The Grand Vessel Spirits which the Seitengers boarded had charged towards Cyone who threw several energy-charged scales at them. In SeitenFire's control, Firion ran faster as they did their best to evade the attacks while charging forward. Firion bit the arm that Cyone used to throw the scales. Terraiger, under SeitenEarth's control, took it as an opportunity to pounce on the Unseal. The tiger struck its head to the monster's body, throwing Cyone to the ground in the process.
With that done, Skylon and Dovight made a skydive straight toward the fallen monster. But much to their surprise, giant spears, and swords from several enlarged Gargonemas struck them and threw the falcon and the dove instead. It was a good thing Sereo's wings caught the two girls' mecha before they could be thrown farther.
"What in the world...?"
"I only heard about the Unseal, but not giant Gargonemas," SeitenWater commented as he looked around, only to be irritated at the sight of giant Gargonemas guarding the Unsealed Cyone as it regrouped.
"I hate it when things start going out of hand," SeitenLight said. But with that said, she and Dovight still dealt with the giant Gargonemas.
"Sereo, we'll do our best for now," Seitenwater said as he and his Grand Vessel Spirit flew towards the Gargonemas. "Shark Icicle Ray!"
The beam that Sereo released from his mouth froze a few of the Gargonemas and Dovight struck them with a lightning speed. But they didn't anticipate the scales that Cyone threw at them.
"Eichirou! Erika!"
"We can't fight while we're separated like this."
"There has to be a way to combine our powers and make it strong enough to overcome all of these monsters."
Well, at that point, SeitenEarth's words made SeitenWind realize something. "That's it! Kanako-chan's words earlier before we left the mansion."
Of course, it had caught SeitenWater's attention. "What do you mean by that? What did Kana-chan say?"
"Well, it has something to do with our lesson yesterday," SeitenLight answered.
"Hey! Don't leave us out, okay? What did Kanako-san say to you?" Now SeitenEarth became curious and at the same time, impatient.
But before any of them could continue, Cyone growled so loud it caused the Seitengers to cover their ears.
"Stop mocking me by murmuring to yourselves! You have to deal with me." After that, the Unseal began throwing more scales at the Grand Vessel Spirits.
But SeitenFire maneuvered Firion forward as the lion fired laser beams from its mouth followed by SeitenEarth's command to fire more beam attacks to destroy the oncoming scales and eliminate a few of the Gargonemas.
"This monster demands so much attention," SeitenEarth muttered before focusing on SeitenFire. "Weren't you supposed to say something?"
SeitenFire sighed before speaking. "Kanako mentioned that the initial purpose of us studying Reikarajutsu to invoke Hasureiki is for us to create one of the greatest warriors powerful enough to deal with the Unseal. All we need to do to achieve that is to focus our Hasureiki on a single point—the five of us."
"But we haven't properly invoked our Hasureiki to an acceptable form."
"Unless... you're saying that the main purpose of that training was the focus of powers to a single point followed by a proper invocation from that particular gathered power to deliver the attack."
SeitenFire nodded as he let out an agreeing sound. "I believe that's the case. Compared to us, Kanako was even more knowledgeable about our mission in confronting the Tareans. So at this point, I won't doubt her words."
"How are we supposed to do that?" SeitenWater later asked when he finally understood the point of their conversation.
Silence surrounded the Seitengers for a short while. And then—
"A combination of our Grand Vessel Spirits to form the Heavenly King. Or at least Kanako said it that way."
"But are we ready to do that?" SeitenLight couldn't help asking because of worry.
"If we don't do it now, we'll never be able to know if we're ready," SeitenEarth responded.
SeitenWind let out an audible sigh. "Itsuki-kun's right. We have to do it now."
"Shuichi, you take the lead," SeitenWater said.
The red warrior chuckled at the slightly demanding and hasty tone that SeitenWater used. But he understood what the blue warrior wanted to happen.
"Let's do this!"
The five Grand Vessel Spirits fired laser beams toward the oncoming Gargonema to create a distraction.
"Reiyouki Gattai! Formation Build Up!"
At that command, the Grand Vessel Spirits began changing their forms to create a formation consisting of their bodies. Firion began changing to become the head and the torso combining Sereo and Terraiger which changed their forms to become the right and the left feet. Skylon and Dovight became the left and the right arms respectively before combining with Firion's new form. Skylon's wings separated from its body to form a sword-like weapon while Dovight's changed to become the shield.
After that, the giant robot formed was poised and ready for battle.
"Heavenly King, Descend! SeitenOh!"
Of course, the appearance of a new formidable warrior had surprised Cyone. "Siriso-sama didn't mention anything about those puny Seitengers creating this."
Well, it wasn't just Cyone who was surprised at the outcome of the combination. Even the Seitengers who found themselves in a larger egg-shaped cockpit were surprised, as well.
"I guess this is an achievement for us," SeitenLight stated as she faced SeitenFire who was at the center.
"But we'll celebrate later when we're done giving this fishhead the attention he truly wants," SeitenWater said which earned him determined nods from the others.
"Let's go!"
With that, SeitenOh charged toward the Gargonema approaching. Using the Sky Sword, the robot struck each of the monsters and delivered devastating strikes and slashes to their opponents. The Seitengers even fired several energy beams at the rest of the Gargonema which made it easy to eliminate them.
"Now our attention is yours alone now, Cyone," SeitenEarth said sarcastically.
Cyone growled in anger. "Don't mess with me!" Once more, he fired energy scales toward SeitenOh but the robot easily blocked it using the Wing Shield.
"I guess that's the best he can do now," SeitenWind commented.
"Then let's make it his last." With that, the Seitengers removed their Hyakureiders from their places and pointed them towards Cyone.
The act allowed SeitenOh to charge up the Sky Sword with the Seitengers and the Grand Vessel Spirits' combined Hasureiki in preparation for delivering the finishing attack.
"Sky Sword, Divine Break!"
The tip of their Hyakureiders glowed and with conviction, pushed the white button of their sidearms the same way the Seitengers fired their laser attacks using the yellow button.
SeitenOh, in turn, delivered a devastating strike of the Sky Sword to Cyone which cut the monster and exploded soon after.
The Seitengers could only sigh in relief before cheering for defeating another Unseal.
"Stage set!"
= = = = = =
From one area of the park where the battle of the two giants could be observed, Nanami smiled as she eyed the SeitenOh. Together with her were her son Akira and his friend Natsume.
"I had no idea SeitenOh's this cool," Natsume commented in awe.
"I only hear stories about this and I have to agree with you, Natsume," Akira added. "Maybe we can ask them to allow us to board on it one day."
The idea seemed to appeal to the other boy. "Well, let's start convincing them, then."
The older woman shook her head as she heard that before turning in the direction where Hideoki was watching the battle earlier.
"I can't believe I'm seeing this again after 25 years," Hideoki murmured as he shut his eyes. "And it refreshes every memory I thought I had forgotten since then."
Nanami remained silent as she watched Hideoki succumb to deep thinking. "But this is something that we know will continue to happen until the Tareans are finally eliminated, Hideoki. What happened that night changed everything for those kids and us, as well. I'm sure it's also painful for them. But look at how you've raised them all this time."
The man then opened his eyes and eyed the SeitenOh once more. But for some reason, he saw it as something more vibrant than how he was looking at it a while ago. At that moment, he immediately understood what Nanami meant.
"I can't believe it..." Hideoki could only say as he smiled at the sight. "How could they have managed to accept the responsibility despite not having full knowledge about the nature of the battle?"
"They have the potential that will allow them to go on fighting and fulfill the task. We'll just have to train them hard. And maybe... Though I know it's futile, maybe we could hope for them to defeat the Tareans—especially Emperor Darshao—for good."
No words were spoken after that.
"At least there's hope that remains. Even a small amount can truly help those kids."
= = = = = =
"Itsu-chan," Eichirou called out which had caught the said composer's attention as they headed home after their battle.
"Is there something wrong, Eichirou-san?" For some reason, Itsuki didn't mind the nickname that the photographer had called him. It might have sounded quite childish. But somehow, he got used to it.
Eichirou ran towards Itsuki before stopping in front of the younger male Vessel. Moments later, he bowed to the composer which surprised the latter, of course. Even Shuichi and the two girls were taken aback.
"Thank you... for making me understand," Eichirou sincerely said as he raised his head and faced Itsuki. "I owe you one."
Upon recovering from the surprise, Itsuki just smiled (which he doesn't usually do) and slightly shook his head. "Don't talk as if I've done something really big. It so happened that I could see through you somehow."
"Even still, thank you."
"Alright, I won't argue with you on that one," Itsuki said resignedly. "But if you want to thank me, I think you should fix things with her first." He gestured to indicate something that was just behind Eichirou.
Eichirou soon turned around and was surprised to see Kanako waiting for them. His eyes softened at the sight of his childhood friend's melancholic features as she faced him. Realizing that Itsuki was right, he took a deep breath and approached Kanako. He stopped in front of her but he seemed to be at a loss for words that he wanted to say.
"K-Kana-chan—"
"I'm glad you came back safe, Eichirou," Kanako said, cutting off the photographer's words.
No words came out after that between them. They just stared at each other, as if waiting for one of them to spill it out.
As for the other Vessels, they could only watch the scene and wait to see more progress in anticipation.
"Is it okay with you? I mean about getting involved with our battle with the Tareans."
Kanako smiled as she eyed her friend. "Eichirou, in case no one told you, I'm a descendant of a chosen Vessel from a long time ago. And I already chose to support the Seitengers in every way I can with my skills regardless of the situation. I've been trained to do this. I guess it's just a bonus that the currently chosen Vessels happen to be the people whom I've known for a long time."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"You could say I'm more worried than bothered. But that only makes me even more determined to help you guys. At least I could promise you that as I protect your identities."
Well, hearing the determination in Kanako's voice made Eichirou finally accept his friend's offer to support them. In turn, he ended up embracing the said girl. "Thank you so much, Kana-chan. I'm really glad you're my friend."
Kanako returned the gesture as her smile never left her face. The others also smiled at the scene in front of them which relieved them at the same time.
For now, that moment was surely something worth cherishing. At least, before they head out to another battle with their sworn enemy. But that would be in another story.
End of Episode #2