“I’ve learned a thing or two after losing to you a time or two.”

“There’s a limit to what a man can do alone.”

“Indeed, I feel the exact same way now.”

Koutarou’s biggest worry was Elexis’s new ally, Maya. In the past it had looked like Elexis had allies, though he was really just fighting on his own with subordinates to support him. But Maya was different. It was like the two of them were partners. And Koutarou knew better than anyone what kind of boon a genuine ally could be. It seemed Maya was already working wonders for Elexis, too. He was far more stable now than he’d been the last time he and Koutarou fought.

“It seems like you’ve changed a little bit as well, Koutarou-kun.”

“I haven’t changed. This is all borrowed too.”

“Which means it’s extremely dangerous.”

“There’s a limit to what one man can do, after all.”

“Hahaha, we’re both in quite a bind, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, it’s a sad story.”

Koutarou and Elexis drew their swords at practically the same time. They intended to treat this like a duel. They both knew that petty tricks wouldn’t work on the other.

“Sakuraba-senpai.”

“Right.”

Koutarou called out to Harumi in his mind. She responded in no time, and Signaltin began glowing in his hands.

“Please focus on controlling Signaltin. You can’t let your guard down around this guy.”

“I understand. Good luck, Koutarou-sama.”

Harumi’s hair began glowing silver as she bolstered Signaltin’s mana. Normally she’d be using any excess mana to cast spells, but her control of Signaltin wavered when she did that. Koutarou had warned her that any carelessness would prove fatal against Elexis, so she focused all of her concentration on the sword this time around.

“Then let’s go, Koutarou-kun!”

“It’s on, Elexis!”

With those words as their signal, they both advanced. Koutarou had moved first in their last match, but they were on the same page this time. That alone was proof of the improvements Elexis had made to his machine.

“Confirming hostile activity from enemy mobile weapon. GoL will now begin its offensive.”

Right on cue, Koutarou’s ancillary gear, the Garb of the Lord, made the first attack.

“Activating right shoulder laser cannon. Beginning attack on enemy mobile weapon.”

After activating the laser cannon, GoL fired on its own. Its firing control system was modelled after Theia, so it made rapid decisions and acted quickly. To anthropomorphize it a bit, it was impatient.

“Don’t fire too much. This is no ordinary opponent.”

Going up Elexis, Koutarou needed to manage not only his sword, but also his armor’s energy reserves. Koutarou warned the AI accordingly.

“...As you wish, my lord.”

There was a brief pause before it confirmed the order. Koutarou charged towards the metal giant, thinking this probably would have been where Theia started pouting.

While Koutarou and Elexis were clashing swords, battle was breaking out all over in the hallway again. The most eager and hasty of the dark magical girls was none other than Crimson. Once she set her sights on a worthy opponent, she would attack without hesitation.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment!”

“You again?!”

Crimson’s target was Shizuka. However, unlike before, Shizuka easily warded off her attack. She was currently in her half-dragon form, so she wouldn’t be done in that easily. However, despite having her attack deflected, Crimson was in high spirits.

“That’s more like it! There’s nothing fun about fighting weak opponents!”

Crimson didn’t actually care for Elexis’s jamming device. She didn’t like the idea of winning after hamstringing an opponent. She would much prefer to conquer a full-scale mountain than blow off its peak to lower the summit.

Shizuka had unbelievable power when she transformed into a dragon. And while Crimson had no interest in tangling with an actual dragon, she was quite happy fighting Shizuka in her half-dragon form. And now that she finally had the chance to do that, she was pleased as punch.

“If you’re a martial artist, you should understand what I’m after!”

“I like fighting against strong opponents just as much as the next gal, but I’m not interested in a fight to the death!”

Shizuka unleashed a roundhouse kick while denying she wanted anything to do with Crimson’s all-or-nothing mentality. She’d been practicing karate all her life and enjoyed the challenge of facing a strong opponent, but that was because they could learn from each other and grow stronger. There was nothing to be had by eliminating opponents. In short, Shizuka believed in martial arts but not violence.

“I see! That’s too bad, though! I won’t hold back!”

Crimson caught Shizuka’s kick with the haft of her axe—in other words, her staff—and quickly incanted a spell.

“Quick Cast Heat Metal!”

“Uwah! Hot!”

Only the metallically reinforced guard of Crimson’s staff, which happened to be what she’d used to defend against Shizuka’s kick, heated up quickly. She’d specifically chosen a spell to burn Shizuka, but superheating her staff would wear down its durability. She couldn’t use it too many times, but it was certainly a pain when she suddenly whipped it out in a close-quarters fight.

“Jeez... Magicians really are crazy.”

Shizuka hurriedly jumped back and repeatedly patted the burned part of her leg. It had felt really hot, but she wasn’t seriously hurt. With the power of the Fire Dragon Emperor within her, she was especially resistant to fire and heat.

“Who’s the crazy one here? Whatever. That’s more like it.”

Crimson flashed a fearless smile. The stronger her foe was, the more joy she felt in winning. She couldn’t help getting excited about her fight with Shizuka.

In contrast to Shizuka’s intense battle, Kiriha’s was progressing a little more calmly. Her opponent was Dark Yellow, who specialized in protection and reinforcement, making their fight a bit more tactical.

“Kiriha-san, was it? What trick will you show me next?”

“You’ve taken measures against electricity too... My, what should I do?”

Yellow’s signature magic gave her incredible defenses and a surprising amount of attack power. All of Kiriha’s attacks so far had had pretty much no effect, but Yellow wasn’t having the same problem. A single shot from the bow she fired pierced right through the haniwas’ barrier. Fortunately for Kiriha, however, Yellow wasn’t all that skilled in combat. She normally cast reinforcement magic on someone else and let them handle the fighting.

For now, Kiriha was focusing on finding clever openings to attack. For example, Karama would attack with eye lasers, which Korama would immediately follow up with an electric attack. The laser ionized the air, which created a path for the electricity to follow. That way, they could accurately attack Yellow’s feet, which was a particularly hard area to defend. It was a smart, unexpected strategy that played on the fact that electricity rarely ever moved in a straight line through the air.

However, being skilled at defense, the same attack would never work twice on Yellow. She quickly cast an elemental protection spell after Kiriha got her the first time, so she’d have to come up with a new strategy if she wanted to attack again.

“If you’re not making a move, then I will!”

Determining that Kiriha was probably stumped, Yellow nocked an arrow. The bow she was using was actually her staff transformed. Its attack power wasn’t all that high on its own, but she’d enhanced it severalfold with her magic. It now had firepower equivalent to that of a cannon. It was a terrifying attack, but it was just what Kiriha had been waiting for.

“Now! Do it!”

“Ho! Yurika-chan’s specialty poison gas attack, ho!”

“Poison gas isn’t very heroic, but we can’t be picky about that in this situation, ho!”

When Yellow attacked, she had to undo part of her barrier. Kiriha had had the haniwas analyze the timing, and they used that to their advantage now.

“Oh no!”

The moment Yellow fired her arrow, the haniwas each threw a ball in through the temporary hole that formed for her arrow to pass through. The balls quickly began emitting white smoke at a furious pace.

“At this rate, I’ll choke!”

Yellow was fully encompassed by her barrier. In other words, there was no way for the gas to escape. And at the rate her barrier was filling up, she was going to suffocate. Having realized that, Yellow quickly dismissed her barrier to solve the problem. She knew that Yurika was skilled with such attacks these days, so she’d thought up countermeasures in advance.

“...This is my next trick.”

“Kyah!”

The next moment, however, Kiriha came flying through the smoke and swung at Yellow with her naginata. She responded by quickly raising a ward, but because Kiriha’s naginata was infused with spiritual energy, she wasn’t able to fully block it. The force of the blow sent her flying backward.

“She fell for it, ho!”

“Ane-san really is a trickster, ho!”

“I-I was fooled... Those were just normal smoke grenades, weren’t they?”

Yellow hurriedly got back on her feet and glared at Kiriha with contempt. Completely unfazed by her stare, Kiriha firmly nodded.

“That’s correct. I don’t have any real poison gas.”

Everything had gone according to Kiriha’s plan. After forcing Yellow to strengthen her barrier, she filled said barrier with gas. Darkness Rainbow was cautious of Yurika’s magic, so it was easy enough to scare Yellow with gas that resembled it. Then all Kiriha had to do was charge through the smokescreen and get in an attack. Yellow was completely at Kiriha’s mercy.

“You won’t die a pretty death, you know...”

“Well then, allow me to defeat you quickly to forestall such a terrible thing.”

Kiriha flashed an elegant smile that she concealed behind her folding fan. She was thinking of how she should use her real poison gas, which numbed its victims.

With her connection to Blue Knight restored, Ruth summoned four small unmanned fighters. She fell back to the rear and gave them thorough orders, getting them to cooperate and attack the enemy simultaneously.

“It seems they have someone like me on their side too...”

Facing her was the summoning specialist Blue, whose fighting style was similar to Ruth’s. She called forth four demons and had them go after Ruth’s machines in a clash of fighters and familiars.

Why are the demons all shaken up? Just what are they so scared of?

But what perplexed Blue was that the demons she’d summoned were afraid. They also kept repeating some nonsense word she couldn’t understand. She’d never seen them like this before.

“Is Vadra... Vadra is attakin agen...”

“Kil... Vadra kil our kind...”

“If we don kil fas... we die tu...”

“Scared... Is Vadra...”

Ruth, on the other hand, understood them just fine. She’d heard the word they were repeating before.

“Fatra? Could they be survivors of back then...?”

Forthorthe and Earth had the same flow of time, but Folsaria and the Nether where the demons were from did not. There were also many demons that had been sent directly from past Forthorthe to present-day Earth. Because of that, there were still demons who remembered Koutarou. And Fatra, the Blue Knight, became a word they uttered in great fear.

“Keep it together! If you don’t want to die, you have to fight and win!”

Upon being scolded by their master, Blue, the demons began to settle. She was right. They knew that fighting and winning was the only choice they had. After all, even though they’d been thrown to the future and a different world to boot, the Blue Knight had still come after them.

“Go!”

“Grrraaaaah!”

“Here they come! Begin the counteroffensive!”

And so a strange proxy war broke out between Ruth and Blue. Magic and lasers flew every which way, and fangs, claws, and armor clashed. It was a chaotic fight that no one could imagine the end of.

To Green who considered herself Crimson’s partner, Maki was an eyesore. Even though they had become enemies, Crimson was still worried about her. That irritated Green to no end. Which was why, unlike the other girls of Darkness Rainbow, she had no intention of freeing Maki from her mind control and bringing her back. No, she was going to kill her where she stood.

“If only you didn’t exist!”

Green’s hatred was intense. Even Crimson’s fight with Maki had only added more fuel to her envy. Green had seen the lonely look in Crimson’s eyes when she came home that night. She never looked that way after fighting anyone else. Green had spotted it right away because she was always paying such close attention to Crimson.

“What are you talking about, Green?!”

“Shut up! Just shut up! I’ll kill you right now!”

Maki didn’t understand why Green hated her so much. That said, Green had her pride. It wasn’t like she was going to stoop to explaining herself to Maki. In the end, she knew that she was getting herself worked up for no reason.

“Phantom Blade!”

Green created several blades curved like the crescent moon to attack Maki with. They were illusions, but they still cut on contact. Green was a master of illusions, and this one was just convincing enough to trick the body into thinking it had been really been cut.

“False Vision!”

To counter that, Maki used her own illusions. Being skilled at indigo magic, her spell worked directly on her target’s mind and provided fake visual information. It was an effective defense, even against someone like Green who could see the future.

“Hmph, something like this...!”

Green shook her head from side to side to dispel the false vision. But by that time, Maki had escaped the range of the blades that Green had sent flying at her. Brandishing her greatsword, she then closed in on Green.

“Wind Blade!”

Maki infused her sword with magical power as she ran and took a big horizontal swing at Green. The wind magic she’d cast allowed her attack to reach beyond the blade of her sword.

“How about this?!”

“I won’t make― Ugh, Magic Shield!”

Even though Green could predict her opponent’s moves, she wasn’t particularly skilled in combat and had trouble dodging wide-area attacks. And upon realizing that she wouldn’t be able to evade the wind even if she escaped the blade, Green quickly cast a defensive spell to protect herself.

“Kyaaah!”

However, it was an undeniable truth that when an equally strong sword and shield met, the greater force—the attacking sword with momentum behind it—had the advantage. Green was able to block Maki’s attack, but was sent flying backward. Seeing her chance, Maki chose to pursue.

“Hah!”

However, at the last second, she relented and jumped backward instead. Just as she did, illusory blades stabbed into the ground between her and Green. Green had called them back in order to protect herself.

“...You’re pretty good, Green.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to kill you!”

Green had been sent flying, but she was able to regain her balance midair and landed safely on her feet. Normally she wasn’t this skilled in combat, but her burning rivalry with Maki brought out her latent potential. As a result, they appeared to be roughly on the same level. Their fight could go on for a while.

With her allies back in action, the load on Theia was greatly reduced. Thanks to that, she was able to focus on her own battle, which was progressing in her favor.

“Damn it! You’re really not cute at all, princess!”

“I’m selective about who I show my cute side to, and that list certainly doesn’t include you.”

“See? Not cute at all!”

Orange stamped her feet in frustration, which was perfectly understandable. She’d been wounded and her outfit was now dirty and torn. Orange liked dressing up and looking nice, so this was a particularly distasteful development to her.

“I’ll defeat you right here and now! Then I’ll get to listen to your adorable voice as you beg for mercy!”

“Do it if you can!”

Theia flashed a fearless smile and slashed at Orange with the heat knife in her hand. Her current fighting style involved firing her assault rifle while closing in to strike with her knife.

I have the upper hand now, but this is bad...

While her expression was one of confidence, Theia was panicking a little on the inside. The truth was that she was almost out of ammo. With her connection to Blue Knight restored, she could just switch out her Combat Dress accessories when she needed to, but she would be defenseless while she did it. Orange wouldn’t be kind enough to wait patiently while she changed, and there were also the automated weapons and soldiers in the area to consider. That being the case, changing now would be suicide. She’d have to make do with her heat knife and the ammo she had left.

“A girl shouldn’t be using a violent weapon like a knife! Just imagine being on the receiving end!”

Orange blocked the knife with her staff. Her staff was decorated with expensive jewels and cloth, the complete opposite of Theia’s sleek and rugged knife. Moreover, whenever Orange swung her staff, it spread glittering powder like diamond dust.

“Which one of us is the violent one?! You’re the one spreading around that suspicious powder!”

The powder in question was a product of Orange’s magic. Being skilled at alteration, she’d prepared all kinds of tricky traps for Theia. One of them was the glittering powder, which caused chemical burns just by touching it.

“Whaaat?! You don’t think it’s cute?!”

Sensing that Theia was growing wise, Orange turned her staff towards her in an exaggerated fashion and tried to spray the powder all over her.

“I’ve got you!”

“Aagh! Wh-What?!”

That was where Theia grabbed both of Orange’s wrists and restrained her. She got some of the glittering powder on her in the process, but there was no time to complain about that. There was something Theia had to, and she was prepared to suffer a few minor burns for it.

“Blue Knight! Change Combat Dress to Assault Red!”

“As you wish, my princess.”

She needed to swap her accessories and replenish her ammunition. Before Orange’s very eyes, Theia’s dress changed from green to red, from command to assault gear. By the time Orange realized what that meant, the damage was already done.

“Oh no! I was tricked!”

“Hahahaha! Look where being cute got you!”

“Grrr!”

With her arms restrained, Orange couldn’t even use magic. Her allies wouldn’t risk hitting her to shoot Theia, either. And so Theia cleverly and safely managed to change her armament.

Sanae was going up against Purple again. Sanae’s spiritual energy far exceeded human limits, and without proper measures, not even a leader of Darkness Rainbow stood a chance against her. That is, except for Purple. She used necromancy and magic that manipulated spiritual energy. With some measures prepared beforehand, she would be able to put up a good fight against Sanae.

“Now it’s my turn, Purple!”

As Sanae ran towards Purple, she emitted a glowing aura. Some of the overwhelming amount of spiritual energy within Sanae’s body was leaking out and transforming into light. It was proof that her spiritual abilities were so strong that they had the power to warp even the physical world.

“Just how much can you do before the very gates of hell...? Activate Precast Spell: Summon Abyss Gate!”

“What is this?!”

Sensing something abnormal, Sanae instinctively stopped in her tracks. The abnormal presence was coming from behind Purple. At first there was nothing there, but a few seconds after Sanae sensed it, a black dot appeared. The dot gradually grew larger, turning into a murky whirlpool.

“This is bad news...”

The murky whirlpool gradually grew larger and eventually reached several meters in size. The black dot in the center also grew larger. To Sanae, it already looked less like a whirlpool and more like the embodiment of malice.

“Why did you do that? Do you realize what you’ve done?”

What Purple had summoned was an embodiment of greed that prioritized itself and denied others. It was on a smaller scale, but it was the same power that Tayuma had come into contact with.

“Oh, I know. I know exactly. I opened the gates of hell.”

“You don’t understand! This isn’t normal magic!”

“I do understand. At the very least, while I have this, it’ll cancel out your powers!”

Purple was right. The light surrounding Sanae grew weaker as the whirlpool of malice, the gates of hell, opened. Sanae’s power was born from the energy of optimism, hope, and vitality. It was the exact opposite of the power overflowing from the gates of hell. Purple was going to weaken Sanae this way, and then finish her off herself.

Purple doesn’t get it! If she uses this, she’ll be dragged into it too! Just like that creepy old man! I have to hurry and do something!

Sanae recalled Tayuma as she stared into the gates of hell. Tayuma was the kind of man who didn’t hesitate to blame all of his misfortune on others. Even though the malice she’d conjured was smaller, Purple would meet the same fate if she continued to curse others.

“You will die here! By my hand!”

“If Purple falls unconscious, will that go away...? I don’t know, but I’ll at least give it a try!”

Determination burned in Sanae’s eyes as she ran towards Purple. She wasn’t thinking of defeating her. She only wanted to protect her friends and save Purple from herself. Sanae’s meeting and parting with the ghost woman that had attacked her in the past was what led her to this conclusion. And that kindness would become a great power to combat the gates of hell. Sanae, after all, believed that love was all.