Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Volume 7.5

by Takehaya

  “Watch out, Layous-sama! The magicians are aiming for you!”

  “Shut it! You’re already too late!”

  Dextro fearlessly grinned. He ordered all five magicians to attack at once. No matter how fast Koutarou was, he should have no way of avoiding an attack like that.

  “The magicians?!”

  Koutarou looked over towards the magicians after hearing Alaia’s warning. He could see that they were preparing an area attack against him. It was large enough that it was going to hit the remaining eight infantrymen as well.

  “Is he planning on attacking his own soldiers just to get to me?!”

  When Koutarou finally put two and two together, the five magicians had summoned a giant fireball. It rested at the tip of the staff of the magician standing in the front of their formation, and it was large enough to light up the area.

  “High-density energy reaction from the magicians detected. Warning: Please use the barrier to defend yourself.”

  “You just keep protecting Her Highness!”

  Koutarou rejected the AI’s suggestion and pointed his left hand towards the fireball. Meanwhile, the soldiers around him began to panic.

  “What?! Is the captain trying to kill us with him?!”

  “Please save us, captain!”

  “You guys just keep fighting the Blue Knight!”

  Though the soldiers pleaded for help, Dextro spurned them in a tone similar to Koutarou’s.

  “Just how rotten can you get? If you guys don’t want to get hurt, get down!”

  As Koutarou shouted, the magicians launched their fireball. They were aiming for Koutarou, but before it hit, a second fireball appeared from the gauntlet on Koutarou’s left hand.

  “Go!”

  Obeying Koutarou’s will, the new fireball flew towards the fireball the magicians had launched. He was trying to negate the fireball with his own.

  The two fireballs crashed into each other mid-air, but things didn’t go as Koutarou had hoped. The magicians’ fireball was bigger and more powerful, so Koutarou’s fireball alone couldn’t stop it. Although its strength had been considerably compromised, the magicians’ fireball was still barreling towards Koutarou.

  “Damn, no good!”

  “Warning! Use the barrier—”

  “Shut up! You were made to be used in space, so suck it up already! It’s just a fireball!”

  Koutarou crossed his arms in front of his face and braced himself. He was planning on enduring the attack with guts and sheer willpower. The fireball came flying. Its furious red fire lit up Koutarou’s face as it closed in, and then it exploded with a loud boom.

  “...Huh?”

  Despite the explosion, Koutarou was unharmed. The flames had been deflected by a yellow veil that appeared in front of Koutarou and then vanished.

  “I-I don’t know what happened, but I’m saved...”

  It was one of the defensive spells that Yurika had cast on Koutarou while he was fighting against Clan. It had been dormant all this time, and it only activated now—when it sensed the danger Koutarou was in—to shield him from the explosion.

  “That’s impossible!”

  Not even the five magicians working together had had any effect on Koutarou. Dextro had been so confident in their attack that he couldn’t believe what had just happened right before his very eyes.

  Dextro wasn’t the only one stunned by Koutarou’s fighting.

  “Lady Pardomshiha, just who is that person?”

  “That’s... what I want to know, Lidith.”

  Alaia’s allies couldn’t hide their surprise as they watched Koutarou’s battle from the crowd. It was impressive enough that they were able to temporarily forget the pain they were in.

  “That sword and armor... Based on their strength, they must have been made with alchemy. I can’t imagine anything else considering the device incorporated into the armor that lets him use electricity and fire.”

  Since Lidith was an alchemist, she could tell that the armor and sword Koutarou was using were products of advanced science and technology. Since the science of this era wasn’t especially developed, specialized fields of study had yet to emerge. And it wasn’t just science. Pharmacology, medicine, magic, supernatural phenomena, and more were all studied under the broad discipline of alchemy. The technology for refining metal was included in that as well. Certain alchemists monopolized the manufacturing of higher-strength steels and made quite a tidy profit off of it. Lidith had seen Koutarou’s armor up close, and now that she’d seem what it could do in battle too, she assumed that it had been created using advanced alchemy of that nature.

  And if the sword and armor were products of alchemy, it didn’t seem unreasonable to think that his ability to manipulate fire and electricity had an alchemical source as well. The people of this age had already discovered basic methods of generating electricity and creating explosions, so they could potentially be used in alchemical devices.

  “It’s not just alchemy. It looks like he’s using spiritual energy to fight as well. He’s not as good as me, but it looks like he’s able to read the auras of his opponents. And it looks like he’s using spiritual energy to improve his speed.”

  Fauna added on to Lidith’s assessment. As a servant of the Goddess of Dawn, she had considerable spiritual energy powers. She used them to heal the sick and injured, but her attunement to that sort of thing made it obvious to her that Koutarou was using spiritual energy to fight.

  “His skill with the sword is also considerable... This means that the band of knights Veltlion is from not only trains in sword fighting, but also in the ways of spiritual energy while additionally making good use of alchemy...”

  Flair was quite perplexed as she summarized the discussion. Koutarou’s fighting defied what she expected of a knight. She had never heard of such a strange yet powerful band of knights before.

  “That’s not all. That man is using magic too.”

  “Caris?! Why are you here?! Didn’t you join up with the other soldiers?!”

  Flair was surprised to see Caris, who had suddenly appeared next to them. Koutarou said he’d freed Caris, so Flair assumed she’d be long gone by now.

  “That’s what I was going to do at first.” Caris smiled wryly as she leaned on her staff. “But on my way there, I heard that there was no antidote. That means that they were planning on disposing of me with the rest of you. So I figured before I die for nothing, I should help that man a little. That’s all there is to it.”

  Caris had planned to join up with the soldiers to get her hands on the antidote. But once she learned there was no such thing, she understood that they were planning on killing her off right alongside Alaia and her party. It also meant they were indiscriminately killing the villagers, and she didn’t take a liking to that.

  She had sworn loyalty to Maxfern, or more precisely to Grevanas, because he had picked her up from an orphanage in the slums. But now that same man was responsible for this indiscriminate attack on the poor populace. It was a remarkable act of betrayal of Caris’s trust in him. Her loyalty shaken and her identity in question, Caris had remembered what Koutarou said to her.

  “Thank you.”

  She had returned because of those words.

  “I see...”

  Flair sincerely believed Caris. Caris’s eyes told Flair she was telling the truth. If she wanted to kill Flair and the others, she would have done so long ago.

  “So Caris, you said Lord Veltlion was using magic...”

  Lidith was more interested in Koutarou than Caris’s intentions, and she wanted to get a more detailed explanation from her. Caris nodded in response.

  “It was when he negated the fireball. It was brief, but he unleashed an archwizard class spell. I don’t know if the Blue Knight actually cast the spell himself or not, but at the very least, he’s lived in an environment where he’s had regular access to powerful magic.”

  “...Did you say an archwizard class spell?”

  Flair w
as even more perplexed now. The archwizards were the top seven leaders of the court magicians. The head of the court magicians, Grevanas, was included among them. All seven of them were extremely powerful magicians, and they stood at the top of the magic world in terms of ability. Caris was saying that Koutarou supposedly handled magic of an equivalent power. Flair didn’t know what to make of that.

  “Swordsmanship, spiritual energy, alchemy, and magic... The pyrotechnic weapon his servant is using is also quite impressive. Just who are those two?”

  “Who knows? But it’s quite clear that the Goddess of Dawn is smiling.”

  “On Veltlion?”

  “No, on Princess Alaia.”

  Caris smiled as she spoke, then began walking away using her staff to support herself.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to support the Blue Knight. He’ll probably win, but I’m worried about what the magicians might do. Leave them to me. You guys should go protect the other princess.”

  “You’re right. I think we’ll do just that.”

  Flair quickly ran through the situation in her head and decided to take Caris’s advice to heart. As sick as she was, Flair would have a rough time standing against the army. But as a magician, Caris still might be able to do something. It seemed best to leave her to her own devices while the others went to protect Charl. Even in her weakened condition, Flair was confident she’d still be able to protect Charl from the panicked citizens.

  “Let’s go, Fauna, Lidith.”

  “Lady Pardomshiha, I’ll go with Caris.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “My intellectual curiosity as an alchemist is telling me it’s what I should do.”

  “Then I’ll leave this to you. Let’s go, Fauna.”

  “Yes!”

  Flair and Fauna headed back to Charl’s side, while Caris and Lidith headed to support Koutarou.

  “Haaa!”

  Koutarou’s sword slashed through the air.

  “Guwah!”

  One of the remaining two archers received the full brunt of the blow and rolled across the ground.

  “Uwaaaaah!”

  The other archer, who’d just barely managed to dodge the sword, let out a scream and collapsed onto the ground. That was thanks to Clan’s shooting. The battle had clearly become one-sided after Koutarou negated the fireball. Koutarou could easily dodge all of the soldiers’ attacks, and the magicians’ spells hadn’t worked. The reeling soldiers were defeated by Koutarou and Clan, one after the other. That was in part because of Dextro’s insistence on taking down Koutarou at the cost of his own men. His orders were largely falling on deaf ears now.

  “That leaves six more to go.”

  Clan smiled fearlessly while exchanging magazine on the rifle. There were now only six of the original 36 men standing. All that was left was to take out Dextro and the five magicians. Victory was within their grasp.

  “To think you could do this much... Honestly, you’ve surprised me, Blue Knight.”

  “I’ll ask you to hand over Princess Alaia now, Copper Knight Dextro.”

  Despite his grim situation, Dextro still had an eerie smile on his lips. It bothered Koutarou. Even as he pointed his sword at Dextro, Dextro looked like he had no intention of backing down.

  “I can’t just give her back to you that easily. I’m not on some kid’s errand here.”

  “Layous-sama, don’t listen to Dextro! He’s trying to buy time! The magicians have been doing something for a while now!”

  “Tch, you really need to shut up!”

  Dextro yanked on Alaia’s arm and drew her in. He then pointed a knife at her neck.

  “Pipe down for a moment, would you, Alaia?!”

  “Hnn!”

  The courageous Alaia stifled any urge to scream and quickly shut her mouth.

  “Your Highness! Hey, what’s going on with the barrier?!”

  Flustered at the sight of Alaia being threatened, Koutarou demanded answers from the armor’s AI.

  “Target B has been inside the barrier’s defensive range from the start.”

  “Damn it!”

  The barrier created by the armor had protected Alaia, but it was intended to keep her safe from stray arrows and explosions. It couldn’t shield her from Dextro who had been next to her the entire time.

  “Let go of Her Highness!”

  “Hey now, Blue Knight, I wouldn’t make another move if I were you. The same goes for the lady behind you.”

  Dextro warned Koutarou as he instinctively took a step forward. He moved Alaia in front of him, intending to use her as a shield to protect himself from Clan’s rifle.

  “How’s it going?” Dextro called to the magicians behind him.

  “We’re finishing up right now!”

  “Good!”

  Dextro showed a satisfied grin after hearing the magicians’ reply. He had ordered the magicians do something while his other men were being defeated. What he’d asked them to do would take all of their mana, but he didn’t care. And now that it was almost complete, he couldn’t keep himself from smiling.

  “Dextro-sama, here it comes!”

  “Here, I’ll give you this back! Take good care of her!”

  Dextro suddenly and unexpectedly let go of his hostage, pushing Alaia towards Koutarou.

  “Kyah!”

  Seeing that, Koutarou hurriedly ran to catch her. Still weak and sickly, Alaia fell over after stumbling a few steps forward.

  “Princess Alaia!”

  And it was in the moment that Koutarou took his eyes off Dextro that it happened.

  “Wait, Veltlion! Something’s strange!”

  “Hahahaha, to think I really have to use even this on you!”

  Right behind where Alaia had been sitting on the ground, a giant black hole over three meters in diameter appeared. The five magicians had been working together to create it, and it was very similar to the black holes Theia and Clan used to summon their weapons.

  “Let me thank you, Blue Knight. I’ve always wanted to try this out!”

  Dextro got increasingly excited as the black hole appeared. A rush of joy filled his heart similar to what he’d felt the first time he killed someone. A warped smile appeared on his face.

  “What is going on?!”

  “A space distortion reaction?! Veltlion, something big is coming!”

  Something huge appeared from the giant disc. At first glance it looked like a knight wearing black armor, but it was far too large to be called a knight. That would imply it was human size. Once its whole body emerged from the hole, it stood five meters tall. Alaia, who was right next to it, looked like a doll in comparison.

  “J-Just what is this giant knight...?”

  Alaia was at a loss for words as the giant knight slowly rose up next to her.

  “It’s dangerous, Princess Alaia! Hurry and get away from there!”

  “R-Right!”

  Alaia tried to stand up after Koutarou warned her of the danger, but she was still reeling from the pain of falling and the aches of her illness. It was a struggle to even move.

  “I’ll be right there, Your Highness! Clan, do you know what that is?!”

  Realizing that Alaia was having trouble, Koutarou ran to help her.

  “I don’t really know! It’s definitely made out of steel, but I don’t see anything that seems to be powering it... There are too many strange structural parts for it to be just a statue, but I can’t tell heads from tails...”

  The giant’s structure perplexed Clan. Based on the way it was summoned, she believed it was some kind of combat machine. But when she scanned its interior with her observation device, nothing about it seemed to be mechanical. She also couldn’t find a power source. It just seemed to be a metallic frame dressed in armor.

  However, further analysis revealed that lots of jewels, animal bones, and other non-metallic materials had been placed inside of it. From an engineering standpoint, that would only lower its structural integr
ity. What’s more, it was all on the interior and couldn’t be seen from the outside, so it clearly didn’t serve a decorative purpose. There was so much strange about it that Clan wasn’t sure what to think.

  “A statue? Ha, not even close! This is an invincible soldier that’s going to kill you all!”

  Dextro laughed. All of a sudden, he was holding a glowing, translucent yellow globe in his hand. Inside the globe were three colors—red, orange, and yellow—swirling around together. And as the globe began to glow brighter, a red light filled the giant’s eyes.

  Once the light in the giant’s eyes turned the color of bright red blood, it slowly moved its massive arm and reached out with its empty left hand. Next was its leg. It lifted its heavy left leg that was starting to sink into the ground, and took one step closer to Alaia. Its stride was more than twice a normal human’s. Combined with its overwhelming weight, each step was like a small earthquake.

  “It started moving?! That’s impossible! There’s no way!”

  “Oh, but it is possible! Hahaha! And now you’re going to be killed by this giant, the magic soldier!” Dextro boasted triumphantly as he looked up at the moving giant.

  Meanwhile, the giant’s body creaked as it continued to move forward, reaching its giant hand out towards Alaia. Before it could reach her, however, hexagonal tiles appeared around her to shield her. It was the barrier that Koutarou had ordered the armor to protect Alaia with.

  But the next moment, the barrier completely collapsed. The barrier was much weaker than normal due to the distance between Alaia and the barrier’s source—Koutarou. But the main reason for its collapse was that it simply couldn’t withstand the giant’s overwhelming mass. The five meter tall giant weighed around ten tons. And when that weight crashed into the small surface area of the barrier, it just couldn’t hold up.

  “Kyaaaaah!”

  Alaia screamed. She had screamed in the past out of surprise, but this was the first time in her life she ever screamed out of fear. The giant grabbed Alaia with its huge hand and lifted her up by the waist.

  “Your Highness!”

  “Nooo, let go!”

  Alaia fought to escape the giant’s grasp, but she was practically powerless against the strength of the metallic monster. No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible for her to break free. But she struggled as best she could nonetheless, even as cuts and bruises appeared on her white skin.