Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?

Volume 18, Chapter 7: Everyone's Wishes

Part 1

Tuesday, September 14

Green looked clearly relieved when Crimson returned from the hall.

“Welcome back, Crimson”

Seeing her like that, Crimson smiled.

“Oh? Were you worried?”

“Well of course. There's still things I need you to do”

Green was actually just worried for Crimson, but she hid her intentions to protect her standing as a member of Darkness Rainbow. There was also a bunch of things she still had to do.

“Right. So how is it going over here?”

“Ever since your chances of victory started dropping rapidly, the summoning has entered its final phase”

“How many do you think we can summon?”

“With the current magical power, two”

“Hmm, guess it can't be helped”

The ritual Crimson and the others were trying was based on Blue's summoning spell. By using the children as sacrifices, they would summon powerful demons to this world.

However, to fully use the ten children, the ritual would require several hours, so it was likely that they would get interrupted part way through. So Darkness Rainbow had made preparations to use the summoning spell with the magical power they had absorbed until something got in their way.

The amount of time they had spent to drain the children so far was about an hour. The energy was less than a third of what they needed. As a result, they could only summon two out of the expected ten demons.

“Rainbow and the others will be here soon. Let's begin right away”

”Yes. Blue!”

Green raised her hand, and Blue who was working on the ritual at the magic circle nodded and was about to activate the spell. This was where the true battle began.

Part 2

The anomaly began just as Koutarou and the others defeated the last zombie.

As the number of zombies decreased, the chances of the ritual being performed in the shopping mall dropped lower and lower. And as there only a few left, Maki and Sanae reached the conclusion that the ritual wasn't being conducted in this place. So, while Koutarou and Theia fought against the remnants, Ruth opened a communications channel to Clan. However, before Ruth could open her mouth, Clan's voice came through her bracelet.

“Pardomshiha! This is an emergency!”

”What has happened, Clan-sama!?”

Ruth could sense that something had happened from Clan's tone, and connected to Koutarou's and Theia's terminals as well. Those two were in the middle of battle, but they were up against slow moving zombies. They had enough room to spare to listen in on the conversation. Moreover, Maki and Sanae who had been looking over the area nodded at each other and ran up to Ruth.

“Darkness Rainbow activated the ritual!”

”Is that true!?”

“There's no doubt! *cough* *cough* By the time we found the magic circle, they were already in the final stages! *cough*”

The hologram of Clan that had appeared coughed from time to time. The truth was that there was dust all around her. That was when Koutarou's voice interrupted the communication.

“Clan, you couldn't stop it!?”

”Rather than stopping it, they forcibly activated the spell with insufficient magical power! Yurika is saying that they only had about 20% of the energy they needed!”

Listening to Clan's report, the expert in magic, Maki, spoke through Ruth's bracelet.

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

”*cough* They summoned two large demons! The hotel collapsed because of them!”

Clan was having a coughing fit because the hotel had collapsed. The dust from the concrete collapsing was still all around them.

“W-Wait, Glasses! What about the children!? They're not buried under the collapsed hotel are they!?”

Sanae hurriedly called out. Just being used as an energy source in the ritual, their lives were in danger, but now the building had collapsed as well. If the children died, everything they did today had been for nothing.

“They're fine! But, in exchange for rescuing the children, 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 faced the same danger. She couldn't treat these children as someone else's problems. The same was probably true for Kiriha as well. However, they were now in a situation where the children being safe wasn't enough. Clan showed footage from an unmanned scout in the sky.

“Anyways, look at this! It's the monsters that appeared from the magic circle!”

First the footage showed the resort hotel in the night. However, a few seconds later, there was a sound of something collapsing within the hotel. The next moment a giant and a behemoth appeared as they broke through the entrance glass door. The summoned demons destroyed the hotel as they moved outside. The demons were both around 20 meters large. While it wasn't on the scale of the black hound that Tayuma had turned into, they were giants on the verge of the physical limits. As the two demons roared, the air trembled. And partially because of that, the hotel collapsed some seconds later.

“I'm having the unmanned scout following them, and the demons are headed for the urban area!”

Next, the footage changed to showing a different place. This was live footage from the unmanned scout, showing the giant and the behemoth descending the mountain. Because the behemoth was lighter, it was some hundred meters ahead, and the giant followed the behemoth's trail. Light from Kitsushouharukaze city could be seen in the direction the demons were headed. At this rate, they would reach the urban area in less than 30 minutes.

“How horrible. Something terrible will happen if they get to the city!”

”So they're so serious they're willing to give up on secrecy!”

Having finished cleaning up the remaining zombies, Theia and Koutarou returned to Ruth and the others. Their expressions were serious. It was obvious what would happen if two demons entered the city.

“Bertorion, you people follow these demons too please!”

”Alright, we'll be right―”

Koutarou was going to chase after the demons even if Clan hadn't asked him. However, Maki interrupted him mid-sentence.

“Wait, Satomi-kun!”

“Aika-san!?”

Maki panickingly called out to Clan's hologram.

“Clan-san, was Purple over there!?”

”Purple?...No we didn't see her. All we saw here was Red, Green and Blue”

“Satomi-kun, this is a trap!”

“A trap!?”

”Purple should have been the one that summoned that horde of zombies! Yet that Purple isn't here! Crimson, Green and Blue were in charge of the summoning! So what are Purple, Orange and Yellow doing right now!?”

Darkness Rainbow had seven people, without Maki that made six. Out of those, Crimson, Green and Blue were at the resort hotel, casting the summoning spell. It was possible that the other three hadn't come to Kitsushouharukaze city, but with Purple having unleashed a horde of zombies in the shopping mall, at the very least, Purple was also here. In that case, what was their goal? The answer was obvious.

“They are 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 Crimson, Green and Blue had summoned were meant to split up Koutarou and the others. Since they were ten, they originally wanted to summon ten demons, but even with two, considering their size, it was still enough to split them up. And while Koutarou and the others were busy dealing with the demons, Purple, Orange and Yellow would occupy room 106. In other words, the zombie horde released inside the shopping mall was also part of the plan to create this situation. They needed to split up their forces just like Darkness Rainbow wanted. There was a lot they had to do and the situation was very dangerous.

Part 3

Koutarou's and the others' present problems were, the two huge demons and the defense of room 106. They needed those capable of powerful attacks to deal with the demons. For that, Theia, Ruth, Clan and Shizuka stood out. The three from Forthorthe had massive firepower, and Shizuka had the power of a dragon.

“...Haah... just as I lost weight...”

”Don't cry over your weight, Shizuka”

“You can only say that because you're so light, Theia-chan. Just imagine the boy you love not being able to lift you up when the time comes”

”Tat's certainly a nightmare, but the city will be destroyed if you don't do it”

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

All four of them could fly through the sky, so they were able to easily meet up in the middle ground between the hotel and mall. They then chased after the demons.

“...Hey, Pardomshiha”

”Yes?”

”Do gentlemen concern themselves with a ladies weight?”

“You mean Master?”

“I-I mean in general!”

”He does seem to mind a little, but he was also worried about becoming too thin”

“Now that you mention it, he did say that a princess shouldn't be unhealthy...”

”Master did?”

“Like I said, in general!”

Their flight speed was fast, and a few minutes after meeting up, the two demons were in sight. Being 20 meters in size, they stood out even from afar.

“Cut the useless banter there. We need to do something about those now”

”They're certainly big when looking at them up close”

“Neither of them are above 20 meters, but since they've been summoned by magic, we can't let our guard down”

Since they were outside, Theia and Ruth could use Blue Knight, and Clan could use Hazy Moon. If they needed it, Shizuka could transform into a dragon. Thinking about it normally, they should be able to win, but since magic was involved, they couldn't make light of their foes.

“Let's go all out and defeat them right away. That would be the fastest and most peaceful way for the city!”

“You mean for your own peace”

“That's also part of the city's peace!”

Shizuka was quick to action and summoned even more of her strength. She was still in her half dragon half human shape, but her body was clad in crimson flames. These flames were from the magical power within her leaking out, and she was going to settle this right away like she had said.

“But I agree that we should strike swiftly as well”

Theia said as she told her Combat Dress' fire control system that the two demons were enemies. As she did, the two large cannons on her shoulders aimed for the giant, the closest of the demons. Ruth and Clan followed suit and got ready for combat. Ruth switched the unmanned fighters into combat mode, while Clan readied her beam cannon. These two were worried that the people in the city would get hurt if the fighting dragged out. That's why these two reached the same conclusion of wanting to settle this quickly.

“Victory goes to those who make the first move!”

Before confirming that everyone was ready, Theia hastily began bombarding. She would defeat the demons as quickly as possible. That was the only thing on her mind.

Part 4

While Theia and the others had begun their attack on the demons, Koutarou and the others returned to Corona House. Using the Blue Knight's teleportation gate, they could return directly to room 106. Fortunately, it was still quiet, and Darkness Rainbow was nowhere to be seen.

“Darkness Rainbow still hasn't come!”

“You're wrong, Satomi-san! They're already here! A ward against people has already been cast!”

However, Yurika was able to see through that the enemy was here right away. Room 106 was unnaturally quiet. They couldn't even hear the faint noise of cars running down the road. This was because a ward against people had been cast on Corona House, despite it being night, it was more quiet than normal. And that let them know that the battle had already begun.

The sound of gunfire from the spiritual energy rifles the People of the Earth used could be heard outside. It was obvious that the sound was being made by Kiriha's subordinates who were protecting Corona House.

“Koutarou, it looks like they cast the ward a while ago and waited with attacking until there was no longer any related left. It doesn't seem like the battle has gone on for more than a few seconds!”

The ward against people didn't just keep the situation inside the barrier from leaking out, but it also made people without a strong motive to remain move away. As result, only Kiriha's subordinates remained, and they were preventing Darkness Rainbow from approaching.

Kiriha had contacted her subordinates as she returned to room 106. Hearing that they hadn't been annihilated came as good news, and brightened her expression up a little.

“Alright, let's go right away!”

That said, if left be, they would be in danger. Though it was dangerous, Koutarou opened the door to room 106 and ran outside.

“Good, you're all okay!”

Kiriha's subordinates were right outside. They numbered ten, and they were using furniture set down as barricades as cover. Thanks to the barricade and Koutarou and the others quick return, there hadn't been any casualties. There was one who was hurt and couldn't move, but their life wasn't in danger.

“You're here, Satomi Koutarou!”

Crimson's voice could be heard. Darkness Rainbow had spotted Koutarou. Even though it was in the middle of the night, the blue armor that Koutarou was wearing stood out. That was the appearance that Crimson was the most cautious of, so she wouldn't mistake it.

“You've sure pulled off something ridiculous”

Koutarou moved up front, and stood facing Darkness Rainbow. In response, the six stopped attacking and answered him.

“During our showdown with Rainbow Heart, having you guys intervene would be a pain. That's why we'll deal with you first”

Crimson said and smiled. Their goal had been Koutarou and the others from the beginning.

Having gotten spiritual energy technology from the People of the Earth's radical faction as well as Forthorthe science from Elexis, Darkness Rainbow didn't necessarily need room 106's magical power. However, it was clear that Koutarou and the others would get in the way during their decisive battle against Rainbow Heart. Their powers shouldn't be made light of, and so, it was decided they would be eliminated first.

“So the summoning spell was to make us divide up our combat potential... or rather, to those with high attack power away”

“Bingo! As expected from those who captured Navy-chan. That's right, if we don't separate you from those guys, nothing will start!”

Dark Orange praised Koutarou with a bright expression. However, that unsuitable brightness unnerved Koutarou. He could understand why Maki was so bad with her.

“Now it's six vs six. Now that we're the same numbers, we can easily go up against you with our new powers”

Purple showed a mature smile full of confidence. Green had come up with most of the plan, but Purple had advised her on some parts. With things proceeding according to plan, Purple was convinced of victory.

The biggest problem for Darkness Rainbow fighting Koutarou and the others, were Theia and the others from Forthorthe and Shizuka. Darkness Rainbow couldn't deal with Forthorthe's weaponry and Shizuka's dragon powers. That's why they had to huge demons. Rather than splitting up Koutarou and the others, they needed to remove the members with high offensive capabilities. In other words, the ritual never needed to be completed. They would confront Koutarou and the others once they had some demons causing trouble elsewhere, removing the most powerful members from the lineup.

That was when Yurika who had been in the back stood next to Koutarou.

“Purple-san, I don't care what you are planning, but I am an arc-wizard of Rainbow Heart. I will stop you in the name of Rainbow!”

Yurika boldly declared, and readied her cane, Angel Halo. In the past, Yurika had only inherited Nana's outfit and cane. But things were different now. She had inherited Nana's love and courage as well. The one standing here was without a doubt, Nana's successor, Rainbow Yurika.

“That's a funny thing to say. You're nowhere near Nana's level”

”Of course. But while I'm fighting instead of Nana-san, I don't have to end up the same as her”

Four girls lined up behind Yurika. Harumi, Sanae, Maki and Kiriha. The four of them were going to help Yurika. She knew that her powers alone weren't all that. However, she had friends. Many friends who had helped each other out all this time.

“I am me. I will fight like myself, and win!”

With Darkness Rainbow being her opponent, Yurika was standing in the front for once. However, that didn't change what she had to do. She would work together with everyone to fight, and return to that everyday life.

Part 5

GOL's, Garb of Lord's, large generator roared and supplied Koutarou's armor with a large quantity of energy. Normally, GOL's role was to eliminate weaker enemies, and create a path for the king, but just improving both offense and defense would help a lot in this situation.

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

Crimson looked at Koutarou's armor with great interest. This was the first time Darkness Rainbow saw GOL, but they had heard about Koutarou's fighting in the underground from Maya. Yet, they weren't shaken. They were only saying it was scared, but they seemed quite confident that they would win.

“Crimson, that sword dissolves magic, so you can't use magic to attack him directly”

“I know. Why do you think I bothered studying science”

Crimson answered Green as she loaded her cannon. Her new methods of attack were also a way to deal with Koutarou. They had learned from Maki in the past that Signaltin had the power to dispel magic. So instead of using magic, they would transform it into physical force for their attacks. That way, there was no need to worry about spells being dispelled. The cannonball was a lump of steel, and the laser was light. That said, Crimson was a little dissatisfied that she couldn't use her favorite spell, Inferno Fire.

“I think a magician firing off lasers and cannonballs is more scary though”

”Don't you think everything changes with time?”

Using those words as an opportunity, Crimson pointed the cannon at Koutarou and the other Darkness Rainbow members readied their canes at the same time, with one exception. Blue was instead readying a large rifle. Since she had used up almost all of her magical power for the ritual, she would be fighting with an enchanted rifle.

“I agree, knight's have gotten a lot more modern too!”

Sensing that the battle was about to start, Koutarou moved forward with Signaltin in hand. He wasn't naive enough to let magicians make the first move. As he did, the sword began emitting a strong glow.

“Satomi-kun, go all out! I will work with you as best as I can!”

”Please do, Sakuraba-senpai!”

Harumi was responsible for making the sword glow. She was enveloped in the same colored light as the sword and her now silver hair fluttered. Supporting Koutarou with the powers she had inherited from Alaia was Harumi's role.

“Traaa~nsform, Kabutonga!”

Next to Harumi, Sanae made a transformation pose like that of an anime hero. As she did, her body was enveloped in powerful spiritual energy and began glowing. She used her power to strengthen her entire body. Offense, defense and speed, all of her abilities exceeded the limit of man. Sanae chased after Koutarou, leaving behind a trail of light. Her role was to give Koutarou backup.

“Karama, Korama, Spiritual Energy Field to active mode, use the generators excess energy to attack!”

”Understood Ho-! Go for it Ane-san Ho-!”

”Now it's our time to shine Ho-!”

Kiriha used the naginata that changed spiritual energy into power and stepped out in front of Harumi. Thanks to the naginata and the haniwas, she could follow up for everyone at all ranges, but first her role was to guard the defenseless Harumi.

“Here we go, Maki-chan!”

”Yes!”

Finally, Yurika and Maki stood at the back and backed up everyone with magic. There was of course offensive spells, but also defensive and diversion spells, all together, their work was varied. However, since their enemies were six magicians, the prioritized defense first.

Part 6

In response to Koutarou and the others who divided everything up into roles, Darkness Rainbow sent out Crimson. She was quick and skilled in close combat, and therefore in charge of the offense.

“Explosion!”

She moved up as she fired the cannon attached to her cane. First she needed to stop Koutarou from moving. The recoil from the cannon was large, but she still forced herself forwards. Next to her, five machines created using spiritual energy technology and five unmanned attack vessels from Forthorthe advanced as well. Since they knew he could dispel their magic, Crimson and the weapons would be going up against Koutarou.

“So what if it's a cannon!?”

Koutarou moved swiftly to evade the cannonball. With that he was able to avoid a direct hit, but as the cannonball graced the armor's barrier, it drained it of a lot of energy. That was proof of how powerful the cannon was.

“You're pretty good, Crimson”

”I'm different from before!”

As she spoke, the group of weapons attacked Koutarou. Because the cannonball had sapped the barrier of its power, some bullets slammed into Koutarou's armor. Though that didn't cause any major damage, it was a splendid combination.

“Good job, Green!”

”I do my best!”

Green was controlling the weapons. She manipulated the weapons with her forecasts as her basis. As a result she was able to accurately aim for the weakened parts of Koutarou's barrier.

“Tsk!”

In an attempt to break down the combination between Crimson and the weapons, Koutarou aimed for the weapons. He believed it would be easier than going directly for Crimson.

“It won't be that easy!”

However, his attacks didn't hit. Using her forecast, Green moved the weapons to positions where they wouldn't get hit by attacks. To Green who used information and future forecasts, weapons that fought in an orderly manner on their own were a perfect fit as familiars.

“Once more, Crimson!”

“Yeah!”

Crimson pulled the lever and reloaded another cannonball. At the same time, the weapons under Green's control returned to Crimson's side. The two's combination was hard to break up.

“They're tough!”

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

However, before Crimson could attack again, Sanae ran up to cover Koutarou. She pulled back a bow made from spiritual energy and let loose an arrow made from spiritual energy as well.

“Hiiiit theeeem!!”

The spiritual energy arrow split up until several dozen arrows midway and rained down on the weapons Green was controlling. Because the arrow had split into so many arrows, not even Green could dodge them. At best she could order them to group up and defend.

“Mass Protection From Soul Energy”

Just before Sanae's rain of arrows hit, a purple light wrapped around the group of weapons and Darkness Rainbow. This was Purple's spell. Since her specialty was regarding spiritual energy and necromancy, she was the most suited for protecting against Sanae's attacks.

“Muh, you're pretty good, Purple”

Because Sanae's arrow had split up half ways, the power of each one was weak, which meant that they were unable to break through Purple's defensive spell and they were stopped after impacting the weapons a little. Sanae was surprised by that outcome and instinctively praised the enemy.

“I'm surprised. To think there really was someone with divine-level spiritual energy”

The same was true for Purple. While she had blocked Sanae's attack, her defensive spell had been wiped out as well. Normally it was a spell that would go on for a while, but it couldn't withstand Sanae's attack.

“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 aimed for Purple. The scorching hot flames and high voltage lightning assaulted Purple.

“Vacuum Wall!”

That was when a wall of vacuum appeared in the attacks way. Once the flames touched the vacuum, they burned out due to the lack of oxygen, and since vacuum doesn't conduct electricity, the lightning was bounced back. This was the act of Orange, who was skilled at changing the state of things.

“It's not working Ho-!”

“These enemies aren't normal either Ho-!”

”Blue-chan, Blue-chan, don't you think those haniwas are cute!? Let's bring them back home!”

”Be more serious. Navy was always getting angry at you because of this”

Blue attacked with her rifle as she spoke to Orange. Her target was Yurika and Maki in the rear. Blue's skills were worthy of praise and her aim was accurate. When she attacked with summoning magic, she would summon something from afar and ram it into her target. Like summoning lava and pouring that over her enemies. She would often summon weapons as well, so she was used to handling guns.

“Maki-chan!”

“Yes!”

””Force Field!””

Yurika and Maki incanted the same spell in harmony. Since the two used the same defensive spell, two layers of a magical shield stood in the way of the bullets. The rapidly fired bullets smacked into the shields, and easily broke through the first. However, the second shield stopped them in their tracks. Normally the first shield would have blocked the bullets, but Blue wasn't using a normal rifle.

“Blue is right. You have to be more serious”

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

The bullets fired from Blue's rifle had all been strengthened by Yellow. Yellow was specialized in reinforcement and defense. As a result, the bullet tips and bullet speed were strengthened, greatly improving the power behind them.

“We're just about even...”

Koutarou muttered as he readied his sword. Since the attacks on both sides had been nullified so far, nobody had been hurt yet. From that, Koutarou was able to tell that their abilities were about on par.

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

”Don't think I'm like you. There's no fun in fighting for me”

“Hmm... well, I'll still have you play with me”

Crimson pointed the cane towards Koutarou. As she did she glanced at Maki.

So that's why it's him, Maki... I kind of understand...

As if sensing that glance, Maki looked at Crimson. Crimson showed her a small smile, before looking back at Koutarou and erasing her smile. There was no time to be sentimental now. The battle was only just getting started.

Part 7

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, but they were still 20 meters large combat weapons.

“Your Highness, I've analyzed their barrier strength”

“Hmm, it's not as powerful as I thought”

Theia and Ruth were dealing with the behemoth. When the time came, they had the Blue Knight's bombardment available to them. Hitting the back of the beast would be easy.

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

”However, we are near the urban area. We can't bombard as many times as we please. We'll need to stop it from moving first”

That said, it was a beast, it moved fast for its size. Since there was some delay before the bombardment from the Blue Knight hit the ground, they needed to dull the beasts movements first. There, Theia readied the beam rifle in her right hand and charged the behemoth. She was going to attack all of its legs with the fast moving projectiles of the beam rifle.

“Goaaaaaaaa!!”

Having been attacked by Theia repeatedly before, the behemoth let out a loud roar as it noticed her approach. As it roared, shards of ice flew out of its mouth. Just like a dragon could breathe fire, the behemoth had the ability to breathe ice.

“I have no grudges against you, but...”

Theia made use of her inborn kinetic vision, dexterously using her boosters and her posture control thrusters she seemingly fluttered across the sky. The behemoth tried its best to knock Theia down with its ice breath, but it couldn't keep up with her movements. As a result, in less than ten seconds, Theia was next to the behemoth.

“...I can't leave you be like this. Forgive me”

After rapidly firing off her beam rifle at close range, Theia left the behemoth's side just like how she approached. Since it was such a close range attack, she had reduced the speed a little, but instead increased the density of the projectile. The strengthened beam easily pierced the behemoth's right leg, causing massive damage within.

“Gaaaaaa, Gaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Driven by pain and anger, the behemoth turned around in an attempt to shoot down Theia, but with its right leg out of order, it couldn't chase after her.

“Now, Ruth!”

”Yes, Your Highness!”

Waiting for the behemoth 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. The fighters aim was the behemoth's left hind leg. Since it was now so focused on Theia, the behemoth was wide open.

“Guooooooo!!”

The small fighters didn't have as much firepower as Theia did, but the laser fired from the four fighters at the same time accurately burnt off the beast's tendon that rested beyond its outside shell. The behemoth was assaulted by a fierce pain and fell to the ground with a loud sound. With its right front leg and left hind leg out of order, it could no longer stand.

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

The behemoth was facing Theia and Ruth at the same time. Strictly speaking, it was also facing four unmanned fighters as well. When Theia was attacking, it couldn't only focus on her, but if she had been alone, it wouldn't be attacked if it got excited and chased after Theia. And the outcome might not have been so one sided.

“Blue Knight, make a bombardment with direct aim”

“As you wish, my princess”

“...You're best off returning home, and not 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 was unfortunate that it would have to get hurt so badly.

“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 hardening magical power. That's why even if their body was destroyed, they would simply return to their own world. At least it wouldn't have to die, Theia thought as she looked at the large caliber laser pouring down from the sky.

Part 8

The other demon, the giant, was going up against Shizuka and Clan. However, these two could win whenever they wanted to. The power of the dragon within Shizuka would easily overpower the giant. If there was a problem, it was that Shizuka hated what would happen afterwards.

“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. And of course, the people of the city”

“I'm trusting you, okay Uncle!?”

”Y-Yes. I'll do my best to live up to your expectations”

The Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya, was overwhelmed by his new niece, but he unleashed his powers in an attempt to hide that.

With her body this size, I think weighing 200 kilos is more healthy though...

With a dragon's common sense it wasn't possible to understand why Shizuka was in such grief. But having Shizuka would be problematic, so Alunaya decided to defeat the demon as quickly as possible.

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

Clan showed a hologram of the vital points of the human body. Even though its body was made from magical power, its vital points should be the same as that of a living creatures.

“Uncle, remember that”

”Okay”

When unleashing all of her power, the control of Shizuka's body fell into Alunaya's hands. That's why he had to remember to parts to aim for. As Shizuka was looking at the hologram, Alunaya's magical power began overflowing, and eventually she turned into a dragon almost 20 meters tall. At this point, there was no resemblance of Shizuka. Her body was in the center of the dragon, serving as the focusing point for the magical power.

“Then let's go”

”Good luck, Uncle!”

“Good bye”

Having transformed into a dragon, Alunaya flew away and left Clan behind. Clan saw him off and, while imprudent, thought of something unrelated to the battle.

I'm glad I was light when Bertorion was carrying me...

Thanks to Shizuka, Clan had realized one of the dangers of being a woman that she had gone unaware of until this point.

“Shizuka, how will we attack? There's the plasma breath, magical attack and martial arts”

Alunaya could breathe plasma, with his plentiful magical power he could also use offensive magic, and he was pretty confident in his martial arts. He was confident that he could defeat this enemy with any one of those attacks, 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 from the start.

“Why?”

”You're not allowed to waste magical power!”

The plasma breath and magic attacks would consume magical power. Shizuka wanted to avoid that.

“I understand”

Having understood the circumstances, Alunaya flapped his wings and charged the giant. In close combat there was a chance that Shizuka would get hurt, which Alunaya wanted to avoid. But since she had something she was more scared of than getting hurt, he had no choice. Alunaya bared his claws and fangs and attacked the giant.

“...It's not even a challenge... why did I even come...”

Clan was watching over the battle and let out a sigh. The dragon was going all out from the start. First he crunched down his opponent's right hand to prevent any counterattacks before turning around to slam his tail into the opponent. As a finisher he bit down on the giants neck. Once the giant died, it's body began dispersing. Having lost its body, the giant returned home.

Like that, Alunaya finished off his opponent without even letting it shout. It was a complete and utter victory worthy of the name of Fire Dragon Emperor.

“T-That was terrible...”

Having returned to her original form, Shizuka sat down and held her knees. Seeing her like that, Clan hurriedly ran up to her. She was worried that Shizuka had been hit and was hurt.

“Are you okay, Shizuka!?”

“I'm not okay...”

Shizuka's expression was pale.

“...Biting the giant was terrible... I don't think I'll be able to forget that sensation and taste when biting down...”

“Eh?”

Clan was astonished by Shizuka's words. She hadn't been hurt. She was just shocked by the senses conveyed to her by Alunaya. It wasn't a real body, and the giant hadn't actually died, but that wouldn't console Shizuka.

”Ah, forgive me, next time I'll temporarily sever the connection of senses”

“...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. Because neither of them could understand each other, Clan who felt like there was no point in coming here would have to bring Shizuka back home.

Part 9

The six vs six battle between Koutarou and the others and Darkness Rainbow was progressing evenly. While Darkness Rainbow had overpowered Yurika and the others at the resort hotel, in this place, where they had made no preparations, they couldn't make full use of their powers. The difference in power between the two sides was slight, slightly in the favor of Darkness Rainbow, but with the support of Kiriha's subordinates, that difference was covered up. However a few minutes after their battle began, the balance was broken. The reason for that was Theia and the others defeating the two demons.

“This is bad, everyone. All the futures of the summoned demons reaching the city have vanished. Instead, there's an increase of futures where Rainbow and the others get backup”

Darkness Rainbow were the first to realize. With her ability to read the future, Green had sensed that the summoned demons had been defeated.

”At this rate, we'll lose once their reinforcements arrive. When are they coming?”

”The fastest is in one minute. It looks like they'll come in using some kind of teleportation magic”

”One minute... looks like we're going to have to settle this fast”

Hearing Green's report, Crimson felt like they should hurry up to settle the battle. If they continued like this they would only lose. They needed to finish this within a 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 to that. If they went all out, chances were they would lose right away as well. Which meant they would be unable to escape in a disadvantageous situation.

”Everyone, please listen. Both summoned demons were just killed”

That was when Blue let everyone that her summoned demons had died. Being the caster, she could tell if her summons died. The battles with the demons had gone as Green had forecast.

”We need to decide right away. Let's vote on if we should fight or retreat”

Purple's decision was swift. Discussing here would only waste time so a majority vote would be required.

”I vote for continue fighting”

”I vote for retreating like I said before”

Crimson and Purple cast their votes. They were the same as they had expressed before.

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

Orange wanted to continue fighting as well. In contrast to her frivolous behavior, she was full of pride. That part of her was Darkness Rainbow like.

”I agree on retreating”

”I think we should retreat as well”

Blue and Yellow wanted to retreat. They were judgments fit of the calm Blue and conservative Yellow.

”What about you Green?”

”I...”

Green wanted to do what Crimson wanted. However, she had forecast that the chances of Crimson dying if they continue fighting increased exponentially. That's why she couldn't agree on fighting.

”...I think we should retreat. I have also made plans for retreat”

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

Thus, Darkness Rainbow decided to retreat. Crimson and Orange would retreat as well. But it still wasn't certain if they could.

Part 10

Koutarou wondered why Darkness Rainbow's movement slowed down for a few seconds. It was slight, but it felt like they weren't really present. However, that reason soon revealed itself as Theia contacted him.

“Koutarou!”

”Theia!”

Koutarou attacked Crimson as he replied. Crimson responded by suddenly bombarding him to get Koutarou out of position, and by the time he recovered she was ready to attack and lasers rained down. However, that was blocked by GOL's active barrier.

“Good news! The demons have been defeated!”

The voice sounded proud, that's why Koutarou figured that they must have gotten a complete and utter victory.

“I see, so that's why!”

He also figured out why Darkness Rainbow had slowed down for a moment. They were probably thinking that they would lose once Theia and the others got back. So Koutarou decided to swiftly close in. In this situation, Darkness Rainbow had two options. Forcing their way through, or retreat. Regardless of which they chose, they would go on the offensive, so it only made sense for Koutarou to attack before that.

“Hm? What?”

”It's nothing, we're still fighting over here! Come back as fast as you can!”

“Got it, just hold on a moment!”

“Senpai!”

”Yes!”

Harumi controlled Signaltin's magical power as Koutarou advanced. Using that power, she increased Koutarou's speed.

“Tsk, so you've figured it out!”

”Don't be so sure, I'm not sure which option you're choosing yet!”

Koutarou swung his sword down. Harumi followed up on that by flooding the sword and its surrounding area with high voltage. A direct hit would probably cause the opponent to faint, but just a glancing blow would stun. In this kind of situation, not killing them would slow down the enemy, so the electrical current didn't need to be all that high. The aim was to slow down Crimson who should be wanting to take to 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 remaining, but with a blow from the lightning infused Signaltin, three were blown apart.

“That forecast magic again!”

By the time Koutarou could swing again, Crimson was already out of his range and the remaining four weapons blocked Koutarou's path.

“You're a lifesaver, Green!”

”It's not over yet!”

However, Green's attack wasn't over yet.

She ordered three of the remaining weapons to self-destruct. The weapons without will did as instructed and self-destructed, blowing up themselves.

“Satomi-kun!!”

”Uwah!?”

Having been at close range, Koutarou was caught in the blast. But thanks to Harumi suddenly increasing his defenses, he didn't suffer any major damage.

I let my guard down, to think she'd blow them up without hesitation!

Since she had blown up valuable combat potential by her own volition, the chance of Darkness Rainbow forcing their way through to room 106 vanished. They would be retreating. For the sake, they would blow up their own weapons, and get their own allies caught in the attack if they had to. Koutarou felt admiration for Green's unhesitant decision making while getting irritated at his own carelessness.

Koutarou had expected Darkness Rainbow to go on the offensive even if they were to retreat, so that their frontline, Crimson, could retreat as well. If they all went on the offensive and overwhelmed Koutarou and the others, Crimson would be able to escape with the rest.

However, there was another way to let Crimson retreat. That was by attacking everything, including Crimson. In this case, as long as there was an opening to carry Crimson out, they could take her with them. That's why Green had blown up three of the weapons. The last one was probably carrying the injured Crimson with them now.

Koutarou hadn't expected them to attack in such a way that they would injure their own ally. That was because he couldn't imagine himself hurting the girls of room 106. However, considering this a miss from Koutarou's side was a bit cruel. He was just a normal boy. He had a fundamentally different way of thinking from Darkness Rainbow who figured they could just forcibly heal Crimson later.

That said, he couldn't allow them to escape. Koutarou hurriedly scanned the area, looking for Crimson. Sadly, the smoke from the explosion was blocking his view, so he tried looking through the smoke using the ability to see spiritual energy. But he was only able to see past the smoke for a moment. In the next moment―

“Negative Energy Burst!”

―Purple's attack prevented him from seeing. She had used a spell that exploded dark spiritual energy, shocking the people in its vicinity, but since she was exploding spiritual energy, it also prevented anyone who could see spiritual energy from seeing anything. Because of that, neither Koutarou nor the haniwas could see their auras. The next moment, heat and electromagnetic radiation was cut off, and the haniwas completely lost sight of them. Orange had used a spell to disturb the heat and electromagnetic radiation.

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

In this situation, Kiriha left it to the three magicians.

Koutarou and Sanae in the front couldn't see anything because of the smoke and burst. Kiriha's haniwas had lost sight of the enemy. That's why only Harumi, Yurika and Maki could do something about this situation. Fortunately, because they could sense magic, 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 create the cloud over where Darkness Rainbow was retreating to cut off their path. Since she was going up against six magicians, they would quickly dispel it, but it should slow them down while they cast their own spell.

“Oh spirits of life that dwell forever within the earth! Gather and become as a single pulse! As that powerful pulse, remove the restrictions of the chosen life form! Carve! Divine Speed!”

Next, Harumi cast a spell that greatly increased the movement speed. She had cast that spell on Maki.

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

Maki was already running as Harumi's spell activated. She was holding her cane, turned into greatsword, in her hands. She ran like the wind and dived into the white smoke cloud. She could only see white, but Maki wouldn't lose track of Darkness Rainbow. They still hadn't covered up their magical power, so it wasn't difficult to chase after their trail. She also had the layout of Corona House in her head.

“They're just up ahead!”

After running through the white smoke for a few second, Maki caught up to one of the members of Darkness Rainbow thanks to her knowledge of the area. At this point, the smoke was starting to dissipate, and that person's appearance grew clearer.

“So you're here, Maki”

”Crimson!”

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

“Now lets finish this, Maki”

Crimson readied her cane as she staggered.

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

It didn't look like Crimson could continue fighting to Maki. No matter how strong she was, in this state, she had no chance against Maki. Maki struggled to see any meaning in what Crimson was doing.

“Point? Oh there's a point”

“Like what!?”

“I love fighting. That's why I fight. That's enough for me”

Crimson said as she pulled the lever to try and reload a cannon ball. However, the lever was heavy, and while she could do it easily in top form, it was a lot of work now.

“Then what will you do if you die!”

”...Then that's fine too... isn't that the same for you, Maki...”

They wanted the other to be the same as them, but they were different at a fundamental part, and their precious things were different. That's why, while Maki and Crimson recognized one another, they had to turn their backs on each other.

“I'm not wrong. You wouldn't mind dying for what you love either, right?”

“Crimson...”

“Let's fight, Maki. This is all I have. I can't accept any other way of living”

Crimson pointed the tip of her cane towards Crimson. The cane was somewhat trembling. Crimson was at her limit. But even them, she wanted to be strong. That's why she continued to fight, even if she had to exhaust her life.

“So you push through with your way of life too. No matter who you're up against”

“I understand, I won't say anything else”

“I'm glad you're so obedient”

“Hey... Crimson”

“Hm?”

”I won't live as Dark Navy, but as Aika Maki. I wouldn't mind if I died for the sake of that”

”I see... good for you, Maki”

“Thank you, Crimson”

The time between Maki and Karen was already over. The same was true for the time between Navy and Crimson as well. The two disassociated with each other and were now Maki and Crimson. They sought for complete opposites. But they were mysteriously satisfied with that. Because while the paths they walked were different, they understood each other.

“Let's fight, Maki”

”I'll defeat you, Crimson”

Thus, the last fight between these two began. Of course, the conclusion was reached shortly thereafter. One strike from Maki easily knocked Crimson unconscious. Maki had won. However, looking at the bigger picture, this might have been Crimson's victory. In the end, Maki had been stalled, and the remaining members of Darkness Rainbow had escaped from Koutarou and the others.

Maki didn't regret this outcome. Just like Crimson had chosen to fight, knowing she would lose, Maki had no choice but to do this. She was Aika Maki, she was a lonely and ordinary girl who cared for her friends. She would be able to live like that from now, alongside her many friends.

Part 11

After the battle between Darkness Rainbow and Koutarou and the others was over, Elexis ordered the computer to finish its data collection as he stretched his body. Noticing that, Maya approached him.

“Is it over?”

“Yes. I won't be able to fully tell until I analyze it, but... we've probably gotten the necessary data”

Elexis stretched once more and squeezed his own shoulder. He had been staring into the computer the entire day so his shoulders were stiff.

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

”Decoy makes it sound so bad, if you look at the bigger picture, it's for their sake as well”

”Having an excuse like that is just the proof of a villain”

Elexis had been gathering information in preparation for the decisive battle between Darkness Rainbow and Rainbow Heart. One example was the frequency of the gravitational waves Theia used to communicate with the Blue Knight. Having information like that would make the battle progress in their favor. By analyzing the information, they could obstruct, throw out fake information or do all kinds of things.

“Are you sure you can be talking about me like that?”

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

“I wouldn't dare. You are my angel”

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

“My, my”

Maya was the same. She had been gathering information regarding magic. However, in her case, the charm she had left to Purple gathered information from its surroundings, so she didn't need to stare into a computer like Elexis, so instead she was lying on the sofa in Elexis room, watching over the progress.

“Hey El”

“Hm?”

“Do you think we can win?”

Maya had been showing a provocative expression full of confidence up until now, but right now there was some unease mixed in. Even she couldn't help but feel nervous over what they were about to do, considering the scale of it all.

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

The past Elexis might have been disappointed in her. But the current him didn't feel that way. He himself was confused by that.

“There are times like that every so often”

“...Well... I can't even imagine how things will play out, but I've done everything I can. If this doesn't work, there's nothing I can do, and I can give up”

“You're right. I'll think like that as well”

Maya was the same as Elexis. Showing her weakness to others was something the past her would never have even thought of doing. However, for some reason she felt no resistance in exposing herself to Elexis.

“By the way, Maya”

“What?”

“It's about if we lose this next fight”

”I don't even want to think about that”

Maya showed a depressed expression. She had no confidence that they'd win, but she didn't want to imagine they'd lose. It was a perfectly natural reaction.

“Well, could you at least listen. If we lose... won't you go on a voyage across the stars with me?”

“That's an awfully romantic invitation”

“That's not quite right. I'm inviting you to rampage across the galaxy”

”As pirates?”

“Something like that”

Elexis dropped his shoulders.

Upon hearing Elexis' proposal, Maya began returning to usual self. Elexis didn't hate Maya's weak side, but he liked her when she could proudly stick out her chest. That's why he was satisfied with this result.

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

“Alright, then it's decided”

“Hey, I just said I'll think about it. Don't go and decide on your own”

”If you don't like something, you'll 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 making a fool of me, aren't you?”

“Of course not. You are my angel”

”I really do hate you! I won't be a pirate either!”

“My, my”

Maya's and Elexis' silly conversation continued for a while. They certainly didn't look like the masterminds behind the party trying to overthrow the magical kingdom of Folsaria. That was perhaps the answer to everything, but the two were so focused on their purpose that they didn't notice.

Part 12

After repelling Darkness Rainbow, Koutarou and the others quietly returned the children to their homes. However, they also erased their memories of being kidnapped. It wouldn't be strange for them to develop a trauma from that experience, and there would be problems if they started talking about magicians. It was a necessary action in more than one way. Since the ritual hadn't drained the children of a life threatening amount of spiritual energy, this was the end for the serial kidnapping for the time being.

“Geez, we're finally done”

Having returned to room 106, Koutarou leaned down over the tea table and let out a sigh. It was already just before dawn. As they had spent the entire night resolving this incident it was only obvious that they'd be tired.

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

Even Theia, who was normally more energetic than anyone showed signs of exhaustion. If she was like that, the other girls were surely even worse for wear. Everyone was sleepy from the relief and exhaustion. Everyone wanted to get some sleep, except for one person.

“Please wait. Does everyone have a moment?”

That person was Yurika. She was still very tense and looked the nine with a serious expression. It was as if the battle was still going on.

“What is it, Yurika?”

Hearing Yurika, Koutarou slowly looked up from the table. As he did, he saw her serious expression. Since it was the kind of face he didn't want to see on her, his mind cleared up right away.

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

Hearing Yurika's serious tone, the girls returned to the tea table. Yurika waited for everyone to gather before continuing.

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

That was a conclusion she had reached because Darkness Rainbow had kidnapped children and summoned huge demons without thinking of the consequences. This time, everything had ended well because Koutarou and the others managed to suppress them, but if they hadn't who knows what would have happened. It probably would have gotten extremely difficult for Darkness Rainbow to operate in Kitsushouharukaze city anymore. Despite that they had gone ahead with their plans, which meant that they were in a situation where they didn't care about that. That was Yurika's basis for thinking that Darkness Rainbow wanted to finish everything once and for all.

“If that happens I'll cooperate. Or rather, is that what you wanted to ask?”

”No, it's not. If that decisive battle starts, many will lose their lives regardless of which side wins. That's why, before the battle begins―”

Yurika looked at each of her friends one at a time as she spoke. After taking a good look at everyone, a strong sense of determination resided within her eyes and she spoke in a dignified manner.

“―I want to attack Darkness Rainbow's HQ and make sure the decisive battle never happens in the first place! For that sake, I need everyone's help!”

Having grown as a magical girl, and wanting to follow Rainbow Heart's policy, Yurika wanted to avoid actively attacking. However, now she had finally made up her mind to attack. She believed that the situation was so dire that she had no other choice.