Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Volume 4A, Chapter 28: Future Opponents

The source of a coming shadow

An inevitable future

The residents of the holy musical text

Which called us down from heaven

Point Allocation (Encounter)

The transport ship Mitotsudaira had thrown down onto the road was a small one. It was seven meters wide, thirty meters long, and meant to transport people and wooden containers.

It was one of Mitostudaira’s privately owned ships as the ruler of this land and it had been waiting over the land port in order to carry them from the city of Mito to their diplomatic ship.

…But we didn’t have time to evacuate!

The enemy’s mobility and combat ability had prevented them from easily leaving on the transport ship. She might have made it herself, but she would have needed to bring Masazumi and her king with her. So…

“Take that!!”

As the ship flew in, she had grabbed it with her silver chains and thrown it.

The ship’s trajectory had been shifted downward and it slammed into the ground ahead of her, seemingly using the V-shaped gouge as a guide.

The accuracy of that guidance allowed the ship to immediately begin sliding along the road.

The enemy was fifty meters away, but that was only an instant for the thirty meter ship. The enemy’s forward acceleration also helped.

“I’m going to squish her with a counter, just like you wanted, Tomo!”

“That wasn’t what I wanted! It was just a suggestion! A suggestion!”

Tomo seemed to have reached her crazy time of day. She seemed to have had a lot of those today, so Mitotsudaira did not bother listening.

The ship tore up the dirt and wore down the road as it shot forward for…

“A direct hit on the enemy!”

Immediately, the transport ship was bisected.

It was sliced through starting from the other side.

…What!?

Asama watched the instantaneous destruction from behind Mitotsudaira and she saw a giant blade of light.

Beyond the intense sounds of tearing materials, the enemy was thrusting a ten meter long single-edged sword of light their way.

…Is that…?

It was not a spear. The enemy’s right hand held what had looked a spear, but it had taken on a new form after emitting this blade of light.

A sword of light was sent forth from the inner edges of the straight blade and the half-sickle.

It was not a spear. The blades themselves were an emitter for a giant sword and the rest was a thruster.

The enemy had thrust that giant single-edged blade forward.

“…!”

As a result, the transport ship was sliced in two as it slid.

The enemy was preparing to move forward. The two halves of the transport ship were racing by on either side of her. Fragments of stone and dirt were scattering and pieces of ship materials were flying.

She pushed her right blade of light forward while activating her left thruster behind her. She was about to use the pressurization of a spell sign frame to launch herself forward, but…

“…!?”

The blade of light she held forward was broken in two from the tip.

The light scattered, the thick glowing blade split into a top and bottom half, and it shattered into nothingness.

She quickly realized why.

“Ex. Collbrande!”

Her opponent stood at the back of the split transport ship’s port side. From her perspective, that was on the right.

It was Musashi’s silver-haired 5th Special Duty Officer. The girl had used her silver chains to pull herself to the ship’s back hull and had made a full swing of Ex. Collbrande. When throwing the ship, she had likely not released her silver chain’s grip, thus pulling her along with it. From behind the ship, she had destroyed her enemy’s attack while also making an attack of her own.

“Well done!”

After that praise from the enemy, the sword of English royalty lent all its power to this trusted knight. The blade sliced through the sword of light even as the enemy further fueled her attack.

The blade swung through at precisely waist height. The wreckage of the ship created valley walls on either side, so she could not escape to the sides or down. So…

“Finish this, Caledfwlch!”

The residents of Mito saw two people within the wreckage of the transport ship rapidly moving down the road.

One was a blonde girl in an M.H.R.R. uniform with blue armor who jumped up from between the wreckage.

The other was…

“Our lord!”

Everyone watched as silver hair made an almost casual leap toward the starboard wreckage of the ship. She made sure to spin around in midair and bow toward the residents. They cheered as she landed on the sliding wreckage.

“…!”

She immediately gained a burst of speed.

Asama listened to the wind while watching Mitotsudaira raise her speed atop the transport ship moving further and further away.

…This sound…

It was a sharp sound like some distant object approaching in a straight line.

…Is that a high-speed acceleration spell!?

But from where? she wondered just as some wind arrived behind her.

It was a person. An unfamiliar girl had run up from behind her. She seemed to be holding a spear, but she was moving too quickly to tell for sure.

“Eh?”

By the time Asama noticed her, the wind, the unfamiliar girl, and everything else vanished.

…Ehh!? She disappeared? But she was just here!

It was all so sudden. The previous sound of wind, the wind blowing in from behind, and the girl were nowhere to be found. She activated her Konoha false eye, but its tracking function could not decide where to target.

…Um. That wasn’t some unexplainable phenomenon, was it?

As Asama wondered what was going on, Horizon faced her.

“Is that what you are looking for?”

Horizon pointed to their right where an alleyway led to a lumber storehouse. Asama looked at it, wondering why Horizon would be pointing it out.

“…!?”

Then it exploded and countless pieces of lumber flew several meters up into the sky.

Two figures also flew up into the air.

One was a spear-wielding girl wearing an M.H.R.R. girl’s uniform without a coat.

And the other…

“Futayo!?”

It was Futayo. She held the Tonbo Spare in her right hand, held a thin magazine in her left hand, and flew through the sky.

She kicked off the airborne lumber to rotate around and control her body.

She already had her spear in hand and was ready to fight.

Futayo flew through the air thanks to the explosion caused by their clash.

She had not been caught in the explosion by choice.

An enemy in an M.H.R.R. girl’s uniform had been moving toward Masazumi and the others, so she had made an attack. But…

…Did she block it with her spear?

She thought that was probably it. The “probably” was due to the explosion that had occurred at the same moment.

She did not understand how it worked, but she and the enemy were both flying through the air with fragments of the storehouse and its lumber.

“Hah!”

At almost the exact same time, she and the enemy kicked off the airborne lumber to leap downwards.

They both landed on the rows of rooftops.

They were approximately twelve meters apart.

Futayo thought while preparing for her next move.

She knew there were two enemies. She also knew she was dealing with one while Mitotsudaira dealt with the other. But…

…I wonder.

Am I a coward? she asked deep in her gut.

But, she also thought. The enemy matters more at the moment. Whether a coward or not, the Vice Chancellor must defeat any outside enemy.

There were five others down the road: Masazumi, Asama, Princess Horizon, the idiot, and Kimi. She was worried, but…

…Masazumi has good judgment and Asama-dono can handle defense. The nudist doesn’t matter.

Then they should be fine, she thought just as a downpour of noise reached her.

The flying lumber was falling across the town like bolts of lightning. And…

…Above!

From above and behind a nearby piece of lumber, a sudden silver light pierced the center of her vision. ????????n????ℯ????????. ????om

It was a spear. The enemy had jumped over the lumber and thrust her weapon down at Futayo.

“…!”

…Honestly.

Maybe I am a coward, she thought while deflecting the enemy’s attack with her spear.

The sharp attack held enough strength to wake her up and remind her of something.

…She too is powerful!

The world is a large place, she thought while asking a question.

“I am Musashi Ariadust Academy Vice Chancellor Honda Futayo! Who are you!?”

…Oh.

Oops, she thought. I was so overjoyed to meet such a formidable foe that I accidentally called out to her.

However, her question sent a tremor through the enemy’s body. But it was not a tremor of confusion. She seemed to be gathering her strength to bear with something and correct herself.

“Testament!”

The enemy turned a powerful gaze toward Futayo.

“I am Fukushima Masanori of A.H.R.S. and #1 of Hashiba’s Ten Spears!!”

The enemy, Fukushima, approached while yelling.

“Honda Futayo! It is my duty to defeat thee with this spear, Ichinotani!”

…Hashiba’s Ten Spears!?

Mitotsudaira had heard Futayo’s opponent name herself.

So as she jumped atop the transport ship, she belatedly asked the same of her opponent who wielded Caledfwlch.

“Who are you!? Nate Mitotsudaira, Knight of Musashi, wishes to know!”

“Testament! Then I shall answer!”

The enemy had moved back to the bow of the ship and she loudly named herself while swinging Caledfwlch.

“I am Katou Kiyomasa of A.H.R.S. and #2 of Hashiba’s Ten Spears!! Ruler of Mito! The blood of Hexagone Fran?aise runs in your veins, so facing you is one of my tasks!”

Her blonde hair whipped in the wind as she spoke.

“Let us fight!”

Mitotsudaira had no choice but to agree, so she poured speed into her body and charged forward.

Masazumi heard the enemies name themselves as she viewed the distant battle rising from the city like a pillar.

She knew the names Fukushima Masanori and Katou Kiyomasa from the Testament descriptions.

…So they’re with Hashiba!!

That meant Hashiba’s subordinates had come to the Mito land instead of Hashiba herself.

The Aoi Sister laughed while viewing the clothes from the tailor’s.

“Heh heh. You understand, don’t you? That Hashiba monkey girl doesn’t live to the creation of this Mito land, so her helpful followers showed up in her place. Such wonderful love between master and servant. It’s an adult relationship that must be incomprehensible to you children who think a relationship has to be romantic in nature if it reaches the level of sex! Now, what do you call that kind of physical relationship in English!? Asama!”

“Eh!? Ehh!? U-um…i-is it ‘Free-…”

“Sometimes you say things that shock even me…”

“Asama-sama, five of Hanami-sama’s impurity meters just filled up in two seconds.”

Wouldn’t that be called “deep human relations”? answered Masazumi in her heart.

She faced forward where Mitotsudaira and Katou Kiyomasa confronted each other on the bisected ship sliding eastward.

On the deck of the port wreckage, the silver wolf accelerated toward the twin spear user.

After naming themselves, the time for battle had begun anew.

As Mitotsudaira repeatedly accelerated, she saw Kiyomasa prepare her weapons.

Of her twin spears named Caledfwlch, she stored one on her back and prepared the right one for their confrontation.

Mitotsudaira did not mind, so she launched her entire body forward.

She moved diagonally right, diagonally left, diagonally right, straight ahead, diagonally right, and then diagonally left, which placed her…

“Right in front of you.”

She snapped Ex. Collbrande’s blade forward.

It was a burst-like attack, but…

“Hah.”

Kiyomasa swung Caledfwlch, which deflected it upwards with a metallic sound.

The burning metal smell of the scraping blades raced through the wind of the sliding ship.

Mitotsudaira’s right arm was pulled up by Excalibur and the enemy sent her spear tip in toward her right side.

It was a sharp blow. It would perfectly stab horizontally into her chest with the diagonal half-sickle blade.

A horizontal attack from straight ahead was not a good thing. After all…

Wise Sister: “You can’t, Mitotsudaira! Flat Chest Evasion won’t work on that attack! You need the Giant Breasts Defense!”

When did that get an official name? briefly wondered Mitotsudaira, but then she made a split-second decision.

She let go of Excalibur.

However, she did more than just that. She raised her opened hand even higher than the sword’s hilt.

“…!”

She made a downward burst. She snapped her shoulder, elbow, and wrist like a whip to send them straight down.

That high-speed snapping motion was something her mother had done before.

During their conformation on the hill near Magdeburg, her mother had used a short-distance snap to accelerate her hand and hold down Mitotsudaira’s rising head.

This was the same. Except she was not holding something down. She grabbed at something with her reversed wrist.

…Ex. Collbrande!

She grabbed it between her index and middle finger rather than in her palm. And instead of swinging it, she pulled it straight down.

Ex. Collbrande now stood like a pillar in front and to the right of her and the half-sickle blade caught on it.

There was a solid sound and sparks flew.

But Kiyomasa’s movements did not let up in the wind. She pulled the spear back with her full body and raised her heels to stand on her toes. She likely intended to exchange blows while using careful footwork. Something bothered Mitotsudaira a little, but…

…I will settle this immediately!

Mitotsudaira turned her right side toward the enemy. As Ex. Collbrande rapidly spun around, she raised it vertically between her fingers.

As her left shoulder rotated behind her, she lifted that arm and let her wrist relax like the raised head of a snake.

This was the thrusting stance in the traditional fencing of Hexagone Fran?aise knights.

She then brought her raised left hand to her face and bit the glove.

“——————”

With a snap of her neck, she threw the glove between the two of them.

She had now officially challenged her opponent to a duel.

Kiyomasa nodded and thrust her spear forward.

Mitotsudaira immediately let go of Excalibur’s hilt.

“Debut!!”

She used a sequence of snapping movements of her wrist and elbow to make a series of high-speed thrusts.