Episode 99: Boy, Burn Hot!
Around the time Kazuma had been sent flying to some distant part of space, Kakka had, by a hair’s breadth, survived and returned to the captain’s seat.
“Notify all hands. We’re retreating to avoid getting caught up in this.”
“Yes, sir!”
Then, the surviving aliens began their retreat.
Watching the grand fleet disappear using their warp devices, Ema and the others raised cries of joy.
“Are they retreating…?”
“Contacts are disappearing one after another! It appears the enemy fleet is retreating!”
“W-we won…! We won! We actually won!!”
“We did it! Hooray!”
“Banzai! Banzai!! Banzaaai!!!”
“Uooooooh! This is our victory! Did you see that, you aliens! This is the power of humanity!”
The crew members raised cries of victory, hugging each other, but Ema alone watched with sharp eyes as the aliens retreated.
He knew they had been considerably flustered by Kazuma’s appearance because he had seen it.
And he could easily guess that Kazuma had infiltrated an enemy ship and was rampaging.
“(If Kazuma-kun defeated their supreme commander and the enemy began to retreat, that would make sense… but it’s worrying that there’s been no contact from Kazuma-kun. Have the aliens truly retreated?)”
Ema, unable to shake a bad feeling, couldn’t bring himself to rejoice.
His anxiety grew, wondering if he was overlooking something crucial.
He felt uneasy, thinking this might be a major strategic move by the enemy, some kind of groundwork.
“Everyone. It’s too early to celebrate. Maintain alert status and be ready for combat at any moment—”
Just as he said that, a piercing BEEP BEEP BEEP resounded throughout the bridge, and Ema and the others were thrown into a panic.
“W-what’s wrong!? What happened!?”
“Th-this is terrible! A massive energy mass is heading towards Earth!”
“What!? S-specifically, how much energy are we talking about!?”
“………If it hits, Earth will be annihilated.”
“Whaaaaaat!?”
“Thirty seconds until impact!”
“The barrier!? There’s a barrier up, isn’t there! What’s its status!”
“It can’t withstand this energy! It might even be more powerful than Kazuma-kun’s maximum firepower!”
“Damn it! So that’s it! The enemy fleet retreated for this!”
They realized it too late.
The enemy’s bombardment had already been fired, and there was nothing they could do.
Is this… the end?
Just when everyone thought so, an emergency communication came in from Hawaii.
“Fuffuffu. We prepared a secret weapon just in case something like this happened.”
“…You people should really study up on Hourensou. But, setting that aside, what is this secret weapon?”
“It’s the ultimate defense system, built to withstand the super-heated fireballs of space kaiju! We borrowed its name from one of Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures—the Yata no Kagami!”
“Oh! Can we get our hopes up?”
“…Actually, the data says it should be fine, but we won’t know for sure until we actually use it.”
“I see… But we don’t have time. Do it.”
“Roger that!”
The employees on standby at the Hawaii base gleefully activated the Yata no Kagami.
An octagonal, mirror-like barrier formed in satellite orbit and caught the pillar of light raining down from the distant cosmos.
An incredible scene unfolded right next to Earth, and the internet was in an uproar.
Wondering if today might be Earth’s last day.
“By the way, what’s he doing?”
“He seems like the type who’d rush over first thing if something this interesting was happening.”
“Knowing Kazuma, he’s probably off playing somewhere, don’t you think?”
“Do you think so? Even Kazuma-san, I don’t think he’d be playing around when Earth is in crisis…”
Momoko, Sakura Hakanai, Alicia, and Charlotte, the four of them, watched the pillar of light colliding with the Yata no Kagami in the atmosphere, thinking of the absent Kazuma.
It was incredibly strange that the man who seemed to live on sheer vibe and excitement alone hadn’t appeared in a situation like this. Just where was he slacking off?
“No response to communications. Looks like I was sent pretty far away~”
Kazuma had been trying to contact Ema and the others continuously, but the communication wouldn’t connect at all, and he was drifting in space.
“…Man, this is bad. If everyone got wiped out while I was gone, it’d be no joke. Guess I’ll use Teleportation to get back.”
Having been forcibly teleported, Kazuma seemed to have been confused too, and he finally understood just how dire the current situation was.
The aliens possessed overwhelming military strength, and Earth’s forces were no match for them.
Remembering that, Kazuma used Teleportation to go to Ema’s location.
“Uwah!?”
“Oops, my bad. Seems I startled you.”
“Never mind that! More importantly, Earth is in big trouble!”
“What happened?”
“Look outside!”
Told to do so, Kazuma looked out from the bridge at Earth, and there, the sight of a pillar of light seemingly piercing Earth spread before him.
“No way, is that an enemy weapon?” Kazuma strained his eyes, but it wasn’t piercing Earth.
Or rather, it was just short of piercing it; the pillar of light was striking something like an octagonal mirror.
“What’s that?”
“I’ll tell you about that later! Get to Earth!”
“Roger!”
There was no doubt it was an emergency, and urged by an extremely impatient Ema, Kazuma used Teleportation to go to Earth.
“This is Kazuma! Tell me the impact point of that light!”
“It’s Mount Fuji in Japan!”
“Are they aiming for it? Well, whatever. I’m heading there now!”
Kazuma contacted the Hawaii base and had them tell him the impact point of the pillar of light.
Kazuma, who had never used Teleportation to go to Mount Fuji before, teleported to Japan and immediately flew towards it.
Arriving at the summit of Mount Fuji, Kazuma looked up at the sky, saw that only one layer of the Yata no Kagami remained, and hurriedly began preparations to intercept.
“Magic Circle deploy, Spell Formula deploy, Circuit connect! I’ll show you! My full, unrestrained, maximum power!!!”
He raised his hand to the sky, converging his magical power.
Above Kazuma’s head, multi-layered magic circles with geometric patterns floated, creating a fantastical scene.
Magical power surged, pale blue light streaked, and the area around where Kazuma stood began to shine like an aurora.
“Behold!!!”
The last of the eight layers of the deployed Yata no Kagami shattered, and the pillar of light rained down upon Mount Fuji.
If it impacted, Earth would undoubtedly be blown to smithereens.
To intercept the pillar of light, a magic cannon blast of unprecedented thickness shot forth from Kazuma’s palm with a DOOMPH.
His strongest single strike, shown for the first time in this world.
If possible, he’d wanted to make it look cool, but the pillar of light’s power was far more tremendous than expected, and Kazuma gritted his teeth in frustration.
“No good. This is bad…”
Kazuma, who possessed nearly infinite magical power by converting his internal mana as well as natural energy from wind and sunlight, couldn’t overcome the energy of the pillar of light and was gradually being pushed back.
He was outputting at maximum firepower, but at this rate, the pillar of light would impact Earth, and Kazuma along with it would be blown away.
“This is really bad,” Kazuma thought, breaking into a cold sweat and forcing a wry smile, trying to recall if there was anything he could do, but no strategy came to mind beyond what he was already doing—unleashing his maximum firepower.
“Hnngggggggh!”
He was holding his ground but was being overpowered, and Kazuma finally dropped to one knee.
Just when it seemed Earth would truly end like this, a communication arrived from the Hawaii base.
“Kazuma-kun! Can you come back here for a moment!?”
“Don’t ask the impossible! The moment I leave, Earth is finished!”
“Kuh…! In that case, can’t we use Teleportation to send something from here!?”
“That’s possible!”
“Alright! Can we use Teleportation for a weapon?”
“Sorry. That’s impossible! But Momoko-chan can be teleported!”
“Understood! Just hold on a little longer!”
“Please, seriously, hurry!!!”
It was a rather desperate cry.
While the pillar of light, slowly but surely, closed the distance to Earth, in Hawaii, employees of Kurashige Industries were pressing Momoko, holding a magatama and a sword.
“We need you to deliver this to Kazuma-kun immediately!”
“Whoa, even if you suddenly tell me that!”
“It’s alright! We just heard from Kazuma-kun! He said you can use Teleportation!”
“No, I can’t, though?”
“Eh!? But just now, Kazuma-kun said Momoko-chan could do it?”
Hearing that, Momoko understood.
It was surely something troublesome.
If possible, she wanted to refuse.
She even thought it might be better if Earth just perished.
That way, she’d be freed from this suffering, but dragging so many people into it for that reason was heartbreaking.
It was extremely, extremely unpleasant, but Momoko told them that she could be summoned by Kazuma and instantly travel long distances.
“Then, please give this sword and magatama to Kazuma-kun. And also—”
They whispered something into Momoko’s ear.
After hearing the full explanation from the employee, Momoko let out a grand sigh, but decided to go to Kazuma, who was fighting for the fate of the Earth.
“Please contact Kazuma-san.”
“Understood!”
The employee hurriedly connected to Kazuma via radio.
“Kazuma-kun! Shinonome-san is ready!”
Summon! Momoko-chaaaan!
Though he was spouting nonsense over the radio, it was unmistakably a spell, as a Magic Circle appeared at Momoko’s feet, and she was summoned to Kazuma’s side. In her hands, she carried the sword and magatama entrusted to her by the employee.
“Momoko-chan, what’s that!?”
“Honestly, you…”
Despite it being a global crisis, Momoko was exasperated by Kazuma, who seemed no different from usual.
However, it was precisely because of that that she could believe in him.
That surely, if it was him, he could save the world with a smile.
Convinced of this, Momoko rushed to Kazuma’s side and entrusted him with the sword and magatama.
“Alright! I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully!”
“Yeah!”
“This magatama draws upon all kinds of energy on Earth as its power source, and it’s equipment exclusively for you!”
“Oooh!”
“And this sword… is still a prototype!”
“Oooooh!”
“It’s imperfect!”
“Oooooooh!”
“And it’s a defective item that will break after a single use!”
“Uoooooooooh!”
“But its performance is top-notch! It’s a weapon for you, and you alone! Its name is… Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi!”
“Uoooooooooooooooooooooooh!”
This was the moment Japan’s Three Great Sacred Treasures were assembled.
Of course, they weren’t the real things, but their performance was exactly as Momoko described.
Moreover, since Kurashige Industries produced them, Kazuma’s magical knowledge was also incorporated, so in a sense, it could even be called a magic sword.
Calling a sacred treasure a magic sword might be disrespectful, but since magical power had been added, calling it a magic sword was correct.
“Kukuku! Haaahahahahaha! This is the best! You really understand a boy’s heart!”
“At a time like this, you…”
The pillar of light still raining down from above was drawing closer to Earth.
Kazuma was holding it back with his mana cannon, but there wasn’t much time left.
Even though the fate of the Earth hung in the balance, Momoko shrugged at Kazuma, who was frolicking like a child, but then let a smile slip out, thinking, ‘That’s just like him.’
“…Using it is simple. Just grip it. That’s all.”
“I see! Simple and much appreciated!”
“…Please protect the Earth… no, protect us. Hero-sama.”
“!? Wh-? Hahaha! Yeah, you’re right! Momoko-chan! I’ll protect you, all of you! With my whole heart and soul, at full power!”
Saying that, Kazuma drew the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi he had received from Momoko.
In that instant, the magatama and the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi linked, and an immense energy dwelled within the blade.
Furthermore, an amount of magical power Kazuma had never felt before poured into his body from the magatama.
Mind, technique, and body as one. It was truly a state of mind, technique, and body as one. Kazuma raised the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi into an overhead stance and, towards the pillar of light, unleashed a full-force swing.
“This is the power of the world! Of Japan! Of an OTAKUUUUUUUUUU!!!”
A dazzling light, bright enough to swallow the pillar of light, was unleashed, and the Earth’s crisis had passed.