The battle in the forest of buildings ended and the wind blew through.

While kneeling on the side of the road, Mouri-03 looked towards the retreating figures of Miden's warriors and at Mochichiyo who jumped down from where they were headed. When she lowered her gaze…

"Big sister?"

Her sister had lost her left shoulder and looked at the tree skewered in the ground in front of her.

It was only one meter in front of her and it had split from the impact of landing.

"Now that is an abnormal ability."

"Yes, that Miden combatant with red hair threw this because she predicted what would happen, didn't she? How much strength and an eye for tactics does she have?"

"Right," replied Mouri-01. "The red-haired woman is of course amazing, but the black-haired one is impressive too. Take that piece of a trion soldier's speed for example. How did she strike with greater speed than an autonomous trion soldier's accelerated throw?"

"That's a good question," said Mouri-03 who did not know either. The information in her artificial memories told her that the hime-cut girl used her monstrous strength to break through for attacks, but…

…There are no records of her making an attack with that kind of speed from what Aftokrator had sent Galopoula.

She wondered what this meant, but her sister sighed in front of her.

"There is nothing we can do about it here. At any rate, we have lost."

.

The eldest sister readily admitted that and lowered her shoulders, but Mouri-03 had a question about the action and conclusion.

"Big sister!? W-wait!"

Her sister turned toward her, smiled, lowered the ends of her eyebrows, and groaned uncertainly.

"You probably wouldn't accept it if I said it was because of our orders."

"Right. And, um… Why? What do you mean we lost!? Because you would've been hit if it hadn't been for that tree?"

But in that case…

"I could intervene with my gravitational control! I could even act as a shield like our middle sister! So don't give up on the battle! You'll make Mototeru sad!"

But her sister raised her partially destroyed right hand with the ends of her eyebrows still lowered and she motioned for Mouri-03 to calm down.

"From a standpoint of whether we could continue to fight, we did not lose. But as far as deciding the outcome is concerned, just look at this."

Mouri-01 showed Mouri-03 what sat on her hand.

"That's a fragment of the projectile you made."

"Yes. That is correct. But…"

She tossed the stone over and Mouri-03 caught the fragment.

…Ah.

She realized what her sister meant.

"The compression is incredibly high."

"Exactly. I increased the power used in forming the projectile to increase its attack power and to increase its stability in acceleration. So even though it was made from Miden's materials, it can never return to that state," she explained. "So if we were proud of a victory won with this, other nations such as Galopoula and Pagoménos would have a poor opinion of us. After all, they had gone to the trouble of not attacking the city in their initial plans."

"But we had to do it to win!"

"Indeed," agreed her sister. "That is why I created and used it. But now that it did not work and the battle has been stopped, I've realized the princess would not want us to win this way."

After all…

"She is insistent that we do the right thing. …So now that we have not won and the battle has been stopped, this method is completely worthless. That must be why Lady Mochichiyo stopped us."

"That's about right. That's what I was told to do."

Her sister nodded toward Mochichiyo and turned back to Mouri-03.

"Sorry, okay?"

There was nothing she could do when her sister said that. She felt she should be the one to apologize and her sister expressed why she felt that need.

"I suppose this means our combined efforts were not quite enough."

"Don't say that," said Mochichiyo as she walked over. "I think you did plenty to show how much victory matters to you guys. And I'm sure your higher ups are aware of it. …I also have a message from your princess."

"What is it?" asked Mouri-03.

Mochichiyo smiled bitterly as she answered.

"'You can push yourselves, but not too much.'"

The ones in the command room watched as the invading leader, as well as the subordinate, were taken over by a Gate. Their bodies were covered completely with the explosive opening of the Gate.

The ones on the battlefield within the expedition ship hanger looked on in surprise.

"Trion signatures are lost," Sawamura reported while looking at the screen in front of her. "The Neighbors captured by Nasu, Miwa, Tsukiko squads, along with the one in the hallway, seem to have disappeared at the same time!"

"Neighbors can Bail Out…?!"

"There's nothing surprising about that. We imitate the technology from their side too. It shouldn't be surprising when they do the same."

Shinoda did not nod, but he acknowledged that to be right.

"What about the trion soldiers?"

"The one that Shiraishi had defeated seems to have been taken by someone else. She, along with Ikoma Squad and Ōji Squad, tried to apprehend the new person, but they had managed to get away. The ones that were on Tsukiko Yuki's front have stopped moving, but we have been told that they will not be continuing to fight and are going to be retreating. As for the mass that most of our agents are fighting, most of them are falling back. They are retreating."

"Tell Shiraishi's group, as well as the ground troops, not to pursue. Yuki's group is also to fall back and allow those trion soldiers to retreat. Stay alert until everything is under control."

"If you understand that, then this will be easier…"

Maki could hear them from his place closer to the two Neighbors.

Stepney had moved back even more, but he should have still been able to hear what was going on.

"I am Hyuse of House Erin from Aftokrator, under the command of House Beltiston."

He held nothing back in his speech.

"I demand that you assist me in returning home. Now take me to your way ship."

There was nothing surprising in what he was saying.

Everything Maki heard made sense. It was not unnatural to want to go back home once you have been away for too long.

Hyuse had even more reason to want to go back than a normal person on a trip.

"Hyuse!"

There it was.

The voice from the one Stepney was looking for.

.

This child walked up to them without worry.

Reghindetz knew that he was seeing things right. The boy in front of him is from Aftokrator - he had stated as much - and this child walked up to him with no worry at all.

"You left this."

"That's…Lampyris!"

A Trigger.

The child had brought a Trigger to this Aftokrator boy.

"I got it from Jin. He told me to give it back if you left. If you were going to leave, you should've told me! I had to leave Stepney behind to make sure I caught up to you!"

"I'm sorry…and thank you."

What was he seeing?

The two boys were ignoring him so that they could speak with each other.

Noise filled his ear, making him place a hand there.

"Reghi! Reghi, do you read me?"

It was Yomi.

"The captain and Rata failed the mission. Everyone else has returned and Mochichiyo has told us that she and Mouri are also retreating. We need to do the same."

That was it.

They had lost with nothing to show for their efforts.

All of the help they had gotten from trion soldiers to another nation letting their army run free, it had all just been to add to their losses.

Numbers were the thing that had given them an advantage, but how much of their numbers had Miden taken out before even one of their own had been defeated?

And for what reason had they been put in this position.

That is…

The ones who put them here.

Aftokrator…

The home of the boy in front of him.

It was possible that this boy did not know the situation, but things did not add up here.

After all…

"Hyuse of House Erin. Sorry, but…I can't let you board the away ship."

He did not care for their reactions.

"There were many things about this mission that didn't make sense to me. And it looks like you're on good terms with Miden's people. Didn't you sell out your country and join their side?"

"What did you say…?"

Reghindetz ignored the dark look to glance at the camera watching them.

"If you want me to trust you, you must prove you didn't surrender to Miden."

This was his play.

"Capture that kid. Take him as a hostage! Then I'll believe that you."

.

"What if I refuse?"

"I won't let you onboard the away ship, of course. I can't bring along someone who is suspicious of being a spy."

"I see…"

A blade formed in Hyuse's hand.

No hesitation was shown in the next movement.

The blade moved through the air in a single moment, stabbing through Yōtarō.

Yōtarō showed no sign of moving as the sound of a body hitting the ground was heard in the area.

"Do you still think I'm on their side? Just take me with you already."

"I knew it…"

The air was still for a moment.

As Yōtarō lay there, Hyuse only watched as Reghindetz clenched is first.

The words came a second after.

"You people from Aftokrator are all trash! 'Take me with you,' you say… Like hell I will, you asshole!" Reghindetz continued to let his voice out. His volume only continued to rise. "'We don't need to rescue captives. We can dispose of them if they interfere.' That's what your higher-ups told us! Do you understand!? Your nation abandoned you!"

With the swing of his hand, he motioned to the fallen Yōtarō who was next to Hyuse.

"The one who killed the Side child is you! It wasn't us! Now you get to deal with Miden's hatred!"

There was no stillness this time when it happened.

Immediately after saying what he did, Reghindetz heard a voice.

"Are you saying…"

It came from the fallen Yōtarō.

"Hyuse can't go back home?"

Reghindetz's sight went from Hyuse to Yōtarō. The child was slowly getting up, surprising him even more.

It had been a simple trick.

And he fell for it.

"Y-you set me up…!"

"You set me up first."

In a single motion, Reghindetz stepped back, lowered his body and gave a shout.

"Thugator!"

But in that same motion…

"Lampyris."

The sound of static filled the air as magnetics surrounded Hyuse and Yōtarō.

In place of the casual wear of Miden, Hyuse now wore the clothing and cloak of Aftokrator.

For a second time within the few minutes, Hyuse did not hesitate.

He unleashed a barrage of electrified shards towards Reghindetz. Each one stabbed into him before dragging him towards the ground.

"D-Dogs!"

"You take care of it."

A new sound filled the air.

Green lights flashed in the sky before turning and slamming down onto the remaining trion soldiers there.

"You have my gratitude for this valuable information."

Nothing else was said as Hyuse attacked.

Large blades made of the magnetics forcibly tore through the air before cutting through Reghindetz easily.

A Gate opened a moment later, forming around him.

There was no sign of his body.

.

"Was that Bail-"

Yōtarō's sentence was cut off by a body tackling him to the ground.

Hyuse looked down to see that it had been Stepney that tackled Yōtarō. From the same direction he had come from, another voice came after.

"He was holding back from running out the whole time. I thought I would have to physically hold him back, but the little bug has a surprising amount of self restraint. Unlike a certain someone…"

"I was right. You were over there."

"So you would have attacked the trion soldiers if I wasn't?"

"Of course. I was ready to do that anyway. But I figured that this would be a good chance to see if you could actually hit them."

"Don't just test someone when the situation is like that!"

"I trusted that that it would be fine with you there."

"That-!"

Those words had struck Maki once they registered in his mind.

Full trust was something people had to earn and Hyuse was here saying that he was trusted.

It was...

"Don't be too hard on him, Maki-kun. You can get on his case later, but for now…"

Coming from the opposite side as Maki and Stepney, Jin stepped forward.

Hyuse shut off Lampyris, showing his intent on not fighting. He handed it to Yōtarō immediately after.

"That was some nice acting though, you two."

"I taught him a lot of things," Yōtaro remarked. With Stepney now at his side, he held the hand of the other boy so as to not be tackled again.

Hyuse remained still, a new determination now showing on his face.

"Jin… Do you remember the bet?"

"Of course."

A bet Jin had lost.

"I'd like to make good on that bet, right now. Do whatever it takes, but you have to get me back to Aftokrator."

"Things really do get more and more crazy. Hahaha! Perfect! That's actually perfect for me! If things remained calm, I would have no place on this planet."

Kushikage released a breath as he looked over everything.

Battles had been fought all around, yet they were still contained within a certain space.

That fact alone had caught her attention.

"Border really does have some reliable people, doesn't it? I should be included in that, but my 'reliability' is more based on my own wants and needs. If they don't align with Border's wants and needs then there's nothing to gain from actually helping out."

But that could not be said for everyone in Border.

"I still have a duty to watch over my useless siblings. Hoshi is fine the way she is. Remaining that weak means I don't have to worry about her. Mukuro looks like he's starting to have fun with some others. Good, good. Here I was, thinking I would need to beat the shit out of him to make him understand that he needs to give me some space. And then there's…"

The battle she had interfered in contained her last siblings.

A sibling that her parents had disowned long ago.

"The fact I still see that little shit as my brother just shows how soft I'm going. Still… To think that he would need help from Fuji like that. He's really trying to reject what our old man and old woman taught us, isn't?"

Her grin began to fall into a scowl.

"Shit like that is the reason these rumors are going around. I shut up anyone who has the balls to say anything, but it doesn't stop the rumors themselves. But besides that…"

She turned her head away from the locations of the different battles.

Out in the distance was the rest of Mikado City.

Even further out were things that should have no connection to any of the things happening within the city, yet Kushikage continued to glare into that direction.

"There are some fuckers who are trying to stir things up."

It should have made her happy to know that.

It should have gotten her excited to know that.

But it didn't.

She could only glare.

"I guess…"

Letting out a sigh, she unfolded her arms and placed a hand on her hip. Her other hand reached for her hair and scratched at her head roughly.

"Guess I can use this to my advantage too. I'll leave the troublesome parts to Border, but I'll be dragging Fuji along for that little trip I have planned. She needs the help and my shitface of a brother is being a stupid fuck to do anything about it."

Looking back out to the city, Kushikage grinned to herself once more.

"I need to prepare. This attack was fun and all, but they didn't even tell me about it. So in that case…"

She kicked off the building.

"I'll just make some of my own fun."