1710

A little under five hours prior to the start of Operation Reverse Star at 2200.

"You are...!?"

"Maihime... Tendou...!?"

Maihime Tendou.

When speaking of this girl, most would use the term "genius" and be done with it. This would be the easiest way to describe her.

The adoptive daughter of Nanae Origami, Maihime Tendou is according to some, the strongest Toji in history, surpassing even that of her mother, the great hero of the Great Catastrophe of Tokyo Bay of Heisei 15. Despite being only fifteen years of age, she has received the most aradama elimination missions of any Toji of her age and while she has not yet been given the most missions of all-time due to, of course, her young age, many adult-age active-service Toji and retired Toji consider her worthy of receiving the title of strongest.

The circumstances behind this girl's rise to prosperity are anything but happy. She is the daughter of Shuuichi Tendou and Konomi Kazehaya, a completely normal couple. Konomi had no records of ever being a Toji and the generations before were, at best, average Toji. As such, Maihime was expected to be average too. However, she was anything but average. She was a victim of the Great Catastrophe of Tokyo Bay. At only two months old, she was orphaned when her parents, who were working on the ill-fated cargo ship were two of the immediate casualties caused by the leaking of yousai and the manifestation of the great aradama. Upon going through the endless reports on casualties and making calls to the next of kin of all of the victims of the catastrophe, Nanae Origami came across the name of Maihime Tendou, the orphaned infant. As an expression of mourning and apology for her own weakness, the head of the Origami family took it upon herself to raise the child.

The girl showed extraordinarily fast development. The Origami family carried with it a treasured sword, on par with that of the Japanese imperial family's Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Its name is Rakuen: Amatsumikaboshi and like the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, it was a naturally-made okatana transported over from the Netherworld to Japan 400 years ago. Due to being a natural okatana, its power compared to all other okatana was to put it simply, off the charts. In its 400-year history, no Toji had managed to tame the sword long enough to be its partner despite six people being successful in using it in combat. However, as it was traditional for a child of the Origami family to attempt forming a bond with the sword, Maihime got a turn, and lo and behold, the sword chose to serve her. Before Maihime managed to command the sword to behave with her willpower, however, the sword unleashed a powerful slash, cutting across the sandy beaches of Fujisawa and out five kilometers into Sagami Bay, splitting the waters in two and spawning a small local tsunami with waves peaking at two meters. Following this, the sword settled down.

Since then, the sword has never misbehaved in her grasp. Nanae herself had tried and failed to become Amatsumikaboshi's partner and she was beyond surprised at how a girl from an abysmally average lineage managed to tame such a powerful sword. The girl was able to utilize jin'i, Hachimanriki, and kongoushin to excellent levels and even awakened Magan, being the first known case of a non-linked Magan in recent history. Maihime's Magan is a pair never seen before in the nearly 1100-year history of the Toji. They are given the name of Mystic Eyes of Guiding Light and as one could expect from its name, it gives Maihime the ability of photokinesis, in other words, the manipulation of light. This ability is, of course, immensely useful in many ways and Maihime makes use of her vast repertoire when the situation calls for it. Her most common use of her Magan is instantaneous teleportation. This works by pinpointing a location, activating her Magan, backtracking the light that touches her retinae back to the location in question, and phasing directly to that location. She can also use this ability in combat, teleporting away or behind opponents to catch them off-guard. In terms of her second most common use, Maihime creates hardlight constructs. Light, both naturally-occurring and magically-created, gathers at the focal point of her vision which then forms into whatever object she has in mind; she mostly does this to form blades of light in her hands for dual-wielding purposes as she is ambidextrous. She shares the same drawbacks as other Magan wielders: inability to use if unable to see (this is why blindfolds are prepared if the opposition knows they are fighting a Magan user) and bleeding eyes from overstrained capillaries accompanied by hellish pain, depending on the level of overuse.

Another unique ability of Maihime Tendou is soumatou. Carrying the definition of "soaring spellblade", it can technically be described as kongoushin but channeled into the okatana itself. So far, only Maihime has been able to perform this technique so there are two working theories on its origin: it is indeed unique to Maihime or it is a special ability given to those that can "contract" with naturally-made okatana. True to its name, soumatou is a soaring spellblade in the sense that once the golden colors of kongoushin are channeled into the blade, it can then be "thrown" as a ranged slash. This is the true nature of the uncontrolled slash unleashed by the sword when Maihime first attempted to bond with it. Soumatou doesn't necessarily have to be thrown either; it can merely be used to harden and strengthen the blade so that it could cut through objects that can't normally be cut, for example, meter-thick (or more) reinforced walls. (This is due to the inexplicable fact that Maihime has a rabid tendency of not wanting to go inside a building the normal way and instead slash her way inside through the walls and other obstructions.)

Maihime Tendou had slipped the minds of both Noa and Suzuran as they had assumed that she was nowhere near them due to having been sent on a solo mission to the Divine Empire of Isenberg on the European continent (the empire has control over the entirety of Europe and some parts of Asia and Africa, making it a modern-day equivalent of the Roman Empire of old; more on this later) two weeks prior.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

"Okay, okay, calm down, you two."

Of course, neither girl took that statement at face value. They kept themselves in a guarded stance. Maihime was on the receiving end of two feral beasts, fear keeping them forcibly locked in place. That didn't phase her in the slightest, however, as she had been on the receiving end of far greater stares carrying a will worse than the infliction of death. Sighing, she dismantled her utsushi and sheathed Amatsumikaboshi before putting both of her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Seriously, you two, I mean you no harm."

Suzuran was the first to open her mouth. ".... What are you doing here? I thought you were on a deployment in the Divine Empire?"

"Oh, Operation Storm Wave? That's done and over with already, I destroyed the aradama nest myself."

"... You were supposed to have been deployed for two months," Noa began. "Are you telling me that you destroyed that Class-SS aradama nest by yourself in a quarter of the allotted time?"

"Uh, yes," Maihime replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Why are you asking?"

"... It's nothing," Suzuran offered. She then looked at Noa and said with her eyes, We can't win.

For once... I agree with you. The two girls had no choice but to concede. They instinctively knew that even if they teamed up, they would stand no chance against the strongest Toji in history. As such, they sheathed their swords and left their battle stances.

Maihime, on the other hand, put her hands on her hips and smiled. "Alright, that's better! Anyway, if you think I'm here to drag you back, you're wrong."

"... You aren't here to capture us?" Noa inquired.

"No," she confirmed. "In fact, I'm here to help you guys escape."

"... But why?" Suzuran asked.

"Simple. I hate my mother. Besides, I also know of her true nature."

" "What?" " both girls uttered in unison.

"After having killed so many aradama and being more deeply connected to the Netherworld through my natural okatana, it would be stranger for me to not notice the aradama that inhabits my mother's body," Maihime quipped, shrugging her shoulders. At some point, Maihime had wandered throughout the room, talking all the while, and had opened the fridge, pulling out an old drink can of something. She popped it open and drank from it before slamming it down and sticking her tongue out. "Blech, I forgot to read the labeling... This is definitely expired."

"Umm...?" Suzuran mumbled.

"Mmm? Oh, don't mind me," Maihime said. "The rain has let up and we must quickly leave this area. I've already received notice that my mother has approved a full-strength military operation in order to capture you, the two traitors that attempted to assassinate her."

"... A full-strength... operation...?" Noa stammered.

"Oh yeah," Maihime laughed. "I saw the papers. Two whole battalions of specially trained soldiers from the Special Religious Military Units and the whole of the Elite Four. Well, minus Yume-chan, because she would forget her goal and kill you two instead."

"... How can you be so calm?" Suzuran asked.

"Calm? I look calm?" she replied, confused. She put her hands on her face and tried feeling for any oddities. "I'm actually about ready to wet my uniform! Well, from excitement because the idea of fighting an entire battalion of specially trained soldiers sounds fun!"

"... You're crazy."

"Well, I'd say you're crazier than I am," she shrugged. "I hate my mother but I've never even thought of trying to assassinate her! In any case, you two have no choice but to rely on me right now. The rain has let up and once Operation Reverse Star begins, your chances of escaping will be nil. Especially considering that fox, Yomi, is part of the operation." She turned around as she finished and walked outside, her beautiful onyx black hair flowing in the cool twilight wind.

Noa and Suzuran looked at each other. Noa put her hand back on the hilt of her sword, fully intending to strike at Maihime's unprotected back but Suzuran placed her hand on Noa's clenched one. She shook her head, silently imploring her to not take any rash actions. They had both just earlier confirmed that this opponent was in a completely different dimension from them. Noa sighed as she retracted her hand. They followed the girl out into the fading afternoon sky before committing a triple-take.

"This...!? You didn't have to come and fetch us yourself, Oujo Denka!"

"We were going to deliver the girls to you after testing them, desu!"

Suzuran and Noa saw the girls they had fought earlier that day down on one knee on the asphalt, bowing down to Maihime. Their gazes were firmly locked with the ground as both girls took on a tone of fear, adoration, and deference. Manaka was even using emotion in her voice, something that neither Suzuran nor Noa thought she'd be able to do considering her default personality of being so slothful.

"Ah, geez, quit with the annoying names," Maihime sighed. "I'm gonna slap you."

"Ye-Yes, I sincerely apologize, Maihime-sama..."

"Drop. The. Honorific."

"Ye-Yes... Maihime..."

"Good."

Suzuran and Noa shivered in their shoes as they watched Maihime grill Manaka down. Suddenly, something hit Suzuran. "Um... Why do you address yourself in that manner?" (Suzuran is questioning Maihime's use of 'boku', a personal pronoun that is primarily used by men; women usually refer to themselves using 'watashi', like Noa, Manaka, and Honami had done in all of her conversations [Suzuran and Alice addressed themselves using 'atashi', which is a more informal use of 'watashi'].)

"Hmm? Ah, it's nothing, I picked it up from someone close to me when I was young and it's stuck with me ever since."

"I see."

"Why are they calling you that?" Noa questioned next. (Noa's query concerns Manaka's way of addressing Maihime: she uses 'oujo denka', a term reserved for talking to a princess. In terms of the English language, it can be alluded to addressing the Emperor's daughter as 'Her Imperial Highness'.)

"Watch your tone, girl!" Manaka yelped. "You are speaking to Maihime Tendou-oujo denka! She is the young princess and the leader of us in Mokusa!"

"Mokusa...?"

"As in the place that is said to be the origin of the Japanese sword, the nihonto?" Noa asked.

"Heh, indeed," Maihime chuckled. "A great name for an organization that wants to restore the okatana and the Toji to their rightful places and strictly opposes my mother, Nanae Origami, and the revisionists led by her, right?"

"... An organization that opposes the Origami family led by the young daughter of the same family?" Suzuran mumbled. "Does that mean you're on Noa-san's side?"

"Exactly," Maihime replied. "I'm sure my mother already knows where I am though because I escaped from my envoy to get here. The Elite Four will definitely know I'm here too so they should be adjusting their plans. The fastest they can get those done changes done and approved is by tonight so we need to get off the mountain as soon as possible. However, we cannot use our abilities to do so; that fox Yomi will be able to sense it with her special abilities."

"Can we get away with short bursts?" Suzuran asked.

"Oho, I like how you think," Maihime smirked. "Indeed, with short bursts, like say, long leaps using well-honed Hachimanriki, we could cover a much further distance than if we ran normally. The ground rule here is to not use utsushi or jin'i as those can be easily tracked. With Hachimanriki, the initial burst is the only thing they can follow and so long as we make a landing far away from the initial point, we can slightly throw them off. How deep does your Hachimanriki go?"

"... Third Layer," Suzuran replied.

"Second Layer," Noa added, looking incredulously at Suzuran for having beaten her in this.

"Manaka is on my level with Fifth Layer but Alice is Fourth Layer..." Maihime muttered. "Alright, in that case, Alice, you accompany our friends, I shall go ahead with Manaka and distract the pursuers."

"With all due respect, Ohimesama, I think it would be safer for us to stick together, desu," Alice argued. "If we separated, we would be splitting up our fighting strength."

"Hmm. That is a good point. Fine, we move as a unit."

".... One thing before we go," Noa ventured. "Was it you people who sent us that communication through 'GreenMan'?"

"Pfft, haha, I see, that grandpa still hasn't listened to my suggestion," Maihime laughed. "Indeed, that was sent by us. If memory serves... the meeting point was Nagano's Zenkō-ji Temple, was it?"

"... I see," Noa muttered. "What I don't understand is that." Noa pointed to Nene. "That is an aradama, isn't it? Wouldn't using an aradama make you the same as the one you swore to destroy?"

"Kyuu!?"

"Oi."

"Now, now, Nene, Manaka, let me handle this," Maihime cooed. "Now, you would be correct were Nene a normal aradama. However, she is hardly normal. Let me ask you two: are you familiar with the history behind Manaka's okatana, Nenekiri Maruyama?"

"No..." Suzuran mumbled.

"What does its history have to do with that aradama?"

"It has everything to do with that aradama. It is said that on the Setsubun associated with the Rikka of Ouei 19... Uh... that should be..."

"May 4, 1412, Ohimesama," Alice offered.

"Ah, thanks. Anyway, on this date at Tochigi's Futarasan Shrine, an aradama that in modern times would be given the designation of SS-rank manifested and began to wreak havoc. It is said that one okatana came to life to slay the aradama. The head of the Ichinose family at that time was a woman named Mahiru Ichinose and she was the one the okatana chose to serve, however, the okatana strangely did not let her kill the aradama. Even after an entire day of fighting, she wasn't able to deal the finishing blow. Instead, Mahiru took this as a sign from the sword, imploring her to befriend the aradama. That is the true nature of Nene."

"What?" Suzuran mumbled.

"Indeed, Nene is an aradama but at the same time, it is the guardian beast that protects the Ichinose family, passed down from family head to family head alongside the okatana wielded by Mahiru Ichinose, Nenekiri Maruyama."

"An aradama that protects humans...?" Noa muttered.

"I don't ever recall this thing trying to protect me," Manaka quipped.

"Kyuu!?" Nene squealed as if saying that that is a false accusation and that he had always protected his master.

"In any case, we still do not know much and understand the true depths of the aradama or the Netherworld which is why Nene was specially exempted in virtue of learning more, desu," Alice finished.

"Ridiculous!" Noa exclaimed. "You think I should believe that story?"

"Still don't believe me?" Maihime asked as she pulled out her mobile device and showed the screen to Noa.

"... There's no reaction on the spectrum meter?" Noa mumbled. She then quickly pulled out her own analog detection device and confirmed that it also had no reaction. "On mine too?"

"Now do you understand why Nene is no problem?" Alice smiled.

"Kyuu~!" Nene squeaked as it hopped from its favorite perch atop Manaka's head and into Suzuran's arms where it began rubbing itself against her chest.

"Uwah? Hey, wait, stop it, that tickles!" Suzuran giggled. "It's pretty harmless, Noa-san..."

Nene stopped rubbing Suzuran and glanced in Noa's direction, specifically, at her respectfully modest chest. It then seemed to sigh and shrug its little shoulders, prompting a "Wha-!?"

"Nyahaha, singled out, eh?" Maihime cackled.

"This little guy likes girls with big busts, desu," Alice snickered.

Manaka added, "It also has the ability to tell if a girl can grow any bigger and it seems that your growth is stalled."

Noa's temper flared as she drew her sword halfway out of its sheath. "Yeah, okay, I'm killing it."

In response, Suzuran quickly gave Nene back to Manaka and stopped Noa from drawing her blade further. "Noa-san, don't."

Nene let out a shrill warning call as it hopped out of Suzuran's grip and onto the ground. Facing behind them, it started growling. "I see," Maihime muttered, her hand on the hilt of her blade. "We're surrounded."

Noa glanced at her device again as a high-pitched scream emanated from it due to the yousai within reacting to the aradama. "It seems we have no choice but to fight." Alice's mobile device sounded its own alarm just a few seconds later as her device has an unavoidable lag that the analog device that Noa possesses doesn't.

"Don't let your guard down," Maihime ordered, her blue eyes glowing gold as she activated her Magan. "There's a dimensional rift... The aradama coming through are all... A-rank or higher. Dammit, I just got back from the Divine Empire on a big job and I need to clean up this mess?" She drew her sword, entered utsushi, and vanished into the forest, having dashed into it at impossibly high speeds and leaving behind the words, "If you don't want me to abandon you, you better start running."

"Wa-Wait, Ojou Denka!" Manaka yelped.

"Ohimesama!" Alice parroted.

Noa and Suzuran watched as the two girls panicked and entered the forest, following their liege. They looked at each other and nodded. They had no other choice but to follow the three girls.

2207

The north slope of Asamayama.

"Tch, there's no way we'll make it off the mountain," Maihime spat.

The girls had finally arrived on the northern slopes of the volcano, a good four hours later than they had initially planned. The dimensional fissure that had opened up unleashed a wave of aradama and with Maihime in the lead, the girls had managed to defeat all of them with some difficulty. They all had certainly exhausted themselves, having been forced to maintain utsushi for hours on end. All except for Maihime had their utsushi broken at least once during the battle which only further exacerbated their exhaustion (the encounter also served as an on-the-spot endurance test in which passing means breaking past one's natural limits as death is a given if unable to maintain utsushi in a raid battle against aradama).

"Haah... Haah... As expected of the one reputed to be the strongest..." Suzuran muttered.

"She doesn't seem tired in the least," Noa grumbled.

"Ojou Denka, you must be crazy..." Manaka groaned, her tiredness making her forget that Maihime did not like being addressed by this term outside of formal occasions.

"Ohimesama, it's too dark for us to move anyway, desu..." Alice moaned. "We need to rest."

".... Alright, fine," Maihime mumbled. However, she was unable to relax as her instincts forced her into a battle stance. ".... Dammit, they've caught up to us."

The other four girls stammered, "Wha-?" but were unable to finish their thought. An instant later, they were smothered by a black blanket, blotting out the little light they were receiving from the moon and the stars.

"Ojou Denka!?" Manaka yelped.

"It's that damned fox's ability!" Maihime yelled back from somewhere in the blackness. "Everyone, scatter! We must avoid getting caught together at all costs!"

While none of the girls knew where they each were going, Maihime went north, sprinting down the mountainside, Noa and Suzuran scrambled westward while Alice scrambled eastward. Manaka went south, climbing up the slopes of the mountain.

2214

Alice Sakayanagi's encounters.

The north-northeastern slope of Asamayama.

Following her mistress's orders, Alice had bolted away from her comrades, running through the brush, while also occasionally swatting away the black swarm with her blade. Giving up, she elected to jump into the high branches of the trees to avoid the swarm as well as get some of the early midnight light. "I know she told us to scramble but I really am completely separated from everyone..." she mumbled from her perch in the treetops. "What is up with these little aradama though, desu?" She placed her chin in her hands as she thought back to what her mistress had said earlier. "Ohimesama said that this was 'that damned fox's ability' but does that mean...? They certainly seemed to be under some sort of control considering how much they were able to zero in on us..."

She pulled out her mobile device and narrowed her eyes. After all, if these were aradama, her device would be wailing but it was eerily silent. "No reaction on the spectrum finder, either. It seems Ohimesama was spot-on... If these don't show up despite this being the latest version provided by the Origami family, we were definitely right to assume the Origami family was doing research on human-aradama hybrids."

Alice looked down again at the swarm as she scratched her chin. "Now then, meeting up with Manaka and the others is important but so is gathering information... I feel like I need to get something more definitive than speculation..." After a bit of pondering, Alice's face which had earlier contorted itself into a very aggressively critical expression, relaxed as she clapped her hands together. "Let's go with this! I apologize, Ohimesama, but I'm going to play around a bit."

2220

Noa Hiiragi and Suzuran Arisugawa's encounters.

The north-northwestern slope of Asamayama.

Noa and Suzuran had been fending off the aradama in the forest before they broke out into a clearing. Well, to be more exact, it was a small river valley with the cold mountain water flowing through it from the snowmelt farther up the mountain. The two stopped before crossing the riverbank before they turned around, the aradama presence vanishing.

"... They're not following us," Noa stated. "What's going on?"

"Now, don't panic, Noa-san, as this is just speculation," Suzuran began. "However, I get the feeling that we were being directed here."

"By the aradama?" Noa replied. "Impossible."

"Maihime-sama aside, I wonder if Alice and Manaka are fine."

"This might be those girls' doing too, you know."

"... You really can't trust them, huh?" Suzuran asked. Noa, of course, did not reply and after a few moments of silence, she sighed and looked away. "In that case, why don't you just use them to your advantage like you've been using me?" Noa nearly gave herself whiplash as she quickly swiveled her head to read Suzuran's expression. "You should manipulate them if it will help you accomplish your objective. After all, I'm only here because you think that I can help you with your goal, right?"

Noa kept her expression neutral. She pretends to be clueless... Why does she need to do that? I really can't let my guard down around her.

Noa was taken aback again when Suzuran added, "You trust me though, don't you?"

"Huh!?"

Ignoring her, Suzuran continued, "In time, I'm sure you'll be able to trust Alice-chan and Manaka-chan too!"

"Uh, no, that's not happening any time soon..."

Suzuran was about to complain before a loud female voice shattered the tranquil silence of the night, "There they are!"

Suzuran sighed and drew her sword, entering utsushi for quite possibly the tenth time that day. "No time to talk, Noa-san, swords out!"

"You don't need to tell me that!"

Across the river, a small army of 20 Toji and 80 armed soldiers marched toward them. One of the Toji charged at Suzuran but she was easily defeated with a rising diagonal slash from her waist. Suzuran wasted no time in charging across the river herself and straight into the fray. She dispatched another two with a second stroke and yelled, "Don't kill the soldiers, Noa-san, or I will have your head!"

Tch... Judging from her carefree but severe attitude earlier, that isn't a hollow threat. Noa grumbled as she moved to engage the normal soldiers, making sure to strike at them with the back of her blade, knocking the wind out of them. She struck hard enough to render them unconscious, dancing between them all. The soldiers all let out confused voices such as repeatedly yelling that she was behind someone but unable to provide an accurate location due to the speed she was swatting them at.

It took about fifteen minutes but Noa had struck down the entire company of soldiers by herself with the only wounds being multiple gunshots at her utsushi and a missing left hand from a stray Toji slash that she failed to calculate in time. Suzuran herself had also finished up although she had far more wounds than Noa, albeit all less severe as they were all just shallow cuts from repeatedly being slashed at. The two girls dismantled their utsushi then collapsed on the spot. ".... Crap," Suzuran mumbled. "We can't stop here, we need to run..."

The two girls forced themselves to their feet before bolting off into the darkness, back into the forest. They were hoping to find a quiet place that wouldn't be easily found to get some sleep, if only for a few hours. Repeatedly using utsushi so many times in a single day weighed significantly on them. Even now, both girls were struggling to keep themselves conscious as they ran away.

2243

Manaka Ichinose's encounters.

The exposed rocky slopes of the north side of Asamayama.

"I've finally found you, you damn fox."

"You are...? Ah, I see. You're the Ichinose family's child."

The progeny of the Ichinose family and the progeny of the Satsuki family glared daggers at each other.

The Ichinose child had her nagamaki already drawn while the aradama at her feet growled angrily at the Satsuki child. On the other hand, the Satsuki child rubbed the numerous cuts on her upper arms. Up there, just a few dozen meters away from the summit of the mountain, the temperature was near freezing, especially now that it was just a tad under two hours from midnight. However, neither child was particularly affected by it primarily due to the streams upon streams of blackness erupting from the cuts on the Satsuki child's arms. They emanated heat, warming up the midnight air. The blackness oozing from the Satsuki child's body took on a tinge of red as the Ichinose child finally realized that they truly were.

Eyes.

An innumerable number of small eyes, all staring in her direction.

"... So the rumors were true," Manaka began. "The Satsuki family had submitted to the Origami family."

"Whatever could you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Yomi! Your family was one of the most powerful resisters against Nanae Origami's tyranny yet here you are acting as her pet?"

"That's none of your business."

"Ah, is it? Well, I'm sorry. Our family has a history of being at odds with each other but colliding so directly like this is unique to us, the most recent generation ."

"I see."

"Wipe that empty look from your face and draw your sword. Is that prized Satsuki blade of yours just for show?"

"... I shall," Yomi muttered. "I shall take that okatana of yours and present it to my mother. I'm sure my Yozakura Kagemitsu would love to have it as a partner."

"Keep dreaming. The only thing that will be taken tonight is your head!" Manaka charged forward, bringing her sword down in a full-power slash. The Ichinose family are generational experts at the usage of Hachimanriki and Manaka Ichinose is a genius even amongst her own clan. She was able to unleash a full Fifth Layer Hachimanriki at the age of six where a normal Ichinose child would take until the age of twelve to reach the same level. (Outside the Ichinose household, Fifth Layer Hachimanriki can be achieved by the age of twenty-four.) The ground was unable to handle being slammed with Manaka's anger and split apart, a small chasm opening up which Yomi deftly dodged.

"I see that it's always just brute force with you."

"Sorry but that's how I was trained," Manaka shrugged. "In the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu, a second strike should not be considered. Everything must be dealt with in the first swing!" Manaka swung again to which Yomi evaded before countering with her own slash. Manaka let go of her sword and leaned back, avoiding the swing entirely as the blade passed over her face by a few centimeters. Straightening herself back up, she yanked her sword out of the ground and swung horizontally, aiming for Yomi's unprotected right elbow. However, before her sword could reach, the black mass emanating from Yomi's body hardened into an obsidian wall, guarding against the blow.

While the wall was successful in stopping the blade, it did nothing to block the air carried along with Manaka's swing. The air hammered at the wall, shattering it and blowing Yomi away who rolled across the ground. "Ngh. As expected, you're absurdly strong... I'll need to replenish them."

"What...?" Manaka mumbled as she looked on in disbelief. Nene, meanwhile, was screaming indignantly as if warning its master to stop her. Yomi brought her blade over her skin, cutting it open. Manaka watched in disbelief as the red blood escaping from her skin darkened into a black goo before a multitude of eyes bloomed into existence. Not even a second after this happened, the black mass exploded from her skin. "Ojou Denka was spot-on... To think the Origami family would perform experiments on human-aradama hybrids...!"

"I apologize but I'm not the same person anymore," Yomi declared matter-of-factly. "I am not the friend you knew anymore."

"You think I don't know that..." Manaka mumbled. She hefted her sword up and slashed downward, axing through the black mass. She then charged forward and for the first time, Yomi brought up her sword and guarded against Manaka's strike. Strangely, Manaka was using her full strength but Yomi had managed to defend herself with only one hand. "Where the hell are you getting all this power from?"

"It's as you said," Yomi replied. "I'm merely borrowing the power of the aradama."

"Tch!" Manaka growled as Yomi forced her off and slashed at her chest. Manaka quickly stepped back to avoid the strike but the blade caught several unfortunate strands of her hair. "Is it just me or have you gotten faster?"

"It's just you," Yomi quipped before slashing again, with faster speed from before. Before the slash could connect, Manaka had brought her foot up and slammed it down against the spine of the sword, sending it crashing to the ground. Being an okatana, this did not even put a scratch on the blade, however, the ground certainly did not have that high resistance and shattered apart at the force of Manaka's ax-kick.

Manaka swung her blade at Yomi's neck who deftly avoided it by discarding her sword and leaning back. With both hands on the ground and her head tilted back, she brought her leg up and sent a powerful upward kick at the two-handed grip Manaka had on her sword. "Ngh...!" she groaned as the extreme discomfort forced her to drop her sword and stagger backward. Yomi took the opportunity to yank out her stuck blade and offer another sweeping slash which removed Manaka's left arm from her elbow down. Manaka stuck out her remaining hand to retrieve her own sword and defended herself before Yomi could slash at her again. "Guh... As expected, you're one hell of a monster."

"I'd say you're on my level too. Still able to maintain utsushi even after having your arm cut off?"

"Hah, don't worry, I'll return the favor!" Manaka pushed her off and slashed at her hands, removing them. As Yomi lost her grip on her okatana for real, her utsushi immediately collapsed. (Toji can maintain their utsushi if they purposely let go of their swords; they are still entirely focused and are maintaining a spiritual connection to the blade. The reason why utsushi usually fails when receiving injuries is because of the distracting nerve impulses to the brain resulting from the extreme discomfort of being wounded despite the feeling of pain being heavily toned down while in the state of utsushi.)

".... I'll retreat for tonight," Yomi declared as she picked up her sword, sheathed it, and bolted away into the night, carrying the black swarm with her.

For the first time in several hours, Manaka was finally able to see the clearness of the dark blue sky above. "Hey, wait...!" Manaka yelled after her before dropping her sword and falling to her knees, her utsushi disintegrating. "Tsk... I've reached my limit, huh...?" Manaka forced herself to stand up, knowing that she cannot fall asleep here near the summit of the volcano where the near-freezing temperatures would quickly induce hypothermia. She trudged her way back down the mountain into the forest, searching for a haven

Her pet, having disappeared earlier in the battle, appeared out of the forest, leading its master down into a small cave it had scouted out previously for its master. The inside of the cave was alight as a small fire burned. "I'm surprised," Manaka mumbled. "You were able to find a resting place...?" Manaka crawled inside and immediately collapsed, huddling close to the fire as she fell asleep. Nene made a noise as if sighing in exasperation and wondering what it could do about its ridiculously reckless owner.

0542.

The 29th of October.

Noa Hiiragi and Suzuran Arisugawa's encounters.

"Noa-san, wake up!"

Noa Hiiragi was sleeping soundlessly, her mind completely out of it. Having just barely escaped from being tracked down the previous night, the two girls found a small cave to rest in. They arranged themselves to sleep in three-hour shifts so that one of them can remain awake to keep watch just in case a new attacker comes. Noa volunteered to keep watch first as Suzuran was clearly the more exhausted one, having fought practically nonstop all day the previous day, first against the peerless might of Alice Sakayanagi, then the dimensional rift that spawned an army of aradama, and finally, the special soldiers dispatched specifically to capture and restrain her and Noa. Noa herself was also exceedingly tired but she knew that Suzuran had expended more energy than her and as such, had no problems with sacrificing herself.

When it was finally her turn to sleep, she found out that she was far more tired than she let on and she immediately slipped away into the dark abyss of unconsciousness. She stayed that way until she was jolted awake. Blearily opening her eyes, she saw the countenance of a clearly panicked Suzuran and immediately forced herself awake. "What happened?" she demanded.

"We need to run, they're on to us already!"

"What!?" Noa yelped. "Damn, they're giving us no leeway...!"

Noa grabbed the sword she had carelessly let go of while sleeping and forced herself up. Her body was yelling at her, telling her that she needed more rest than what she gave it, however, she had no choice but to force her body to move. The two girls leaped to their feet and charged out of the cave and into the forest just as indiscriminate voices yelled after them ("They're over here! After them!"). "I'm sorry, forest, but...!" Suzuran apologized as she channeled as much energy as she could into her okatana, the spectral blade growing to a massive size and slashing horizontally. Her blade sliced through the forest, felling a plethora of trees and blocking the path of their pursuers behind them.

".... You mastered the Senouken application of Hachimanriki?" Noa mumbled.

"I haven't mastered it yet..." Suzuran admitted. "Manaka-chan can definitely extend the blade at least ten times farther than I can. Consider that her family specializes in Hachimanriki. I was merely taught by excellent teachers."

Senouken, which carries the definition of "Shining Regal Sword", is a secondary application of Hachimanriki. One requires a "proficiency level", so to speak, of Third Layer Hachimanriki to attempt this technique. Channeling the divine strength of the technique into one's blade is enough for the blade to extend in the way of an astral projection. This is what makes it fundamentally different from Maihime's Soumatou as Senouken only works as a "spiritual technique" and as such, it simply does not have the raw power of Soumatou. In exchange, it is able to rival the range of Soumatou's aerial slash but only that; it cannot match the power.

In an instant, an acre of forest was felled and the girls fled.

0636

Maihime Tendou's encounters.

"Dammit, so this thing still can't connect?"

In the receding shadows of the mid-autumn dawn, a girl was flicking away at a mobile device. She hadn't slept a wink since the attack last night. Of course, she wasn't tired as she had trained for this. The sleepless night just didn't bother her at this point. She had tried multiple times to contact that person but between the bad signal (or, the jamming of communication devices; this was the more likely scenario considering the circumstances) and the soldiers chasing after her as she used some handy illusion magic used by a certain late-nineteenth-century escape artist to fool them into thinking that she was one of the two traitors in the hopes that she would be able to throw them off of the actual trail.

She cursed silently as she wrapped up her thirteenth attempt at calling him and put the phone away as she heard incoming footsteps quite a ways away. Suddenly, the phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the number on the liquid crystal display. Smirking to herself, she picked it up. "About time."

"Sorry, sorry, Maihime-kun, the jamming device this time was quite a difficult one." The voice that replied to her was that of a man, quite aged but still with a slight twinge of youthful playfulness in his voice. "It took a while but I finally found a frequency that would allow me to connect. They are likely to catch on soon so we need to keep this conversation short. What of the two girls?"

"They're in," Maihime reported. "I was in the middle of escorting them down the mountain but it seems that my mother was a step ahead of us."

"Indeed," the old man agreed. "Considering the strength of this jamming device, I'd say she launched a full-scale operation for the sole purpose of capturing the two traitors, eh?"

"Well, they can handle themselves. Especially the Arisugawa girl."

"Oho, Emiri-kun's daughter, eh?"

"Why'd your tone soften up? You have a thing for moms?"

"Surely you jest!" the old man deflected, laughing. "What about the Hiiragi girl? No interest in her?"

"Eh... She's a bit too fixated on revenge."

"I see. Well, don't blame her too hard, Manami-kun's passing hit us quite hard too. Let's just hope that she's inherited that technique."

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that. One glance was enough for me to tell that she had it in the bag."

"Oho, I see. Well, I better keep my hopes high."

"Try not to get too depressed when you're off the mark, Grandpa," Maihime joked.

"Haha, I wonder."

With that, the old man cut off the communication and Maihime pocketed her phone.

"Alright... This should be enough assistance. My two retainers will deal with the rest themselves. I need to be somewhere else." Maihime gathered strength into her legs and bolted, heading toward a premeditated location.

0700

Alice Sakayanagi's encounters.

"Aha, I found them, desu."

Alice was currently perched in a rather tall tree with a pair of binoculars in hand. She was watching the base of operations where the top brass of the full-scale assault were. As a member of Mokusa, she found it her duty to gather as much information as possible on their opponents, that is, the corrupted Special Sword Administration Bureau led by the even even more corrupted Nanae Origami and the rest of the Origami family. With the exception of Maihime Tendou, Mokusa had no allies within the Special Sword Administration Bureau. While she felt sorry for her partner and her other half, Manaka, Alice needed to do this job.

"Yomi is missing..." she noted. "I see, I think I understand now. Ohimesama was right to call her a dirty fox, desu. Aha, Maya and Suzuka are deploying? Hmm, that means that the two girls were found, desu. Sorry, girls, but I have a job of my own to do. Try not to die."

Alice continued her silent surveillance, her eyes zeroing in on them like that of a hawk.

0704

Noa Hiiragi and Suzuran Arisugawa's encounters.

"Did we manage to escape...?"

Suzuran used her sword as a cane as she mumbled this. They had been rudely awakened by their pursuers' loud voices that morning and had immediately fled from the cave. By some twist of fate, the girls ended up at the same location they were the previous night: the banks of the ice-cold river where they fought off the armed battalion and several Toji. Suzuran picked up her sword and went over to the bank, kneeling down, placing her sword at her side, and splashing the freezing water at her face. This shocked her awake, blowing away all of the drowsiness she still felt. She then wiped her face with her handkerchief before gesturing with her chin for Noa to do the same who had been standing watch. Despite knowing each other for only a short period of time, the two girls were admittedly close enough to communicate without speaking.

Noa nodded and did the same, washing her face and blasting herself into alertness. She used her own personal handkerchief to dry her face before replying, "For now, we should be good."

"I wouldn't let our guard down though," Suzuran warned. "We still haven't encountered the elite guard."

"As expected of Yomi. She did quite the excellent job."

"Indeed. Thanks to her, we can capture the traitors without trouble."

"Speak of the devil...!" Suzuran grumbled as both she and Noa entered battle stances, eyeing the two girls that had come from across the riverbank.

"I must say, kouhai, you threw quite the childish tantrum at the tournament," Maya Shidou stated.

"Unfortunately, we won't be going easy on you girls like your little friend did the previous day," Suzuka Konohana asserted.

"Wait, at least hear out what Noa-chan has to say...!" Suzuran pleaded.

"As if I would lend an ear to a traitor. First Seat of the Sword Administration Elite Guard, Maya Shidou."

"Second Seat of the same organization, Suzuka Konohana." Introducing themselves, the two girls drew their swords and wordlessly entered utsushi. "Prepare yourselves!" Sparing no time, Suzuka accelerated with jin'i and tried striking at Suzuran's blind spot but she had already entered utsushi and brought up the saya of her sword, guarding against the blow. She then raised her right foot and planted a solid kick right in Suzuka's abdomen, blasting her away. Even with all of her skills, Suzuran had momentarily outaccelerated her. Suzuran chased after Suzuka, nodding to Noa.

"Hmm, I see. So you plan to deal with me, kouhai?"

"Yes, that is indeed the plan, senpai," Noa shot back. She accelerated from her advantageous high ground and channeled Hachimanriki into her arms, slamming her sword into Maya's. The ground beneath her crumbled as Maya's feet were immediately doused with ice-cold water.

While the feeling is most certainly dulled, Maya definitely felt her feet freeze as cold seeped through her shoes and into her socks. She jumped out of the valley and up onto the grass. "Tch... I guess I'm at a disadvantage fighting here."

"This isn't the end of it, senpai!" While keeping her guard up, Noa pushed her advantage. She knew that if she failed to see everything, Maya would flip this duel on her. Noa knew her strengths and she also knew that at the moment, she is just a few levels short of defeating Maya.

"Hmm... You are quite talented in the blade," Maya commented while fending off Noa's flurry of attacks, sparks flying off of their swords and fading out upon touching the river. "I see that you have put countless hours into your training in the Kashima Shinto-ryu. Why must you throw that all away with attacking Nanae-sama?"

"You won't understand," Noa growled back, continuing her high-speed dance. "You, who have been the closest to that woman ever since she rose to power!"

Maya found an opening in Noa's stance which had appeared slightly through Noa's rage. She cut through it, lopping off Noa's left arm. Flinching, she immediately broke away from the close quarters she was fighting her in. Maya did not let up as she accelerated in Noa's face who tried defending with the same technique she used to defeat Alice in the preliminaries at the tournament. Maya did not flinch when hit with the shigi no hagaeshi as she had already seen the technique before. "That won't work on me!" Maya forced the strike away and slashed at Noa's legs, removing everything from her left hip down and forcefully dismantling her utsushi.

"Noa-chan!" Suzuran yelped, momentarily turning her attention away from Suzuka.

"Do you think you have time to look away!?" Suzuka demanded as she pressed her advantage, slashing away at Suzuran. Suzuran, however, was not that easily thrown off, expertly defending against her strikes before accelerating backward with jin'i.

However, Suzuka was right in front of her when she stopped and she slashed upward which Suzuran avoided by leaning back. She then stepped away at the normal pace, her mind working at high speeds. I see... So she activated her jin'i so that it'd match mine. It's as if...

Finishing off her thought for her, Suzuka smirked, "Your expression says, It's like she knows exactly when I activate my jin'i." Charging in, she began throwing a few choice slashes, forcing Suzuran to focus all efforts on defending herself.

Suzuran expertly slapped away each and every strike but she couldn't help but think, This woman is insanely strong! I'm sorry, Noa-chan, but I can't help you!

Like I don't know that, Suzuran. With a loud shout, Noa reactivated her utsushi and challenged Maya again who simply said, "A second time? Now then, how many more times can you use it? Or would this be the last one?"

"I wouldn't be so sure, Maya-senpai!" Noa accelerated to catch Maya's blind spot but she expertly spun around, her hand supporting the ridge of her blade. Noa evaded the strike then evaded the follow-up slash.

Noa found herself internally impressed at the perfection of the nakadori's koryu technique Maya had just performed. Maya was equally impressed, saying, "As expected of a little crow. You have excellent evasive skills."

"Why, thanks," Noa quipped as she tried to calm her breathing. Having already had her utsushi dismantled once, she was beginning to feel the fatigue building up. This peerless swordsmanship... So this is Maya Shidou, the First Seat of the Elite Guard.

"Unfortunately, this will be the last one." Maya charged at Noa and began to slowly push her back.

A few meters away up on the raised bank, Suzuran turned back for a second time. "Noa-chan!"

"Your opponent is me!" Suzuka yelled, having been sidelined for the second time in five minutes. She charged and slashed, her blade finely connecting to a gash in Suzuran's right arm. She stumbled backward, biting her lips in frustration as she had let her guard down. "Are you underestimating me, member of the Elite Guard, Suzuka Konohana?" Suzuran ignored that, swallowing her rising pride that wanted to retort for wounding her, and Suzuka took this as an insult and began pushing Suzuran even harder, forcing her to return her attention to her.

Noa, meanwhile, noticed Suzuran's actions from her peripheral vision. Tch... Even with her opponent upon her, she still finds time to worry aobut me? Have I gotten so weak that I am forcing a girl in a total deadlock to split her attention from her opponent in front of her? Maya slashed from her upper right which Noa caught against her blade and parried away, the force of which she used to step back while Maya essentially tripped forward into the empty space where Noa once was. Nay... that can't be it. She may look panicked but she always calmly observes her situation and conditions on the spot and surely searching for a way to break through!

"You sure are confident to look so absent-minded in front of me!" Maya exclaimed as she slashed harder, pushing Noa further back. Her footsteps splashed through the river before stomping on solid ground. She sensed behind her a stone wall on top of which Suzuran was fighting.

Suzuran also sensed this, stealing yet another glance at Noa below her. Suzuka's temper rose again as she yelled, "You little...! Look at me!" Suzuka struck faster and faster but Suzuran easily blocked and parried each and every strike. She found herself pushed closer and closer to the edge, hoping that Noa would pick up on her plan.

As Noa heard Suzuran's feet grinding against the ground, her brain turned faster. Think! Think! What does she have in mind? Upon her back hitting the stone wall behind her, she finally understood. So that's how it is! She lunged forward and delivered a horizontal slash which Maya avoided by leaping backward, landing on the opposite bank a meter away. Earlier, Suzuran had asked Noa if she trusted her. Noa gave her vocal reply, "Yes, I do!" She then relentlessly charged forward.

"Attacking head-on? How foolish," Maya muttered. "Fine, I'll end it here."

Suzuran turned her head to look at Noa again, causing Suzuka to finally snap. "Knock it off already!" Suzuka slashed at Suzuran with enough force to cause her to fall over the stone wall.

However, Suzuran instead used the force of the strike to help her jump backward after which she twisted in the air, yelling, "Noa-chan!" She then threw her sword, launching it directly at the back of Noa's head. Noa used jin'i to evade the high-speed shuriken no utsu, otherwise, the shuriken strike. Maya had her vision blocked and found little time to react upon seeing the sword in her face. She brought up her sword and parried it upward.

"You're wide open," Noa declared.

"Wha-?" Maya stammered as Noa stabbed her through the abdomen. Pulling out her blade, Maya's utsushi dissipated as she fell back against the stone wall opposite of where Suzuran threw her blade.

"Maya-san!" Suzuka yelped.

Having already retrieved her sword and dismantled her utsushi, Suzuran yelled, "Noa-chan, run!"

"Yeah, I got that already!" Keeping her own utsushi up, she ran after Suzuran.

"... They really got us good," Suzuka mumbled as she went to Maya's side. Maya, meanwhile, had an expression on her face, as if she had seen a ghost. As her close friend, Suzuka understood what Maya was fearing. Sighing, she patted her friend's shoulder before reaching into her pocket to pull out her mobile device.

0933

Manaka Ichinose's encounters.

"What's wrong with you!?"

Holding Nene by the tail, Manaka ran. Ever since dawn broke that morning, Nene had been squealing and running about here and there. Manaka already knew the reason why: Nene was trying to get its master away from specific areas that were full of Yomi's aradama. She also knew that her pet was doing this so as to stop its master from confronting Yomi again. The previous night, she had just barely managed to win and forced her to retreat. Manaka immediately assumed that her opponent had gotten a good night's rest while she barely slept a wink as due to being alone, she had to keep her guard up at all times so she wouldn't be taken by surprise. If she was being honest with herself, she really didn't think she can handle another high-paced duel like yesterday.

"You're a troublesome pet, always giving me trouble!"

"Kyuu!" Nene complained. In her head, Manaka heard, Master, I am simply watching out for you! You are clearly in no condition to fight Yomi-dono again!

"And as I've said, I don't need that kind of support! Besides, if you keep running like this, you'll get lost! Like you often did when I was a child!"

"Kyuu..." ... I apologize for that. However, Master, please, you need to escape from this mountain as quickly as possible!

"Yeah, sure, that does sound really convenient right now!" Manaka hollered as the aradama finally caught up. She took Nene, shoving it into her basically nonexistent chest, before raising her nagamaki and slashing downward. She then lifted up her sword and slashed sideways, accidentally chopping down the tree next to her. "Ngh, I'm at a disadvantage like this...!"

"Kyuu!! Kyuu!!" Master, wait, you don't have enough energy to use that!!

Squeezing everything she had, Manaka channeled Hachimanriki into Nenekiri Maruyama, extending the blade. With Senouken active, she slashed in a full circle around herself, leveling four acres of forest. Withdrawing her sword, she stabbed it into the ground, preventing herself from kneeling. "Tch... I need sleep..."

"Kyuu!" ... Master, she's coming.

"You really did a number on the forest... What are you going to say to Kuebiko-sama?"

".... Shut up," Manaka retorted. "I'm pretty sure Amaterasu-sama isn't pleased that you dabbled in the science of the Netherworld." Forcing herself to her feet, she glared at her childhood friend.

"Are you sure it's a bright idea to fight me in your condition right now?"

"Well, not like I have a choice, right? Either way, you're going to bring me in." Maihime replied, hefting up her sword. She then smiled self-deprecatively, recalling her past when she was an incorrigible child with nothing but headstrongness to go for her.

I always thought that I could do anything. My parents and my grandparents would always scold me whenever I come home late. Even at that age, Nene was the only one who constantly stuck by my side and I hated it. I even harshly told it off multiple times, citing the reasoning that Toji eliminate aradama. No matter what I said to it, Nene would always tail after me. When I first set my eyes on an actual aradama, I foolishly chased after it using a stick. I ignored Nene's calls for me to stop and soon fell down a steep hill. Battered and bruised, I deeply regretted my decision, calling out for my mother and my grandmother to no avail. I cried and cried but no one came. However, you did. Nene came for me, licking my wounds and saying, I told you.

Finishing her quick return to her past in her thoughts, she opened her eyes and readied herself again, muttering, "Sorry, Nene, but I'm going to need to push myself..."

"So you've resolved to fight and die?" Yomi stabbed.

"If I'm going to die, it will be on my own terms!" Manaka hefted her nagamaki and slashed downward while unleashing a loud scream signature to her style ("monkey's shout", a kiai unique to her sword school, the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu). She cleft the air with her strike, dividing the black mass threatening to entrap her in two.

".... Again with your brute strength," Yomi mumbled. "I hate that about you and your family."

"Haha, well, sorry for being from a family that has trained themselves in the use of Hachimanriki to its limits," Manaka quipped as she again rent the air, preventing Yomi from encircling her again. "Besides, I need to pay you back. After all, your pets really did an annoying number on mine."

"Kyuu..." I wasn't even wounded though...

The two girls stopped and stared at each other, the rising sun coloring the sky blue. Yomi took her blade and slashed it yet again across her skin, birthing the aradama that was being synthesized inside of her. "Here, have some more."

"Tsk, so as long as you have blood to spare, you can endlessly spawn these critters?"

"You surmise correctly."

"As expected of the nasty Origami family," Manaka snapped as she brought down her sword again, the force of the strike cracking the ground.

However, a third party interrupted her next move.

Well, to be more exact, it wasn't even a third party. It was simply the ground beneath her feet. As in response to her earlier strike, the ground began to shake violently. Loose rocks of various sizes scattered about bounced up and down in response to the vibrations tearing through the ground. Some began to bounce away from their duel grounds, rolling away down the gentle slopes of the volcano. The crack Manaka had put in the ground began to widen as Manaka suddenly understood what was happening.

The volcano beneath her feet was waking.

1056

University of Tokyo's volcano observatory, east slope of Asamayama.

"This is bad...!"

Professor Shin'ichiro Asanuma was panicking.

After having been woken up by his pupil the previous evening, he had not slept a wink. He had been working for the past twelve hours, personally monitoring all of the running instruments in the observatory. His excellent pupil, Miyabi Azusagawa, had earlier gone down the mountain to a certain multi-national coffeehouse chain in the city proper to fetch multiple cases of high-sugar snacks and several large glasses of powerful coffee. This was done in the hopes that the sugar and caffeine will help keep everyone in the observatory awake as the constant monitoring of the volcanic peak of Asamayama is absolutely imperative as the instruments are all giving figures that are abnormally high.

For example, overnight, the number of small earthquakes that rocked the volcano had skyrocketed with the durations between each tremor shortening. In total, there have been 70 tremors since the first shaking twenty hours prior with the last 30 earthquakes each occurring within ten minutes of each other since five hours previously. Each of the 70 recorded earthquakes had a Richter magnitude of 1 or greater with the most powerful tremor occurring at 1030 and peaking at 4.2; on average, the recorded shakings have a magnitude of 3.1.

“Professor, these numbers...” Miyabi muttered.

“Indeed...” Shin’ichiro acceded. “Tell the government to expedite evacuation plans! There is no time to falter, the volcano will erupt soon!”

A handsome student with slicked-back black hair said, “They’re still being lazy, Professor! I’ve been on the line with them for the past two hours and I’m still being kept on hold!”

“Dammit, those incorrigible politicians...! Don’t they know that this is a national emergency!? These numbers indicate instability in the mountain and there’s no other way of reading this than suggesting an imminent volcanic eruption. They should know that it’s practically impossible to accurately predict exactly when the mountain will explode but by then it will already be too late!” Once he was done, the professor entered a coughing fit.

“Professor!” the handsome student, Atsuya Toriumi, dropped the landline he had in hand and quickly reached out to grab the aging teacher before he could drop down to the ground. “Professor, please, don’t push yourself. You’re already old.”

“I must do so in order to cover for those incompetents in the government,” Shn’ichiro asserted. He forced himself to stand. “If the federal government won’t respond, contact the prefectural governments. Start with the Nagano and Gunma Prefectures as both are closest to the blast radius.”

“Yes, sir!” Atsuya replied. He proceeded to pick up the landline and put it back on his ear, waiting for a response from the federal government that may never come while using his free hands to open two more calls, one to the prefectural office of Nagano and the other to the prefectural office of Gunma.

“Still trying to impress me, I see...” Miyabi muttered under her breath as she watched Atsuya begin working at a speed that was clearly beyond his normal capacity (he had a particularly strong crush on Miyabi which she has yet felt the need to reciprocate).

1423

“Are we all back together?”

The one who posed the question was Maihime. Earlier that morning, she had given a call to a certain old geezer and confirmed with him that she had brought the girls with her. She had then bolted down the mountainside and toward Zenkō-ji, the prearranged meeting point, a distance of about 40 kilometers. Upon arrival, she spoke with the agents, informing them that she wanted to change the meeting point for the sake of security as the Origami family had already discovered the location of the traitors. Obeying her orders, the agents cleared out and moved the rendezvous point back to the planned extrication point, one of the many harbors in Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, roughly 230 kilometers (about 143 miles) away by car from where the girls are located on the slopes of Asamayama (roughly 115 kilometers [about 72 miles] in a straight line). Once she finished her business, Maihime ran the 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) back to the mountain for a round trip of 80 minutes, including the time she spent conversing with the agents.

She then spent the rest of the morning lazily searching for the girls.

She didn’t bother looking for Alice, her closest retainer, as she figured that Alice would have attempted to infiltrate the enemy camp. Maihime found herself especially sure of this after she herself had dangled in front of Alice the scoop of the Origami family experimenting with the possibility of human-aradama hybrids; Alice was, by nature, an overly curious girl and knowing her duties, she put her all into gathering information. Maihime reasoned that Alice would be able to care for herself and she also felt that she needn't worry at all about potential leaking of their own intelligence. That is why Maihime simply followed the tremors beneath her feet, correctly assuming that they were both a mix of natural earthquakes caused by the rising of magma in the volcano and the destruction caused by the duels, specifically, that of Manaka's (Maihime figured that neither Noa nor Suzuran had the capacity of causing earthquakes that can be felt outside of their dueling ground with their level of Hachimanriki).

She first met up with Noa and Suzuran at 1111, heartily laughing upon hearing their tale of their duel with the First and Second Seat of the Elite Guard, respectively. Maihime couldn’t help but reveal to the girls that she was in fact a member of the Elite Guard herself, albeit, she was in possession of the Zeroth Seat and as such, isn’t technically a true member. Three hours later at 1417, the three girls joined up with Manaka who had up until then been wandering the volcano, trying to avoid being thrown off her feet by the moderately strong one in every ten minutes earthquake.

“That is everyone, Oujo-, er, I mean, Maihime,” Manaka reported. “As expected, Alice infiltrated the enemy camp to gather more information. Having fought Yomi myself, you were correct in your statement that the Origami family was experimenting with human-aradama hybrids.”

“I figured that’s what she would do,” Maihime nodded, confirming her earlier prediction. “In any case, we’ve done all that we need to do. Alice is my closest retainer for a reason and she already knows how I operate. She’ll feed them false information; well, false in the sense that the information she would give is outdated.”

“I see, so you’ve already changed the rendezvous point with Gramps,” Manaka surmised. “So Alice will give them the correct information.”

“Indeed,” Maihime confirmed. “It will be correct. However, that information will already be outdated.”

“In that case, we can safely make our way to that marina.”

“Sheesh, why did that gramps choose a marina as the meeting point...”

“Well, I don’t think he could help it,” Manaka reasoned. “Where else would he be able to park the private submarine?”

“Fine, fine, when you put it that way, I guess it makes sense.”

“Um...” Suzuran mumbled. “What’s all this about a private submarine and a marina?”

“Ah, you two wouldn’t know, huh?” Maihime realized. “Oh, but you probably would, wouldn’t you, Noa, daughter of Manami Kuzunoha?” Noa’s hand immediately flew to her sword, however, her hand was stopped by Suzuran before she could grab the hilt. “Mmm, excellent reaction, Suzuran. I see Emiri Arisugawa did not neglect in training you on how to tell you’re hopelessly outmatched.”

“With all due respect, what is your relation to our mothers?” Suzuran ventured.

“Oh, that’s easy. They were also part of this organization.”

“Wha-!?”

“Well, at least, they were before they regretfully passed away...” Maihime put her hands together in silent prayer for thirty seconds; Manaka proceeded to do the same after watching her mistress. Finishing her prayer, she continued, “Out of the eight women that attacked the Great Aradama, only Emiri Arisugawa and Manami Kuzunoha knew the truth. Outside of Nanae Origami, the rest had their memories of the incident destroyed by the Great Aradama’s final struggle before fusing with Nanae; at best, those remaining can and will only remember that they fought a giant aradama and nothing else.”

“Why do you know this?”

“How else would I know?” Maihime stated. “After all, I have been in contact with that Great Aradama ever since I was adopted into the Origami family.”

It was as if a bolt of lightning struck both Suzuran and Noa as they slowly nodded in understanding. “I see...” Suzuran said. “So my mother was a part of this too...” She looked up at the sky, a sort of faraway look creeping into her expression.

“Speaking of the Great Aradama, I dealt with something similar when I was in the Divine Empire of Isenberg,” Maihime reminisced. “I seem to recall the princess herself battling the beast. What was her name again...? Uh... Anselma...?”

“Anselma Elisabeth Edelgard von Isenberg,” Manaka supplied.

Maihime clapped her hands, finally remembering. “Ah, yes, her. Yes, her level of strength is unreal; she is certainly a match for me. She also most definitely uses a natural okatana. That sword of hers had one hell of an aura.”

“Er, Maihime, we really shouldn’t dilly-dally any longer,” Manaka mumbled.

“Ah, yes, of course.” She turned to Noa and Suzuran. “Going to say this first: get ready to break past your limits. We’re going to run all the way to Toyama Prefecture.”

“... Come again?” Suzuran quacked.

“As I said, we’re running to Toyama Prefecture.”

“... The whole 120 kilometers?” Noa inquired.

“What, chickening out?”

“... Of course not,” Noa replied, shrinking back.

“Also, I’ll apologize ahead of time as well because I can’t afford to allow you to bring your belongings aside from the clothes on your back and that sword at your waist,” Maihime added matter-of-factly. “I can, however, have those items retrieved; I’ll send agents to collect them. Where are they?”

“In a coin locker at Komoro Station,” Suzuran said.

“I see, that’s perfect. I have some agents there already,” Maihime nodded. She then began to stretch, imagining her strength circulating throughout her body. “If you’re too slow, I’ll leave you in the dust. This would be perfect training for you two to strengthen your jin’i. I shouldn’t need to say anything to you, right, Manaka?”

Manaka bowed slightly. “Of course, Maihime-sama.”

Maihime’s eyebrow twitched at that comment but her expression quickly returned to normal. “Alright, let’s go.” She then took off running, fast enough to generate a minor airblast which blew through the three girls’ hair, haphazardly sending it flying. Left with no choice, Manaka, Noa, and Suzuran chased after Maihime’s already shrinking back.

1503

In the current month, the very peak of Asamayama is coated in snow. If one were to look around from the zenith of the mountain, they would certainly feel as if they are on top of the whole world. On certain days, they wouldn’t even be able to see down the mountain as the heavy cloud cover obscures the view. However, on this day, the sky was crystal clear and with the afternoon sun as a witness, the ground began to crack.

From the crack, a hideous groan bellowed upwards from the bowels of the earth as clouds of gas began billowing out of the crack. The ground also began shaking again as another stronger earthquake struck resulting in the creation of more cracks. The snow cover began rising slightly as the gases escaping from below worked their way through while the heat released by the gas was melting the snow. The earth continued to shake as more and more cracks began forming.

At the same time in the Asamayama observatory.

"What...!?"

Miyabi Azusagawa yelped as she looked at the instrument. She blinked quickly several times and looked again. She then rubbed her eyes with her hands, blinked, and looked again. She forced her open mouth closed as she finally decided that she wasn't just seeing things.

Behind her, Professor Shin'ichiro Asanuma could figure out the problem already just from Miyabi's countenance. He sighed before saying, "... I see that it's too late." The other students inside of the observatory all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the professor, their expressions all a shade of forlornness yet full of determination. "Everyone, listen to what I have to say and stay calm."

"Oh, we know, Professor," Atsuya quipped. "The volcano's going to erupt now, right?"

"It is as you say, Atsuya," Shin'ichiro replied. "Our instruments have picked up an all-around increase of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide from the summit of the volcano. This can only mean one thing: degassing has begun. This also means the depressurization of the magma chamber."

"As I've said, the volcano's going to blow its top," Atsuya repeated. "It's too late for us to evacuate; we're too close to the blast zone."

"You are correct again," Shin'ichiro nodded. "We're to-"

"You don't need to say anything more, Professor," Atsuya interrupted. "We'll do our jobs to the very end."

All at once, the other students voiced their approval and their sentiments. They all agreed to stay behind, laughing in the face of death.

"You students...!" Shin'ichiro muttered. He wiped away the tears that began forming before smiling widely and ordering, "Alright, everyone, one last spurt! Put everything into this final hour!"

"Yessir!!"

With not a shred of fear in their eyes, all of the students returned to their previous posts, a smile permanently affixed to their faces as they bonded together to stare down death. Even when the ground's shaking did not abate, they did not waver. What happened to these brave souls is something for the history books.