Unneeded

by TheAnimeTrain

The B-Rank Wars have finished and Border's members begin to settle back into their routines however they can. Along with this comes the appearance of new faces along with old ones. Unseen by them all, those who remain unneeded continue to move around.

19. Playwright

The only way to describe it was, "Amazing."

Yuki could find no other word as he moved to keep up with Ketsueki.

The two of them were moving in sync with each other. Yuki was on the right, while Ketsueki was on the left.

Yuki was following a hit-and-run strategy with Idōgetsu. Each wrist movement would slide around before being pulled back to get ready for the next attack. The crescent blade would appear for a moment to cut through a particularly annoying attack, but it could never seem to reach Sekai.

On the other side of that...

"Toh!"

Every move Ketsueki made was followed by another one. Each action turned into a second, then a third, then a fourth.

It was a string of seemingly never-ending attacks.

Even with Sekai creating shields to block, they would shatter under the weight of Ketsueki's attacks.

Yuki had seen this sort of style before in Kanzaki, but Ketsueki took it even further than she did. There was no hesitation, and each move reached a new peak.

The fluid wrist movements Ketsueki used only further increased the rate at which the attacks arrived. Each time he would move his wrist, his hand would follow. Then his fingers would loosely wrap around his trident's shaft. This was all to end with a heavy attack that would crush everything that tried to get in its way.

More than that...

So fast! I know Kanzaki goes fast with Kiyome, but Ketsu-san is going even faster than her!

Sign frames repeatedly shattered all along Ketsueki's knees and feet. Each time one shattered, he would increase his speed until Yuki found himself pushing himself to keep up.

Shukuchi was used to cover distance while the opponent's attention was not completely on him. His own speed was on full display to perform it to the point where he could call it Hassou Tobi.

Yet that meant nothing when Sekai was giving his all to keep track of both opponents and Yuki was doing his best to keep up with Ketsueki.

"..."

As he made another movement, he noticed something.

This isn't good!

White Fox: "Ketsu-san! Can you slow down a bit!? You grazed me with that one!"

A small line had formed on Yuki's face. A small amount of trion leaked from his cheek.

Ketsueki had suddenly appeared on his side, grazing his cheek with his trident.

Yuki looked towards Sekai to see a shattered shield and a shallow cut on his side.

I can't be lacking like this!

If he could not keep up with his speed, then he would rely on something else entirely.

Let's go! Teleport!

.

Sekai heard the familiar sound of Teleport.

He had taken a hit from not being able to keep up with Ketsueki's speed, but it seemed that Yuki was also unable to keep up with that same speed.

Without turning around, he slammed down a cluster shot from above him.

He took three steps forward and glanced behind to see a crescent blade moving upward. A moment later, that crescent blade changed.

It became a large ball.

The cluster shot collided with the ball.

The ball remained while his cluster shot vanished.

That's Idōgetsu's heavyweight form. Taking a hit from that would be dangerous, but even Yuki can't counter that weight in full.

Attacking with it gave away too many movements, so Sekai knew he would have little worry about it.

But the real problem was moving toward him again.

It's been a bit since I've seen him act like this. That self-discipline was tossed away, wasn't it?

Ketsueki had been a rough person when they had been on the same squad. It wasn't until he learned some self-discipline that he calmed down to the point of looking like a good guy around others. Fixing his speech had also added to his image.

That self-discipline was put aside so he could enter this battlefield without any worry of winning or losing. After all...

I'm bad with these types of people.

Yuki and Nasu were the type of people he was strong against. Others who would make focused attacks toward specifics areas or make minor attack to the point they became something you could not ignore.

Sekai's preparations could counter those.

They still were. Shields automatically formed in the air, absorbing the attacks sent to him by Nasu. They were hard at work as the arrows of trion light descended on the area.

Even Yuki had become another thing he could fully see in this fight. Those movements that allowed him to vanish and reappear had been found out, and they were being countered in a different way.

Ketsueki's attacks were different from those.

The unrelenting and seemingly never-ending attacks wore on his defense quickly. They prevented him from attacking, focusing more on evasion.

Sekai had come up against someone like this earlier in the day, but he knew how far Ketsueki could go.

So I just need to put something in front of that speed.

Lines traced along the ground. Walls sprung up from the ground as another two arrows of trion light came down to his right and left.

.

Yuki moved back once he noticed the next attack from above. It had been followed by two Escudo walls coming from the ground.

Due to having his sight obscured, Teleport's activation had been canceled before it could fully activate. The cancellation made him jump back before the attack from above could reach him.

In the din of the fight, he could hear someone's voice.

"Don't relent! Keep attacking!"

It was Ketsueki.

The Escudo wall and the arrow of trion light had not put a stop to his speed.

That speed had taken him around the attack and over the defense.

He had managed to cut through Sekai again and was already moving past Yuki.

It took a moment for Yuki to fully register what he had been told. Then it took another to put it into action.

Sekai was already in his next movement beyond the Escudo wall by the time he moved.

An extended sword slash had been aimed at the two of them, and trion lights hung in the air before being fired on them.

Yuki felt a moment of hesitation.

If he moved in the wrong place, then Sekai would likely land a direct hit on him.

But if he did not move, then he would take the initial hit here.

It was this worry that made him halt for a moment.

"Senkū."

The voice had said it quietly, but Yuki was able to hear it over the din surrounding him.

A three-fold attack came from his side as something passed him for the third time.

The triple-slash attack slashed through the trion lights and collided with the opposing slash. The third slash tore through the Escudo wall, giving Yuki a view of Sekai moving to the side.

Dammit! I wasted too much time worrying about something pointless again!

Ketsueki must have noticed his hesitation and moved to intercept the oncoming attacks.

I thought I could finally get over everything, but I guess there's still that part of me that thinks there won't be any help.

Yuki let out a sigh in his heart.

I'm still pretty pathetic.

.

After everything that happened, it should have been easy to rely on others and trust that they would have his back.

Then why was it so hard to let himself be that free?

Is it...?

His opponent was an Unneeded, while he was a former Unneeded.

Do I still have some of those feelings? Maybe fighting Sekai-san is making me think back on those times without realizing it.

I have always been the type to dwell on the past and drag others into it, haven't I?

That bad habit had caused a lot of problems for others. The problems he felt himself having also stemmed from those feelings.

Is that why I still can't properly face those three?

He had spoken to his siblings about what they could do moving forward, but he had not had the chance to speak with them. There were other things he needed to focus on while others were around.

Then it appeared.

A familiar image he had seen in the mirror came to mind.

Back when he had gone by a different name.

Wait... Have I really always been like this? When did I feel like it was fine to drag others into my problems?

This was not his problem, but he still felt it was wrong to have Ketsueki and Nasu here. They had no business with unneeded people.

But if he had really been like this since he went by a different name, then it would be an even bigger problem for him.

After all...

I haven't been nearly as thorough as Sekai-san or Denji.

He had been told about some of the things they had gone through, but it was always clear that they held back from telling him everything.

Refusing to tell him everything meant that there were some things they simply did not want to think about.

What exactly is it going to take to get these feelings out, then? If I'm still holding on to these feelings when everyone has already said what they needed to, what would it take for these two to let go?

He looked over to see someone moving past him again. Their red hair slid back due to the wind generated by their speed.

This was someone who knew their opponent as well.

...Would it be fine?

Could I do it?

Was it a possibility?

Letting someone else handle this afterwards had been the idea. Kō and I can only fight them, so we can never be the ones to have them settle down like I have started to do.

But there were so many other people who could try.

They had thought they would only need a single person for that sort of thing, but that would put a lot of pressure on a single person.

So what if there were multiple people?

Now that I think about it, no matter how cannibalistic they are, it wasn't just Kō who helped me. Everyone else had thrown their lot in to drag me around with them?

Oh.

That was it, wasn't it?

I've been dragged around by them.

What if he decided to just go with them all?

I guess that's for me to decide later.

There was something else to do right now.

I sure hope I still have it in me. Maybe holding on to the past isn't always a bad thing. Even if it isn't something good, like what Mitsuteru is doing.

It was worth a shot.

.

There was a sudden and immediate change in the fight.

Three more arrows of trion light shot down from the sky while Vipers were block by suddenly appearing shields. Those remained the same, but something else had suddenly arrived without warning.

A bombardment of attacks.

Ketsueki was continuing to move across the battlefield at blinding speeds, but Sekai was able to gain some footing in his defenses against that.

But this was something else.

Someone moved in without notice and swung the crescent blade towards Sekai.

He moved to dodge it and throw a Hikigane Shield in the direction of the swing.

Before he did, something stopped him.

His own body.

"!?"

Instead of just the blade moving towards him, it had been a close-range Senkū.

The slash cut through the shield and went on to the other side of Sekai.

He had pushed off the ground, but his foot had been caught in the attack.

Another swing arrived. It was accompanied by another Senku.

Sekai performed a sliding turn and was forced to bring up Kōgetsu to block the trident attack that arrived.

Yet another attack arrived. This time from the sky.

Three Vipers had reached him.

---

"It took longer than I would have liked, but I realized when to have them all turn."

Nasu smiled to herself.

The clustered trion shots that had been coming had left holes all over her body. An arm was missing, as was a portion of her side.

But it had all been worth it.

One of her attacks had finally landed.

"From what I understand, you count anything you can as a win against these kinds of people. So I have to win against Hikigane-san."

She prepared another volley of shots with a glint in her eyes.

"Now that I know what to do... I am going to keep this going until we all win!"

---

A new rain came down.

The shields that were meant to stop the Vipers meant nothing when each attack swerved around them.

True to name, the Vipers moved around the shields just before impact before coming down to reach Sekai.

Three more bites bit into his shoulder and arm.

A triple-slash attack arrived right after. Each one collided with a newly formed Escudo wall.

The moment they were cut through, Sekai made a harsh leap back and created a three-layered shield.

The fourth slash came.

A crescent moved to attack him, already charged with Senkū.

The extended slash had cut through the first two layers, giving Sekai a moment to create two more to replace them.

Then it came.

A new attack that should not have appeared.

The crescent disappeared. In its place was a large ball of trion.

The ball of trion crashed into the first shield, destroying it.

It then proceeded to the second and third shields.

Sekai was the next in that line.

He raised an arm to deflect the blow. The force of the attack threw him back into a nearby building.

The white fox holding the ball of trion disappeared a moment later.

Sekai had caught a glimpse of where he had been looking and created a concentrated shield above himself.

The ball of trion arrived there.

The shield cracked under the force of the attack but did not shatter.

.

Idōgetsu's nature was transformative. There was a blade form and a heavy offensive form, besides the base one of a black rod.

Before being altered, the original design focused on these two aspects. Shifting between them had required some wrist movements, but both sides were used as a balance.

The change saw additional parts added to the ends, making it easier to form the needed weapon without any motions needed to activate it.

The current design that seen those additional parts removed. Instead, it had become a black rod with the weight evenly distributed on either side. Either side could generate the correct form needed for the situation.

But one thing remained the same.

Idōgetsu's nature is still the same as ever!

Yuki smiled in his heart when he thought this.

I really do need to thank Katerina and the Engineers for this. They managed to keep it the same while still upgrading it.

The upgrade he had read about was more than just a change to its balance and weapon creation speed.

Something else had been put into it.

An understanding of what Yuki would want.

The large trion-ball form of Idōgetsu had failed to break through the concentrated shield Sekai had formed above himself. A crack had formed, but that was all.

Yuki could see Sekai go for his blade and prepare to swing towards him.

So he had a thought.

Fire at him!

A point-blank attack from Hound alone would do more than enough damage.

Then it came about.

The ball of trion at the end of Idōgetsu split up into seven different sections and were fired.

They moved around the concentrated shield and went to devour Sekai while he prepared his next set of attacks.

.

Sekai saw the attack coming and could only find himself mildly surprised by it.

He was aware of Idōgetsu and how it worked, but this sudden attack was not something he was used to seeing. It was a first that he would need to make a note of later on.

Still...

I have enough time to swat them down.

He began his swing while moving away.

As he did, something appeared before his eyes. Only he was able to see it.

Activation confirmed. Creating shield.

One of his automatic shields had formed.

Right in the direction he had planned to move.

Who activated that!?

The automatic system should have only been linked to him. That meant only he would be able to know how and where it would activate.

It was another second before an arrow of trion light shot down.

It broke through the cracked shield and tore into his side. A buzzing noise came with it, and the light stayed for that whole moment.

The Hounds reached him next.

Each one of them tore into his body, devouring him each time.

Not wanting to lose without having done something, he began his final attempt at an attack.

Senkū.

.

Multiple lights shone in the darkened cityscape.

A three-fold slash attack cut through the arm swinging Kōgetsu, and multiple Vipers bit into a body.

But out of them, a single straight-line shot stood out.

Sekai looked far into the distance, his face relaxed and his eyes less focused.

"So she was also here," he said as the light pierced his head.

There was no time for more cracks to form on his body before he turned into light.

Smoke filled the area, but no other light was seen.

.

"I lost," a voice said in the smoke.

Once it was clear, everyone could see Sekai laying on the ground. His arms were spread out, and he was facing the night sky.

"That brings my total number of losses in 24 hours to two."

"Yeah, but you still gave us a hard time," Yuki said. He walked forward and gave a deep bow. "Thank you very much for this fight, Sekai-san. I'm glad you decided to stay so we could even have this fight to begin with."

"Think nothing of it. I wanted to make sure all of you would be fine once everything was settled."

Sekai turned his head at the sound of footsteps.

He caught sight of Ketsueki walking forward.

"And you..."

"I had already informed you that we would be enemies next time."

"Well, next time came and went by. So what now?"

Ketsueki had gone back to his self-disciplined self. He looked at Sekai, thinking for a moment, before nodding.

He took a few steps, sat down next to Sekai, and brought his hand down on Sekai's head in a chop.

"Now, I will make sure you and Denji answer me properly. Then you will be scolded by Yasuko-san and the directors. You will then make up for the mess you have made. Once that is all taken care of... We will go out to eat. I want to just talk with you all again. But with nothing heavy holding us down."

Sekai narrowed his eyes.

Off to the side, Yuki fidgeted without looking at them.

It was clear what he wanted.

"But before that..."

Ketsueki threw his head to the side.

More footsteps could be heard, making them all turn their heads.

"You have to have a talk with your niece. You have made her very worried, you know."

Nasu walked forward with Akane at her side. Her body was littered with destruction, but she still gave him a polite smile.

She also bowed to him, but unlike Yuki's full-body bow, she only lowered her head and shoulders.

"Hello, Hikigane-san. I brought Akane-chan with me. She had said she wanted to speak with her uncle, and I wanted to make sure she could do so before she left."

"That one hurts, Nasu... But I guess that's also fair." Sekai nodded and turned to Akane. "I have a lot to explain, don't I? ...Well, I'm sorry, but I can't right now. Not here, at least. So stop giving me those looks."

As if timed by his words, the ground shook violently.

Everyone wore worried expressions.

Everyone but Sekai and Ketsueki.

"After all, we need to wait and see what happens with those steadfast fighters."

---

Two people moved in and out between evasion and heavy offense. Neither one slowed down as they continued to throw their arms around in the air.

One used his body to attack. His fist would shatter any shield created, and his feet would stomp the ground with a reverberating noise.

The other twisted his wrists to move his sword at all sorts of angles. Each movement led into another, then created a new set that was completely different from the rest.

The two of them performed their high-speed rally within the exploding battlefield all around them.

Each one of their movements was followed by an explosion that shook the ground.

A distance away from them, three others spoke. They were safe from the explosions due to the collective shield they made.

"Good job so far, Kō. I am very proud of you."

"Sen-... Mei. Are you sure this is fine? Kumagai and I need to be fighting Denji, so we would like to go back out there."

"There's no point in doing that right now."

Another explosion went off, but the expressionless girl only looked out to where she knew the fight was happening.

The two with her looked at each other before also looking in that direction.

"You two have no idea why he can keep going with these explosions, do you?"

"Do you know the reason why?"

The expressionless girl glanced over her shoulder and shrugged.

"I have around three high-probability ideas in my mind. But for that, we would need to contact someone."

"Who would that be?" the other girl asked.

The expressionless girl waved her hand. A translucent screen appeared in front of her.

She began typing on it.

.

Rampage Dress: "Who is awake right now and in the R&D Department?"

Tinker Bell: "I'm being directly called out at this time of night."

Rampage Dress: "We can say it's morning by this point. A bit more and the sun will be peaking over the horizon."

Tinker Bell: "Then good morning. What can I do for you?"

Rampage Dress: "You are looking into what you saw about some permissions, aren't you?"

Tinker Bell: "Oh, now I recognize your name! Okay, okay. That explains the unsettling way you put that."

Rampage Dress: "Thank you for the point."

.

These Mei Points are pretty frightening, Murakami thought as he watched the messages being sent.

He wanted to go out and help Minoru in his fight against Denji, but Mei seemed to have something in mind right now.

Rampage Dress: "Well, about those permissions. Have you been able to undo them?"

Tinker Bell: "The fact you know what I'm doing is pretty... Um, uh, no, not yet. I'm still working on it."

Rampage Dress: "I see. Keep up the good work. If you can't figure it out in a few minutes, there will be some help. So try to at least hold out for that."

Tinker Bell: "Huh? Wait, huh!? What do you mean!?"

Mei got rid of the translucent screen without another word.

She turned to Murakami and Kumagai, clapping her hands together.

"It seems that things will be like this for some time."

"Um, Mei...? If I may..."

"Yes? What is it? Oh, but you should make it quick. I plan on going out there to help Minoru."

Another three explosions rang out, but Mei never seemed to notice them.

She's gotten more difficult, hasn't she?

He chose to blame Yuki for this.

"If you know these sorts of things, then do you know what those permissions are for?"

"I do. They are pretty annoying, from what I remember, but they were needed at the time."

"What does that mean?" Kumagai asked from next to him.

Mei turned her head two times, rotated her shoulder three times, and nodded once.

It was clear that she was ready to go out and help her cousin.

"During the second large-scale invasion, Denji had been given permission to use the trion from the base. One of the Neighbors had gotten inside, so he had used that trion to hold the Neighbor in place." She looked out towards the base and shook her head. That time must have been a strange thing to remember for her. "He gave that permission back right after everything was settled, but he probably put something in it so he could get it back whenever he wanted."

If that was the case, then instead of Denji himself, it was more accurate to say that they had been fighting Border's base the entire time. Denji was just a proxy for them, using their trion and letting off these large-scale explosions.

The more he thought about it, the more Murakami realized just what kind of position they were in.

Sekai had likely set up a lot of things in preparation for his fight.

Denji had done the same. The only difference being which one of them would get in trouble by the end of it all.

"From what I can see," Mei said sagely. "His body is still his own. Even with the connection to the base, taking out his body would sever that connection, and he wouldn't be able to use that trion to heal himself. That's why Minoru is going in as hard as he is."

The dirt and earth were forcibly pushed aside as something crashed into their collective shield.

It was...

"Denji!?"

.

To see Denji crash back first into the shield was a surprise.

Kumagai had expected it to be Minoru, but it had been their opponent instead.

She saw the reason why a moment later.

"Hah!"

Minoru appeared from within the cloud of dirt and earth. His fist was raised, and his feet covered the distance between him and Denji readily.

Denji moved to the side of the shield and took a backflip leap over them all.

The punch that had been aimed at Denji slammed into the shield. The noise from the impact rang out in her ears, and it left a crack within the shield.

The first to react was Mei.

The gauges on her boots filled up as an opening formed in their shield.

She pushed off the ground in a similar manner to Minoru. Her new target was Denji.

"Strength enhancement? Both of them?"

Minoru's strength and speed were unlike anything she had ever seen in a normal person. No obvious Triggers had been used, but she did remember something.

"His squad's emblem appeared when he was attacking before."

"Then it could be a new Trigger. Likely one made by Hoshi, from what I have been told."

"That girl never stops, does she...?"

Murakami smiled, and she could not help but smile along with him.

They had been told to wait until they were needed, but their attention was still on the fight. Even while speaking about other things, they continued to watch the fight go on.

And so it went.

.

Denji felt himself start to reach his limit on new movements.

Having Minoru as an opponent already limited the number of things he could do, but then Mei came in and lowered that number even more.

The two of them were close-range fighters, something Denji was used to seeing already. Keeping his distance would have been fine if not for their specialized Triggers. One was known to him, but the other was unknown.

This is pissing me off now. I made sure I would be able to adapt to anything since Sekai likes to prepare a lot of the time, but these two are making that too difficult.

He could only run around the battlefield.

They would chase him around in order to defeat him, while he would flee in order to survive.

But...

Even if I lose to them, it won't change anything. I won't listen to them, and I'll refuse to go see Yassan if they drag me there. Only that pathetic girl has enough value in this fight to get me to do anything. But she's too pathetic to stand a chance here.

They would be wasting their time as long as they thought having Minoru or Mei defeat him was fine.

More than that, they would still need to get through something else.

Meteroa.

Multiple cubes of trion formed in the air above him. They covered the night sky above them and increased in size in a second.

They were the closest thing they had to stars on Earth.

This will be the night of falling stars.

He let them go while moving to not be caught in the blasts.

The blasts themselves took up a lot of space, but he knew where he would need to move so he would not get caught up in that blast radius. It was something he had learned in order to move around a battlefield without worrying about being collateral damage.

What about those two?

Would Minoru and Mei get caught up in those exploding stars, or would they break through them to reach him?

This would be where he found that answer.

.

A large slab of earth broke through the dirt that was raised by the falling star. The one holding it was a raging lion.

She used her shoulder and arms to hold the large slab of earth while moving forward with little effort. The weight of the slab of earth was not registered in her mind, so she only pushed it forward.

Behind her, a deer ran on light feet before leaping into the air. A cross between Lilly of the Valley and snowdrop could be seen on his foot through the dirt.

The two of them moved in sync and refused to look at the falling stars above them.

Three more steps, and the lion tossed the slab of earth into the air.

The deer used the thrown earth as a springboard to go even higher.

A tengu watched this all happen while moving backwards. The hand gripping a trion sword held firm, and the tengu raised it.

An extended slash was released, and another set of stars formed above them all.

The lion reacted first.

With a burst of acceleration, she was within arm's reach of the tengu.

She pulled back her fist and pushed it forward.

The tengu released his grip on the trion sword.

The lion's punch collided with the trion sword, sending it back towards the tengu. It hit him, sending him far back through the dirt.

His body remained intact due to the trion sword taking the brunt of the hit. The downside had been that the trion sword had shattered on impact.

Slamming his feet onto the ground, the tengu stopped his momentum and turned towards the sky.

The formed stars had been released, but the deer in the sky were nowhere to be seen.

It was only after those stars began to fall that the tengu found the deer.

.

The two-pronged attack was becoming too much for just explosions to take care of. Both opponents were at a level where they could power through those explosions and reach him at the same time.

So Denji had a thought.

I'll just narrow my view a bit.

Things would become risky if he was not careful, but this was a gamble he was willing to take. After all...

Gambling is something that lets you walk away with everything or nothing by the end of it. What else could be that fun? If you screw up, it's because you were stupid enough to fall for pathetic cheating. If you walk away the winner, it means you were pathetic enough to cheat.

You became pathetic either way.

Or rather, it should have been that simple.

Like hell, that's how it works. Real gambling is betting everything on something and accepting the results without doing anything about them.

Cheating is for the pathetic idiots who know they can't win to begin with. Those kinds of gamblers are the kind that I want to beat the crap out of.

Yet he had never done so. That would show his anger and hatred toward others.

That was saved for a single person.

He could only accept it along with any hate he would see from others.

This was different.

There seemed to be no hate coming from Minoru or Mei. They were simply advancing to defeat him, as any other Border combatant would.

So he would gamble against them honestly.

I'm not like that fox, so I'll settle for beating them down with things they could see from anyone.

Holding out his hand a bit, a blue sphere appeared. Immediately after, a blue plate formed near him.

But he did not use it.

"Kh!"

Denji watched Minoru step on the plate before being sent back into the sky.

.

Minoru cursed in his heart. He had fallen for Denji's gamble.

He had seen Grasshopper activate, but he had expected Denji to use it to try and get away.

Preparing for that, he activated Yushi on his feet to give him a boost in speed.

That had been a mistake.

His foot had landed on the Grasshopper plate, sending him into the air.

I refuse to be done in by something like this, though.

There was too much that needed to be done about his former teammates.

So even with the Meteora shower coming down from above, Minoru turned his body in the air.

A cube of trion formed at his side. It split up and moved towards the sky.

They hit the Meteroa shower.

.

What a forceful way of doing things!

Minoru's tactic was effective, but he was running a risk by using it.

Their opponent was a gambler, so maybe that was why he had decided to go with something as risky as that.

Mei found herself thinking that she could take some risks herself and activate her Triggers.

The gauges on the sides of her boots and along her gauntlets moved to fill the bars there. The light from them shone as she used a burst of speed to close the distance between her and Denji again.

This time, she was aware of the types of actions he was capable of.

She saw the Grasshopper plates being placed and responded to each one of them.

Before she came in contact with them, she threw her upper body forward.

Her fist made contact with the ground.

Using the sudden stop, she went into a flip. Her legs were in the air before she came down over the first Grasshopper.

Keeping that momentum, she forced her arms out of the ground, bringing two large pieces of earth with her.

She made two fists within those pieces of earth, crushing them and sending the pieces scattering all around her.

Each piece landed on a Grasshopper plate, sending them into the air.

Mei readied another punch with her building forward momentum.

.

Minoru saw what Mei had done and smiled.

So this is what it's like to fight alongside her as she currently is.

This was a first for him. Having someone like this by his side made him more comfortable.

Relying on her here was not hard for him at all.

She had set up a way around Denji's sudden Grasshopper minefield without saying anything, giving him a chance to catch up.

He readily took it.

His previous attack had detonated the Meteroa shower. The force of those explosions had pushed him back from the Grasshopper throw. But moving in that sort of position would have been difficult if not for the pieces of earth that had been tossed into the air.

Putting strength into his legs, he landed on the first piece.

Oh, this really isn't that easy when trying to apply Yushi. No wonder Yuki's so good with his footwork.

Using these sorts of platforms in the air would require precise body control and knowledge on how to balance out different areas of the platform. All of this would have to be followed by a series of brief leaps.

That was exactly what Minoru did.

He already had good body control and balance, so all that was left was to make those leaps.

The first came.

With Yushi covering his feet, he leaped through the air. It was a familiar feeling for him, but the wind seemed to be pushing against him even more than before. Likely a side effect of having increased his speed and jumping rate.

The second came soon after.

I can't just be moving in a line, though.

He needed to reach the ground where Denji had been trying to move away from Mei.

Doing these leaps would have been easy enough, but that was something for later.

Right now...

"I need to get going."

.

Explosions rang out once more.

This time they shook the air in the sky, leaving the dirt on the ground alone.

The explosions were followed by flying pieces of earth that had been thrown upwards.

A person arose from those flying pieces of earth.

"—!"

Minoru used his entire body to come down onto Denji from above.

A concentrated shield formed between the two of them, but...

"Yushi!"

A pattern formed around his foot as it came into contact with the shield.

The shield shattered easily.

Denji began to turn his body as blue plates were placed all around the area.

Multiple pieces of earth landed on each blue plate before being violently thrown into the air.

Still in a turning motion, Denji swung his arm into the air as a large cube of trion formed.

"I'm fine with some sacrifice. Are you?"

The large cube began to glow.

Both Minoru and Mei could see what would happen, but neither was able to do anything about it.

Instead...

Tinker Bell: "Done!"

---

"Done and done!"

Katerina threw her arms up and fell back into her chair.

The permissions she had been going over the whole time had finally come undone.

"But still," she said while looking at the ceiling. "I never would have thought that those dummy permissions were the trick."

Lifting her body, she looked at the screen in front of her.

A message was displayed there. It was put on top of all the work she had been doing.

"That guy... Denji. I wouldn't think he would be the type to use dangerous looking things to cover what originally seems like dummy permissions. That sort of thing would catch anyone off guard and make them think that they could be dealt with last. Using that sort of method, he would be able to use a lot of this place's trion before he would ever be caught."

She had also mistaken those permissions for nothing more than trivial things. Things granted to him as a member of Border and not something he had taken from them.

It had only been because of that message that she was able to get a better look at those permissions.

"But still," she said to herself. "Did Minoru's cousin really know that I would be receiving that message?"

---

Smoke enveloped the area as a large explosion shook the earth.

A noise came with it, but that was drowned out by movement from within the smoke.

Denji looked forward to try and find any sign on his opponents.

Looks like that was the last one I could have used with the base's trion.

His connection to the base had been cut immediately after firing the cluster shot. The shield he had used to protect himself had shattered, and his arm was missing, having been caught in his own explosion.

It was a relatively small price when compared to taking two people out.

At least, that was how it should have been.

"Staunch defender..."

As the area started to clear, he could see something.

It was a black wolf.

In front of it was a sturdy shield. There was a portion of it that had been taken off, and the black wolf's hand was gone with it.

His attack had been blocked.

The counter came after.

.

The first one to attack was the lion.

She came from the right with her fist raised.

From where he moved, Denji could see that her side was taken, and fragments of her gauntlets were in the air.

His attack had damaged her.

Still, she moved without any issue.

The impact from her attacks would shatter any shield he made, making his only option to evade each hit.

That came with its own set of problems. Namely...

Her bursts of speed.

Not countering her Trigger, she was able to perform sudden bursts of speed that covered the distance between them easily. Having her Trigger boost that speed even more meant that he needed to move before she could begin any actions.

From there, he would need to determine where to go that was outside of her calculations.

This was not something he could do at the moment.

So he made a choice.

I'll need to keep sacrificing.

If he could not defend himself or evade, he would take the hit.

That was what he did.

The punch arrived, moving towards his head.

He lifted his arm and began to spin his body. The momentum from the spin carried him until his shoulder was higher than the rest of his body.

The punch landed, but it did not send him flying backwards.

"Good job," the lion said.

Her arm had been captured by a sudden shield as the part of the shoulder she hit went flying.

Denji did not respond to her words. His arm was moving limply at his side, having no shoulder to keep it moving. The only thing keeping it there was his armpit.

Keeping the sacrifice to a minimum, he had cut through his own shoulder, carving it out so that it would no longer be attached to him. The impact from the punch had sent his shoulder flying, but the rest of his body was not affected.

Now to take one out.

He formed a cube and aimed directly at her. With her arm stuck in the shield, she would be unable to move out of the way.

But as he did...

"—!?"

Something came flying in from the side.

Denji focused on it long enough to figure out what it was.

Raygust!?

The black wolf had thrown his shield in their direction after seeing what the situation was.

The cube of trion exploded in front of him, taking the rest of his other arm.

"Keh!"

There was no time to worry about what was already done. If Raygust had already reached them, it meant the next attack would be coming.

And it did.

.

Minoru muttered under his breath. "Yushi."

A familiar pattern wrapped around his arms and onto his hands.

With a single stomp, he had made it to where Denji was.

Pulling his fist back and attacking would take too long. It would give Denji the chance he needed to do something.

So he attacked without doing so.

His fist moved through the air until it made contact.

While not as heavy as Mei's hits, the damage had been done.

Denji was sent flying through the air. The part of his torso that Minoru hit was destroyed.

Just one more! he thought.

Denji was at his limit without the trion from the base supporting him.

Taking him out with Mei's help would have been easy enough at this point.

But...

We aren't the ones who should be doing that.

.

She finally saw it.

The chance she had been waiting for.

Compared to the monsters all around her, she needed to wait for her chance to strike.

Opening one was not something she was currently capable of. It was just outside of her reach.

Like he always says... I'm pathetic.

But.

I just need to throw his words back at him!

He is pathetic for doing all of this! I need to go to him so I can kick his ass into shape!

He had said something similar when she was having a hard time against the Neighbor within the base.

Now she would return those words in full, along with some of her own.

For now, she would make sure she understood.

"I'm finally going to throw all my hatred at you! So get ready!"

.

Light shone in the nighttime air.

A blade of glowing light shone. Its light continued to grow until it looked ready to burst. Once it did...

"..."

It bloomed.

Ribbons of light unfolded from the sword, flowing out like a blooming flower.

The ribbons moved with the breeze generated from the sword swing.

The sword remained intact as it moved through the ribbons of light.

Once it reached its target, the ribbons of light moved.

They flew forward with grace.

Their target was anything they could touch.

One reached a neck.

Once reached a chest.

One reached a stomach.

Many more reached out as if embracing the body.

Lines of light formed on the body.

Those lines became cuts.

Trion began pouring out.

"Fūjin - Kōgetsu!"

.

Murakami saw the beautiful sight of the blooming blade.

It may have been an imitation of the real thing, but the sight was one he knew he would never forget, Side Effect or not.

Maybe he will finally listen to her.

His own experience with this kind of person told him that there was nothing to worry about with Denji now.

It had not been Mei, Minoru, or himself who had gotten the last hit on Denji.

It had been Kumagai.

That fact alone was enough to reassure him of the outcome of all of this.

A cloud of smoke filled the air. It enveloped both Denji and Kumagai.

There was no light moving towards Border, so it was safe to assume that Denji was still there with them.

Murakami moved forward with a smile. They could all gather together peacefully now.

"Now we just need to-..."

He stopped when he realized what he had done.

A light glowed from under him.

"Ah," he heard from four others.

It took a moment for him to realize what this meant.

.

Everyone watched as Murakami blew up.

The ground under him exploded in spectacular fashion.

They all looked to the sky to see his broken body flying through the air.

"Of course he gets caught in one of my explosions after the fact."

"Was it something he learned from watching Yuki?"

"I will make sure to give Yuki a nice bump on the head later."

"Um, I think that might kill him..."

They all spoke as Murakami's body began to turn into light.

Before he could fly off, they all heard his voice clearly.

"Trigger off! Trigger off!"

Murakami's trion body dematerialized, leaving him in his real body. He continued to fly through the air with no way of landing at the moment.

Seeing the trajectory of his fall, Mei and Minoru simply stood there and watched him fly.

Once he was within range, the person he would have fallen on realized what she needed to do.

"Ah! Ah! Really!? Me!?"

Kumagai held out her arms and braced herself.

Once his flight was over, Murakami landed safely in Kumagai's arms.

"Are you okay, Murakami-senpai?"

.

So cool! Murakami thought as his body shook and he covered his mouth.

The explosion had caught him off guard, but Kumagai had caught him before he had to deal with a harsh fall.

"That was pretty dangerous, Senpai. Why didn't you just go back to the base?"

"Huh?" He looked up to see genuine curiosity and concern on Kumagai's face. "I had told you that I would help you until everything was resolved, right? That includes what you want to say to Denji. If I had left before that, I wouldn't have been able to keep my word."

There was a dual "Oooohhh" from the side, but he chose to ignore that for now.

Kumagai lowered her head and placed him on the ground.

Knowing that she needed to find the words for a different conversation, he placed his hand on her head with a smile.

"Sorry, Minoru. I know you need to drag him back, but Kumagai needs to say some things first."

"It's fine," Minoru said with a wave of his hand. "I already knew this needed to be done first. Just make sure to get everything out. That way, you won't regret anything."

Murakami felt himself nod.

That was how he felt whenever he spoke with Yuki.

That was the relationship between an Unneeded and someone who knew about them.

He looked down at Denji and saw him staring in one particular direction with a far-off look in his eyes.

"What does it mean to live without regrets...huh?"

All they could do was move forward with no regrets.

---

Yoshiko watched the light faded into the sky.

Multiple flashes had been seen in the far off distance where she knew others resided.

Yashiko narrowed her eyes as her former underling's words were sent directly to her.

...That brings me back.

She too had said words like those when she found out something painful. She was still single and had never been reunited with her family proper, but Denji had many people who had chosen to find that answer out with him. So...

"Take care. ...Denji."

That is my one and only wish, she thought.

Then the night sky cleared of any artificial lights over there. The fight going on had shaken the ground and the light from the explosions could be seen here. A worker cried out in joy as the sun's light began peaking over the edge of the horizon behind her.

"Yoshiko-sama! Was that what they call a fox's wedding!?"

"Yes, it was. Heh heh. ...Denji, you are such an excellent child." Yoshiko's bangs hid her expression. "Your former boss had lost two people before she could see lights like those. ...Seeing it now...heh heh...makes me feel like I've seen something amazing too."

She ignored the steaks flowing down her cheeks, formed a smile on her lips, and hide those lips behind her fan. Then she opened her phone and spoke.

"Hatohara Minoru. ...We can call this your victory."

"I wasn't really trying to compete with you."

"Then are you saying this was the natural way of things?"

"Yes. ...Everything found its way to where it belonged. That's all."

"I see," said Yoshiko. "I will now be taking back something I lost and properly celebrate with my now former bosses. Border will once agains have the support of a Mogami."

---

"Are you sure that's how you want it to end for them? Won't that take away the reason you don't like them?"

"You make it sound like I enjoyed disliking them."

A chuckle was thrown into the air as two people viewed the Forbidden Zone from atop Border's main base.

One was Motoharu Squad's Attacker, Nanamagari Takumashī.

The other was...

"Kanchō. Did you really not dislike them this whole time?"

A hand was waved in the air as another chuckle came out.

"Who knows."

But.

"If I had to guess... I would say I disliked the idea on which they were basing themselves. Not them as people."

"So that was why you intervened, even though you weren't invited."

"What are you talking about? I only played around with some automatic settings and sent the Engineers some funny information I found. None of that had anything to do with the fights that had been going on."

Nanamagari smiled at his forward facing captain.

Because he faced the other direction, Nanamagari could not see Motoharu's expression. Even so, he already knew what he might have been thinking.

They had just known each other for that long.

It was then that he remembered something.

"Hey...the sun is starting to come up. I know those two were involved in the incident because of what they did, but I don't think they have a way to stop whatever will happen, right? Isn't that something to worry about!?"

Motoharu continued to look into the distance.

Having moved closer, Nanamagari could now see the expression he wore on his face.

He was worried.

"Everyone else should be waking up right about now. That means they will be moving to finally finish everything off before the citizens wake up. That being said..."

He finally turned his head, and Nanamagari could fully see his face now.

"Some have already started to figure out what needs to be done. I wonder how that will turn out."

---

Pyrínas saw the enemy he had been waiting for arrive.

...So Sekai and Denji have been defeated.

They had been dropped from seemingly nowhere in particular.

His quickly formed shield had blocked his view, but there had been two objects dropped.

He could hear them. One sounded like an awful lot of metal, whereas the other...

...It is not even touching the ground.

Were these specialized Trigger users?

Gates had opened during the fights between the two Unneededs and their opponents. They had likely not been noticed by due to a detection negation similar to what he had as a broken off piece of the Pyrínas System, so it would make sense that they came from seemingly nowhere. In other words...

"...The floodgates have opened, now that Sekai and Denji have been taken out."

That suggested these two new opponents would be trouble.

Meanwhile, Pyrínas stood by himself on the other side.

...Not needing proper sleep, I was able to make it to the Forbidden Zone before anyone else and set myself up here.

The Border members would begin arriving as dawn was braking.

The ones who had finished their fight were likely retreating.

So the numbers were insufficient at the moment.

The enemy was heavily equipped, so their outer shells could tank attacks.

No others had started attacking the base or city, but...

...They will likely hold off until their explosion goes off here.

There would be no need to attack any single place here. Leaving everything to an explosion that encompassed the Forbidden Zone was enough.

Multiple capable fighters would now be taken out of the fight due to dealing with Sekai and Denji moments ago. That would leave less people to fight.

Also, the Border members were slow to approach the Forbidden Zone.

They were not running late; they simply were not arriving quickly enough for how things had turned out.

That showed how much progress the enemy was making.

"...I wish I could have taken out even a portion of their trion soldiers before these two new enemies arrived."

If they moved enough, it would spread thin everyone else who would be able to fight once they finally arrived in the Forbidden Zone, which would cause more issues.

That was the optimal thought he had.

But that meant those forces would focus their time on protecting a single area by avoiding it.

He had predicted as much, but having a similar ability to his own meant they could cover an area from any radars trying to find them.

...Is this what is to be expected from Ergates now?

"...From what I could gather from the Pyrínas System proper, whenever a nation introduces a new Trigger or tactic, it is reason to groan at having something new to adapt to."

Neighborhood technology had finally reached the point where they could create data entities in the form of Autonomous Trion Soldiers. No, that technology had already existed, but they had gotten to the point where data entities like him could exists among others without issue.

Most of them were just not as optimal as the puppets others liked to use. In that case...

"...If they reached a point where they could use Autonomous Trion Soldiers like me as puppets, does this mean they are approaching something dangerous?"

If so...

"...As someone who spent all his time protecting others and finally became someone who can think for himself, it is my duty to face these new enemies."

Pyrínas prepared himself for a fight.

A wall appeared 200m in front of him.

Those were the trion shields he had summoned from his own trion. At that size, it should have been easy to shatter from any sort of ordinary attack. The spreading of trion made it weak.

The enemy seemed to crash into them, but those shields would not be so easily destroyed.

He wished he could have created a bunch more of them further back.

Then enemies that were back there could be taken out individually and the enemy's advance could be slowed.

That had been his plan, but...

"...You don't always get what you want."

He compressed the activation of the two lumps her had created on his back.

The trion stored in those two lumps were directly linked to the trion he circulated through his body. With those lumps, he could use as much trion as he liked.

Why wouldn't someone like him get that kind of special treatment when he knew a girl with a large amount of trion?

In an instant, the large trion shield standing right in front of him was shattered.

A light was to blame.

A glowing beam had swept down next to him and sliced down into the ground.

.

Reactions were meant to be made immediately.

In that sense, Pyrínas failed to react.

There were three reasons for this.

First, his wall of trion had been destroyed by the enemy's attack so easily.

Second, that attack had come from a cannon rather than a direct blow or charge.

And third, the blast that had shattered the wall had been accompanied by something else: a sound.

"Oh..."

The ear-splitting roar stretched out and ended on an "ah" sound.

The voice seemed to rip through the air rather than vibrate it.

After it sounded a second time, a second beam burst out and a line of explosions chased after it.

That had to be the power that had destroyed the trion walls. The flat land was scattered into the air.

"Retreat!" came a voice from his head.

It was too late.

The light raced across his defense barriers and its power was unleashed a breath later.

The explosions tore down the far right flank of the defensive formation that had been waiting behind him.

And he saw two forms appear from the gaps in the shattered trion wall.

The first was terribly tall.

They floated with the size of a rice cooker and was colored white.

...That's one of the enemy units!

Was it an autonomous or programmed trion soldier?

The size suggested an Autonomous Trion Soldier, but that guess was quickly proven wrong.

He saw the way it floated without giving any indication as to knowing what was happening.

That meant this was a trion soldier meant to observe the surroundings.

But the real problem was the other figure.

It too was enormous. It stood more than 2m tall and had heavy outer armor.

The head to feet were covered by heavy armor and white smoke blew from the mouth.

The previous attack had come from this unit's roar.

It had a thick build, but something else stood out more: the inside.

There was clearly a body within the large outer armor. It had a humanoid shape and was looking down with hair covering its face, making it hard to tell if it was male or female.

This was an Autonomous Trion Soldier corpse made to move again.

But the fundamental movements were not just those of a program.

"...Is this another application of data entity tech?"

Light green trion light surrounded its entire body.

...That is actively aware of what it is doing.

He could see the small trion soldiers was the same.

He was unsure what the small one was, but he recognized something about the one lumbering toward him.

He recognized the signature that was unique to someone else, the brown armor surrounding it, the inner body, and everything else.

"...It is a relative of mine and Lilith."

---

"He destroys those two, brings them here, then makes them start moving for this. ...They are pathetic for letting that happen."

Kigisa let out a sigh in the morning air. It was visible to her, but she thought nothing about it.

The sight before her was nice, but only in the sense that was what she would see before a tragedy.

"I thought those two would last until all of this was over... Oh, well. Leaving it to those two trion soldiers and my performance is probably what Misó had planned from the start."

He had left out of boredom, but he had left things behind that were meant to make a mess of Miden.

Those things had been her and...

"That monstrosity. An Autonomous Trion Soldier who lost the autonomy."

In a way, it was sad to think about. In another, it mattered little to her.

Autonomous Trion Soldiers had never been a thing she thought about, but it seemed like there were a lot of people who valued them.

Kigisa tapped her foot on the foot of the building she stood on.

"These two also seem to have people they care about, even while being those same types of trion soldiers."

It was funny to think about. That two objects given a sort of life were cared for like that.

Having trion soldiers programmed was much better. They could be led in a way easier than something that could think for themselves.

That was why she found herself comfortable in her position.

Even if she had been forced into this situation, she had a relatively easy job here. No direct commands needed to be made, only instructions on what to do.

She was no commander, but she didn't need to be. Something more simple would be enough.

"Well, he had said that he would put in a word for Galo because of this, but I don't trust him in the slightest. This was done out of boredom, and he left for the same reason. Thinking anything good about him would be a waste of mental space."

But the fear of him coming back was still there.

It was because of that fear she stayed here to do her part.

No matter how terrible it was.

"I guess...I do want Miden to overcome this."

If just to spite that man.

Looking into the distance, she could see a problem with that.

The monstrosity.

"Will a single person be enough to defeat it?"

---

Pyrínas faced his enemy.

They were 100m apart.

His opponent said nothing and simply stood there with its arm at the ready.

If it had been quicker than it currently was, it would have truly been a threat here.

...What is going on? he wondered while hearing a voice in his head.

Voyager: "Pyrínas! Is that thing really made the same way the System was!?"

RB07: "...It would seem that way. ...Or at least in a similar manner."

"But, um." Arisa spoke next with hesitation and likely went over the facts with Futoyuki. "Did you ever start shooting beams from your mouth like that!?"

"...I am much more refined." He readily accepted that. "...Beams like those are reserved for the programmed units who can afford to look so simple. ...I would never dare shoot a beam from my mouth. ...Creating the mass of trion like Border tends to do is a nice way of doing it, but I have learned to do things in a way befitting my stature."

He could feel the Pyrínas System raging from somewhere, but he really did not care.

Voyager: "What would you call it!?"

RB07: "...'Mouth Beam'."

Blue Wish: "Just that!? Really!? And doesn't that violate a lot of copyright laws!?"

RB07: "...those sort of laws do not apply to Neighbors."

Blue Wish: "thank you for that incredibly succinct explanation! ...S-so can it shoot beams from its eyes too!?"

RB07: "...What? ...Of course not. ...Don't be foolish."

Blue Wish: "H-how is that fair!?"

Then another beam of light rushed in.

He was used to the roar by now, so he could dodge it. As for the area behind him...

"..."

It was destroyed, but it had been part of the Forbidden Zone. It had received worse damage before.

...And it did not reach the city.

...Okay, he added, but he was not actually thinking straight.

After all, this trion soldier had been built in a similar way to Lilith, and by extension the Pyrínas System.

"...This would then make you a sibling to Lilith and a relative of mine. ...What exactly would that make you to me?"

...Honestly, he thought. ...I did not think I would be having any sort of family meeting when I decided to stay on Miden for those children. ...This is truly a strange world.

And more than that...

"...Relative, if you had not decided to fight here, things could have been resolved easily."

He had come all this way trusting that it was only those children he needed to take care of.

But he felt like something new had been added to his problems.

This was a battlefield and the large trion soldier was not his only enemy.

He had seen another. A terribly small trion soldier with white coloring and red streaks.

"...Are you able to speak? ...From the looks of things, you are not a combat-type."

"Me?"

The small trion soldier casually turned all the way around.

It landed on the large trion soldier standing next to it and turned from right to left as if looking for something.

...Are they really some kind of observation model?

The actions it had taken were pointless and had no value. Even when thinking about it in a Border-like way, there was no reason to do that.

But that small trion soldier had done it.

"...Do you have a name?"

"Oh, do I? Looking over data."

The small trion soldier had stopped and seemed to go over the information it had on the question. Then it halted all movement and looked in his direction.

Then it lowered itself and name itself in a very robotic sort of way.

"I am named Charon. This is...Giev."

After a pause, Charon's body suddenly jerked to the right.

It looked a lot like someone Pyrínas could not see had yelled at it. then it quickly spoke up again.

"We are looking for...someone? Appearance is...unknown? We are part of the...what forces?"

Just as it said that to Pyrínas, he swung his head to the right.

A moment later, a beam of light shot straight past the side of his head.

.

...Oh?

Pyrínas looked dead ahead after performing that split-second dodge.

He had been cautiously watching the trion soldier named Giev while he did the same to him, but he had finally made his move.

He, meanwhile, swayed his body away from the line of midair explosions and escaped to the right.

"...This is what others call a pain in the butt."

What should he do about him?

...A surprise meeting after all this time isn't exactly fun, he thought with a bitter expression. He pulled a trion hammer from seemingly nowhere using the trion stored in the two lumps.

He used a swing of his left arm to extend the trion hammer.

Then he turned his body toward Giev.

He had already thrown himself forward and raised his right hammer.

"...What exactly are you doing on Miden ground and firing mouth beams? ...Huh? ...Did you really come here looking for someone? ...Did you?"

Giev answered his shout by opening his mouth. Bright green trion light shined deep in his core throat and a roar burst forth.

"...If you are looking for a fight with your distant relative, then so be it."

The beam pierced the air.

---

"Oh? Things are looking excited in Rhinoceros Beetle's end of things again."

Multiple explosions echoed off the areas's walls and ground from the west of Border.

Trochískos moved inside the building, placed a hand on the doorway, and stood up on his toes. He could glimpse the dimly-lit battle beyond the nearby buildings.

Things had gotten a lot brighter, but the defense barriers and flying beams of light were still a lot brighter.

...That certainly is impressive. Yes.

What time period are those mouth beams from?

Curious, he sent a special transmission.

?: "Rhinoceros Beetle? The information I had gotten from you and the results I am seeing here are somewhat different to what the Pyrínas System's unit told me. Are attacks like these popular, by any chance?"

RB07: "...This is something unrefined trion soldiers do."

?: "Oh, dear. Is that so? I did not think there was a real difference. My apologizes."

RB07: "...There is nothing to be sorry for. ...The refinement of trion soldiers is something the Wanderers loved to indulge in."

?: "Now that you mention it."

Even after living this long, he thought. Even the simple things can seem complicated.

...You gather information and try to be aware of every little thing, but there is still so much you do not know.

Ever since he was young, nations and people had appeared and gone away so often.

But this time...

"Someone who was never meant to be had suddenly appeared. I cannot say I expected that one. No."

He lowered his heels back down.

And he sat down.

His story had been continuing for some time now. Even if he tried to run front it, he would find that there was no much else to do but continue living as he was, so it was not like he could slip out of existence without anyone noticing.

The current age did surprisingly well to keep him grounded and happy.

The rest was up to the people involved.

?: "Rhinoceros Beetle, living a long time sometimes is a troublesome thing, is it not?"

RB07: "...That is this all of a sudden? ...If you have regrets, you could always work out a more peaceful resolution to your life."

"No, no," he said with a calm smile.

RB07: "...I have no lived long enough to decide whether I can regret something or not. ...But I am aware that there may be people who would hold it against me if I did not view this live in a good light."

?: "But only looking at the good times means to downplay hardships. So try not to simply push them aside."

RB07: "...I will make sure to save that so I can remember when it comes up. ...Not taking the advice from someone so wise would only be idiotic."

In a way, you could say everyone was wise in their own way.

...Is that the reason those previous fights had happened?

General information had been given to him via the Pyrínas System's unit about what those fights entailed. It had only been the statistical information and not the reason behind it.

By applying the information he now knew with that fight, he was able to determine what it could have been about. There were too many holes still there, but he felt like asking about it would get him an answer easily.

During his stay on Miden, he had seen many places and met many people, all with varying things about them. Each of them had their own uniqueness to them that he found he would never be able to see while staying within the Neighborhood. There were far too many similarities within the Neighborhood to the point where his long-lived status allowed him to know what they were like off memory.

Miden had always shown him something new.

The world was growing more complex and the historical interpretations gave depth to that fact.

?: "Rhinoceros Beetle, I know you are busy with your battle, but could I ask you one thing as someone who had slipped through the gaps of the current era?"

He heard multiple explosions from the special transmission and light burst from the ground to the west.

RB07: "...Dodged it. ...Ask away."

?: "Very well. I have seen a great many things ever since I was young, including growing histories and people's reactions to it. From that, I have come to think that the world here may have changed for the better when compared to all others in the Neighborhood. Yes."

---

Pyrínas dropped his hips to dodge Giev's large arm while he listened to Trochískos.

?: "The amount of time may be different for Miden, but I am sure that you at least have history in your data. I am impressed people managed to show enough restraint to get far as they have and for you to have that data at all."

A wind blew in after Giev's arm passed by.

The arm pressure was impressively unwavering. Pyrínas asked a question while a few of his hairs scattered.

RB07: "...In the simple world of the Neighborhood, I imagine the history that was created was just as simple and free of true chaos."

That much was clear even from the records that were publicly viewable. There were records of the nations that had barely come into existence during the time and of the other nations when they were all known as newborns.

...When viewed from a historical perspective, things were far more peaceful back then.

After all, the population had been smaller and, even when people lived on a barely formed world, wars were only short-term affairs with neighboring nations. Modern productive techniques and transmission environments had yet to be developed, so it was difficult for wars to grow too large or too lengthy.

Back then, it may have often seemed like they managed to sidestep the history creation using those things as an excuse, but...

"...Oh."

After he dodged downward, Giev leaped back and away.

He spun his body.

He had probably thought up the move on the fly, but his head turned back toward him while his shoulders quickly twirled around.

He also switched with hand he would be attacking with.

Approaching carelessly would allow his new swinging hand to send the attack his way with a backhand swing.

He was enormous, but his great strength let him move nimbly. And...

...Is he the type to love little tricks like switching his attacking hand?

Was this a well-made trion soldier, or was this an Autonomous Trion Soldier who clung to his free will?

Instead of jumping after him, Pyrínas ran along the ground to match his roation.

But the enemy forces began moving while he fought him.

The enemy began appearing all around them. And his own side...

"Broken off piece!"

"...Please stall them with some hacking. ...I am busy talking here."

The Pyrínas System Unit shaped like a white rhinoceros beetle began flying towards the surrounding trion soldiers.

His exchange of attacks with Giev was a conversation. He also appreciated being able to hear Trochískos from his transmission.

?: "Are you okay, Rhinoceros Beetle? Am I interrupting?"

RB07: "...No, keep talking. ...Conversing with a relative in the language of combat is far from fun. ...In the worst case, he could drag me back to his world."

?: "Not long and there will be more people moving around to support your fighting."

RB07: "...There already is another one here. ...Although it feels like I am being watched by my parent or older sibling. ...It does not feel nice."

That was the System's unit. No, it was the System, technically speaking.

He was glad they had yet to turn on him. All he could do was settle this before they did.

RB07: "...Please continue, Trochískos. ...Your words are important for a simple child like myself."

?: "You are technically set to a time, you know? And I still have something I must do before I can truly relax today."

RB07: "...What do you still have to do?"

The response came with a smile.

?: "I am a bearer of information. And that piece of information...is my little secret."

---

"Did you hear that!?" Kimura asked the others atop the Border bas that overlooked the Forbidden Zone.

She sent her gaze out along them and saw them all nod. Inukai stood out front with Xeno at his back.

They all moved their heads down in affirmation, so Kimura crossed her arms and continued.

"That was a gift from Pyrínas. If the explosives are set to a timer, then they must be set to go off when this battle is meant to end."

"Kawa, when is that?"

"Most likely 6 AM. That means 17 minutes from now."

"Oh?" Daigo tilted only his head. "According to Suzaku-san and my calculations, it will take about a minute to cut across the Forbidden Zone."

"Then we can easily make it. Even if we do run into obstacles, it should only take 3 to 5 minutes," said the Shiraishi Representative as she stepped forward and pulled out a few armor plates. The white and gold plating were placed along her body. "There is one thing I want to check on, so I was right to come here. Still...dan that Musashi. Keeping some of these things."

She nodded three times and looked to the distance.

"I made sure to confiscate all last remaining parts to it."

Meanwhile, Kimura looked down toward her hands.

The words written there were from an unknown person and meant for Pyrínas.

?: "So, Rhinoceros Beetle, while I prepare a present for a child, I would like to present to you some historical criticism of mine."

Namely...

?: "That things can easily change the way the future resolves itself, even if the end result is exactly the same."

---

Trochískos chose a place with a view of the battlefield zone and of the city.

This was his last bit of excitement, so he moved to an area with a view of the fighting he could not be a part of.

RB07: "...Trochískos, it is true that the creation of the Neighborhood greatly changed things. ...Or to be more accurate, the appearance of Miden caused many nations to find a clear target for them to gain more trion without it becoming a headache. ...Ah."

?: "Is something wrong?"

RB07: "...I just had a bit of my bangs taken off on the right. ...Now I have to get the other side cut to match."

That can be tricky, thought Trochískos before Pyrínas got back on topic.

RB07: "...Friction was unavoidable when the Neighborhood was made, I am guessing. ...And that created a lot more spatial density of history in that once location. ...Not to mention that the temporal density of history for them has continued to grow as time goes on."

?: "That is a strange way of viewing things."

RB07: "...Huh? ...What is?"

?: "I will explain that later."

"...I see," said Pyrínas before quieting down. The fighting must have grown more intense.

That meant he was conversing with a situation that should not have been here. So Trochískos spoke up as if butting into Pyrínas and Giev's conversation.

?: "It is true that the number of issues requiring interpretations continues to grow. There have been many things like that in this city alone, so the amount of interpretations needed for worlds is not something to think about."

But he had a question about that.

"Why is that?"

This was an age where it was no longer just those in the Neighborhood that could fight back against each other for information or technology that could not be found on their own worlds. Miden was very much different, but they held their ground well.

?: "They have things a lot easier than they did in the past."

Don't you find that strange?

?: "Miden has grown to the point where they can manage multiple alliances and maintain their individuality. To that point, they have trion to work with, even while they continue to use their own resources to live their lives. That sort of lifestyle was built on their own history, not one that had to live up to the ones around. In that sense, they have something a lot of nations in the Neighborhood do not have."

And...

?: "At the same time, I think that that history became something that could lead to a harsh future. One that will need a lot of work to get through."

---

Yuki hurriedly recorded what Pyrínas was relaying to them.

...Wait, this is some juicy stuff!

He had made his way to the top of the base to check on everyone.

He would be unable to fight with them here, but he wanted to enjoy himself while Akane was talking with her uncle.

Murakami and Kimura were looking his way (the former tagging along after leaving Denji with Kumagai).

"U-umm."

He tried to sum up what those two had been saying.

"Caster-san is saying the future will become hard to deal with if we let things like last night happen constantly, although he probably can't say why. Pyrínas is rejecting that because he knows how we all are over here, but Caster-san is saying that it is because we are like this that we can't rely on lenient interpretations when looking at things."

They had not known about all this when they discussed things last night.

"Kō, do you remember our earlier respective discussions that this ties into?"

"Yes. I do. I was just noticing how this all makes sense now."

They had not thought this sort of things when looking at the past, but they had new info.

But Suzume smiled his way.

"Hey, Yuki-san?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"When did you and Kō-san honestly discuss things exactly?"

He felt his body temperature rapidly drop.

...Oops!

Come to think of it, he had not shared that conversation with everyone.

"W-well, um, i-it wasn't at a weird time or anything like that."

"Heh heh. That means you kept it a secret, doesn't it?"

"It's not like that," cut in Hanzaki, sounding annoyed with it all. "It was while everyone was asleep. Remember how we had some questions about Hikigane-san and Bakuto-san since they had been doing things in a weird way? We wondered if their past could have led them to this end result like that. ...Well, Yuki-san had gone over what he had been told by those two about their past, so Yuki-san made some deduction based on the information and explained things for anyone listening. Now, about 70% of it was him making stuff up, but it was still a juicy conversation for me. And...none of that changes that both Hikigane-san and Bakuto-san did something stupid while as Border members."

So...

"I can make stuff up too. For example, maybe their stupid actions could lead to a good future by staying or disappearing, but the fact would remain that the future would be a good one. It would only matter what the end result would be, so they didn't think things through all the way when deciding on being idiots."

So...

"I can see why they thought this was a good idea. And if that is the case," said Hanzaki. "Well, look forward to the rest at the upcoming summer event!"

"P-please give us more than that, Hanzaki!" insisted Yoneya.

Yuki agreed, but he also appreciated what Hanzaki had done.

"I see," said Inukai. "Yuki, you were trying to put everyone's minds at easy without using using fights or hostility. So while you are awake, you are in charge of such things."

"Oh, thanks for saying that."

He sent the records of the discussion about Sekai and Denji to the others. He erased the parts the others did not need to see, but he sent an unredacted version to Jinsei, Kuruma, and Yorushi. He decided to set up an automatic filter to handle that in the future.

Nasu Squad and Hanzaki's words were included in the record, but...

"That about sums it up. This should help anyone who wants to know why Sekai-san and Denji were fighting and what those battles meant."

"I see." Inukai nodded toward him. "I think I understand why Ninomiya-san said what he did back at Mei-san's house."

"Oh...I think I'll pretend I never heard you say that one."

Inukai's eyebrows rose at that, but she also smiled.

"The two of us are friends too, remember?"

Come to think of it, that was true. Inukai seemed more mature than him at the moment, so Yuki decided to try to be more openminded. And...

?: "Rhinoceros Beetle, there is one thing I would like to confirm about what you told me before."

That being...

?: "There is a point in common between your case and the reason for the fights happening, isn't there?"

---

Pyrínas just about gasped.

His body nearly tensed up, so he quickly relaxed his knees to adjust his body's strength.

Just then, light raced by overhead.

A line of explosions followed, so he stepped aside while feeling the blast on his shoulder.

...This is too dangerous a conversation to hold mid-battle!

He had thought nothing could distract him from a once in a lifetime meeting, but this was shocking too.

But he knew to what Trochískos referred.

There was a point in common between what was happening to him and the fights that had happened.

RB07: "...Ego. ...Or more specifically, the ability to use free will for living, right?"

---

Trochískos nodded.

...Exactly.

The turning point in Pyrínas's life was the creation of an ego that had not originally been there when he had first been created.

And the turning point in recent event from yesterday to today was the egos of two people leading them to fight others.

?: "Having an ego - a will to go so far - can lead someone to think they can solve problems by creating more or thinking they can simply vanish in order to make their surroundings better. The difference in those two is like a large gap, and something that most will not fully understand."

The two fights had said they were Unneeded and that was their reason for doing what they did.

RB07: "...Trochískos. ...Are you insinuating there is more to having a will than simply being allowed to make your own decisions? ...Are you saying that it isn't just up to the person in question to use that will - their ego - to decide on what they think is best for themselves and those around them? ...If so, then I have a few more question that will need to come later."

?: "I am not so sure about that."

Because...

?: "If it was that simple, then I would have not spent so much time learning about these sorts of things by observing those around me the way I have. This place has shown me much more than I could have ever imagined simply by existing in a way different from the Neighborhood. But...if there is a point in common, I think it may have had its beginning in the past."

He smiled. It was a self-deprecating smile. He had gathered so much information and thought he understood many worlds, and yet...

?: "Even if I am right about this, it must only be the very first step."

RB07: "–––––"

?: "I am either wrong, or I have only made it as far as I am allowed to go by the standards sets here. As long lived as I might be, not even I can say for sure beyond this. Just think of this as what can be considered the ramblings of an old man who has seen too much, but reached little."

Trochískos sighed and spoke to himself.

"Time to help those children who can seemingly change a lot."

---

Kigisa saw it happen from her position on one of the rooftops.

The ones who had been on top of the large base began falling from the sky while others moved in from the border of the area.

The amount of people now moving gave her the timing she needed to begin her own part in this fight.

...This is terrifying without my team with me.

But...

I can still do something to help them here! I'll make sure to do it!

Their hight speed movements and flying lights was meant to quickly tear down any opponents she had on her side.

But taking the time to slow them down would be a wasted effort on her part.

This was their answer.

They were not as organized as the last time she had been here, but it was clear that they new their opponents were not as tough as last time.

A voice reached her ears a moment later.

The Miden forced had used the force of their crash landing to leap forward.

"Charge!"

A straight line invasion had begun.