Knight Asylum

Inside the Wisdom Station, Seleu, Embe, and the others stared numbly at the black Kuuga on the main screen who was constantly waving his fist at Gumumu.

"How long will he keep fighting?" Enbei felt a little sympathetic towards Gumumu. Gumumu was now like a pounded rice cake, and all he could do was get beaten.

"I don't know..." Seleucus has given up the possibility of relying on his sense of justice to suppress the ultimate power brought out by Aguru. Now Red, Black Kuuga, is just an emotionless violence machine, constantly repeating meaningless atrocities.

"It looks like... we have no choice but to abandon the Xingxiu Station." Enbei pinched the bridge of his nose and waved his hand. "Someone please inform those big shots outside. At this point, they probably won't have any thoughts about this belt with fatal flaws. Do you have any objections?"

Embe glanced at Seryuu.

"Or do you think it's possible to contain Kuuga in this situation?"

Seryu covered his forehead with his left hand and waved his right hand weakly. "Rik's body has not yet fully recovered. It is unknown whether Riku can defeat this black Sora. We cannot sacrifice the strongest warrior in ancient times for a defective product that no one can control. What's more... this Agul has been worn by an ordinary person who can't control his power at all."

"Then there's no problem—"

Ember raised his voice with a wave of his hand.

"Prepare to discard the program and start isolation cutting!"

"clear--"

In the containment area, U noticed the actions of Enbe and others. He was the person with the highest authority here. As long as he opened his mouth, the abandoned program would be terminated, but he did not do so. Instead, he stared at the black Kuuga who was still waving his fist on the screen.

"27569, almost there."

Rick hesitated. He didn't understand why U kept reporting a meaningless number every once in a while.

【Is this a password? 】

"No, I'm just simply counting," U shrugged.

count?

After a brief pause, Rick raised his dry neck to support his horrified face and pressed it against the glass. His empty eyes stared at the black Kuuga who was waving his fist on the holographic screen.

[Gumum, how many people did you kill? ]

"Ah~ Although he said he killed more than 30,000 people, in fact it is closer to 39,999. If he killed Red Leonard, it would be exactly 40,000 people." U raised his hand and tapped his forehead, "Now it is 30,000."

Thirty-two thousand five hundred and twenty-nine

Red ignored Gummu's raised right hand begging for mercy and punched him down.

Red didn't understand what state he was in now, but he felt very bad. His body was constantly being dismembered in the darkness, and it seemed that he would soon become a part of the darkness and completely lose himself.

revenge?

Because he was beaten severely and fainted and then woke up again due to the pain?

The moment he decided to stand in front of Gummum, Red had already realized that no matter how serious the injury was, even death was a very normal thing, so Red would not have any resentment for suffering very normal treatment.

But Red still remembered that Gumum boasted to him in a proud tone that he had killed more than 30,000 people.

Thirty-six thousand seven hundred and twenty-one

Thirty-eight thousand six hundred and sixty-seven

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-two

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five

Although he didn't even have an airway, Rick felt like he was holding his breath.

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight

Black Kuuga swung his fist and the already tattered Gummu flew into the air. Black Kuuga slowly straightened his body, turned sideways and raised his leg. Golden arcs of electricity spread and flashed along the black armor, hitting Gummu's chest with a tremendous force. Fierce flames exploded with Gummu as the center, and Black Kuuga didn't even look back, raised his leg and walked towards the stairs. Along with the flames, the red in Black Kuuga's eyes also faded away.

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

Nenebe in the command tower couldn't help but yell, "Damn it! This guy wants to get out! Number One! We still have one minute to abandon the program! We must stop him no matter what!"

Number One, who was lying on the ground, came to his senses. The silhouette of the black Kuuga who was moving away became blurry, and the gun in front of him became extremely clear.

At Enbe's urging, Number One reached out and grasped the butt of the gun, and with difficulty aimed the muzzle at the terrifying and silent back of the black Kuuga, but the back of Red standing in front of him with a belt in his hand appeared in front of him.

"Please..."

I don't know if he heard Number One's prayer, but Black Kuuga paused and his body began to sway from side to side.

"Here it comes——" U's eyes lit up, but he still had no intention of stopping the countdown.

Neinbe at the command desk did not feel that there was any improvement because of Black Kuuga's behavior, but instead urged others to speed up the process even more anxiously.

Under the gaze of No. 1, Black Kuuga raised his right hand like a drowning man, but no one could grab his hand and pull him out of the darkness in this situation, so Black Kuuga's right hand grasped the golden horns on his head.

"Click——"

With a crisp breaking sound, the golden horns broke and dissipated, the light of the spiritual stone in the middle of the Yaguru on the black Kuuga's waist dissipated, the black color faded, the horns began to shrink, and the black Kuuga turned back into the white Kuuga.

With heavy breathing, the belt and the white armor shrank together, and bright red blood flowed down and dripped onto the wet steps.

Red looked up at the stairs in front of him with difficulty. Under the red alarm lights, the silent upward stairs gave him a feeling of leading to hell. At the end of the stairs, the girl in white was looking at him with sadness on her face.

"Time's up! Abandon!"

Enbei, whose attention was fully focused on the countdown, raised his hand and pressed the start button hard the moment the countdown reached zero.

But... nothing happened.

Enbei's eyes widened, and he tapped the button a few more times in disbelief.

"That's enough—"

The elevator door opened.

Under the gaze of everyone, U returned to the highest command position, hunched his body, and waved his right index finger.

"Go recycle him."

"Eh? Recycling? Recycling who?"

"Z-01-Red Leonardo."

Chapter 5: Still fighting as a knight

Where am I?

Red looked around, the endless darkness made him feel a little overwhelmed. He wanted to think, but it was as if a thick fog shrouded his mind. His thoughts were always turbid. Gradually, the initial questions faded away in the endless darkness. He gradually lost the feeling of his own body. He seemed to have only one thought left.

At this moment, a voice rang in his ear.

"Wake up——"

The endless darkness found direction because of this voice, and the muddy thoughts became clear.

But the feeling of falling that followed as if dragging him into the abyss made Red feel terrified. Red struggled to swing his limbs and ran towards the direction of the sound.

His strenuous resistance paid off. The darkness had boundaries, the voice calling him became clearer, and he saw an exit.

Red struggled hard, and the indescribable feeling of relief made him unable to help but open his arms. But before he could feel the happy sense of liberation, flames appeared in his eyes, and the feeling of happiness was driven away by the chill in the burning flames.

He saw it.

The burning earth covered the ground with black scorch marks.

Red could feel that those scorch marks were people.

Red shook his head from side to side, then gritted his teeth and shouted across the scorch marks on the ground.

"Hey... Hey! Is there anyone else?"

Red didn't know how long he had been shouting or how far he had run. He seemed to be trapped in a painting, and no matter where he ran, he saw the same tragedy.

"Wake up quickly——"

Red's spirits perked up. A hint of white appeared in the charred black. Red immediately quickened his pace, waving his hands and shouting, "Hey - are you okay? What the hell is going on here..."

Red slowly opened his eyes, his surprised expression gradually solidified. The holy girl standing there like a lotus blooming from the mud awakened his turbid memories.

Yaguru belt.

Gurongi.

Empty myself.

And...he who caused all this.

Red stared blankly at the holy girl, and the black-eyed Kuuga was clearly reflected in the holy girl's eyes.

The holy girl slowly raised her right hand and pointed at Reid, and the fire instantly engulfed the holy girl.

"You caused the third impact that led to the destruction of humanity—"

"Uh-huh——"

Red suddenly opened his eyes, and saw two steel needles less than two millimeters away from his eyeballs.

Red swallowed hard, and turned his eyes little by little to look around, while trying to move his limbs.

He seemed to be in a metal cabin, and all his joints were locked with metal rings. A blue light kept shaking from top to bottom, as if scanning his body.

"Where am I...?"

"Selvi Tulia. To be more precise, the hidden area of ​​​​Selvi Tulia, the third containment area."

"This voice..."

Reid was stunned for a moment, frowned and recalled for a while before tentatively asking, "The person in the subway?"

"Yes, you can call me...U. Although I really want to pull your hair and ask you why I gave you 20 minutes but you didn't catch the evacuation train...but it doesn't matter anymore."

"Oh right... Number One! How's Number One?"

After sorting out his thoughts, Red remembered the man who was cut in half but still did not give up fighting and wanted to save him.

"It's under repair now, and there's nothing serious."

"Really? That's great," Red breathed a sigh of relief. The nightmare just now made him very uncomfortable. If U said that Number One was eliminated by you, he would probably become autistic.

"Although number one is fine, you have a lot of problems. Do you remember what happened before?"

"still remember."

It was because he remembered that he didn't ask any questions about the current situation.

"The belt you are wearing is something we dug out from the Coffin of Darkness. It was made by people in the past to defeat Gurongi. Using this belt will turn you into a warrior called Kuuga. Reid, unfortunately, with current human technology, it is impossible to remove the belt from you."

"So Servier Turia has you contained."

"And you know better than anyone whether this Agul Belt can be used to protect humans."

Red felt empty inside. Although he had expected it, he still felt a little lost and unwilling when U informed him. But when he thought back to the nightmare, he couldn't be so heartless as to make a promise to U.

The touch of the black Kuuga still lingered on his body.

After thinking it through, Red felt relaxed, but at this moment, U's words made Red confused.

"So, are you willing to use this power to protect humanity?"

"Eh?"

"So, are you willing to use this power to protect humanity?" U asked again patiently.

Red held his breath, paused for a long time before exhaling, and complained weakly, "I'm ready to be locked up here forever."

"Aguru's belt won't let you die so easily. Even if you can't drink a drop of water, you won't die. Even if you become like a mummy, you're still alive. Can you accept this?"

Red grunted, and U's voice was cold, not like he was joking.

Just as Red was struggling, the steel needle that was about to poke his eyeball was retracted little by little. Along with a shrill warning sound, the hatch of the containment cabin opened to both sides, and Red could also see the appearance of U standing in front of the containment cabin.

U looked like a young man in his twenties. Although his clothes showed signs of being tidied, his hair was quite messy. His eyes behind the black glasses were extremely deep. Under the illumination of the flashing red alarm lights, U exuded an indescribable oppressive force.

"Red, do you want to be contained forever as a monster or... protect humans as a knight?"

Red didn't answer U immediately, nor did he avoid U's eyes.

Of course, he didn't want to be detained permanently, without even a drop of water to drink, and be locked up like an object. Even if he was dehydrated to the point of being a mummy, he wouldn't die. The thought of such a thing made his scalp tingle, but he also knew that this was a very dangerous power, and he couldn't be so heartless as to pat his chest and guarantee that he could use this power to protect humanity.

After pondering for a while, Red lowered his head and smiled bitterly.

"I'm not a monster."

This is the only answer he could come up with now.

U raised his head slightly, and the reflection from the lenses covered his eyes.