Teleportation

On the lunar surface, a greyish-white desert stretched endlessly. Hanging in the pitch-black sky, devoid of an atmosphere, was not a dazzling orb of light, but a colossal azure star. Compared to the deserts of Earth, the desolate lunar surface had no storms; everything was in a state of immense tranquility—peaceful, serene, and deathly silent. Except for the Lunar Secret Realm, all other regions of the moon were like this.

Shortly before the Purification Fleet set out, inside a hidden cave within a crater not far from the Lunar Secret Realm, the dust-covered ground suddenly lit up. A complex magical array manifested, emitting a slow, steady glow.

Then, the radiance surged. Once it dissipated, three figures appeared together atop the array. They were the purple-haired girl in a red and white miko outfit, Watatsuki no Yorihime; the light-yellow-haired woman in a kimono, Watatsuki no Toyohime; and Nura Rihyon, with his long, pale-blonde hair and light casual clothes.

As soon as he appeared in the cave, Nura Rihyon began to curiously scan his surroundings. He swung his sleeves, only to find them drifting down far slower than they did on the ground. The long hair at the back of his head also felt more buoyant. Curious, Nura Rihyon tried to say something while performing various experiments, but his mouth merely opened and closed repeatedly; not a single sound came out.

Beside him, Yorihime and Toyohime watched Nura Rihyon’s gesticulations and silence as if viewing a comical pantomime. Yorihime’s face was lined with exasperation, looking at him like he was a clueless country bumpkin, while Toyohime had a smile on her face, seemingly amused.

Suddenly, as if wanting to test something, Nura Rihyon looked at his feet. Seeing this, the Watatsuki sisters both reached out to signal him to stop, but it was too late. Nura Rihyon gave an experimental hop, and his entire body suddenly shot upward. His head slammed directly into the cave ceiling. Seeing stars, Nura Rihyon clutched his head and slowly drifted back down.

At this sight, Yorihime covered her face in exasperation, while Toyohime clutched her stomach and laughed unreservedly, though she remained completely silent.

Rubbing his head with a slightly distorted expression, Nura Rihyon looked at Yorihime and Toyohime and began gesturing. Yorihime sighed and pulled a small object from her sleeve. Placing it in her mouth, she spoke.

"Put on that communicator I gave you earlier. You cannot produce sound normally on the lunar surface."

Hearing Yorihime’s words, a look of realization dawned on Nura Rihyon's face. He also took a small object from his sleeve and put it in his mouth. Soon, his voice reached the Watatsuki sisters' ears.

"Ah... this, this is truly a magical experience. So this is the top of the moon?" Nura Rihyon said as he looked out of the cave entrance toward the desolate greyish-white and the pitch-black space.

"Back when I used to drink and admire the moon, I wondered if there was some immortal paradise up here. Looking at this, it seems I was overthinking it."

"You will see the paradise in a moment, but you need to use your ability to help us bypass the patrol teams and monitoring posts around the Secret Realm," Yorihime said seriously. Nura Rihyon took a sip of the sake he carried with him and laughed.

"Haha... of course. Assisting two lunar goddesses is an important task given to me by the Owl General. I will assist you both to the best of my ability." As Nura Rihyon laughed, he wondered to himself how the Owl General had managed to get involved with people from the moon.

'Is this guy... really reliable?'

Although Nura Rihyon spoke with great confidence, Yorihime remained worried after his previous performance. However, since he was recommended by Lady Uka, she decided to trust him for now.

"Phew... if the coordinate arrays I left in the Lunar Capital hadn't been completely cleared, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. Everything would be much more convenient if we could start directly from inside the Lunar Capital." The speaker was Toyohime, who had finished laughing. After she was confirmed to have defected, all the coordinate arrays she had left in the Lunar Capital were purged to prevent her from infiltrating back and threatening the city. Fortunately, Toyohime’s arrays on the moon were not limited to the interior of the Lunar Capital.

"I never expected that the practice arrays I left outside the capital while practicing teleportation arts would still be useful now. It's lucky I didn't clear them back then..." Toyohime said slowly, looking at the array on the ground whose light had dimmed. She was the only one who knew of its existence.

"Alright, now is not the time for idle chatter. It's time to move. The spells maintaining our adaptation to the lunar environment won't last forever. We need to enter the Secret Realm quickly." After Yorihime finished speaking, she gripped her long blade and turned to walk out of the cave. Nura Rihyon and Toyohime followed immediately. Upon reaching the vast lunar desert, the first thing Yorihime did was look up at the sky.

In the sky at that moment, countless points of light were trailing thin lines, streaking toward the distance. Yorihime knew what they were: the exhaust flames from the thrusters of the Purification Fleet.

"They've already departed? Then we must hurry on our end..."

With that, the three of them headed toward the Lunar Secret Realm. They intended to sneak into the Lunar Capital while its main forces were away!

...

On the other side of the front-line battlefield.

In Earth’s high orbit, aboard the floating space station, the Buddhist Dharma Protector Heavenly King Bishamonten had descended in person at the summons of Saint Myoren. Facing the impending second wave of the lunar fleet's offensive, Bishamonten manifested his signature White Pagoda. The protective barrier formed by the pagoda enveloped the entire space station. Then, a sky-filling barrage struck the pagoda like rain.

Spirit Light Bullets, kinetic steel projectiles, high-explosive missiles... all sorts of munitions exploded against the pagoda. Bishamonten immediately felt immense pressure. His calm expression beneath his majestic mask darkened as cracks began to appear on the pagoda's protective barrier.

At that moment, the space station's own defense systems activated. Countless Spirit Light Bullets fired back, intercepting a large number of attacks outside the barrier. Beside him, Tamamo-no-Mae waved her fan, detonating brilliant fireworks of demonic power outside the shield. Her Fallen Sky Foxfire neutralized many of the approaching projectiles.

With the space station and Tamamo-no-Mae taking action, the pressure on the pagoda's defenses decreased significantly. The cracks were quickly repaired as Bishamonten’s pagoda stubbornly resisted the countless attacks.

Suddenly, amidst the endless barrage, an exceptionally nimble and tiny light bullet evaded interception and struck the protective barrier directly. Then, without causing any damage to the shield, it passed through harmlessly and lunged straight toward Miketsu and the others.

The light orb was incredibly fast. Before most could react, it had flown directly toward the space station, though it did not collide with it.

Upon nearing the space station, the light bullet immediately expanded, forming a magical array. The array then emitted a brilliant light, teleporting a linked object from afar. It was a perfectly round metal sphere.

Through her causality vision, Miketsu discovered that it was a bomb! A super bomb capable of destroying the entire space station from that position!