Inside Iwato Station, the Koutetsujou and the Kokujou coupled together, departing for the next stop: Iwato Station.
The final defensive line before Kongoukaku.
An internal telegram at Iwato Station received a message from Aragane Station. It contained only a few short words.
"Submit or perish. Choose!"
Slap!
The document was slammed onto the floor. A tall, thin man stomped on it twice, cursing in rage, "Ignorant fools! A tiny place like Iwato Station dares to provoke us? What do they think they're doing? Are they trying to start a rebellion!"
"Calm down. The priority now is how to deal with Amatori Biba's Hunters. As for Iwato Station, ignore them for now."
A young man with a scholarly air sitting at the head of the table adjusted his glasses. A cold glint flashed in his eyes when he mentioned Iwato Station. He already sentenced them to death; no one could provoke the authority of the Shogunate.
As long as anyone dared to defy their superiors, the Shogunate's army would purge dissidents and suppress the unrest with maximum speed! They would kill the chicken to warn the monkey; as long as a few more people died, those stations with wavering loyalties would fall back into line.
It was so in the past, and it remained so now!
"Hmph, let them act arrogant for a few more days. They don't have long to live anyway."
The tall man curled his lip, his face full of disdain.
Boom!
A roar of something heavy hitting the ground suddenly echoed from the distance, even causing the floor to vibrate slightly. The expressions of the men in the room shifted.
"What's happening! What's going on outside?"
Just then, someone ran in panic-stricken, "My Lords, this is bad!"
"Just now, at the western gate, the troops intercepted the people from the Kokujou and Koutetsujou. But a woman named Misono Mika stepped forward and shouted: Submit or death. Choose!"
"After she spoke, a massive pink meteorite abruptly smashed into the moat from the sky."
"According to the latest reports, the defense forces at the western gate have surrendered..."
"What?! What exactly just happened? Make it clear!"
The high-ranking officials in the room could no longer sit still.
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At the western gate.
As the drawbridge lowered, the trains slowly entered Iwato Station. To the right, atop the moat, a meteorite crater thirty meters in diameter appeared, slowly filling with river water.
Mika hopped off the train and strolled through the city gate as if taking a leisurely walk in a park. Both the defense forces of Iwato Station and the Hunters looked at her back with awe and fear.
"What staggering power."
On the roof of the Kokujou, Biba reluctantly tore his gaze away from the crater and ordered Horobi, "Now, begin our plan for revenge. Also, help Miss Mika eliminate the remnants of the Shogun's faction so she doesn't have to get her hands dirty."
"Yes!"
Horobi jumped down from the Kokujou and led a squad into the alleys. While trying to avoid direct confrontation with the city guards, they moved quickly toward the Lord's manor for a decapitation [1].
Mika, having entered the station, soon encountered interception from other troops.
"Invaders spotted! Fire!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dense rain of metal swept toward her. Mika stopped in her tracks, neither dodging nor flinching. As the bullets struck her, she felt nothing but a slight itch.
"Do you intend to continue resisting to the end?" Mika asked the army of thousands before her.
However, her response was an incoming artillery shell.
Boom!
The shell exploded, and dust and smoke enveloped Mika's figure.
"W-We hit her!"
"That humanoid monster should finally be dead now!"
"Wait, what is that above our heads?"
Five meteorites suddenly fell!
Rumble!
The ground shook, and the nearby residents fell into a daze. An army of thousands evaporated in an instant. Due to Mika's control, the falling meteorites did not leave massive craters, thus avoiding irreparable damage to the surrounding buildings.
When the soldiers arriving as reinforcements saw this scene, their souls nearly left their bodies from fright.
"That actually hurt quite a bit just now. It even got my clothes dirty."
Mika walked out from the smoke completely unharmed, though a black smudge stained her white school uniform. She glanced at the reinforcing soldiers and asked, "Do you also wish to be my enemy?"
No coup d'état is without bloodshed. Although she disliked killing, she had to harden her heart at a time like this. She understood the principle that a kind person shouldn't lead an army, and a righteous one shouldn't manage wealth.
"We surrender! Please, spare us!"
Those who recognize the trend of the times are heroes. The reinforcing soldiers naturally dared not seek death; they dropped their weapons and raised their hands above their heads.
Mika stepped forward toward the next battlefield, leaving this area for the people of the Koutetsujou and the Hunters to handle.
Subsequently.
In less than half a day, the entirety of Iwato Station changed its surname. The management underwent a massive overhaul, and because of this, some capable lucky souls from the Koutetsujou were promoted directly.
The fall of Iwato Station inevitably reached Kongoukaku. The Shogun knitted his brows, his old face wrinkling further, while officials at all levels below him felt their lives were in danger.
"Hmph! So what if she can summon meteorites? According to current intelligence, the range of that witch's summon is limited. As long as we don't let her near Kongoukaku, the meteorites can't hit our heads!"
"Issue orders immediately! Pull out all the siege cannons and aim them at the route that witch is taking. Once a Hayajiro is spotted, fire immediately!"
"I don't believe that witch can walk out alive under such concentrated firepower!"
The Shogun waved his hand, sending orders down the chain of command. He would never easily give up the power in his hands! The Shogunate was his; no one would take it!
As the orders went out, Kongoukaku entered its highest state of combat readiness. Various siege cannons were concentrated in one direction. As time ticked away, the Shogun and the officials waited tensely for Mika to appear, hoping the cannons would blow her to bits.
As the sky gradually darkened, everyone from the Shogun down to the soldiers dared not relax, even while ordinary people went about their lives. Even so, how can human strength oppose a natural disaster?
In the pitch-black night sky, pink meteors broke through the darkness, trailing long tails of flame as they streaked across the heavens.
"What is that?"
A soldier on the ramparts looked up, pointing at the rare spectacle.
"It looks like a meteor shower. It's so beautiful... and it's pink."
"This is the most beautiful meteor shower I've seen in my life!"
"Wait? Why are those meteors getting bigger? Is it my imagination?"
The soldiers craned their necks, watching the meteor shower grow larger and brighter in their vision.
"It couldn't be coming for us... Holy crap, it really is coming for us! Everyone! Run!!!"
Someone in the army, realizing something was wrong, shouted at the top of their lungs.
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[1] Decapitation: is a term used for military strategy aimed at eliminating the figurehead of a hostile organization.