Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 18 - Chapter 7

Everyone’s Wishes

Tuesday, September 14th

Green looked relieved to see Crimson when she returned from the first floor of the basement.

“Welcome back, Crimson.”

Seeing her like that, Crimson smiled.

“Oh? Were you worried?”

“Well, of course. There are still things I need you to do.”

Green had actually been deeply worried for Crimson, but she hid behind her job as a leader of Darkness Rainbow.

“Sure, sure. So, how’s it going over here?”

“About the time your chances of victory started dropping, the summoning entered its final phase.”

“How many do you think we can summon?”

“With the mana we have now, two.”

“Hmm, guess there’s nothing we can do about that.”

The ritual they were trying to perform was based on Blue’s summoning magic. Using the children as sacrifices, they would call powerful demons to this world.

However, to fully use all ten children and complete the spell like they’d originally intended, the ritual would require several hours. With their enemies already on the scene, they knew their time was limited. They decided to cut their losses and proceed with what they could manage rather than losing everything.

They’d been draining energy from the children for just under an hour now, meaning they had less than a third of the energy they’d intended to collect. That would at least, however, let them summon two out of the ten demons.

“Rainbow Yurika and her friends will be here soon. Let’s begin right away.”

“Of course. Blue!”

Green raised her hand, and Blue, who was working on the ritual at the magic circle, nodded. She was preparing to activate the spell. This would be the start of the real fight.

Koutarou realized something was wrong just as they defeated the last zombie.

As the number of zombies decreased, the chances of the ritual site being somewhere in the shopping mall seemed less and less likely. And when their numbers dwindled to just a few, Maki and Sanae reached the conclusion that the mall had been a diversion after all. So while Koutarou and Theia cleaned up the leftovers, Ruth opened a communications line to Clan. But before she could even say anything, Clan’s desperate voice came blaring over the comms.

“Pardomshiha! This is an emergency!”

“What has happened, Clan-sama?!”

Ruth knew something was amiss just from the tone of Clan’s voice, and she immediately connected Koutarou and Theia’s terminals to the call as well. They were in the middle of fighting, but only against the straggling zombies. They certainly had the leisure to listen in. Maki and Sanae, who didn’t have bracelets, ran immediately over to Ruth.

“Darkness Rainbow has activated the ritual!”

“That can’t be!”

“There’s no doubt about it! Urgh... ack... By the time we found the magic circle, they were already in the final stages! Hack...”

The projected hologram of Clan appeared to be coughing. It looked like she was talking to them through a cloud. But hearing what she’d said, Koutarou cut in on the call.

“Clan, you couldn’t stop it?!”

“We didn’t even have the chance! They forcibly activated the spell with insufficient mana! Yurika says it was only 20 percent of what they intended!”

After listening to Clan’s report, Maki leaned in to speak with her through Ruth’s bracelet.

“Clan-san, what did Darkness Rainbow use the ritual spell for?!”

“Ack... They summoned two large demons! The whole hotel collapsed because of them!”

It seemed Clan’s coughing fit was because she’d called them in the immediate aftermath. The air around her was thick with concrete dust and other debris.

“W-Wait, Glasses! What about the children?! They’re not buried in the rubble, are they?!” Sanae asked anxiously.

Their lives were in danger as it was in Darkness Rainbow’s clutches. She hated the idea that they might now be stranded or worse. If they’d perished in the building collapse, the entire search would be for nothing.

“They’re fine. We rescued them, but in exchange, Darkness Rainbow managed to get away...”

“So the children are safe? Thank god...”

Sanae let out a sigh of relief. She had no memories of it, but she had once faced a similar danger. She felt an instinctual bond with these children much the same way Kiriha did. But they all had more than the children to be concerned about now. Clan relayed footage from an unmanned scout through the call.

“Look! These are the monsters that appeared from the magic circle!”

First the footage showed the hotel from overhead. The image only lasted for a few seconds before there were terrible creaking and snapping sounds. Then two strange figures—a giant and a behemoth—came bursting out of the building, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. Each demon was about twenty meters tall. They weren’t on the scale of the black hound Tayuma had transformed into, but they were still mind-blowingly large. They roared loud enough to shake the very air, and perhaps because of that, the remnants of the hotel collapsed behind them some seconds later.

“I’m having the unmanned scout following them, but they’re headed straight into the city!”

Clan then cut to a live feed from her drone, which showed the giant and the behemoth descending the mountain. Because the behemoth was lighter, it was moving faster and was out about a hundred meters in front of the giant. Lights from the city were so close that they were already in view. It wouldn’t take the demons more than half an hour to reach town.

“This is terrible! Who knows what will happen if they make it to civilization!”

“Darkness Rainbow has gotten serious enough that they’re abandoning all discretion! There’s no keeping this one a secret!”

After cleaning up the last of the zombies, Theia and Koutarou returned to Ruth and the others. They all had grave expressions on their faces. They all knew what was at stake if these monstrosities made it into the city.

“Veltlion, please mobilize and go after them too!”

“Yeah, we’ll be right—”

Koutarou would have chased down the demons even if Clan hadn’t asked him. And he was about to let her know that was his intention when Maki suddenly interrupted him.

“Wait, Satomi-kun!”

“Aika-san?!”

Maki then called out to Clan’s hologram in a panic, “Clan-san, was Purple over there at the hotel?!”

“Purple? No, we only saw girls in red, green, and blue.”

“Satomi-kun, this is a trap!”

“A trap?!”

“Purple had to have been the one that summoned the horde of zombies, but she’s nowhere around! Crimson, Green, and Blue were in charge of the summoning, so what are Purple, Orange, and Yellow doing right now?!”

Darkness Rainbow had seven members, and Maki’s departure made six. Half of their ranks—Crimson, Green, and Blue—had been at the hotel casting the summoning spell. It was possible that the other three weren’t even in town, but Maki knew that with zombies at the mall, at least Purple had been here. And if that was the case, what was she doing right now? Maki hadn’t really needed to ask. The answer was obvious to everyone.

“They’re after room 106! Ruth, raise the alert level of the unmanned fighters! I’ve given my subordinates the permission to attack! Darkness Rainbow is coming!”

The demons that Crimson, Green, and Blue had summoned were meant to split up Koutarou and his allies. Since there were ten of them, they’d originally wanted ten demons to divide them completely. But even two would do them a huge favor by splitting their forces in half. And while Koutarou and his friends were busy dealing with the demons, Purple, Orange, and Yellow were moving in on room 106. An already dangerous situation was only getting worse.

Koutarou and the others’ most pressing problems were handling the summoned demons and defending room 106. Taking care of the demons would require serious firepower, which automatically bumped Theia, Ruth, Clan, and Shizuka to the top of the roster. The three Forthorthians had cutting-edge technology on their side, and Shizuka held the ancient power of a dragon.

“Hahh... Just after I lost all that weight, too...”

“Don’t cry over your weight, Shizuka.”

“That’s easy for you to say when you’re so light, Theia-chan. Just imagine the boy you love not being able to sweep you off your feet—literally!”

“Yes, that’s terrible and all, but the city will be destroyed if we don’t all help.”

“I know. That’s why I’m coming with you instead of running away.”

“So you’ll at least face your fate when it comes to it...”

All four of them had means of flight, so they were able to easily meet up midway between the hotel and mall. Once they did, they immediately set off after the demons.

“Say, Pardomshiha...”

“Yes?”

“Do gentlemen concern themselves with a lady’s weight?”

“You mean Master?”

“I-I mean in general!”

“He does seem to mind a little, but he also worries about being too thin.”

“Now that you mention it, he has told me a princess shouldn’t be unhealthy...”

“Master has?”

“Like I said, in general!”

The four of them flew through the air at incredible speed and had the demons within their sights in a matter of minutes. Since they were twenty meters tall, they stood out even from afar.

“Enough with the useless banter over there. Right now, we need to focus on doing something about these nasty things.”

“They are certainly big and nasty...”

“Neither one is over twenty meters tall, but since they’ve been summoned by magic, we can’t let our guard down. Who knows what they’re capable of?”

Since they were outside, Theia and Clan could use their flagships in this fight. If need be, Shizuka could also transform into full-on dragon mode. The overwhelming advantage seemed to be on their side, but they were still proceeding with caution since they were up against magical creatures—something none of them had much experience with.

“Let’s go all out and clean this mess up immediately! That would be the fastest and most peaceful resolution for the city!”

“You mean the most peaceful resolution for you.”

“I’m part of the city too!”

Shizuka was quick to action and summoned even more of her strength. She was still in her half-dragon, half-human form, but her entire body was aglow with crimson flames. It was a manifestation of her overflowing mana—and her desire to settle this quickly.

“Honestly, I agree that we should strike swiftly.”

With that, Theia designated the demons as enemies for her Combat Dress’s firing control system. The two large cannons on her shoulders then took aim at the giant, the closer of the two targets. Ruth and Clan followed suit and prepared themselves for combat. Ruth switched the unmanned fighters into combat mode, while Clan readied her beam cannon. They were also worried about the innocent people of the city getting dragged into this, and for their sakes, were equally intent on putting a quick end to this ordeal.

“Victory to the swift!”

Before even confirming that everyone was ready, Theia hastily began her bombardment. All she was concerned about right now was speed.

While Theia and company were opening fire on the demons, Koutarou and the others had just returned to Corona House. Using Blue Knight’s teleportation gate, they arrived directly in room 106. Fortunately, it was still quiet. Darkness Rainbow was nowhere to be seen.

“We made it here before them!”

“You’re wrong, Satomi-san! Darkness Rainbow is already here! There’s a ward up to keep people out!”

Koutarou was hopeful, but Yurika knew better. She recognized signs of the enemy as soon as she sensed them. Room 106 was oddly quiet. They couldn’t even hear the faint sounds of passing traffic. Even though it was the dead of night, it was unnaturally silent. That was thanks to the ward that had been put up around Corona House, which told Yurika the battle had already begun.

All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire from spiritual energy rifles exploded outside. It had to have been Kiriha’s subordinates stationed here to protect Corona House.

“Koutarou, it looks like they cast the ward a while ago and held off attacking until anyone unrelated left the area! This is it! They’re making their move now!”

The magical ward magicians used didn’t just keep unwanted third parties out; it also compelled them to vacate the area being warded. So when Darkness Rainbow cast a ward around Corona House, they waited until just Kiriha’s subordinates were left before striking.

Kiriha had contacted them on the way back to room 106. Hearing that they were still alive and well was good news, and brightened her expression a little.

“All right, let’s head out there too!”

Koutarou and the others had made it back before tragedy struck, but if Kiriha’s subordinates were left alone, they could be in serious trouble against Darkness Rainbow. So despite the danger that awaited him, he threw open the front door and ran outside.

“Good, you’re all okay!”

All ten of Kiriha’s subordinates were just outside, using assembled furniture as a makeshift barricade. Between their quick thinking and Koutarou’s swift return, they were all safe. One of them had been injured, but it wasn’t life-threatening.

“You came, Satomi Koutarou!” Crimson called from nearby.

Darkness Rainbow easily spotted Koutarou as soon as he stepped onto the scene. Even though it was the middle of the night, his brilliant blue armor stood out like a beacon. Crimson recognized it on sight, and she was especially wary of it.

“You sure pulled off something elaborate here.”

Koutarou stepped forward and stood his ground against the dark magical girls. In response, the six of them stopped attacking to respond to him.

“It would be a pain to have you guys interfere during out showdown with Rainbow Heart. That’s why we’ve come to deal with you first,” Crimson said with a smile.

Their ultimate goal in Kisshouharukaze City today had been to take out Koutarou and his allies.

After getting spiritual energy technology from the radical faction and Forthorthian technology from Elexis, Darkness Rainbow didn’t necessarily need room 106’s mana any longer. But room 106’s owner was still a problem. He would undoubtedly try and get in the way during their fight with their longtime enemies, Rainbow Heart. He and his allies were all powerful, so eliminating them early would be the best option.

“So the summoning ritual was to split us up... Specifically, you wanted to draw our firepower away.”

“Bingo! As expected from the man who captured Navy-chan. That’s exactly right. If we hadn’t separated you from those ridiculous allies of yours, we’d never get our chance!”

Dark Orange praised Koutarou with a bright expression that seemed inappropriate for the situation. It was somewhat unnerving. Koutarou could understand why Maki felt so awkward around her.

“It’s six against six now. And now that we’re even, we’re happy to go up against you with our new powers.”

Purple flashed a mature smile full of confidence. Green had come up with most of the plan, but Purple had advised her on some of the finer points. And with things going according to their plan so far, Purple was convinced of their victory.

The biggest problems for Darkness Rainbow in fighting Koutarou and his allies were the Forthorthians and Shizuka. The magicians were ill-equipped to handle their hypermodern and ancient powers respectively. That’s why they’d had to summon huge demons to deal with them. If they couldn’t split up Koutarou’s group entirely, they at least wanted to distract the members with the highest damage potential. In other words, the ritual had never needed to be seen through to completion. They would proceed no matter how many demons they could get. Even one would be enough to divide Koutarou and his allies, and Darkness Rainbow would take that opportunity to attack. That had been the gist of Green’s plan all along.

Yurika, who had been hanging back, then stepped forward and took her place next to Koutarou.

“Purple-san, I don’t care what you’re planning! I’m an archwizard of Rainbow Heart, and I will stop you in the name of all that’s good!” Yurika boldly declared as she readied her staff, Angel Halo.

When Yurika had first taken over for Nana, all she’d inherited was her equipment. But things were different now. She now carried Nana’s love and courage inside her as well. She stood proud as Nana’s successor, Rainbow Yurika.

“That’s a funny thing to hear coming from you. You’re nowhere near Nana’s level.”

“Of course not. But while I’m fighting in Nana-san’s place, you won’t be rid of me the same way.”

Four girls lined up behind Yurika: Harumi, Sanae, Maki, and Kiriha. They were all planning on supporting her, and Yurika was counting on them. She knew her powers alone weren’t all that special. But together, she believed they could accomplish anything.

“I’m my own person! I’ll fight my own way—and win!”

Against Darkness Rainbow, Yurika was taking the front line for once. But nothing else had changed. Her goals and her methods would still be the same. She and her friends would work together to protect each other, and then they would all return to their normal, happy, fun everyday lives.

The Garb of the Lord, or GoL for short, had a large roaring generator that supplied Koutarou’s armor with a large quantity of energy. Normally, GoL’s role was to eliminate weaker enemies and pave the way for the emperor, but just the improvements it offered to Koutarou’s offense and defense would be a huge help in the current situation.

“Hmm, so that’s the new armor I’ve heard about... How scary.”

Crimson eyed Koutarou’s armor with great interest. This would be the first time Darkness Rainbow had seen GoL, but they’d heard about the way he fought underground from Maya. They didn’t seem fazed at all, however. Even though Crimson called it scary, she still seemed perfectly confident.

“Crimson, that sword dispels mana, so attacking him with just magic is pointless,” Green warned.

“I know. Why do you think I bothered studying science?” Crimson responded as she loaded her cannon.

Her newfound powers should prove effective against Koutarou. They’d learned from Maki some time ago that Signaltin had the power to dispel magic. So instead of using outright magic, they would transform their attacks into physical force. That way, there would be nothing left in it for him to dispel. A cannonball was a lump of steel, and a laser was a beam light. That said, Crimson was a little miffed that she wouldn’t be able to use her favorite spell, Inferno Fire.

“I think a magician firing off lasers and cannonballs is even scarier, honestly.”

“Don’t you think everything changes with time?”

Crimson took the opportunity to level her cannon at Koutarou, and the other members of Darkness Rainbow raised their own staffs—with one exception. Blue instead held up a large rifle. Since she’d used up almost all of her mana in the ritual, she would be fighting with an enchanted firearm.

“I do. Knights have certainly gotten a lot more modern!”

Sensing that the battle was about to start, Koutarou moved forward with Signaltin in hand. He wasn’t naive enough to let a group of magicians get the drop on him. He clenched his sword, and when he did, it began emitting a strong glow.

“Satomi-kun, please go all out! I’ll help you as best as I can!”

“Thanks, Sakuraba-senpai!”

Harumi was responsible for the glow of the sword. She was enveloped in the same pure white light that was coming off the blade, and her now silver hair was fluttering. Supporting Koutarou with the powers she’d inherited from Alaia was Harumi’s signature role.

“Traaansform, Kabutonga!”

Standing next to Harumi, Sanae struck a heroic pose right out of an anime. When she did, she also began glowing. She was using her spiritual powers to enhance her body. Strength, speed, resilience... All of her physical abilities now exceeded human limits. Sanae chased after Koutarou, leaving a trailing streak of light behind her. Her role would be to back him up.

“Karama, Korama, activate the spiritual energy field! Use the generator’s excess output to attack!”

“Understood, ho! Go for it, Ane-san! Ho!”

“Now it’s our time to shine, ho!”

Kiriha brandished her naginata that converted spiritual energy into power and stepped out in front of Harumi. Between the naginata and the haniwas, she could help pick off enemies at range, but her primary job was to guard the defenseless Harumi.

“Here we go, Maki-chan!”

“Yes!”

Lastly, Yurika and Maki took up positions on the rear line to support everyone with their magic. Between offensive spells, defensive ones, and diversions, their exact jobs would change depending on the situation. And faced with six other magicians, they would be prioritizing defense today.

In response to Koutarou and the others after they took up their formation, Darkness Rainbow sent Crimson out. She was quick and skilled in close combat, and therefore in charge of the front line for the group.

“Explosion!”

She stepped forward as she fired the cannon attached to her staff. Her first goal was to immobilize Koutarou. The recoil from her cannon shots was considerable, but she didn’t hesitate to fire. She also had five spiritual energy automatons and five unmanned fighter crafts from Forthorthe by her side. Since Signaltin’s dispelling powers wouldn’t work on them, they would be going after Koutarou.

“So what if you have a cannon?!”

Koutarou moved swiftly to the side to evade the cannonball. He avoided a direct hit, but the speeding metal ball clipped his armor’s barrier and drained a surprising amount of energy. It was proof of just how strong her cannon attack was.

“You’re pretty good, Crimson.”

“I’m even stronger than I used to be!”

As Crimson shouted back at Koutarou, the weapons around her began their assault. The cannonball had drained just enough of Koutarou’s barrier that some of the bullets made it through and slammed into his armor. Though they didn’t cause any real damage, it was an admirable combo attack.

“Good job, Green!”

“I do my best!”

Green was controlling the weapons based on predictions she was getting from her future forecast. That was how she’d known exactly where to aim at Koutarou’s barrier—she was targeting its weak points.

“Tch!”

In an attempt to break up the teamwork between Crimson and the weapons, Koutarou took aim at the weapons. He figured it would be easier to go after them than Crimson.

“Not so fast!”

However, none of his attacks connected. Consulting her forecast, Green moved the weapons to positions she knew Koutarou wouldn’t hit. For Green who specialized in magic that supplied her with intelligence of all kinds, automated weapons she could control at will made the perfect familiars.

“One more time, Crimson!”

“Yeah!”

Crimson pulled the lever on her cannon and loaded another ball while Green moved the weapons back into position around her. They were harder to disrupt than Koutarou imagined.

“They’re tough!”

“It’s okay, Koutarou! Leave this to Guardian Angel Sanae!”

However, before Crimson could attack again, Sanae arrived with covering fire. She pulled back a bow made from spiritual energy and let fly a similarly spiritual arrow.

“Hiiiiit theeeeem!”

The spiritual energy arrow split up into several dozen midflight and rained down on the weapons that Green was controlling. Because it had split so unpredictably, not even Green could dodge all of the incoming arrows. The best she could do was order the machines to group together and defend.

“Mass Protection from Soul Energy.”

Just before Sanae’s rain of arrows hit, however, a purple light wrapped around both the group of weapons and Darkness Rainbow. It was Purple’s doing. Since she specialized in spiritual energy and necromancy, she was the best suited to protect against Sanae’s attacks.

“Hmph, you’re pretty good, Purple.”

Because Sanae’s arrow had divided, each one only carried a fraction of the original attack’s power—meaning the worst they could do was crash into Purple’s barrier. Sanae was surprised by this outcome and offered fair praise for her opponent.

“I’m surprised. To think there really was someone with deific levels of spiritual energy here...”

Purple was equally impressed. While she had successfully blocked Sanae’s attack, it had completely wiped out her barrier. Normally it held up for much longer than that, but it could only take one of Sanae’s attacks.

“Karama, Korama!”

“Roger! Let’s go, Brother!”

“Let’s show them the power of the siblings of fire and lightning, ho!”

Karama and Korama generated flames and electricity and took aim at Purple.

“Vacuum Wall!”

But a vacuum in the shape of a wall rose up before them. When the high-energy flames touched it, they were immediately smothered for lack of oxygen. And since there was nothing conductive in the negative space, the high-voltage lightning simply bounced off of it. This spell was courtesy of Orange, who specialized in magic that altered the state of things.

“It didn’t work, ho!”

“These enemies aren’t normal either, ho!”

“Blue-chan, Blue-chan! Aren’t those haniwas totally cute?! Let’s take them home with us!”

“Take this seriously, will you?! Navy was always getting angry at you for exactly this, right?!”

Blue attacked with her rifle as she scolded Orange. She was aiming for Yurika and Maki on the rear line, and her marksmanship was praiseworthy. When she attacked with summoning magic, she would often conjure things from a distance and use them to attack—like pouring lava over her enemies, for example—so accuracy was important to her. She would also summon weapons sometimes, so she knew her way around guns.

“Maki-chan!”

“Right!”

“Force Field!”

“Force Field!”

Yurika and Maki incanted the same spell in harmony. Since they were using it together, it created a twofold barrier to intercept the rapid-fire bullets headed their way. They crashed into the barrier and shattered the first layer in the blink of an eye, but the second layer held fast. A single barrier would have ordinarily been enough to block bullets, but Blue wasn’t using any ordinary rifle.

“Blue is right. You’ve got to be more serious, Orange.”

“Yellow-chan, you bully! You’re always scolding me!”

The bullets fired from Blue’s rifle had also been strengthened by Yellow, whose specialties were enhancement and defense. They flew faster and farther with her aid, making them all the more deadly.

“We’re just about even, huh?” Koutarou muttered as he readied his sword.

Since both sides had mostly succeeded in nullifying each other’s attacks so far, nobody had actually been hurt yet. That told Koutarou that they were well matched in terms of abilities.

“This is getting fun. Don’t you think, Satomi Koutarou?”

“Don’t just assume I’m like you. There’s no fun in fighting for me.”

“Hmm... Well, I still expect you to be a gentleman and entertain me.”

Crimson leveled her staff at Koutarou again and tossed a sidelong glance Maki’s way.

So this is why you picked him, Maki... I kind of get that...

As if sensing her glance, Maki looked over at Crimson too. She flashed a small smile that was gone by the time she turned back to her target and took aim. This wasn’t the time to get sentimental. The battle had only just begun.

The two huge demons were more than a match for Theia and the other three girls. While they weren’t as deadly as Tayuma had been, they were still colossal threats.

“Your Highness, I’ve analyzed the strength of their barrier.”

“Hmm, it’s not as powerful as I thought...”

Theia and Ruth were dealing with the behemoth. If it came down to it, they could call in a bombardment from Blue Knight. A massive beast that walked on all fours would certainly be a big enough target to hit.

“I believe one bombardment from Blue Knight would be enough to defeat it.”

“Please keep in mind we’re near an urban center, Your Highness. We’ll have to limit the number of orbital strikes, so I suggest we immobilize the beast first.”

The beast was rather fast for its size. Considering the delay between issuing the command and the actual attack when it was coming from space, they’d need to find some way to at least to slow the target down before using Blue Knight. To that end, Theia readied the rifle in her right hand and charged the behemoth. She was going to attack all of its legs with the fast-moving projectiles of her beam rifle.

“GROAAAR!”

After being attacked by Theia relentlessly already, the behemoth let out a loud roar when it saw her approach. Icy shards flew from its mouth the same way a dragon would breathe fire.

“It’s nothing personal, but...”

Theia made use of her naturally sharp kinetic vision and dexterously manipulated her boosters and her posture control thrusters to seemingly flutter freely across the sky. The behemoth tried its best to shoot her down with its ice breath, but it couldn’t keep up with her movements. In less than ten seconds, she’d closed the distance between them and was right on top of it.

“Sorry, I can’t let you stay here.”

After rapidly unloading her beam rifle at nearly point blank, Theia zipped away from the behemoth the same way she’d closed in on it. And because she’d fired at such a close range, she’d actually reduced the speed of her projectiles in order to increase their density. The denser beams easily pierced the beast’s hide and severely damaged its front right leg.

“GRAAAH! GRAAAAAH!”

Driven by pain and anger, the behemoth turned around and tried to shoot Theia again, but with one leg out of commission, it couldn’t chase after her.

“Now, Ruth!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Waiting for the behemoth to turn towards Theia, who was circling around its right side, Ruth approached the behemoth from the rear left side with the four small unmanned fighters she was controlling. They opened fire on the behemoth’s hind left leg. The beast was so focused on Theia that it left itself wide open.

“GROOOAAAAAR!”

The small fighters didn’t have as much firepower as Theia did, but they made up for that with their numbers. Lasers from four of them at once succinctly and accurately burned off the beast’s tendon that rested on the outside of its shell. The behemoth was assaulted by a fierce pain and fell to the ground with a loud thud. With its front right leg and left hind leg now compromised, it could no longer stand.

“If we were to fight against you alone, the outcome might have been different...”

The behemoth was up against Theia and Ruth as a team. Strictly speaking, they also had four unmanned fighters on their side. When Theia was attacking, it couldn’t keep its focus on just her. But if she’d been alone, the beast would have been free to chase her down without worry. The outcome of the fight might not have been so one-sided.

“Blue Knight, bombard the target.”

“As you wish, my princess.”

“You’re better off returning home. Try not to get caught up in another summoning.”

Theia looked at the behemoth with pity in her eyes. It had been summoned and forced to fight, so it felt unfair that it had to pay the price for someone else’s cruelty.

“Beginning bombardment.”

“Show it some mercy and finish it off in a single hit.”

“As you wish, my princess.”

Theia had learned from Maki that when demons were summoned to Earth, their bodies were created by condensing and hardening mana. Unless the whole body was destroyed, it would never be able to fully return to where it had come from. Theia felt at least some small comfort knowing the beast wouldn’t suffer long as she watched the large caliber laser come pouring down from the sky.

The second demon, the giant, was assigned to Shizuka and Clan. Victory was undoubtedly on their side. It was just a matter of when and how to seize it. Shizuka alone could easily overpower the giant with her draconic powers. The only problem with that would be the aftermath for Shizuka.

“If I transform and defeat it right away, my weight won’t increase that much, right?”

“Yes. That way would be better for the giant, too. And of course, the people of the city.”

“I’m trusting you, okay, Uncle?!”

“V-Very well. I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”

The Fire Dragon Emperor was overwhelmed by his new niece, but he unleashed his powers in a grand display to hide that.

With her size body, I think weighing 200 kilograms is perfectly reasonable...

His dragon sensibilities made it impossible for him to understand why Shizuka grieved her weight so. But nevertheless, he hated to see her sad, so Alunaya resolved to defeat the demon as quickly as possible.

“Shizuka, you should aim for one of these places.”

Clan displayed a hologram of the vital points of the human body. Even though the giant’s body was made of mana, its anatomy still mirrored that of an ordinary living creature.

“Uncle, remember that.”

“Okay.”

As Shizuka unleashed all of her power, she would be handing control of her body over to Alunaya. That’s why she wanted him to remember where to aim. As Shizuka studied the hologram, Alunaya’s mana surged forth, growing bigger and bigger along with him until he assumed his full dragon form nearly twenty meters long. At this point, he bore no resemblance to Shizuka. Her body had safely melded into his and served as a core and focal point for his mana.

“Now, let us go!”

“Good luck, Uncle!”

“Goodbye, young one.”

Upon transforming, Alunaya flew off and left Clan behind. Clan watched him go, and while imprudent, her thoughts turned to something completely unrelated to the battle at hand.

I’m glad I was light when Veltlion was carrying me...

Thanks to Shizuka, Clan had realized one of the major concerns of womanhood that had flown completely under the radar for her until now.

“Shizuka, how shall we attack? We can use my plasma breath, magical attacks, or martial arts.”

Alunaya could breathe plasmic flame and use a variety of offensive spells with his massive mana reserves. He was also pretty confident in his martial arts skills. He was quite sure either would be enough to take out their target, but there was a slight problem. That’s why he decided to ask Shizuka for her opinion.

“Martial arts! Of course we’ll go with martial arts!”

Shizuka’s answer was determined before Alunaya even asked.

“Why?”

“You’re not allowed to waste mana!”

Both his breath and magic attacks consumed a good deal of mana, which was precisely what she wanted to avoid.

“Understood...”

Now with an attack plan, Alunaya flapped his wings and charged the giant. There was always a chance of Shizuka getting hurt too when he fought at close range, which was something that he wanted to prevent at all costs. But since there was something she was even more scared of than getting hurt, he had no choice but to do things his way. Alunaya bared his claws and fangs as he swooped in to attack the giant.

“This is hardly a challenge... Why did I even come?”

Clan was watching over the battle and let out a stiff sigh. Her dragon companion was going all out from the start. First he chomped his opponent’s right hand to prevent any counterattacks before turning around and slamming his mighty tail into the giant. And to finish it off, he sunk his massive teeth into the giant’s neck. Once the giant was dead, its body began crumbling. Its soul would return home and its mana-made body would disperse naturally.

And just like that, Alunaya finished off his opponent without so much as a shout. It was a complete and utter victory worthy of the Fire Dragon Emperor.

“Th-That was terrible...”

Back in fully human form, Shizuka hunched down and held her knees. Seeing this, Clan ran to her side. She was worried Shizuka was injured.

“Are you okay, Shizuka?!”

“No, I’m not...” she said, her face pale.

“Biting the giant was terrible... I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that sensation or taste...”

“What?”

Clan was astonished by Shizuka’s words. She wasn’t hurt at all. At least, not physically. She was just shocked at what she’d experienced through Alunaya’s senses. It wasn’t a real body, and the giant hadn’t actually died, but that wasn’t much consolation to her right now.

“Ah, forgive me. Next time, I’ll temporarily sever the sensory connection.”

“P-Please do...”

Just like how the Fire Dragon Emperor couldn’t understand Shizuka’s worries, Shizuka couldn’t understand the Fire Dragon Emperor’s eating habits. It seemed they would just never see eye to eye on some things. Clan, who was unsure why she’d even come, took the odd niece and uncle duo back home.

The six on six battle between Koutarou’s side and Darkness Rainbow had continued to progress evenly. While Darkness Rainbow had gotten one up on Yurika’s team at the hotel, they hadn’t laid any clever preparations to give them an edge at Corona House. They were well matched against Koutarou and his allies. The balance of power tipped ever so slightly in Darkness Rainbow’s favor, but the support from Kiriha’s subordinates balanced things out. That delicate equilibrium, however, only lasted a few minutes into their battle. Green, thanks to her divinations, was the first to know something was up.

“This is bad, everyone. All the futures where the summoned demons reach the city have suddenly been eliminated. They’re being replaced with futures where Rainbow Yurika’s other allies show up.”

“At this rate, we’ll lose once their reinforcements arrive. How long do we have?”

“The soonest they’ll arrive is one minute. It looks like they have access to some kind of teleportation magic.”

“One minute? Sounds like we’re going to have to settle this fast.”

Hearing Green’s report, Crimson felt rushed to settle the battle. If they didn’t seize victory quickly, they would end up losing this fight. She was willing to try and make a decisive move in the next minute.

“Crimson, I’m against that. We can’t afford to lose here. This isn’t the battle we should be focusing on.”

Purple, on the other hand, objected. If they went all out now, it could do as much harm as good. Even if they won the immediate fight, if they were too exhausted to escape afterward, it wouldn’t help anyone.

“Attention, everyone. Both summoned demons were just killed.”

Blue knew the second it happened. As the summoner who’d brought them into this world, she magically knew when their bonds were severed. It seemed their fights had gone just as Green had predicted.

“We need to make our decision now. Let’s vote on whether we should keep fighting or retreat.”

Purple was swift to bring the group to a consensus. Discussing the issue further would only be a waste of time. A majority vote would have to do.

“I vote for continuing the fight.”

“I vote for retreating, like I said before.”

Crimson and Purple cast their votes to no one’s surprise. They’d made their intentions clear already.

“I don’t want to run home in defeat. I want to beat them first!”

Orange cast her vote on Crimson’s side. In contrast to her frivolous behavior, she was quite prideful. That part of her was Darkness Rainbow-like.

“I agree on retreating.”

“I think we should retreat as well.”

Reserved Blue and conservative Yellow both sided with Purple.

“What about you, Green?”

“I...”

Green wanted to do what Crimson wanted, but she saw that the chances of Crimson dying would increase exponentially if they stayed and continued to fight. She couldn’t bring herself to agree to it knowing that was the risk.

“...I also think we should retreat. I’ve made preparations for this.”

“That makes it four against two. We’re retreating!”

And so Darkness Rainbow decided to retreat. Since it was a majority decision, Crimson and Orange would follow. That is... if they had the chance.

Koutarou wondered why Darkness Rainbow collectively seemed to slow down for a few seconds. It was subtle, but it suddenly felt like they weren’t’ concentrating on the battle. The reason why would soon reveal itself as Theia contacted him.

“Koutarou!”

“Theia!”

Koutarou continued fighting Crimson as he answered. Crimson responded by suddenly bombarding him to make him move, and by the time he recovered, she was ready to attack for real. Lasers rained down on him, but they were fortunately all blocked by GoL’s active barrier.

“Good news! The demons have been defeated!”

Theia sounded proud. Koutarou figured it must have been a complete and utter victory.

“Aha, that’s it!”

He also figured that must be why Darkness Rainbow had been temporarily distracted. They were probably weighing their options and their next move, thinking that the odds would be against them once Theia and the others showed up. So Koutarou decided to make his move and close in on them.

In this situation, Darkness Rainbow had two options. They could either keep fighting and try to end things quickly, or force their way through and retreat. Either way they would end up going on the offensive, so it only made sense for Koutarou to try and attack before that.

“Hmm? What was that?”

“Nothing! We’re still fighting over here! Come back as fast as you can!”

“Roger that! Just you wait!”

“Senpai!”

“Yes!”

Harumi controlled Signaltin’s mana as Koutarou advanced, using its power to increase his speed.

“Tch, so you’ve figured it out!”

“Don’t be so sure! I don’t know which option you’re choosing yet!”

Koutarou swung his sword down. Harumi followed up on that by flooding the blade and the area around it with electrical current. A direct hit would probably cause an opponent to faint, but even a glancing blow would stun them. And that was all Koutarou was trying to do. Rather than killing his opponent, he just wanted to slow her down to keep her from going on the offensive.

“Crimson!”

However, that was when Green did something bold. She used the remaining weapons she was controlling to shield Crimson. There were currently seven of them, but the electrified blow from Signaltin took out three.

“That forecast magic again!”

By the time Koutarou was ready to swing again, Crimson was already well out of his range and the remaining four weapons were blocking his path.

“You’re a lifesaver, Green!”

“It’s not over yet!”

Green had more in store. She ordered three of the remaining weapons to self-destruct, and they obeyed without hesitation, blowing themselves to bits.

“Satomi-kun!”

“Uwah!”

At such close range, Koutarou was inevitably caught in the blast. But thanks to Harumi’s quick reaction, his defenses were momentarily enhanced enough to protect him.

Man, I really let my guard down! To think she’d blow them up like that!

With Green sacrificing valuable combat equipment, it was clear now that Darkness Rainbow had no intention of trying to finish the fight. They would be retreating. That was why they were willing to blow up their own equipment—to make a distraction to get their allies out. Koutarou admired Green’s resolve and quick thinking as he kicked himself for his carelessness.

He had expected Darkness Rainbow to go on the offensive even if they were retreating in order to collect Crimson. If they had all attacked together, they should have been able to overwhelm Koutarou and the others long enough for Crimson to get away.

But there was a second option. They could create an opening with an indiscriminate explosion and nab their comrade in the chaos. That was probably why Green had only blown up three of the remaining four weapons. The last one was likely carrying the injured Crimson away right now.

Koutarou hadn’t expected them to attack in a way that would injure their own ally. He could barely even conceive of doing something like that because he could never imagine hurting the girls of room 106. But that was normal. He was fundamentally different from the members of Darkness Rainbow, who figured they could just forcibly heal Crimson later.

That said, he couldn’t just let them escape. Koutarou hurriedly scanned the area, looking for Crimson. Sadly, the smoke from the explosion was blocking his view, so he tried looking with his spirit sight instead. He was only able to catch a glimpse of things that way, however, because the next moment...

“Negative Energy Burst!”

Purple cast a spell that unleashed an explosion of spiritual energy. It did no real damage, but the dark energy she flooded the area with functionally blinded his spirit sight. Sanae couldn’t see anything either, and it even blocked out the haniwas’ spiritual energy radar. Moments later, their heat and electromagnetic radiation signatures cut out, and the haniwas lost track of them completely. Orange had cast a follow-up spell to shield them from other forms of detection.

“Harumi, Yurika, Maki! I’m counting on you!”

In this situation, Kiriha placed her bets on their three magicians. With Koutarou, Sanae, and the haniwas disabled, Harumi, Yurika, and Maki were their last hope. Fortunately, because they could sense mana, they might still be able to stop Darkness Rainbow.

“Greater Acid Cloud!”

Yurika cast a spell that created a cloud of strong acid. The plan was to spread the cloud over where Darkness Rainbow was retreating to cut off their path. Since there were six of them, they would likely be able to overcome it easily, but they would at least have to slow down to cast more spells.

“Oh spirits of life that dwell forever within the earth! Gather and beat as a single pulse! And with that powerful pulse, release the restrictions imposed on mortals! Carve! Divine Speed!”

Next, Harumi cast a spell that would greatly increase her target’s speed. As for her target, she set her sights on Maki.

“If we can at least capture one of them...!”

Maki was already running before Harumi’s spell activated. She was holding her staff, transformed into greatsword, firmly in both hands. She ran like the wind and dove into the billowing smoke. All she could see was white, but she was hot on Darkness Rainbow’s heels. They hadn’t bothered to conceal the spells they’d cast, so Maki had no trouble following their mana trail. She also knew Corona House well enough that she didn’t think she’d have any problems navigating it even with compromised vision.

“They’re just up ahead!”

After running through the white smoke for a few seconds, Maki caught up to someone thanks to her knowledge of the area. At that point, the smoke was starting to dissipate, and it quickly became clear who she’d found.

“So you’re here, Maki!”

“Crimson!”

Surprisingly, it was the injured Crimson. She had stayed behind to stop Maki and buy time for the others to escape.

“Now, let’s finish this!”

A staggered Crimson readied her staff.

“Just stop it, Crimson. What’s the point in fighting anymore?”

It didn’t look like Crimson was in any condition to keep fighting. No matter how strong she was, she wouldn’t stand a chance against Maki in this state. Maki couldn’t even get her head around what Crimson thought she was doing.

“Point? Oh, there’s a point.”

“Like what?!”

“I love fighting. That’s why I do this. That’s enough for me.”

Crimson tried to pull the lever and reload her cannon, but it felt surprisingly heavy. It was an easy feat for her in top form, but she was really struggling with it now.

“And what will you do if you die?!”

“Then that’s that... Don’t you feel the same, Maki?”

“Don’t compare me to you! We’re different!”

They both so badly wanted the other to see eye to eye with them, but they were fundamentally very different people who treasured very different things. That’s why, although Maki and Crimson acknowledged one another, they had to turn their backs on each other.

“But I’m not wrong, am I? You wouldn’t mind dying for what you love either, right?”

“Crimson...”

“Let’s fight, Maki. This is all I have. There is no other way of living for me.”

Crimson leveled her staff at Maki, both arms trembling. She was at her absolute limit, but still wanted to fight. She loved fighting. She couldn’t lie to herself about that, and that was why she chose to keep going even when it would exhaust her completely.

“So you press on with your way of life too. No matter who you’re up against.”

“Fine. I understand. I won’t argue anymore.”

“I’m glad you’re so obedient.”

“But, Crimson...”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not living as Dark Navy, but as Aika Maki. I wouldn’t mind dying for that sake.”

“I see... Good for you, Maki.”

“Thank you, Crimson.”

Maki and Karen had already had to say goodbye, and now Navy and Crimson did as well. They were tearing away from each other and walking different paths in life. It was somewhat sad, but both of them were satisfied with the way things had turned out. They may be walking different paths, but they shared the same resolute determination to walk their own way. And in that sense, they still understood each other.

“Let’s fight, Maki.”

“I’ll defeat you, Crimson.”

And so the final fight between Maki and Crimson began. Of course, the conclusion would be reached just moments later. One strike from Maki easily knocked the enfeebled Crimson unconscious. Maki had won their fight, but the bigger victory was arguably Crimson’s. She’d stalled Maki just long enough for the rest of Darkness Rainbow to escape.

But Maki didn’t regret that. Just like Crimson had chosen to fight knowing she would lose, Maki had chosen to fight knowing that would be the cost. That was just who she was—Aika Maki, a lonely and ordinary girl who cared very much for her friends. And that was how she would live her life from now on.

After the battle between Darkness Rainbow and the Corona House crew was over, Elexis ordered his computer to finalize its data collection and leaned back in his chair to stretch his arms and back. Seeing that, Maya walked over.

“Is it done?”

“Yes. I won’t be able to really tell until I analyze it, but I think we’ve probably gotten the data we need.”

Elexis stretched once more and massaged his own shoulders. He’d been sitting and staring into the computer screen the entire day, and he was feeling it.

“But still... How wicked of you to use Darkness Rainbow as a decoy to gather information.”

“Saying ‘decoy’ makes it sound terrible, but if you look at the bigger picture, this is for their sakes as well.”

“That kind of shallow excuse is just proof you really are a villain.”

Elexis had been gathering information in preparation for the decisive battle between Darkness Rainbow and Rainbow Heart. Knowing things like the frequency of the gravitational waves Theia used to communicate with Blue Knight would help give Darkness Rainbow the edge they needed. For example, by analyzing the information, they could obstruct signals, broadcast fake information, or any number of other things.

“I’m not sure you’re one to talk.”

“Oh? Are you going to call me an evil woman again?”

“I wouldn’t dare. You’re my angel.”

“You really are a villain. I hate you, El.”

“My, my...”

Maya had been doing similar work. She’d been gathering magical readings from a charm she’d given to Purple, so she hadn’t had to spend the day in front of a computer like Elexis. Instead, she’d been lounging on a couch in his room watching things unfold.

“Say, El...”

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you think we can win?”

Maya was almost always wearing a smug, confident grin, but right now, there was unease in her eyes. Even she was feeling nervous about what was to come, considering the scale of it all.

“When you say things like that, you start to sound like a normal girl.”

Elexis in the past might have been disappointed by that, but Elexis as he was now was simply confused by it.

“Everyone has their moments.”

“Well... I can’t even imagine how things are going to play out, but I’ve done all that I can. If this doesn’t work, then there’s nothing I can do and I can give up.”

“You’re right. I think I’ll adopt that attitude too.”

Maya was in much the same boat Elexis was. Showing weakness to others was something she would have laughed at herself for, but for some reason, she had no qualms about revealing herself to him.

“By the way, Maya...”

“What?”

“It’s about if we lose this next fight.”

“I don’t even want to think about that.”

Maya frowned. She had no real confidence that they’d win, but she still didn’t want to imagine losing.

“Well, could you at least hear me out? If we lose... what do you say about going on a voyage across the stars with me?”

“That’s an awfully romantic invitation.”

“No, no, that’s not quite it. I’m inviting you on a rampage across the galaxy with me.”

“As pirates?”

“Something like that.”

Elexis sighed. Upon hearing his proposal, Maya started to return to her normal self. Elexis didn’t dislike Maya’s weak side, but he liked it more when she stood tall like she was ready to take a bite out of the world. That’s why he was satisfied with this result.

“That doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll think about it.”

“All right, then it’s decided.”

“Hey, I only said I’d think about it. Don’t go deciding things on your own.”

“If you don’t want something, I know you’d say so right away.”

“You really are a villain...”

“That’s why you’re my partner.”

“I’ve been wondering about this for a while, but you’re really just making a fool of me, aren’t you?”

“Of course not. You’re my angel.”

“I really do hate you! I won’t play pirates with you, either!”

“My, my...”

Maya and Elexis’s silly conversation continued for some time. They certainly didn’t look or sound like the masterminds behind the party trying to overthrow the Magical Kingdom of Folsaria. That was perhaps the answer to everything, but the two of them were so focused on their goals that they didn’t notice.

After repelling Darkness Rainbow, Koutarou and the others quietly returned the children to their homes after using magic to erase their memories of being kidnapped. That kind of thing was especially traumatic for kids their age, and there was also the matter of what they’d seen while kidnapped... So in the end, wiping the children’s memories was something they felt they had to do. But since Darkness Rainbow’s ritual hadn’t drained the children of a life-threatening amount of spiritual energy, the kidnapping incident ultimately came to a peaceful conclusion.

“Jeez, we’re finally done...”

Upon returning to room 106, Koutarou plopped down at the tea table, collapsed over it, and let out a sigh. It was nearly dawn now. They’d spent all night resolving the incident, and were rightfully exhausted now that it was over.

“Everyone, go home and rest. There’s lots that we need to talk about, but that can wait until after we get some sleep. Good work tonight.”

Even Theia, who was normally more energetic than anyone, was beat. For her to be in such a condition could only mean the other girls were even worse for wear. Everyone was feeling sleepy from a mix of relief and fatigue. They all wanted to go immediately to bed. All of them, except...

“Please wait. Can I have a minute of everyone’s time?”

Yurika was standing in the middle of the room with a very tense and serious expression on her face. She looked like she still felt like they were in battle.

“What is it, Yurika?” Koutarou asked, slowly lifting his face up from the table.

Seeing Yurika’s grave expression immediately cleared his mind and some of his exhaustion. He was instinctively focused and ready to listen.

“There’s something I would like to ask of everyone.”

Hearing that Yurika was indeed serious, the other girls gathered around the tea table. Yurika waited for everyone before continuing.

“Darkness Rainbow will be challenging Rainbow Heart to a decisive battle very soon.”

That was a conclusion she’d reached after thinking about Darkness Rainbow’s kidnapping stunt and its consequences. Everything had ended well this time because Koutarou and the others had managed to get on top of things and stop them in time, but without them, there was no way to tell how wrong things might have gone. Darkness Rainbow would have a difficult time showing their faces in Kisshouharukaze City now, but that hadn’t stopped them from going forward with their plan. That could only mean that they were in a situation where they didn’t care about that. That was Yurika’s basis for thinking they’d be moving on to bigger prey from here.

“If that happens, I’ll cooperate. That’s what you wanted to ask, right?”

“No, it’s not. Lots of people will lose their lives in this battle regardless of which side wins. That’s why, before it begins...”

Yurika looked at each of her friends in turn as she spoke. After taking a good look at everyone, a change seemed to come over her. There was a resolve in her eyes and a dignity in her voice there wasn’t normally.

“I want to attack Darkness Rainbow’s HQ and make sure the decisive battle never happens in the first place! And for that, I need all of your help!”

After growing as a magical girl and following in Rainbow Heart’s footsteps, Yurika forsook conflict. That’s why it was especially momentous that she’d decided to make a move and attack first. That was just how dire the situation was.