Chapter 2 - The War Begins
“Whoo. It’s really getting chilly.”
The Imperial Gold Knight sighed as he gazed up at the twilit sky. His breath came out white, rising over the encampment on a hill along the old Yamato border.
“I swear, a couple of big shots decide they want to have a power struggle, and all of a sudden, it’s all war all the time. I’m sick of this nonsense. I just wanna go home.”
Winter was around the corner, and yet here they were, still fighting. He clicked his tongue. The whole year had been a mess from start to finish. If he’d known that this was how things would play out, he would’ve gone on that damn New World campaign. Stories claimed it was summer all year round over there.
As he grumbled, another Gold Knight standing beside him nodded in agreement…
“Look, we already beat the Bluebloods. We’ll be home free if we can clean up this mess.”
…and offered him some words of encouragement.
“That’s a big if,” the first man replied, laughing sardonically. “You think Yamato’s gonna accept our demand?”
The question made his compatriot’s expression darken. “Those honor junkies? Not a chance.”
These two had fought in the previous Yamato war, and they knew all about the samurai way. Yamato’s people weren’t the sort to sell out their saviors.
Plus, if the rumors about the self-governing dominion maintaining itself via mind control were true, then the Yamato citizens were undoubtedly furious. It was painfully obvious they’d fight to the bitter end.
The battle ahead was shaping up to be a fierce one.
That said, it wasn’t all bad news.
“But still, you heard about how big our army is, right? A hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, man. A hundred and fifty thousand. They even pulled in those watching the borders. We’re talking all-out war. Yamato’s got, what, ten thousand tops? Plus, that’s not accounting for how exhausted they are after battling their own countrymen. This will be the easiest war ever.”
“I mean, that’s all true, but still, I dunno…”
As the two knights exchanged optimistic and pessimistic views, a soldier rushed up to them in a hurry. “Come quick! Yamato’s White Wolf General is here as a messenger.”
“Oh, huh. Can’t say I expected the new samurai general to deliver the news in person.”
The knights braced themselves. It was time.
There was only one reason she was here—to formally announce Yamato’s reply to the demand Grandmaster Neuro sent yesterday.
“So what’d she say? Is Yamato refusing to submit like we suspected?”
“A-actually, about that!”
Yamato’s answer was the last thing the knights had expected. Not a single one of the soldiers had seen this coming. A shocked stir ran through the crowd.
Six of the High School Prodigies stood pathetically, each stripped of their clothes and bound in iron chains.
“Are those supposed to be the angels?”
“What the hell? They’re just kids. Is Yamato trying to pull a fast one on us?”
“No, no. Back when I was in Drachen, I saw them from a distance. I didn’t get a great look, but that’s definitely them there.”
White Wolf General Shura was standing at the front of the procession, leading the Prodigies by the chain. She addressed the two knights. “I’ve brought you every angel in Yamato, just like you asked.”
Princess Kaguya’s new Yamato had betrayed its saviors and handed them over to the empire.
“Heh-heh. That’s a smart choice you made. I didn’t know you guys had it in you,” said one of the Gold Knights.
“I guess having your country destroyed does teach you a lesson or two,” added the other. Their nervous tension gave way to relief, and their comments were correspondingly smug. “Now, let’s make this handoff nice and quick, yeah?”
However, when the two knights demanded that Shura give them the High School Prodigies…
“No.”
…she coldly refused.
“Huh?”
“I need the grandmaster to promise never to interfere with Yamato’s affairs again before I relinquish them. Until then, I won’t let you lay a finger on the captives.”
“You little punk, you think this is a game or someth—?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“…”
Shura didn’t falter in the face of a military group thirty thousand strong. That was menacing on its own to the pair of Gold Knights. As the two of them recoiled in awe, Shura went on. “We did what you asked. Now it’s your turn to show some sincerity. If you give me any more lip, you’re not getting them. And if you try seizing them by force, I’ll cut you all down.”
“H…ha-ha! Looks like the White Wolf General’s got some fight in her!”
“Sh-she’s so overconfident that it’s actually hilarious!”
A single girl stood before thirty thousand soldiers, threatening to slay them. The whole thing was preposterous. The knights and soldiers laughed, guffawing with great smiles. However, their grins froze tight on their faces only moments after.
The truth dawned on them.
Sure, there was no way she could actually kill thirty thousand troops on her own. But the thing was…Shura was Yamato’s samurai general, and her combat prowess was unrivaled. Even if she couldn’t fell the whole group, the three hundred or so nearest to her would undoubtedly die.
“Fine. We’ll take you to the grandmaster.”
“But in exchange, you have to let us surround you. And don’t even think of pulling any funny business.”
The two knights reluctantly accepted Shura’s demand and allowed her into their encampment.
It was negligent of them. Careless. But who could blame them for the decision? Shura wouldn’t attack thirty thousand soldiers alone. Her threat was a mere bluff. Even if she died a hero’s death and claimed three hundred on her way out, it wouldn’t change the greater war situation. She would die for nothing.
Why would a warrior about to become Yamato’s samurai general choose such a meaningless death? She wouldn’t. It was unthinkable.
And that was precisely why her surprise attack was guaranteed to work.
“Mwa-ha-ha. Now then, kiddos, allow me to reveal the truth! The item you’ve chosen…is sugar!”
“Whaaaaat?!?!”
“But how did you know?!”
“How? Bwa-ha-ha! Reading your tiny minds is child’s play for one so omnipotent!”
“Whooooa!”
“You’re amazing, God Akatsuki!”
“But that’s so unscientific…”
While the High School Prodigies were seemingly away, about to get handed over to the imperial army, Prince Akatsuki was looking after some children in Azuchi, entertaining them with simple magic tricks.
“Thank you so much for helping out, Akatsuki,” said Lyrule, who was serving as his assistant.
“What, the kids? Of course. This stuff is easy peasy.” Akatsuki looked up at the moonless sky. “Tsukasa and the others must be getting started about now.”
Suddenly, the blood drained from Lyrule’s face. “…”
“Is everything okay?”
“He saw… Tsukasa saw…everything… Ohhh…,” she mumbled.
She trembled, and as the quivering intensified…
“UGH!”
…she eventually exploded in rage.
“I can’t believe her, I can’t believe her, I can’t believe her! Yggdra, you jerk! You jerky jerkface! If you think I’ll ever let you possess me again after that, you can think again, missy! And in front of Tsukasa, no less… Oh, I can’t. I can’t! I just caaaaaaan’t!”
Lyrule, face bright red, sobbed as she recalled the humiliation she’d suffered while unconscious back at the elf village.
“H-hey, don’t worry about it. Tsukasa gave her his jacket right away.”
“That’s not the issue!”
Akatsuki understood Lyrule’s feelings. During his time in elementary school, he was picked on for his looks, and he still recalled the misery from when a classmate pulled down his pants and underwear. It had brought him to tears then, and Akatsuki could imagine how much worse it felt for a teenager.
Tsukasa surely sympathized, thus…
“Seriously, you don’t have to worry. Tsukasa would never commit to memory something that makes you uncomfortable. He’s probably already purged the image from his mind!”
…Akatsuki tried to use that to cheer Lyrule up.
However, a conflicted expression crossed the girl’s face…
“Th-that would make me sad, too, in its own way…”
“Huh?”
“N-n-n-n-nothing!”
…and she pursed her lips and whispered something Akatsuki couldn’t make out.
The magician tilted his head in confusion.
Before he had a chance to ask follow-up questions, though…
“Hey! Hey, God!”
…a group of bandaged Yamato soldiers came rushing over to him.
There were twenty in all.
“Wh-wha-what’s going on?! Errr, what cause have you for this commotion, mortals?” Akatsuki asked, choking back his surprise.
The soldiers surrounding him were among those injured in the recent battle. They flung questions at him with frantic looks in their eyes.
“Is it true that Shura’s team left for the front already?!”
“What the hell?! Why didn’t they bring us along?!”
“Yeah, I don’t get it! A broken bone or two is a scratch for a Yamato samurai! We can still fight!”
“I-I’m sure that, uh…,” Akatsuki stammered.
Blood trickled from the bandages wrapped around the soldiers’ foreheads, yet they demanded to know why they weren’t called to battle. As they lamented that their friends had departed without them, Akatsuki found himself at a loss for words.
However…
“I’m afraid none of you is fit to go.”
…the prodigy doctor Keine Kanzaki came over in her white doctor’s coat when she saw the wounded soldiers kicking up a fuss and chided them in Akatsuki’s place.
“Keine?”
“Ms. Angel Doctor…”
“Anyone who isn’t in tip-top shape will jeopardize the operation,” Keine said. “Your sole job is to rest.”
“B-but they’re up against thirty thousand soldiers!”
“They need all the help they can get, even from the wounded!”
Keine shook her head. “Another one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers are waiting behind those thirty. This battle will be a skirmish, nothing more. Pushing yourselves and aggravating your injuries now would leave you unfit for when a truly decisive battle arrives. Besides, there are young children here who need looking after.”
“I mean…”
“…”
The coming conflict was going to be an all-out war between Yamato and Freyjagard, and everyone knew it. The soldiers had no choice but to surrender to Keine’s logic. Even if they understood it in their heads, though, their hearts were a different matter. Sitting back and relaxing while allies stood against a huge disadvantage felt wrong. Their expressions darkened with guilt.
If they kept on like that, it was likely to affect their recoveries. That was a problem, as their sole job right now was to heal up as fast as possible so they’d be ready to fight in the future.
To put her patients at ease, Keine gave a relaxed smile…
“I understand the concern over the enemy’s numbers. However, I ask that you do your best to trust our allies. There’s no need to worry. After all, I know Aoi’s strength better than anyone.”
…and looked to the western sky, toward where the hero she’d worked beside for so long was fighting.
“I would say that Aoi is worth a thousand soldiers, but I’m afraid that would be selling her short.”
While Keine voiced her faith in Aoi Ichijou…
“Shall we begin?”
…that very same prodigy swordmaster, who’d been brought to the enemy camp, ripped through her shackles like they were made of dead branches.
“Huh?”
The imperial knights’ eyes went wide at the shocking turn of events.
Naturally, Aoi had no intention of giving them time to get their bearings.
“Shura, m’lady!”
“On it.”
Shura removed Mikazuki’s lapis lazuli sheath from her waist and tossed it over. Aoi caught it and drew the blade faster than the eye could see, cutting away her fellow prisoners’ shackles.
“Arrrrrgh!”
Her stroke caught a few of the enemy soldiers, too.
Finally, the knights were making sense of the situation. “I-it was a setup! Those Yamato bastards betrayed us!” they shouted.
To that, the newly freed Shinobu Sarutobi…
“Not much of a betrayal if we were on opposite sides from the start!”
…picked up one of the fallen soldiers’ swords and slashed at the Gold Knights’ throats.
That’s right, Shinobu Sarutobi. The one who’d left to go on a solo mission in the empire. She shouldn’t have been there. And it wasn’t just her, either. Tsukasa, Ringo, and even Akatsuki cleaved through the imperial troops with masterful swordplay. None of it made any sense—or rather, it wouldn’t have if it were truly them.
Aoi Ichijou was the only genuine High School Prodigy among their ranks. All the others were Yamato ninjas. By disguising themselves, they’d fooled their enemies into dropping their guards.
“You all have weapons now, I trust?” Aoi asked.
“That we do, Ms. Angel!”
“They’re not the greatest, but they’re plenty for us to smash in these weak little bean sprouts’ heads!”
Aoi nodded. “Then let us be off!”
“All units, scatter!” Shura barked.
“““Yes, ma’am!”””
On Shura’s command, the Yamato ninjas in the imperial vanguard headquarters let out a battle cry and turned their weapons on the horrified Freyjagard infantry.
“What the hell?!” an imperial exclaimed. “Nobody in their right mind would storm an enemy camp with a squad that small!”
“Ha!” one of the ninjas laughed. “Anyone from Yamato would gladly lay down their life for their nation. That’s even true of royal family members! You think this is enough to make a ninja lose heart?!”
“Arrrrgh!”
“They’re too strong!”
“Use your heads, you idiots! I don’t care if they’re from Yamato; we still have them surrounded! Just crush them with numbers! Box each of them in and beat them dead!”
As Aoi and the ninjas charged the enemy line and mowed their way through the enemy camp, their opponents panicked. The imperial knights shouted angrily at their cowardly subordinates, and the fact of the matter was, they were right. Yamato warriors were unmistakably strong, but each was a match for only ten Freyjagard soldiers at most. The imperials’ current numbers advantage far surpassed ten-to-one. All they had to do was throw more bodies at the ninjas than they could handle.
It was the perfect plan.
Or it would have been if not for the new moon.
“Agh! Quit shoving me, you dumbass!”
“I—I can’t! We’re packed in too tight!”
“Where’d they go?! It’s too dark to see any— URK!”
“These bastards are using the cover of night to blend in with the crowd!”
Torches didn’t shed light very far, and the visibility problem worsened with so many people packed together. Catching the Yamato ninjas weaving through the ranks was impossible.
And to make matters worse…
“Damn it; they’re just killing everyone within reach!”
…the numbers advantage that would usually have given the empire the edge was working against it.
Each of the imperial soldiers was surrounded by friendlies. They wanted to avoid hitting their allies in the dark, and that stayed their sword arms.
For the Yamato ninjas, though, it was the exact opposite. Being so thoroughly outnumbered allowed them to cut down others indiscriminately without concern they might hit an ally. They could lash out at any humanoid shape in the dark with impunity, and they did just that, cleaving through all obstructions while utterly unimpeded by the night.
It quickly dawned on the knights how much danger they were in. They shouted new orders to get the troops to move apart. “Clumping up like this is just playing into their hands! Fall back and spread out for now! Spread ooooout!”
However, it was too late.
The ninjas smirked. “Ha! You really think we’ll let you off the hook that easily?!”
They’d deftly turned the whole situation to their advantage, but they numbered only a handful. Once the Freyjagard side rallied and took advantage of its size, the ninjas would be overrun immediately. Not even Yamato soldiers could keep on fighting forever.
So why had they sprung this bold raid with so few? How could they fight a suicidal battle with such glee?
The answer was simple.
The surprise attack was a diversion to ensure the real ambush was successful.
““AAAAAAGH!!!!””
“Wh-what’s going on?!”
An abrupt chorus of screams sounded from across the hill like thunder. And as the bewildered soldiers braced themselves…
“I-it’s an ambush! Those Yamato bastards are charging out from the woods!”
“They used the others as a distraction to get in close! W-we’re surrounded!”
…news of the real situation arrived.
A war cry shook the night.
“““HRAAAAAAAAH!”””
“We can’t let our samurai general hog all the glory!”
“Mow them down, every one of ’em!”
Approximately a thousand soldiers from the main Yamato Army came pouring from the woods around the hill, carving their way through bunched-up imperial warriors just as Aoi and the ninjas had.
As Aoi observed…
The plan gave me pause when first I heard it, but I never imagined they would fall so thoroughly for our ploy!
…she offered silent thanks to the one who’d proposed this brilliant tactic.
“You wouldst have us take the initiative, then?”
“That’s right.”
After receiving the message from Foremost and rushing back to Yamato, Tsukasa held a meeting with Kaguya about how to respond. He proposed making the first move instead of waiting for Freyjagard.
“There’s no room for negotiation on our end, so one way or another, this war is happening. Trying to avoid the inevitable will weaken our position. We should launch a surprise attack while the enemy still thinks they can bait us into bargaining and try to do enough damage to improve our tactical situation.”
“I must say, I’d not taken you for such a warmonger.”
“I like to think of it as proactive self-defense.”
That earned a chuckle out of Kaguya. “Ah, what a way you have with words.” Her expression swiftly turned serious again. “I am of a mind to adopt this plan of yours. The question is, how do we accomplish it?”
Tsukasa laid out the specifics. “We start with the thirty thousand camped out on that hill by the border. We’ll pretend to accept their terms to get close, then have Aoi, Shura, and a few other capable fighters strike. That’ll throw the enemy vanguard into chaos. Then, before our enemies can collect themselves, our main force will rush the flanks…
“…surrounding and exterminating thirty thousand troops with only a thousand from Yamato.”
“Wh—?!” Kaguya’s eyes went wide. Tsukasa had suggested they encircle thirty thousand enemies with a mere thousand of their own troops. She thought it had to be a joke.
However, Tsukasa was serious.
“The plan seems terrible if you only consider the numbers, of course, but the people of Yamato have physical abilities that far outstrip the imperials’. The last war with Freyjagard was primarily conducted with orderly group clashes, but this will be a chaotic close-quarters skirmish with both sides jumbled together. Orders won’t travel well. It’s the perfect opportunity for individually capable warriors to shine.”
The numerical disadvantage wouldn’t change, and Yamato couldn’t win this war through conventional means. It needed to flip things around such that battles weren’t about total size but the individuals engaged. As Tsukasa explained, that was the only way they were going to be able to survive.
Kaguya seemed hesitant at first…
“I think it’s a good idea.”
…but Shura, who was attending the war council as Yamato’s new samurai general, approved of the plan.
“If anything, this is how we’ve always fought.”
Guerrilla tactics were one of the best ways to take advantage of capable lone warriors. During the last Yamato war, that was one of the big reasons that the nation had held off Freyjagard’s huge force for months despite Mayoi’s betrayal causing catastrophic losses during the first few days of the conflict.
Upon hearing the confidence in Shura’s voice, Kaguya steeled her resolve in turn. “Very well. If my samurai general says it’s possible, that is proof enough for me.”
Shura nodded. “Mm.”
With that, the strategy was decided.
Tsukasa turned from Kaguya to Shura, the person in charge of managing Yamato’s armed forces. “We’ll carry out the operation just before the deadline Neuro set for your response, on the night of the new moon in seven days.
“Our mission is simple: advance and annihilate. When the time comes, don’t worry whether the person before you is an enemy. Don’t think. Don’t make decisions. Thinking gives your opponents a chance. And when you’re cornered on all sides, an opening could prove fatal.
“If you have time to think, you have time to slash. If there’s a moment to make a decision, it should be spent wielding your blade. There’ll be hostiles every way you look. Focus on cleaving through every person you can reach. Anything less means you won’t get out alive. Make sure your soldiers understand that.”
Shura gave Tsukasa a resolute nod.
The new moon was a supreme stroke of good fortune for the Yamato side, allowing Tsukasa’s unusual night raid to go off without a hitch.
The samurai knew their homeland like the backs of their hands. When Aoi’s group sprang the surprise attack and scattered the imperial vanguard, the Yamato forces encircled them immediately. From there, all the samurai had to do was press inward. They charged their huddled foes, taking full advantage of their natural talents.
By contrast…
“Hey! Quit shoving me, asshole!”
“What the hell are you guys doing?! Just kill them already!”
“AAARGH! We’re on the same side, dammit!”
“I can’t even tell what’s going on! Where are the hostiles?!”
“A-ahhhhh! I—I can’t take this anymore! I wanna go hooooome!”
…the imperial soldiers succumbed to terror and were thoroughly routed.
Their huge numbers were backfiring in a big way.
With no moon and the torchlight blocked by the mob, they couldn’t see the oncoming Yamato warriors. Spurred by terror, the imperials accidentally struck one another. The knights at the center of the imperial ranks couldn’t bear to stand around doing nothing, and while they wished to rush in to provide backup…
“Shit, shit, shit! Even if we try to help, there are too many friendlies for us to swing our swords!”
“And while we’re busy tripping over one another, the enemies are free to cleave through our ranks! Grouping up makes us sitting ducks!”
“We’ve gotta fix our visibility problem! That means more light! I want Dragon Knights in the sky over every spot we’re being attacked! Go, go, go!”
…things were too chaotic for that. So they settled for barking new orders.
The Dragon Knights hurriedly paired with mages and prepared for takeoff. The plan was to take the mages up and have them spread light all across the battlefield.
That was the standard operating procedure for fighting nighttime battles. And because it was the typical strategy, the Yamato side knew how to respond.
“There’s…movement…at the back…of the enemy lines.”
“Can you be more specific, Ringo?”
“Um… It looks like…they’re getting their dragons…flight ready.”
“Good. That’s what we expected.”
Over in the woods near the battle, Tsukasa and Ringo waited in their truck and watched the imperials via a satellite flying high above the ground.
They had no intention of letting their enemies do as they pleased. The two had preparations in place to dash the imperials’ hopes.
“It’s our job to provide the backup. Let’s do this,” Tsukasa said.
Ringo nodded. “Bearabbit, start the engine.”
“Pawger that!”
On Ringo’s order, the entire truck shook.
Meanwhile, over at the imperial vanguard encampment…
“Those damn samurai bumpkins think they’re all that. We’ll see who’s laughing now!”
“You mages charge steep rates for your services. It’s time for you to earn your keep.”
“From what I hear, you Dragon Knights earn a fair amount, too.”
Yamato’s attacks hadn’t reached the center of the imperial camp, so things there remained relatively calm. Once each Dragon Knight had a mage seated behind them, they all took off into the moonless dark.
As their allies below scattered like rats in the face of the Yamato offensive…
“Lightbolt.”
…the mages lit up the sky with what looked like miniature suns.
The lights were blinding up close, but they perfectly illuminated the surroundings for those on the ground. Powerful beams of white light seared their way across the night, revealing their foes.
“There they are! Surround them!”
“Ah!”
“Arrrrgh!”
With the Yamato fighters visible, they’d lost their advantage. A single Yamato samurai could hold their own against ten soldiers, but the imperials could easily provide twenty for a single opponent. The light had exposed the Yamato soldiers, and the imperials began overpowering them with their numbers.
The Dragon Knights cheered as they flew back and forth to brighten the sky with magical light. Yamato’s strategy relied on hiding in darkness, and the Dragon Knights were glad to rob them of it. With the sky illuminated, Yamato’s battle plan would collapse.
However…
…Tsukasa had prepared for this.
“Huh?”
The Dragon Knights came to a halt in midair. They were a fair distance above the clash on the ground, so they could recognize something was happening in the distance. An unsettling noise was rumbling from somewhere nearby, a sound like a repeated explosion. And it was getting closer.
“What’s up with that noise?”
“H-hey, what the hell is that thing?!”
The cacophony grew steadily greater, and when the Dragon Knights followed the noise to its origin, they spotted something over Azuchi. It gave off a bizarre chopping noise, as though rending the air. Once it got closer, the knights realized it was a flying object with a pair of lights.
“They’ve got a dragon?! No, wait, it looks like it’s made of bone or something. I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“Why are its eyes glowing like that?!”
The object was about sixteen hundred feet away now, and the Dragon Knights gawked as they stared into their spyglasses with shock. Between the shafts of light coming from its eyes and its hard exterior, the approaching object wasn’t even clearly a living being.
The Dragon Knights’ confusion was understandable. The people of this world lacked the knowledge to comprehend the approaching machine. Ringo Oohoshi had taken the frame and engine from the Prodigies’ truck and attached a propeller on top, while Bearabbit had handled the electronics manually. The result was a makeshift helicopter.
“Agh! Wh-what’s going on?!”
“Something just came shooting out of the bone dragon!”
A massive roar shook the air like thunder, even overpowering the helicopter blades. A scarlet streak shot from the helicopter, rocketing past the Dragon Knights.
One incomprehensible thing happened after another, and the Dragon Knights lacked the capacity to process it all.
That said, it took little time for them to understand the danger they were in.
“Aaagh!”
“Gyaaah!”
Ruptures burst in succession. With each one, a Dragon Knight fell, all of them spraying blood as they dropped lifelessly from the sky.
One knight’s head was blown clean off. Another’s dragon lost a wing. The source of the booms was…
“A sniper! Whoever’s riding that bone dragon thing is shooting us!”
“D-don’t be crazy—we’re sixteen hundred feet from that thing! What the hell kind of gun can land hits from tha—? GAH!”
With each flash, another crimson flower bloomed in the sky.
Thanks to its night-vision scope, the sniper rifle was able to strike down the imperials’ air support with terrifying precision. Bearabbit had borrowed one of Yamato’s wrought iron forges to cobble it together, and the person pulling the trigger…
“Ten down.”
…was none other than prodigy politician Tsukasa Mikogami.
“Th-that’s amazing, Tsuclawsa! Are you sure you’re not secretly a pawdigy marksman?”
“Any real prodigy marksman would have landed that first shot, too. The whole point of sniping is to exact certain death. Missing my first round makes me third-rate at best.” Tsukasa shrugged. He was no virtuoso, that was for sure. “Still, even a dabbler has his place—and right now, mine is here.”
As he spoke, Tsukasa pulled the breechblock on the rifle he’d brought from Elm and ejected the spent shell. Then he steadied the gunstock against his shoulder, took aim…
…and fired.
With every pull of the trigger, another dragon Tsukasa spied through his night-vision scope dropped to the ground like a stone.
Tsukasa’s movements were as fluid as a running stream. There wasn’t so much as an ounce of hesitation to his shots because there was no need to be. The reason for that lay in his first shot—the one he’d described as a miss. It had flown past the Dragon Knights, painting a red trail through the dark; the special bullet was called a tracer round. By watching the arc it drew through the air, Tsukasa had discerned the effect his rifle, the crosswind, and the helicopter’s shaking had on his shots. Armed with that information, all that remained was to find the right position, take aim, and fire.
It took a lot of work to pull a trigger without letting the barrel shake, but Tsukasa had training. If a result could be achieved through hard work, Tsukasa always made sure to put in the hours.
“Twenty down.”
Tsukasa Mikogami wasn’t a prodigy. Not the sort he’d referred to, at least. When any of the other High School Prodigies learned something new in their field of expertise, they could use that one fact to comprehend ten more, then put those ten to a hundred different uses. But not Tsukasa. Whenever he learned something, it remained singular, no matter the subject in question. He could even be called the archetypical everyman.
However, he learned that fact down to his bones.
Whenever Tsukasa took something in, he spared no effort in comprehending it entirely, making it a part of himself. That ideology underpinned everything Tsukasa Mikogami did—his uncompromising focus and devotion. His methods weren’t limited to political work. That was how he approached everything. His old friend Masato Sanada had described him thusly:
“Tsukasa Mikogami might never become the best at anything. But the thing is, he can be the second best at everything.”
“Fifty.”
Tsukasa had felled a third of the Dragon Knights, and that hadn’t gone unnoticed. The Dragon Knights realized they’d be of no use to their allies below until they handled this new threat.
“Dammit, they’re picking us off like flies!”
“We have to stop that bone dragon!”
“HRAAAAAAAAH!!!!”
The one-sided, long-range massacre sparked a fury in the Dragon Knights that roared like an inferno. They bellowed with rage as their dragons soared, beelining for Tsukasa’s helicopter as fast as they could.
There were more than a hundred of them, and not even Tsukasa could drop that many knights when they came charging at once. A single rifle couldn’t fire that many shots in time, even if every bullet found its mark. And while the helicopter did have a Gatling gun left over from its former life as a truck, the weapon’s accuracy couldn’t hold a candle to Tsukasa’s sniper rifle, making it a poor deterrent against the coming horde.
Like it or not, the knights were closing in.
Once the dragons got within three hundred feet, the helicopter would fall under the mages’ firing range. There was no way a makeshift copter would withstand a concentrated magical bombardment from all directions.
Yet…the Dragon Knights’ attack proved foolish.
Flying over a forest in enemy territory was like begging to be killed.
“A-agh! There are arrows coming out of the forest!”
“Yamato soldiers! They’ve got archers down there!”
Fire arrows came speeding up at the Dragon Knights from the woods. On Tsukasa’s instructions, Hibari’s archer squad had remained hidden in the trees instead of joining the battle at the onset. Waiting under the Dragon Knights’ projected flight path gave them the perfect position to shoot them down.
The fire arrows found their marks in the dragons’ wings and chests, and the creatures shrieked as they faltered and tumbled in droves, disappearing into the forest canopy.
Losing their allies dramatically curbed the remaining Dragon Knights’ enthusiasm. And when they slowed their charge…they became easier targets.
“““AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”””
Tsukasa took aim and used his keen accuracy to shoot them down one by one.
If the imperials acted decisively and continued their push, ignoring the arrows, the fight might have turned in their favor. Hidden archers were a problem, but felling a dragon in flight from directly below wasn’t easy. Most of the Dragon Knights would have survived, yet they’d stopped.
Why?
It was because of Tsukasa’s decision to specifically employ fire arrows.
Fire arrows were deadly projectiles capable of inflicting wounds via the piercing tips or the intense flames. However, they also revealed where the archers were, defeating the point of attacking under the cover of night. The Dragon Knights would’ve had a much harder time evading if the arrows weren’t alight.
So why bother using them? Because Tsukasa wanted the imperials to see.
A massive volley of burning spikes was a terrifying image. Arrows could fly wide of the Dragon Knights’ bodies, but they’d strike their hearts regardless. Fear would cause the riders to falter, and their courage would fail.
Tsukasa knew that the moment the Dragon Knights lost their nerve, their fates were sealed.
“One hundred down. I think that about does it.”
The imperial vanguard’s air unit fell for Tsukasa’s anti–Dragon Knight strategy completely. Between him, Hibari’s squad, and Bearabbit’s machine gunning, the aerial threat was completely neutralized.
With the airspace now fully under the Yamato side’s control…
“Now that we’ve cleaned up their pesky fleet, I’d say it’s time we pressed onward. Set a course for the middle of the enemy’s camp.”
“You…got it…!”
…Tsukasa took the opportunity to have the helicopter continue ahead.
What followed could hardly be described as a battle.
After demolishing the Dragon Knights, the helicopter made its way over to the imperial ground forces. The soldiers had never seen anything like it before, but between its bizarre appearance and horrible roar, they quickly descended into panic. And when the machine gun fire started, that chaos worsened. The sixty hunks of lead the helicopter was able to pump out each second mowed through the imperial vanguard.
Some of the soldiers were brave enough to gather mages and riflemen, hoping to mount a counteroffensive, but Ringo’s satellite saw right through that effort, and Tsukasa made short work of the ralliers with his sniper rifle. Ultimately, the imperials’ formation crumbled, and the soldiers fled. They had ceased to be a functional military unit.
However, even retreating was no easy feat. The Yamato samurai were still rampaging all across the camp’s perimeter, and when the helicopter’s assault scattered the soldiers in the center, it put even more pressure on those engaged with the samurai. When the two sets of imperials crashed into each other, they suffered more friendly fire than ever.
The situation tipped further in Yamato’s favor by the moment. Each samurai was like a legion unto themselves, and their rank of a meager one thousand encircled and exterminated the thirty thousand from Freyjagard in earnest. The imperials had lost their will to fight, and the Yamato soldiers stained the meadowed hill with dark blood as they shot and sliced their way through.
Ringo’s heart felt like it was going to tear itself in two as she watched.
However…
“…”
…she continued aiding Tsukasa.
Whenever the Freyjagard forces tried to rally or run, she reported it so the Yamato troops could annihilate them efficiently.
She did it because Tsukasa had told her to.
No, she wasn’t just blindly following his orders. She did it because she knew. When people came looking to hurt you, mercy wasn’t an option. You couldn’t hesitate to strike back.
To date, Ringo had been the subject of 172 kidnapping attempts and 115 assassination plots. One of the former even succeeded.
There were people far crueler than Ringo could imagine. Some were willing to inflict any amount of pain on others if it meant securing their own happiness.
And Ringo understood that her hesitation could prove fatal. The enemies numbered thirty thousand. Freyjagard had every intention of cruelly murdering Yamato’s troops with their thirty-to-one advantage. Wanton hostility begets no wavering. Ringo knew that. Occasionally, the only recourse to violence wielded for unjust ends was to respond in kind.
If you weren’t willing to fight when it mattered, then you couldn’t save anything.
You couldn’t save yourself or those dear to you.
Being weak wasn’t a sin, but using it as an excuse to do nothing definitely was.
The dying soldiers were likely guilty only of blindly following Neuro.
However, Ringo had decided not to falter.
Only a saint willingly laid down their life for a stranger, and Ringo was no saint.
“Analysis complete. My satellite has…the locations…of every ally…on the battlefield.”
She completed her assigned task, fully aware of the consequences.
“I appreciate it,” Tsukasa replied. He was thanking her from the heart for everything—both for how conflicted she was and for her determination. “Now, target every area where the hostiles are grouped up and commence the bombing.”
This air raid would end things.
Ringo’s satellite imagery provided the precise locations of those allies who’d infiltrated the enemy camp. Bombs rained from the helicopter, bound for spots where they wouldn’t harm friendlies. There hadn’t been sufficient time to manufacture new explosives, so the payloads were grenades left over from the war against the dominion government. Fortunately, the imperials were so bunched up that the blasts managed to inflict serious damage. Each grenade caught as many as ten soldiers.
Tsukasa used the term “annihilate” back in the briefing, and the helicopter’s merciless attack was well worthy of the word.
Barely thirty minutes had passed since the fighting began. In that time, Yamato had suffered less than thirty losses, whereas the empire’s were well over a thousand.
At that point, Tsukasa got a call from Aoi.
“The enemy vanguard is largely beaten. Naught surrounds me but corpses. What would you have me do now, m’lord?”
They’d already achieved a solid victory, and Aoi was asking if Tsukasa wished for her to fall back.
Tsukasa replied without a moment’s hesitation. “Looking at the situation, we’ve already dealt our opponents more than a thousand casualties. Considering the size of their army, though, it’s far from a decisive blow. For the entirety of the war, this will likely be our only time to go on the offensive. We need to take full advantage of the opportunity to instill fear of us and Yamato in our foes to ensure the skirmishes to come are skewed in our favor.”
If Yamato got stuck in a protracted defensive war, it wouldn’t be long before Elm took action. Tsukasa had been informed of the election results and that the government had members from the Principles Party and Reform Party alike. However Elm decided to approach the situation, Tsukasa was confident they’d aid Yamato.
And if Yamato wished to stall until Elm got involved…
“It’s time for us to push ourselves to the limit and take everything we can.”
“So…”
“We continue advancing and annihilating. Our aerial bombing has our foes’ ranks in chaos, and I need your group to charge them from the rear. Meanwhile, we’ll keep hitting them from the sky. I feel a little bad for the imperial troops…but I need them all dead—tonight.”
“…Very well!”
As the imperial army continued collapsing, the Yamato forces pressed the attack even harder, gunning their foes down as they fled.
Despite the advantage, Tsukasa’s expression remained tense.
The surprise attack proved wildly successful, and his side was winning, but he knew that today’s accomplishments amounted to little. A loss of a thousand troops wouldn’t affect Freyjagard’s staggering numbers. If the Yamato forces offered the slightest chance to recover, the tides would shift immediately, and the imperials would crush the samurai.
Freyjagard had nearly every advantage conceivable. This was no time for Tsukasa to relax or let his guard down.
Armed with data from Ringo’s satellite, Tsukasa monitored the enemy’s movements, watching for any organized efforts. When he spotted one, he nipped it in the bud with an air raid before the cohesion spread to the rest of the army.
To win—to survive—Tsukasa had to take the best option at every junction. But even after making so many correct moves…
“…”
…he was more worried than ever about the person in command of those unfortunate soldiers.
The true foe operated outside this world’s rules, much as the Prodigies did. Things wouldn’t continue as Tsukasa deigned forever. He understood that, and it gave him a feeling like dryness in the back of his throat. Soon, the seemingly perfect strategy would fail.
Before long, his hunch would come to pass in the worst possible way.
“Yeesh. I gotta hand it to that Tsukasa; those are some cold-blooded moves.”
The dazzlingly grand imperial castle set in Freyjagard’s capital, Drachen, stood as a symbol of the empire itself. The nobles’ district surrounded the palace on all sides, and the military headquarters within that section of the city were the beating heart of the nation’s armed forces.
Currently, a war council was gathered in the headquarters, deliberating on the Yamato matter. The country overthrew Freyjagard’s dominion government and redeclared independence the other day. What’s more, the Seven Luminaries aided the revolt.
Sitting at the head of the table was the man who summoned the empire’s lords, Blue Grandmaster Neuro ul Levias. He heaved an exasperated sigh. “Do I seriously have to try against these apes? Honestly, I’d prefer not to.”
His gaze rested upon the center of the room’s round table. There was a large crystal ball affixed there, and its surface displayed an image of the battle at the Yamato border. Neuro’s magic allowed him to project an image from soldiers’ eyes to monitor the conflict in real time.
The scene had the gathered lords agitated. “Blue Grandmaster, why aren’t you taking this more seriously?!” one exclaimed, admonishing Neuro for his nonchalance.
“I can’t believe they actually chose to attack us,” another lord added. “We have thirty thousand troops, for crying out loud!”
“Yeah, I assumed they’d remain holed up in their fortresses. They completely caught us off guard.”
“Grandmaster, do you have some sort of plan?!”
Freyjagard’s thirty thousand soldiers were being overpowered by a mere thousand. Even after accounting for the powerful dragon aiding the Yamato side, the result was still unthinkable. None of the elderly nobles knew what to make of the events.
Neuro was the person in charge, so they naturally heaped blame on him and demanded he provide a solution.
Of all the people in the council room, though…
“A plan? Why would I need a plan? I really don’t understand why you all seem so alarmed.”
…Neuro was the one whose composure remained relaxed.
No, “composure” didn’t capture it. He was confident.
Neuro leaned back in his chair as though to say that there was nothing worth fretting about. “Oh, sure, this is a nasty attack. They’ve got the geographic advantage, those Yamato soldiers who specialize in solo combat, and the support to ensure we can’t fight back. If things continue like this, it’s only a matter of time before we lose all thirty thousand of our men.”
“I-if you understand that much, then why—?”
“Because things can’t continue like this.”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t it obvious? A person only has so much stamina. Not even the people of Yamato, the descendants of test subjects, can go on endlessly. They fight in peak condition for now, but that will break.”
“Test subjects…?”
“Actually, he has a point.”
“Yeah, now that he mentions it…”
“In an hour, exhaustion will eat at them, and we’ll rally our forces and crush them with our numbers,” Neuro declared. “Even if that’s enough time to kill a full half of the force at the encampment, it will still leave us with fifteen thousand troops. A thousand soldiers was never enough to win against thirty thousand. No matter the world, that’s impossible.”
There were a few things the aristocrats didn’t understand, but Neuro’s reasoning was solid. He was right—Yamato wouldn’t win. Not even the peerless samurai could pull victory from such an overwhelming disadvantage. Eliminating all the imperial troops was never a realistic plan.
“Knowing that, I imagine our opponents won’t dare press their luck. They came at us hard to whip up their soldiers’ morale, but…the young man who engineered this situation is a clever sort. After whittling away as many of our soldiers as he can safely, I’m certain he’ll withdraw.”
This was the only chance Yamato had to spring a successful surprise attack, so it had chosen to reject Freyjagard’s demands in favor of claiming an advantage for the battles to come.
In short, Neuro’s foes were choosing a sort of proactive conservationist tactic.
Hiding in fortresses would end poorly for the Yamato forces, as would suicide attacks as a show of defiance. Instead, they chose the long game, using surprise aggression to chip away at the imperials’ strength.
It was a clear declaration that Yamato desired to win this war.
Neuro let out a dry chuckle. “Seriously, what did I do to deserve such hatred? Yggdra’s the one who dragged them into this world, so are they siding with her? I swear, I’ll never understand what makes apes tick.”
“…Blue Grandmaster?”
“Don’t mind me—just talking to myself.” Neuro waved off the ignorant nobles as one would buzzing flies, then stood from his chair. “Any move we try to cobble together now will be too late, and letting those schemers get one over on us will boost their spirits. If they want to play the long game, then we’ll do the same. And since that’s the plan…we need to start by crushing those eyes of theirs.”
“Their…eyes? Do they have magic like yours that lets them see through the eyes of others?”
“No,” Neuro replied, “they have something nastier. They’re watching the whole battlefield from a vantage point beyond the clouds. That’s how they keep stamping out our soldiers the moment they regroup!”
“You mean that thing from the rumors, then—God Akatsuki’s all-seeing clairvoyance!”
“If that’s real, then it’s no wonder they keep countering our flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks!”
Neuro nodded. “Exactly. It hardly seems fair. That’s why those eyes have gotta go.”
“D-do you know some way to do that?”
The older gentlemen stared pleadingly at Neuro, who gave them a smile…
“I do indeed. That’s why I had you bring them here.”
…and pushed open the council room’s hefty double doors. They were ornamented with gold, silver, and jade, and they creaked under their own weight as they moved. Beyond was a wide plaza where soldiers trained. However, no knights walked the yard at the moment.
Instead, a group of people was chained to a stake, their faces illuminated by a bonfire. All were handsomely dressed, and their skin and hair were well cared for. These were no commoners. They were nobles: namely, the Bluebloods who’d tried to overthrow the Lindworm regime.
“And hello there to you, my Blueblood friends!” Neuro greeted. “Terribly sorry for making you wait in the cold like that.”
Upon seeing the man who held their fates in his hand, the roughly five hundred prisoners shouted and begged.
“B-Blue Grandmaster!”
“Please d-don’t kill us! Weltenbruger’s the one who led us astray. He tricked us!”
“You have to spare my family. At least show mercy for my daughter!”
“W-we’re Freyjagard nobles, in case you’ve forgotten. You really think some upstart like you has the right to treat us this way?! Release us at once!”
“Mommy! I want my mommy!”
Neuro replied…
“Ha-ha-ha. I’m glad to see you’re all in such high spirits. You’re a hearty bunch; I’ll give you that much.”
…with a nod and a satisfied smile.
“And that’s what makes us such good teammates.”
“Team…mates?”
That was perhaps the last word the nobles had expected to hear from Neuro, and they stopped their pleading, hopeful for what he might say next.
“That’s right. We’re all allies in serving the Freyjagard Empire. Sure, you started a little insurrection, but I can tell you only did so out of love for your country. I’m an open-minded-enough guy to appreciate that.”
“Y-yeah, you’re right! That’s exactly what it was, Mr. Grandmaster!”
“You’re a wise man, Blue Grandmaster, and you have a discerning eye for character!”
The Bluebloods and their relatives couldn’t have imagined a more fortuitous turn of events. Neuro’s amiable attitude earned him favor-currying smiles from every prisoner.
However…
“That I do. Your patriotism moves me. So now…let’s you and I destroy together those who would harm the empire!”
…those smiles soon vanished.
The moment Neuro tapped his staff against the ground, a massive white magic circle formed, covering the entire plaza.
“““ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!”””
Five hundred screams shook the Drachen sky.
“It bur… IT BUUUURNS!!”
“What’re these stones? They’re clinging to my bod-bod—AHHHHHHH!!”
“Gah-gahgahgah-GLURGH!!”
The chained-up nobles writhed like worms. Each had a necklace draped around their neck when brought here. The black crystals on them emitted terrible heat and melted into the nobles’ chests. The dark gems—Father’s cells—were rewriting the organic material around them, transforming it.
The nobles were evolving, whether they wanted to or not.
Anyone implanted with Father’s cells was changed. Black crystals sprouted from the victims’ bodies, tearing through flesh and crushing bones as they propagated. The nobles were no longer human beings. They’d been reduced to grotesque porcupines.
And it wasn’t just the Bluebloods who changed…
“Ahhhhhh!!”
…the same occurred to the nobles standing beside Neuro as well.
They screamed in confusion as their flesh tore from the inside out.
“B-but, Grandmaster, wh-WHYYYYYYY?!?!”
“W-we weren’t even on the Bluebloods’ siiiiiide!”
When Neuro gave his reply…
“Hmm? ‘Why’?”
…his smile curled into a sneer.
“Because I can, mostly. I figured, the more people for the spell, the better. Ha. And to be frank, your lives mean so little to me one way or the other.”
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!?!?!”
Everything for the nobles went red. Then they burst. Their bodies ruptured. Their minds exploded. Everything fell apart.
Only bloodstained chunks of obsidian remained—the result of those who couldn’t withstand the evolution. Large masses of Father’s cells. The transformation had amplified the victims’ life energy, and the stones were brimming with powerful mana.
“They wouldn’t pick a fight with me if they didn’t think they could win. I bet Yggdra fed them a story about me being weaker because I was reborn and lost my original body. I suppose she’s not technically wrong… But there’s really no need for me to use Philosopher’s Stones on myself.”
Neuro turned his thoughts to his foes on that distant battlefield, and he laughed at their shallow imaginations.
He had plenty of mana crystallized here, and if he combined that with the energy he’d been storing for the gate to expel his opponents from this world, he could emulate the power he’d enjoyed in his prime.
“Bear witness to Leviathan’s roar.”
Neuro raised his staff, and the crystals shattered. A bloodlike liquid came spraying out of them, sinking into a magic circle on the plaza grounds and dyeing its white pattern red.
Neuro chanted an incantation.
With each verse, the red light grew stronger…
…until an opening formed.
Transportation magic was Neuro’s specialty. It’s what had carried him from his home world to this one, and with that power he’d formed a portal between the plaza and the bottom of the ocean—
“Tidal Breath.”
—unleashing an impossible, unthinkable amount of water.
Such was the power of Neuro’s war magic.
The massive oceanic pressure forced the water straight up, transforming it into a waterfall that stretched to the heavens. Gravity’s pull was no match for it, and though the friction in the air wore it down, creating a misty spray in every direction, the pillar climbed higher still.
Eventually, after shooting past mountains, punching through clouds, and escaping the atmosphere…
…it pierced clean through the planet’s newest star, Ringo’s military satellite.
“AHHHHHHH!”
“Ringo?! What’s wrong?!”
Out of the blue, Tsukasa’s fellow helicopter passenger, Ringo, let out a pained scream. When Tsukasa turned to see what was amiss, he found her grimacing.
“I-I’m…fine…,” Ringo assured, removing the headset she’d been wearing over one ear. “But…it’s bad. It looks like…the satellite…is down!”
“ !”
Then…
“Tsuclawsa! There’s something pawsitioned up in the sky, to the west!”
Before Tsukasa had time to think, Bearabbit reported another anomaly.
A thin structure stretched past the mountains into the sky. It resembled a piece of string from this distance.
“What is that?”
“I-it’s…a furociously large column of water! It’s bruin up from Freyjagard’s Emperor domain, and it’s so big that it reaches all the way into outer… Wh-WHAT?!”
“Bearabbit, talk to me!”
“Th-th-things are about to get grizzly! The column is falling our way! I-it’s going to land right on the battlefield!!”
“ !”
Tsukasa stared at the tower of water in disbelief. Sure enough, the threadlike pillar stretching into the sky was gradually widening, drawing nearer. A liquid blade was about to come crashing down.
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