One big explosion... followed by another one.
But that wasn't the only horrifying scene that shocked the people and caused chaos in the main plaza of Tsukikage Town. Those explosions were caused by monstrous beings—the Gargonema—mercilessly killing people one after another.
"That's it! That's the way to do it!" the Triske Monster Juman yelled as he continued laughing maniacally while killing people using his thorned arms that could extend quite far.
Juman continued swinging his arms towards its victims, immediately blasting them away the moment the thorn arms hit them. The Gargonema killed the other citizens with their swords without mercy.
In less than ten minutes, lifeless bodies of the humans were left scattered on the road and at the plaza.
This was the horrific scene that greeted the five Vessels upon arriving. Gaping at it didn't seem to be enough as an expression of surprise for them.
"You've got to be kidding..." were the only words Erika could utter.
"Just who in the world are these guys?" Eichirou exclaimed but immediately clamped his mouth upon realizing that the weird-looking beings killing the citizens one by one mercilessly might hear him. But in the end, he doubted that it would even happen.
The area was filled with screams of the citizens blending with the growls and battle cries of the creatures attacking them.
"They could be the ones responsible for the deaths at Mt. Kumamoto yesterday," Itsuki concluded. "That means..."
"They were the enemies released from one of the broken seals. That means these guys are the ones that the chosen Vessels had been trying to destroy for several millennia," Shuichi added. And for him, it was a dreadful fact that they needed to start dealing with.
"We need to do something. I can't take this anymore!" Misae said desperately.
Shuichi exasperatingly sighed. "Even if we want to help, what in the world can we do?"
"Use your Celestial Shifters to transform and access your powers."
Upon hearing that, the five Vessels turned around almost immediately and saw Hideoki approaching them with the same grave look he had since the night before.
"Dad! What are you doing here?"
"I figured you will have a hard time knowing what to do," Hideoki answered. "I used the Hasureiki from Heaven's Medallions in your Celestial Shifters to locate you. So don't be shocked that I immediately figured out where you are."
"Then how are we going to stop all these... Who are these weird creatures?" Eichirou immediately asked.
"They're called the Gargonema, Eichirou. They're the foot soldiers of the Dark Shadow Defenders... or they're most commonly known to the people who knew their existence as Tareans," Hideoki stated, rolling his eyes at his son who still had the nerve to joke around at a time like these.
"I don't care who they are. If we stay here a little bit longer, everyone in this town will be eradicated," Itsuki added in desperation.
Hideoki wasted no time and immediately told the five of them the actions they needed to do. Well, he figured that the situation would be turned into something worse if nothing was done.
And so he told them. It was about time, anyway.
= = = = = =
Meanwhile, the enemies continued to strike down the helpless citizens.
"That's it! That's the way! Don't leave anyone out! Make them suffer!" was Juman's continuous encouragement to his soldiers with a cackle.
Just as they desire humans' screams and suffering to increase the dark powers of the Tareus Dimension to fully destroy the other four Tarean seals, the Gargonema heeded their master's words. They would not allow anyone to stop them from fully getting out of the Dimension and taking over the world just as they had originally planned 5,000 years ago.
Juman was about to strike down an unfortunate salaryman who had tumbled down on his way to escape with the Triske Monster's thorn arms. But icicles thrown toward Juman distracted the said monster in his work. A few of the icicles didn't only distract Juman but they also struck the Triske Monster's thorn arm that was about to kill the man and froze it.
"Who dares disturb my fun?!" was Juman's enraged reaction who was still trying his best to release himself from the ice spell that enveloped the icicles thrown at him.
Juman, and even the Gargonema, frantically looked around to search for the caster of that ice spell.
"That's the last fun you'll ever have, Tareans!"
Upon hearing that, Juman immediately found the source of it. In one area of that park stood 5 young people. Five young ones and one of them extremely familiar with the said Triske Monster.
"Who do you think is disturbing my fun, huh?!"
Shuichi clenched his fist at that and stepped up. "Let's see if you're still going to have fun when we defeat you and your disgusting minions!"
"I don't know how we'll be able to end this, but we have to do what we can," Eichirou said in a serious tone, which was nothing like they've ever heard from him before.
But he was right. The others nodded in agreement. Soon after that, they faced their enemy with hard stares towards them and full of determination.
The five Vessels flipped open their Celestial Shifters and pressed the gold button that had the word 'Transform' scribbled on it. "Spirit Shift, Start!" They crossed their arms in front of her as they shouted the second part of the command phrase. With conviction, they brought their arms with their Celestial Shifters forward. As soon as they did that, their Shifters emanated a bright glow with their respective color representations.
That glow covered their bodies. Golden lotus in a helix of fire engulfed Shuichi. One similar lotus was encircled in a stream of water that had surrounded Eichirou while Itsuki was encased in another golden lotus inside a twister of leaves and rocks. Misae was in the eye of a tornado with the golden lotus in front of her and Erika was inside a pillar of light with the golden lotus symbol beneath her. Those entities soon formed their respective colored spandex suits (red for Shuichi, blue for Eichirou, green for Itsuki, yellow for Misae, and white for Erika) with gold and silver colors accenting their suits. The girls gained skirts with a single gold stripe on the hem over their colored suits. The five of them gained white fitting gloves with lengths that reached their forearms along with boots of their respective colors. Silver versions of the lotus symbol had become the crest accenting their chest over their elemental symbols. Their sidearms soon materialized along with their black belts—which were the cylindrical item they found alongside their Shifters in Mariko's chest box—before the golden silhouette of the lotus flower covered their faces and heads that formed their masks with the same gold lotus symbol placed on the forehead of their masks.
After that transformation, all the Gargonema—and even Juman—began fidgeting and moving from their place in shock.
"It can't be! They've returned?" Juman muttered along with the surprise he initially felt.
Despite the confusion over the situation, especially about what had just happened a few moments ago, Shuichi and the others could feel something like knowing what to do even though they were considered to be first-timers in this field.
"Heaven's Hundred Blaze, SeitenFire!" Shuichi announced as he did his stance.
"Heaven's Hundred Outpour, SeitenWater!" Eichirou followed suit.
"Heaven's Hundred Tremor, SeitenEarth!" Itsuki also announced.
"Heaven's Hundred Howl, SeitenWind!" Misae did the same right after Itsuki.
"Heaven's Hundred Shine, SeitenLight!" And lastly, Erika did her part of the announcement.
"The Hundred Heavens' greatest legends! Reiyouki Sentai Seitenger!"
SeitenFire faced Juman and pointed at it. "We'll set up the right stage for you!"
After announcing their arrival, the Seitengers positioned themselves to a stance as Juman started laughing madly as if something had indeed amused him to the extent of making him laugh as such.
"For you Seitenger brats to appear before me... You sure have asked for your funeral." After that, he faced the Gargonema behind him who were waiting for Juman's orders. "Get them!"
With that, the Gargonema charged towards their new targets—the awakened Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers, the Seitengers!
And for the Vessels, this was the start!
"Let's go!"