War was sothing that would never have a so called guaranteed path to victory.
Morale, rear line supplies, the talent of commanders, technological level, intelligence, environnt—countless variables ford the vast thing known as a battlefield. Because of that, any single link could beco the key that overturned the entire situation.
With bad enough luck, even a single nail could lead to the destruction of a nation. War was unreasonable, unpredictable. Precisely because it was so dangerous, even after DEM had repeatedly crossed the line, Ratatoskr had never rashly chosen to completely tear away all pretense.
If they were going to act, they had to make every preparation they could. If they were going to fight, they had to take every possibility they could imagine into consideration.
However, although human calculation was destined to fall short of fate, Yutsuki had to admit that she had sowhat underestimated war.
And underestimated Westcott.
…
On the eastern outskirts of Tengu City, the enemies facing the Yamai sisters and Yoshino were the army of unmanned machines attempting to break through the line of fire and destroy the armants inside Tengu City.
"Kuku! What is this? Is this the limit of your strength, DEM?!"
"Agreent. Enemies of this level are no match for Yuzuru and Kaguya."
Laughter full of provocation echoed through the air. The Yamai sisters flew through the sky like two unstoppable storms. Wherever they passed, the Bandersnatches were as fragile as straw harvested by a sickle.
"Yuzuru-san… Kaguya-san… They're amazing."
Watching the Yamai sisters rampage through the enemy forces, Yoshino could not help letting out an admiring sigh.
"Well~ Kaguya-chan and Yuzuru-chan are both still children, after all. They get excited right away. You should be careful too, Yoshino-chan. Don't get too swept up in the mood, okay?"
Yoshinon reminded her with a sowhat helpless tone.
At this mont, Yoshinon was no longer the rabbit puppet usually held in Yoshino's hand. Instead, it had transford into the giant ice rabbit known as Zadkiel, carrying Yoshino as it stood upon the ice. Around them were several robots turned into ice sculptures.
"Mm… I know…"
Yoshino nodded.
Although the Bandersnatches' combat power was insignificant to the Yamai sisters, the exhaustion caused by their sheer numbers could not be ignored. On top of that, this kind of simple, one sided victory could easily make those involved lower their guard without realizing it. As their comrade, Yoshino needed to stay calm and provide support if anything unexpected happened.
While guarding the surroundings and dealing with the stragglers that Yuzuru and Kaguya had missed, Yoshino suddenly noticed sothing strange.
"Those are… people?"
A little over a hundred ters ahead, there was a Wizard unit of around thirty people. They were flying at low altitude, using the nearby Bandersnatches as cover as they slowly approached through the exchange of magical cannon fire.
For so reason, looking at those Wizards gave Yoshinon an indescribably bad feeling.
"They should be. Judging from how they look, they must be Wizards DEM sent over. Looks like Yutsuki-chan's intimidation didn't work as well as expected… Kaguya-chan, Yuzuru-chan, Wizards are approaching our side. Don't be careless."
Yoshinon loudly warned them.
"Response. Yuzuru has already seen them."
"Yare yare. It seems my comrade's deterrence has gradually faded from people's hearts with the passage of ti. No choice. This one shall handle them in her place."
Temporarily leaving the unmanned machines to Yuzuru, Kaguya flew in front of the Wizards and began her opening speech with an arrogant air.
"Kuku. To make this one wait so long, demon servants of the Demon King! To have broken through such a desperate situation and reached this place, your courage and strength deserve praise. However, this is as far as you go. So long as I—the children of typhoon, Yamai Kaguya—is here, you shall not take another step forward!"
"..."
However, facing Kaguya's loud declaration, the Wizards acted as though they had not heard a thing. They simply continued advancing dully toward the interior of Tengu City.
"Ugh… Don't ignore !"
It was one thing for those emotionless robots to ignore the cool lines she had seriously thought up, but even these Wizards were completely indifferent. Kaguya could not help growing sowhat embarrassed and angry.
"Raphael—El Re'em!"
The enormous lance stirred the sky, and a fierce storm swept dust and sand up from the ground. In the next instant, the Wizards' bodies scattered with a boom like bowling pins being sent flying.
"They're weak…"
Kaguya could not help muttering in surprise. She clearly had not used much force just now, yet this group of Wizards had been blown away without the slightest resistance. They were so light they felt like paper dandelions, with even less impact than the unmanned machines from earlier.
"Cough cough—Kuku! Now you understand my power? If you do not wish to be toyed with in the palm of the children of typhoon's authority, then retreat at once!"
"…Spirit?"
"…Spirit…"
"…Spi… rit…"
Slowly rising to their feet, the Wizards raised their heads and stared blankly into the sky, all muttering in hoarse voices.
Suddenly, as if so switch had been triggered, pitch-black particles of light gathered around the Wizards and attached themselves to their CR-Units. A black, light-film-like fabric extended along the inner layers of their armor.
To Kaguya, their appearance looked like cursed nuns.
And what shocked Kaguya was that the change in the Wizards made her feel an extrely familiar power.
"Spirit power? Is that… an Astral Dress?"
Yes. Although the form was slightly different, what these Wizards were wearing before her was indeed the sa sort of Astral Dress as a Spirit's.
At that mont, the Wizard's gaze t Kaguya's.
In complete contrast to her lifeless, dull movents just now, the Wizard clad in Astral Dress suddenly displayed astonishing explosive power. She charged straight to Kaguya's front and swung her blade down without hesitation.
"—Ugh!"
Taking the opponent's attack head-on with her Angel, Kaguya was forced several ters back in midair, caught off guard.
(She's strong. She's like a completely different person from before…)
Staring at the enemy before her, Kaguya was secretly shocked. Although the Wizard still could not be compared with a true Spirit, her power had already far surpassed the level of an ordinary Wizard. That strangely familiar Astral Dress was not rely an ornant ant to bluff.
(No… Rather, is she really still human?)
In just that brief exchange, a chill ran down Kaguya's back.
There was no joy, no sorrow, not even a trace of anger. Those hollow eyes were like a dry well drained of all emotion, empty beyond asure.
"Careful. Behind you, Kaguya!"
"—!"
Hearing Yuzuru's warning, Kaguya moved without the slightest hesitation. A second later, a blade mixed with ominous black light swept past as if trying to cut her in two.
Barely steadying herself, Kaguya finally noticed that, at so point, the other Wizards she had knocked down earlier had also gotten back up and changed into the sa Astral Dress.
"Bad… I'm surrounded…"
"Raphael—El Nahash!"
At that mont, another fierce wind struck from behind, forcing the Wizards who were about to surround Kaguya to halt their attack.
"Opening. Kaguya!"
Without needing Yuzuru's reminder, Kaguya imdiately drove the spirit power in her body and forcibly broke through the weakest part of the Wizards' encirclent.
"…Spirit…running…"
"Cannot… let Spirit run…"
Watching Kaguya escape, the Wizards reacted half a beat late, then pushed against the headwind of Raphael and advanced toward Tengu City at an unhurried pace.
"Zadkiel!"
As Yoshino's voice rang out, a freezing current followed the wind pressure and swept forward. Under the erosion of the blizzard, their legs, waists, shoulders, limbs, heads, armor, and deployed Territories all froze over with a transparent layer of ice crystal. The Wizards were slowly covered in ice, finally turning into immobile ice sculptures.
"Hoo… That was really dangerous."
After escaping danger, Kaguya let out a breath with lingering fear.
"Concern. Are you all right, Kaguya? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine. I was only startled. Thank you, Yuzuru."
"My, my~ Honestly, Kaguya-chan. Acting alone like that is very dangerous."
"…Sorry. This one got carried away."
Seeming to understand that she had underestimated the enemy, Kaguya scratched her head in sha and obediently admitted her mistake.
"Yoshino too. Thank you for helping."
"…Everyone, be careful."
Yoshino did not respond to Kaguya's words with her usual embarrassnt. Instead, she stared ahead with a grave expression.
"Those people… are about to co out of the ice."
Crack!
Along with the first crisp sound, cracks spread rapidly across the surface of the ice sculptures like spiderwebs. The ice crystals fell away bit by bit, revealing Astral Dresses burning with black light.
Seeing this scene, the Yamai sisters' pupils contracted slightly.
Ten seconds. The freezing air that could easily freeze a Wizard's Territory had only trapped them for ten seconds this ti.
"Spirit…"
The Wizards muttered the sa word in unison. As if they had lost all sense of pain, their expressions remained unchanged as they continued approaching the three of them.
However, the bad news did not end there.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Along with a series of sudden explosions, the ard buildings in Tengu City equipped with magical cannon batteries were struck by unknown attacks one after another and began collapsing.
Tengu City had fallen.
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