Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Volume 6

by Takehaya

  “Just what is the meaning of this, Shijima Tayuma?”

  Kiriha glared at Tayuma and reproached him in an angry voice.

  “Well, it looked like you were having trouble with your invasion, so I came to help. I’d prefer it if you just thanked me.”

  Despite Kiriha’s rebuke, Tayuma still had a confident look on his face. Tayuma was a man well into his forties, so he thought of the teenage Kiriha as nothing more than a little girl. He was a big man, and he was wearing something like the robes of a Shinto chief priest. The eight subordinates surrounding him were all dressed in a similar fashion, but their outfits looked easier to move in. They were in their equivalent of military service uniforms while Tayuma was in a formal dress uniform.

  “Pull your troops back, Tayuma! Do that, and I’ll overlook you bringing out the subterranean submarine!”

  “I can’t just back down. The time to regain our lost glory has finally come!”

  Tayuma was quick to refuse Kiriha’s compromise. He showed no hesitation whatsoever. Tayuma had come here dead set on a warpath.

  Regaining their lost glory...?

  Standing at Kiriha’s side while making sure he didn’t get in the way was Koutarou. He was on high alert as he observed the situation, but those words started turning the gears in his head. He’d heard them somewhere before. It was the same thing Kiriha had said when they first met. At the time, she’d probably just said it to scare him, but to see her so thoroughly reject the idea now was somewhat reassuring.

  “Can’t you see, Tayuma? Just revealing the subterranean submarine to the surface dwellers is dangerous enough! Taking military action on top of that will only lead to war!”

  “That’s exactly what I want! A war to put an end to our long exile! To show the world the power of the Shijima clan! To reclaim this bountiful surface!”

  Kiriha’s role had changed. In the past, Koutarou was the one trying to prevent Kiriha from invading, but now Kiriha was the one trying to keep Tayuma at bay.

  Kiriha-san is serious...

  Seeing Kiriha so earnestly trying to persuade Tayuma to back down proved that everything she’d said before about a peaceful invasion was true. Koutarou believed in her, but he was still relieved to see her acting in a way that lived up to his faith in her.

  “Ridiculous! Are you so obsessed with fighting with the surface dwellers that you’d bring ruin upon the People of the Earth?”

  “We only need to win before that happens! And if we don’t, it would be a more honorable end than wasting away in some cave! Rather than living as dogs, the People of the Earth would be better off dying as prideful wolves!”

  “You’re no wolf! You’re just a mad dog!”

  “You impudent little girl!”

  Angered at being called a mad dog, Tayuma raised his right hand. When he did, the eight men and women surrounding him readied their arms. The weapons in their hands looked different from modern firearms. They looked more like ceramic, similar to Karama and Korama. But there was more than just a resemblance. They were indeed wielding spiritual energy weapons made by the same technology.

  “Kiriha-san!”

  “It’s okay, Koutarou.”

  Koutarou began panicking when eight people pointed guns at Kiriha. He wasn’t planning on interfering if all they were going to do was talk, but if this broke out into a fight, he wasn’t going to stay out of it. He couldn’t just sit tight and wait for the first shot to be fired. But Kiriha seemed unfazed and still addressed Tayuma calmly.

  “Tayuma, do you know what pointing guns at me means?”

  “I’ll just report to Daiha-dono that the commander was betrayed and killed by the surface dwellers.”

  “So you really did have this all planned out from the start...”

  Part of Tayuma’s plan was indeed to take out Kiriha. He’d intentionally surfaced where he knew she’d be. All he had to do was report that the benevolent Kiriha had been killed by surface dwellers, and even the peace-loving People of the Earth would call for a military invasion. This encounter was all by design.

  “That said, just killing you right now wouldn’t be any fun. First—”

  However, before Tayuma could make his next move, a voice familiar to Koutarou and Kiriha interrupted him.

  “I’ve found you, underground people! Get away from those innocents!”

  “Who goes there?!”

  Surprised by the voice, Tayuma hurriedly turned around. It seemed to be coming from the roof of a nearby attraction.

  “Red Shine!”

  “Blue Shine!”

  “Green Shine!”

  “Yellow Shine!”

  “Pink Shine!”

  “And together, we are the Sun Rangers of the Sun Squad!”

  The group of five entering the scene in brightly colored suits and striking poses were heroes of justice that fought against the evil underground people.

  “Wherever there is love, there is justice! In this world—”

  “Open fire!”

  While the Sun Rangers were still introducing themselves, Tayuma gave his men the order to engage. Without any hesitation, each of eight soldiers pointed their weapon at the Sun Rangers and pulled the triggers. What came out of the guns weren’t metal bullets, but focused spiritual energy. They were firing spiritual energy beam rifles. The beam had a similar effect to when Sanae used her Poltergeist powers to attack directly. However, since the beam from the rifle was concentrated, it held far more power than Sanae’s attacks.

  “Aaaaaghh, hey! We were still introducing ourselves!”

  There was a large explosion around the Sun Rangers. Each beam rifle had incredible firepower, so all eight shots hitting together caused an explosion large enough to easily sending the Sun Rangers flying.

  “We just got here and this is what we geeet?!”

  “I even came wearing bluuue!”

  “Nooo, Baron-samaaa!”

  “Ahhh, my baked potatooo!”

  “...It turned into charcoal.”

  The Sun Rangers traced a perfect parabola in the sky as they were blown up and away. Even though they were sent flying the moment they arrived, thanks to the strength of their suits, they all survived without any life-threatening injuries.

  “What did they even come here to do...?”

  Koutarou sighed as he watched the five rangers take off.

  The Sun Rangers had actually come after their detectors reacted to the subterranean submarine. It was the same technology that had led them to Kiriha’s haniwas at the zoo yesterday.

  “Tayuma-sama, I believe they were the reported hindrance.”

  “I see. So they noticed our movements and came here to get in our way. Admirably hard workers, wouldn’t you say? Ahahaha!”

  Tayuma had previously sent his subordinates to investigate the surface in preparation for a military invasion. His scouting party had repeatedly been stymied by combat squads. Combat squads that weren’t the Sun Rangers, that is. The Sun Rangers had been misfortunate enough to finally find the underground army while they were on a combat mission instead of scouting.

  “Karama, Korama, spiritual energy field to maximum output! Use elemental attacks for offense and focus the rest of your energy into the field!”

  “Roger, ho!”

  “Ho, ho!”

  However, the Sun Ranger’s appearance hadn’t been for naught. When the eight soldiers turned to fire on the Sun Rangers, Kiriha called over her haniwas and prepared for battle. The two haniwas floating next to her enveloped themselves, Kiriha, and Koutarou in a yellow light. It was a thick spiritual energy field durable enough to take attacks from eight people. The two haniwas then began glowing with electricity and fire they were prepared to unleash in an attack.

  “Oh, the automatons that the Kuranos are so proud of? Pity. Unlike your defensive models, ours were designed for combat!”

  A clay doll about a meter in height floated up next to Tayuma. It looked like it was made from the same ceramic Karama and Korama were,
but its shape was more angular and it had an aggressive design. It was a weaponized automaton just like Kiriha’s haniwas.

  “First you threaten us with numbers and now force? How low the brave Shijima clan has been laid.”

  “Say whatever you want. That’s just how war is! Jakko! Activate the spiritual energy field neutralizer!”

  “Gaaaaa...”

  Receiving Tayuma’s orders, the clay doll roared and began emitting an orange glow. It then slowly approached the haniwas.

  “Nee-san! He’s eroding our spiritual energy field!”

  “This will be bad if it keeps up, ho! We’re losing in generator output, ho!”

  As the clay doll got closer, the yellow light enveloping Koutarou and the others grew weaker. It was the clay doll’s special ability to counteract and overcome spiritual energy barriers taking effect. With one side trying to keep up a barrier and the other trying to destroy it, the side with the most power would come out on top. In this scenario, Karama and Korama were at a disadvantage. The haniwas were only about thirty centimeters tall, and the clay doll was over three times their height. Because of the large difference in size, the haniwas had less power even though there were two of them. At the rate things were going, they would be without a shield in no time.

  “Tayuma, is there no way to get you to stop fighting?”

  “A foolish question! Now that we’ve come up to the surface, we can’t return with nothing to show for it!”

  “I understand. In that case, I must steel myself as well.”

  Before Kiriha even finished her sentence, she shook off her left hand and formed a fist. Before anyone could realize what she was doing, it was now covered by a blue gauntlet. It was a weapon from the armory in her secret base.

  “I’m not letting you take anything!”

  Though she had never held a weapon before, Kiriha was now brandishing one to defend herself, her friends, and what she believed in. It was a powerful statement coming from someone who always tried so hard to resolve things peacefully. The short of it was that Kiriha had taken up arms to prevent a war from breaking out.

  “Wahahaha! How are you going to defend it all on your own?”

  Tayuma sneered at Kiriha. Convinced of his victory, he was now looking down on her.

  “You have no allies on the surface! The people you’re trying to protect won’t lift a finger to protect you! Just you sit there on the sidelines and watch as the future you strived for meets its tragic end!”

  Tayuma raised his own gun and pointed the barrel at the roller coaster.

  “Curse you, Tayuma! I won’t let you attack the surface!”

  With Tayuma aiming at the roller coaster, even coolheaded Kiriha began panicking. The amusement park was a treasured place to Kiriha, and the roller coaster was especially precious. Kiriha pointed her left hand, clad in the blue gauntlet, at Tayuma. Tayuma, however, was surrounded by his subordinates who had their beam rifles trained on Kiriha. There was no way she could attack Tayuma like that.

  “Tch!”

  With Karama and Korama’s spiritual energy field being eroded away by the clay doll, it was probably weak enough that the beam rifles could penetrate it now. Kiriha knew she couldn’t afford giving Tayuma’s soldiers a chance to attack.

  “Ahahaha! To think you’d try to protect a worthless scrap heap like this! Your eccentricity sure is something.”

  Tayuma took his time aiming at the coaster as if to taunt Kiriha.

  “Stop it, Tayuma!”

  “That’s more like it, young lady. I like that tone of voice much better. Now, I wonder how you’ll sound when your beloved scrap heap collapses...”

  Tayuma mocked Kiriha as he put his finger on the trigger. However, before he could pull it, a fist came flying right at him.

  “Gwah!”

  “Quit messing around, you bastard!”

  The fist belonged to Koutarou, who Tayuma had completely forgotten existed. Of course, it was only natural to overlook an unarmed surface dweller who seemed to be no threat. Kiriha realized she’d done the same thing as her eyes now opened wide in surprise.

  “Koutarou!”

  “There are some things you just can’t do!”

  Koutarou yelled at Tayuma, who had toppled over from the blow. Koutarou was unbelievably angry. Enough that he had completely forgotten who his opponent was and that this opponent was armed. But all that really mattered to him right now was that Tayuma didn’t get away with this.

  “This is a place where people come to make memories!”

  “What about it? We don’t care about that! How laughable!”

  Tayuma wiped his bleeding lip as he stood up. But more hurt than his face was his pride. Tayuma couldn’t stand for being so humiliated by a younger man. He glared at Koutarou with hate in his eyes.

  “I could never let someone who dares to call this place laughable invade the surface! Kiriha-san would never do that!”

  “Quit your howling, brat! In that case, I’ll just kill you first!”

  Koutarou came swinging at Tayuma again. To fend him off, Tayuma pointed his gun at him. Koutarou was close enough now that he was in point-blank range.

  However, Tayuma’s gun never went off. All of a sudden, several laser beams came raining down from the sky and targeted his gun. They penetrated through it and scattered bits and pieces of its advanced technology all over the ground.

  “What?!”

  “Nice one, Theia!”

  Koutarou then swung his fist, which struck the surprised Tayuma directly in the face. Having been punched in the face again, Tayuma fell down once more.

  “How about ‘thank you for saving me, Your Highness’?”

  Theia’s voice rang out from above Koutarou. The next moment, a rather sturdy machine that looked like an aircraft only about a meter long descended next to him. It was the unmanned craft that Theia had used to follow after Koutarou and Kiriha.

  “Thank you for saving me, Your Highness.”

  “You’re always so reckless. Honestly...”

  Theia’s dumbfounded voice was being projected from the small craft. She’d set it to standby above Koutarou and Kiriha, and it would protect them if things got dangerous. Theia had given a sign only Koutarou would notice and had him help look for or create a chance to attack. Koutarou had gotten so angry that he went in swinging before Theia could make her move, but in the end, it all worked out as planned.

  “Theia, stop babbling and hand over the sword!”

  “That’s not it. You say ‘please give me the sword, Your Highness’!”

  With Tayuma being attacked, his subordinates weren’t just going stand by and do nothing. Half of the eight were currently switching targets from Kiriha to Koutarou. But Koutarou was already prepared to fight. He’d pulled a sword out from a black hole that had opened up in the air and was holding it firmly with both hands as he took an old Forthorthian sword fighting stance. It was the treasured sword Saguratin, complete with Theia’s golden flower crest engraved on it.

  “Smoke Discharger!” Theia shouted.

  On her command, white smoke covered the area around Koutarou. It was being produced by a globe the small fighter had launched. A quick chemical reaction almost instantly created enough smoke to rob the enemy of their sight.

  “You idiot! I can’t see anything either!” Koutarou shouted at Theia as he crouched down.

  While Tayuma’s subordinates couldn’t see through the smoke, neither could Koutarou.

  “Calm down, Koutarou! It’s all according to my plan!”

  “Koutarou!”

  The next moment, Koutarou felt a familiar presence around his neck.

  “Is that you, Sanae?!”

  “Yeah!”

  Koutarou recognized the voice he was now hearing in his ear. Sanae had found her way to Koutarou through the smoke and was now clinging to his back in the usual fashion.

  “I’ll find the enemies for you!”

  As promised, Koutarou could suddenly see several l
ights in the white smoke. The lights were in the shapes of people moving carefully through the smokescreen.

  “What is this?!”

  “It’s the opposite of when I can taste what you eat! I’m showing you what I can see!”

  “I see! How convenient!”

  Now that he knew what was going on, Koutarou took off. The moving lights were all people. He could tell Kiriha apart from the rest since she had the haniwas with her. That meant the rest were Tayuma’s subordinates. Koutarou knew what he needed to do.

  “You better compliment me lots after all of this is done!”

  “I know, I know!”

  Using his sword, Koutarou destroyed the subordinates’ weapons one after the other. Neither Koutarou nor Sanae had any memory of it, but this was actually the second time they’d used this technique. His experience, albeit unwitting, actually made it easier for Koutarou to process what was going on.

  “This isn’t how a knight should be fighting, but...”

  “No, you’re a genius, Theia!”

  Koutarou then used the pommel of his sword to knock the unarmed subordinates unconscious. Still blinded by the smoke, they had no way of defending against Koutarou’s ambush. They panicked and tried attacking at random, but it was an act of desperation that wouldn’t save them.

  “R-Really? You really think so?”

  “Yeah, I owe you one.”

  It was true that this kind of one-sided trickery wasn’t exactly a chivalrous fight, but Koutarou was really quite thankful he didn’t have to fight to the death—especially knowing Kiriha’s wish. He directed that gratitude to Theia for her help.

  “Koutarou, the smoke is clearing.”

  After Koutarou had knocked out the four subordinates targeting him, the effect of the smoking globe ran out and the air began to clear. Since the amusement park was near the sea, the coastal winds came in during the evening. Once the smoke was no longer actively being produced, it dissipated quickly.

  “So you’ve cleared things up over there too. Good job, Satomi-kun.”

  “Landlord-san!”

  Once the smoke cleared, Tayuma’s four remaining subordinates were also lying on the ground. Shizuka stood over them wearing large goggles. She had taken advantage of the smoke to sneak in and dispatch the four soldiers targeting Kiriha.