The sky was tinged with red, as if it were a sign of an eruption.
　It was a scene I had seen in the past that I would never forget.

　The vast amount of magical elements (mana) flowing in the earth's veins rose furiously in response to the monster's outraged will.
　Kensei's body, which held the hilt, trembled regardless of his will.
　His instincts, his abominable memories, told him that he could not win.

　Even though he was 60 years old and counting, his body trembled miserably.
　It's not that I'm afraid of my own death.
　I am not afraid of my own death, I am afraid of the death that surrounds me.

　It had happened twelve years ago.
　In a meeting with the Kusatsu lord, holly Yoichi, he said: 'I want to avenge the monster.

''--I want to avenge the monster, lend me your strength.''

　All holly men are like that.
　As a warrior, he is proud to shed blood for his people, but he also cares more about his people than anyone else. They try to shed more blood for their families.

　Ever since she was engaged to Konoha, Yoichi has been planning to defeat the monster that lives in the Land of Harmony - Yamata.
　Kensei thinks that Kensei's true intention was not to burden his daughter, who would be born sooner or later, with the heavy burden of the ritual, as if to sacrifice a brilliant princess maiden. Because a holly man would never be unwilling to do his duty as a warrior.

　They understood that their opponent was a monster.
　For it is no exaggeration to say that the history of the Land of Wa is with the Lord of the Three Realms. If they caused a whim, the demonic beasts would flood in and the country would be threatened. Even a large-scale defeat must be done stealthily and secretly to avoid their wrath.
　And never be hostile to them, says the history of the nation of harmony.

　But is this really true?
　The strength of the enemy is understandable. However, the Land of Wa has certainly progressed over the past two thousand years. Artillery soldiers who operate magic guns made with the best of the skills accumulated by artisans, flying dragon soldiers who control tame flying dragons and can bombard them from the skies, the elite of the shogun's family who wield magic swords that have been imparted with polished techniques, the power they have accumulated, and Yoichi's strategy after observing Yamata for more than twenty years and devising countermeasures.

　I thought we had a good chance to win.
　Kensei thought that this was the perfect opportunity to put an end to a long history of feuds, and that was the last thing he would have to do.

　Demonic beasts were living creatures that ate the magical elements (rubi: mana) of the earth vein, but some ate meat, while others ate plants and trees. They may have a strong sense of taste, but research has shown that they respond to the foodstuffs that they prefer.

　In the case of the Yamata, it was alcohol.
　Although he couldn't handle the poison of liquor or the poison mixed with the meat of the beast, it had been found that he could be induced to some extent by a flicker of the smell of liquor.

　The strategy was simple.
　Aiming for the night when activity slowed down, they would cut through the forest area north of Fuji Oyama. After that, they began to use alcohol to guide them. Luring the Yamata out of the area, they bombarded it from the sky with flying dragon squads, taking advantage of an opening in which they were engrossed in the liquor. Later on, the artillery attacks from the artillery with the magic guns, and when they are weakened, the most elite of the Shogun family, the magic sword soldiers, approach and hunt for their heads. Roughly speaking, that was it.

　The strategy of defeating them using only the elite seemed to have worked.
　In the face of the overwhelming concentration of firepower, Yamata was at a loss to move, or so he thought.
　But the writhing flesh that emerged from the dust cloud continued to wriggle as if to mock the efforts of ordinary people, and hell broke loose.

　Out of the elite one thousand, two thousand or three thousand rear troops, only one hundred of them survived.
　Kusatsu had lost his lord, Yoichi, and his son, who had served in the rear unit, and Kensei had suffered a half-hearted wound in his body.

　Fortunately, Yamata did not pursue Kusatsu and returned to Mount Fuji as if nothing had happened.
　All that was left was the fact that he should never touch the Lord of the Three Realms.

　And yet, in Kensei's vision, he could see it.
　Flying into the sky, Yamata's head.
　It fell to the ground and shook the earth, after gathering the power of the country of harmony and still not reaching it.

The first thing you need to do is to take care of everything, Nahat-chan, and you'll see a happy ending.

　Saying that in a noh-ish manner, Haruka's words echoed Kensei's words when she told Kensei to cooperate with Nacht.

''-- Even the skeptical Kensei-sama will soon understand that Nacht-chan and the others are the hope of the country of harmony.

　Yeah, I guess you're right, he thought.
　Kensei couldn't help but think that.





◇





　The battlefield was surprisingly quiet.
　Yamata, who had been driven to the brink of death by two heads, didn't even attack Shtel in a fit of rage, but instead mothballed around him, two heads glaring at Shtel, and the remaining four heads watching from a distance.

(I don't want to be frightened!)

　All around, Yamata's body is covered by the body of the Yamata, and Shtel thinks he should break away once, but the four remaining heads are unable to move because they are trying to shoot at him as he escapes.

'Enemies, or at least they thought they were.

　The situation of a standoff had been created because Yamata, who had never had an existence that could be called an external enemy, was clearly wary of Shtel.
　It was because Shtel had the power to penetrate Yamata's body that he was not able to launch an easy attack.

(Isn't that slow?)　(Two more necks are gone.

　It was at that moment when he was calmly analyzing the standoff, wondering if the standoff might be to Sh'telle's advantage because of the hand injuries he was inflicting. Shtel noticed a strange Yamata movement.
　His headless torso was writhing at the edge of his vision, as if to pick up his shredded head. Yamata's head, glaring at Shtel, seemed to be sheltering it, not letting it interfere.

　The moment I thought, "What are you going to do? The dark magic rose up as if attracted to each other, and the divided neck was slowly trying to regenerate.

''(What's that sneaky!)

　With a shouted word, Shtel jumped and ran into the air.
　He quickly thrust a water spear into the neck of the Yamata who attacked him, and leapt toward the open sky with the pierced spear as a foothold.

'Recovering fast, don't let him!

　Quickly, he throws the spears he has created.
　Three spears slashing the sky and furiously thrusting forward. But as if to protect the torso and neck in the middle of regeneration, the rest of the neck caught the spears of Stel with its huge body.

''Ugh, get out of the way!

　Shtel throws a number of spears in the air at random.
　It's an action that was unintentionally chosen out of impatience and frustration. The monotonous Shtel's attacks are all received by Yamata's thick torso.

　On the contrary, the neck that is different from the neck that serves as a shield to receive Shtel's spear opens its mouth, and a breath of flashing light attacks Shtel.

''Huh!''

　The six heads made up for each of the gaps and worked together to attack Shtel.
　Clearly recognizing Stelle as an enemy, Yamata's continuous attacks were enough to force Stelle to defend against them. If a few tens of seconds passed like this, the head that had been cut off would be regenerated.
　Before that happens, one more.
　With the dragon technique, I will hunt the head.

　That was the moment when Schtel decided to do so.

''Oh no!

　Alarm bells rang strongly in the back of my mind.

''Ha!　No way!　And you--

　The eighth head, reflected in his eyes.
　It was the first head that Shtel had skewered into the earth with his dragon technique.
　Everything was slow when I realized it, and the flashing breath swallowed up Schutel, as it should have been.

''(What--?)'

　There was a barrier tugging at the darkness before Shtel's eyes as he crossed his hands in preparation for the pain.
　The flash of light gouged the earth, swallowed the atmosphere and ran through it, but there was no damage to Shtel.

''-- You shouldn't be reckless by yourself at all anymore, Shtel.

(Dad!)

It's not my dad, it's my mom, or even Aisha mom.

It's too much, Dad.

　The genie carried on the routine exchange.
　Aided by Aisha's backup, Shtel took the distance with vigor.

''Huh?　Dad, where are you?

Don't tell anyone, but Shtel, are you okay?

'Still going strong!　I'm fine!

I'll be back in a bit.

　Aisha's voice stops.
　A moment later, a flash of light and a resounding roar.
　Yamata was releasing a breath over the mountain beside him.

''Papa...?　Dad!

It's okay, Stern. It's okay, Shtel. Running and hiding is Aisha's forte.

Dad...........

　Aisha coughs one at the sound of a sad Shtel's voice.

''On top of that, Shtel, could you please stall for a bit longer?

'It's fine, of course!　We'll just keep it nailed down, won't we?

Yes, I'll give you the signal when we go on the offensive.

Copy that, Dad.
　Aisha's voice, the power, brought great joy to Shtel.
　Shtel turned the rapture bubbling up in the back of his mind into a smile.

''Oh, and Shtel - it's not the neck that's recovering that you should aim for. It's the neck that isn't moving the most.

'What?　Oh, yes - if Dad says so, I will.

　Shtel exhales slowly and stands quietly, spear at the ready.

(Have you calmed down?)

I'm not.... in a hurry...

You were in a hurry, so he was replaced.

　In fact, Shtel was puzzled and impatient at the regeneration of Yamata's head that he was supposed to have defeated. Unlike his other self, he wasn't very strong in the face of unforeseen circumstances.
　He continued his monotonous attack, allowing him to fight back and was saved by Aisha.
　Hearing Aisha's voice calmed him down, but Shtel was clearly in a hurry as he was about to run into an easy big move.

''Huh ... okay, take over.''

　With that, Shtel faced Yamata again.