Reiyouki Sentai Seitenger - Record 6: Behind The Illusion

Even though it was evident that the Vessels were tired from their Reikarajutsu training the other day, things around the Mizuhashi mansion seemed to remain as lively as ever. Or at least, that was what it looked like on the surface. Even if it was a usual busy and noisy morning for the five Vessels, something was still bothering them.

Erika could only heave a heavy sigh as she turned to the garden and eyed her brother Itsuki. He was outside and only looking at the morning sky rather aimlessly that day. Then again, the rest of them knew that this wasn’t the only day that Itsuki was acting strange like this.

To be honest, it was a worrying thing to look at. They knew that something was wrong. Something had happened that they didn’t know. They just needed to figure out what it was.

Though Erika was done setting up the table just so they could finally have their breakfast, Shuichi decided to do something else at the moment. The said man tapped Erika’s shoulder, prompting the pianist to look up and face him.

“Shuichi-san…”

He nodded. “I’ll talk to him for now. Okay?”

Erika gave way as she stepped backwards, giving space for Shuichi to walk through and head to the garden where the composer was. She could only sigh at the sight of her older brother spacing out like that.

What could have caused Itsuki to act this way?

“Do you think he discovered something strange after the exhibit when he decided to stay in the building that day?”

Erika turned to the source of that voice and saw Misae approaching.

“Misae-san…”

“I wonder what happened that afternoon, though. It’s so unusual to see him like this. It’s like… he lost his mind somewhere else and now he’s trying to look for it.”

Erika couldn’t help chuckling at the comparison, though. “Even though he’s just sitting still like this, huh?”

“Well, physically, he’s here. But his mind is definitely somewhere else. And he better get himself together if he wants to fight with us.”

Even so, both girls couldn’t help worrying even more for Itsuki. Rarely had they seen their composer friend like this. And because of that, they were eager to know what was going on for Itsuki to act like this.

Meanwhile, all that Itsuki had done in the morning as soon as he woke up and left his room was to go to the garden and think. He still couldn’t remove his mind from the apparition he saw that day at the Four Clubs Building’s rooftop. True, he was used to seeing ghosts and other apparitions even as a child.

But there was something different about that woman’s apparition that bothered him up to this moment. Unfortunately, he couldn’t mention any of it to his sister or even to his friends as he never wanted to bother them. Even more so, he knew he had to discover the truth about it himself. As long as he would find the time to do so, of course.

The problem was — it wasn’t the time that he had trouble finding. It was the answer that he desired to know that became elusive to him.

A sigh escaped his lips as he kept looking up to the sky. He deduced that this would keep happening until he finally found the reason why that woman's vision appeared to him like that.

"Itsuki."

Though not loud, that call startled him and made him turn to the source of that voice. He was confused to see Shuichi approaching with a rather somber expression on his face.

"Shuichi-san..."

The racer didn't say anything in response. Instead, he sat beside Itsuki who was sitting on the wooden chair near the edge of the porch. He then faced the composer.

"So... what's going on with you lately?" Shuichi asked. It didn't surprise Itsuki, though.

Only an idiot would think that nothing was wrong within the Mizuhashi mansion after the exhibit. Even he could tell that Eichirou acted weird as soon as he and Hideoki arrived home later that day. Unlike him, however, Eichirou eventually mentioned the reason why he felt so restless.

Even he was surprised to learn that Mariko's voice reverberated along the water ripples and plopping sounds. But the real thing that surprised all of them was the message that she delivered to her son.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to make you worry," Itsuki only responded and looked up to the sky once again.

"You know that a simple apology isn't going to cut it and let you loose."

Itsuki laughed bitterly. Of course, he was aware of that. It so happened that he had no idea how to mention it to anyone in the Mizuhashi household. He had no idea where the hesitation came from, though.

"Did something happen when you stayed longer in the Four Clubs Building?" Shuichi inquired, seemingly determined to get some answer from the composer.

This time, Itsuki nodded without hesitation. "It's not a fight, though. But... something strange did happen."

"Define 'strange', because you know that ever since the earthquake in Mt. Kumamoto happened, we've had our fair share of strange things happening and popping in every now and then."

Itsuki faced Shuichi after sighing. "Strange in a way that I saw a vision and heard a voice while I was at the building's rooftop that day."

"A vision and a voice? Did they come from the same person?"

Itsuki shook his head. "One thing I was sure of — they came from different people. I was already familiar with the voice as I kept hearing it in my dreams ever since becoming a Seitenger. It's the vision of a woman who I'm not familiar with that made it strange for me that day."

"Voice that you kept hearing for a while now? Wait! Does Erika know about this?"

Itsuki shook his head. "For some reason, I couldn't mention it to her. There were a lot of things that I couldn't tell her, as well. It's not that I can't trust her."

"You're used to solving things by yourself, huh?"

To Shuichi’s confusion, Itsuki shook his head. “Not that I have to do it by myself. At the time, when I started doing it, it was when our parents were killed. I had this thought that I have to grow up fast for my sister’s sake. And that means I can’t show her my worries and fears because it would only make me more vulnerable.”

“But… being vulnerable isn’t a bad thing. It only shows a part of yourself that is true to who you are. That’s part of being human.”

“I know that. But I guess old habits die hard. I don’t even know how to start mentioning anything about this to my sister.”

It was then that Itsuki realized how easy it was to blurt things out to Shuichi whereas he was hesitating to do the same to his sister. Just what was going on with him to keep secrets like this to Erika? Yes, he was the older brother and he made an assumption that he should deal with his problems by himself and help his sister as long as it was needed. Why couldn’t he allow the opposite thing to happen between him and Erika?

“What exactly happened that day you saw that vision of the woman?” Shuichi later inquired, breaking the silence between them.

It took a while for Itsuki to decide whether or not he would say anything to Shuichi. But upon raising his head and soon saw Misae, Erika, and Eichirou approaching, he shook his head and stood up. “I can’t tell you right now.”

“Onii-chan, do you really have to keep it all to yourself every time? Can’t you even trust me?” Erika asked as soon as she stopped in front of Itsuki.

The composer only looked at the pianist for a few moments before heaving a heavy sigh. He then placed a hand on Erika’s head and looked at her intently. “Erika, it’s not that I don’t trust you. Okay? That’s the one important thing that I want you to remember.”

“Then why? Why can’t you tell me everything? Things that bothered you, issues that burdened you… You’ve been secretive a lot of times, it’s like you never want me to help you when you need it.”

“Erika…”

The others couldn’t say anything after that. It seemed that the issue was something that the siblings had to deal with themselves.

“Okay. I’ll let you off the hook for now. But promise me one thing,” Erika stated after a few moments.

Of course, those words had only made Itsuki frown. “Promise you what?”

“Once you manage to gather every information you need about the issue that’s been bothering you right now, don’t leave a single detail when you finally decide to tell it to me. And I mean EVERYTHING. Are we clear?” And Erika even held out her pinky finger to Itsuki.

Only then that the composer was able to loosen up and chuckled at his sister’s antics. But he knew what she meant. It looked like Erika remained as perceptive as she was even as a kid. Just like their father.

He nodded and linked his pinky finger to hers. “I promise. Just let me handle this for now. Okay?”

Erika nodded and soon embraced Itsuki. “Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? I also have the right to worry for you when you’re being reckless.”

The composer returned his sister’s tight hug before letting her go. When he looked at the other Vessels, he just saw them smiling and nodded once. He was glad that the others understood what he wanted to do in the meantime.

“Thanks, Erika.” After letting Erika go, he recalled something. “Wait a minute. What are we going to train for today?”

Erika’s eyes widened and smiled. “Wait! You didn’t know? Hideoki-san said two days ago that Helen-chan would be the one helping us train today.”

Itsuki frowned as soon as he heard Helen’s name.

“Okay. Before you start having another episode of hot blood on her, there is a reason why she would be joining us on our training today,” Eichirou immediately said as soon as they noticed that Itsuki’s mood started to change.

Itsuki let out an exasperated sigh and glared at Eichirou who only grinned cheekily and showed a peace sign. This guy never really showed fear when it came to him, huh?

“I’m not out for blood, if that’s what you wanted to point out. I was just surprised that she would be joining the training today.”

“Well, if there’s one thing that Helen-chan is really an expert of, that would be dealing with illusions,” Misae answered. “At least, that’s what Hideoki-san mentioned to me the last time you were out because of your injuries.”

“Hideoki-san sure knows a lot about Helen, huh?”

Shuichi nodded. “Well, considering that Hideoki-san actually knew the professor who became Helen’s guardian after her mother died, I guess it’s not a surprise that he knew a lot about her. And that particular professor friend of his soon entrusted Helen to Hideoki-san.”

But it seemed that Itsuki stopped listening after hearing that Helen’s mother had died. How come he was only learning about it now? Then again, Erika might have mentioned it before but he didn’t pay attention. The mysteries surrounding Helen and her purpose in helping the Vessels weighed so much in his mind that he ended up disregarding everything else about her.

Maybe he should find a way to pay more attention to that young woman other than his own suspicions and questions with regards to her abilities and her reasons. At that moment, Itsuki frowned upon recalling something from the event at the rooftop. The words that the apparition mentioned to him — about the arrival of another Vessel. This was the other thing that truly confused him that day.

And he hadn’t mentioned anything about it to anyone — not even to the elders. But… should he do it? Should he tell Hideoki and Nanami? At least to their mentors, he should inform them of things that he could feel were related to the Vessels and their mission as Seitengers. He just had to figure out how to break the news to them.

‘What does she mean by ‘another Vessel’? I thought there were only five chosen Vessels.’ Aside from that, there was another thing mentioned.

‘To defy a tragic fate… Why couldn’t I shake off the feeling that there has been a cycle going on among the Vessels that I still need to know?’

xxxxxx

Though Helen arrived later than planned, she explained that she had been doing more research about illusions that perhaps old records could provide to her. She did admit that her knowledge about illusions and illusionists were those that her guardian had taught her.

“By the way, Helen-chan…” Eichirou called as he raised his hand, catching the said novelist’s attention.

“Eichirou-san, this is not a classroom, you know. And I’m only a temporary mentor. Not a full-fledged teacher,” Helen joked that made the others laugh. “But… is there something you wanted to ask me?”

The photographer nodded and went straight to the point. “That professor you kept mentioning to us. I only realized just now that I don’t even know his name before Dad mentioned his name to us during the exhibit. It’s going to be awkward if I keep calling him Professor without a name. Especially a surname.”

“Now that you mention it, we never actually asked her about it until Hideoki-san finally said something about him and being the owner of the Four Clubs Building,” Shuichi commented and faced Helen. “We initially knew him as Helen’s guardian or as Professor. Then again, Hideoki was once a professor before he quit.”

Helen went silent for a short while and nodded not long after. “Wow… I only realized it today.” She chuckled for a bit and cleared her throat. “Okay. Well, that professor I kept on mentioning was my mother’s paternal uncle. Therefore, my grand-uncle. He took care of me after taking me in when my parents died. His name was Taiga Mitsuharu, as Hideoki-san had probably mentioned that time.”

Eichirou later frowned at that. “So… he really did own the Four Clubs Building where my exhibit was held?”

“Yes.”

“But why didn’t you tell us? Does that mean you inherited the building after he died?” This time, it was Misae who asked.

To their confusion, Helen shook her head. “I chose not to inherit the building. But someone else who had been a student of my grand-uncle did. He was the one who helped me settle the affairs that I needed to settle after the professor passed away.”

“A student of the professor?”

Helen nodded and soon straightened herself. “You know what? Let’s get on with this training. I have to make sure that you should know how to deal with illusionists and some Triske Monsters’ illusions. There have been records of them existing so I have to prepare you for that.”

The others knew that Helen was, in a way, avoiding to discuss the subject about Professor Taiga Mitsuharu further. They had no other choice but to respect that in the meantime. They still didn’t know the reason why she had to avoid answering more questions about her grand-uncle. Should they attribute it to the fact that Professor Taiga just died recently? Or was there any other reason for that?

When Helen was about to continue, she stopped all of a sudden and frowned.

“By the way, where’s Itsuki-san?” she asked.

It was then that the other Vessels looked around and noticed that Itsuki was indeed missing.

“Okay. Now Onii-chan is acting weirder than ever. This is the first time he suddenly left in the middle of a training,” Erika said and then looked apologetically at Helen. “I’m really sorry, Helen-chan. My brother’s been rude to you again.”

The novelist shook her head. “I don’t think it’s about him being rude, though. I noticed that he was out of it since I got here.”

“Nothing gets past you, huh?” Shuichi commented and later on urged Helen to just continue with the lecture and little demonstration.

If Helen understood Itsuki’s predicament, then they could do something to deal with it at a later time. But hopefully soon.

xxxxxx

But if one would look at Itsuki’s face when he left the mansion, one could see the confusion and frustration on his face. At the moment, he decided to just leave without notifying anyone than take it all out on Helen. Not that he intended to do it like that since he knew very well that the novelist didn’t do anything bad.

To be honest, he couldn’t understand himself when it came to that particular issue. That feeling of irritation that bubbled up as soon as Hideoki declared that Helen would be helping them train to become full-fledged Vessels remained a mystery to him. There had to be a reason for that. He only needed to figure out what it was.

There was only one place that Itsuki had intended to go to as soon as he left the mansion. His favorite place — the lake near the cliff that Shuichi would usually frequent. He didn't understand the intense need to go there. But he knew it was the only place that usually helped him clear his mind before.

At the moment, he was hoping that the place would actually provide him the peace of mind or at least the little bit of clarity that he needed.

Then again, the dreams that he had about a mysterious woman and also the blood-covered little girl hadn't stopped appearing. The appearance of those dreams, especially the ones about the little girl, had escalated ever since his awakening as a chosen Vessel. He didn't know if his Hasureiki had anything to do with it. But he was aware that the dreams had something to do with their mission as Seitengers.

The only problem was trying to figure out the identity of the woman and even the little girl. If these two were indeed crucial in their mission, how come they would only appear to him?

Could there be some sort of a link to him and to these two female characters that he just had to discover? One that the scrolls and even other records had kept a secret?

He could only groan and scratch the back of his head, because of this frustration. Normally, reading books or going to these nature walks heading to his favorite spot would have helped him. But it seemed that none of it had provided any help for him this time, though.

Itsuki finally reached the boulder that he would constantly sit on whenever he’d go to that lake. He sat there for a little while as he looked at the calm waters of the lake while the trees around rustled. With a sigh, he took out the rolled music sheets from his inner jacket pocket. He was thinking of maybe focusing on his compositions in the meantime as he tried to clear his mind.

Not to mention, the composition had something to do with the little girl from his dreams.

He was halfway to completing the piece, and he would’ve completed it already if it was a normal day for him to do so. But not for this composition. For some reason, his head would ache whenever he’d see the last line he wrote there.

‘Let’s look at our truth one more time in this new life…’

This was in reference to the words he would constantly hear in his dreams with the little girl. He wasn’t sure why those words stuck with him since the dreams started. But he could feel his heart hurting at the sight of that teary-eyed girl asking for his help or would assure him that he’d find the answer.

That last part was what would confuse him at times.

Itsuki looked at the music sheets once again and surprisingly, his mind wandered back to Helen once again. He should really do what he could to figure out the reason for the irritation he was feeling for her. As he went over the lyrics he wrote, he frowned.

Why would that last lyric he wrote made him think about Helen? It wasn’t like Helen was a representative of someone from a past life or something.

Or was she?

Would he be able to know the truth about that?

xxxxxx

The training ended in another half an hour and the four Vessels left in the mansion had exhausted their Hasureiki because of the intensity of the task that Helen had set for them. To be honest, all of them were surprised that Helen could cast high-level illusions like that without tiring herself. But they mostly attributed it to the fact that Helen trained longer than them. Not to mention, it was the topic that Helen had studied deeply, for some reason.

But it wasn’t the intense training that occupied their minds at the moment. After heaving a deep sigh, Misae faced Helen who was busy casting a rune circle beneath the tired Vessels.

“Helen-chan, are you sure you’re fine?”

That question only made the novelist frown, though. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, about the way Itsuki-kun is treating you. Whether we know the reason or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s hostile to you.”

Helen chuckled. “Misae-san, ‘hostile’ is too much of a word for you to use just to describe his attitude.”

“Helen-chan…”

“He has his reasons, and it seems like it’s something he had to deal with by himself for now.”

The Vessels couldn’t believe that Helen would respond to the issue so calmly.

“Are you sure you’re still in your right senses, Helen?” Shuichi spoke this time. “We couldn’t even breathe at the tension that always formed whenever you and Itsuki were in the same room. I know that guy can be cold or indifferent to some people. But not something like this that’s coupled with such thick tension.”

“It’s hard to stay in the same room as the two of you whenever that happens,” Eichirou added and the girls nodded in agreement.

But only a resigned sigh escaped Helen’s lips and smiled sadly. “There’s nothing I can do if Itsuki-san really doesn’t like me in any way at all. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to do my job as a Vessel Support.”

“But this is really unusual for Onii-chan and I’m not liking it at all,” Erika said, her voice filled with concern.

It was around that time that the rune circle beneath the four Vessels disappeared and Helen sat on one of the stools.

“There has to be a reason why Onii-chan would treat you like that.”

“Maybe there were a lot of things going on in his mind. You’ll never know,” Helen said and shrugged before holding one of Erika’s hands. “Right now, you have to worry more about getting stronger. The Triske Monsters you’ve been dealing with are getting stronger. And to think you’ve only just begun training and fighting. Even if you did succeed in awakening two Elemental Guides, it would also pose a threat to the Tareans. It would only make them even more eager to end you all and proceed to their plans of taking over the world.”

As much as Erika wanted to retort, she and the other Vessels knew that Helen had a point. Even when the novelist said that she didn’t have to worry too much, she couldn’t help but continue worrying.

At one point, she knew she had to do something about it.

‘Asking Onii-chan about it isn’t a good idea, and I know that. But he has to tell me his reasons or this tension won’t go away.’

With that thought, Erika had settled on what to do. But she had to do it without Helen knowing about the confrontation that she was about to do to her older brother.

xxxxxx

Thunders and lightning in the Tareus Dimension continued to roar and cackle around the fortress. Then again, it was a given that such an atmosphere happened to be conjured. But this time, it wasn’t Emperor Darshao who was doing it in his slumber.

The five Great Shadow Defenders vented out their frustrations by trying to blast the ceiling of the Throne Room, but to no avail. It was a magical fortress, after all. They could throw their strongest attacks to the ceiling and it would just stay there, unbothered with all the chaos. This was done when the fortress was first built, since it was capable of sealing the emperor’s strongest attacks whenever he would vent out his anger for failed missions or just about anything that vexed him.

“This is ridiculous!” Alvre screamed and threw a ball of dark energy to the ceiling. “This soon! How could they have awakened two of the Elemental Guides this soon? This has never happened before!”

“Yes, this is ridiculous. But it already happened. None of us had expected any of this to happen. Those kids are not like their predecessors,” Siriso stated as he, too, had thrown his attacks to the ceiling.

Soon after, more lightning crackled and thunder roared louder than ever. But none of them cared. They needed to vent out their frustrations on something. But it didn’t take long before Karkino noticed something. He then turned to the scholar who was calmly throwing beam shots to the ceiling, but not in the same manner as Alvre and Siriso did.

“You sure are calm about this, Orcus,” the commander commented.

It soon caught the attention of the assassin and the general. But Orcus paid no mind to them. He focused on throwing his beam shots instead. That is, until they noticed something else.

“It seems you’re trying to create more cracks in the surface world,” Siriso said.

“It’s a long shot with just my powers alone. But let’s worry about what I’m doing later. It will take time before any of us Great Shadow Defenders could even get out of here.”

“How come you’re not even surprised about all that has happened?” Alvre ended up asking, feeling fed up at the lack of reaction and emotion on Orcus.

But Orcus didn’t answer. He soon pulled out a black scroll from his robe and spread it out. Moments later, it glowed before summoning a purplish black rune circle and in it came a Triske Monster. This one was a cross between a lyre and a griffin.

“You called for me, Master?” the monster asked and bowed to Orcus.

“Do as you’re usually asked to. Gather more energy from hopelessness and despair. We need them for the emperor.”

“As you wish, Master.”

“And also…” At this point, Orcus trailed off and looked at one of the cracks that he ended up creating on that enchanted ceiling. The smirk on his face soon caught Nemia’s attention. “Don’t forget to defeat the Seitengers. But focus on the green one first. Take him out and kill him first before you deal with the rest.”

The Triske Monster bowed once again before leaving the Throne Room. After that, Orcus continued firing beam shots on the exact spot he was firing at earlier.

The others couldn’t understand what had transpired other than the fact that Orcus chose to do the job this time. But Nemia heard the scholar’s orders to the Triske Monster. From there, she had an idea on the reason why Orcus decided to take a shot in defeating the Seitengers this time.

xxxxxx

Itsuki didn’t realize how much time had passed since he spent it on the lake and trying his best to finish his composition. Much to his surprise, he actually did despite his mind being in pieces because of so many thoughts lingering around.

“I can’t believe I did it…” he muttered as he went over his latest composition.

To be honest, he could only look at it, feeling unsure of what to think about his finished piece. This wasn’t the first time he actually felt this way about his composition, especially recently finished ones. But there was only one particular topic or theme in his composition that he felt anxious about.

The compositions he had about the little girl in his dreams. He would always talk about certain moments in those compositions that he wanted the girl to know.

To find her.

To save her.

To protect her.

To let her live.

All those frustrations that he had for being unable to do all that in his dreams were vented out in each of those compositions. He always had this aim to let those compositions reach her in some way, though he had no idea how. Many times, it would drive him crazy that he couldn’t. Not to mention, he wasn’t aware if that little girl actually existed or not.

A ringing from a phone startled Itsuki, prompting him to stop his musings and take out the phone from his pocket. He couldn’t help frowning as he did so since he wasn’t expecting any call. That frown deepened as he saw the name Kuraki Makoto on the Caller ID flashed on the screen.

“That’s rare. When was the last time he actually called me?” he couldn’t help asking himself as he continued looking at the ringing phone.

It wasn’t unusual that he had that name registered on his contacts because Makoto actually said to him that he’d call one of these days so he shouldn’t delete it. The man tried to connect with Itsuki and Erika, even when the Hoshiyama siblings’ parents died. Makoto was Itsuki’s father’s former piano student. Makoto quit after some time to focus on studying history under one of the famous historians by the name Taiga Mitsuharu.

That was when he froze at the sudden realization. Didn’t Hideoki mention a while back that Helen’s guardian was someone named Taiga Mitsuharu?

“Urgh! Why didn’t I listen fully when people would tell me important things?” he mumbled in frustration and even scratched the back of his head. But it wouldn’t change anything, anyway.

He would have to deal with the consequences later on.

In the end, he decided to answer that call since it had been a long time and it was a rare chance, after all.

“Hello? Makoto-san?”

“Wow! You actually kept my contact number. That’s amazing!” The man chuckled, which only made the composer smile. “This is a surprise, to be honest. I actually thought you would forget about what I said to you.”

“You’re strange right from the start for me. But that doesn’t mean I would forget a talented pianist and a good friend who stuck with us, especially when my sister and I needed it,” Itsuki said, his tone serious.

Then he heard the man chuckle on the other line once again. But he could tell that it wasn’t a mocking kind. It could be amusement, but he wasn’t sure. At least, it wasn’t something condescending.

“I’m glad to hear that, coming from you,” Makoto responded. “By the way, how have things been in your new home since I left? Life’s been faring well for you and your sister?”

“Makoto-san, that was ten years ago already. And you said you were leaving us to a man who was every bit as righteous and strict as my dad. Erika and I trusted you that day. What do you think happened after that?”

“Well, I want to hear the answer straight from you. And it’s for the best if you actually do that.”

It didn’t take a while for Itsuki to come up with a reply. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Life has fared well for me and my sister ever since living with Hideoki-san. It was hard trying to move on with our lives after that tragedy. But he stayed with us all the way. We got to continue our passion and hobbies. He didn’t stop us when we decided to chase them and aim higher. Now… both my sister and I think that we couldn’t think of anyone else that we can entrust our dreams with other than Hideoki-san and Nanami-san.”

The composer doesn’t usually speak of his fondness and adoration towards Hideoki and Nanami to anyone at all. But Kuraki Makoto wasn’t just anyone to him. The man was his father’s former student who entrusted him and Erika to Mizuhashi Hideoki that one fateful day after the tragedy ten years ago. And he knew he would eternally be grateful to the man who made it happen.

“By the way, what made you decide to call after such a long time? I already thought you forgot about us,” Itsuki joked after asking.

Makoto laughed before answering. “I wasn’t too busy these days since I managed to finish all that I needed to do after my mentor’s death. Which reminds me…” The man paused that made the composer frown. “What do you think of Tennouji Helen?”

His eyes widened at the question before frowning. Without a doubt, that question had caught him off-guard. Of all the questions, did Makoto really have to ask that to him? And seriously, he wasn’t sure how to answer that question at all, considering his unexplained irritation to the said girl.

Though before he could ask more about the reason, Itsuki soon heard a click on the other line, followed by a busy tone.

“Hello? Makoto-san? Hello? Are you still there?” he repeatedly asked. No answer came.

He looked at his phone with a deeper frown this time.

“I wonder what happened…”

That click he heard indicated that the call got abruptly cut. But why?

Series of explosions soon resonated in the area, and Itsuki rashly faced its presumed direction. His eyes widened when he realized where it was.

“Cell towers… There were several phone towers and cell towers around that area.”

Around that time, his Celestial Shifter started beeping. And he then came to a conclusion as to what had caused the explosions.

“Could it be that the Tareans are attacking again?”

He took out his Celestial Shifter and checked on the situation itself using that. He could only clench his fist at the sight that greeted him from that holographic monitor.

Not long after seeing the projected image of the damaged cell towers, Itsuki decided to head to the scene of the attack. It was located a few miles near the border separating Tsukikage and Morizumi. It was a border evident in the presence of the mountains.

xxxxxx

Itsuki was panting hard and doing his best to catch his breath as soon as he reached the area where the attack happened. The whole running he did nearly sapped his energy. But the sense of duty he felt as a Seitenger was stronger and so his body was able to keep up somehow.

The one that really caught his attention was the cell towers that the enemies had exploded. When he looked around, he couldn’t see or even feel any presence of that Triske Monster or even the Gargonemas that had caused this. Further probing, however, made him stop in his tracks.

“Guys!” he yelled. But for some reason, he couldn’t move to approach his friends now lying unconscious on the ground.

All four of them (Shuichi, Eichirou, Misae, and Erika) were on the ground face down, injured. His heart was beating fast at the sight of them like that. But something told him that he should just stay in his spot.

It was then that he knew he had to activate his Hasureiki over earth. He frowned as soon as he sensed… nothing. There was nothing there. It was strange, but it could have been the reason why a part of him was telling him that he shouldn’t approach his friends.

On the spot where Itsuki saw his unconscious friends, his eyes narrowed. He made no sound as he pulled out his bladeless Hyakureider and fired several beams towards the vision. The resulting blast created a smoke, however, that made him unable to discern if he did hit something which was the one he intended to hit.

It took a while for the smoke to dissipate, but Itsuki did his best to remain alert as he waited. His Hyakureider was ready to fire shots when needed. Not long after, he got a clear visual of the area. But his blood ran cold and his eyes widened upon seeing that there was only an unconscious Erika on the spot where he fired the beams.

“What the —?” He shook his head and looked again. “This can’t be! Something’s definitely wrong here right now.”

His mind was starting to go haywire with all the confusing visions of his friends, and now his sister, going about in front of him. He had to clear his mind or else, he would end up caught in an even bigger trap than he already was.

He took a deep breath while trying his best to stay alert. Then he stopped as his eyes narrowed at a small realization.

‘That’s definitely not Erika. And the earlier vision was not about my friends. I would’ve sensed them already if they really followed me all the way here,’ Itsuki thought and soon looked around before his sight landed on the spot where the “supposed” unconscious Erika was lying.

It was then that he noticed that the figure was starting to become transparent, followed by a young girl’s voice resonating in the area. It was faint, at first. He even had to strain his ears to make sure he wasn’t imagining it at all. His eyes widened this time as soon as he realized that the voice was familiar.

“It can’t be…” he uttered in disbelief. “That was the voice of the girl that I kept hearing in my dreams.”

He looked around to see if there was someone in the area who could have been just hiding from whatever had trapped him there.

“Where are you? Tell me who you are!”

Those inquiries were only met with silence. The feeling around him was still foreboding. But for some reason, that little girl’s voice that resonated in the area saying “it’s okay” and “you can make it” was enough to calm his heart down. It was strange. But he didn’t mind.

In the midst of that, Itsuki stopped trying to look for any signs of anyone in the area. He also stopped to his tracks as soon as he felt a surge of power beneath his feet. He soon frowned as he looked to the ground he was standing at.

“Hasureiki?”

It was when he heard a groan that gradually increased its volume until it became a full blown scream. He even had to cover his ears due to the intensity of the scream.

“What the heck?”

When his eyes landed on the spot where he saw that vision of the unconscious Erika, it exploded and out of it came a large griffin-like creature that he could now tell was a Triske Monster. The creature landed hard on the ground on its butt (or what he assumed to be its butt) after coming out of its hiding place.

“I guess that surge of Hasureiki earlier was too much for that Triske Monster to handle. Now it ended up revealing itself,” Itsuki couldn’t help commenting as he put his hands down covering his ears.

The Triske Monster stood up after an unsightly fall, its frustrated groan and screams continued.

“Damn it! Where the hell did that strange power source come from?” the Triske Monster grumbled as it continued to prepare and straighten itself.

“There you are…” he muttered as he started bringing out his Hyakureider once again as he extracted its blade.

After that, he inserted his Heaven’s Medallion on his Celestial Shifter.

“Spirit Shift, Start!”

The command allowed him to don his Seitenger suit once again. SeitenEarth soon realized that whatever force had trapped him there didn’t exactly prevent him from using his powers and becoming a Seitenger.

Right around that time, the Triske Monster was ready to attack and soon fired beams towards SeitenEarth. He was able to deflect all of it using his Hyakureider. However, he soon realized that the smoke created as soon as the beams hit some other place once he deflected them started to obscure his field of vision. More beams fired and deflected and the area was once again filled with smoke.

“Damn it! Why does this monster like so much smoke around it so much?” SeitenEarth couldn’t help complaining as he tried to look around.

He strained his eyes once again to do its task, but nothing happened. There was nothing around him but smoke and more smoke.

“Why don’t you fight some more, my dear green Seitenger? You seem to be the one who knew what he was doing when fighting us Tareans,” the Triske Monster taunted.

SeitenEarth only gripped his Hyakureider tight as he concentrated on finding where the monster was.

“That jerk really trapped me here, huh?” he commented in a whisper.

“Not many could last in my illusions, you know. You’re one of the very few who could withstand and last around Otoguri’s illusions.”

SeitenEarth didn’t respond to that. But inside the helmet, Itsuki’s eyes narrowed at what he had heard. Otoguri seemed to be the name of that Triske Monster. He couldn’t help groaning inwardly at the thought that, of all days, he had ended up encountering an illusionist when he decided to skip Helen’s lessons on counter attacking an illusionist enemy.

But he would deal with that later. At the moment, he had other things to worry about.

With that in mind, he dashed towards Otoguri that appeared to be busy laughing at its own work. Before SeitenEarth could even give it a chance to respond, he struck it with his Hyakureider powered by his Hasureiki. He was able to throw the creature far from its position and it hit a boulder nearby.

But he didn’t want to celebrate yet at the sight.

He was able to discern that, for an illusionist, Otoguri seemed to have a tough exterior. His Hasureiki-powered slash didn’t give it any scratches at all. At that moment, he knew he would have a hard time dealing with Otoguri.

“I have to endure it for a while. I’m sure the others will realize what was going on,” he said to himself, preparing to go on an all-out fight with this new Triske Monster if he had to.

With a sharp sigh, he charged towards Otoguri once again. He threw barrage after barrage of energy blades to the Triske Monster before he could even give it a chance to strike at him.

SeitenEarth fueled his Hyakureider with his Hasureiki once again and faced the spot where Otoguri was. But then —

“What the —?”

His eyes widened and he froze at the vision he saw on that spot. The little girl in his dreams stood there, her back turned from him and her cream dress covered in blood. His blood ran cold at the sight. It was a scene just like from his recurring dreams about her.

The green Seitenger was about to take a step forward to check on the girl, when a large beam suddenly flashed from that girl’s head that headed to him. It was too late to avoid it. The beam hit him before he could take a step away.

“Got you!”

His pained scream echoed in the area as the beam threw him hard. As soon as he hit the ground, his transformation disappeared. Indeed, the impact from that beam was too much. And at the moment, he felt as if his body went numb because of it.

“Damn it… I think that beam paralyzed my nerves…”

xxxxxx

SeitenEarth was right when he said that it wouldn’t take the other Vessels long before they could realize another Tarean threat. But much to their confusion, no one was around. It should have been relieving.

Except that… it wasn’t.

Not only because of the destroyed cell towers that immediately caught their attention, but also because the aura in the area was foreboding. And Misae remained silent the entire time the Vessels had tried to reach the presumed site of the attack.

“Misae-san, are you alright?” Erika asked after looking around and found nothing.

The archer took a deep breath and faced her friends with a distraught expression. “There’s definitely a Tarean presence here. The air around proves it. And Itsuki-kun’s definitely here, as well. But the only problem is…”

“We can’t see any of them here,” Shuichi finished.

Misae nodded and bit her lip.

“But we’ve got to find him,” Eichirou declared. “If you sensed his Hasureiki around here, then it’s possible that he’s the one dealing with the Tareans right now.”

The rest agreed and looked around once again. That is, they would have… until they all spotted something peculiar.

“Gargonemas… Why are they just roaming around that empty space there?” Erika couldn’t help voicing out that question as she frowned.

The empty space she mentioned was an area below the destroyed cell towers. Though no trees were planted there, several bushes and grass filled the area. In other words, a secluded meadow in that forest.

As each of them continued to observe the destroyed area, they couldn’t help but frown at a certain realization.

“What’s the relation between destroying cell towers and whatever the Tareans are planning right now?

But Eichirou’s question didn’t receive an answer as the four Vessels heard screeches not far from where they all stood. When they all turned to the source of the sound, they saw Gargonemas charging towards their position.

“Oh, great! Now they saw us,” Eichirou complained.

“And it only means one thing.” Shuichi took out his Heaven Medallion and led the way. “Let’s do this!”

The others did the same. All four of them placed their respective Heaven Medallions to the Celestial Shifters on their wrists.

“Spirit Shift, Start!”

With that command they spoke loudly together, their transformation devices glowed before the light covered them, as well. Not long after, they donned their respective colored suits, making them Seitengers once again.

The Gargonemas charged faster and the four warriors took out their Hyakureiders.

“Shuichi, try to find a way to break the barrier surrounding that empty space. I think that’s where Itsuki-kun is right now,” SeitenWind ordered and began fighting off Gargonemas attacking her and SeitenFire.

“But…”

“I’ll leave Onii-chan to you and Eichirou-san,” SeitenLight said as she, too, dealt with her own set of Gargonemas coming at her at the moment.

And perhaps out of worry for Itsuki, SeitenLight was dealing with more attacking Gargonemas than she should let on. Of course, it was a given that the grunts became a receiver of her frustration. She would even destroy enemies who were about to follow SeitenFire and SeitenWater. She decided not to let anyone interfere with her friends in trying to find, and eventually save her older brother who was most likely dealing with the Triske Monster that destroyed the cell towers at the moment.

“As if I’m going to let you have your way!” SeitenLight said in an intense tone before charging her Hyakureider with her Hasureiki. Now her weapon glowed white. “Heaven’s Blinding Light Strike!”

One slash attack coming from her Hyakureider destroyed the remaining Gargonema heading her way. She looked around and saw no one else coming to her. She heaved a heavy sigh after that.

“Woah! I guess I overdid that, huh?” SeitenLight mumbled and retracted her Hyakureider’s blade. She then turned to where SeitenWind was and chuckled when she saw that the yellow warrior finished her own set of Gargonemas, as well.

But she couldn’t say the same to the other two Seitengers, though.

“They found the barrier, but it looks like it’s not that easy to get through,” SeitenWind commented.

“We’d better do something to help. Who knows what the Triske Monster was planning on my brother.”

“And there’s also that question about that monster blowing up the cell towers around here. What’s the deal with that?”

From their position, both SeitenWind and SeitenLight charged up their Hyakureiders with their respective Hasureiki. Though they saw SeitenFire and SeitenWater do the same thing and struck at the invisible barrier with their attacks, nothing seemed to be working. And so the girls decided to help out as it had been a while that Itsuki was inside the barrier.

When the two older Seitengers were about to cast another attack using their charged-up Hyakureiders, it was when the two female Seitengers did the same thing.

“Four Heaven Slash!”

All four of them threw their Hasureiki-powered blade attacks to the invisible barrier with double the power they would usually use to cast it. But only a few cracks appeared all of a sudden on the invisible barrier.

“Come on! Just how strong can this barrier get?” SeitenWater complained as he was catching his breath. It appeared that the last attack drained a lot of his energy, both physical and Hasureiki-related.

“Onii-chan…” SeitenLight called out, almost in a whisper.

“There has to be a way to break this barrier,” SeitenFire said as he tried to look around to find something — anything — that they could use to destroy the barrier.

But as SeitenWind was watching the red warrior figure out a way, she soon frowned upon sensing someone was coming and heading their way. She turned to the direction where the wind was telling her to look and was surprised to see Helen running towards them.

“Helen-chan? What are you doing here?”

It took a while for the novelist to catch her breath as both of her hands were placed on her knees. Upon resting for a bit, she took a deep breath and properly stood up to face SeitenWind.

“You guys need to transmit soundwaves to the ground to get through the barrier and destroy Otoguri’s hold on it.”

But that statement was only met with silence and made the Seitengers glance at each other.

“Otoguri? Is that the name of the Triske Monster that’s holding Onii-chan captive in that barrier right now?”

Helen nodded as a response. Then she looked around the area to where the destroyed cell towers were. SeitenFire soon distracted her from it.

“What do you mean about what you said earlier?”

The girl faced the red warrior with a somber expression. “Otoguri is a Triske Monster who hates using sound against it despite using sounds to create attacks and — more specifically — illusions. That’s the main reason why the Triske Monster destroyed the cell towers first before attacking Itsuki-san.”

“Oh, no…” SeitenWater commented. “And to think we just had a lesson on dealing with illusions today. But Itsu-chan ended up skipping it.”

“We can let him lament on that later, if he’s actually regretful. Right now, the only way you guys can help Itsuki-san out is to attack Otoguri and distract him using sound waves transmitted to the ground. The more powerful, the better. That’s why —” Helen paused and soon faced SeitenLight. “You’re the one who’s going to have a bigger role on this.”

The Seitengers could only look at each other as Helen laid out the plan to help Itsuki out of the barrier. At the moment, they could only hope that it wasn’t too late for them to stop the Triske Monster from whatever plans it had for the composer.

xxxxxx

The pain searing in Itsuki’s body was steadily becoming too much for him to endure. But he wasn’t an idiot to let Otoguri have its way of defeating him. Or worse, killing him. He couldn’t afford to die at the moment. Not when he was only starting to fight as a Seitenger.

Then again, he couldn’t believe that such an illusion would be shown to him and completely distract him. He tried to push himself back up but the injuries he sustained were deep. He had to get out of there or it would be over for him.

“Damn it… Now I can’t seem to stay awake because of this pain…” Itsuki mumbled as his eyes drooped.

“Don’t close your eyes!”

That voice from a young girl soon snapped him back to his senses, prompting him to look around the area to look for any signs of that girl. He couldn’t see anyone there, though.

“Don’t let this get to you. You can fight your way through this. That monster’s illusions can’t hurt you or enchant you.  Okay? Don’t allow it…”

‘Damn it! Who is she?’ Itsuki could only ask in his mind in frustration. But he knew he had to calm himself.

Like what that voice said, he could fight through this. All he had to do was to figure out how.

“Itsuki-san! Itsuki-san! Can you hear me?”

Another voice resonated in the area, and it was enough to fully snap Itsuki out of his frustration and reverie. But he couldn’t believe his ears. Did he hear it right?

“Helen?” he whispered. Even so, he had to make sure. “Helen? Is that you?!” he shouted.

He heard a relieved sigh after that. “Thank goodness! It got through.”

What in the world? It looked like someone was trying to get through to him. Which only confirmed his suspicion that he was indeed trapped somewhere.

“Itsuki-san, I’m not sure if you can sense it from there. But Erika’s transmitting sound waves around the area that will hopefully get through to where you are. She was able to do it with the help of Eichirou-san and Misae-san’s powers,” Helen continued.

But all the while she was speaking, Itsuki did his best to sense his sister’s Hasureiki, mainly from the ground. He wasn’t disappointed. He knew that Erika’s power was transmitted to the ground because of the few things in which sound travels — air and water. The basis of Misae and Eichirou’s respective attributes.

Then again… what would happen now that he sensed it?

“I know you’ll figure out how to use that on your own. But use it to attack Otoguri. Despite that monster using sound to attack and to create illusions, it hated the fact that sounds can be used against it. Think you can amplify it using your own powers? If you can do that, then you can use it to attack Otoguri that can make it retreat for the time being,” Helen’s voice resonated once again with those instructions.

He didn’t even have the need to feel irritated only because it was Helen instructing him. But he knew when to let go of that irritation, especially when his life was at risk here at the moment.

He took a deep breath and tried to sense his surroundings using his Hasureiki, even if his wounds were drawing out his energy. As he did so, he took out his Hyakureider — blade still extracted — and plunged it to the ground. He needed all the support he could get. At the moment, his weapon was the only one that could give him that.

Once again, he transformed into SeitenEarth and tried to keep himself awake for a few more moments so that he could finish the task that he had to do. It didn’t take long for SeitenEarth to know where Otoguri was hiding, probably still watching him writhe in pain because of his injuries and end up getting insane from all the illusions he was seeing. He wasn’t going to allow it to have its way. Maybe his friends could help him discover the reason why the Triske Monster targeted only him.

Once he was able to channel enough Hasureiki to the sword, he did his best to gather Erika’s sound Hasureiki from the ground to his own weapon to combine it with his Hasureiki. It didn’t take long for SeitenEarth to realize that Otoguri was able to figure out what he was trying to do. He could hear his growling. It must have been because of the sound Hasureiki that he was able to combine with his power.

“That kid needs to die right now!” SeitenEarth heard Otoguri shout.

It didn’t take long for him to sense that the Triske Monster went out of its hiding place. That was when he opened his eyes and faced the direction that the creature went out to.

“There you are!”

SeitenEarth pulled out his Hyakureider from the ground — with it glowing in the combination of bright green and white light. He poised to a fighting stance with his weapon, all the while watching Otoguri charge towards him. The moment the Triske Monster stepped on the spot where he was expecting it to, he threw a large energy blade attack towards it.

Of course, it was an unexpected action for Otoguri as it halted to a stop as soon as SeitenEarth threw the attack. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough for the Triske Monster to prevent the spell from hitting it. The spell threw Otoguri a few meters from where it stood and hit a wall. Or at least it looked like it. But there was no wall there.

“That must be the barrier that Otoguri had set up, then,” SeitenEarth concluded as he tried to breathe steadily, using his Hyakureider as a support to remain standing.

The impact resulting from the throw created a crack to the invisible barrier that didn’t take long to work its way around and fully destroy the entire thing. He heard a sound that seemed like glass breaking around him, followed by a growl of frustration coming from Otoguri.

“Damn you, Seitenger! Who gave you that power boost, anyway? How did you get out of that illusion?”

Apparently, SeitenEarth didn’t have any time to answer that question as he could feel that his body was about to give up. He wanted to end this fight, even if it was for the meantime. He channeled more of his sister’s sound Hasureiki to his Hyakureider and fired another energy blade attack towards Otoguri that had just stood up and tried to recover from the green warrior’s last attack.

And since it was unexpected, Otoguri wasn’t able to evade it once again. The Triske Monster hit the invisible wall for the second time and it created a bigger crack this time. Right after that, he closed his eyes tight and gripped his weapon hard.

“I can’t fall here just yet…” he mumbled and faced the growling monster.

“I’m not done with you yet, green Seitenger! I’ll see to it that you get killed the next time we meet!” With that statement, Otoguri stepped into the crack and the barrier disintegrated almost immediately.

He looked around as soon as his transformation disabled and heaved a sigh of relief from where he was standing. But that wasn’t what caught his attention and froze him to the spot.

“What in the world…?” he muttered and walked towards the vision that caught his attention.

He was tired and his body was about to give up. So where in the world was he getting the energy to approach what appeared to be an illusion? Could this still be a part of Otoguri’s way of distracting him and making him lose his focus? Because if it was, then it was working.

That vision was of a little girl — the one from his dream since the hotel fire.

“Hey…” he called out, even when a part of him was telling that it was no use. But he wanted to try. Even if it was an illusion or an apparition, maybe he would be able to find an answer. “Are you okay? Who are you? What are you doing here?”

No answer came as the little girl’s back remained turned from him. But he waited. There was a voice telling him that he had to. A few moments later, he saw the little girl slowly turn around. However, his frown deepened as the slow turning motion was making the vision appear as if she was growing up.

Much like a time lapse happening right in front of him.

As the girl finally faced him, she smiled at him. It was enough to give him a shock, his eyes opened wide at the sight that unraveled in front of him at the moment.

“It can’t be…!” Itsuki exclaimed, but in a whispered tone. It looked like he lost his voice at what he saw. “It was you?”

No answer came as the vision gradually faded. But the shock he received didn’t. Not long after, his body couldn’t take it any longer.

Before he could stop himself, he fell to the ground.

“Onii-chan!”

“Itsuki!”

“Itsuki-kun!”

Those voices resonated in his ears. His friends were finally able to reach him. He could feel one of them carrying him, but he couldn’t tell who as his eyelids felt heavy. All he wanted to do was to sleep.

“Itsuki-san! Are you okay?”

When that female voice reached his ears, he did his best to open his eyes. He then turned to where he thought was the source of it. He was right. It did belong to Helen.

Itsuki saw her lift her hand, possibly planning to place it on his head as she would do whenever she would heal someone. But before she could do so —

“Huh?”

That reaction came when Itsuki grabbed her wrist, surprising her and the others, as well. He tried his best to open his eyes once again and look at her. The rest waited with baited breath as to what could happen next.

“You finally… came to life…”

After that, he lost consciousness, effectively releasing his hold on her hand.

The others could only look at each other in confusion not long after.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

xxxxxx

Needless to say, there was chaos in the Mizuhashi household as soon as Itsuki was brought in unconscious. Thankfully, they didn’t do any running while carrying the composer because of Helen’s teleportation ability. Without a doubt, it was another part of Helen that they were surprised to know. But they could do the interrogation later.

At the moment, helping Itsuki was their top priority.

“How did he end up like this?” Hideoki asked as he faced Eichirou.

The photographer sighed. “The Triske Monster targeted him, for some reason. But that’s all we could tell. Helen-chan was able to help us out in saving Itsu-chan when she gave us instructions.”

No words were said after that. The father and son could only watch as Misae was using her Hasureiki to heal Itsuki’s wounds that he sustained in that ordeal. Erika did her best to help as she channeled some of her Hasureiki to Misae that the archer could use to heal her older brother. Of course, they knew it wasn’t enough.

While it was going on, Erika was only thinking of one thing. She had to push through in talking to her brother about what was really happening to him. She knew it wasn’t just him who was curious about the meaning of the words he said to Helen before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

Her other friends were curious about it, too.

The other thing that was worrying the pianist was Helen. Yes, she knew that her childhood friend was an illusionist — which was, according to both Hideoki and Nanami, an ability rarely seen to be a power that a Vessel Support could possess. But it wasn’t something that could be considered impossible. So they couldn’t say that it was unusual. But for the novelist to determine if someone was an illusionist…

How in the world was she able to do that? And also the amount of Hasureiki that Helen used to transfer to the ground to snap her older brother out along with her sound Hasureiki… Regardless of what other people would think, it was still a crazy amount. A lethal one for a Vessel Support, at that.

Just what kind of training did Helen undergo to be able to provide support to the Vessels to this degree?

Both ladies had finished trying to heal Itsuki, both to replenish his lost energy and heal whatever wounds he sustained in dealing with Otoguri. But it seemed that more rest was needed in order for the composer to fully recover. Itsuki who remained unconscious even after Misae had used her healing wind Hasureiki was proof of that.

“You did what you can, Misae. He’ll be alright now,” Hideoki assured the archer after that with a tap on her shoulder.

Misae nodded and then sighed before looking at her unconscious friend. “He really pushed through in dealing with that Triske Monster. But I wonder what sort of illusions Itsuki-kun had seen in that space.”

“Normally, Otoguri would show illusions about what the victim feared the most,” Akira explained as he entered Itsuki’s room with a pitcher of water and glasses in tow. “He must have seen you guys getting hurt or injured or worse, dead, for one.”

The other Vessels nodded, agreeing to that statement. Each of them took a glass that Akira brought and helped them with a glass of water. At the moment, it was something they needed.

“Ah! That was refreshing!” Eichirou exclaimed as soon as he downed a full glass of water. “Thanks for this, Akira.”

“There is that possibility, if you ask me,” Misae said in response to Akira's words. She did so after downing her own glass of water. "But there's still the question of what Itsuki actually fears the most — even if it was about Erika-chan, most of the time."

But the pianist shook her head. "I don't think that's the only thing that my brother feared so much that Otoguri would use to lure my brother."

"There's also the question of why that Triske Monster targeted Itsuki," Shuichi said, his eyes focused on the carpeted floor. "I don't think it's only because he was the only one who arrived in the area earlier than the rest of us."

The other Vessels also thought back on what happened earlier.

"Now that you mentioned it... the Triske Monster did create a barrier when we got there. It even made sure that we're not going to interfere at all when the Gargonemas appeared, as well."

Everyone in the room looked at each other, as if doing so would provide an answer to their unspoken questions about the event.

Well, everyone except Helen.

She was staring at the floor while sitting on the stool not far from where the others gathered around the injured Itsuki. At that point, they had a clue as to what could have made Helen like this.

Shuichi took a deep breath and stood up from where he was sitting. This wasn't the first time that Shuichi had seen Helen like this. In fact, there were a lot of times that the novelist would stare at the wall while tapping her fingers on her laptop. Normally, he would associate it with the fact that she needed to meet deadlines for her novels as Hanasaki Kikue.

But that wasn't the case all the time.

In this case, however, he knew fully well that the reason was something else. The one that even the other Vessels had wanted to ask to Itsuki since they heard his last words before fainting.

He crouched down on one knee before flicking the girl's forehead. With that, of course, she yelped and raised her head to face the one who did it. Helen's eyes widened upon seeing Shuichi face to face in front of her. On her level.

"Shuichi-san...?"

The biker took a deep breath first before he spoke. "You're not yourself since we got here. Are you sure you're okay? Did you exert yourself too much again when you used your Hasureiki to power up Erika's ability?"

Helen didn't know where to start. Even she was confused as to what exactly transpired in the barrier between Itsuki and the Triske Monster that made the composer say something like that before passing out.

"I could actually write what he said in a novel, to be honest. But..." Helen paused and looked around. Her heart beat faster when she saw the others looking at her with worry. "I wonder why he said those words to me. What does he mean by saying that ‘I finally came to life’? It's not like I died or I existed in a fictional world or anything like that."

The other Vessels didn't know what to make of what Helen asked continuously. Even they were confused with Itsuki's words. But they were all sure of one thing.

It originated from somewhere. It could be a dream, an experience, or even from what he had heard or read over the last ten years since the tragedy. Something happened that they were not aware of.

Yes, it was crazy for Itsuki to say vague things like that. But only the young composer could answer their questions.

Once he felt like answering them, of course.

Shuichi took a deep breath and put a hand on Helen’s head. It made her look up to him in confusion.

“Look, we’re all confused as you are because of what Itsuki had said. But knowing that guy for ten years already, he wouldn't say things without a plausible reason. For now, only he knew that reason. What you need to do right now is to rest and take it easy. I have a feeling that we’ll be needing your help when Otoguri starts attacking again,” Shuichi said and smiled warmly at the novelist.

Helen could only look at Shuichi even after he said that. But she knew he was right. She was the one who knew how to deal with an illusionist, so it was natural that the Vessels would be needing her help to conquer the enemy. And if her hunch was right about the reason for Otoguri to seal off Itsuki in that empty space…

‘Wait… seal off? It’s obvious that only Itsuki-san was in the area at the time the attack started. But wouldn’t it be faster if that Triske Monster had sealed off the Seitengers in one area as soon as they arrived together? Why was it targeting just one Seitenger at the time?’

Did that monster actually think that killing one Seitenger would prevent something from happening? But the only event that could possibly happen was —

‘Great minds think alike. If the records are right, then Otoguri should be working under that particular Great Shadow Defender. He must have observed a certain pattern among the Seitengers that we didn’t.’

“Helen-chan, are you okay?”

That voice startled the said girl. Once Helen managed to snap out of her reverie, she noticed that the Vessels and even the other Vessel Supports were all looking at her with worried eyes. She turned to look at Shuichi once she managed to calm her mind down from so many thoughts running.

“What’s wrong?” the biker asked, his hand still on the top of her head.

She took a deep breath before speaking. “Please take care of Itsuki-san. I have to go to the records room after this.”

Of course, what she said confused the others once again. But she held her ground.

“Helen-chan, I know you’re dedicated to helping us get stronger. But you should also rest and take care of yourself,” Eichirou said, his tone reprimanding.

Helen shook her head. “This is something I have to do, since I think I have an idea why Otoguri targeted Itsuki-san and sealed him off, preventing us from going inside and helping him immediately.”

The statement created more confusion among the people in that room. But the novelist knew what she meant. It wouldn’t take long before the others could catch on to that.

“Hey… you’re not saying —”

Helen nodded. “It’s just a possibility. But Otoguri must have been ordered to target a certain Seitenger who has the greatest possibility of achieving another feat if they let that person live. That Triske Monster’s master must have wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t happen at all.”

xxxxxx

Tareus Dimension was in chaos once again, which was evident because of all the thunder roaring and lightning crackling all around the fortress and even within the Throne Room where the enchanted ceiling was located. But this time, the rage was directed to someone else.

Or at least, the other Great Shadow Defenders wanted to direct that rage to someone.

“You could’ve just finished them all off if you’re not so dumb to target only one of them, Orcus!” Alvre screamed.

But the scholar just shoved her off and proceeded to assist his Triske Monster trying to recover from the initial ordeal with the Seitenger. Even he couldn’t believe that the green Seitenger could strike down Otoguri with such a force enough to break the illusory barrier.

“What were you thinking, targeting just one of them? Do you think you could end the problem by striking at them one by one?” Karkino continued.

Just like before, Orcus paid them no attention. Siriso fired an energy ball towards the scholar but Otoguri was faster and created a barrier to protect its master. Orcus smirked at the action of his subordinate.

“You don’t have to do that, Otoguri. They’re not worth your barrier,” Orcus said as he continued pouring his own power to his Triske Monster to heal it and help it recover its lost energy.

The three Great Shadow Defenders soon left the room in a huff and decided to focus on pouring more energy coming from human hopelessness to the slumbering emperor. Of course, they were all aware that it still wouldn’t be enough to fully wake their leader up.

Only Nemia remained in the room and soon approached the scholar.

“I thought you left with them, as well,” Orcus commented, but didn’t face the female ninja standing behind them.

“I don’t associate myself with such hotheaded people. They ruin what little peace of mind that I have left since we were all stuck here in this dimension for 5,000 years.” Not long after, Nemia took a deep breath. “It seems to me you’re sure that the green Seitenger is about to achieve their third incredible feat since the group’s awakening.”

The statement didn’t surprise Orcus, however. He remained assisting the Triske Monster recover.

“Not once have I made a mistake about my assumptions with regards to my enemies, Nemia. I’m sure you know that. But…” Orcus paused the moment the healing was done.

He soon ordered Otoguri to leave at a given time and proceed once again with the original plan. The creature obliged and left the Throne Room. At the moment, only Orcus and Nemia remained there.

“It seems to me that the Seitengers have an illusionist comrade among their midst,” the scholar continued in a grave tone.

Nemia frowned. “What do you mean?”

“No one could break through Otoguri’s illusory barrier unless it was another illusionist who would do so. Especially if that person would only use the voice to break through the target’s trance state. But this is the first time I’ve noticed that there was an illusionist among them.”

“But… there was only one person I know who could do such a thing.”

Orcus soon faced Nemia and nodded. “Our illusionist comrade who’s been on the surface world since she managed to get out of here for eleven years. Only that person could do such a feat. And yet —”

“ — someone was able to do something similar just now. Is that what you’re telling me?” The ninja scoffed before laughing. “But that’s not surprising, if we were to base it on what the Seitengers had achieved in such a short amount of time since their awakening.”

The scholar soon laughed and looked at the enchanted ceiling, now sporting a crack. The sight of that made him sneer this time.

“This is going to be interesting!” Orcus screamed and fired a more powerful barrage of beam shots to that cracked enchanted ceiling.

Nemia shook her head, her cunning smile never left her face.

xxxxxx

Back in the Mizuhashi mansion, it was night time and the people inside were just done eating their dinner. They didn’t actually feel like eating anything, if they were going to be honest. But they knew that both Hideoki and Nanami would scold them if they skipped dinner while they were recovering from their ordeal.

It didn’t take a while before one of them — specifically Erika — decided to check on her brother’s condition. Misae said that she’d soon follow after she finished practicing archery as part of the archer’s night routine. The pianist agreed and proceeded to Itsuki’s room.

Around dinner time, it was when Itsuki finally regained consciousness. The room’s light remained turned on even when he was sleeping. So he was surprised to realize that it was already night time outside.

“Wait a minute… How long have I been out?” he couldn’t help asking himself despite his hoarse voice.

No answer came, both from around him and even in his mind. He took that chance to look around before trying to sit up and check on himself.

“Urgh! Damn it!” he cursed as he endured the pain searing through even with little movements he would do.

Even with that, he was glad he made it out of there. He never expected to be targeted by a Triske Monster at the worst moment of his day when his mind was all over the place.

Itsuki soon recalled the last bits of the event that happened before he lost consciousness.

“That illusion of the little girl in my dreams…” he murmured and soon closed his eyes.

He seriously didn’t expect the illusion to slowly shift in front of him, revealing something shocking the moment the girl soon turned to face him.

“Why did the girl change to become Helen?”

That was the question that truly shocked him to the core the moment he saw it. But now that his mind cleared for a little, he realized that the little girl indeed looked like the younger version of Helen. How come he didn’t notice it before?

But no matter how shocking it was, Itsuki realized that the illusion that he saw after Otoguri retreated wasn’t the Triske Monster’s doing. Something — or someone — retained that illusion in the area for him to see. For him to realize certain things that he might have ignored for a long time.

The illusion could have been a part of the answers he desperately sought for since he started dreaming about the little girl after the fire tragedy.

But if that was the case…

“Woah! You’re finally awake, Onii-chan.”

Itsuki looked up as soon as he heard that voice. He smiled upon seeing Erika enter his room with a tray of food for him. Since he saw from his window that it was already night time, those foods must have been what the others had cooked for that day’s dinner.

“How long have I been asleep?” he asked as he tried to get up, but winced at the surge of pain that struck his head.

“Don’t move too much! Misae-san’s healing power still isn’t strong enough to fully heal your injuries. So don’t be surprised that you could still have pain in other parts of your body that Otoguri had struck you with,” Erika said as she hurriedly placed the tray near the end of his bed that his feet couldn’t reach.

Not long after, she was assisting him in sitting up properly before she placed the tray table in front of him.

“Now eat up. Five hours of sleep still isn’t enough for you to fully recover your lost strength.”

Itsuki did what Erika had wanted him to do. It was enough that he made her worry about what happened, so he decided not to bring up the topic about the battle just yet. Not to mention, he was indeed hungry since he hadn’t had lunch. Adding the aftereffects of the battle, he was definitely going to devour the meal in front of him.

All the time while he was eating, however, he couldn’t help noticing that Erika was just staring at him. As if watching his expression or contemplating on asking him something. As time went by, he couldn’t take the tension slowly building up as she continued watching him.

“Erika, if you want to ask me something, shouldn’t you be doing that already? In case you’re not aware, you’re about to put a hole in my face with the way you’re staring at me the entire time,” Itsuki said after he finished his meal. Honestly, he thought he was about to choke on his food as if the tension blocked his throat.

But the pianist remained pouting as she continued staring at him. It took about a few more moments before Erika sighed and faced him properly.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable with the way I was looking at you. But you’re right. I’ve been meaning to ask you something even before you passed out.”

He frowned at that. Could it be about his actions about leaving the training without a word? Come to think of it, he had to apologize to the others about that. He was the one who sighed this time. But before he could even open his mouth to say something —

“Onii-chan… have you been experiencing something all this time that you’re not telling me?” Erika asked.

Of course, that question surprised him. But he waited for his sister to continue talking, as he felt like there was something more that she wanted to say to him.

“I’m not sure if you remember. But before you passed out after dealing with Otoguri, you said to Helen-chan while holding her wrist that… she finally came to life.” Erika took a deep breath before facing him. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

He gawked at his sister’s words. He never expected any of them. Did he really say those words to Helen? With the others around them after he collapsed?

Itsuki looked down, unable to decide whether or not he could tell the truth to his sister. But at the same time, it was exactly for that reason that he had to mention it to Erika. They were siblings, and they stuck together since the tragedy that took their parents’ lives ten years ago. He shouldn’t be excluding her about anything.

Then again, the issue was about Helen. He wasn’t sure how he would explain it to Erika without angering her. Those two were childhood friends, after all. Even though he was unaware of it until Helen arrived at the Mizuhashi mansion, that fact still remained.

He sighed and raised his head to face his sister. “I’ve been dreaming of someone… for a long time now since the tragedy.”

Erika frowned, but didn’t say anything. This had only allowed Itsuki to continue speaking.

“I kept seeing a little girl in my dreams. Same event, slightly different scenes. But I’m sure that it was telling me something that… I have to figure it out. That girl was running away from something. Most of the time that I’d see her in those dreams, her dress was covered in blood. I’d always see her crying behind a boulder while desperately trying to hide. Whenever I’d ask what was wrong, she would only shake her head and smile. But it was a very painful smile and so I would try to calm her down whenever we would see each other in those dreams.”

Of course, it didn’t surprise him that the last part had shocked Erika.

“Are you saying that you’d always talk to her in those dreams you have of her? Does that mean that the dreams would end up like a series of scenes surrounding a crucial event or something?”

Itsuki thought about it for a short while before answering. “I guess… you could say that. I never saw the scenes diverting from whatever tragic event that had happened there. And then… while I was fighting Otoguri, it showed me a similar scene of that little girl. But this time, she would encourage me to fight the illusion and that it was going to be okay. Everything was muddled up to the point that Otoguri managed to escape. So I had no idea what I’d seen after that. I could’ve been hallucinating. But who knows.”

“And yet you would say that to Helen-chan after you grabbed her wrist while she tried to calm you down and heal you,” Erika said after moments of silence between them.

He couldn’t believe that he actually did that to Helen. But he wanted to know Erika’s opinion about the other matter that bothered him up to that point.

“By the way, where is she?” he asked before he could even stop himself. He bit his tongue when he finally realized what he had done.

“You mean Helen-chan? She said she would head out to the records room to find something there. She said that she might have figured out the reason why Otoguri had specifically targeted you.”

Itsuki frowned. “What do you mean she knew the reason? I thought it just so happened that I was the only one there.”

“Well, that’s not what she thinks. And even Shuichi-san agreed to that.” Erika paused and sighed before continuing to speak. “But Onii-chan, why did you say those words to her, anyway? Even when you said that everything was muddled to you after Otoguri escaped, there has to be a reason why you would say something like that to her.”

It looked like there was no escaping on this one, huh? Then again, he should’ve expected this from his sister. As Makoto once said, Erika was always perceptive of things around her once she truly put her focus onto them.

Once again, he took a deep breath before speaking. “After Otoguri retreated, the illusion of the little girl I saw remained in the area. I’m not sure how long it stayed there. Or if you even saw it while trying to approach me from that hundred meter distance. But it was there. When I asked who she was, there was no answer. But when she turned, she slowly changed — like witnessing a time lapse. I saw the illusion change to Helen the moment she faced me.”

“So that explains it…” Erika murmured and nodded. It looked like she understood something just from his explanation. “You thought that the little girl was just a product of your dreams. But… you ended up realizing that the girl you’re dreaming about was actually Helen-chan. Was that the reason why you dislike her since she came here to the mansion?”

Itsuki shook his head. “That illusion made me realize something as soon as Helen’s face came to view at that moment. But I think it will only be clear once… I ask her something. Though I don’t know if it would answer the questions I have or not.” Soon after, he faced his sister. “Do you think you can help me go to her in the records room?”

Erika remained looking at him for a few moments, as if assessing his intentions for her childhood friend. But with his situation at the moment, he had no energy to show any dislike towards anyone without a proper reason. He needed answers, and he knew that he could only get them when Helen managed to answer some of his questions.

“Then finish eating your food first. I don’t think Hideoki-san would allow you to leave the mansion without proper nutrition while you’re recovering your lost energy.”

He thanked Erika and proceeded with the rest of his dinner.

xxxxxx

“How long are you intending to stay here, reading, anyway?”

Helen nearly dropped the scroll she was reading when she heard that question. To add to her surprise, she saw Itsuki walking towards the ladder she stood on with Erika assisting him. It seemed that he was still weak because of the ordeal with Otoguri.

Even with that, she was glad to see him finally awake and out of danger.

“It’s rare for you to initiate a conversation, Itsuki-san,” Helen said placidly before going down the ladder, still holding the scroll she was reading earlier.

“I don’t intend to. But I have something to ask of you.”

She frowned and then looked at the siblings who were both seated on the long sofa. Erika shrugged with a smile while Itsuki sighed before looking at her. It was an understatement that she was surprised, and at the same time, confused about that.

But she waited for him to continue.

“But before that…” Itsuki started once again.

He remained silent for a short while after that. Helen saw him clench and unclench his fists, as if having an internal debate. But she waited. Even when she finally realized that the tension that would usually form between her and Itsuki had started to build up again, she stayed firm.

Itsuki took a deep breath before facing Helen. “Thank you… for helping me deal with Otoguri inside that barrier. I can’t believe you could actually send instructions inside that illusory barrier.”

“Well, illusions are my specialty. Not many previous Seitengers and even Vessel Supports before had enough knowledge to deal with them. So you could say I did my best to mainly focus on dealing with them,” Helen explained and sighed.

Honestly, she was finding it hard to believe that she was having this kind of conversation with Itsuki without causing a suffocating tension to rise and hover between them. But she could tell that there was something more to this.

“By the way, Helen-chan…” Erika said, catching her attention. She then changed her focus to that of her childhood friend. “What’s that scroll you’re holding?”

‘Oh, yeah. I still have this.’ How did she actually forget about this? She couldn’t help laughing bitterly and sighed. “I was looking at any information I could find about a Tarean illusionist. Specifically, an illusionist who was among the members of the Great Shadow Defenders.”

The Hoshiyama siblings froze at the words that came out of her mouth. Of course, she knew what words had made them like that. Then again, anyone who had an idea about the Tareans or the battle that the Seitengers were dealing with would elicit such reactions. Especially to the newly awakened Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians’ Powers.

“Why are you reading about that, anyway? Was there any particular reason?” Again, it was Itsuki who inquired.

Helen couldn’t fathom why the composer was taking interest in talking to her like this. But she couldn’t sense any pretenses in his tone or even his posture. He was curious — but she knew he was curious for a particular reason. But could she really answer him so easily? Even Erika didn’t know anything about the real reason why she was in the Mizuhashi mansion and helping Hideoki and Nanami train the Vessels.

“It’s something I need for me to complete my personal mission,” she answered. Vague as it might appear, she had to do it that way. No one else should know her reasons.

At least not yet.

Thankfully, neither of the Hoshiyama siblings probe any further about the topic. She took it as her cue to do her own interview, if that was how she would actually call it.

“By the way, Itsuki-san, why are you and Erika here? Shouldn’t you be still resting? Hours of sleep aren’t even enough for you to fully recover from what happened inside the barrier. Not to mention, Otoguri could decide to target you again. Your body should be rested enough and well prepared in case that Triske Monster would actually decide to come after you for the second time.”

To her confusion, Itsuki raised his head and intently looked at her. Not to mention, the way he stared at her was enough for her heart to beat fast. Whether it was from his stare or some other reason, she couldn’t tell. But she stood her ground and met his gaze.

“I came here to ask you something,” Itsuki started. “Has there been anyone important to you who was killed when you were a child that you… witnessed first hand?”

At that point, Helen knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her shock at that direct question. When she glanced at Erika, she saw the pianist clenching her fists while looking at her. She didn’t know if Erika actually mentioned something to Itsuki. But if she was going to base it on the way he asked her that question, then it appeared that Erika remained silent about the reason why the two of them met when they were children.

“I didn’t mean to pry by asking you that. It’s just…” Itsuki paused before taking a deep breath. “Something had been bothering me since the fire tragedy ten years ago. There was this young girl that kept appearing in my dreams around the time the hotel fire happened.”

Itsuki proceeded to explain various details about those dreams, especially common ones that remained in each dream he’d seen most of the time. A young girl running away from something, her dress covered in blood and would soon hide behind a boulder to escape from who or what was after her. He also mentioned about the illusion of the girl he saw that soon changed into her even after Otoguri had retreated.

It was the real reason why he said the words “you finally came to life” before he passed out and why he came to find her to talk even when he was still supposed to be resting.

But even after hearing all of those reasons from Itsuki, her mind seemed to be unable to comprehend that he’d been dealing with something like that for a long time. How in the world did Itsuki actually end up dreaming about the childhood tragedy that nearly killed her, anyway? Something must have acted in a way that the vision would remain in his mind for such a long time.

And then there was the mystery of the illusion of that little girl turning to her and remaining in the area even after Otoguri had retreated…

That was when she recalled information in one of the scrolls that she’d read when she was preparing for the training with the Vessels. ‘Could that be it?’

“Helen-chan…”

With her friend’s voice snapping her out of her reverie, she soon faced the siblings waiting for her to answer. “Yes… There was such a tragedy that had occured when I was a child. I once mentioned this to Shuichi around the time he awakened his Elemental Guide.” This time, she focused on facing Itsuki. “What you told me with regards to the scenes you kept on seeing in your dreams was about the time both of my parents were killed. And you were right, they were killed right in front of me.”

The siblings gasped, their eyes opening wide with each information coming out of her lips. Helen continued on. “I was trying to escape from them before I completely lost consciousness because of the head injury I suffered back then. And if you’re going to ask about my age when that event happened, I was only five years old.”

“But… around the time I met you, you were also chased, right? Someone was coming after you, as well.”

Helen nodded as a response to Erika’s inquiry. “That was the second attempt to have me killed. They would have succeeded… if it wasn’t for the professor’s help at the time.”

“Do you have any idea… about the identity of your parents’ killer?” Itsuki asked in a softer voice. He was probably testing the waters since the topic was sensitive, in most parts.

The novelist was silent for a while. But the siblings remained waiting. Whether or not she would answer the question, and whatever answer she would utter, they decided to respect that. This time, Helen sighed before nodding and raised the scroll that Erika noticed earlier.

“It was one of the Great Shadow Defenders, but I only knew that devil to be able to cast illusions. I have an inkling that the same high-ranking Tarean could be responsible for the hotel fire ten years ago and the one who killed your parents, as well.” Helen’s expression changed from determined to dejected. “However, there was nothing to confirm that assumption at the moment. Then again, if that warrior managed to kill my parents back then, then I won’t be surprised if we find out that the same person was the one who took away the people important to you and the others.”

xxxxxx

The next day, the other Vessels couldn’t help frowning at the sight of just Erika preparing breakfast alone. To be honest, it was supposed to be the Hoshiyama siblings’ turn to prepare breakfast that day. But something must have happened for the older Vessels not to see Itsuki there.

“Eri-chan, is Itsu-chan still resting?” Eichirou started as he approached the pianist.

Erika shook her head as she placed the first of the cooked omelets on the plate. “He went out earlier since he said he still has to do something else. I didn’t stop him since he’d rested enough and Hideoki-san already gave him his permission.”

“What? What does he have to do this time?” Misae asked this time in exasperation.

“The only thing he said to me was that he needed guidance since there is a greater chance that Otoguri would target him again. Even Helen-chan came to the same conclusion.”

“What about Helen? Did she leave, as well?”

“No,” Erika answered as she placed another omelet on a plate. “She stayed in the records room to read more materials related to our battle with Otoguri. And there was also something else that she said she had to know.”

“Something else that she has to know?”

At this point, Erika turned off the stove and faced her friends with a grave expression. “She said she needs to know about the Elemental Guides that the previous Seitengers had summoned from 25 years ago. She did mention that one of those Elemental Guides has the ability to show illusions to its chosen warrior as part of a test needed to awaken its full power.”

“But that’s… exactly what happened to Shuichi and I when we awakened our Elemental Guides,” Eichirou said and faced the said biker who nodded.

“But this particular Elemental Guide was different, as casting illusions is one of its main abilities. Onii-chan mentioned that there was a certain illusion that remained in the area even after Otoguri had disappeared. Helen concluded that whatever retained that illusion there could be testing him.”

Shuichi’s expression brightened upon recalling something. “Wait a minute! That’s why Helen said that last night while Misae was trying to heal Itsuki. She did say she thought she knew the reason why Otoguri targeted Itsuki when that monster could’ve targeted all of us as soon as we regrouped in the area. But that didn’t happen at all.”

“Are you saying that the reason for that attack was to prevent Itsuki from possibly awakening his Elemental Guide?” Misae asked as soon as she was able to connect the dots.

Erika nodded and soon handed the plates with omelet to her friends one by one. “That means we have to think of a counterattack that will allow us to help Onii-chan to fully achieve that feat and to also stop Otoguri from killing my brother or destroying the town again.”

xxxxxx

With that plan in mind, the Vessels thought that they would be ready. Of course, they still had to consult the older Vessels’ plan to Itsuki before they could even proceed. Thankfully, the said composer arrived at the Mizuhashi mansion earlier than Erika was expecting. The others didn’t say anything or ask any questions about his activity outside of the mansion. They were just happy that Itsuki was healed and had recovered. Not to mention, ready to fight again should Otoguri indeed target him again.

But before they could even start planning —

“Erika, where’s Helen?” Itsuki asked.

He didn’t mind the older Vessels staring at him with wide eyes as soon as those words came out of the young man’s mouth.

“Still in the bookstore, doing more reading. She said she’d catch up once she found the information she needed.”

With a sigh, the composer urged Shuichi to start the meeting. Despite the shock they felt from that conversation alone, the Vessels began formulating a strategy that they could use to finally defeat Otoguri.

They were sure that the Tareans would target another set of cell towers near his intended coordinates to attack and hurt more people. The Vessels were glad that the cell towers near the border were all far from where the citizens would gather. So they were able to avoid any casualties or injuries.

But they shouldn’t feel complacent that it would happen the second time. Especially now that they knew there were cell towers near Tsukikage, as well. And there were many of them, in fact.

It didn’t take long before the said enemy returned to the surface and started attacking once again. This time, the Vessels were right in coming to the conclusion that Otoguri could target the cell towers near Tsukikage. That was what they saw when their respective Celestial Shifters beeped, warning them of another Tarean attack.

“Here we go. But be careful. Who knows what that monster was really up to other than the fact that it was specifically targeting Itsuki,” Shuichi said as they all exited the mansion to head to the scene of the attack that their Celestial Shifters had indicated.

With Nanami’s teleportation ability, they were all able to arrive at the location faster than usual. This time, the Tareans had targeted the radio station and several cell towers positioned near the western border of Tsukikage.

“Did Otoguri already destroy them all?” Misae couldn’t help asking in worry.

“No, it doesn’t look like it. But we better do what we can to stop that from happening,” Eichirou answered as he looked around to survey the situation.

With a sigh, Itsuki ran ahead of the others, surprising his friends.

“Onii-chan, where are you going?”

The composer faced Erika when he halted to a stop. “If what Helen told us was right, then I have to do what I can to distract Otoguri and face him all by myself. The rest of you should prevent any foot soldiers of the Tareans in destroying whatever towers and stations that they just decided to destroy.”

The rest of the Vessels couldn’t say anything after that. One, with the exception of Erika, they were surprised to actually hear Itsuki mention Helen and accept her help. Second, even though the reason for Otoguri targeting Itsuki was initially an assumption, it was unlikely that the composer would easily accept it as the truth.

Erika took a deep breath after a while. “Be careful, Onii-chan.”

With that, all of them activated their Celestial Shifters the moment they placed their respective Heaven Medallion in the slot of their transformation devices.

“Spirit Shift, Start!”

The five of them got covered in bright colored lights representing their color and elements. It didn’t take long before the five Vessels donned their suits and became Seitengers once again.

“Heaven’s Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!”

“Heaven’s Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!”

“Heaven’s Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!”

“Heaven’s Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!”

“Heaven’s Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!”

They all took out their Hyakureiders and extracted its blade, pointing it to the sky first before placing their hands that held the hilt to their left chests. They looked like knights making a pledge.

“The Hundred Heavens’ greatest legend! Reiyouki Sentai Seitenger!”

After that, SeitenEarth pointed his Hyakureider to Otoguri who finally caught sight of the transformed team.

“It’s time we set up the stage for you!” the green warrior shouted and charged towards the said Triske Monster.

The immediate action only made both SeitenFire and SeitenWater shrug.

“Right now, I guess Itsu-chan’s pissed,” the blue warrior commented.

“What do you expect? This is already his revenge time. You know what happens when Itsuki’s pissed off.”

The rest of the Seitengers laughed at that remark. But it didn’t take long. The moment Otoguri noticed the team, the monster also began summoning more Gargonemas. That is, until something else happened.

“What the —?”

The reaction came when they noticed two more groups of foot soldiers that were definitely larger than the Gargonemas.

“What the heck are they?” SeitenWind couldn’t help exclaiming as she gripped her Hyakureider tighter than how she did it a while back.

“We can ask Akira and Natsume later about them. Right now, we have to fight and be sure to help Itsu-chan when he finally needs it,” SeitenWater said and started charging towards the incoming enemies.

At the sight, though, SeitenFire sighed and shook his head. “Is it me or are we having a lot of hotheads right now because of the appearance of the new soldiers among the Tareans’ midst?”

“We’re all angry at them, I guess,” SeitenLight replied with a chuckle. After that, she summoned her personal weapon upon placing her Heaven Dove Medallion on her Celestial Shifter — the Dove Light Striker. “It’s been a while since I used this thing. I have to make sure I destroy each and everyone of the enemies who are about to interrupt my brother’s battle.”

With that, SeitenLight also charged towards the approaching enemies. She charged her weapon with her Hasureiki.

“White Striker Shine!”

She threw the white light-covered three bladed shuriken to the Gargonemas and even to the new groups of foot soldiers. Almost instantly, the enemies exploded to atoms. Both SeitenFire and SeitenWind couldn’t contain their gasps at the sight.

“Well, that definitely shows her anger, doesn’t it?” the yellow warrior commented with a weak laugh. She turned to face SeitenFire. “What do you think, Shuichi?”

“Let’s not allow them to outshine us or we’ll definitely fall behind. But we have to make sure that Itsuki could do his task to finally achieve the feat that even the previous Seitengers hadn’t done before.”

‘Awakening another Elemental Guide this fast, huh?’ Even just thinking of the idea was too much for SeitenWind to comprehend at the moment. If that was true, then they seriously had to prepare for the worst. These feats of the Seitengers in such a short span of time would be enough for the enemies to consider them the greatest threats to their long-time mission of conquering the world.

As soon as she sighed heavily, the red and yellow Seitengers both summoned their respective personal weapons, as well, to help SeitenLight.

“Let’s go. We can’t let them do all the hard work.”

xxxxxx

“I can’t believe you’d really come after me all by yourself, green Seitenger. Are you ready to meet Death?” Otoguri sneered.

But SeitenEarth just scoffed and soon after that, threw an energy blade attack to the Triske Monster. Otoguri didn’t have time to dodge it, but it managed to block the attack and throw it away. He soon saw that it hit an invisible wall. He already expected that Otoguri would already begin creating an illusory space the moment the monster saw him approaching. But he didn’t expect it to be done so fast.

“Just as Helen said… this monster was targeting me…” SeitenEarth murmured. He took a deep breath right after and poised to a fighting stance with his Hyakureider.

“Even if you prepare to fight like that, you’ll never be able to defeat me and my illusions, green Seitenger.”

Seriously, this Triske Monster’s taunting was enough to irritate him. Then again, every Triske Monster they fought had done the same thing. But perhaps this was the first time the enemy’s words were enough to truly tick him off.

Before long, a shockwave hit SeitenEarth that nearly threw him off the ground. But he managed to stay where he was with the help of his Hyakureider that he plunged to the ground as his support. He had to stay firm or he would be defeated again before he knew it.

Especially since he was aware that Otoguri could show him illusions coming from… the victim’s greatest fears.

Wait… That was what Akira had mentioned before, right? He understood it when he recalled that the Triske Monster showed him his injured and unconscious friends as if they were already dead. But what about that little girl who turned out to be Helen?

“From my greatest fears… Then all this time… Is it possible that I already knew what lies ahead for Helen? Could I have felt it even before I realized it?” SeitenEarth muttered as he stood up and sensed his surroundings.

He already realized that Otoguri used that shockwave as a distraction to hide itself from him. But that doesn’t mean he was defenseless. He just needed to strengthen his mind so that he wouldn’t fall into any of the Triske Monster’s illusions again.

Of course, something could still happen that was beyond his expectations. So he really needed to be careful. Not to mention, there was no knowing when or how his teammates would be able to get past through the barrier and him finally discovering the source of that retained illusion from the last time.

“I’ll be fine… I can get through this, and I know it…” It could be just his way of trying to overcome the stress of trying to figure out Otoguri’s plan before it could start attacking him.

In any case, he could use it as a mantra in the meantime. Just until the answers he was looking for as he decided to fight Otoguri all by himself.

xxxxxx

Outside of the barrier that Otoguri put up to deal with SeitenEarth alone, the four other Seitengers dealt with foot soldiers after foot soldiers using their Hyakureiders and even the others decided to summon their personal weapons. They needed to strengthen their fighting tactics, after all. Especially now that Otoguri had summoned two new sets of foot soldiers.

They were all still trying to figure out the combat capabilities of the new sets of foot soldiers. By far, they noticed that they were larger, different in color, and would also throw elemental attacks. Mainly acid water and magma-like fire.

Even with those observations, SeitenFire mainly dealt with them with the help of his Lion Motor that he missed using again since his battle with Motross. If he was to be honest, it was faster that way, not giving the enemies a slight chance to strike back at him.

As for the other Seitengers, they all dealt with the incredible amount of Gargonemas charging towards them. But as SeitenWind had stated, they were all pissed off. These monsters had become the perfect scapegoat for them to vent out their contained anger. And they were able to maintain the pace that allowed them to wipe out almost three quarters of the enemy groups.

At this point, they knew they could keep the momentum going. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they should be complacent that things would go well when they didn’t even know what was going on inside the illusory barrier. Not to mention —

“What in the world?”

That question emerged when all of them couldn’t keep their balance as the earth trembled and shook for a few moments. Yes, it was short, but without a doubt, a strong one. All four Seitengers outside the barrier fell to the ground as the shaking continued. Before they could realize what was going on, they raised their heads upon hearing a loud boom.

“Are they crazy?!” SeitenWater shouted and tried to stand up but the shaking of the ground prevented him and his friends from doing so.

Next thing they knew, their surroundings became filled with explosion sounds and pained screams coming from the Seitengers. The remaining grunt soldiers used a combined cannon attack towards the team, but not enough to disintegrate their transformation — and yet they were now injured and struggling to even stand up. All four of them raised their heads despite the pain to discern the situation. They couldn’t even believe what they were seeing.

“They sure had the guts to do this to us all together, huh?” SeitenFire couldn’t help commenting as he forced himself to stand up, one hand clutching his side. It didn’t look like there was an injury there, but it was still painful. All that he could recall was that something hard had struck him on that part as the explosion happened.

The Gargonemas that remained and even the new monster types were laughing, as if they found the Seitengers’ situation amusing. Of course, with that, it would surely be enough to anger the rest of the team.

However, it wasn’t the case on this one. They were quiet, but not because of anger. There was a different reason.

“What in the world…?” SeitenWind couldn’t help but to let out that question as she looked around as soon as the ground started glowing in pink.

“Pink? Where did this come from?” It was SeitenWater who ended up asking this time.

But no response came from the rest of the team. Both SeitenFire and SeitenLight just looked around as the pink glow kept happening. Not long after that, the Seitengers started feeling it. The red warrior soon looked at his gloved hands.

“Someone’s helping us… This glow is starting to act as both a healer and a power booster.”

Those words were enough for the others to understand what was really going on. No time to lose. All four of them took out their Hyakureiders once again and charged it with their respective Hasureiki. That action alone soon caught the attention of the laughing Gargonemas and started trying to attack the team using the same energy beam that they’ve struck the team earlier. Only this time, the team knew that they had the advantage.

"Four Heaven Slash!"

The team soon threw energy blades together towards the enemy group still firing at them. Only this time, the 4 Seitengers were so pissed off that they even channeled their anger and frustration to their attack. The energy beams collided with the energy blades, soon creating explosions. The blades then struck the group that didn't have time to get away.

When the resulting smoke from the blast slowly dissipated, it was then that they heaved a sigh.

"What kind of monsters were those two new ones that we saw, anyway?" SeitenWater couldn't help asking as he faced the others. Of course, he did so even with the knowledge that her friends wouldn't exactly know the answer to that.

"I guess what Helen-chan said was true," SeitenLight said instead. "They're starting to see us as a real threat, that's why they're beginning to bring out the big guns."

As soon as Helen's name was mentioned, however, SeitenFire recalled the pink glow from the ground earlier. He didn't know why he thought of that as soon as he heard that name.

'But that's crazy…' The red warrior didn't really want to think that there was such a connection to that pink Hasureiki glow that they saw before and Helen. But this was already the second time that this has happened.

"Are you okay, Shuichi?" This time, it was SeitenWind who spoke that snapped him out of his thoughts.

He nodded and soon looked around. Still no sign of any incoming Gargonema or even Itsuki. But they knew that the green warrior was still fighting Otoguri inside a barrier.

'Please make it out of there…'

xxxxxx

"Urgh!" SeitenEarth could only groan as he tried to stand his ground and not be affected by the illusions coming from the Triske Monster. But he'd been struggling to keep up with it. Especially when he realized that each time he would fight off the illusions that Otoguri would show to him, he would feel weak, as if it drained not just his Hasureiki but also his energy little by little.

Even so, he knew he had to stand firm. Not to mention, that pink glow emanating from the ground—even with Otoguri's barrier—had been sustaining his remaining energy and slowly replenishing the lost ones. That same glow had also been helping him tremendously in fighting off the Triske Monster's illusions.

This time, SeitenEarth could see an addition to those images shown to him. And even in his weakened state, he could tell that this particular illusion had a completely different source. His reason for arriving at that conclusion?

It was the glow beneath the feet of that illusion. Otoguri's illusions didn't really have them.

'I can't believe I only noticed it just now!' The green warrior couldn't help shaking his head because of that realization. But he could marvel at that later.

He still had a battle to deal with at the moment.

"This is going to be your end, green Seitenger!" Otoguri soon declared that snapped the said warrior out of his musings.

From inside the helmet, Itsuki's eyes narrowed as he plunged his Hyakureider to the ground to support himself. The pain from his injuries was searing, but he had to endure it. He had to brace himself for whatever was about to strike at him coming from Otoguri.

And he was right.

"Say your goodbye prayers!" the Triske Monster shouted before laughing hysterically, acting like it had won already.

Without another word, Otoguri raised both of its hands which generated 2 dark energy balls from each hand.

"I think it's time, my child…"

SeitenEarth felt like time stood still the moment he heard that voice in his head. It was faint, at first. But the words were still clear enough for him to hear what the voice said. And this time, it wasn't a female voice like the one he'd hear in his dreams. It seemed like a male.

"Could this be the one that Helen mentioned?" he asked. No answer came, of course. But there was only one way for him to find out.

At that thought, he raised his head the moment he heard Otoguri growl and got ready to attack him once again. This time, the Triske Monster started charging its hands with another set of energy balls.

SeitenEarth braced himself as he tried standing up straight and gripped his Hyakureider still plunged to the ground. He could only look at the two dark energy balls that could finish him off if he didn't find a way to deal with it. But he couldn't feel any fear or even hesitation at the moment.

That voice earlier had already told him what he needed to know.

"This is it…" he muttered and closed his eyes.

It was then that Otoguri threw the energy balls towards the green warrior with a hysterical laugh. As for SeitenEarth, he only took a deep breath and continued listening to the voice ringing inside his head. He couldn't help frowning since the majority of it was vague and a little hard to understand. But he had to do his best.

This was his chance to realize if what Helen had told him was the truth or not.

"Don't worry, child. This is real. This is not an illusion. I gave you the chance now to know the truth," the voice said, clearer this time.

Inside the helmet of SeitenEarth, Itsuki couldn't help smiling at that. He rarely smiled and the people who knew him were well aware of that. But at the moment, there was no reason for him to stop. Even though the Tarean Monster hadn't been defeated yet, he knew that there was still hope. Something could still be done.

"Is it okay… if I ask you who you are?"

He wasn't sure if the entity would even respond to his inquiry. But he had to know, at the very least. He needed to be aware of who he had to deal with and do his best to interact with it.

"You're an Elemental Guide… right?" he asked once again, a different question this time.

It was only that growl that the green warrior could hear. Perhaps he had asked the wrong question. He was about to think of a different question to ask when —

"Open your eyes, child…"

He stiffened, but still did what he was asked to do. The moment his sight cleared, he couldn't help letting out a small gasp at what greeted him at the moment.

"This is…!" Just where in the world was he? Why does he find himself standing in the middle of a green field? Almost like the ones he would see in European highlands.

But why was he there? How did he even get there?

"Welcome to my domain, Itsuki."

Despite the intimidating tone on the voice that he kept on hearing, Itsuki — surprisingly not wearing his Seitenger suit — looked around to find the source of that voice. And not far from where he stood, a transparent figure of a green-colored bison appeared to be waiting for him. Even with the apprehension, he still felt compelled to approach the bison figure.

"You said that… this is your domain. Does every Elemental Guide have them?" He could seriously smack his head repeatedly for that blunt question.

Or at least, it was blunt in his opinion.

But the bison only laughed before shaking his head, probably done out of amusement.

"Each Elemental Guide has their respective domain. But it seems that among us that were summoned already, I'm the only one who had allowed a mortal to enter my domain."

Itsuki frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Even when I tested previous Seitengers a long time ago, I would only talk to them through illusions that I would show them. But this time, I made it entirely different for you. And I also decided to break my own rule for me to truly know if you're capable of handling my powers."

He would've easily understood the bison's reason and apprehension for not allowing mortals to enter an entity's domain just like this. But to know that it was entirely different this time… 'Does that mean something in this generation of Seitengers has changed?'

"Now I can truly see that you and your friends, if you keep pushing through with this battle, will be able to achieve the greatest feat that only the first generation Seitengers had ever done," the bison continued.

To be honest, Itsuki doesn't know what to feel about that. Without a doubt, he was surprised. At least, it was one thing clear to him. And yet… why does he have the feeling that the Elemental Guide wasn't planning on explaining things to him at the moment?

"You were the one who showed me that illusion the first time I fought Otoguri, right?" He decided to finally ask that one crucial question as soon as he managed to clear his mind from the sudden confusion. "Why did you do that?"

"To show you what truly drives you to discover more as the battle with the Tareans begins to intensify. And to show you the real reason why you treat that young woman that way, even when she was only doing her job as a Vessel Support."

Itsuki became even more confused that even though the Elemental Guide didn't mention a name, he knew it was talking about Helen. But why would it do that? So many why's, and yet he still couldn't find a conclusive answer.

But at the moment, he chose to listen. The Elemental Guide said that would show him the answer he might have desperately needed all this time, even if he wasn't completely aware of it. Before that…

"May I know your name?"

As strange as it would sound, he thought he saw the entity smiling at his question. Then again, he knew what he saw. And he decided to stick to that.

“I am known as the Dynamic Bison of the Land, given the name Bisearth. It’s finally a relief for me to be able to meet you like this, Itsuki.”

But that introduction was soon met with a crucial question that Itsuki asked the Elemental Guide. One that only came to him at that moment.

“Why did you make me see the vision of Helen when she was a child? What connects her to me?”

Itsuki had been meaning to ask that question ever since he realized the origins of the illusion of the young Helen during his first time fighting Otoguri. There had to be something there — one that went beyond Erika.

At least, that was what he was sure of.

“And to think in that vision you showed me, she was bloodied as if she was hurt or… dead. Though she said someone wanted to kill her twice, I still don’t understand why you made me see that particular vision.”

“What I showed you was her past. And someone from that part of her past is connected to you, now that you became the current Vessel of the Heavenly Earth Guardian’s Powers.”

“So I was right when I thought that Helen’s connection to me was more than just about Erika.”

Bisearth nodded, the expression on the illusion’s face remained somber. “The previous Vessel of the Heavenly Earth Guardian’s Powers… The former SeitenEarth from 25 years ago… Your predecessor was, in fact, Helen’s deceased mother. Tennouji Atsuko.”

Without a doubt, that revelation stunned the composer, judging from the widening of his eyes as he continued looking at Bisearth. Helen’s mother was his Seitenger predecessor? Just how insane these piled up coincidences could possibly get?

Itsuki couldn’t understand it, though. Why didn’t Helen mention anything about that to him? That her mother was his Seitenger predecessor.

“Don’t blame the child for not saying anything to you. In my guess, even though she might not be completely aware of it, she must have sensed your subconscious fear for her life and her mission. Not to mention—”

“The aftermath of my predecessor’s death still remains…” Itsuki finished for Bisearth.

The entity nodded. He could see the grave expression on the green bison, further explaining the gravity of the possible emotions that Helen must have carried all this time.

“But now you can do something about it. Not just you, but also your friends. All of you had gone through the same thing as she did. And through her, I now know that you can finally wield that other power that I last bestowed to Atsuko more than three decades ago,” Bisearth declared.

Itsuki’s eyes widened. “Then—”

“I know that you can help me protect Atsuko’s daughter. Mind you, Helen can be as reckless as her mother, especially when she uses her powers. Who knows what could happen if she keeps using her Hasureiki as a Vessel Support that way.”

He was aware of that. But he also wanted to counter Bisearth’s words about Helen being a Vessel Support. For some reason, it was the thought that still doesn’t sit right with him. But why was that?

Itsuki chose not to give it more thought at the moment. Instead, he laid out his right hand in front of Bisearth as he looked at it with eyes full of determination.

“Then… lend me your power.”

With a nod coming from the entity, Bisearth placed its transparent green paw on Itsuki’s laid out hand. Around the same time, the surroundings glowed brighter and enveloped the area.

“You’re the only one who can find a way to save them both. Especially the Priestess…”

Though confused by the entity’s last words before it disappeared, Itsuki knew he had to hold on to them. There was something about them that felt so important not just to him, but also to his friends.

Maybe… Helen would have an answer to that.

xxxxxx

While all of that was going on inside the barrier, the rest of the Seitengers were still busy dealing with many more Gargonemas and the new bigger ones continuing to attack them.

"They just don't know when to give up, do they?" SeitenWater complained before landing a hard final strike at a few Gargonemas in front of them.

"Onii-chan!"

That shout coming from SeitenLight made the others turn to her. To their confusion, she was looking up. They followed it, only to be surprised at the sight that greeted them.

They were aware of the pink Hasureiki that still glowed beneath where the barrier was supposed to be. But aside from the pink glow coming from the ground that soon emanated brighter than how it was a while back, a green glow suddenly made the barrier burst and be destroyed. The shattering sound it created made everyone in the area cover their ears.

"What the heck? That never happened before!" SeitenWind exclaimed even when she kept covering her ears and looking to the possible source of the shattering sound.

It didn't last long, of course. When it all faded, the Seitengers looked around to see what was going on. Relief flooded them as soon as they spotted someone standing not far from their position. And on his hand was —

"Is that... what I think it is?" SeitenWind could only ask in a soft voice, disbelief was obvious in it.

Both SeitenFire and SeitenWater chuckled at the sight.

"Without a doubt."

It was indeed Seiten Earth, holding a glowing medallion on his gloved right hand while looking at it. Because of the helmet, the others couldn't tell what their friend was feeling at the moment. But they were sure of one thing at the sight of that. 

Itsuki had succeeded in awakening his Elemental Guide.

"Just like what Helen-chan said," SeitenLight commented as she sighed in relief.

Before any of the other Seitengers could move to strike Otoguri who they saw struggling to stand but was ready to strike, they saw SeitenEarth face the monster. The Guardian Medallion he was holding stopped glowing at that point.

He put it in his Hyakureider and soon after, charged it with his Hasureiki before he poised to a battle stance.

"You little brat! How did you manage to break the barrier?!" Otoguri could only scream as he fired a dark beam towards the green warrior.

But Itsuki — under his SeitenEarth suit — only closed his eyes and concentrated on channeling his Hasureiki to his weapon. He knew what to do and also the answer to the Triske Monster's question. He just chose to give the answer to the monster in a different manner.

Not long after, he opened his eyes and saw that the beam was nearing him.

"With this." He raised his Hyakureider. "Dynamic Earth!" He slashed the ground with it, with both the crack and the energy blade the spell created headed towards Otoguri.

The attack was powerful enough to slice the monster in half before it exploded. Along with it, the rest of the Seitengers dealt with the remaining Gargonemas with their combined attack.

"Four Heaven Slash!" The combined slash attacks struck the foot soldiers still trying to fight and they exploded along with the defeated Triske Monster.

With that, the Seitengers were cheering as they approached the seemingly dazed SeitenEarth, holding his bladeless Hyakureider still containing his Guardian Medallion.

"Are you alright, Itsuki?" SeitenFire asked as he tapped the green warrior's shoulder.

It was enough to snap SeitenEarth out of his reverie and face his team. He nodded and looked at the Guardian Medallion in the Hyakureider once again.

"I guess Helen has an extensive knowledge about illusionists, huh?" SeitenEarth couldn't help commenting with a sigh.

"Was this about the discussion we had with her that night?" SeitenLight asked upon hearing her brother say those words.

"What do you mean?"

SeitenEarth soon explained something that Helen said with regards to that illusionist Elemental Guide that he finally awakened, that it had the ability to unleash the powers hidden within a Vessel coming from his greatest emotion.

"Unleashing a power coming from a Vessel's greatest emotion?"

He nodded.

"It was my fear of losing someone important again. My fear became the real reason why I was treating her that way. She chose this path, I know. And I think I've felt it even before she even mentioned anything to any of us. I've been fearing for her life all this time — the life that she already put on the line as she decided to do her best to help us Vessels in our battle with the Tareans," SeitenEarth explained without stopping, without care if he was showing more emotions than he used to because of that revelation and realization.

"Itsu-chan..."

"Damn it! Why didn't I realize it sooner? I wouldn't be treating her that way if I realized that before."

A sigh escaped from SeitenLight as she held her brother's hand. "Onii-chan..."

But before the discussion could continue, they all felt it.

"Here comes the Unsealed!"

Not long after that shout, Otoguri's second persona emerged.

"I hate you, little Seitenger brats!" Unsealed Otoguri lifted its foot and was ready to destroy the Seitengers with it.

"Spirit Summon, Start!"

Thankfully, they managed to summon their respective Grand Vessel Spirits just in time that had saved them from being crushed by the giant monster.

"You know, I should've paid attention to those monster movies I've been watching as a child. I never thought those movie producers and directors knew what they were doing," SeitenWater commented that only made the others shake their heads.

"Well, our job right now is to make sure the destruction part of those movies won't become a reality," SeitenFire said before uttering the command.

"Reiyouki Gattai! Formation, Build Up!"

The five of the Grand Vessel Spirits soon combined one by one.

"Heavenly King, Descend! SeitenOh!"

"Time to finish this jerk once and for all!" SeitenEarth shouted, which was uncharacteristic of him.

But the others just knew that their comrade was pissed off.

"I think I can finally understand why some people would say 'Never anger a Hoshiyama'."

SeitenLight only chuckled at SeitenLight's comment before concentrating on the battle in front of them. Since SeitenEarth was already familiar with the Triske Monster's tactics in using illusion, he was able to do something to counter it with the help of SeitenWater and SeitenWind's Hasureiki that they channeled through SeitenOh.

"Wow! You're really becoming an incredible strategist, Itsuki," SeitenFire said.

But SeitenEarth didn't say anything. Only because he was so focused on dealing with Otoguri with SeitenOh's left foot, as it was his Grand Vessel Spirit Terraiger, with continuous kicks.

"Okay. Maybe I should take that back."

But they never anticipated an even more powerful illusion attack coming from Otoguri that pushed them back and nearly toppled SeitenOh.

"Wait, wait! What is that? Was that a phoenix?"

"Why did I see a large raven in front of me just now?"

"A raven? And here I thought I saw a whale!"

"A large crane was heading towards me, you know?"

A heavy sigh escaped SeitenEarth's lips as he listened to what his friends were saying at the moment. He, too, had seen something from that almost purple light that Otoguri casted. It was an angry alligator heading towards him. Thankfully, SeitenOh was able to use its shield and cast a light spell to distract the Unsealed Triske Monster.

Though it was an already frustrating situation, SeitenEarth tried his best to calm himself. After heaving another sigh, he took out his Guardian Medallion.

"Bisearth, please lend us your powers." 

As soon as those words were spoken, a transparent green bison appeared in front of SeitenEarth that surprised the rest.

"Wow... So that's Itsuki's Elemental Guide..."

A chuckle could be heard from the entity before nodding. "I was just waiting for you to call me, you know. You have to prove to your predecessor's daughter that you can be as skilled of a fighter as her mother."

"Itsuki's predecessor?"

The statement from the Elemental Guide caused more confusion to the rest of the Seitengers than the shock about the knowledge that Itsuki knew about his Seitenger predecessor.

"I know. But you know I can't do it alone. That's why I need your help. All five of us need your help right now."

"And help, you shall receive, my dear one." With that, the entity disappeared.

SeitenEarth placed his Guardian Medallion on a slot of his Hyakureider and pulled his sidearm out of the podium before pointing it in front of him

"Spirit Summon, Start!"

A green rune circle materialized in the sky, and with it emerged a mechanical green bison charging towards SeitenOh. But before that, it jumped and landed several scratches on Otoguri who was trying to stand up. It howled so loud that the Seitengers even had to cover their ears once again.

"You know, I think I can understand why that monster hates sound. I think my eardrums are about to burst with that loud sound he and his spells kept producing," SeitenLight commented that only made SeitenEarth laugh and the others shake their heads.

The green mechanical bison landed in front of SeitenOh. With that—

"Reiyouki Busou! Set Up!"

With SeitenEarth's command, Bisearth combined with SeitenOh after transforming into twin axes with the rest of its parts becoming a helmet and a chest armor to SeitenOh.

"Dynamic Bison Knight, Descend! SeitenOh Bisearth!"

With a new powerful ally on the Seitengers' side, they knew they could finally deal with the fight and finish it.

"Urgh! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate all of you! Just die!" Otoguri fired beam after beam towards the robot. They knew those beams were the ones that made each of them see different illusions in front of them and nearly defeated them. But it seemed that none of them affected SeitenOh that just remained standing.

But at the moment, the Seitengers realized why. The armor allowed SeitenOh to become unaffected with another of Otoguri's illusion attacks.

"Fighting another illusionist in your state right now will only yield futile results. Time to end this!"

The others nodded at SeitenEarth's words and all of them pulled their bladeless Hyakureider from their podiums and pointed them towards the struggling and frustrated Otoguri.

"Land Bison Supreme Evolution!"

The twin axes, fully charged with Hasureiki of each of the Seitengers, were thrown towards Otoguri that fully struck the monster even when it tried to avoid the axes. One axe even passed through Otoguri's body before the monster exploded along with its final scream.

"Stage set!"

After finally making sure that Otoguri was destroyed, SeitenEarth could only sigh heavily and even placed his head on the podium.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" SeitenLight immediately asked as soon as she saw that and approached him.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." He straightened himself a few moments later and faced SeitenLight. "Thank you for helping me."

"You know I will always help you. Even the others will do the same. Just learn how to properly ask for it and tell us any problem that you have so that it won't drive you crazy."

The others laughed at the sight of SeitenLight lecturing her older brother. But they all knew she had a point.

SeitenEarth nodded and tapped his sister's head before looking at the sky. In his mind, he knew there was one other person he had to thank for.

'Thank you for every help you gave me this time, Helen.'

XXXXXX

When the Vessels asked Akira and Natsume about the two more creatures that they fought besides the Gargonemas as soon as the Seitengers returned to the mansion, they learned that they were groups of stronger foot soldiers of the Tareans mainly called the Amehidai — the blue violet-colored larger monsters and the Kibarai — the moss green-colored ones.

"I never thought we'd encounter newer and even weirder ones than the Gargonemas," Eichirou couldn't help commenting with a sigh as he leaned his head on the sofa's backrest.

"That only means one thing to all of you," Hideoki started and soon faced the Vessels waiting for him to continue. "The Seitengers now pose a greater threat to the Tareans' ultimate return to rule the world if those creatures finally appeared to all of you. Especially now that three of you had awakened the powers of three Elemental Guides in such a short time. To be honest, this was something that had never happened even in the distant past."

"There's no doubt that they would make it harder for all of us, huh?"

Shuichi and Erika nodded at Misae's words before sighing.

Itsuki was just there quiet, appearing to be thinking of something when he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Upon sensing, he knew who it was that made him turn around.

"Oh! Helen-san, welcome back!" Akira greeted and stood up to approach the said young woman. "What's that you're holding?"

Helen looked at the scroll and handed it over to Akira. "Just a scroll that holds a particular record. It was something about the other two previous Seitengers who weren't able to awaken their respective Elemental Guides for some heavy reasons."

"Wow... I knew there were stories like that, but I never thought that there was a record about it. Thanks, anyway. I didn't think I'd be able to find it if it was just me. That archive room is a maze to me."

Helen smiled at that and bowed. She was supposed to rest upstairs in her room after that. But then—

"Helen."

The rest of the people in the house tensed upon hearing that from Itsuki. This was the first time he called her out. But the novelist wasn't fazed at all. In fact, she just stood there waiting for whatever the composer was about to say next.

This time, it was her turn to open her eyes wide when Itsuki bowed in front of her.

"Itsuki-san?!"

"Onii-chan?" Even Erika couldn't believe what she was seeing at the moment.

But they all just waited for what was about to happen next.

"I'm sorry... for treating you unreasonably and for giving you such cold treatment since you arrived here."

Yes, it was unexpected. But they all knew one thing from that.

It was sincere.

"Lift your head, Itsuki-san. I don't hold a grudge against you about that. In a way, you could say I understand your reason for feeling that way. Maybe Bisearth just made you realize that."

Itsuki soon raised his head after taking a deep breath and faced Helen. "Yes, he did. He also made me know a little more information about you and my predecessor that allowed me to somehow understand the reason for your recklessness in trying to help us."

"I guess Erika's right about you. There's no stopping your sharp tongue."

"Well, if you want to stay here longer and continue becoming a Vessel Support, that's one thing you have to deal with."

"I can see that." After a while, Helen took a deep breath and smiled at Itsuki who was still waiting for his answer. "I accept your apology. You already compensated for it when you listened to my advice about defeating Otoguri and retrieving the power of your Elemental Guide."

Both of them shook hands that only made the others clap in glee, with Eichirou even commenting, "Finally! No more tense atmosphere whenever these two would be in the same room!" It earned him more laughter from the rest of the people in the household.

With that, Helen was about to turn around to go upstairs to her room to rest when—

"Helen-chan!"

That shout coming from Erika soon turned their attention to Helen who had collapsed and was now unconscious on the floor near the staircase. Misae checked on her condition and she was able to discern that Helen exhausted herself too much for some reason.

"She did give it her all, this time," Eichirou said as offered to carry the unconscious Helen to her bed. 

"It wasn't just because of her recent late night studies and research, though," Misae continued.

"What do you mean?" This time, it was Shuichi who asked that question.

"Helen-chan... has lost a considerable amount of Hasureiki in her body, thus affecting her health, as well."

"What?"

XXXXXX

In one area of the racing stadium, Amuro, who was still wearing his racing clothes, was just sitting there. But instead of the race tracks, his focus at the moment was on a picture he was holding. In that picture, it was the Seitengers pointing their bladeless Hyakureiders to a certain direction and was about to fire beams towards the enemy.

"They really looked amazing."

Then he remembered the reason why he was able to get ahold of that picture. He was at the scene of that attack that the fish-headed monster had made and stole energy from the citizen. He was supposed to be getting out of there before he noticed five colored warriors fighting the monster and firing those beams.

They were fearless and amazing in his eyes.

"I'm definitely going to look for them." For some reason, it even looked like a promise he made to himself as he continued looking at the picture he took of those warriors he soon learned to be the Seitengers that day.

Perhaps, even though it was a crazy idea, he was going to make them a part of their team. He wanted it so badly.