Light Novel Volume 17

Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan Light Novel 17 is the seventeenth installment of the Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry light novel series, written by Riku Misora and illustrated by Won. It was released in November 2019.

Summary
"--In that case there is no other way but winning! You! Defeating me!

Tendou, who has discovered brightness in Touka's soul, activated a disaster-class Noble Art that swallowed the entire Kyushu land. He has only one goal, to corner Touka into a situation where she must defeat him in order to guide her into a "blessing", in other words, "awakening"! In a situation where many lives are taken hostage, Touka is struggling to overcome her own limits! However, her mind is completely defeated by Tendo's overwhelming power--Meanwhile, in Tokyo capital, a new threat approaching from the other side of the sea has been detected. In response to this, the Knights League has begun mobilizing fighting powers!

The 17th volume filled with fierce battles where the true worths of those who had sharpened their blades with the "Failed Knight" in the past are being tested!

Intermission: Spreading Ripples
The Toutokubara Family is the second largest conglomerate in Japan with French nobility origin. They still have a long-standing idea of “noble duty” in the 21st century which they do not monopolize wealth, set up public interest foundations and develop various social welfare businesses. Kanata, who is the General Affairs Assistant of the Toutokubara Welfare Foundation, is currently busy with paperwork at the foundation’s facility. Kanata came to Wakaba House in Fukuoka with Touka Toudou and Utakata Misogi, but they were only together for 2 days. The problems Wakaba House has been facing recently are bothering her and she’s hoping that the plan proposed by the old man staying at Wakaba House will be successful in resolving the problems. Suddenly, she receives a call coming from Itsuki Kurogane which surprises her. Kanata had made an inquiry to the police about the identity of the old man at Wakaba House. Itsuki informs Kanata that the old man, Tendou Harima, is actually a dangerous criminal that escaped from a prison belonging to the League of Mage-Knight Nations. A declaration of emergency has been sent to the mage-knights in Kyushu and Kurono Shinguuji is already on her way there. Itsuki also informs Kanata that Tendou is a human-shaped disaster and ordinary knights can’t even touch him. After hearing this, Kanata immediately contacts Utakata and she learns from him that Touka is currently with Tendou. Itsuki thinks it takes time for Kurono to arrive in Fukuoka from Tokyo and the mage-knights in the nearby areas will only get slaughtered one-sidedly, but there is one person that might be able to at least hold off Tendou. Itsuki then contacts Bukyoku Academy’s director and asks for a certain student who he needs to contact as soon as possible.

Chapter 4: Blessed Power
In the cemetery, Touka delivers “Raikiri” at Tendou but the old man stops the blow easily with his manifested Device, “Ame no Murakumo”. The old man also introduces himself as the founder of Tendoushuu, the “Great Flame” Tendou Harima. His Device looks like a rusted bronze sword but the magic power he poured onto it is huge. Touka jumps back as she has never faced someone with this level of magic and it is dangerous to be close to her opponent without knowing much about him. In addition, she has heard about Tendoushuu, the group responsible for the mass murder that occurred long before she was born. Touka doesn’t remember seeing Tendou’s name in the records of the incident which is probably because his existence was kept hidden. Touka then asks Tendou if he was deceiving her and the others, and Tendou apologizes for keeping his identity a secret. Tendou needed to know the reason why God unleashed him again on this world, but after talking with Touka he is certain that she deserves a trial from God. Touka doesn’t understand what Tendou is saying but he says she will understand soon. Tendou then raises his sword towards the sky and his whole body releases green light which passes through the tip of his sword. The pillar of light launched to the sky causes clouds to gather and become a huge thundercloud that darkens the sky. Touka can tell the amount of power in the black cloud is probably a million times of the power of her “Raikiri” and even Stella’s amount of power might not compare. Despite so, Touka doesn’t falter because if Tendou also uses lighting then they will just cancel each other’s ability. She believes victory will be decided by their skills in using their weapons and she should be superior in that area considering Tendou’s body that looks almost like a skeleton. Tendou then says that his power’s destination is not Touka and that it pains him that he might have to kill the children at Wakaba House who were kind to him. He believes such trials are necessary because if Touka manages to stand up again after losing her current family then she will receive God’s blessing. Touka replies that she won’t let that happen but Tendou tells her it is impossible for the current Touka.

Touka uses “Shippu Jinrai” to increase her muscle strength and moves fast towards Tendou’s blind spot. At that position she releases “Raikiri” and her blade passes through his body. However, no blood is spilled from his body even after she releases “Raikiri” few more times. There is no feeling of severing the flesh or even a laceration so Touka can only conclude that her attacks don’t hit. She doesn’t understand why and Tendou replies that she can’t touch him because there is too much difference in the stage of existence between him who has received the “blessing” and her who is just a person. The “blessing” he’s talking about is when a Blazer’s soul and body transcend human territory after surpassing the limits of his ego. He further explains that the magic power of a Blazer is often compared to their fate and it is said that the maximum amount of magic power they possess is determined at birth. But rarely there are Blazers who overcome their limit and go outside their given fates--stepping into the territory of non-humans. Touka who is a just a person can’t stop Tendou whose body and soul are closer to God. At first Touka thinks Tendou’s explanation is ridiculous but then she remembers about the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival final match where Ikki used “Ittou Rasetsu” even though the time limit of “Ittou Shura” had passed. The only way for Touka to stop Tendou is to step into the territory of non-humans herself.

Tendou then releases more magic power from his whole body and sends it to the sky through his sword. Tendou says “Tensai – Houten Banrai (sky disaster – sky-crashing heavy thunder)”, and the thundercloud that receives his magic power is releasing many lightning strikes. Instead of the cemetery, these lightnings are hitting the surrounding mountain and town. Each time the lightning hits, an explosion occurs and the struck area is engulfed in flames, including the residential area where Wakaba House is. Touka screams at Tendou to stop and as shown in a pic she desperately tries to stop him by attacking him many times. However, no matter how she attacks or which part of the body she attacks, her sword keeps passing through Tendou’s body hundreds of times without him injured. The exhaustion and the terrible imagination she has when hearing many people in town screaming cause her to fall on her knees at Tendou’s feet. There is nothing else she could do except begging for Tendou to stop. Tendou then bends his knees to hug Touka and says that he understands the pain she’s feeling. But he also believes that Touka can overcome this trial and save everyone. Touka realizes that talking to Tendou is useless and there’s nothing she can do with her hands while the thunderstorm continues burning the town. She stops resisting and begs for someone to save everyone while shedding tears. Utakata then suddenly appears at the entrance of the cemetery and calls out Touka. Seeing this causes Tendou to point his sword towards Utakata and tells Touka to resent him more so that she can overcome this trial. Tendou says “Kasai – Banshou Kaijin (fire disaster – all into ashes)” and a huge flame shoots out from his sword towards the cemetery’s entrance where Utakata is standing. However, Utakata is safe despite everything around the entrance is burnt in black. It is because Moroboshi is also there wielding his spear clad in golden light.

Itsuki contacted Moroboshi and Byakuya Jougasaki and they both agreed to assist with the situation in Fukuoka. They used Jougasaki’s teleportation ability to reach Fukuoka from Osaka in 5 minutes and then joined with Kanata in helping the evacuation of the local residents. After that Moroboshi went with Utakata to find Touka and reached the cemetery. Moroboshi tells Touka that everyone is safe and after hearing that she collapses to the ground from exhaustion. Moroboshi then rushes towards Tendou and tells Utakata to get Touka out of here when he has the chance. Tendou unleashes many lightnings from the thundercloud to intercept Moroboshi but they all miss. Tendou misreads Moroboshi’s position due to Moroboshi using footwork similar to Ikki’s “Shinkirou”. Moroboshi lands a thrust on Tendou which sends him backwards and during that moment Utakata grabs Touka. Tendou launches more lightnings but they disappear as soon as Moroboshi brushes them off with his spear-shaped Device “Tora-Ou”. Tendou realizes that Moroboshi’s ability can destroy magic power. The information on Tendou that Moroboshi received from Itsuki says that Tendou has the ability to manipulate “disasters” and he is a Blazer that has undergone “Excessive Awakening”. Tendou’s body is no longer human and has strong defense like a Device so ordinary methods can’t harm him. Moreover, he makes use of his ability to turn his body like a cloud to ward off attacks. However, Moroboshi’s Noble Art “Tiger Bite” is effective and so Moroboshi is one of the few people that can hurt Tendou which is why Itsuki chose to send him. Tendou agrees that Moroboshi’s ability can kill him, but only if the spear reaches him. Tendou then pierces his sword to the ground and says “Fuusai – Kokuryuu Toguro (wind disaster – black dragon’s coil)”. As shown in a colored pic, a vortex of black storm surrounds Tendou which makes it difficult for Moroboshi to land a thrust on him. The power of the black tornado far surpasses even Ouma Kurogane’s power, but Moroboshi doesn’t falter since the black tornado is created by magic.

Moroboshi’s spear is clad with “Tiger Bite” and he thrusts into the tornado. He should be able to reach Tendou by rushing through the windless hole created by “Tiger Bite”. However, he is strongly hit from the side by a tombstone caught inside the tornado and his body rolls towards the cemetery’s entrance. Many rubbles of different sizes are moving at tremendous speed inside the tornado and so it is impossible for Moroboshi to break through the storm. While Moroboshi gets back up, the black cloud of Tendou’s “Houten Banrai” releases lightning. The lightnings keep striking Moroboshi many times and he is able to protect himself with “Tiger Bite” but barely. Despite already releasing so much magic power, Tendou shows no sign of running out of power. Moroboshi never heard about Desperados until he was informed by the League but he’s convinced that Tendou has inhuman amount of magic and is a human-shaped disaster. Moroboshi then increases the power of “Tiger Bite” and throws his spear into the sky. It causes the area around the cemetery to be clear of lightnings and Moroboshi takes that chance to escape with Touka and Utakata. Tendou is happy that there are young people who can make such appropriate action and so he thinks he should give them God’s trial. He then activates “Shinsai – Hoshinari (quake disaster – star’s ringing)”, a Noble Art that creates earthquake which is said to be the biggest disaster on Earth. After he pours magic power into “Ame no Murakumo”, tremors that gradually become bigger are formed on the surrounding mountain. The mountain collapses into a landslide that crushes and washes away everything in the area including burning forests, highland residential areas and the student-knights that had just escaped from Tendou. The tremors also spread to the nearby city, with the grounds sinking or rising and the buildings breaking down one after another. Lightnings also keep striking, creating fires and explosions everywhere. In just one hour, the entire Fukuoka City collapses.

Sometime later, Touka wakes up on a hospital bed with Kanata greeting her. Kanata says everyone from Wakaba House is safe thanks to the League mobilizing the evacuation fast, and Touka is relieved to hear that. Utakata is in a coma because he was caught in the landslide and he used his ability to make sure Touka was the one uninjured instead of him. Kanata then explains that it’s been 5 days and since then the entire Fukuoka and Saga, part of Oita, Nagasaki and Kumamoto Prefectures have been destroyed by lightnings, rainfalls and earthquakes. All the citizens there were evacuated to southern Kyushu and Touka is currently in a university hospital in Miyazaki City. The disasters have settled down for now but it’s only a matter of time for the second expansion since Tendou is not caught yet. Kurono had rushed to the area but the damages were already too great that evacuation had to be prioritized. Kanata didn’t expect Tendou would do such horrible thing but Touka understands that Tendou just simply believes that he’s delivering God’s blessing. Suddenly there is a voice broadcast that requests all B-rank and above mage-knights including student knights that were involved in rescue operations to gather for a strategy meeting to capture Tendou. Touka and Kanata then head for a conference room in the hospital where almost 20 knights already gathered. Moroboshi is one of them and Touka immediately thanks him for rescuing her. Most Blazers that came to Kyushu are from West Japan and the number of B-rank Blazers in all of Japan doesn’t even reach 100. Only few elites which include even Yuuzou Kaieda are gathered in the room since attacking Tendou with large number of people is not a good idea. The A-rank Kurono then enters the room and begins the strategy meeting for the subjugation of Tendou.

Kurono who is in command of the operation briefs everyone in the room that Tendou has stopped his activity due to fatigue but it’s only a matter of time until he resumes and destroys southern Kyushu. Everyone in the room agrees that they need to attack Tendou before then. They have been informed that Tendou is a special Blazer that has undergone “Excessive Awakening”, and Kaieda asks Kurono to explain about it since even an elite veteran like him never heard about it before. Originally this information is only disclosed to those who have reached “Brute Soul” or close to, but the League has given permission to disclose it since it is an emergency. Kurono explains to everyone about “Desperados” which are rare existences that can increase the upper limit of their magic power after achieving “Brute Soul” and possessing a special characteristic called “attraction force” that enables them to strongly affect causation and become very difficult to be affected by other Blazers’ causation interference type abilities. When a Blazer reaches “Excessive Awakening” they lose their rationality as a human and become a monster. The League’s point of view is the “demons” that existed around the world since ancient times were actually Blazers that lost their humanity. Kurono adds that achieving “Brute Soul” can only be done by exhausting every possible effort and having a strong “ego” to move forward without giving up even when facing the limit of your potential like Ikki did during the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival final match. The reason the League is keeping all of this a secret is because they are afraid many Blazers will be forced to do unreasonable things in order to overcome their limit. Using Ikki’s way of life as an example, everyone who knows him understands it is not something that everyone can do. Kurono also informs that all this information is specially disclosed under Itsuki’s authority to B-rank and above Blazers participating in this operation and should not be leaked.

Everyone then starts discussing a strategy to defeat Tendou. Kurono says Tendou’s body is a mass of magic power instead of physical matter due to “Excessive Awakening” and so his body is as strong as a Device. In addition, his body can turn into mist to evade physical attacks. Unlike Kiriko Yakushi and Shizuku Kurogane’s Noble Arts which they mix their body’s constituents into the mist, Tendou’s body is a complete spirit body so damages from chemical changes such as heat can’t be expected. Neither physical nor magic attack is effective against Tendou but if there is a possibility of damaging Tendou, it would be with Kurono’s “World Crisis” that can collapse the space-time of Tendou’s existence coordinates or with Moroboshi’s “Tiger Bite” that can directly attack Tendou’s magic power. Therefore, the strategy is that the other Blazers will distract Tendou and create an opening for Kurono and Moroboshi to finish him off. Diverting his attention should be possible since he would be vigilant against abilities similar to Moroboshi. In addition, Tendou who is blind relies on his hearing and so attacking with large number of people would reduce his accuracy. Moroboshi was unable to attack Tendou before because he was focusing more on defense but he should manage if everyone else takes care of defense for him. Kurono will also use “Clock Up” on everyone to make it easier. Despite being capable of playing an active part on the frontline, Kiriko is asked to stay and continue treating the wounded since she is better as a doctor. The meeting ends with Kurono declaring that the operation will start at dawn and so everyone should rest until then.

After the meeting, Kurono talks with Touka who apologizes for the disaster happening now because she and the others protected Tendou. Kurono assures Touka that it was actually thanks to her and others that the League was able to find Tendou. Touka then says that she finally understands now that the “blessing” Tendou was talking about was actually “Brute Soul”, and that he’s forcing Touka and others to achieve it. This was probably the motive for what he did during the “Teito Hotel Occupation Incident”. While it’s true that “Brute Soul” can be achieved when someone faces a crisis in life with feelings of despair and then their ego largely changes rapidly, but because it was achieved without the person’s own resolve it would largely hurt their spirit. People that achieved “Brute Soul” this way would just increase their powers abnormally and continue to live their lives in distorted ways, which was the case for Iris Ascarid and probably Or-Gaule, and would also achieve “Excessive Awakening” much easier. Kurono believes such a thing is not strength and so Tendou should be stopped. Tendou was captured before with the cooperation of Ryouma Kurogane who was the strongest water-user in Japan’s history and a Desperado, but this time all of Japan’s Desperados are out of the country. Trying to arrest Tendou would cause too much damage so the order from the League’s Japan branch is that Tendou must be subjugated regardless of whether he is alive or dead. As Touka is about to leave she just screams and then collapses all of a sudden. Her lips are trembling, her clothes are moist with sweat and her breathing is unusually fast and shallow. Kurono has an idea what caused this while telling Kiriko to go treat Touka.

Touka finds herself on a barren hill under a dark cloudy sky which confuses her since she had just talked to Kurono in a room. As shown in a colored pic, she is completely naked and chained to a crucifixion cross. The chain is unbelievably strong that even she who is a Blazer can’t even loosen her restraint. Countless human figures then appear and each has the same face as Tendou’s. They approach Touka while carrying “Ame no Murakumo” in their hands and then stabs her on different parts of her body. At that moment of pain, she suddenly wakes up in the same hospital room she was in before. Touka doesn’t understand what just happened and wonders if it was just a dream. Kurono believes that what Touka saw was her own “death”. Tendou can strongly influence cause and effect as a Desperado, and Touka had felt the fate of “death” which is inevitable. The chain in the dream represents the limit of her potential tested by the threat from Tendou. For now it is still a dream but the inevitable “death” will become real if she fights him again. The fear burned into Touka’s heart cannot be overcome easily. Because of this Kurono forbids Touka from participating in the operation. Suddenly, a huge alarm sound goes out, which is the national emergency alert that prompts all knights in Japan to be ready for immediate battle. Kurono then receives a phone call from Itsuki who tells her that the operation in Kyushu has been canceled. On the Pacific Ocean, 200 nautical miles from Japan’s EEZ (exclusive economic zone), the U.S. Pacific Fleet has emerged with clear hostility.

Chapter 5: Chain of Fate
In the Pacific Ocean, there are over a hundred battleships on their way to Japan. They belong to the US Pacific Fleet, which is the forerunner of the Union. A JSDF squadron is nearby and issues a warning to the battleships that they are about to enter Japan’s EEZ. But the fleet is not slowing down and once the first large aircraft carrier enters the EEZ, they finally respond. The US Pacific Fleet Commander is Douglas Appleton, a Blazer nicknamed “White Whale”. The white middle-aged man in military uniform, standing on the bow of the leading ship “White Aircraft Carrier”, speaks to the JSDF over the radio. Appleton informs them that the PSYON unit has captured Prime Minister Bakuga Tsukikage at Rebellion’s HQ. The US along with the Union concluded from their interrogation that the League was behind the evil Rebellion and they are here in the name of justice. Suddenly, a huge hand made of water grabs a JSDF aircraft and pulls it to the bottom of the water. Appleton continues by saying if Japan doesn’t surrender then the US will launch bombers on Tokyo. Itsuki is in the League’s Japan branch’s operation command center as the commander and thinks what Appleton said is not really nonsense. Rebellion was not a group trying to fulfill the ideology of “building a kingdom for Blazers”, but in fact it was a necessary evil headed by leaders of the economy side instead of the political side to prevent another world war. The League never supported Rebellion but they had allowed them to exist because Rebellion acted as a third major power that prevented the League and the Union going into war. In a way the League can be considered as an accomplice, but the same can be said about the Union. One of Rebellion’s Numbers was the “Grand Professor” Islands Burg who is the chairman of the US banks’ Federal Reserve Board. The fact that the Union is making such allegations publically means that they are making a move to change the world. Itsuki has the authority to be Tsukikage’s proxy during his absence based on the League’s regulations. He declares a national emergency and issues an order to destroy the US Pacific Fleet. In accordance to the national defense emergency manual, the command center is officially called the “Joint Operation Headquarters”. All of the air defense systems in the Greater Tokyo Area are activated and the hatches of shelters for citizens are opened. All of the mage-knights in East Japan are called and the ones in Greater Tokyo Area are being deployed immediately.

Itsuki is reminded by his subordinate that Appleton would be A-rank by the League’s standards. Tokyo currently lacks Torajirou Nangou, Nene Saikyou and Kurono, so it doesn’t have any Blazer that can go up against Appleton. Thus, Itsuki immediately contacts Kurono and informs her of what’s happened. Kurono who is in Touka’s hospital room is ordered by Itsuki to suspend the operation in Kyushu and return to Tokyo. The knights remaining in Kyushu will assist with evacuating the refugees to Honshu and Shikoku. Kurono suggests that she will return as soon as Tendou is defeated but Itsuki disagrees because Kurono needs to be at her best to defend Japan’s capital. The government’s decision is that Kyushu will be abandoned and the subjugation of Tendou will be left to the relief squad being sent by the League. Itsuki’s reasoning and the scene she saw from Tsukikage’s Device of Tokyo burning cause Kurono to comply. Kurono will be the only one to go to Tokyo while the rest of the knights in Kyushu led by Kaieda will help evacuating people. Touka protests at first but even she knows that defending the capital is top priority for the country. Kanata will contact her father to help them with gathering as many boats and ships as possible for the evacuation. Kurono also orders Touka to rest today and help with the evacuation tomorrow because her strength will be needed for fighting the US forces later. Kurono promises that in 2 days she will sink the US Pacific Fleet and return to Kyushu. After Kurono leaves the room, Touka holds her knees and sheds tear as shown in a pic. She is miserable because she feels she needs to fight Tendou in Kurono’s place but she can’t say it because she felt glad before when told she didn’t have to fight Tendou. Kanata thinks someone needs to look after Touka while she’s in such depressed state.

The refugees in Kyushu are worried after they heard the news of US invasion and that Kyushu will be abandoned. There are too many refugees that it is impossible to evacuate them before Tendou resumes his activity. Among the refugees in Miyazaki, the woman named Itou who had caused trouble to Wakaba House before is complaining and becomes hysterical. Before Kanata could help Kaieda to calm Itou down, Itou’s cheek is slapped by Hisako Nishikata, the director of Wakaba House. Hisako is showing amount of anger that Kanata has never seen before, and she scolds Itou for showing such appearance in front of her own child. Hisako, who had lost her own husband and child in a Blazer-related criminal incident, then says in a calm voice that there are children who don’t want to lose anything. Hisako had lost everything but she won’t regret her life if it’s for the sake of the new precious family she has now and tells Itou to do the same. Itou’s child is also anxious while being worried about his mother, and seeing her child being like this causes Itou to cry while holding her child. After Itou calmly returns to the evacuation queue, her husband apologizes to Hisako for his wife’s behavior. He wonders if he will still have a home to return to but Hisako who has lived for over 60 years believes it will be okay because as long as you’re alive anything is possible. Kanata then goes to Hisako to tell her that Touka is not feeling well and shouldn’t be left alone. Kanata asks Hisako to be with Touka which Hisako agrees to do. After Hisako has left, Moroboshi approaches Kanata and asks her the contact information for the Hagun female student who’s with Kuraudo Kurashiki. The reason why Moroboshi wants it is because the evacuation is impossible and if Tendou strikes soon there will be huge casualties. He says he won’t let Tendou do as he pleases and will show him the power of the young ones.

Touka who is in her hospital room thinks that evacuating everyone before Tendou attacks again is impossible and feels miserable for being too weak to do anything about it. Suddenly, Tendou appears and says that it’s not true. Seeing him causes Touka’s body to tremble and difficult for her to breath. Tendou also approaches and gently strokes Touka’s cheek which causes her to be afraid to the point that her body becomes cold, trembling so much and spilling tears as shown in a pic. Tendou who is blind can tell that Touka is afraid of him so much. He knows she can see the chain that binds her in front of the “death” he represents and says God will only grant blessing to those that broke their chains. He came here to tell Touka that he will resume attacking people later today. His Noble Art “Hyousai – Guren Jigoku (ice disaster – crimson hell)” will cause a huge blizzard that will cause almost everyone to die within 3 days. Hearing such despair caused Touka screaming, begging Tendou not to do it. While releasing flame-like light in his eye sockets, he replies that if she doesn’t want that to happen then she must defeat him. Touka tries to close her eyes but Tendou forcefully opens her eyelids with his fingers and tells her not to look away because he is the enemy that she must defeat. She asks why he’s doing this and he replies there are things he can see when blind. A very dark night that swallows the radiance of people's lives is coming from the eastern sky and so there’s no time left. Touka realizes Tendou is talking about Japan’s current situation with the US. Tendou also says the incident in the east is just the beginning. Everyone’s radiance is still small and will be swallowed by the darkness so Tendou will lead them to God in order to save them, which he believes is the reason why he’s still living. He then tells Touka that he believes in her strength and asks her to break her chain and come kill him. The next moment, Tendou’s appearance becomes blurred and slowly disappears which causes Touka able to breath properly again.

Touka then feels cold and realizes the outside temperature has dropped. There is also a voice broadcast that says the Japan Meteorological Agency has just reported that a local change has occurred in Fukuoka City. Tendou said almost everyone will die within 3 days and it is impossible for Kurono to return here before then since she’s fighting an army with great power. Touka then believes that the only option left is to fight Tendou and in order to do that she needs to achieve “Brute Soul”. The next moment, she is back on that hill where she is completely naked and chained to a crucifixion cross. Touka now understands that this is an image of the absolute “death” that exists within her. When she was little she read a book related to Christianity which included an illustration of a saint being executed, and that horrible memory became an image of “death” in her deep unconscious mind. Touka believes this is all an illusion that represents her mind hesitating to challenge her fated death, and so if she overcomes it she will achieve “Brute Soul”. Touka is stabbed by multiple illusionary Tendou and she tries to convince herself that it doesn’t hurt since everything is an illusion. She can’t die in this illusion so she can repeat it many times until she breaks out of the chain that is restraining her.

Chapter 6: Two Battles – Capital Defense Battle
After national emergency is declared, Tokyo has become a fortified city with urban defense system. Air defense weapons are activated and important equipments are sent to a geo-front which has evacuation shelters that all of Tokyo residents can live there up to 3 months. The city itself is probably the largest and strongest fortress in the world. But even if such fortress exists, the country still needs mage-knights to protect the citizens and engage the enemies on the frontline. Student knights are also gathered in national emergency, including Ayase Ayatsuji. As shown in a colored pic, Ayase rushes out of the shower to her room in order to get dressed after hearing the news alert. Instead of wearing a bra, she decides to put on a sarashi since it provides better protection. Ayase then suddenly receives a call from Moroboshi, which causes her to ask why he’s calling her. Ayase’s response makes Moroboshi wonder if he has mistaken her as Kuraudo’s woman. Ayase irritably replies that Kuraudo is nothing more than just a junior disciple that gives her dad trouble. Moroboshi then asks Ayase if Kuraudo is at her place and she replies that he’s about to leave due to all student knights in East Japan being summoned to defend Tokyo. However, Moroboshi asks Ayase to tell Kuraudo to come to Kyushu because he’s more useful there.

Touka is currently in the illusion that shows her “death” being repeated many times. She is stabbed many times by Tendou’s sword while chained to a crucifixion cross and every time she is killed she would repeat the process again. Once she sees the pile of corpses of herself that’s been killed as shown in a pic, she escapes from this fate of death and returns back to her hospital bed. The illusionary pain she had just experienced causes her to vomit on her bed sheet and difficult to breath. She is shocked to find out that it hasn’t been 5 minutes since she started challenging this fate of “death” even though the time of her experience was much longer. So she has plenty of time to achieve “Brute Soul” but that also means she has to experience being killed hundreds or even thousands of times again. This realization causes tears to fall out from her worn-out eyes and say that it is impossible. At this point Touka’s heart is already broken and so is not strong enough to resist this fate. At first she was trying to overcome this fate with strong will but her courage started to weaken from fear after dying 10 times and she ended up just screaming from pain after dying 30 times. This is expected since people are bound and protected by fate, so abandoning this protection in order to challenge the limit of their potential is no different than committing suicide. People that exceed fate are those that stare at the abyss of death and keep moving forward without hesitation. Such people are strong egoists like Ikki and Stella who have no doubt in overcoming their fate and that even words like arrogant or brave are not enough to describe such people. However, Touka on the other hand is very human. She closes her eyes to go back challenging that fate again, but moments later she opens her eyes and screams. Her mind and body reject the unbearable pain ahead, so her eyes will remain wide open even if she tries to close them. She can’t challenge it anymore and so apologize for unable to protect everyone she cares about. Suddenly, Hisako shows up at the entrance of the room and says Touka is a fool since working hard while hiding her worn-out state is her biggest mistake.

Touka’s parents were often hospitalized and so she was taken care by temporary staffs from the Toutokubara Welfare Foundation most of the time. When her parents died almost 10 years ago, she moved to Wakaba House almost immediately which was when Hisako first met her. For someone who had just lost her parents, Touka was unexpectedly very calm, honest, gentle and had no conflict with other children at the facility. The other staff of the facility were pleased that Touka didn’t require help but Hisako always felt uneasy. About a month after Touka came to Wakaba House, her original home that she inherited was being used as a rental property and she went there with Hisako to clean it up. Hisako asked Touka if there was anything from her original home that she wanted to bring to Wakaba House, but she replied that there was nothing special there because her parents were hospitalized for a long time and they didn’t spend much time together. Touka was not sad when her parents died because she knew they would disappear someday. She didn’t understand what being spoiled was like and had learned to hold in feelings such as anxiety and dissatisfaction. At first Hisako was angry at Touka’s parents because she thought they didn’t do anything for Touka. But Hisako realized she misunderstood when she learned that Touka’s parents grew chamomile flowers in their garden for her birthday present. Touka’s parents loved her and they knew they couldn’t give her much so they left chamomile flowers for Touka to convey what they wanted to tell her. Chamomile is a flower that can grow in any harsh land and blooms finely even when stepped on, and so it means “strength in adversity” in flower language. Hisako felt Touka needed to know that her parents must have wanted her to live strongly like the flower. Hisako also vowed to look after Touka during hardships in place of her parents, and now the time has come to fulfill that promise.

In the present, Hisako says that Touka must have always blamed herself for not realizing how much her parents loved her before they died and so she worked hard to become the person her parents wished her to be and able to respond to their love. Hisako also says that it’s time for Touka to forgive herself but Touka replies that she must continue. Hisako then hugs Touka and tells her that she has done enough. Touka did well by taking care of the other children at Wakaba House and became their hero. Her parents in heaven must be happy with Touka being Wakaba House’s pride. However, Hisako thinks they wouldn’t want Touka to work hard too much to the point of making such difficult face because no flower blooms with such gloomy face. They wanted Touka to always smile like a flower and Hisako wants that as well. Hisako tells Touka that it’s okay to run away from difficult things and unable to do something. Even if the world will be destroyed or no matter who blames her, Touka still has her family from Wakaba House and they will protect her. Hisako tells Touka to forgive herself now and hugs her tighter. As a result, Touka bursts into tears and cries loudly while clinging into Hisako’s chest. All of the emotions Touka accumulated in her chest all this time are finally coming out now. Surrendering herself to someone’s kindness like this is something Touka has never done before but now she finally does which is an important step for her to become an adult.

After Touka has stopped crying, she and Hisako go to the university’s gymnasium where soup is being distributed to the refugees in order to help them warm up against the cold wave caused by Tendou’s Noble Art. The person who is serving the soup to Touka is the woman named Itou, which caused them both to be uncomfortable at first. Itou notes that Touka’s face looks horrible and gives her a little more of the soup. Itou also says to Touka that both of them should just do what they possibly can, and Touka wonders if it’s okay to be spoiled at a time like this. Touka joins with everyone of Wakaba House which is missing Utakata who is still in a coma and another one who is currently watching over him. The children had already done things such as sealing the windows with tape and preparing blankets to protect themselves from the cold. Touka says the children are amazing since being scared and crying were all she could do. The children at first are surprised to hear that Touka is afraid of something, but they also say it’s understandable since Touka is a girl after all. They tell her to rest now and let them work as much as they can. They also celebrate Touka’s birthday that is in late August, although her birthday is actually two days earlier when she was still in a coma. The present they give her is a hairpin with chamomile flower craftsmanship. This causes Touka to cry from happiness and then realize something. She has always been surrounded by people who give her strength and so she has never actually accomplished things on her own. She doesn’t possess strong ego like Ikki and Stella to overcome fate and defeat Tendou by herself, but she can do it if she’s together with everyone she loves. After Touka puts on the hairpin and thanks the children for the present, she asks everyone in the gymnasium to fight alongside her.

Many US ships with air support have managed to break through the Japan’s maritime line of defense and so the US soldiers arrive at Tokyo Bay. Japan has forces armed with tanks and rifles spread along the coastline and the US soldiers move forward without hesitation. However, Japan forces have the C-rank Blazer Yuuri Oreki who is standing on a tank as shown in a pic and activates her Noble Art (which is called supernatural ability in the US). Her Noble Art “Violet Pain” causes the US soldiers within 500 meters of her to experience the same pain of her sickly body and unable to fight. The Japanese soldiers and Blazers who are with Oreki then fire bullets and magic towards the US soldiers. In response, the US forces send in robots called “EDY” which are iron soldiers created with US weapons technology that is said to be a century ahead of other countries. The iron soldiers are not damaged by rifle bullets, Devices and Noble Arts of some Blazers, and they knock down some soldiers and Blazers to the ground. The iron soldiers’ main weapon is the Hadron Cannon, an invention of the century which fires directional high-energy strong particles that can dissolve any armor in the world and magic defense of some Blazers despite its small size. In other words, the US has the technology to mass produce power equivalent to Blazers which is why the country is considered the strongest in the world. The iron soldiers also can’t feel pain which makes them the worst opponents for Oreki’s ability. But the Japanese forces expected this and have prepared other C-rank Blazers who are Renren Tomaru and Ikazuchi Saijou. The two student knights use their Noble Arts and easily destroy the iron soldiers. The majority of Blazers can’t compete with the “EDY” but C-rank Blazers that make up only around 10% of all mage-knights have the power to control the battlefield with just a single knight. Normally student knights are standing by behind but those who are C-rank or above are sent to the frontline based on their suitability.

Japan’s Joint Operation Headquarters is monitoring the battles on all places and some officials there are arguing about their air defense not doing well due to the League’s strict restriction on military expansion. Itsuki says they actually have measure against the enemy’s air force as it’s time for their arrows to arrive. At the same time, the fighter planes that are about to launch from a US aircraft carrier suddenly explode. A warship that’s protecting the aircraft carrier is also suddenly full of holes and then explodes. It is an attack from Japan’s side but it is invisible which causes the US Pacific Fleet to be in confusion. The source of the attack is above the US carrier where there is a helicopter carrying Kagami Kasukabe and Shizuya Kirihara as shown in a pic. Kirihara’s conceptual manipulation ability “transparency” provides complete camouflage for him and Kagami which causes the US military unable to find them. Kagami is surprised that “Area Invisible” can make things other than Kirihara invisible, but he replies that he was able to do it recently due to training. Kirihara was already capable of deceiving even cameras and radars during Hagun’s selection battles but he allowed the cameras to see some for fan service. Kagami praises Kirihara’s ability which was able to give even Ikki a hard time but Kirihara doesn’t want to talk about that time. Kirihara thinks Ikki who has been called “Seven Stars Sword King” and “Sword God” just got lucky and that Kirihara will defeat him next time. Kirihara then uses his Noble Art “Million Rain” and Kagami uses her Noble Art “Raise Up”. Kagami’s ability is “multiply”, which is the power to increase the number of things. Kirihara’s invisible arrows have been multiplied by ten times and then thousands of them struck the US aircraft carrier. The reason why the D-rank Kagami is on the frontline is because Itsuki himself sent her there. Kagami’s ability becomes well-known after she used it during the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival awards ceremony, but the strict Itsuki who is the head of the League’s Japan branch had memorized the basic profile and abilities of all Blazers in Japan so that he can send them with maximum efficiency.

Kurono who had arrived in Tokyo fast with her ability is also in the helicopter with Kagami and Kirihara. Kurono is sent to the center of the enemy since she is the largest fighting power Japan currently has. The ship below them can no longer function as an aircraft carrier but “EDY” and psychics are appearing on the deck. Kirihara’s ability is weak against enemies with range suppression attacks so Kurono orders Kagami and Kirihara to go back. Kagami wonders if it’s okay since there are still many enemy ships left but Kirihara argues that they should retreat even if the risk is only 1%. He hates pain and trains to become stronger so that he doesn’t have to go through danger. Kurono also says not to underestimate the strongest military power in the world and orders the two students to support the defense line at the coast from the sky. Kurono then jumps out of the helicopter and her gun shoots “Clock On Death” towards the ship below. Her Noble Art super-accelerates the time of the target and so the target reaches the end of its life in an instant. The ship crumbles from the aging and sinks into the sea. Kurono then stands on the rusted remains of the ship and shoots more of her Noble Art towards nearby enemy ships and planes, sinking all of them in less than a minute.

A huge air battleship is then above Kurono and a voice coming from a loudspeaker praises her. The top part of the air battleship is an aircraft carrier deck and the bottom part has the form of a battleship. The white air battleship is over 500 meters long with displacement of 120,000 tons and equipped with 2 main armaments, 30 secondary armaments and 500 “EDY”. This is the largest Device ever seen in history and Kurono knows the user is the “White Whale” Douglas Appleton, who is a Desperado that was the strongest in the Union before the rise of Abraham Carter. The “White Whale” is what the League calls Appleton but he prefers the “Flying Admiral” that his side calls him. He boasts his Device, the super air battleship Enterprise, which is the fruit of the world’s best weapons technology and is flying due to his “floating” ability. 88-inch Hadron Cannons are equipped as the main armaments and they are fired towards Kurono. Everyone at the Joint Operation Headquarters monitoring the battle between Kurono and Appleton is relieved to see Kurono not injured by the blast. The main goal of the capital defense battle is to prevent the arrival of Enterprise on Japan’s mainland because if it does then Japan’s side has no choice but to surrender. Appleton is one of the most prominent Blazers in the world and the attack power of his Device enhanced with US weapons technology is monster-class. The main armaments are capable of penetrating the geo-front’s twelve layers of armor and kill a large number of citizens inside in a single blow. Nangou and Nene are currently not in Japan and so Kurono is the only one in the country that can go up against Appleton which is why Itsuki ordered her to return to Tokyo. Victory in war is always determined by the power of Noble Arts, and both Kurono and Appleton have the power to turn the tide of war just by themselves. What everyone else can do now is maintaining their line of defense and evacuating citizens to the shelters.

(more to be added)