"So you've been piecing your memories together since a year ago?"
"Judge. However, only 90.72% of my memories are currently repaired. I could not recall the events of that day in 'Remorse Way'"
"So that's why you asked me to tell you about what happened…"
The two sat together in silence. Tsukasa's hands were folded together as he reviewed everything he heard.
"So what are you going to do now?"
Horizon sat in silence, staring blankly ahead, as if any life she had was lost.
A flash of light was seen as Sakai and Muneshige clashed against each other with their blades. Muneshige was troubled facing two veteran warriors at once, but he handicapped one of them by slowing his movements, and could parry the slashes from the other using his speed.
"It would be best to take care of the wielder of Maken first!"
In the case that he failed to defeat both, his chances of success in his original mission would increase as long as he could use the hyper drive on the barrier around the castle. However, even with his speed, he couldn't find many openings in Sakai's attack pattern. Even when he could, they were quickly covered before he could begin a counterattack.
"I suppose I don't have any choice…"
He increased his speed by 500x, making him at least 10 times faster than his last boost. However, the strain on his muscles became obvious as he flinched from the sudden pain in his body. He made several quick slashes and shots at Sakai, who attempted to dodge them all, but was still hit by some of the attacks. The two began to match each other blow for blow once again, but Sakai's movements were beginning to slow down from the damage he took.
"This is the end!"
Muneshige began to swing when he suddenly stepped away from Sakai with a pained look on his face. He stared at Honda, who smiled as he held Tonbokiri to reflect his image.
"If I stood only a second longer…"
He clenched his fists as he further increased his speed to 15,000x, heavily straining his muscles, but making him fast enough to quickly strike at both Sakai and Honda and making them faint before turning and setting his Armament towards the castle. He watched as the ether made its target and the charge began for the hyper drive.
"Now, things shall return to normal…"
As he spoke, he turned to the blood gushing out from his chest, and smiled. Tadakatsu was able to get in a deadly blow before getting knocked out by the attack. However, his efforts were for naught since he failed to stop the Hyper drive.
Everything began to go dark as Muneshige began to lose consciousness…
Tadakatsu stood up, stretching his arms and grinned as he saw Muneshige's unconscious body.
"Geez, if it weren't for this old thing, I might not have been able to make it…"
He looked down at his old armor as it fell apart from the strain from the years of battles. He scratched his head and stared at the Armament's hyper drive.
"Guess there's nothing I can do now…"
He turns to Sakai and roughly kicks him in the stomach. Sakai coughs before struggling to stand up.
"What was that for?"
"Revenge…"
The two smiled as they turned back to the problem in front of them.
"Can you use 'Maken' for this?"
"I can't redirect it like last time, it's already set its target too accurately to shift it now…"
"Then what about the 'other' functions?"
"I could, but then I won't be able to move for a while you know…"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure we both get out of this alive!" Honda pounded his chest as he spoke.
Sakai smiled. "Well then…"
He took his Divine weapon and stared at Lype Katathilipse.
"Maken…" the blade cracked, revealing a hidden center…
Ichijou Sakai dashed through the woods trying to find his uncle, when he saw another pillar of light appear near the first one. He stared for a few moments, recognizing the light.
"Isn't that…"
He dashed in the direction of the new pillar.
Honda stood watching as Sakai fell unconscious.
"I guess you failed, Tres Espana…"
Two figures appeared near Muneshige's body as he turned to speak to them. One had raven-black hair that was tied to a ponytail, and had longer sleeves on his uniform than the standard model. The other had purple hair and large mechanical arms that appeared to look like shields attached to her shoulder.
"Tes," the purple-haired girl responded. "We will now retreat with Muneshige-sama."
"You ok with how things went? I don't mind going another round…"
"Tes, there is little time left for another fight, and we will have another opportunity to battle in the future."
Honda grinned before tossing Tonbokiri to the black-haired young man.
"Give that to my daughter if you want another rematch. She'd be a lot more interesting, I promise."
The two fell silent as they left quickly.
"So, will you take him away for me?"
"Judge…" Ichijou appeared, walking to his uncle and picking him up from the ground. He retrieved Maken and turned to face Honda.
"I guess this is it for you?"
"Yeah…" Honda scratched his head as he smiled. "Tell Futayo that I'm sorry about this, and watch over her…" He ruffled Ichijou's hair as he turned to walk to his lord.
"Goodbye, Sensei…"
Ichijou disappeared shortly leaving Tadakatsu alone on the path towards destruction
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Judge, please inform everyone for me"
Tsukasa frowned, but nodded his head.
"You know they won't take it so easily."
"Judge, but it is for the best…"
The door swung open to reveal a student standing in the doorway out of breath.
"H…Hori…zon…."
"Hello, Masazumi-sama…"
Tori ran through the streets, ignoring the pain in his legs and his lack of oxygen. He needed to see her again, to talk to her, to find the truth. But as he ran, a giant airship flew above Musashi, with people climbing down and surrounding Blue Thunder.
"Horizon!"
He cried out to the automatron next to Seijun, both surrounded by people in dark uniforms and wearing goggles, giving the appearance of a military spy. He reached out his hand as he ran faster, but something heavy fell on top of him, keeping him from moving. He quickly turned to see who it was, and discovered it was another person from the group, keeping him pinned down. He turned further to see that everyone else who followed him was also restrained and unable to help. As he struggled to move, a slightly plump, middle-aged man took a few steps before shouting out an announcement.
"THIS AREA IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF K.P.A. ITALIA BY THE ORDER OF THE TESTAMENT UNION!"
Tori continued to struggle with all his might, staring at Horizon with desperation to reach the one he loved.
"Horizon…."
He reached out his hand as far as he could until he felt a sudden punch on the top of his head, his body was weak, and he could barely move when he heard Tsukasa speak in a low voice. "You can't do anything to stop them right now…"
He listened as the footsteps around him began to walk to the same spot before a large silence fell. He looked up, and saw the figure of Horizon being led to the airship above them.
"Horizon! Come back! Horizon!"
But despite his cries and wails, there was nothing he could do. Horizon was too far for him to reach.
As rain began to pour down on the area, as he began to fall into despair, a song rang out through Musashi. The song was the "Song of Passage", sung by the one who sang for them every day, every morning, since her arrival. It was Horizon, singing as if giving a farewell gift to everyone she met the past year.
Matatsudaira smiled, and spoke a few words to himself before making his final announcement.
"NOW THEN, LET THE CLASSES BEGIN!"
As if activating a trigger, the Platonic Plate Reactor finally overloaded, creating a giant explosion which enveloped the entire country of Mikawa. Leaving nothing but a giant crater, and signaling the beginning of the end.
April 21, 1648 Testament Era, 6:00 A.M. – P-01s was officially acknowledged as the new ruler of Mikawa, Horizon Ariadust. She was also charged with Mikawa's destruction, and was sentenced to suicide.
Guess I finally made it. I'm probably going to do a few sidestories before getting back to the main series. Sorry if it seems disappointing, but even I need a break from all this sometimes. Also, I personally really like this chapter, so if you have any ideas to improve this PLEASE let me know.
Also, THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! Just letting you all know before you jump to conclusions.