The day didn't even end and Shuichi was finally able to regain consciousness despite the injuries he sustained from Motross. That was why Misae couldn't help feeling worried for the biker because it was obvious that Shuichi was forcing himself to move.
"Shuichi, you should rest for now. You're still hurt," she suggested but it seemed that her words fell on deaf ears.
Misae sighed at that. She knew this trait of his very well, especially when he was truly acting stubborn that he would refuse to listen to anyone at all. The past ten years that they lived at the Mizuhashi mansion together made her able to know a lot about Shuichi. Not just the biker, but also the other Vessels.
But before Shuichi could even take a step outside his room, he looked at Misae who was only pouting and had placed both hands on her waist. "How did you manage to bring me here? You guys were also injured."
"Both Helen-chan and Kanako arrived just in time to help us using Doctor Tsukimori's car," Misae explained, mentioning Kanako's father. "As for the other people that Motross attacked, they didn't sustain heavy injuries and they'll recover after a few days of rest, according to Akira and Natsume who decided to check on their situation."
Shuichi nodded and sighed in relief, knowing that Amuro was alright despite what happened. He clenched his fist when he recalled something that he had seen in Amuro's mind when he touched his unconscious friend a while back. Just as Itsuki awakened his sharp senses using the power of the earth as soon as his Hasureiki was awakened, Shuichi was able to obtain a certain ability after the awakening.
It was the ability to discern the thoughts of other people using their warmth. To his surprise when he first used that, he was also able to determine even their past lives and hidden secrets using the same way. However, there was a side effect as his ability could also drain a considerable amount of energy from the person whose thoughts he was trying to discern, creating a dizzying effect on the subject. He didn't know the reason why it was like that. But because of that, he knew he had to be careful in using his ability unless he needed to use it.
"What did you see in Amuro's mind when you touched him a while back?" Misae asked, breaking the silence between them and snapping him out of his musings.
Shuichi sighed and faced the archer. "I only saw his recklessness when he taunted the monster earlier."
"Recklessness?"
He nodded and smiled before going out of the room.
"Wait a minute! What was that supposed to mean?" Misae inquired as she followed the biker.
"Does he think the Fire of the Fang could truly beat Motross?"
"Well, you're the Fire of the Fang, idiot! If that monster wasn't cheating like that by firing beam attacks, you would've won that death race." Misae paused when she recalled something. "Come to think of it, your nickname in the racing world has truly matched your powers right now, huh?"
"Misae..."
The archer just smiled and tapped Shuichi's shoulder. "For now, I think it would be best if you rest. You might not like it, but we'll use you as a center of our strategy to deal with Motross."
"Just as I was expecting."
But the resolve that Shuichi was feeling at the moment soon dissipated upon remembering the events a while back that truly knocked him down like that. Before he could truly feel something depressing because of that, he went out of the room and headed to the living area of the house. When he got there, he heard Itsuki explaining the events that happened during the battle to both Hideoki and Nanami.
The biker clenched his fist tight when he heard Itsuki mention the result of it to his favorite motorcycle --- that it took greater damage because of that beam attack from Motross. Before he could even stop his tears from falling, he heard Itsuki ask one particular question that soon filled the area with tension.
"How come Helen was in the area, anyway?" the composer asked rather curtly.
"I permitted her to go there. Besides, watching the battle sequence from there was something she needed to learn more about all of you."
"She could've done that from the satellite footage coming from the Doctor's Hasureiki-powered satellite."
"Sorry to break it down to you, but my father's satellite still needed some repair after something attacked it last week. So he needed to bring it back here on Earth to fix it," Kanako said as she entered the room carrying a tray containing glasses of vegetable juice. "Maybe you should drink that for now, Itsuki-kun. Hopefully, that will calm you down and help you recover."
Shuichi smiled at how calm Kanako was even when Itsuki was acting grumpily like that. He, too, was aware of what happened to the satellite that Doctor Tsukimori Genma created. But at the moment, the reason for the satellite to take that damage was still a mystery. Perhaps they'd be able to solve it later on.
Erika was supposed to say something about her brother's mood, but she soon noticed one particular thing. "Come to think of it... Where is Helen-chan?"
xxxxxx
The girl they were looking for was actually in the garden watching the recordings of the earlier battle. But to the Vessels' surprise, Helen was watching it using a smaller cylindrical item together with her laptop.
"That girl is taking things easy," Itsuki grumbled. "She's going to get it this time."
But before he could take a step to approach Helen and reprimand her for the nonchalant attitude she was showing towards the situation, a bandaged hand soon blocked him off, surprising the composer. When Itsuki looked up, he saw Shuichi's gaze fixated on Helen and Eichirou shook his head, signaling him that he shouldn't do anything at the moment.
"Why?"
However, the answer he got was something that caught the two older Vessels' attention. Itsuki followed the direction to where their gazes were fixed. That was when he finally understood why they stopped him from doing anything to Helen. Shuichi and Eichirou's focus was on the cylindrical item that Helen was using to play the recordings. It was the same as how the Celestial Shifters were projecting the situation of a Tarean attack to the Vessels.
"But... how?"
None of them were able to come up with an answer. Shuichi's mind, however, was more concerned about the six wings on one end of that cylinder. A certain question ran into his head as soon as he saw that. Was it just a coincidence that the six wings were also stitched on the pink denim jacket that Shuichi gave to Helen as a gift before?
Before any of the male Vessels could do anything, they soon saw Misae approaching Helen who still seemed to be unaware of the Vessels' presence.
"Helen-chan," the archer called out, which soon caught the girl's attention.
Helen turned around and finally saw the Vessels now approaching her. "Everyone... You seem to recover quite fast. Especially you, Hiwara-san."
"It takes more than this to bring me down for good," Shuichi answered proudly which made Helen smile.
"Why are you watching the battle sequence from earlier?" Eichirou asked.
The girl's focus soon returned to the footage and typed something down from her laptop, thereby rewinding the events she was just watching a while back until it reached the scene where the sudden flash of red light appeared from the lotus symbol on SeitenFire's helmet. She soon paused it right there.
"What are you thinking?" Erika inquired somberly which surprised the other Vessels.
For a while, Helen didn't say anything. She was just looking at the paused footage intently.
"Why did that happen, anyway?" Misae muttered as she, too, was looking at the paused footage.
Moments later, Helen faced the Vessels who were all looking at her, much to her surprise and confusion at the same time. "You guys can be a little scary when you all look at me like that."
"Sorry..."
"Setting that aside for now... Are you guys aware of the Guardian Medallions?"
Now it wasn't just Helen who felt confused, but also the Vessels because of that question.
"Don't tell me... you're not aware of it?"
"There's a reason for that, Helen," Hideoki was the one who responded and made the Vessels, and even Kanako and Helen turned to the source of it. "They haven't heard about it, that's why. I should've mentioned it to them as soon as they were awakened."
"What's a Guardian Medallion, Dad?" Eichirou asked his father.
"It's the second classification of the Spirit Power Medallions. As you know, the Vessel Medallions were the first and the more known classification of the Spirit Power Medallions. They enable you to use the powers of the Grand Vessel Spirits and summon them, as well. The Guardian Medallions hold almost a similar purpose and power."
"Really?"
Helen nodded as her response to Misae. Once again, she faced the paused footage and played it soon after.
"But Helen, why bring up the topic about the Guardian Medallions all of a sudden? And what's that device you're using to replay the footage from the previous battle?"
The said girl sighed as she resumed her previous work of analyzing the footage. "Eichirou-san, despite the childishness of your actions sometimes, you sure ask a lot of questions, huh?"
"Well, a child can truly be a curious being, right? It's already natural," the photographer responded, not at least offended when Helen called him childish.
Helen chuckled while the other Vessels shook their heads. This guy was truly unbelievable in more ways than one. They realized that now.
"Alright. I'll answer your second question," Helen declared soon after making the atmosphere serious almost immediately. She stopped replaying the footage and showed the cylindrical device to the Vessels. "This was something that Professor created for me when I was eight. He said that I needed a reliable device that will aid me when the time comes that I'll start supporting the Vessels. Professor gave it the name Astral Shifter, basing it on the fact that I like stargazing."
"Astral... Shifter?!" the Vessels chorused in surprise.
The device wasn't what they thought it was, right? The Vessels looked at each other and if they were to base it on their respective expressions, it appeared that they were thinking of the same thing. Soon after, they all eyed Helen who was just looking at them innocently.
Now, this girl needed to give them an answer to another mystery that baffled them.
xxxxxx
The gathered energy was poured into the slumbering emperor and like as usual, the Great Shadow Defenders waited in anticipation for a result. But just like before, Emperor Darshao remained asleep, and not even a single effect could be seen after that. Alvre growled in frustration and faced Motross rashly.
"How come you gathered only this much? Were you only out racing again? I thought I gave you a clear order of gathering energy!"
"B-but Alvre-sama! I've done the job just as you asked. And yet there are humans these days who aren't even afraid of what I can do and have even the guts to mock me and my speed," Motross reasoned, trying not to stammer in fear for its boss.
"Who cares about those humans? You should've just taken their energies and made them suffer endlessly!"
"Alvre-sama..."
"If you ask me, even I would sympathize with your Triske Monster, Alvre," Siriso interjected before Alvre could even get frustrated and take it all out to Motross. "Especially with those damn Seitenger brats!"
"One of them put up a fight with your monster's speed, Alvre," Karkino soon said.
Alvre could only heave a sigh just to calm herself down. With two of the Great Shadow Defenders saying things like this, perhaps she should've looked at the situation first before getting frustrated. Patience was supposed to be one of her virtues.
But because of the Seitengers, she was truly losing it.
"Alright," Alvre said soon after. "For Siriso and Karkino's sake, I'll let it go for now. But give me a better result next time or else!"
Motross raised its head in surprise before bowing down deeply once again. "I'm grateful, Alvre-sama. I'll set out to the surface again and do as you command!"
With that, the Triske Monster left the room where the emperor's sleeping chamber was.
But despite all the commotion, Orcus remained silent and Nemia soon noticed. As inconspicuous as she could, she approached her fellow Great Shadow Defender who was still silent and appeared to have not noticed her approaching.
"You noticed something about the previous battle, didn't you?" Nemia started but said in the form of a statement.
Orcus just sighed before facing the shinobi. "Can I even hide anything from you, Nemia?"
"I'm just observing you. The others are busy ordering people around when they should think of a proper plan to defeat the Seitengers. As long as those brats exist, we won't be able to leave this damn place and conquer the world."
The strategist didn't say anything after that. He just stayed there on his spot watching his comrades thinking of other plans to destroy the only enemy that had ever gotten in their way.
"One of them is about to gain more power," Orcus uttered that only Nemia heard before leaving the room.
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