Two hours after the start of Operation 177, Takaya and the rest of the commando unit were called to action.
“You stay behind. If the doctor dies in battle, who will take care of the wounded?”
“But—” Nakagawa began, when he caught a glimpse of Yoshimura’s friends out of the corner of his eyes. There were four of them in the unit. They were behaving themselves, which itself was ominous. Takaya paid no attention. He straddled his bike and inserted the key into the ignition.
“Go back to the main camp. Keep me informed.”
It was as if the version of him down by the riverbank had been a dream. To Nakagawa, this Takaya giving orders with brisk efficiency seemed a different person. He was wearing a poison-blocking contact lens in his left eye. He put on his helmet and raised his arm to signal their departure. The riders left the rest house with Takaya in the lead. Utarou, riding in the sidecar of Someji’s Harley, was the last one to pass him.
(Please leave the rest to me,) he signaled. Nakagawa had told Utarou about Yoshimura and his gang. Nakagawa’s face remained grim.
The plan called for Kada to take the Miyoshi Bridge
side upstream and for Hikawa to take the Great Ikeda Bridge side. Hikawa’s unit’s task was to defend against reinforcements from the enemy fortress.
Hakuchi Castle was located on a hill. He could now see the lovely building of the recreation center and the spirit-wave tower. The national highway ran along the river right below him, and there were many private houses. They had to first climb the hill and break the castle’s barrier.
“Kada-san is planning to attack from the upriver side along this route.”
Takaya and his men spread out a map at the edge of the battle zone and planned their strategy.
“We received calls for support from here and here.”
“The mountain side, huh? The enemy seems to be thin on the ground, but are we looking at any obstacles?”
“Mines are scattered from the moat to the slope of the castle.”
“Mines? Real ones?”
“Not against bodies, but they do blow up the spirits that possess them.”
“Mines that repel spirits?”
They blanketed the area. The dry moat, shaped like a curved kitchen knife, was now a small valley that cut through the foot of the mountain from north to south. In anticipation of an attack from the mountain side, mines had been embedded in the slope to prevent anyone from going up. Unless they could fly, mounting an attack would be difficult. On the other hand, the enemy would be shorthanded there, believing themselves protected by the mines.
“If we can get rid of those mines, we’ll be able to get behind them.”
“But we have no way to remove them.”
“For now, let’s go out there and check it out.”
Takaya and the others left their motorcycles behind and entered the mountain. At the foot of Mt. Tenjin was a small valley. It would’ve been a respectable moat in the past, but was now a road.
“Captain, watch out.”
“I’m not a possessor spirit. You guys keep back.”
Takaya went down to the road. When he held his hand over the ground, he felt a stabbing pain similar to a strong electric shock. When he lightly dug into the soil, he found a lump of iron about three centimeters in diameter that looked like a water tap. Was this a land mine? A possessor spirit who stepped on it squarely would certainly be blown away.
(What kind of device is this?)
Takaya took out an armor-orb touched it to the mine. It immediately sparked bluish-white, almost burning his fingertips, and Takaya dropped it.
(I see.)
He appeared to have come up with some way of dealing with them.
“Ougi-san, what have you discovered?”
"Do you know how to remove land mines?
“Huh?”
“You have to detonate them on the spot. That’s the only way. We’ll detonate all the mines here.”
“All of them! But how?”
“The mines appear to filled with energy from the god of thunder, which doesn’t mix well with other types of energy. We’ll set up some Mt. Tsurugi saltpeter, sprinkle holy oil on it, and make it a roller with an armor-orb. An induced explosion and ignition should wipe all of the mines.”
There was a problem, however: fire. A strong northwesterly wind was blowing. There were houses downwind, as well as Kada and his men.
“We need to pay attention to the direction of the wind, calculate the amount of saltpeter and where the armor-orb will explode. We need to set up three fire fences just in case.”
“Fire fences.”
“Vacuum walls. They’ll prevent the fire from spreading.”
Someji and the others stared in confusion. How were they going to build something like that?
“Utarou!” Takaya called.
Surprised that he was being singled out so suddenly, Utarou looked around and goggled. “Me?” he answered. Takaya pulled some bundles of tubes from his waist and handed them to him.
“It’s dynamite made of diatomaceous earth from sacred ground.”
“What is it supposed to do?”
“It’s rough, but we don’t have time to prepare a fire truck. Use «goshinheki» to isolate three areas. Once you’ve corralled the fire into the cul-de-sac, use the dynamite to blow it up. If you use up all the oxygen in a confined space, that will leave a vacuum. Starving fire of oxygen will extinguish it. Can you do that?”
“...What’s a goshinheki?”
“When you build a psychic wall with your will. Don’t you know?”
“Yeah. It’s a thicker version of an «energy shield», right?”
The terminology differed from region to region, apparently.
“I need six of you in the firefighting team. Utarou, you and...”
“I’ll go,” someone volunteered: an Ichiryou Gusoku named Minoshima. “I’m good at making «energy shields». Please allow me to be on the team.”
Takaya agreed. He selected four more men and had them start their work immediately. Iwata Eikichi contacted Takaya right after.
“All right. Let’s meet at Hachiman Shrine at the foot of the mountain,” he told Takaya over the intercom. The plan was to remove the mines and launch a surprise attack from the mountain side.
“What did Iwata say?”
“The vacuum cleaner isn’t working as well as they thought it would. It’s only siphoned off about 60% of the spiritual power. Kada is afraid of triggering the ‘curse-burning fire’. The command center is probably inside the building.”
“He wants us to attack it?”
“Yeah.”
Takaya started preparations for clearing away the mines at a brisk pace. Someji watched him with concern.
“Wouldn’t it cause too much of a commotion to detonate all the mines?”
“Better too much commotion than half-baked. If we confuse the castle garrison, it’ll be easier for Kada and his lot to move.”
“Ougi-san...who the hell are you?”
Takaya’s hands stopped for just a moment. “We’re short of spirit-saltpeter. Bring me some.”
“Are you going to plant it all by yourself?”
“Not like I have any choice—the rest of you can’t help. How many armor-orbs do you have left?”
“Four.”
“Not enough. We need five more. Get them from wherever you can.”
Takaya had the power to make saying no an impossibility. Only someone who was used to giving orders could be this forceful.
“The rest of you will measure out the saltpeter. Here’s the number and quantity.” Takaya smoothly wrote down the numbers. “This is everything we have. You can’t get even a single gram wrong. Measure accurately and put it in this bag.”
He was fast. No one listening to Takaya’s economical instructions would believe he was a newcomer from the modern world. Takaya listened to the incoming information as he worked. The instructions he gave were clear and precise, and despite the complicated war situation, organized themselves neatly in everyone’s mind. While concentrating on the battle, he didn’t have to think about anything else. In a sense, it was a happy time for him.
The work progressed swiftly. Under the watchful eye of the guards, Takaya stealthily placed the devices at every strategic point. They took their places. They were ready to clear the mines. All that remained was to use the armor-orbs.
Takaya put on flash goggles and signaled to to his irregulars.
GO.
The loud explosion, which occurred without any prior warning, startled not only Miyoshi’s castle garrison, but also Reijirou and his men. They looked in the direction of the explosion.
“It’s coming from the mountain!”
The explosions came in groups. Reijirou and his men were in the middle of battle, fighting hard against the castle garrison. A tremendous impact shook the area—as if from aerial bombardment. There followed another huge explosion which sounded like a firecracker. The sound was so loud that it paralyzed Ushio with fear.
“Wh-what was that?! The enemy? Or?!”
“It’s coming from the mountain, where the commando unit...where Ougi must be.”
“What?! Ougi!”
“Kada-san!” Yoshimura came running toward them with a radio transmission. “The commando unit appears to have cleared the mines on the mountain side!”
“Cleared the mines?! So it was Ougi’s doing?!” Even as he spoke, there came another conspicuously high-pitched explosion. Reijirou, however, had already grasped the situation. “The enemy is confused. It’s now or never. Charge!”
Inspired by his shout, the soldiers roared as if they had just woken up. The cheering men rushed up the slope. They quickly felled the castle garrison.
“Push forward, push forward—!”
“There! And there! And there!”
Ushio was also doing his best. He pounded away with his psychic pistol. He thrust himself into the leading group to kill the enemy. He was no longer the Ushio at the cave, so afraid he couldn’t stay on his feet. He scuffled with the enemy and got a cut on his cheek, but he pushed forward without a flinch.
(I’m not losing to you this time, Ougi!)
The energy of Bishamonten within the armor-orb touched that of the god of thunder and quickly gave rise to a runaway reaction. The countless scattered mines detonated with a roar and were eradicated in the blink of an eye. Like a chain reaction they self-destructed, and as expected, a fire broke out.
“We’ll leave it to the firefighting team! Advance on the command position. Attack!”
At Takaya’s shout, Iwata’s squad and the commandos rushed out in a body.
“Graaaah—!”
They dashed up the slope, now cleared of its minefield, ignoring the fire.
(It’s our turn!)
Utarou faced the fire outbreak. This was the first task that Takaya had ever entrusted to him. He wanted to do a perfect job of extinguishing the fire to earn Takaya’s praise.
“Are you ready?”
Utarou was partnered with Minoshima, who had volunteered for the firefighting unit earlier. The unit was already working to extinguish fires at several locations. The fires had stayed small, thanks to moderation in the use of saltpeter, which had acted as their gunpowder. It was under control. Once they put out the fires and confirmed it was all extinguished, they would join Takaya and the others.
(We should start soon, too.)
At that very moment, Utarou encountered an unexpected situation.
The fire’s intensity was growing in one of Utarou’s areas—and only in that area.
At first, Utarou didn’t think it was abnormal—he assumed his will wasn’t strong enough. But clearly the fire here was stronger than in other areas.
(Th-this is bad...!)
“Minoshima-san! The fire is too strong, please help me—we have to stop it with an «energy shield»!” Utarou said with a desperate expression, turning. He froze. Minoshima was looking at him with a sword in his hand.
“Mino...shima-sa...?!”
It was only then that Utarou remembered: Minoshima was one of Yoshimura’s friends. And Yoshimura’s faction had been among those measuring the saltpeter.
By then it was already too late. The tip of his sword-sheath had jabbed into Utarou’s solar plexus. As he bent over, gasping for breath, he was struck again in the back of his head, and everything went dark. Utarou collapsed. Minoshima tapped him lightly on the shoulder with his scabbard and smiled wanly.
“If you’re going to hate anyone, Utarou, hate Ougi.”
Fanned by the wind, the fire overran the extinguishing point in the blink of an eye. Minoshima fled toward the mountain, leaving Utarou behind.
It was Takaya who noticed that something had gone wrong. Takaya suddenly stopped on the slope leading up to the castle. Someji looked back at him, puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
Takaya looked serious.
“Something’s not right.”
"What?
“The fire is too strong.”
Takaya was retracing his steps back down the slope before he’d even finished speaking. Surprised, Someji tried to stop him.
“Follow Iwata’s instructions! I’ll catch up with you!”
“Ougi-san!”
Without looking back, Takaya turned back toward the blazing fire.
The flames from the mine-clearing were spreading rapidly, driven by a strong northwest wind. Utarou and Minoshima were in charge of this area. But the way it burned was strange. The wind was not the cause; clearly the saltpeter-cum-gunpowder amount had been excessive.
(A miscalculation?)
The fire extinguishing point had long been crossed. There was no sign of Utarou and Minoshima.
“Utarou! Where are you?!”
The fire was gaining momentum, and smoke was drifting downwind.
(This isn’t good.)
There were houses over there, as well as Kada and his men. If the fire continued to spread, it would engulf them. The fire’s circumference was moving too fast for it to be extinguished. He tried to radio the firefighters, but for some unknown reason couldn’t get through.
“Utarou...! Where are you, Utarooou?!”
Unafraid of the flames, Takaya ran. The dry trees would soon start to burn. He had to hurry, or people would get hurt. If the fire spread to the mountains, it could start a huge forest fire. Takaya clicked his tongue. He’d been too naive. Had he been careless?
“Utarou, answer me! Utarou!”
Takaya advanced, brushing away fire sparks. He suddenly spotted Utarou on the ground.
“Utaro...!”
The fire had already spread to his clothes. Ignoring the heat, Takaya shot toward him and beat out the flames. He raised Utarou in his arms, but he was unconscious and had suffered burns. Takaya realized what had happened.
“Damn it...! Those goddamn idiots!”
A voice called to Takaya from behind the flames. He looked up to see Nakagawa, who should have been in the main camp, running and weaving through the fire toward him.
“Nakagawa! Why!”
“I was standing by because I was worried! I intercepted Utarou’s radio call earlier.”
He seemed to have sensed what was going on and rushed over. Takaya tsked and handed Utarou over to him.
“Take Utarou and evacuate. If I don’t do something about this fire, it’ll engulf Kada and his unit. I’ll hold the fire! You call Kada!”
“It’s too dangerous, Ougi-san! Ougi-san!”
Takaya rushed out into the flames without responding. Nakagawa tsked bitterly, picked Utarou up in his arms, and ran to escape.
«Power» was not all-powerful. It could protect against fire, but it couldn’t easily extinguish it. It would be a different story if he could convey water psychically, but even that would be ineffective against a fire of such force.
Takaya ran through the flames. Sparks flew on the wind. Kada and his men would be engulfed first in smoke, then in fire. Ushio was with him.
(Damn it!)
The fire grew stronger and stronger. Its heat scorched his skin through his «goshinha». It was hard to breathe, and not only because of the smoke. The wind was scorching. His nose and throat burned on every inhale. It was agonizing. Takaya crouched. Suddenly, the flames in front of him whirled and attacked Takaya.
“!”
Something burst inside his body. It felt as if there was fire circulating through him.
A strange sight flashed into Takaya’s startled eyes. The swirling flames coming right at him split apart into a ring around him, as if it were avoiding him.
(What...!)
He wasn’t using his will to manipulate the flames.
It had, of its own accord, opened the way for Takaya.
(What is this?)
He hadn’t done anything. He‘d only had a split-second thought: that he needed to ’dodge’ the fire.
His heart thudded loudly. His blood was hot. It felt as if molten iron were coursing through his body. His blood gathered into his left eye. Every beat of his heart seemed to burn his left eye. Its fundus felt hot, as if he were gouging it out with a diamond. It hurt.
“Aah—...!”
He pressed his hand against it, and his palm came away wet. Something was leaking out of his eye, and it wasn’t tears.
(Blood.)
As Takaya stood stunned, sparks flew onto his clothes and caught fire. Startled, he tried to brush it off. The fire hopped to his fingers like a bird. What followed was strange. The fire continued to burn on his fingertips like a candle, but it didn’t hurt him. It was warm, not scorching, and soon vanished.
(What was that?)
Takaya came back to himself. He heard what sounded like a scream from downwind. He immediately dashed toward it.
Smoke was already streaming toward Kada and his men. Just as they were getting ready to attack.
“Damn it! What’s with that smoke?!”
The northwesterly wind sent the smoke straight at Kada’s squad. It quickly reduced their visibility, making continuation of their offensive difficult.
“At a time like this!”
Ushio choked on the smoke. “I-I can’t open my eyes! What the hell?!”
“Kada-san, fire!” someone shouted from behind the smoke.
“The fire from the mountain is heading this way!”{
“What?!”
(Was it caused by the mine clearance?)
Soldiers ran toward him, billowing smoke at their backs. Fighting was now out of the question. Both friend and foe were in a state of confusion. He could see a glimmer of red behind the smoke. Trees were burning. The fire was close.
“Run, Kada-san! You’ll be engulfed in smoke!”
“Kada, watch out! We need to get out of here!”
Reijirou tsked.
(Did you clear the mines knowing it would cause a fire?!)
He must have known they were here. He didn’t think Takaya would fail to plan for a contingency in case a fire did break out. He wasn’t that stupid.
(What happened?)
“Kada-san, the fire is coming toward us! Run!”
“Ka...Kada!” Ushio broke into a hacking cough. “It’s too dangerous... here...!”
Ushio was in agony from smoke inhalation. Embers flew. The trees on the slope began to burn. Kada paled.
“Evacuate! Everyone, evacuate! ...Mutou, pull yourself together!”
Ushio was coughing so violently that he couldn’t get up. Several people upwind of him were lying on the ground, engulfed in smoke. He had to help them.
Reijirou was about to get up when the wind blew embers directly against him. He tried to shield himself, but the fire spread to a nearby tree. Winter-withered branches quickly caught fire. In no time at all, the entire tree was aflame.
“Damn it! Ougi... Ougiii! What the hell are you doing?!”
Takaya’s voice came from upwind as if in answer to his cry. He was shouting for Reijirou and the others.
“Here—we’re over here, Ougiii!”
Takaya appeared from behind the smoke. He had dashed through the sea of fire, yet had not suffered a single burn. Only the spot where he stood was free of smoke.
“Reijirou!”
“You! What the hell is going on?!”
“What are you doing? Get away from there!”
“There are people who can’t move! We can’t leave them!”
“!”
Takaya shattered a burning tree with his will before it could topple onto him. He then rushed to a fallen soldier, propped him up, and held him by the shoulders.
“Pull yourself together, right now...!”
A scream from behind cut across his words. One of the soldiers on the ground had caught on fire. He flailed, covered with flames.
“Damn...it!”
Takaya gritted his teeth. He tried to extinguish the fire. And then—something strange happened.
The fire floated away. As if shedding a husk, the fire peeled away. It wasn’t extinguished. It simply left.
Reijirou’s eyes widened at the strange phenomenon. Even those who had until a few seconds ago been covered in flames were surprised, clueless as they were about what was going on. They hadn’t had water dashed against them or anything else.
(The fire removed itself.)
“What?!” Reijirou yelled unthinkingly.
The fire began to detach itself from the area, separating from trees, grass, and stuff thrown to the ground by fleeing soldiers, all of which had been burning intensely up to that point. Naturally. —No, unnaturally.
It burned in the air for a while like will-o’-the-wisps, but soon quietly disappeared.
(Impossible...!)
He had never seen anything like it. It was as if the fire had left the objects by their own will.
It wasn’t only happening around them, but also behind them, where the fire had been raging wildly as if it owned the place—everywhere the same process: the fire detached itself, floating up into midair, and disappeared as if sucked into a vacuum.
Soon there were no flames in sight. The smoke remained for a while, but the wind soon cleared it away. All that remained were burnt-out trees, half-carbonized trunks...
Stunned, Reijirou stared at Takaya without knowing why. Takaya was frozen in place. As if he were saying he didn’t know anything either.
Then Takaya turned. Both of his eyes were red.
The left was bleeding.
The Red Whales didn’t collapse in spite of the unexpected confusion in Kada’s unit. Samanosuke’s snap decision paid off. The Hikawa squad immediately resolved to force their way in, and broke through the castle’s first barrier.
“There’s no time to lose! Keep going!” Samanosuke shouted. A gun squad fired at them from the building. People fell to the ground with each gunshot. But Samanosuke didn’t falter.
“Don’t dawdle! Run for it!”
Reijirou and his men quickly returned to the front, charging up the slope at a dash. The enemy had powerful guns. The Miyoshi forces fought fiercely and relentlessly, and their bullets killed many. Reijirou fired his psychic gun wildly.
“No retreat! Charge!”
Takaya dashed off unaided to rejoin the commandos and Iwata’s unit. He used his armor-orb several times to break through the enemy hordes. Once it was exhausted, he fired a volley of shots to take down the enemy.
“Ooraaa!”
There was an exchange of fire at the entrance, which was barricaded by a heap of clay pots. Eikichi, exasperated, took out a bundle of dynamite made by Nakagawa. He lit the fuse and threw.
“Get down!”
The explosion blasted open the recreation center entrance. Eikichi led the charge into the cloud of smoke. Inside, armed Hakuchi soldiers awaited. Eikichi unflinchingly raised his sword and plunged into the fray.
“Uryaaaaaah—!”
It turned into a heroic hand-to-hand fight. The commandos joined the battle.
“Captain!” Someji shouted when he saw Takaya running toward him. Takaya entered the fight without a pause to catch his breath, and took down five or six men.
“Iwata! I’ll take over here! Find the command post!”
“Okay!”
These were suicide corps. They could not be allowed to start the curse-burning fire.
It was a battle to the death. Several members of the commando unit were killed. Takaya, along with Someji and the rest of his team, covered Eikichi and his men. The Kada and Hikawa squads were fighting at the very edge of the boundary.
“The command post is in the basement!”
They had finally found it. Eikichi and his men ran down the stairs while Takaya and his unit fought a desperate battle to keep the enemy from the entrance to the stairs.
“Ougi-san, this is the last armor-orb!”
Takaya caught the orb Someji tossed to him.
“Everybody, take shelter downstairs!”
No sooner had he uttered the words and jumped out into the corridor than a swarm of enemies swooped down on him. He unleashed the energy of his armor-orb.
«Choubuku»!
The violent explosion of white light swallowed all the Hakuchi soldiers on the floor in a single burst. The spirits disappeared into the light as if swallowed by a flood. But he only had a moment to catch his breath. Soldiers rushed in from the floor above—a great number of them. He had to finish this as soon as possible. He didn’t have much time.
Hearing the sound of glass breaking, Takaya reflexively turned to look outside. Enemy soldiers were falling back like the tide receding.
(That’s strange...)
They weren’t being pressed by Kada and his men—they had retreated deliberately. Had they been ordered to retreat?
(Retreat?!)
Like a river surging through a broken dam, Kada’s troops rushed into the castle with shouts of rage. Hikawa’s troop stormed inside at about the same time.
(Shit!)
“Kada, no! It’s a trap! Get back!”
But the radio wasn’t working. Telepathy could not reach them in this chaos.
“Get back, or you’ll be caught!” Takaya shouted. At the same time, Eikichi cut his way into the underground command center. There were three fire altars in a row set up for exorcism and twenty men who appeared to be enemy commanders. On the central altar was a statue of the god Śakra: a strange, raging Śakra.
“Tosa bandits! You’re too late!”
The possessor spirit was in priestly attire. There was a relaxed smile on his face. Was this the current lord of Hakuchi Castle?
“The curse-burning preparations are complete. All that’s left is for Śakra’s thunderbolt to strike!”
“That’s not gonna happen!”
Eikichi killed several guards with a single sweep of his sword and charged forward. But the countdown had begun.
Outside, the Kada and Hikawa units advanced on the steel tower. Ushio was with them. Unable to bear it, Takaya jumped out the window.
“Get back! You’re gonna burn!”
Five seconds left.
After slaying the lord of the castle, Eikichi made a mad dash for the statue of Śakra, his expression desperate. The entire statue glowed gold.
Three seconds to go.
An enemy psychic gun shot out Eikichi’s shoulder. His upraised sword fell short.
Two seconds to go.
Takaya shouted. Ushio halted. Reijirou goggled. Fear was plastered across his face.
One second.
At that moment—
Intense plasma flames engulfed Hakuchi Castle.