Chapter 9: We Absolutely Won't Concede!
"Three!"
As the dissipating radiance revealed a red-haired girl lying slowly beside his feet, Ash pressed down his final finger.
"You're really angry."
Ash, who covered his right cheek with his hand, also took out a Card Deck and ended his transformation. The intermittent sensation of pain that came through made him inhale a cool breath. Ai's final angry blow had indeed struck his face, and a faint taste of blood spread in his mouth.
This blow contained the girl's disgust for his stubborn reasoning, anger at the experiences he and his friends had gone through, and doubt about his way of doing things. However, even when combined, they were not enough to bring him down.
"What are you going to do to Mana?"
Ignoring the voice of the girl's partner Fairy, Sharuru, Ash, who licked his slightly loosened fangs, squatted down and turned the girl over so that she was facing up. Even though she had lost consciousness, her face still held an expression of defiance.
"You're so unwilling to fight against me?"
Recalling the past, it was the same when he fought against other heroes. Although they were not afraid of battle, most of them were unwilling.
They felt anger and doubt as well. He couldn't understand, couldn't understand why Ash had no reason to be hostile to them yet still fought against them. To them, it was completely irrational and meaningless behavior.
But battles that made no sense to others were a different story for Ash.
As mentioned in the previous chapters, Ash would gain something called "Dark Echo" from battles with both villains and heroes. This was precisely what his system needed. The "Dark Echo" obtained from fighting members of the dark organization had a large quantity but poor quality. On the other hand, the "Dark Echo" obtained from fighting heroes had a smaller quantity but surprisingly high quality.
However, that was not the only reason. The truth was, he enjoyed the unique sense of satisfaction that the enemy brought him during battle.
During a fight, in addition to the usual strength, the "bridge" formed by the collision of fists and feet conveyed the emotions of the opponent. He delighted in sensing the turbulent emotions within the opponent's heart, as if by doing so, his numb heart, burdened by countless deaths, would start beating again. This way, the subtle sense of mismatch between his 12 years of memories and his physical body would be satisfied. How could he not enjoy that?
So even without a reason, he would seek out his targets to fight them or engage in something that would make his heart race.
As mentioned before, he would thoroughly enjoy every moment he lived.
"Compared to those boring villains who always inflate their desires for some reason, of course, I prefer fighting with you heroes who possess a sun-like spirit."
"Just, just because of that?" The nearby Fairies couldn't help but open their mouths wide upon hearing his words. They were starting to suspect if this person had escaped from some mental hospital.
But how can a mental patient be so powerful? It's not like he escaped from some Abnormal Human Research Center.
"Thank you for the hospitality, Precures."
Sensing Ash's gaze, the fairies joined hands and firmly stood in front of the girl.
"You won't lay a hand on the Precures!"
"I originally just intended to witness the power of the legendary warriors, and today's level is about right."
The furious eyes of the fairies glared at Ash, who maintained a serious expression. Although they wanted to teach him a lesson on behalf of their partners, even though they could grant humans the miraculous power to become Precures, the majority of fairies themselves lacked combat abilities. So besides flying around in the air to disrupt visibility, fairies couldn't really do much.
"Speaking of which, you fairies are also their transformation devices." Sensing the fairies' gaze, Ash said with a sarcastic tone, "By the way, it's partly your fault that they end up like this, right?"
"How, how can you say such a thing, Charl?!" Sharuru, one of the spirits, was almost driven crazy by Ash's words.
You're the one who attacked us and turned everyone into this state, and yet you shamelessly try to blame us!
"It was you who turned them into Precures, right?" Ash shrugged. "They have no obligation to help you, but in the end, it was probably because of various reasons and your influence that they transformed, isn't it?"
"Clearly, they didn't need to bear the fate of fighting. If they didn't fight, they wouldn't be in this situation. It's an undeniable fact that you fairies forever changed their lives."
Ash's mocking voice insinuated something.
"But..." the fairies wanted to retort, but the words failed to come out, leaving them momentarily speechless.
As they began to contemplate the other's words, they realized that, setting aside objective factors, there was some truth in what the other person was saying?
"If it wasn't me who defeated them but a selfish organization or even the Jikochū King himself!" As if the existence of the fairies opened up Ash's floodgates, his words became sharper.
"If they end up dying because of it, isn't it partly your fault?"
"Young lives dying for something that originally had nothing to do with them. After shedding tears for their partners, do you immediately rush to find the next successor?"
"That's not—"
"In that case, they truly are pitiful, aren't they?"
"That's.... no...!"
Even though they didn't physically harm him, the fairies trembled with malicious words, tears of frustration and sadness streaming down their faces. It wouldn't be surprising if they collapsed at any moment.
"That's...not true...!" A pair of hands tightly grasped Ash's pants.
The weak voice of the girl contained a resolute strength. At this moment, a newfound power miraculously surged from her heart, even though her body was exhausted. Ai managed to stand up again.
"Mana!"
With an incredibly gentle motion, she embraced her partner. The girl's face, covered by disheveled hair, stained with dirt, remained hidden from view. But Ash could sense a powerful aura emanating from her body.
"I'm actually very grateful to Sharuru. It gave me the power of Precure and the chance to save Makoto!"
The girl's feelings reached the empathetic fairies, and Sharuru's tears transformed from sorrow to a healed color.
The first encounter with the fairies, the moments of transformation and battle, felt like they happened just yesterday. As a 14-year-old middle school girl, it was natural for her to feel scared about these things. But on that day, when she saw Makoto being caught by the Jikochū, she still rushed forward without hesitation.
Did she need a reason? For Aida Mana, helping others was something that didn't require a reason!
"Sharuru helped me. It allowed me to convey my love to others, to reach the hearts of many more people! I want to help others with my own will and fight against the selfish organization!"
"You can never make us accept those reasons!"
The girl's eyes shimmered with a bright light, her enraged voice turning her thoughts into conviction, becoming a weapon to attack Ash's twisted logic.
"..."
As Ash looked at the girl before him, he rubbed his eyes. In a daze, he saw the shadows of many people, the red warriors carrying their comrades' will, the silver masks concealing their sorrow, and the unwavering light giant. (do you know the reference ? lol)
"Are all of you idiots...?"
Witnessing Ai's furious roar towards the Contractee for her partner's sake, Dragblacker, who had been lusting after this girl with an extraordinary vitality, finally found a reason to act. With a roar that meant "I'm starving!" it swung its sword-like tail, its sleek body shimmering with a metallic luster. With terrifying ferocity, it opened its grotesque jaws, ready to swallow Ai, along with the fairy, in one gulp.
"Ugh—"
Ai, who had just stood up, still weak and unable to move properly, held Sharuru tightly, protecting herself behind it. She looked at the sharp teeth and fangs of Dragblacker, which had torn apart countless Mirror Monsters, and instinctively closed her eyes.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang—"
The terror of being swallowed whole didn't materialize as imagined. Instead, a series of gunshots rang in Ai's ears. Opening her eyes, she saw Ash wielding the [Geartozinger], rotating the joystick, firing continuously at Dragblacker's wide-open mouth.
"Roar—!"
Without any mercy because it was his Contract Beast, Ash, expressionless, continued firing. The bullets hit Dragblacker all over, creating sparks and causing the once beautiful jet-black matte armor to take on an unsightly fireworks-like appearance.
In the dragon's eyes, there was a human-like sense of grievance. What's the meaning of this? She attacked you, so why won't you let me eat her?
I see, it must be because this human wants to eat her for himself, fearing that I'll snatch her. Ha! Well, there are three more, I'll go devour the others!
"Roar—"
Ash turned his head and glared fiercely at Dragblacker, who had picked up Makoto and started swinging her around. "What are you shouting for!" He yelled two more sentences that he didn't quite listen to himself. "You can't eat any of them. Go back to your mirror!"
"Roar—"
The dragon's voice was filled with even more grievance, and its eyes, now displaying a human-like resentment, looked at Ash, who was still glaring at it, then lowered its head to glance at the gun in Ash's hand. Reluctantly, it obeyed the command, passing through a burst of light, and returned to the mirror, entering the other side of the Mirror World.
"Alright, now what?"
He had satisfied himself, but he couldn't just leave them lying there motionless on the ground. It was one thing to fight them, but leaving them there was another.
Looking at the three other girls lying unconscious on the ground, Ash, under Ai's watchful gaze, reached into his pocket and took out his cellphone. He closed it with a swift motion and threw it on the ground, one side hitting the other.
[Ride Gatriker]!
As the sound effect rang out, the closed cellphone transformed into a special three-wheeled motorcycle equipped with a large-caliber Gatling gun. With the built-in "Mass Shift Mechanism" similar to the magical driving book, it grew in size to that of a real motorcycle within a few breaths.
Ai's eyes widened at the sight, instantly recalling how Ash had similarly "transformed" a motorcycle when he left before. Although Aida Mana was still a middle school student, she had a basic understanding of the conservation of mass, and Ash's seemingly unscientific manipulation left her bewildered.
"What is this...?"
"Oh, you're asking about this? I borrowed it from Kamiyama Touma and Shindō Rintarō before. They forgot to ask for it back, and I forgot to return it."
Finishing his explanation, Ash acted like a child trafficker, picking up each of the girls from the ground and tossing them onto the back seat of the motorcycle.
"Wait!"
Love extended her hand to stop Ash from getting on the bike.
"Where are you taking everyone?!"
Just as she spoke, a helmet was thrown into Ai's hands, and Ash somehow found a black tactical helmet and put it on.
"What are you thinking? You're coming too."
"So, where are we going?"
"Where else? The hospital."
"Where else? My Basement"
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