Japanese Terrorist: What? I'll fight Hellstar!

"traitor--!"

The shrine maiden Sakiko gave Hinako Fukami no chance to get up and dodge.

Just as Hinako Fukami straightened up, accompanied by a piercing scream, the shrine maiden Sakiko suddenly rushed in front of her, and the spiked magic weapon smashed down on her head. Hinako Fukami instinctively fell backward and rolled twice.

The spiked magical artifact crashed to the ground, its immense force blasting a crater in the floor.

"Sakiko...why?"

A bitter expression appeared on Hinako Fukami's face, but she did not hesitate at all. She quickly got up, grabbed a lamppost that had rolled to the side, and swung it at the head of the shrine maiden Sakiko!

"Bang--!"

The lamppost struck the shrine maiden Sakiko's cheek, denting her pale face, but it only made her tilt her head slightly.

"traitor……"

Turning her head, the shrine maiden Sakiko swung her spiked magic weapon at Hinako Fukamizu.

"clang--!"

Fukami Hinako instinctively raised the lamppost, and the magical artifact fell. The force applied to the lamppost spread to Fukami Hinako's arms, and the brute force spread throughout her body, causing Fukami Hinako to tremble and stagger backward.

"Why resist? I came to save you! Hehehehe!"

The shrine maiden Sakiko laughed, a hollow and eerie laugh that sent chills down one's spine.

She raised her magical weapon and slammed it down again. Claiming to be saving Hinako, she attacked without holding back, giving Hinako no chance to breathe, and the attacks came one after another.

Hinako Akami blocked the second blow, her arms going numb from the shock, and the lamppost almost slipped from her grasp. The third blow followed and crashed down.

"Clang—clang clang clang—!!"

One blow followed another, relentless and relentless like the hammering of iron. Hinako Fukami could only grip the lamppost with both hands, passively enduring each heavy strike. Each blow numbed her hands and made her arms weaker with each passing moment.

"Sakiko, please, stop right now!"

Hinako Fukami's voice was filled with sorrowful sobs. Her tiger's mouth was already split open, and blood was flowing down the lamppost. Cracks also appeared on the lamppost, and the stick gradually bent under the blows.

"Snap!"

Having withstood nearly ten fierce attacks, the lamppost, which was not a divine weapon to begin with, broke in two. The remaining force of this final blow sent Hinako from the deep water flying backward.

However, just as Hinako Fukami was about to collapse, the shrine maiden Sakiko caught her.

Rushing forward at incredible speed, the shrine maiden Sakiko lunged at Hinako Fukami, stretching out her arms to embrace her dearest friend.

Sakiko embraces Hinako.

This heartwarming scene lasted until the shrine maiden Sakiko opened her mouth.

With its gaping mouth resembling that of a facehugger, its edges covered in sharp, claw-like tentacles, the shrine maiden Sakiko opened her mouth and began to bite into Hinako Fukami's face.

Before Hinako could dodge, she was tightly embraced by that cold body. The stench of decay assaulted her senses, and she stared wide-eyed at the gaping maw.

A sudden chill made her desperately muster the strength to resist. Hinako Fukami tilted her head back and, with all her might, rammed forward, her forehead hitting the shrine maiden Sakiko's chin.

--Bang!!!

A dull thud echoed within the shrine.

With all her might, Hinako Fukami delivered a powerful headbutt that slammed into the shrine maiden Sakiko's chin. Her mouth, which had split open to her ears, snapped shut with a cracking sound as if bones were dislocating.

Sakiko the shrine maiden cried out in pain, instinctively loosening her arms and violently throwing Hinako Fukami away.

Hinako Akami crashed onto the cold bluestone slab like a kite with a broken string, sliding several meters off the ground. A sharp pain shot up her spine to the top of her head, and a burst of stars flashed before her eyes.

Her limbs felt weak, and she tried to prop herself up by digging her fingertips into the cracks in the stone, but all she felt was dizziness.

Pain! My whole body aches! The wound on my abdomen is still bleeding, the crack in my hand is getting deeper, a dull ache is coming from the back of my head, and my temples are throbbing as if I'm being pricked with needles.

My mind was a complete mess, even breathing was a dull ache, and I couldn't get up no matter what I did.

Not only that, in Hinako Fukami's vision, the images began to shake and overlap, and the figure of the shrine maiden Sakiko became two, three, and then merged back together.

The shrine maiden Sakiko staggered back two steps, letting out an even more shrill laugh. She raised the spiked magic weapon, but did not step forward.

Suddenly, the golden crown on her head shone with a dazzling golden light, like radiating sunlight, illuminating the entire palace.

The light was dazzling and intense, yet it offered no warmth, only a strange sense of oppression.

In an instant, the shrine maiden Sakiko swung her magical weapon down.

Om-! ! !

Like a raging storm, an invisible wave rippled outwards from the shrine maiden Sakiko.

"Ugh—!"

Hinako Fukami couldn't help but let out a painful groan, as if her brain was being pierced by countless steel needles, and the headache she had been suppressing and enduring completely erupted.

Memory, emotion, consciousness—everything that constitutes the self—is violently shaken by that invisible impact.

Countless chaotic images surfaced in her mind: Sakiko's last moments, her father throwing a kitchen knife at her, her humble mother, her married sister, Toshiyuki's mask, the game she played with Shu, Sakiko borrowing 500 yen from her... Memories intertwined and collided wildly, her thoughts were completely chaotic, and dizziness overwhelmed her like a tidal wave, draining her even the strength to open her eyes. Her consciousness was like falling into a dark vortex, about to completely sink.

Her vision began to darken, and the pain in her body became increasingly blurred. She could hear the sound of magical artifacts cutting through the air, and she could see the shrine maiden Sakiko's dark, hollow eyes fixed on her with a strange malice.

Am I going to die?

And so... right here...

The shrine maiden Sakiko walked up to Hinako Fukami and slowly raised her magical artifact, aiming it at Hinako's head.

The magical artifact was about to fall and obliterate her.

However, at this moment—

A warm current welled up from the deepest part of her heart without warning.

The warmth was faint, like a solitary lamp in a winter night, like a candle flame in a storm, yet it possessed an undeniable presence, soothing her torn consciousness.

That was light!

That's light!

Suddenly, a figure appeared in Hinako's chaotic mind—a body of red and silver, with golden hexagonal eyes as steady as a mountain and as warm as the morning sun.

The light surged from the deepest part of her heart, sweeping away the chaos and dizziness in her mind, cleansing away all the turbidity and confusion.

Deepwater Hinako's unfocused pupils suddenly contracted, refocusing.

She sensed it.

That's light! It's the light of Ultraman Seven!

In the outer world, when Hinako Fukami fainted due to a headache, the wisp of light that Rin Amamiya injected into her body remained buried deep within her consciousness. It was this light that enabled Hinako Fukami to resist Tokiyuki Toki's mind-control spell.

At this moment, in this life-or-death predicament, that dormant light was completely awakened.

"Seven—!!!"

Hinako Fukami took a deep breath and, with all her might, let out a heart-wrenching scream.

boom--!!!

In an instant, an immense and boundless power of light erupted from her limbs and bones!

The dazzling golden light instantly engulfed the entire eerie palace, the bloodstains on the bluestone slabs were purified by the light, and the scarlet mist melted away like ice and snow.

Within that light, Hinako Akami's body continued to grow taller and transformed into another form.

Its silver body was covered with red stripes, the beam timer on its forehead lit up with a clear light, and the headdress on its head shimmered with a cold, sharp light.

The giant's figure covered Hinako Akami's body and stood in the center of the shrine.