Reiyouki Sentai Seitenger

6.5 Attacking Through Illusions

Not long after seeing the projected image of the damaged cell towers, Itsuki decided to head to the scene of the attack. It was located a few miles near the border separating Tsukikage and Morizumi. It was a border evident in the presence of the mountains.

Itsuki was panting hard and doing his best to catch his breath as soon as he reached the area where the attack happened. The whole running he did nearly sapped his energy. But the sense of duty he felt as a Seitenger was stronger and so his body was able to keep up somehow.

The one that really caught his attention was the cell towers that the enemies had exploded. When he looked around, he couldn’t see or even feel any presence of that Triske Monster or even the Gargonemas that had caused this. Further probing, however, made him stop in his tracks.

“Guys!” he yelled. But for some reason, he couldn’t move to approach his friends now lying unconscious on the ground.

All four of them (Shuichi, Eichirou, Misae, and Erika) were on the ground face down, injured. His heart was beating fast at the sight of them like that. But something told him that he should just stay in his spot.

It was then that he knew he had to activate his Hasureiki over earth. He frowned as soon as he sensed… nothing. There was nothing there. It was strange, but it could have been the reason why a part of him was telling him that he shouldn’t approach his friends.

On the spot where Itsuki saw his unconscious friends, his eyes narrowed. He made no sound as he pulled out his bladeless Hyakureider and fired several beams towards the vision. The resulting blast created a smoke, however, that made him unable to discern if he did hit something which was the one he intended to hit.

It took a while for the smoke to dissipate, but Itsuki did his best to remain alert as he waited. His Hyakureider was ready to fire shots when needed. Not long after, he got a clear visual of the area. But his blood ran cold and his eyes widened upon seeing that there was only an unconscious Erika on the spot where he fired the beams.

“What the —?” He shook his head and looked again. “This can’t be! Something’s definitely wrong here right now.”

His mind was starting to go haywire with all the confusing visions of his friends, and now his sister, going about in front of him. He had to clear his mind or else, he would end up caught in an even bigger trap than he already was.

He took a deep breath while trying his best to stay alert. Then he stopped as his eyes narrowed at a small realization.

‘That’s definitely not Erika. And the earlier vision was not about my friends. I would’ve sensed them already if they really followed me all the way here,’ Itsuki thought and soon looked around before his sight landed on the spot where the “supposed” unconscious Erika was lying.

It was then that he noticed that the figure was starting to become transparent, followed by a young girl’s voice resonating in the area. It was faint, at first. He even had to strain his ears to make sure he wasn’t imagining it at all. His eyes widened this time as soon as he realized that the voice was familiar.

“It can’t be…” he uttered in disbelief. “That was the voice of the girl that I kept hearing in my dreams.”

He looked around to see if there was someone in the area who could have been just hiding from whatever had trapped him there.

“Where are you? Tell me who you are!”

Those inquiries were only met with silence. The feeling around him was still foreboding. But for some reason, that little girl’s voice that resonated in the area saying “it’s okay” and “you can make it” was enough to calm his heart down. It was strange. But he didn’t mind.