Ryoko’s Attack

Ryoko’s Attack

That day, there were countless explosions due to combat in the skies over Jurai. Acts of hostilities on the Jurai home world, the most powerful single nation in the universe, had not occurred for almost two thousand years. Jurai may have gotten inattentive, but this was a startling incident. The emergency alert echoed in the command center, where people were furiously working to verify the sudden attack.

One of the operators, a warrior, stared at the data on his display monitor and reported in disbelief, “J-Jurai’s absolute defense zone has been breached. In less than a minute, whatever this is will arrive on the surface.”

“It had to be when the Emperor is absent! What fleet is this?!” Just then, static ran on the monitors. “What happened, did we get hit?!”

“The flagship is still intact! This must be due to a distortion in space- time from the energy wave when the enemy fleet passed through.” As soon as the operator finished answering, communications recovered. “There’s a powerful energy reading… No, that’s not possible!!” The operator could not believe his own eyes but confirmed that it was real multiple times before turning to his commander. “Th-there’s only one ship!”

“What?! Even if they picked a time when the First and Second Generation ships are away, a single ship breached the defense zone? How is that possible…?” Everyone shuddered. A single Third Generation ship could annihilate a fleet of thousands under the right conditions, so a single ship coming through was not only reckless but suicidal. And yet this ship had picked a fight with Jurai by herself. She had broken through the defense zone and was getting closer.

A pillar of light flashed in the sky, and the next moment, a deafening roar was heard, along with the appearance of a black crystalline ship positioned several hundred meters above the surface. In the next moment, a tremendous impact shook Tenju.

“They’re storming the place!!”

“We have confirmation that it’s Ryo-Ohki!!”

“Ryo-Ohki?! The Black Destruction?!” the startled commander cried out. Those outside the supreme council did not know that Ryo-Ohki fought on equal terms with Emperor Azusa’s Kirito during his voyages. Still, her name was known throughout the galaxy.

“Meowwww!” The moment an animal cry could be heard from the ship, three intercepting squadrons along with a Fourth Generation Ship went up in balls of flame in rapid succession.

“A Fourth Generation ship, in one strike?!” They had no choice but to believe it now. A foe that could threaten Jurai was before them, on the attack! The coming of the Black Destroyer bathed the skies over Jurai in a crimson glow.

While Ryo-Ohki was attacking Jurai, the main members of the Imperial Family were all on tours abroad, and thus the First and Second Generation ships were on official government business away from the home world. Among them, Yosho had finished his duties quickly and already begun his return voyage. “The home world is under attack?!”

“Yes, the intruder is a known space pirate flying a single ship called Ryo-Ohki. She is currently engaged in battle with the planet’s defenses.”

“We’ll get there in about five hours. Have them hold out until then.” The reporting warrior gave a brief salute and disconnected. Yosho ordered Funaho to increase speed at once. “I can’t believe it’s a single ship. So her name is Ryo-Ohki…”

Yosho had heard of the rumors. A pirate ship that didn’t belong to any guild but acted alone. She was called Black Destruction for her sheer demolition power, but that was only rumor. Her pattern was usually to hit isolated planets far from large civilizations, so accurate accounts were not available.

“Was it a fluke? No…Jurai’s defense zone can’t be breached by luck alone.” Yosho did not know at the time that Ryo-Ohki had once surpassed the power of Kirito, his father’s ship… He knew that Ryo-Ohki had recently been involved in the thefts of important cultural assets and kidnappings of intellectuals at various locations around the galaxy. From the fact that the enemy was heading towards Tenju, it was obvious that they were after the Royal Trees.

“Ryo-Ohki… I’ll find out if all the rumors are true.” It might have been his pirate blood, but Yosho felt a little elated.

A pillar of flame lit up the sky. With a backward glance at the three sinking Fourth Generation Jurai ships, Ryo-Ohki continued to attack, winding her way hither and thither. On the bridge, a woman smiled, arms folded in front of her chest. Wearing a red and black combat suit, with spiky, pale- emerald-green hair, golden almond-shaped eyes, and crimson jewels at the nape of her neck and both wrists… Ryoko sat, completely drunk on the high of combat and destruction.

“Heh heh. Ha ha ha ha!! Come at me. Or I’ll steamroll over you!” Ryo- Ohki turned purposefully towards where several ships were clustered.

“How can this be? They may be Fourth Generation ships, but each has the power of a flagship from any other country. The whole lot of them banded together can’t stop this?” Moaning in the command chair as Ryo- Ohki trampled everything in her path was Masaki Tatsua, acting commander while the Imperial Family was away. “You still haven’t made contact with House Amaki or Shuzan-dono?”

“We keep hailing them, but communications seem to be blocked. I’m afraid Shuzan-dono is…”

“Don’t speak another word!” Tatsua gritted his teeth with chagrin.

Shuzan was supposed to arrive back on Jurai a day before Yosho, so obviously, he should have been closer than him. But he could not even be contacted, let alone located.

“The primary defense line has been breached!” the operator screamed. “We can’t even alter her flight path, let alone stall her?”

Ryo-Ohki was advancing in a zigzag pattern. Tatsua knew that this was

Ryo-Ohki enjoying herself, not because she needed to evade attacks from Jurai.

“The enemy has reached the secondary defense line!”

“Well then…” Tatsua left the lieutenant next to him in charge and exited the bridge. He was going to sally forth with his own Third Generation ship.

There were currently five Third Generation ships on Jurai. With them in front and a dozen or so Fourth Generation ships as support, he estimated that it would be possible to push out Ryo-Ohki back into space.

However, only three Third Generation ships showed up at the rendezvous point. Unbelievably, the two ships owned by the Imperial Amaki House rejected the plan under the pretext of defending Tenju.

“Defend?! What could they do with only two ships?!” Tatsua himself was reluctant to even say those words. Two Third Generation ships would absolutely trounce an ordinary enemy. But the reality he was faced with made him lose faith in that assumption. “If they pass the final defense line, we’re through. Damn you Shuzan, must you be so against House Masaki…?!”

The unmoving Amaki Jurai ships were ordered to watch and not act by Shuzan. He was clearly underestimating the severity of the situation, to give such an order. But for someone who was not personally witnessing the events, it could not be helped.

There was another factor critical to this disaster, and that was the growing fear of Ryo-Ohki. Even without Shuzan’s order, those onboard the two ships defending Tenju did not want to enter this battle. What they believed to be absolute, the power of the Royal ships, was being destroyed before their very eyes.

Ryo-Ohki headed towards Tenju, leaving only destruction in its wake.

Tatsua was determined to stop Ryo-Ohki even if it killed him. A Third Generation ship was piloted by the Imperial Family. She was outfitted with a metal combat hull unit that was almost shameful to equip, considering the raw power the ship already had.

“Now’s not the time to be concerned about that!” Tatsua was an excellent warrior trusted by Seto. He would not allow pride to take over. Adapting battle plans on the fly, he turned the two ships towards Ryo-Ohki, for the first phase.

Suddenly, a number of spheres of light danced wildly around Ryo- Ohki and momentarily neutralized her sensors, stopping her in her tracks.

“Hmph… Light Hawk Wings.” Ryoko clicked her tongue. She knew about their existence from Kagato… or rather, from the battle with Azusa’s

Kirito. On either side of the panoramic view she had from the bridge, the three Light Hawk Wings deployed by the two ships twinkled. “This is nothing!” The moment she tried to break away at full throttle, an extraordinary amount of pressure bore down on Ryo-Ohki’s hull. The other Third Generation ship and the Fourth Generation ships were attacking.

Tatsua saw from the bridge that Ryo-Ohki was being imperceptibly pushed back into the atmosphere and grew confident in their victory. “It’s working!”

“Heh heh, what’s this attack? This isn’t even close to that one other ship before. Thinking this would stop her is ridiculous.” Ryoko laughed mockingly from her bridge, glowing red from the light of the attack.

In that instant, Tatsua’s ship began to distort. “How could that be?!

Everyone fire at will, focus on Ryo-Ohki!” The Juraian ships attacked desperately, but Ryo-Ohki deflected them all. “How could they block Third and Fourth Generation ships so easily? This could only be done…with Light Hawk Wings.”

At the same moment, the two Royal Trees pinning Ryo-Ohki down let out a scream, and were thrown off, succumbing to her overwhelming power.

Ryoko smirked, her arms crossed in front of her. “They’re a waste of time. Come on, Ryo-Ohki!”

“Meoww!!” Ryo-Ohki’s high-pitched cry resounded above the Jurai skies. Perhaps overwhelmed, the three Third Generations ships hesitated and stopped attacking.

“Why aren’t you firing?!”

“We don’t know. But the units are all functional!”

“What?!” Tatsua understood that the Trees had stopped their attacks on their own. “That’s not possible. That could only be done by someone with a Third Generation Tree or higher!” An absolute denial went through his thoughts. The Royal Trees were the equivalent of gods in their minds. Jurai had become such a powerful nation through their power. “I won’t believe it!! That would be the end of this country!” He could not accept that there could be something superior to the Royal Trees. The Imperial Ships must be absolute. Ryo-Ohki must be destroyed, even if it meant his sacrifice. “We have a Third Generation Tree. If we all perish here, that would mean Ryo-

Ohki would be more powerful than the Third Generation!” “Meowww!!”

Tatsua’s ship, hearing Ryo-Ohki’s high-pitched cry, turned off its Light Hawk Wings. The ship was out of control, and the bridge shook.

“Tatsua-sama, we must abandon ship!”

“Why? Why is this happening?!” Tatsua’s ship was engulfed in flames and fell out of the sky.

Ryo-Ohki’s attack hit its target, and Tenju was illuminated in a red glow. A girl burst out of a room in House Masaki in a corner of the giant tree. Her dark purple hair was bunched in two ponytails. This elegant girl was Masaki Ayeka Jurai. She was supposed to have gone on a voyage with her father Azusa, but she had her Tree Selection Ceremony immediately beforehand and thus remained on Jurai with her little sister Sasami. As a nation that prospered because of the Trees, it was only natural that becoming a partner with a Tree would be prioritized over everything else.

“What in the world is the defense force doing? I’m going to go out myself!” She strode down the hallway as her attendants tried to stop her.

“Ayeka-sama, please stop.”

“My Ryu-oh is the only Second Generation ship on Jurai right now.” “But you formed a contract with Ryu-oh only recently. The adjustments to the outer hull unit aren’t even finished yet.”

“But I cannot leave that scoundrel to rampage as they please. That would be inexcusable. I wouldn’t be able to face my brother or Father!!” Currently, Ryu-oh had only just had a hull attached to the core unit and had not even made her maiden voyage yet. Ayeka aggressively launched the ship, paying no heed to everyone trying to stop her.

Ryoko detected Ryu-oh’s launch from a corner of Tenju on Ryo- Ohki’s monitor and knew that this ship, that had destroyed the dock gates on her way out and upwards, was different from the others. “This energy reading is an order of magnitude above the others. Looks like I’ll get to have some fun.”

Even so, her fighting style did not change. She simply routed everything that got in her way.

Ayeka’s Ryu-oh deployed Light Hawk Wings to deflect the energy blasts emitted from Ryo-Ohki. Ryu-oh tried to counterattack, but the attacks veered widely away from Ryo-Ohki and dissipated into empty space. Ayeka did not have a key to assist in her synchronization with the Tree, and the ship had just finished being outfitted. Since the adjustments to synchronize the unit with the hull were not complete, Ryu-oh was unable to properly harness the power of the Tree.

“This is nothing!” Ayeka clicked her tongue and continued the battle but soon found herself focusing entirely on defense. Still, Ryu-oh stayed intact due to the power of the Light Hawk Wings wielded by a Second Generation tree and because Ryo-Ohki (meaning Ryoko) was deliberately toying with her prey.

“Come on now, what happened to your spirit?!” Ryoko had energy to spare, but Ryu-oh’s attacks were clearly now weaker than her initial volley. She keenly felt the possibility of defeat if she let down her guard. Multiple energy cannons were fired from Ryo-Ohki, closing in on Ryu-oh. The Light Hawk Wings deflected them all, but one of the blasts made a direct hit on Ayeka’s favorite garden on one of Tenju’s branches.

“My favorite garden! How dare you, you pirate!!”

“Your favorite, is it? Ha ha!” Ryoko concentrated fire on the garden on purpose. The flowers and trees were immediately incinerated.

“S-stop it. All the time I spent there with Oniisama… Please stop!” She had played with her brother Yosho in that garden countless times. That place full of memories was mercilessly destroyed, and Ayeka, with tears in her eyes, ordered Ryu-oh to an all-out attack. She was going to use the Light Hawk Wings not as defense but as an attack. They contracted into one spot, aimed at Ryo-Ohki. “Die!”

The moment she shouted, the unit’s power controls overloaded. The outer hull, unable to withstand the energy load, went out of control, firing energy blasts randomly into the vicinity.

The energy blasts rained down like a shower of flames, and one of them destroyed the branch holding Ayeka’s favorite garden where it connected to the trunk! “Noo?!”

The gardens teetered and fell, accompanied by Ayeka’s screams. A “branch” on Tenju was several thousand meters long, and the sight of its falling was awe-inspiring. An energy blast grazing past Ryo-Ohki violently shook her, even though all the focused fire of the Third Generation ships had failed to move her one inch.

“Ooh, scary. That’s a princess of a pirate nation for you; when she flips out, watch out! Ryo-Ohki, you handle the rest.” Ryoko watched the whole thing unfold with a wry smile. She disembarked and made her way inside Tenju through the gaping hole left by Ryu-oh. However, the Jurai warriors detected the intruder, and ten of them ran towards her at once.

“Wh-what’s this?!” They stopped in disbelief. Behind Ryoko was an eerie, translucent specter with four red eyes, sharp claws, and fangs. As her name implied, Ryoko had the ability to summon evil spirits. But these were not summoned consciously; they had appeared, manifested by the excitement of combat.

Indifferent to the tumult outside, the door to the Hall of Royal Trees was quiet. The occasional vibrations from the blasts were the only indication of the fierce battle.

“Wow.” Three-year-old Sasami looked up at the giant door with eyes full of curiosity, oblivious to everything outside. The other day, she had seen her older sister Ayeka go inside and whined that she wanted to do the same, a request which was rejected by the grown-ups. She had snuck away, hiding from Mama, her nanny, who was nervous about Ryo-Ohki’s attacks, and come here. She slowly reached for the doors that were too big for a child to open, and they parted before her on their own. It was as if it beckoned Sasami inside.

Once inside, Sasami squealed with delight upon seeing the countless crossing paths and the verdant Royal Trees dotted along the way. Spheres of light surged from the foliage like fireflies, and the Trees began to sing a gentle melody. Sasami was captivated with this magical sight, walked onward, looking around, and unknowingly passed through the doors of the transport. Indeed, Sasami was transported to the zone of the Second Generation Trees, to where she could only be taken if she were accepted by them. Sasami, enjoying herself and politely greeting each Tree, went further.

Meanwhile, outside Tenju were two Third Generation ships, Light Hawk Wings deployed, and one of the House Amaki ships that had been avoiding a skirmish with Ryo-Ohki. They were caught up in Ryu-oh’s attack, still out of control. Damage was minimal, but the lost focus meant the Light Hawk Wings vanished. Ryo-Ohki took advantage, and one of the ships, pierced by an energy blast, made contact with Tenju’s trunk, causing a large explosion.

This was where Fate intervened. When this larger jolt shook Tenju, Sasami slipped and fell into the abyss. It happened in a blink of an eye. With a scream, Sasami disappeared into the pitch-black darkness.

“Ayeka-sama, please stop the attacks. Tenju isn’t going to last!!” Ryu- oh’s bridge shook wildly, and Ayeka, collapsed on the floor, saw Tatsua on the screen with relief and confusion. His ship had sunk, but the Royal Tree had protected the core unit, and he and his crew were safe.

“Uncle Tatsua, I can’t stop it! The hull unit has lost control…” “Blast the hull off, hurry!!”

As she was told, Ayeka tried an explosive release of Ryu-oh’s hull. But already overloaded, there was no outlet for its energy, and the whole thing exploded. With a close range blast, Ryu-oh was blinded, and the smoke allowed Ryo-Ohki to close in. Suddenly, Ayeka saw Ryo-Ohki fill her screen. She screamed. There was not even any time to deploy the Light Hawk Wings!

“Onisamaaaaa!!”

The moment Ryo-Ohki tried to attack, the ship was struck and repelled.

A blink of an eye later, there was a deafening roar. Storming through the clouds was Yosho’s Funaho. The Light Hawk Wings captured the shock wave generated by unmitigated entry into Jurai and redirected it right at Ryo- Ohki.

“Yosho-oniisama?!”

“Ayeka, get back!” he commanded and fired an energy blast towards Ryo-Ohki to keep her in check. He knew she would evade it, but it pushed her further away from Tenju.

Tatsua sent a transmission. “Yosho-sama, there’s an intruder in Tenju!”

“So this is a decoy. I’ll be right there!” The joy of reunion, remorse, everything would wait until later. He had to get this incident, unprecedented in the history of Jurai, under control – that was Yosho’s job.

However, it was clear that if he tried to transport to Tenju from Funaho, Ryo-Ohki would notice and attack the transport coordinates. Yosho had no choice but to pull away from Ryo-Ohki and enter from the other side. “Funaho, I’m counting on you!” he shouted the moment he transported from the bridge. Funaho turned her bow towards the pursuing Ryo-Ohki and fired a volley of energy blasts. The battle of two ships without their masters shook and rattled Tenju.

Looking on, Tatsua breathed a sigh of relief. Funaho, the First Generation ship and one of the most powerful on Jurai, had come at last. Ayeka felt the same on Ryu-oh, but for her, the relief was not due to Funaho, but the fact that her beloved brother Yosho was here. He would never be defeated by a pirate. This, she was sure of from the bottom of her heart.

Ryoko entered Tenju, defeated the warriors one after another, and was about to reach the Hall of Royal Trees, which contained whatever it was she was looking for. “So that’s the entrance!!” She fired off some energy blasts, but the door was unscathed. “How about this?!”

The moment she tried to increase the energy in the blasts, the three jewels in her wrists and neck shone bright, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony. Pain on a level she had never felt racked her body. Even the punishments she received when she ignored Kagato’s orders were not like this.

“What is this? What’s going on?!” She clawed at her throat, glaring at the door, trying to endure the pain.

Beyond the door, in the deepest part of the Hall of Royal Trees, Sasami lay in the darkness of another dimension. It was clear that she had died instantly. A drop of her blood fell onto the surface of the purest water. In the center of this water was a small tree. It was not First or Second Generation. It was Tsunami’s Tree, the Progenitor of Royal Trees.

“What are you doing… Tsunami…” Ryoko mumbled, half unconscious from the pain, the moment Sasami’s blood dripped into the water,

“I’m keeping my promise… with my friend.” Sasami’s mouth moved imperceptibly. In the next instant, her body dissolved into beads of light and was absorbed into Tsunami. The tranquil water churned and swirled. Sasami and Tsunami’s souls assimilated into a single entity, and a new body was reconstructed in the whirlpool. This dimension created by Tsunami was indeed a maternal womb.

Ryoko, completely in a trance, spoke without consciousness, “We shall meet again… Tsunami…”

As Ryoko blacked out, Yosho stood behind her. “You must be Ryoko. I am Yosho, Crown Prince of Jurai. This is no place for you! Leave at once, or else…”

He gave her an obligatory warning, and when she did not respond, he attacked with his sword. But Ryoko evaded it, still unconscious. Yosho noticed that her moves were unnatural and relented for a moment, when Ryoko, eyes still closed, slowly raised her arms into an attack stance. “Oh hell…!”

The energy blasts filled the hallway, and a tremendous blast assaulted Yosho. But the one blown outside Tenju was Ryoko. Falling, Ryoko finally came to. “What…? What… am I doing?”

“The Tsunami unit is out of our reach now.”

“What did you say…?” Something spoke to her from within. The one inside her, who told her the shadow she saw when she fought Azusa, the Emperor of Jurai, was Tsunami… No, that would not be accurate. The voice came from the three jewels embedded in Ryoko. Sometimes she felt a consciousness within those three jewels.

“There is nothing I can do here now.” “What do you mean?”

“…”

“Dammit! Ryo-Ohki!!”

The flashes of light and explosions subsided, and Yosho, realizing that he was unhurt, ran to the opening just as Ryo-Ohki, having collected Ryoko, rose up towards the sky. “That was fast, but…” He called for Funaho at once. Ayeka ran in, having disembarked from Ryu-oh.

“Yosho-oniisama!”

“I’m going to go capture Ryoko.” It was the last direct conversation they had. Yosho leapt into the air, and Funaho transported him to the bridge. He had her search for Ryo-Ohki and opened a channel to Tatsua, who had returned to the command center. “Tatsua-dono, the diplomatic order I received from the Emperor of Jurai was concluded as of 27.1.28.138 when I entered Jurai space.”

“What are you saying? You mustn’t—anything but that!”

“As Crown Prince of Jurai, I order you with First Generation Funaho.” “Please, no further!”

Ignoring Tatsua’s heartrending pleas, Yosho continued, “With the completion of the Emperor’s order, I, Yosho hereby order command on Jurai to transfer to me.” Those words meant that Yosho would take full responsibility for the entire string of events after Ryoko invaded Jurai. Yosho cut off the channel, burst through the atmosphere, and flew off into space once again.

Tatsua might think that taking full responsibility may resolve the problem, but even if he died (and he would sacrifice himself for this), Shuzan would not stop pursuing House Masaki for liability. The current head of House Masaki was Yosho’s mother Funaho, from the point that his father, Azusa, became Emperor of Jurai. Shuzan would seize onto this fact. But if the responsibility fell on the top candidate for the next Emperor of Jurai, it would be possible to direct his ire at Yosho alone. Of course, the line to the throne was meaningless for people who were only a couple decades apart in age, considering their lives spanned several thousands of years. But with Shuzan’s abnormal obsessiveness, he was ecstatic to have even one person to blame.

But then, even if Yosho successfully captured or defeated Ryoko, it would not solve the problem. Allowing a single ship, a mere lone pirate, to invade the home planet was that humiliating for Jurai.

“Well, if Ryoko and I were to die at each other’s swords, Shuzan-dono would be on cloud nine and conduct a lavish state funeral with all expenses covered by House Amaki… Mutual destruction, huh…” Perhaps Yosho dying with Ryoko was the best solution. “Once I’m gone… Heh heh, hahaha…” Even though he was facing what could be a fatal battle, he could not help but laugh. It was not from fear. He was enjoying this. He felt he was going to finally experience true freedom.

“Liberated…? What am I thinking? Do I desire death?” Looking back, he had been bound to Jurai due to Funaho. But now he would be liberated to benefit Funaho.

It wasn’t that he had suffered in his life so, but the eyes young Ayeka had turned to him weighed heavy. It was a cliché, but she was in love with the idea of love. Those eyes held not passion but a desire for sanctuary. She had not realized this, but even now, they had not changed. Whenever Ayeka spoke of marriage, it stabbed Yosho’s heart. It was all he could do to simply nod.

“Poor Ayeka…” Yosho repeated what Airi had said years ago. Airi had given him peace from his feelings for Misaki. But Ayeka would not be able to give him peace from his feelings for Airi. No matter how much he loved her, Ayeka was a little sister to him. And ironically, Ayeka herself was making it worse.

While he indulged in ruminations, he was hailed by Kirito. It was Azusa. “Yosho!”

“Father.”

Azusa stared blankly at Yosho. He had accepted everything he had done. “I received the report. I know you will be successful in your hunt of the intruder.”

Yosho bowed deeply and accepted his orders. “I will bring back the space pirate Ryoko’s head!”

The battle data sent from Tatsua back on the home world to Funaho held terrifying facts about Ryoko. Initially, Jurai’s main computer detected three energy clusters within Ryo-Ohki, which were thought to be her reactor. But once she approached Tenju, the reactor was gone…or rather, it had moved off of Ryo-Ohki. That mobile reactor was Ryoko. An unimaginable amount of energy was being generated from locations on her wrists and neck. Yosho furrowed his brows.

“That’s the source of the power that overwhelmed even a First Generation ship?” No matter who Ryoko was, this was way beyond the kind of energy any one individual could possess. He looked over at Funaho tracking Ryo-Ohki, who was on a course into deep space, exiting the galaxy. Yosho paused to ponder.

“Come to think of it…there’s an asteroid belt relatively close to here, full of rare metals and a gigantic hyperspace transport device that warps them to Jurai. It uses a Third Generation ship as an energy source, but if a First Generation ship was used, it should be able to transport even further. With that much energy, the device will explode and the destination will be impossible to specify…” He thought it was an ingenious plan. Jurai would never find out where he was headed. Warp somewhere unspecified with Ryoko, defeat her, and he would remain missing. At the time, he thought it was a brilliant solution. He found a reason to escape from Jurai. The plan made him excited.

He decided to go to Earth, where his mother was born. On Tenju was a garden that recreated her homeland. She had told him stories of her home there since he was young. The thought that he could see that planet and even go there made his heart beat faster. So much so that his upcoming battle with Ryoko did not bother him…

“So I failed to seize the Tsunami Unit… I wonder what Kagato’s face will be like.” Just report the truth, Ryoko thought. It did not matter what he thought. He could come up with a plan himself. She was his tool. Tools did not have emotions.

Kagato only lectured the minimum amount necessary for Ryoko to carry out the mission as a sophisticated tool. But being in contact with society had brought her information. Ryoko may have been just a tool before, but a faint sense of self had arisen within her.

And at the same time, emotions.

At first, Ryoko did not feel any remorse about killing people. That did not mean she killed indiscriminately. She did not feel any pleasure in taking a life, and moreover, she was admonished by Kagato, who considered actions that were unrelated to carrying out objectives as inefficient. She eventually began to look forward to Kagato’s orders. That was the dawning of her own emotions and ego. She desired to see emotional fluctuations in others. In that sense, this was the period during which she was most cold towards those who tried to thwart her. But even that was in the past. Anger, hatred, fear; the emotions directed at her had become too predictable.

I’m tired of it. They all make the same faces all the time… Kagato no longer made any comment on whatever she did, as long as she followed his orders. For him, even her emotions were objects of his research, she thought. The only thing she was forbidden to do was defy orders.

Even trying was pointless. I hate wasting time. She could see the puppet strings twining around her. In actuality, continuing to accept Kagato’s orders was diminishing her budding feelings, cutting off her growth. But Ryoko desired emotion. The apathetic tried many things in search of thrills and pleasures. Drugs did not work. They were broken down the moment they were absorbed by her body, and she hated the rancid stench of those types of humans.

Her lack of a distinguished palate thwarted her gluttony. She simply needed to fill her stomach to satiety. She could get properly drunk on her favored spirits if she did not let her body break the alcohol down.

As for her sex drive—she tried various things, but being a famous pirate meant most prospective partners fled at the sight of her. Even if she hid her identity, most lost their nerve when they saw her eyes, and it had become tedious. Directly stimulating the brain through senses of sight, sound, and touch did not work, as there was some kind of security shield on her brain.

Therefore, she did not get much satisfaction from sex or masturbation.

She found much more pleasure in destruction. By destroying things, she could witness the emotions of those who protected them, those who escaped, the fleeing bystanders—they were all so expressive. She never felt in danger herself. Killing was one directional, no different from play. She would rather have fun. She remembered Ayeka, her emotions raw and bare.

That girl made me laugh…

It had been a while since she felt her lips twist into a smile. Soon she was laughing out loud.

Ryoko clicked her tongue as she fired volleys to keep the Juraian fleet in check. They were all around her but staying neither too close nor too far. “They’re plotting something. Ryo-Ohki, show me the star charts for a 100- light-year radius and his flight path so far.”

“Meow.” Ryo-Ohki displayed the star chart on the monitor instantaneously, and Ryoko noticed that Yosho was using the fleet to lead her to a specific location. There was even a giant transport system there.

“I get it.” Ryoko let it happen because of her unprecedented experience decades ago, of fighting Kirito, the ship of the current Emperor of Jurai. She had enjoyed that battle. Funaho, the ship Yosho was chasing her with, had the same powers. If he desired a duel, that was favorable for her.

Ryoko reduced speed and waited. She opened a channel and hailed Funaho. Yosho’s face appeared on her screen at once. “Hey, where are you taking me, my Prince?”

“I wanted to show you my mother’s homeland… Ha ha, I sound like I’m making a proposal.”

“You’re sure you can afford to be so relaxed? Fine, I accept.” His eyes reminded her of her own… She did not know why she thought so, and it made her a little angry. She wanted to obliterate him, right now. Ryoko ordered Ryo-Ohki to fly into the waiting transporter. Funaho followed her, and there was a slight shock, like tripping on a pebble. Yosho did not notice it was Ryoko’s pod.

The transporter exploded with the pressure of the two high-energy ships, and they disappeared light-years away. Hyperspace travel lasted only an instant. In less than a blink of an eye, Funaho exited into normal space. Yosho saw before him a planet with large rings, referred to the star charts, and confirmed that it was Earth’s solar system.

“Where’s Ryo-Ohki?” He searched for the other ship, lost in the time- space fluctuation.

“This bridge sure is different.”

Yosho whirled around at the unexpected voice behind him, only to see

Ryoko standing there. But then she vanished again. She stepped in with astounding agility and swung her sword of light energy. Yosho dodged by a hair; Funaho formed a distortion field around Ryoko and tossed her into the residential quarters. First Generation ships contained a subspace living area within. It was generally to protect against outside attacks, but this time it was the reverse. Yosho gripped his Master Key and transported there, and confronted Ryoko, waiting with her sword of light.

“Very clever.”

“We can fight to our hearts’ content here. Though I would’ve preferred to get a glimpse of Earth first!” A sword of light extended from Yosho’s Master Key as well, as the two beams crossed in a shower of sparks. Ryoko was an order of magnitude more powerful in terms of raw strength, but her skills, accustomed to crushing foes by brute force alone, were artless at best. Yosho’s techniques were honed over years, whereas Ryoko was self-taught. But even if Yosho evaded her attacks and leapt into striking range with only the power of the Master Key, Ryoko’s defenses bounced him off. Yosho ended up being on the defensive.

Yosho used his own afterimages as bait to approach from her blind spot, but the damage was accumulating bit by bit from Ryoko, who lashed out in all directions. Ryoko’s energy blasts, which were more powerful than that of a First Generation ship, though inefficient when fired in all directions, had the power to obliterate Yosho if he had been without Funaho’s backup.

“Hah! You can’t even scratch me with those attacks!!” She acted tough, but she was not able to anticipate most of Yosho’s moves and was thus forced to attack in all directions.

“It seems that way.” Three shining wings appeared in front of Yosho to reflect Ryoko’s attacks.

“Light Hawk Wings?!” Since her previous battle with Emperor Azusa was ship-to-ship, she had not considered that Light Hawk Wings could be produced by an individual. If her multidirectional attacks were not going to work, being unable to follow his moves, Ryoko had no chance. “Crap!!” She tried to escape upwards in a panic, but as the thought was forming in her mind, Yosho was already behind her. He transformed the Light Hawk Wings into a blade of light and severed the jewel in Ryoko’s right wrist. It was a feat only possible with backup from a Royal Tree and with Yosho’s expert skill.

“One down!” With that, the jewel was sealed in the hilt of the Master Key. Ryoko screamed, lost her balance, and fell. With the removal of one jewel, the other two lost control. Since Yosho was using the Light Hawk Wings, the containment field of the living quarters was weakened and unable to withstand the violent torrent of power streaming from the jewels. Fissures formed in the subspace field. “Oh no, this won’t last.”

Yosho took another jewel from Ryoko—but this restored her power balance. Ryoko withdrew but fired an energy blast from the remaining jewel with everything she had. Yosho switched the sword back to a shield but was subjected to the extra energy that could not be deflected. He held on to the Master Key until Ryoko was transported, but he could not take it anymore and went down on his knees.

The scenery around him switched to Funaho’s bridge. “I’m sorry, Funaho. I’m giving you back the Light Hawk Wings. Ryo-Ohki is coming…!!”

To prove his words, a beam flashed from Ryo-Ohki on the monitor. Because he had taken two jewels from Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki’s defenses were clearly weakened, but her attack power had not diminished. The slight delay in reaction speed he saw when faced with Ryo-Ohki was now absent.

Funaho deployed the Light Hawk Wings and started to hammer away at Ryo-Ohki. “Good! This might work.” Just then, a violent vibration shook Funaho’s hull. It was a direct hit by Ryo-Ohki.

“A direct hit?! But the Light Hawk Wings are deployed!” Yosho hastily confirmed this on the monitors, seeing the three Light Hawk Wings. The next moment, there was another strike. “That’s…impossible!!”

Ryo-Ohki’s attacks were passing through the Light Hawk Wings. It was the same phenomenon as the time Azusa, Yosho’s father battled Kirito and Ryo-Ohki. The damage to both ships, battling without defenses, began to affect navigation.

How long had they been fighting? Yosho was wrestling with severe pain when he saw the planet appear from behind the moon. “That…must be Earth!” The planet where his mother was born. The planet of blue waters.

Yosho stared at its beauty for a short time but came back to his senses at Funaho’s pleas. Ryo-Ohki suddenly filled the entire field of view on the screen. A suicide attack! As the thought ran through his mind, a tremendous shock shook Funaho’s bridge.

Ryo-Ohki was wounded badly, and perhaps because she was a living spaceship, instinctively sought water, descending toward Earth without any input from Yosho. Yosho threw Funaho’s weight against Ryo-Ohki to steer them towards a small island country. Funaho’s outer hull was already destroyed, with no trace of its original structure left.

“Mrrgrowwl!” With her crystal glowing bright red and a horrific yowl, Ryo-Ohki flew across the night sky, crash-landing on the surface. Funaho’s unit was also badly damaged, forcing a crash landing.

This is it… There was no guarantee the damaged core unit would withstand such a landing. But if I may die on my mother’s home world…

He closed his eyes and vanished. Funaho had used the last of her strength to transport herself and Yosho.

“Yosho…kun… Yosho-kun…” He heard a voice from somewhere. She sat next to him, cupping her cheek in one hand while she poked him in the cheek with a finger. A girl with strong force of will in her eyes. She eased the suffering inside him. “Yosho-kun…” Misty-eyed, she rubbed her cheek against his, just like a cat expressing her deepest affections… He did not want to part from her. He wanted to stay by her side, feeling her warmth. But it was not to be. Her tears were testament. “I love you… Yosho…”

“Airi-dono!” Yosho grabbed the hand in front of him and realized that it did not belong to the woman calling to him from the depths of his consciousness but a girl he had never seen before. “No, it’s not her…”

“Oh…” The girl turned bright red and withdrew her hand and hurriedly left the room. Yosho’s mind was still in a haze, and he watched her silently.

Once his head started to clear, he pushed himself up to better assess the situation. He was resting in a room. The house was old but tasteful and comfortable, and reflective of its caretaker’s character. From between the sliding shoji doors the girl had left open, he saw gorgeous fall foliage.

“It’s so beautiful…” Yosho felt like he knew this place. As he gazed outside, a bright red leaf from a garden maple fluttered down by his pillow, tossed by the breeze. He picked it up and studied it. “I’m glad you’re awake.”

Yosho looked up to see an old man sliding the door shut behind him.

He was probably the master of this house. “I am deeply grateful for your care while I was unconscious,” he bowed.

The old man shook his head. “The one who found you was my granddaughter, Kasumi.” Yosho looked over towards the young girl he saw earlier.

“Um… I-I’ll go get some water.” When their eyes met, she blushed and ran off. She stepped outside and tripped over nothing. She popped back up, dusted herself off, and looked over at Yosho, her face still beet red. She hastily got up and started running again.

Yosho could not help laughing, as she reminded him of a puppy. “She can be rather clumsy. Please don’t mind her.”

“Oh no, she deserves thanks for saving my life. My name is Masaki Yosho.”

The old man burst out laughing upon hearing his name for some reason. He apologized, saying his name was Tairoh. “I’m sorry. This must be some kind of fate…”

“Fate, you say?”

“See that mountain? It has the same name as you.” He pointed towards a nearby peak.

Yosho raised himself up and looked around. The scenery was the same as his mother’s garden. “Where am I…?”

“I apologize if I’m mistaken, but are you Funaho’s… No, that’s not possible. Forget I ever mentioned it.”

At Tairoh’s words, Yosho realized where he was, as well as who this old man and the young girl were. “Tairoh-dono, I…” Just as he started to tell him the truth, they heard Kasumi’s scream from afar.

Tairoh scratched his head and said, “She probably tripped again somewhere…”

“Oh no!” Yosho stood up with a shout. He had not confirmed whether

Ryoko was alive or dead. He overcame the pain of his wounds and ran towards the voice with Tairoh.

“Wh-what is that?! A woman…or an ogre?” They were close to the crater where Ryo-Ohki had crashed. There, Ryoko, covered in wounds, was holding Kasumi. With an exultant smile, she held out her hand.

“Give me back…my jewels…”

“Ryoko, let her go. If you want them, take them from me by force.

You’re a pirate.”

“Give them back… I can’t control my hands, heh heh.” “I-I can’t breathe.”

“Stop it!”

Paying no heed to Yosho, Ryoko tightened her grip on Kasumi’s neck.

She really did not have control over her hand.

“Kasumi!” Tairoh shouted heartrendingly.

“All right, I’ll give you the jewels!” But his voice did not reach her.

Having lost control, Ryoko acted upon the instinct of destruction alone. “I can’t bre-”

“Stop it, nooo!!”

At that moment, it happened. As if it was foreordained… Kasumi’s bosom radiated light and knocked Ryoko away.

“…!!”

Yosho used that moment to take out his Master Key, enduring the pain and thrust his sword into Ryoko’s neck. Ryoko struggled and gurgled, and stretched her hand out toward Yosho, baring her sharp claws. There was a crazed smile on her face. She was in pain, but this was the first time she’d had this much fun. It was a pleasure she had never experienced before.

“Heh, heh heh, ha ha ha… Kya ha ha ha ha!!” She laughed maniacally.

Yosho sealed the last jewel from her neck into his Master Key. Ryoko’s flailing limbs grew quieter, then stopped moving.

There was a sigh of relief—and then, Ryoko opened her eyes wide and assaulted Yosho. The two of them vanished. Or so it seemed to Tairoh and Kasumi’s eyes. But around them were sounds of explosions and roaring wind, and in less than a minute, they appeared before them again. Ryoko stood, while Yosho was down on one knee. It seemed like the victor was obvious. But then it was Ryoko who collapsed like a puppet with severed strings.

“What’s going on…?!” Yosho, panting, looked at his Master Key, which was glowing in reaction to something. Kasumi, also having sensed something, took out a comb from her bosom. Seeing it, Yosho opened his eyes wide. “That’s from a Royal Tree…”

The comb, a memento of her late mother, was the one Funaho had left her younger sister. “Fate…” Yosho mumbled, holding the Master Key. A return to one’s origins. Those born into the Masaki House shared a destiny. They would always wander and face change.