The Yotsukuin family's Mizukagami Ritual required the sacred Reisuikyō mirror to be charged with spiritual energy at a dragon vein nexus—a singularity—where an altar stood at Gozen Peak, the highest summit of Mount Haku. The Reisuikyō was stored in the main shrine's warehouse for safety, brought to the inner sanctum only for the ritual.
Typically, participants wore ceremonial garb, but anticipating conflict, everyone except Tsukiko was in casual clothes.
"Honestly, with Yugen, anything's possible," Erika said.
"Mountain climbing this time of year is brutal," Leo grumbled.
"Haha, anything goes, huh?" Tsukiko laughed.
Yugen used Mirror Gate to cut travel time, maintaining secrecy. Erika let slip a comment, but Yugen's quip satisfied her, while Tsukiko gave a wry smile.
"Time's short, so let's prep," Yugen said.
"Why the rush?" Leo asked.
"Simple," Yugen replied. "There's no guarantee Tsukiko stays safe."
Even if the voice was harmless now, there was no assurance it wouldn't invade beyond her dreams. Activating the Reisuikyō to summon its source was the only option. If it posed a threat later, Yugen would eliminate it by any means.
"Plus, we're being tailed—likely Saegusa-hired magicians," Yugen added. "I don't want them getting extra intel."
"I felt odd stares at Tokyo Station," Tatsuya said. "Do we really do nothing?"
"No need for pointless fights," Yugen said. "And I don't want Kudō Retsu getting unnecessary info through them."
Yugen's casual mention of Retsu without honorifics surprised some, but no one had time to dwell on it. He placed barrier talismans around the inner sanctum, as used before, and stood at the center, grasping Valkyrie.
"Tsukiko, ready?" he asked.
"Anytime," she replied.
At her words, Yugen activated Tenshō Kenran, flooding the altar with water spirits. Mizuki and Himeri, with their Crystal Eyes, and Mikihiko, a spirit magic user, sensed the immense spiritual surge first. The Reisuikyō's surface glowed blue as Tsukiko closed her eyes, offering a prayer-like gesture. The mirror blazed, filling the sanctum with light.
Unlike a certain colonel's blinding mishap, the light didn't dazzle. When it faded, Yugen and Tsukiko found themselves in a samurai-style mansion, not the altar.
"Tsukiko, wake up," Yugen said.
"Ugh… where are we?" she mumbled.
"I can use magic, so it's some dimension," Yugen said.
Stepping onto the veranda, they saw a night sky with a blood-red moon, not dim like an eclipse but blazing like a full moon. It wasn't the physical dimension, and activating Tenjin's Eye strained Yugen more than usual, unlike when he'd secretly used it during the Mizukagami Ritual three years ago. The dimensional connection was likely the cause.
Checking his terminal, Yugen found strong interference blocking communication. Forcing it was possible but risky with unknown threats ahead, so he pocketed it.
"Maybe the voice's owner brought us here," Yugen said. "Hear anything?"
"Not yet…" Tsukiko began.
A voice interrupted, audible to both.
"To those worthy of my master's mantle, your trial begins now."
The space warped, and they stood on a vast grassland. Dust clouds rose, revealing a horde of figures—samurai on horseback, Buddhist monks—charging toward them. Yugen sighed.
"…Annoying," he muttered.
"How are you so calm!?" Tsukiko shrieked. "We'll be trampled!"
Unfazed, Yugen's composure stemmed from Gōzō's spartan training. He deployed Murakumo, infusing the blade with compressed psions imbued with spiritual properties.
"Blast the rabble away—Tenga Issen," he declared.
Releasing a high-density psion wave, Tenga Issen—inspired by a manga from his past life—swept the horde in a torrent of light. When it cleared, no trace remained. Yugen dismissed Murakumo, prompting a wry laugh from Tsukiko.
"Is that Tenjin Reisō?" she asked.
"Correct," Yugen said. "Looks like we cleared the first stage."
Space warped again, placing them before a castle. Unlike Osaka or Himeji, its keep was a seven-story pagoda—clearly Azuchi Castle, Oda Nobunaga's lost stronghold.
"…Yugen, I have a bad feeling," Tsukiko said.
"Everyone does," Yugen replied. "Oh, a section just blew up."
Without cause, part of the main keep's wall exploded, instantly repairing itself, defying physics. Someone was likely fighting inside, suggesting others were drawn into this trial. Yugen, uninterested in straightforward approaches, hoisted Tsukiko over his right shoulder.
"Sorry, Tsukiko," he said. "I'll make it up to you."
"W-What are you doing!?" she yelped.
Holding Murakumo in his left hand, Yugen activated Pseudo-Teleportation. Before Tsukiko could finish, he charged the wall, slashing it at maximum speed to breach the castle. Inside, they saw familiar faces—Leo and Erika leading the fight, Mikihiko shielding Mizuki—battling puppet-like samurai.
"Yugen! And Tsukiko-chan!" Erika called.
"I'll back you up," Yugen said. "Tsukiko, you good?"
"Ugh… one date for this," she grumbled.
Blushing but indignant, Tsukiko cast Minaizuna, binding the samurai with water ropes. Erika seized the moment, felling them with Shinsen-ryū's secret Kiriage, while Leo used Dragoon Breath to crush others. Mikihiko blasted the rest with Thunder Lion, clearing the threat. They exchanged stories: Leo's group was sent to the grassland, fought a horde, and was teleported here.
"We woke up with just the four of us," Erika said. "You two were alone, but with Yugen, it's fine."
"The other half is somewhere," Yugen said. "Physics don't apply here, so I've got no clue."
"Lucky our magic works," Mikihiko said. "Chiba-san's eyes spotted stairs to the next level."
The castle's interior was triple its external size. Worried about Tatsuya's group but lacking leads, they ascended the stairs, finding… an endless forest.
"Uh…" Mizuki faltered.
"This is getting ridiculous," Yugen said.
"Miki and I are used to your chaos," Erika teased.
"My name's Mikihiko," he corrected.
"Don't treat me like a supernatural phenomenon," Yugen grumbled.
A stone path guided them, a small kindness. As Yugen stepped forward, he noticed a projectile from the forest's depths. Deflecting it with Murakumo, he saw a modern throwing knife—a Stars-issued armed CAD. Why was it here in Japan? Looking up, he spotted Ceria prostrating.
"What're you doing, Ceria?" Yugen asked.
"Forgive me, big brother!" she pleaded.
Ceria explained: alone in the grassland, she'd blasted a horde with Artemis, warped here, fought ninja-like foes, mistook Yugen's group for them, threw the knife, realized her error, and groveled. Her psion pattern confirmed her identity, and she joined them. The forest was eerily quiet, devoid of presence or killing intent.
"Odd… I fought tons of ninjas," Ceria said.
"(Something stronger than Ceria drew them away…) Stairs already?" Yugen noted.
Expecting a hellish gate but unfazed, they ascended to a Western castle's interior, its opulent throne room suggesting a king's audience chamber. Stairs led upward. The clash of a Sengoku castle's exterior with a Western interior was jarring. A woman stood before the throne, golden hair tied up, wielding a knightly sword radiating divine power—an inhuman force. She spoke slowly.
"So… a King-Slayer, a Dragon-Slayer, and the bearer of a Divine Sword," she said. "I'm rather blessed."
"Be careful!" Mizuki warned. "Her sword defies reason!"
"Is that… Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory?" Ceria gasped.
"You know her!?" Erika asked.
This was no joke; a divine weapon like Excalibur, wielded by a feminized King Arthur, could cleave reality itself. Conventional weapons, even armed CADs, likely couldn't match it. Yet Leo, Erika, Mikihiko, Mizuki, and Ceria nodded, stepping forward.
"Yugen, go ahead!" Leo shouted.
"We'll handle this!" Erika added. "You and Tsukiko, do your thing!"
Their confidence wasn't baseless. Yugen, carrying Tsukiko, used a self-acceleration spell to dash past the woman, who ignored them, focusing on Leo and Erika.
(Even with Lævateinn, Excalibur's too much, Mikihiko thought. At least I can support… Wait, their CADs are surging with spiritual energy?)
Mikihiko guarded Mizuki, while Ceria considered aiding, but she noticed the CADs' abnormal spiritual surge. The woman smiled, sensing it too.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Drawing those blades may cost your humanity."
Her warning was sincere, a kindness from one who'd been human. But Leo and Erika dismissed it.
"I know the risks," Leo said. "I might not stay human, but I promised my friends I'd protect them. No one's stopping me!"
His grandfather's tales and inherited blood stirred a primal urge against reason. Yet, to honor his promise and spare his loved ones grief, Leo craved strength from the Parasite battles—enough to protect without harm.
"I always wanted to beat Yugen," Erika admitted. "Not anymore. If I can't win, I'll be a swordswoman who guards his back!"
Envious of her prodigious childhood friend, Erika once faltered before his unreachable heights. But he showed her a path forward. Determined not to drag him down and fueled by her competitive streak against her lover, she sought power.
Their resolve triggered a storm of light from Siegfried and Hayatemaru, matching their psion glow.
A legendary swordsman once said: "The sword and power reside in one's essence. A swordsman wields their soul and will."
Shinsen-ryū's secret Konoha forged soul and will into a blade, its pinnacle being the Tenjin Reisō, a guardian technique materializing psions and spirits. Beyond its initial Shikai stage, mastering the weapon's spirit unlocked the Seven Saints Unsheathing—Shichisei Battō. Mastering Konoha took twenty years, Tenjin Reisō's Shikai another twenty, per the third Kagurazaka (Abe) head's memoirs, achieved near fifty. Yet Yugen's teachings, their CADs, and intense Shinsen-ryū training guided Leo and Erika to Tenjin Reisō. Honing their souls was alien to modern magicians, a power unattainable at Magic High School, now undeniably theirs.
"Leonhardt, call my sword's name!"
"Shout it, Erika—my blade's name!"
Using the guardian spirits in their magic crystal CADs—Siegfried and Modeled—Leo and Erika shouted their Tenjin Reisō's true names.
"I'll become stronger—no, I will!" Leo roared. "Roar, Phantasmal Greatsword Balmung!"
"Excalibur or not, we'll crush you to catch Yugen!" Erika declared. "Come, Radiant King's Sword Clarent!"
The light storm dissipated, revealing Leo wielding the jet-black greatsword Balmung and Erika the silver knightly sword Clarent. Unlike Excalibur, they bore modern firearm-like mechanisms, their usage etched in their minds like extensions of their bodies. Their magic was compatible, too. The woman, faintly smiling, drew Excalibur from the floor, aiming it at them.
"You're young… but resolute," she said. "Very well, I'll honor your spirit as the Knight King."
Excalibur's power surged, but Leo and Erika, undaunted, gripped their swords tighter. Such an experience was likely once-in-a-lifetime, driven by their promise and swordsman's pride.
"Back's yours, you three!" Leo called.
"Miki, cover us!" Erika added.
"Uh, yeah… and it's Mikihiko," he corrected.
Shocked by their non-CAD weapons, Mikihiko steeled himself, unaware his CAD from Yugen faintly glowed.
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