Volume 7C, Chapter 55: Agent in the Empty Sky 𝒇𝐫ℯ𝑒𝒘ℯ𝑏n𝑜ѵ𝐞l.c𝗼𝗺

Reach them, reach them

If your aim can reach them

The enemy’s aim can also reach you

Point Allocation (Be Prepared)

Motoyoshi sent instructions to the fleet.

They had just one thing to do: position the fleet as a single long line and rotate it like the hand of a clock to reach the reverse side of the ironclad fleet to the east.

But with such a large fleet, he could not send individual orders to every single ship, so the movement of the lines of ships had to be broken down into smaller groups and then sent to individual ships from there.

He knew how difficult that would make the command he was giving.

“Cross over into a single line and then rotate all ships around the ironclad ships!”

The ships forming the lines traded places as they began a southward drift.

A single ship could do this right away, but with an entire fleet…

“Do not get out of place! Continue rotating quickly toward the back of the ironclad ships!”

The key to this movement was the lightweight transport ships. They had defense barriers up, so the pressure from the artillery cannon fire was weak and they could focus on piloting.

On the other hand, the warships could make simple sliding movements, but they generally could not move forward or back.

The transport ships moved between them to create a single line, but…

…This only works thanks to the excellent braking of Musashi’s transport ships.

Musashi’s transport ships were made to move around those giant ships, so instead of long-distance trade, they were designed more for short and mid-distance trade with the surface or between ships.

That had one important meaning here.

“In order to move between ships in midair, even the large transport ships have excellent stability and balance during tight turns.”

Most of the command ships had called in crew from the Musashi to help pilot.

That may have been why the divine transmission was awfully lively.

“Hey! You! I’m already on course, so just come on in on the right!”

“We’re coming in from the side, so don’t move! You, warship! Move and you’ll hit our barrier!”

“Good girl! Good girl! You’re so cute! You’re just the cutest thing ever, you good, good girl!”

Motoyoshi was not quite sure what that last one was about, but they must have all had their own methods. But…

“Okay!”

“It’s back in your hands now!”

That meant fleet management had been returned to him, so he checked the current situation on the fleet map in front of him.

…We really are rotating!

The map showed the Mouri fleet rotating around like the long hand of a clock.

They were moving counterclockwise around Kuki’s defensive formation. The long line of the fleet was tail-sliding in a largescale drift.

There was a slight curve, but they were mostly keeping a straight line.

His flagship was at the very back, so it sped up to pursue the line of ships from the outer edge.

It was a forcible high-speed fleet drift and it was all meant for one purpose.

“To move behind Kuki’s fleet!!”

Kuki saw the enemy fleet’s movement.

Reports from the surface and the ships showed what Murakami was after.

…An attack from behind!?

He was going for a surprise attack at this stage.

Getting behind the enemy was a fairly meaningless act in a fleet battle.

In artillery battles, firing from the more numerous cannons on the sides of the ships was more effective than firing from head on.

The back of the starboard side was only the port side.

The cannons on the top of the ships would have to be re-aimed, but the number of cannons on the two sides was generally the same and they could still fire just as many shells toward the enemy.

The ironclad ships were currently showing their starboard side as they fired on the enemy, so even if the enemy did move “behind” them…

Three Legs: “The enemy is only moving in front of our untouched port side! Calm down, everyone!”

Kuki knew she was right.

So he decided this was both a surprise attack and a diversion.

…The enemy’s true purpose here is…

“Mogami’s Yamagata Castle!”

The Yamagata Castle was not following the enemy’s drift.

“Well done noticing our movement.”

The sky was aroar with the Mouri fleet’s largescale drift.

Mogami Yoshiaki bent back in her summer uniform while viewing that drift diagonally to her right.

“The real battle begins now.”

The rumble of the sky shook in her ears and she slowly swung her large fan to the left.

“Yamagata Castle…move to the front of the ironclad ships. Position yourself in the western sky.”

The blowing wind grew to a storm at Bousou.

Asano had withdrawn to the eastern side of Bousou, so she experienced the overhead movement as wind.

“The skyyy is twirrrling!”

She was on the border between the beach and the forest. She had a good view of the eastern sky from there, but the forest ceiling obstructed her view to the west.

But even through those trees, she could see the giant compass needle spinning southward.

…Herrrrrre they come!

She could hear them.

Waves sprayed from the ocean in what almost sounded like applause. The occasional lower rumbling was the whistling of the wind hitting those many waves.

Then a clear vibration arrived.

The long needle in the sky was not just pushing at the air.

“They’re braaaaking!!”

The ocean launched rain up toward the sky. The water’s surface split open as far as Asano could see.

That rain rushed toward the beach.

…Whoaaaa!

The beach’s sand was blasted into the sky.

Asano sensed a sandstorm forming, so she rushed back into the forest to shield herself with the trees, and…

“My spell!”

How much of the coming sand could she store up and thus defend against using her storeroom spell?

But in the moment before the sandstorm arrived, she sent Kuki footage of what she had seen.

The Yamagata Castle was not joining in with the enemy’s largescale drifting. That meant the ship intended to attack the worn-down starboard side of the ironclad ships. In other words, the west.

Meanwhile, Murakami’s Mouri fleet would circle east to fire from there.

They were slowing their drift and they would likely come to a stop at…

…Exactly the opposite side from the Yamagata Caaastle!

Kuki did not make any changes to the defensive formation including the ironclad ships.

“Do not move! Simply return fire!”

His map showed the line of enemy ships drifting. It was curious that they were somewhat descending as they went, but they may have intended to establish another stepped line of ships to construct an angle of fire for more of their ships.

Meanwhile, Kuki’s ships did not need to move. The enemy would come to them, so…

“Ironclad fleet, prepare to fire to port!”

Kuki made his decision.

“Prepare defense barriers to starboard!”

“Not much of a gambling man, are you, Kuki Yoshitaka!?”

At the rear of the rotating line of ships, Motoyoshi had his ships descend while he checked on Kuki’s fleet’s response.

He was receiving observation data from the Miura Peninsula to the west. When he combined that with what his fleet could see in the dark…

“You aren’t shaking, huh!?”

His hope for this largescale drift was to wear down Kuki’s fleet on the inside.

Not only would this wear down the armor and ships themselves, but it would wear down the personnel and supplies inside the ships.

The ironclad ships had a symmetrical design with main cannons lined up along the top and sides.

A symmetrical design with that cannon arrangement meant reloading would be done through the center of the ship.

Elevators would be used to bring supplies to each floor and then to either port or starboard.

When they were focused to starboard, the supplies would naturally be focused starboard as well. More personnel would be sent starboard and the rotation would be centered there.

Combat was a fluid thing.

There was no guarantee you would have use of your materials, equipment, and other supplies forever. In most cases, they would be used while setting things up against the enemy or responding to the unexpected.

Motoyoshi had just spun all that around to the opposite side.

So what would happen then?

…The personnel focused on the starboard side will have to be redistributed while they reestablish their internal supply line.

But since the port side materials and equipment were untouched, they would not have been “broken in” yet.

Everything was reset in a way that would hinder the exhausted starboard side personnel.

And by keeping the Yamagata Castle in the west, the personnel and supplies could not be fully adjusted.

…This rotation’s true value is only seen when the battlefield has reached a stalemate.

He had hoped to break them down, but…

“He’s a tough one!”

Motoyoshi could see Kuki’s decision.

He had given his orders while well aware of the exhausted state within his ships.

“He’s sticking to defense against the Yamagata Castle and focusing his attacks on us!?”

“That’s not very nice,” said Terumoto while placing her hands on the edge of the bow deck.

Kuki’s tactics came from his confidence in the ironclad ships’ abilities.

He trusted them to defend against the powerful Yamagata Castle.

He trusted them to attack the poorly-defended Mouri fleet.

He split attack and defense between port and starboard.

And in so doing…

“The internal flow of personnel becomes a lot simpler, so no one gets confused about what to do.”

“Same with the supplies,” said Mouri-01 via signe cadre. “They only need to send the defensive supplies starboard and the offensive ones port.”

And…

“There will only be a short gap while the initial personnel change posts and they figure out the new flow of supplies, but once that rearrangement is complete, this will be little different from before.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

The sky compass was already braking. At this rate, the enemy would simply return fire as before.

“Are we screwed?”

“Do not worry, Princess. Master Murakami will handle this.”

Just as Mouri-01 said that, a color appeared in the eastern sky.

It was red.

The explosive flames were much too large to simply call a fire and they erupted from the Murakami fleet rotating through the eastern sky.

That had to be a warship sinking thanks to a sudden explosion at the rear of the rotating line of ships.

“They were hit!? But Kuki hasn’t started firing yet, has he!?”

Nevertheless, Terumoto saw a warship sinking while its bow tilted downwards. The sky was lit up by the flames enveloping it.

The flaming ship had been thrown from the largescale drifting.

But the timing and location seemed odd.

“It shouldn’t have been in range of the ironclad ships’ cannons yet!”

Plus, it was toward the back of the fleet, so the other ships should have acted as a shield.

This was a sniper attack.

…There’s something out there!

Terumoto immediately activated a telescope spell.

For a brief moment, she saw something flash in the southeastern sky. The warship’s explosion had illuminated it.

…Is that them!?

Someone was rotating rapidly through the southern sky to pursue the drifting line of ships.

They dodged the anti-air fire from the ships that had noticed and used a burst of mobility to hop upwards.

“Ten Spears #5 – Katou Yoshiaki!”

Terumoto heard a rapid scraping noise from the sky.

That was the sound of a Technohexen accelerating.

…I screwed that up!

Yoshiaki clicked her tongue in her heart while using her full body to swing around Weiss Fürstin.

She had failed to snipe the Murakami flagship.

Weiss Fürstin’s anti-ship cannon form was a pretty impressive weapon. That meant she had been forced to follow after them in the southern sky so they would not notice her, but they had been faster than she had expected. She had been following the route Kuki gave her, so she could always use that as an excuse, but…

“I’m not worthy of the Technohexen title if I can’t carry out the job given to me.”

The enemy’s rotation was too quick for warships. And more than that…

…The wind from the defense barriers was a real pain to deal with.

Murakami Motoyoshi’s fleet was made up of Mouri’s attack fleet and Musashi’s transport fleet. The Mouri fleet was a mixture of Far Eastern and Catholic ships and some of the ships had joint systems.

But the Musashi transport ships were exclusively Far Eastern.

When those were mixed together, it created an odd feeling for an attacker.

The types of the defense barriers were jumbled together.

The Catholic defense barriers were reflection types.

The Shinto defense barriers were acclimation types.

Both types would shatter when an attack surpassed their limits, but they could also deflect the attack depending on their angle.

The Catholic ones would deflect them straight back in the opposite direction, but the Shinto ones would reduce the attack’s power while letting it slide across their surface before being deflected off the edge.

This was not limited to artillery. The same happened to the wind created by the ships.

Some barriers deflected things sharply and others deflected them shallowly. The mixture of wind speeds caused by that had diverted her sniper shot. It was meant to blow through the bow of Murakami Motoyoshi’s flagship, but it tore into the side of the ship in front of it instead.

She had shot down a warship protecting the flagship, but that was not her goal.

She immediately reassembled Weiss Fürstin and flew.

She had to hurry.

The enemy ships were about to complete their largescale drifting.

They were stopping.

Her target was Murakami Motoyoshi’s flagship that commanded that fleet movement. If she destroyed the command ship, they would lose the coordination for their surprise attack and the fleet would break apart. That would greatly reduce the burden on Kuki’s fleet.

“Also,” she quietly began while exhaling a heated breath into the night air. “Defeating Murakami Motoyoshi plays a role in my history recreation.”

The Testament said Katou Yoshiaki would make a name for herself as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake and later rise to prominence as one of the Seven Generals. The battles leading up to Sekigahara occurred during the time of the Seven Generals, but…

…In my case…

She held Matsuyama Castle as part of the Eastern Army. It was the Western Army’s Murakami Navy who attacked that castle.

The Murakami Navy landed at Matsuyama after taking the castle of Hachisuka’s forces.

But Yoshiaki’s forces noticed them, attacked in the middle of the night, and killed Murakami Motoyoshi in battle.

“This was the perfect chance for a night attack.”

That was not why she had done it, but since this charge toward the enemy fleet matched the Testament so well…

“It feels like a good luck charm. Like I’m guaranteed success.”

She flew toward the enemy fleet. She pushed back the thruster control pedals with the backs of her thighs and closed her six wings as much as possible.

“Weiss Fürstin – high-speed cruising form.”

“Wow.”

The Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuuzouji heard that comment while they were determining which parts of the mechanical dragon needed repairs.

“Oh, what is it, my lady!?”

They looked up to see Nabeshima standing on the armor that guarded the cockpit in the dragon’s head.

She was holding a lernen figur up toward the sky. And on the other side…

“The Murakami fleet and…is that Hashiba’s Weiss Hexen!?”

She held her right index finger up toward the sky as if she were pointing at the stars there.

“That’s incredible.”

The trail her finger drew in the sky was following the Technohexen’s flight.

The lights of cannon fire flew through the sky there.

Lights were shined to capture the flying Technohexen and definite lines were drawn out by homing spells.

It was all a counterattack made by the Murakami fleet as they drifted away, but…

“Oh?” said one of the Four Heavenly Kings while looking up at the ether light railing through the sky. “She isn’t running away.”

“She must have her pride as one of the Ten Spears. Everyone loves that pain-in-the-rear concept when they’re young.”

“The Four Heavenly Kings doesn’t need an old geezer like youuuu!!”

“No, we don’t need youuuu!”

After exchanging some blows, a bearded elderly man spoke up.

Nabeshima kept her eyes on the sky where she traced her finger along like a conductor’s baton.

“Really, I want to be as good a lifelong technician as I can be for the lady.”

“Everyone has to decide on a path for themselves. Even the fighters need some other skills to put food on the table once the fighting ends. …Although we’ll need to stop the Apocalypse first.”

“But,” said an elderly man in glasses. “The lady says she wants to fight and…look. The way her finger is moving is a bit much for us. She might have it in her, but we’d never last.”

“Which is why we don’t need youuuuuuuuuuu!”

The second scuffle began, but they were still watching Yoshiaki charge toward the enemy’s counterattack as shown through the sharp lines drawn out by Nabeshima.

Yoshiaki flew rapidly toward the enemy fleet from above center.

The enemy fleet could use the top of their ships for anti-air fire, so this allowed them to utilize their greatest firepower. She knew full well that she was in grave danger here. However…

…I want speed for my approach.

She had a single reason for that.

Her craft was currently in high-speed cruising form. She hoped to remake it into high-mobility form to break through the fleet.

But switching forms would take a small amount of time.

She used gravity to eliminate that gap. The difference was slight, but she could maintain her speed better when remaking her craft during a descent than while ascending or flying horizontally.

So she did so.

The enemy had plenty of speed too. These were a powerful nations’ aerial warships after all. Their horizontal drift kicked up some waves and she was hit with the illusion of them moving away from her.

They had noticed her.

The enemy was swinging around with Murakami Motoyoshi’s ship in the back.

They drew a large arc and revealed a single line to her.

It was the long line of their ships.

She would have to pass above or between the dozen or so ships in front of the flagship to reach it.

She tore through the wind and pulled her Weiss Hexen hat low over her eyes as she viewed that image and task.

“Fine then.”

More lines of homing ether light had appeared in the sky to shoot her down. To avoid friendly fire, they appeared to be using stronger guidance and homing spells than normal.

That was fine with her.

She leaned her body forward, opened up the thrusters, and spoke.

“I accept your challenge.”

For just a brief moment, Nabeshima saw a light that looked like a blade piercing the night sky.

It stabbed diagonally down toward the long line of ships.

That was Yoshiaki’s schale besen.

It was a lot like passing a needle through a piece of cloth, but there was no hesitation in that burst of speed.

That Technohexen was up against a massive number of shells, defense barriers, and spells, but instead of dodging them, she broke straight through.

…Incredible.

That trajectory was reminiscent of iaido.

Nabeshima doubted anyone in that rotating fleet had been able to track that movement.

That was clear enough from how they continued their anti-air fire despite losing sight of their target. However…

“Wow.”

Yoshiaki had moved down below the enemy fleet and she had already changed form.

Unlike before, her schale besen had its front and rear wings spread out in their adjustable positions.

That would be its high-mobility form, which told Nabeshima why Yoshiaki had forced her way through a moment before.

…She needed enough speed to avoid being targeted mid-transformation, and…

“She was practicing how she would plunge deep into the enemy formation now!”

Her schale besen filled with light to take her not just close to the enemy, but in their midst.

She rocketed forward.

Yoshiaki “pierced” them.

Technohexen attacks could be divided into two major categories based on their trajectories: straight-line shots and curving shots which were either controlled or autonomous.

Schwarz Hexen used repulsion acceleration spells, so they primarily used straight-line shots.

Weiss Hexen used guided acceleration spells, so they primarily used curving shots.

Modern Technohexen still used that foundation, but they would also incorporate both methods on top of their specialty or switch between the types as they fought.

Yoshiaki was a Weiss Hexen, but she actually preferred straight-line shots.

She thought of flying as a world of speed where you could not afford to any distractions. So…

“There.”

She understood the general speed of the enemy artillery and spells.

She passed through them.

She dove between the ships, slipped below them, and soared up between the cannon blasts.

She was not dodging them.

She chose a route void of enemy attacks to arrive at her ending point as quickly as possible. Instead of a curving path that tried to follow the most direct path, she took rectangular path of linked inner corners.

She launched her entire body forward and kept her schale besen under control to harness that straight-line stability.

She went full speed. That was not as high as it might be since she was using the high-mobility form, but she could not have used the actual top speed of the high-speed cruising form while among all these densely-packed attacks. She needed the high-mobility form that brought her speed back up as much as possible with each consecutive burst of acceleration.

Her body was already leaning past the grip and her chin was pressed against the broom.

She thought of it like tensing her sides and making herself as skinny as possible.

She closed her wings, and…

“Mach schnell.”

She dove between the enemy artillery and through the gaps in the lines drawn by the homing spells. But more than that…

…Toward the surface of the ship!

She flipped around and flew alongside the enemy ship’s starboard side with her back toward it.

The wind from the ship pushed on the broom, causing it to pull in toward her body this time.

“…!”

She made it through.

There was no thrill in flying between the artillery shots. Since the gunners used control spells for assistance, the lines of fire never overlapped.

So if she flew along one line, she was guaranteed safety.

If she did that for a second and third line, she could “thread the needle” with a series of straight lines.

She was in a hurry.

She set her sights on another enemy warship. She flew toward its port side while it rapidly rotated through the world in its high-speed drift.

When flying alongside the ship, the spray from its virtual ocean interfered with the spells keeping her schale besen flying. Instead of a shaking, it was more like the broom gently hopped up as at hit a wave.

That signaled the beginning of her turn.

She broke through the wave and bathed in the ether fragments while swinging Weiss Fürstin around.

She was as close to the side of the ship as she could get without touching it. No, Weiss Fürstin’s tail did in fact bump into the armor.

The ship’s armor was a collection of defense spells, but so was Weiss Fürstin. They repelled each other, so…

“Thanks.”

That gave her some initial speed to work with.

The metallic clang reached her only after Weiss Fürstin was already moving forward. She accelerated it and held it down to move straight ahead. The path she wanted was the one through the gaps in the enemy’s attacks.

The ether lines of homing spells raced after her.

Great speed and many paths pursued her, so if those caught her, a ton of homing shots would hit her. However…

“I can make it.”

Weiss Fürstin accelerated. Weiss Hexen spells were perfect for acceleration, so she pulled away from all those ether lines.

This felt good. She enjoyed her everyday life, but this version of herself and this world here could never be found there.

It was wonderful.

She did not even need to look back because she would have known what was happening even with her eyes closed. That was why she had dived down from above to earn enough time to prepare.

Now she only needed to accelerate.

She chose a direction and rocketed forward.

She was surrounded by motion.

…But…

She launched herself and then there was nothing at all around her.

She could not be touched by the enemy’s attacks or hostility. The Technohexen had taken flight during their days of persecution, but Yoshiaki thought there was more to it than having inherited ancient flight technology.

Solitude was a wonderful thing when it was intentionally sought out.

So she tore through the sky.

The sky was clear. The emptiness and chill she felt there were no illusion. That was simply what the night air felt like.

She sent herself forward and swung her legs to control her angle. Then she viewed the proper route once more.

“There it is.”

She could see it.

Murakami Motoyoshi’s flagship was visible through the line of enemy ships.

The enemy was coming.

Motoyoshi could see his historical nemesis soaring through the sky.

…So it really is you.

This was his first time seeing her.

But as the inheritor of the name Murakami Motoyoshi, he could never forget the name Katou Yoshiaki.

Technically speaking, she was not the one who would kill him. It was someone under her command.

But they were connected by the fact that he would lose to her forces.

“Let us see.”

He viewed his enemy and raised his right hand.

“What is it I am fighting against here?”

He swung his hand outwards.

“Fire!”

Yoshiaki saw it while she flew rapidly between the ships.

…On both sides!?

The warships on either side of her had opened the cannons on their sides.

Of course, firing those would hit the opposite ships, so the control spells would alter the angles and instead use the secondary cannons on top of the deck.

Or so she thought.

Instead, every one of those cannons moved to target her.

That meant they had shut off the control spells.

“You’re willing to suffer friendly fire over this!?”

The subsequent cacophony was all the answer she needed.

Cannons fired from either side of her.

Yoshiaki made no mistake when responding to the twin barrages.

She fearlessly continued her acceleration.

The artillery fire filling the canyon between ships included the cannons atop the decks.

The shells were going to strike each other or the other ships.

And she took action just before any of that happened.

She spread the wings on her back and rose from Weiss Fürstin.

“…!”

She kicked off and took flight.

Motoyoshi saw the collision and his enemy’s decision in the sky out ahead.

Katou Yoshiaki was no longer flying or soaring.

She had slammed her speed into her spread wings.

…Are you insane!?

He saw the Technohexen collide with the air. Her wings strained, her hat flew off, and her right main wing twisted outwards from the second joint onwards.

Golden feathers scattered into the night. The homing spells from the fleet behind her pursued and locked onto her, but…

“Did the Technohexen take flight!?”

Her wings were angled upwards, so this collision with the wind would launch her skyward.

She used that to avoid the artillery fire from either side.

And he heard her voice. Or he thought he did.

“Weiss Fürstin.”

As she uttered those words, her outstretched right hand touched something.

It was a collection of white rectangles that rose from below. It was her schale besen.

Just before letting go, she had kicked off of it and jumped up, but she had not simply been using it as a foothold or stepping stone. The kick had sent it downwards, so its tail had dropped down to avoid the artillery fire while it also aimed skyward.

The rest was simple. The schale besen had collided with the same air as she had, so it was launched diagonally up a beat after her.

Then she adjusted her position in the air to catch up to it from behind.

Instead of riding it, she was clinging to or embracing it.

But she used it to fly toward him all the same.

As soon as her gaze was undeniably directed toward him, he gave an order.

“Fire.”

This time, the flagship’s main cannon was fired toward the Technohexen.

Nabeshima saw the Technohexen’s split-second decision in response to the warship’s main cannon.

She used the homing spells. They locked onto the feathers she scattered, so they detonated behind her.

The force of the explosion blasted her forward.

It was a rough evasion.

…Is this why she spread her wings and scattered her feathers before!?

The action had enough force to push her away from the flagship’s main cannon. But…

“Eh?”

Nabeshima was confused because Yoshiaki was hit as she performed her flying evasive action.

Yoshiaki had supposedly dodged the attack, but Nabeshima saw and heard an attack hitting her.

However, this was not the attack from Motoyoshi’s flagship. It was from one of the enemy ships she had already passed by.

Motoyoshi’s flagship had not actually fired a shell. It had instead fired…

“A homing spell!?”

That homing designation was sent to one of the previous shells so it was sure to hit the Technohexen even if she took evasive action.

Nabeshima was certain this had stopped Katou Yoshiaki’s charge, but…

“Huh?”

Why? she wondered as she watched the schale besen scattering through the sky.

“Why are the pieces black?”

Motoyoshi looked to the right.

He turned to the eastern sky horizontally right of the empty space the main cannon had fired through.

There were wings there, but not all of them were gold.

“The Schwarz Hexen is here too!?”

The black Technohexen was holding the white one in one arm. The black one was clearly exhausted and out of breath, but…

“–––––”

The white schale besen they both held had transformed. It had functioned as a flight device before, but now it was…

“A cannon!?”

“Angie!?”

Yoshiaki had been prepared for the shell to hit her, but someone had flown in from the side just before it did.

It was Angie.

The girl had readily slammed her own schale besen into the enemy shell and maintained her momentum while snatching up Yoshiaki.

She must have flown all the way here from Europe without stopping for supplies.

Soaring along the wind required the same stamina as a full-body workout. That could be seen from her sweat and the stiffness of her hair.

“Kime-chan.”

She only held Yoshiaki in her right arm while using her left arm to pull in Weiss Fürstin.

“Man, Bitchu Takamatsu Castle was hilarious. I laughed my ass off!”

“Was it?”

That simple response was enough to calm Yoshiaki. She realized how important this sense of peace was as she accepted Weiss Fürstin from Angie and activated its anti-ship cannon form.

All of its acceleration panels were arranged as a cannon barrel measuring over 30m long.

This was a Technohexen cannon.

She readied that while viewing the enemy with Angie.

She sent a fire command to the cannon while letting her body ride the wind. And there was one thing she had to say now.

“I am enjoying myself too.”

She fired her cannon on Motoyoshi’s flagship.