Something tugged at the back of Hanabi’s mind. Next to her, Kuon was compressing the magic in his frame, preparing to unleash it.
There were no Jave nearby. The disc Jave was too far above. Even if Kuon used Soryu Ranbu to cause Magic Dispersal, they’d barely do any damage. But it would at least buy En a little more time. That seemed like enough.
But only to Kuon.
Shichisei Kenbu.
Who said that? Kuon, Hanabi, even En all swore they’d heard a voice. Were they hearing things? This was the Jave World. Another world. There was no one else around them, and certainly no one else who could use Shichisei Kenbu, not here, not…
“Seven-count Strike.”
Kuon and Hanabi couldn’t see her. How could they? The Cavalleria was above the disc Jave, out of their line of sight. But even so, they saw.
Maybe it was a dream. Maybe it was an illusion. But they both saw humanity’s strongest Cavalleria, seven wings of light at her back, a red sword of light in her hands. Both Kuon and Hanabi saw her plain as day.
“Shijin Reppaku Ryuenbu!”
A wind blew, and more than a wind. It was a storm, a tornado. A tornado-shaped blade of fire that cut through everything it touched and mercilessly melted the edges of everything it sliced, tearing through the heart of the disc Jave.
It didn’t just pierce the disc. It ripped open a space so large it was like the hole in a donut. Kuon and Hanabi found themselves surrounded by a membrane of red light and realized it was protecting them from that incredible area of effect attack.
They truly saw her through the hole she’d opened. It was a little Cavalleria whose hair always turned red when her DM was deployed, someone Kuon knew better than anyone.
“Sorry I’m late, Kuon!”
It was Nanahoshi Kaede. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he yelled, “Master!”
“Jeez, you sure know how to worry people, you fool of a student! When we get home, you’re gonna get a piece of my mind!”
“Yes! Totally!”
“Headmaster? But…but how…?!” Hanabi wanted to know how she’d even made it here. Only Hanabi could open a Gate, and just barely. Which meant…
“Oh, I see! Of course! Of course! That’s how!” En suddenly got very excited. “That’s why Kuon-sama and Hanabi-sama’s clocks didn’t match up!”
“My clock…? Oh…!” Hanabi exclaimed.
“Exactly! When I got here with Hanabi-sama, Kuon’s internal clock said only three minutes had passed! I thought it was just an error, but it wasn’t!”
Kaede nodded. “Your real body noticed the same thing, En.”
The little En yelled back, “The flow of time is different! One minute in the Jave world is a full day on Earth! Kuon-sama fought for three minutes on his own, while three days passed on Earth! Why it took thirteen years for the Queen Jave to recover last time, why enemy reinforcements only just started pouring out of the Gates back home, why it took Tooka-sama thirty years to be reincarnated… This explains everything!”
The Queen Jave’s thirteen years were only three days in the Jave world. The Jave had first appeared on Earth over twenty years ago, but even that was only a matter of days on their world. They had taken some time in this world to create Tooka, but far more time had passed on Earth.
“To the Jave, our world was an ideal environment that seemed to produce fresh food endlessly. We may only have one Division 5 every decade, but to them it seems like one is born almost every day.”
“No, wait, En… How does that improve our situation…?”
The Jave clustered around them had seen the disc Jave’s damage and were acting cautious, but once they’d appraised their strength they’d attack once more. Nanahoshi Kaede was unquestionably humanity’s strongest Cavalleria, but she had a time limit—she could only fight for five minutes. It wouldn’t be long before she ran out of magic, and then she’d be in the same condition as Kuon and Hanabi. They still had no chance.
Or so Kuon thought.
But En looked super pleased with herself. “Don’t worry, Kuon-sama! While we fought for thirty minutes, over a month passed back on Earth! With that amount of time,” she said as she spread her hands dramatically, “more than just Kaede-sama crossed over!”
Behind the little Guide’s outstretched hands, as if responding to her signal, more Gates opened, one after another. Kuon counted them.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…!
Twenty-eight Gates opened from the Earth to the Jave World, and what came through those Gates were…
“Kiryu?!”
An incredible number of Kiryu, even bigger than Hanabi’s. Each dragon had three Cavalleria on board. A rider mounted on the back of the dragon’s head, operating it, and behind them Attacks, Gunners, or Controls.
The swarm of Kiryu passed slowly over Kuon and Hanabi. These must be Alliance Cavalleria—they didn’t recognize the majority of them. But Kuon did find a few familiar faces, and they waved down at him.
“You okay there, Okegawa-sensei?”
“Get hype, men! We get to save the Bushi Hime this time!”
“Can’t let the assistant instructor hog all the glory!”
“Cavalleria!” A veteran called, clearly the one in charge. “Junryu Squads, attack!”
A roar went up from all quarters, and countless light beams shot towards the disc Jave. Heavy Magic Fields deployed as High Nova Launchers fired. These were definitely Kiryu. Their output was lower, and they likely took all three Cavalleria to activate, but they were still Kiryu.
Watching in awe as their allies fought the disc Jave in the skies above, Kuon sputtered, “But…but how…?”
“Mass-produced Kiryu. The Junryu, Kyuu-kun. Powered by three Division 4s.”
Hanabi turned towards the voice and saw the Junryu rider speaking. Her jaw dropped. “How…?” she said and then swallowed the question.
“’Sup, Hanabi? You still alive there?”
“Rin! You came?”
“Of course I did! Our team’s the ace of the Junryu Squad!”
The Control and Attacker behind her grinned awkwardly. “I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. Glad to see you alive, Suzuka-kun.”
“She wouldn’t be a Motegi if she didn’t come!” Another familiar voice spoke. “Oh, and Suzuka, Okegawa-sensei, you should know I joined the Fuji Squad.”
“Fuji-kun and Okayama-kun!”
On the dragon’s head, Rin puffed herself up, grinning. “Don’t need both legs to fly, do I?”
Hanabi smiled through her tears. “Argh… You’re all idiots…!”
It all fell into place. “I see,” Kuon whispered. “You had the Crystal II and the Core with Tooka and Hanabi’s data, so if you could just get the frames, then a month was enough time…!”
These frames were why the Empire had been so hell-bent on getting the Capital back. With the Jave occupying it, the plans had been frozen, hidden underground. Nanahoshi Kaede had gone to the underground storage bays in the Capital to recover those units. The critical Heavy Magic Engines, like Kuon said, were reproduced using the Crystal II and the Core data. All they had left to do was place the engines in the frames. Their output was only half the Drag Ride’s, but they didn’t require a Division 5 to use. Three high-level Cavalleria would be enough to give the engine the kick it needed.
“High magic?” Kuon said. “Then not just Hanabi…”
“Exactly,” his master said. The weapon on her back closed as she landed on the Fuji Squad’s Junryu, glaring down at Kuon. “We no longer need a single Hero. Hmph. I’ll give you credit for figuring that much out, at least.”
“Now we don’t have to make Hanabi do all the fighting!” Rin said, giving them a dramatic thumbs-up that was so like her. “Now, hurry up! While we’re buying you some time!”
“Wake Tooka up, Kuon! I’m sure I taught you how.”