The story we started

【Oops! 】

【Zaimokuza immediately cried out in his heart, the familiar scene of the prelude to the transformation in front of him made his heart fluctuate violently, and anxiety surged from his heart.】

[If we let the other party transform into a strengthened form and fight with us here, regardless of whether Zaimokuza can win, at least this sightseeing ship will definitely not be saved and will be torn into pieces in the aftermath of the battle between the two.]

[And once the boat sinks, all the passengers on it will die in the river! ]

【哐——】

[“Wow! You——”]

【Realizing this, Zaimokuza no longer hesitated and headbutted Biran in front of him. 】

[Just before the collision, Zaimokuza's blue compound eyes turned purple, and then his forehead struck Biran's piranha-like face firmly. The sound of the collision was like a pendulum hitting an ancient bell, and the sound was deafening.]

[Biran only felt that what hit him was not his flesh and blood, but a battering ram made of thousands of pounds of steel. His brain went blank for a moment, as if even his consciousness had been knocked away by Zaimokuza's headbutt.]

[It took a few steps back unsteadily after being hit by this. Even the belt around its waist stopped changing at this moment. The blue in its black eyes stopped expanding and shrank inwards.]

【Taking advantage of the distance, Zaimokuza rushed forward at the right time, and used the Blue Dragon Staff to block Biran's body from behind. He raised his head and shouted hurriedly to the survivors in front of him who were stunned by this series of changes in the battle situation.】

[“If anyone knows how to sail, quickly dock the boat and leave! If you don’t know how to sail, stay here and wait for rescue. Don’t run around!”]

[“Ku——uga! You bastard!!!”]

【After Zaimokuza finished speaking, he didn't wait for the survivors to respond, hugged Biran who had recovered from the impact and retreated backwards, and finally gritted his teeth and dragged it behind him as the other party roared, jumping off the crashed ship.】

【"etc!"】

[Watching No. 4 falling into the river with his own kind in his arms, Akiyama Mio wanted to say something but subconsciously reached out to him, but all she saw was a huge splash of water rising into the sky.]

[“Mio!? Wait! Don’t go over there!”]

[She gritted her teeth, and ran to the deck of the sightseeing boat amid her friends' exclamations, looking down, and all she saw was the river surface where the ripples were gradually disappearing.]

……

【boom--】

[The palm wrapped in blue armor twists the handlebars hard, and the Gulkirrer exclusive mount under Kousaka Kyousuke's seat, the machine charger engine roars like a roaring lion, and the rear end of the wheel with full power emits blue flames along with the roar.]

[He increased his speed, which was already far beyond the maximum speed limit stipulated by road safety regulations, by one level. The white heavy motorcycle carrying Kousaka Kyousuke left a white shadow that was difficult to follow with the naked eye, and drove into the tunnel ahead at a high speed.]

[After entering the tunnel, the world without sunlight suddenly became dark. The wall lights in the tunnel quickly drew a line of orange-red light around him. The light sensor on the helmet on Kousaka Kyosuke's face immediately activated after detecting that the light around him suddenly dimmed. A pair of compound eyes full of mechanical texture lit up red light in the tunnel, and then left two red streams of light in the original place. ]

[The night vision function of the helmet was turned on, and the dim world became clearly visible. Kousaka Kyosuke sped without slowing down at all, not even when turning. The underside of the motorcycle rubbed against each other in the tunnel, producing fiery sparks.]

[Kousaka Kyosuke's desperate driving in extreme corners is enough to make any common-sense motorcyclist curse. He is just playing with his life, but from this point of view, he is actually a thug at heart who sometimes goes crazy and doesn't take his life seriously. ]

[But you are right. Only a madman who does not take his own life seriously would choose to wear this armor that has not been tested in actual combat and has no safety guarantee, and use himself as a test subject.]

[“Hey, hey, hey, Kosaka-kun, can you hear me?”]

[Just as Kousaka Kyosuke was concentrating on driving the Mecha Charger towards the light at the end of the tunnel, the communication device installed in the helmet was activated with a "beep", and then the voice of Ebina Hime was heard.]

[“I heard you, Ms. Ebina.”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke calmly replied, as if he was not the one who was turning the corner without slowing down, and he completely ignored the sparks flying below him.]

[“Well, it seems the communication signal is normal.”]

[Hina Ebina, who was far away in the Metropolitan Police Department's Scientific Police Department's research room, nodded, looked at the tunnel image on the screen in front of her that was synchronized through the built-in camera of Kousaka Kyosuke's helmet, and spoke with a smile. ]

[“Listen carefully, Kosaka-kun, you are now about seven kilometers away from the newly-seen location of No. 2000, and the signal source of Yoshihiru’s Triangle Tracker is also there, which means he has already arrived there first. No one answered the call I made, which means he has probably already fought with No. .”]

[“——Got it. Give me about three minutes and I’ll be there right away.”]

[“Ok~ Then I will send you the signal source diagram now. You must perform well and make the equipment I designed famous.”]

[After hearing the cheerful voice, a signal map outlined by green lines quickly lit up in the field of view of Kousaka Kyosuke's helmet, and then shrank and pinned it to the lower left corner, looking like the global map that was opened when playing a shooting game.]

[On the map, the red light dot representing this motorcycle is moving quickly towards another green light dot. At the speed at which the distance is shortening, it will only take a few minutes for them to touch each other.]

【“…”】

[Looking at the green signal source representing the Triangle Tracker 2000 on the map, Kousaka Kyosuke was silent for a moment.]

[——What about your mother? If you don't go now, Mr. Kosaka, your sister will definitely not forgive you. And you...can you forgive yourself?]

[——How could it be…smiles cannot be counted with numbers…!]

[Thinking of what Zaimokuza said when he and he parted, Kousaka Kyousuke's eyes hidden behind the compound eyes of his helmet dimmed a little. 】

[…I know, you are not wrong, and I am not wrong either.]

[But sometimes, the right or wrong of a thing is actually meaningless. It is just a criterion used to whitewash the good or bad consequences of a person's choice in a certain situation. Good is right, and bad is wrong.]

【From the perspective of human society, if it is good for most humans, then it is right, no matter how heavy the price is; if it is not good for most humans, then it is wrong, no matter how many difficulties there are.】

[So in many cases, when the "quality" of life is completely equal, what determines right and wrong is the "quantity" of life.]

[——The so-called "hero" recognized by mankind is someone who always stands on the side of the majority. Those who do not are not heroes.]

[In fact, I want to stand on the side of the minority more than anyone else in the world. It doesn’t matter if I can’t become a "hero". I want to stand on the side of my family. ]

[But I cannot give up on the majority of people, because I know that they are just like me, with the same life, the same emotions, and they can cry and laugh just like me.]

[I can't abandon it, and my heart won't allow myself to make such a selfish choice... because there must be someone to protect everything of others and carry their wishes. ]

[Since someone has to take on this responsibility, endure the pain of going against one's own will, and become the "hero" of the majority - then why can't that person be me? ]

[…That’s probably what you thought when you first put on that belt, right?]

[It’s just because we are all the same people in our hearts, and we can’t ignore others who are about to face disasters, so we always sacrifice ourselves for others. ]

【——Yoshiki Zaimokuza. 】

[My mind is still wandering, but the dark road of the long night has unknowingly reached its end. ]

[When the light at the tunnel exit gradually expanded in his eyes, his red eyes were stained by the light and gradually dimmed, leaving only the three silver horns on his head that looked like insects emitting a dazzling glow.]

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"..."

Looking at the confession of "Kousaka Kyosuke" on the screen, everyone present fell silent.

Especially Hikigaya Hachiman, his inner fluctuations were the most intense among everyone, even Zaimokuza, the other person involved in the conversation, could not compare to him.

Ask yourself, if you were faced with such a situation, with Komachi's life and the lives of others on the same scale, what choice would you make?

If he was the only one on the other side of the scale, no matter how many times, Hikigaya Hachiman would choose his sister without hesitation.

But what if there are countless innocent people on the other end?

If there really comes a day when I have to choose between the two, what will I do?

Hikigaya didn't know, nor did he want to know the answer to this question, or rather, he was afraid to face it.

Because he had an inexplicable intuition that if the person facing this choice was not "Kousaka Kyousuke" but himself...

By then, there will probably be a tragic outcome that no one wants to face.

【A few minutes ago.】

【Tokyo City, Tokyo Bay tributary, river bank. 】

[“Puff!”]

[A flash of azure knife-like light suddenly flashed across the river surface, and then Zaimokuza was thrown out of the water, tumbling far away on the cement embankment on the shore. After stopping, he covered his chest with one hand and gasped in pain from his mouth.]

[The Qinglong stick in his hand was now only about half its length, and the cut was smooth and flowing. There was also a scar on the flat armor on his chest that stretched from the left waist to the right shoulder. Blood flowed out of the wound and mixed with water droplets on the surface of his body and slid onto the ground.]

【Poof! 】

[Following him, a column of water rose up from the river again, and a figure rushed out with the river water, falling like a meteor not far from the fallen Zaimokuza.]

【“!?”】

[Zaimokuza, who was lying on the ground gasping for breath, suddenly looked up and looked forward after hearing the sound. He gritted his teeth and looked at the figure whose body was constantly draining away by the water. He turned over and covered the wound on his chest, and forced himself to half-kneel and stand up.]

[The water flow that surged like a living thing faded away, revealing a pair of blue eyes that emitted a cold and sinister light. The totem on the chest that represented the element of "water" also flashed an ominous light even in the water waves.]

[me-biran-gi·Enhanced body·Agile body·Element awakening (water)]

[The water flowed away from its body and gathered and entangled on the blades of its hands, forming two huge water blades. Although the whole thing was made of water, the blades shone with the cold brilliance of real steel weapons under the sun.]

[The previous sneak attack was ultimately unable to stop Biran from activating his enhanced form. After it changed its form underwater, it directly cut the Qinglong stick that was tightly holding it apart with one sword, and then turned around and chopped Zaimokuza away with one sword.]

[“Is this all you can do? Kuuga!”]

【To Zaimokuza, who was severely injured by him in one move, Biran's tone was full of contempt. 】

[It stretches out its right hand toward Zaimokuza who is standing up in front of it, makes a fist, and then pushes its thumb downward.]

[It is the same thumbs-up gesture as Zaimokuza's signature gesture, but just by changing the angle, the meaning is completely different, full of ruthless contempt and sarcasm.]

[“Use the form you used last time quickly. It will be more interesting to fight you like that.”]

[“Tsk, don’t be so arrogant!”]

【Seeing Biran's thumbs down, Zaimokuza's heart was filled with anger. His bloodstained palm no longer covered the wound on his chest, and his lower hand tightly clasped the spirit stone at his waist.】

【"overtake--"】

[He originally intended to use the most powerful almighty awakening mode to burn the enemy to ashes with absolute attack power, but when he glanced at the sightseeing boat still on the river not far away without any movement, his heart sank.]

[Is there no one among those survivors who can sail a boat? ]

[This forced Zaimokuza to change his mind, because the fire elemental power of the red form awakening mode was too fierce and violent. Even after almost a month of practice, he could not fully control it, and there was no guarantee that it would not affect that place. ]

[So he could only take another approach, and continued in a deep voice.]

【“henshin!”】

【Om—】

[The spirit stone on his waist shone with a mysterious purple glow, and transparent waves spread around Zaimokuza's feet. Then several stone pillars burst out of the ground, surrounding him in the middle, blocking the outside world's view.]

[“Wow!?”]

【boom! 】

[Biran looked at the stone pillars in surprise, and then the stone pillars suddenly exploded the next moment, and the broken stones flew towards it like bullets covering the sky.]

[It quickly raised the blades on both hands and swung them. The high-speed cutting blades formed a blue net in the air in front of it, breaking the rocks one by one.]

[However, several pieces of rubble still broke through the biran's blockade, leaving several bloody marks on its body, with faint blood flowing out. ]

[The hand covered with white gauntlet grasped the previously severed half of the Azure Dragon Staff and swung it downwards. The broken weapon changed its form again and became a purple-gold Titan Sword.]

[A pair of compound eyes filled with purple starlight shot out light of the same color from the smoke and dust in the sky. With a powerful swing of the greatsword, the smoke and dust dispersed from the middle as if swept by a hurricane, revealing a tall body covered in silver armor behind.]

[Kuga·Titan Form·Elemental Awakening (Earth).]

[“Hahaha? Another look I haven’t seen before. You really are good at giving me surprises. You are the mortal enemy of our clan!”]

[The sharp claws brushed across the bloody scratches on his face, and the wound disappeared without a trace after he left. Biran looked at Zaimokuza who had transformed into the awakened Titan form, and his grim laughter echoed on the riverbank. ]

[“And this feeling——can’t be wrong, this is not a coincidence, the reason you can become like this is indeed because of the power from ‘Him’!”]

[“That supreme, ultimate power!”]

[“‘Him’? ‘Ultimate’? What does that mean?”]

[Hearing these two new words from Biran's mouth, Zaimokuza, who was on high alert, was also startled. What does it mean that my power also comes from "Him"? Is there any hidden secret or source of Kuuga's elemental awakening mode? ]

[What does "ultimate" mean? Could it be that...Kuaga has another form that I don't know about? ]

【“——!!!”】

[Before he could think any further, the sense of danger as if a steel knife was stroking his neck immediately brought Zaimokuza back to his senses. He stretched out his armored arm across his body to block the incoming blade.]

[The blade condensed from the water flow burst into blazing sparks when it chopped Mokuza's arm, but this attack, which could easily break through his defense in the awakened mode of the Blue Dragon Form, only broke several pieces of armor this time, and then got stuck on the surface of the armor and could not go any further.]

[“Hmph! The armor is pretty tough.”]

[Originally, Biran, who wanted to take advantage of Zaimokuza's distraction to launch a sneak attack and decapitate him, looked at the armor that was stuck on his blade and smacked his lips in dissatisfaction. On the other hand, Zaimokuza, who blocked the attack, was cheered up. ]

[It worked! The awakened power of the purple form can indeed block the attack of No. 23! ]

[Sure enough, the meat shield is the assassin's eternal enemy! ]

[Confirming his guess, he no longer hesitated, holding the Titan Sword in his right hand and stabbing at Biran who was close in front of him——]

……

【not long ago. 】