Anti-Cloud Gouger Special Forces vs. Genichi Sojo is a battle between the Kamunabi's Anti-Cloud Gouger Special Forces and Genichi Sojo. Having formed a plan to kill Genichi Sojo through discussions with Chihiro Rokuhira, Ikuto Hagiwara leads his squad into the skies to battle. Genichi Sojo, on the other hand, views the fight as an opportunity test the limits of Cloud Gouger.
Prologue[]
Two days before the battle, on October 12th, after Chihiro agreed to share information about Cloud Gouger to aid the Anti-Cloud Gouger Special Forces' plan to kill Sojo, the group move to the roof to discuss their strategy. Chihiro first lays out Cloud Gouger’s three main techniques: Ice for offense and defence, Yui, water for disorientation and cloaking, Kou, and the powerful lightning attack, Mei. While Kazane Machi snaps that Chihiro’s only told them basic information, Kiyohiko Uzuki shushes him and moves for Chihiro to continue.
Hajime Kugara rhetorically asks to confirm Cloud Gouger was incredibly powerful, prompting a concerned Shiyumi Harima to ask for backup from Azami. Azami refuses as the Kamunabi had only assigned the six ACGSF members. To the side, Chihiro asks about the sixth and Shiyumi tells him Makoto Kasahara is busy searching for Sojo’s base.
Ikuto then pipes up, relaying that the Kamunabi leadership know that killing Sojo won’t be the end of things, Uzuki clarifying the Hishaku’s actions and the upcoming Rakuzaichi are also important. Ikuto affirms this, stating the Kamunabi had many areas of concern and couldn’t throw out their entire force at once. He adds that if they were up against an Enchanted Blade, something far stronger than a sorcerer, a well-planned out strategy would be more effective than a larger numerical advantage.
Chihiro first explains the ACGSF need to continuously barrage Sojo with attacks to ensure he avoids charging. Chihiro explains Cloud Gouger can amplify the power of its attacks by charging, making it a major element of Cloud Gouger’s strength. He recalls Sojo was unable to make use of charging fully during their battle but reasons that Sojo had likely learnt from his mistakes and become much stronger. Chihiro emphasises the importance of not letting him fully charge, as if he did his attacks would be guaranteed to be fatal.
Later, the male squad members take a collective bathroom break, and Chihiro follows them to continue the conversation and wash his hands. Chihiro tells the male ACGSF members about Kou and Mei’s synergy, which allows a low-charge Mei to maintain effectiveness by increasing its area of effect. Ikuto asks about ways to counter Cloud Gouger, and Chihiro tells them to let Sojo hit them with the Kou-Mei combo.
The squad are confused, and Chihiro explains since the Mei won’t be charged it wouldn’t deal lethal damage. Kugara asks why they should let Sojo hit them, Uzuki adding it would just give Sojo time to charge. Chihiro elaborates the squad needed to let Sojo fire a fully-charged Mei, causing the confused squad members to demand if Chihiro was just telling them to die. Chihiro continues, acknowledging that if things went wrong they were likely to die, but notes Sojo’s charging leaves him wide open.
Catching on, Ikuto and Uzuki confirmed that their actions: barraging Sojo with attacks to lure out the Kou-Mei combo and give Sojo time to charge; were to create an opening. Kugara brings up Chihiro hasn’t mentioned a way to deal with that fully-charged Mei. Chihiro responds the squad should already have everything they need, and as elite sorcerers, they should know what to do.
The group return to Chihiro's hospital bed later on and Chihiro informs the ACGSF about the Enchanted Blades' True Realm, noting in order for it to trigger something unclear was influencing the blade enough to summon powers unseen before in the blade; be it a change in how the wielder used the blade, the strength of their body or willpower, or something else entirely. Taking note of this information, the ACGSF prepare to move out. Ikuto promises to call Chihiro once they’ve found Sojo’s location, which shouldn’t take long as Sojo was apparently still making deals in the underworld.
49 hours later, all six members of the ACGSF confront Sojo as he exits a bathhouse, which Sojo regards as a perfect warm-up. He declares that the Kamunabi have played a primary role in stabilising the nation following the public reveal of sorcerers in the Seitei War; a far cry from sorcerers’ previous position as ‘phantoms’ that didn’t interact with the outside world.
Ikuto brushes off Sojo’s monologue, confirming whether Sojo was going to fight, internally concerned at how Sojo seemed to be expecting them. Sojo grins and activates Cloud Gouger in response.
Battle[]
As a cloud dragon circles behind him, Sojo notes while the ACGSF are elite, he would have preferred Shiba and Azami be present in order to test the Enchanted Blade fully. Shiyumi immediately uses Gansui to launch portions of earth into the air, including one right beneath Sojo, and constructs an airborne battlefield in order to engage him.
In the present, Shiyumi kneels on an earth platform with Kazane guarding her as she focuses on maintaining the various platforms’ positions in the sky. Kazane notes the ocean is two kilometres away as Shiyumi reminds Kazane to watch out for her. On the largest platform, Ikuto, Makoto, Kugara and Uzuki confront Sojo.
Sojo observes the Kamunabi plan to fight in the air to avoid civilian casualties and decides to go along with it, cloud dragon quickly bursting into lightning as Sojo blasts Mei towards a throwing-knife-armed Ikuto. Shiyumi rapidly erects a wall of earth in front of Ikuto as the latter jumps over the resulting explosion, while Kugara metallicizes his arms and charges at Sojo’s back.
Sojo quickly slashes at Kugara, prompting him to block and yell with pain. Ikuto uses the opportunity to launch his throwing knives at Sojo’s exposed back, but Sojo quickly kicks Kugara away and uses Yui to trap the blades in ice in one swift motion. Seeing the blades are only trapped in a thin layer of ice, Ikuto uses Jikai to propel the knives through the ice, forcing Sojo to block them as Makoto enlarges his arms and slams them down from above, Sojo quickly dashing away. The four dash near Sojo as he begins to understand the Kamunabi are aiming to prevent him from charging.
Sojo bats away a throwing knife from Ikuto and deigns to use Kou a technique that requires no charge to reach its full potential. The resulting blast of water douses the Kamunabi sorcerers, and Sojo quickly follows up with an uncharged Mei, the lightning easily spreading to the soaked sorcerers and sending them falling to the ground. Uzuki, Kugara and Ikuto grimace while Makoto merely frowns in discomfort, Ikuto noting Sojo is preparing to charge a more powerful attack as Ikuto pushes through the pain.
Ikuto repels Sojo and the water upwards
Sojo finishes charging and Ikuto shouts at his three teammates to jump away, the trio doing so. As Sojo unleashes the fully charged Mei, Ikuto immediately uses Jikai on the ground beneath him, repelling the ground downwards and forcing Sojo and the water up into the air. Sojo’s lightning flows uselessly into the water around him and misses the Kamunabi, to Sojo’s frustration. Ikuto mocks Sojo for preparing everything for them, internally noting now they had a 10-20 second opening. From above Sojo, Kugara, Makoto and Uzuki prepare to attack, and Sojo is abruptly reminded of Chihiro, cursing the thought.
Below, Ikuto abruptly sees a flash of lightning materialise around Sojo and yells at Kugara to move to his location. Kugara is confused but obliges, diving down towards Ikuto while Uzuki and Makoto move in towards Sojo.
Sojo quickly calls Yui, the water around him flash-freezing into massive ice spikes which the Kamunabi sorcerers quickly dodge around. Uzuki observes Kou and Yui’s synergy before throwing two short poles towards Sojo, landing to his side as Sojo lands. Makoto then rears in with an enlarged arm. On another platform, Kazane is anxious, wanting to assist his allies, but Shiyumi dissuades him, reminding him that he is their ‘secret weapon’. She admits she’s getting tired as the two continue to watch their teammates’ battle.
Makoto traps Sojo’s Cloud Gouger-wielding right arm and lightning crackles around Sojo again, while Uzuki throws two more poles, resulting in four poles surrounding Sojo in an array. Kugara, after landing near Ikuto, shouts that it hasn’t been ten seconds yet and asks if they’re changing their strategy. Ikuto internally ponders whether this is Cloud Gouger’s True Realm before responding in the negative, instead ordering Kugara activate his iron transformation.
A quick Jikai causes part of the lightning radiating off of Sojo to create an electromagnetic effect around the now-metallic Kugara. Down below, Uzuki activates his placed poles with Jobaku, black ropes of energy wrapping around Sojo and preventing him from moving. Makoto keeps wrenching at Sojo’s sword-arm as Ikuto launches Kugara, the force of the impromptu electromagnetic cannon blasting Kugara straight into Sojo and knocking him off the edge, Cloud Gouger falling into Makoto’s hand.
Sojo cloaks himself in Mei
Makoto reports Cloud Gouger’s retrieval to Ikuto, who moves towards him with Uzuki in tow. Seeing they now have the Enchanted Blade, Ikuto proclaims they should be able to finish Sojo easily, preparing to jump in with Uzuki to handle Sojo. However, the still-crackling Sojo then commands Mei from below, causing Cloud Gouger to crackle with lightning.
Just as Chihiro had demonstrated, lightning attracts lightning, and the lightning-cloaked Sojo is sent rocketing towards his blade, gashing and blasting through Kugara and Makoto and finishing several metres high above a horrified Ikuto, Cloud Gouger clutched in his mouth and emitting clouds. Ikuto hurriedly shouts at Kazane to use his sorcery, but as Kazane uses Kaichi Sojo speeds across and cuts off Kazane’s arm, cancelling his sorcery, gashing the side of Shiyumi in the process.
The ensuing battle is not witnessed, with only the result visible: the pieces of earth levitated by Shiyumi had crashed into the earth, with several bodies dotting the landscape, and Kazane kneeling morosely on the beach. Ikuto was trapped under one of the pieces of earth by his legs.
Aftermath[]
Sojo leaves the beach and returns to Kaburato Castle with the briefcase containing semi-stabilised Datenseki the Yakuza group had returned to him. As he enters the courtyard, he immediately spots Chihiro, and the two prepare to face off one last time.
Of the Anti-Cloud Gouger Special Forces, all but Ikuto and Kazane are killed. Ikuto lost both his legs and entered a state of unconsciousness, while Kazane lost an eye and an arm. Having witnessed the destruction caused by an Enchanted Blade, Kazane vows to himself on the beach that Enchanted Blades should not be allowed to exist in the world. He later receives a prosthetic shoulder at the Kamunabi hospital and gives a detailed report involving Chihiro's lineage and the seventh Enchanted Blade to the Kamunabi leadership, leaving out only Azami's connection with Chihiro.