The holographic figure disappeared and a Guardian Medallion soon replaced it, glowing and now floating towards Eichirou. It landed on his palm before he clutched it. He soon closed his eyes before whispering "Spirit Shift, Start!"
The glow from the Guardian Medallion engulfed Eichirou and made him don his Seitenger suit once again. The bright light dissipated almost immediately that confused and surprised both the other Vessels and even the struggling Macera. The Vessels stood up as they looked at SeitenWater now holding an unfamiliar Medallion on his gloved hand.
"Eichirou-san, could that be...?"
SeitenWater turned to Erika who asked that question before nodding. The blue warrior soon pulled out his Hyakureider and extracted its blade. The others could only stare at each other at the response but did not say anything else.
It didn't take long for the Triske Monster to notice something different about the blue warrior. But before it could even react to its observation, SeitenWater soon placed the Guardian Medallion called the Blue Water Walrus in one of the other slots of his Hyakureider. Not long after, the blade of the Hyakureider glowed blue with water droplets starting to form around it. The droplets soon began to surround the blade in lightnigh speed, making it glow brighter.
"It can't be! That's the power of the Elemental Guide?" Macera could only exclaim in disbelief as SeitenWater poised to a fighting stance.
Inside the suit, Eichirou closed his eyes as he recalled the memory that Waliver had shown him. He soon realized that he and the Triske Monster could be similar in one thing. They both do something to preserve. His way of preserving, however, was completely different to that of Macera. He preserved smiles and memories---treasures that made humanity strong even in the worst days of their lives.
The very treasure that his mother Mariko had unwittingly entrusted to him to protect that day. And protect it, he would.
"Whirling Water!" he screamed and threw helix after helix of water energy towards Macera. He threw a barrage of it that struck the Triske Monster to several pieces before exploding.
SeitenWater exhaled and put down his raised sword before the others approached him and started tapping his back and his shoulder.
"You really awakened an Elemental Guide," Shuichi said and SeitenWater shook hands with him while chuckling.
"You and Eri-chan were the ones that gave the clue to that. I only need to fix a few aspects of my life and some other issues that would release me from being bound to a painful past. I was sure that you taught me that."
Shuichi laughed even while the others congratulated the blue warrior on achieving a feat. But the celebration didn't last long. All five of them soon faced just one direction where they all felt a sudden surge of dark energy now forming.
"Get ready! Here comes its Unsealed form!" Shuichi ordered before he and the other Vessels shouted their transformation phrase to don their suits once again and join SeitenWater.
As expected, the bigger version of Macera emerged from that gathered dark energy orb.
"Now you've made me so mad!"
That growling voice alerted the citizens who were released from their petrification and they all started running away from the now new battlefield for the Seitengers and the Unsealed Triske Monster.
"Alright! Let's go! It's about time we end this."
The others nodded and thrust their Hyakureiders up to the air. "Spirit Summon, Start!" One by one, the Grand Vessel Spirits descended from a portal formed in the sky. All five mechs fired beams towards Macera that was about to raise its camera hand, perhaps taking a chance to strike.
The Seitengers boarded their respective Grand Vessel Spirits while Macera tried to stand up.
"Reiyouki Gattai! Formation, Build Up!"
That command from the Seitengers allowed the Grand Vessel Spirits to take different forms and, one by one, combined with Firion being the main part. It didn't take long for all of the Grand Vessel Spirits to combine into one entity --- a giant robot.
"Heavenly Guardian King, descend! SeitenOh!"
It was at that time that Macera finally managed to recover from the Grand Vessel Spirits' attack before the combination. To the Seitengers inside SeitenOh's confusion, however, the Unsealed Triske Monster was laughing maniacally.
"Honestly, I'm not liking the way this jerk laughs like that," SeitenEarth commented. Though he did so nonchalantly, one could see how the green warrior was clenching his gloved hand.
"All the more why we have to stay alert and never let your guard down," SeitenFire said. The others nodded and soon all of them grabbed their Hyakureiders stabbed in one of the slots of their respective podiums. "Let's do this!"
With that command, SeitenOh charged towards the still maniacally laughing Triske Monster. It was then that Macera almost immediately stopped laughing. Though it surprised the Seitengers, they continued charging at the enemy. Macera then raised its camera hand and fired flashing light attacks to SeitenOh.
"Spirit Shield!" The almost triangular shield that was formed from Dovight's detached wings blocked the light attacks as SeitenOh brought out the Sky Sword formed from Skylon's wings.
SeitenOh attacked Macera with strike after strike of the Sky Sword. Indeed, it was taking effect as each strike seemed to be weakening the Triske Monster. But SeitenEarth noticed something as it went on.
"What is this monster planning?" the green warrior muttered that the others still heard.
"Is there something wrong, Itsu-chan?" SeitenWater couldn't help asking even as he tried concentrating on the ongoing fight.
"Macera just kept striking at us with that flashing light from its hand even when we continued attacking it. For some reason, its action doesn't sit right."
"Are you saying... Macera is planning something with continued flashing lights?" SeitenWind asked.
It was when all of them screamed in surprise as the cockpit shook hard and threw the Seitengers off guard. They noticed that SeitenOh was on the ground and Macera began laughing maniacally once again.
"I told you!" SeitenEarth yelled as he gripped his Hyakureider on the podium. "I seriously hate it when my observations turn out to be right at some point."
Though SeitenLight wanted to laugh at her brother's complaint, it turned to a grunt and shout when they all saw Macera punching SeitenOh continuously, preventing the Seitengers from commanding it to stand up and fight the Triske Monster.
"Now I think I know what those flashing lights were for," SeitenLight announced, gripping her Hyakureider tight before pushing it forward.
That action allowed SeitenOh to fire a beam towards Macera through the Spirit Shield. The rest of the team did the same, until SeitenWater and SeitenEarth noticed that their Hyakureiders were stuck.
"Don't tell me... those flashing lights were meant to petrify us little by little?" SeitenEater asked as he continued pushing his Hyakureider, but to no avail.
"It seems that Macera knew that we'd be able to deflect its attack if it went all out. So it had to do it one flash at a time, starting with SeitenOh's legs," SeitenEarth concluded.
Macera recovered from that last beam attack and soon resumed punching and striking SeitenOh. Of course, this had put the team into a disadvantage as their robot's limited mobility restricted them from countering the attack.
"There has to be something we can do!" SeitenWind yelled as she pushed her Hyakureider. But the way that SeitenOh struck Macera with the Sky Sword wasn't enough to put a stop to the Triske Monster. "Oh, no! It looks like even the hands are slowly getting petrified as Macera continues to punch SeitenOh."
When SeitenFire looked, he did notice that each of Macera's punches to SeitenOh had flashes of light accompanying it. He couldn't help cursing and was about to feel hopeless. Until ---
"Waliver, you can do something about this, right?"
SeitenFire turned to the source of that voice. He saw SeitenWater holding his own Guardian Medallion that made him smile.
"Of course! I am an Elemental Guide that breaks barriers, after all. That Triske Monster's petrification attack won't stand a chance against me."
"Then lend me your power," SeitenWater commanded. "Help us defeat this Triske Monster."
Waliver chuckled and growled. "You got it!"
SeitenWater placed the Blue Water Walrus on the slot of his Hyakureider that he pulled out from the podium. He then thrust the weapon to the air.
"Spirit Summon, Start!"
The sky crackled as lightning and thunder simultaneously appeared and resonated. A blue rune circle materialized and out of it came a dark blue walrus-like mech descending from the sky. It soared fast, which surprised the Seitengers. It didn't take long for Macera to finally notice the descending entity. But before it could comprehend what was going on, Waliver opened its mouth and fired a beam towards Macera. This threw the Triske Monster several meters away from the petrified SeitenOh.
Another beam shot out from the blue walrus' mouth and hit SeitenOh. But unlike what the Seitengers were expecting, the beam hit the pretrified parts of SeitenOh. And when the Seitengers tried to command it to move, they exclaimed in excitement upon realizing that Waliver had freed them from Macera's petrifying spell.
"We're free!" SeitenLight exclaimed.
"Your Elemental Guide does live up to its words," SeitenEarth commented.
"And powerful, too," SeitenWind added.
"We can talk about that later," SeitenFire said in a grave tone. "Eichirou, let's put an end to this."
The blue warrior nodded before pulling and stabbing back his Hyakureider to its podium. "Reiyouki Busou, Set Up!"
That command enabled the mechanical walrus to start changing form. It didn't take long for it to take the form of a halberd that was taller than the Triske Monster. The weapon floated towards SeitenOh before the said robot grabbed it. SeitenOh poised to battle, armed with a new weapon.
"Water Walrus Knight, Descend! SeitenOh Waliver!"
Of course, the appearance of a new weapon had not only startled Macera, it also made it realize something. Whatever that realization was, it was enough to become a fuel of sorts for its fighting rage and started charging towards SeitenOh again. But even with the Triske Monster's obvious rage, the Seitengers only watched and waited for the enemy to approach.
"Here we go..." SeitenFire uttered as his grip on his Hyakureider tightened.
"Let's end it here for good," SeitenWater said. He, too, had his grip on his Hyakureider tightened.
The rest nodded and prepared. Moments later, upon seeing that Macera had arrived at a certain spot that the Seitengers were anticipating, each of them began charging their Hyakureiders with Hasureiki. The halberd that SeitenOh was holding, in turn, began glowing in five colored lights. Each light indicated the colors of the Seitengers inside the robot.
They waited for a few more moments before all five of them pulled their Hyakureiders out of the podiums and pointed them towards the approaching Macera. Then a few more steps... until ---
"Sea Walrus Soul Divide!"
With that command, SeitenOh's halberd glowed brighter as it raised the weapon. With the weapon taller than both SeitenOh and Macera, it was a given that the Triske Monster felt intimidated by it. The Seitengers took advantage of that reaction. SeitenOh struck the Triske Monster down with the glowing halberd, cutting the enemy in half before the enemy exploded right in front of them.
"Stage set!"
As soon as it was over, SeitenWater sighed loudly that only made the female Seitengers giggle and SeitenEarth shook his head.
"Never in my wildest dreams have I actually come to hate a camera," SeitenWater said before a holographic image of Waliver appeared before him.
That appearance caught the others' attention.
"Thank you for lending your strength, Waliver-san," SeitenLight said and then bowed. The others followed suit.
"No need to thank me. I made my decision to help you guys, after all." Soon after, it faced SeitenWater. "Call me when you need me again, okay? Or we can just talk even when there's no battle. In turn, I'm watching over you to make sure you'll continue fulfilling your promise to your mother."
Though it surely caught the others' attention, SeitenWater remained facing Waliver before nodding. "Continue guiding me, then. The fulfillment of a dream isn't done by one person, anyway. There are those who would help him along the way."
Waliver laughed and nodded before disappearing. Soon after, SeitenWater took out the Blue Water Walrus Medallion from his Hyakureider and looked at it.
"I guess our past will always hold a miracle that we can use to continue fighting the Tareans," SeitenWater said.
"It's the past that they left in order to protect us and allow us to fulfill our duty and their dreams, after all," SeitenWind stated with a bitter chuckle. "The past that changed us has now become our power to defeat the threat of this world, after all."
xxxxxx
"Another battle is over. These kids are surpassing my expectations each time," Hideoki said, most likely to himself, as he saw the damages around the battlefield where the Unsealed Macera and SeitenOh fought started to disappear.
It seemed that the Seitengers' used up Hasureiki that remained in the atmosphere were the ones doing the work. Even to this day, he still couldn't fathom how Hasureiki would work in the Seitengers' favor by fixing up damages like this. But it appeared that this was something that had been happening for a long time. In his case, however, he might have forgotten it upon the deaths of his wife and his friends. It looked like he still had a lot to learn from these youngsters. More surprises to expect from them, as well.
Hideoki looked around once again to make sure that no other commotion related to the Tareans were happening. When he realized that the coast was clear, he nodded and soon turned to leave the place where he watched the battle.
But he stopped to his tracks as his keen eyes spotted someone rather familiar to him just a few meters away. A woman who was also looking at the battlefield. It hit him right there who this woman was. With a sigh, he began approaching her.
"Odagawa-san..." he called out, almost too formal, if one would ask.
The said woman appeared to have been startled before turning to him. Her eyes widened slightly, but only for a short while. She bowed to him and he returned it in kind.
"Mizuhashi-san, it's been a long while," Haruna said as she raised her head.
"It looks like you're doing well."
She nodded. "I did... but mostly did so while thinking of my anger and frustration for not being able to let go of my resentment." She faced Hideoki and bowed deeply. "Forgive me, Mizuhashi-san. My harsh treatment of your son is no excuse. I even treated Mariko-senpai's memories the same way. I didn't take everything lightly, especially after senpai died all of a sudden..." Haruna's voice trailed off and bowed even lower.
"Raise your head, Haruna. You don't have to apologize deeply like that. Things hadn't been easy for me and my son, as well, after my wife died. But for Eichirou, it seemed that he was able to find a way to get on with his life even with the shadow of his mother still lingering. Even with people nonsensically associating his artistic ability as a photographer to his dead mother, that kid managed to proceed with his life as he held his head high. I just wish that this time, you'd be able to do the same. Mariko wouldn't choose you to become her apprentice if you don't have the ability to do that from the start," Hideoki said and soon looked at the now clear sky. "She's also watching over you. And I'm sure she didn't want you to continue dwelling in those frustrations and resentment."
It was then that Haruna raised her head and looked at Hideoki. She decided to take it as an opportunity to ask something that had been bothering her for a while. "Mizuhashi-san... about Eichirou-kun... Just what is...?" She took a deep breath before continuation. "How come he has the ability to fight monsters like that? What exactly is he?"
It seemed that the historian anticipated that question from the fashion designer upon hearing from the other Vessels before that Haruna witnessed the battle between the Seitengers and Macera the first time it attacked. But all he could ever give her as a response was a sigh.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell the full details for now. Everything around us hasn't stabilized just yet."
It was a vague answer, but Haruna didn't push through the topic further. Instead, she decided to ask about something else. "About senpai's death... Would it be okay if I know the real reason behind it? It still bothers me till now that she died all of a sudden without a proper explanation. You did mention to the press that she'd been sick for a long while. But... is that the truth?"
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