My youth story cannot be a knight war

"Aren't we all transforming and fighting to protect humanity? Why are we killing each other after defeating the monster? I don't understand why you would do this!"

"...Huh? We transform and fight to protect humans???"

Ye Shan's words made Hoshino stop in his tracks. He tilted his head to one side, as if he was thinking.

"Are you... telling some outdated manzai joke?"

“Huh? The one telling the joke is—!!!”

Before Ye Shan could finish his angry words, the violent sound of the air breaking made his heart tighten. He immediately bent down and rolled to the side without hesitation. The silver gun tip pierced through his original position in the next moment.

"hateful!"

As soon as he raised his head after rolling, Ye Shan saw the cold light that tore through the air in front of him coming towards him again. At that moment, Ye Shan no longer cared about anything. Following his survival instinct, he cursed angrily, stretched out his hand, and pulled out a card from the card box on his waist.

『Sword Vent』

Click!

The collision of the blade and the spear tip splashed out molten silver star flowers. With both hands tightly grasping the long sword of the "Dragon Sabre", Ye Shan and Hoshino resisted the constant pressure exerted by the "Winged Spearman". They looked at each other at a very close distance, and the eyes under their respective visors emitted red and blue lights reflecting each other.

"Enough! I don't want to fight you at all! What's the point of fighting between us???"

"You're almost dead, why are you still telling such a bad joke?"

In response to Ye Shan's puzzled rebuke, a disdainful sneer rang out from under Hoshino's visor.

"Are you really the Kamen Rider who has signed a contract with a monster? For a knight, fighting is... wait?"

After a pause, Hoshino's tone suddenly became hesitant. At the same time, Ye Shan could feel a gaze shooting out from the opponent's armor fence and locking tightly on himself.

"You... don't really know anything?"

Finally finding the opening words to speak, Ye Shan immediately opened his mouth in anger, letting all his anger and confusion burst out into words.

"Of course! I don't know anything at all, okay? From just now until now, I don't understand a single word you said!"

"..."

After hearing Ye Shan's words, Hoshino's hands gripping the gun handle suddenly weakened a little, and he stared at Ye Shan in silence.

“…Puchi! Hahaha~”

Feeling the weakening of the blade's force, Ye Shan thought that he had resolved any possible misunderstandings between the two sides. But before he could speak, Hoshino in front of him broke the brief silence. A funny laugh came from under his mask and echoed in the square.

"I didn't expect you to be so clueless. You possess the power of a knight who has signed a contract, yet you have no idea what you are supposed to do... I see. I understand."

He stopped laughing and looked at the crimson knight in front of him, his tone tentative and curious.

"You...are the 'Second Knight', right? This card box you're using now wasn't originally yours. You must have inherited it from someone else."

"And the man who originally owned this box—I suppose he's dead now?"

"Well--"

The moment Ye Shan heard Hoshino's words, his whole body suddenly stiffened, and through the changes in touch from the weapons of both parties at this time, Hoshino also knew the answer he had not said.

"There really are people like you? This is the first time I've seen one. Your presence can truly be considered a wonder in this 'Knight War'."

"Knights...War?"

Hoshino said in surprise, and Yeshan keenly caught the key word in his words and spoke in confusion.

"Tsk~ It seems your senior is quite irresponsible. He didn't even tell you such important information... But, it doesn't matter."

His tone suddenly turned cold, and Hoshino spoke harshly.

"At least, dying without knowing anything is also a kind of happiness."

"Uh!?"

The foot covered with leg armor suddenly kicked on the chest. This unexpected attack once again caused heavy damage to Ye Shan and also affected his injuries.

He staggered backward holding the "Dragon Saber". The severe pain deprived Ye Shan of most of his fighting power. He supported his body by leaning on the hilt of the sword inserted into the ground. His gasps, like a bellows, sounded one after another, expressing his intense pain.

"Woo..."

『Nasty Vent』

"!"

The emotionless sound of the card reading made all the pores on Ye Shan's back open, and the biting cold stimulated his flesh and blood. He raised his head and saw Hoshino putting down the straight sword in his hand.

"Squeak~!!!"

A huge black shadow rose from the ground behind him, and its dark and ferocious wings spread out in the dust. The giant winged bat named Darkwing opened its mouth, and visible circular sound waves rushed out of its throat. The true sonic attack instantly enveloped Ye Shan.

"what!!!!!!"

Under the cover of the sound waves, Ye Shan felt that every blood vessel in his brain seemed to be howling, and even the neurons were trembling in the ultrasound. Even the vision in front of his eyes quickly turned scarlet, which was a sign that his brain had begun to tremble.

The "Dragon Sabre" fell to the ground, and Ye Shan held his head with both hands and gasped in pain.

While the prey is in pain, the hunter is also ready to attack.

The pitch-black figure passed through the sonic waves. The sonic attack that caused Ye Shan unbearable pain had no effect on Hoshino. The "Winged Spearman" raised its sword as it ran, cutting through the air with a sharp sound, and swung it fiercely towards Ye Shan from the side.

bump!

The gun slashed across Ye Shan's right waist, causing his already severely injured injuries to worsen rapidly and also stopping Ye Shan's struggle abruptly.

"Uh...you..."

With difficulty, he glanced at the spear against his waist with the corner of his eye, and with both hands tightly grasping Hoshino's shoulder armor, Ye Shan stammered, wanting to say something.

"Goodbye."

Reaching out to cover Ye Shan's palm, Hoshino calmly pushed his hand away. Ye Shan, whose injured part had been attacked so fiercely, could no longer support his body to continue fighting, and fell beside him as Hoshino moved.

"Well……"

hum.

He held up the card with two fingers wrapped in armor. The bat emblem engraved on the front of the card sparkled in the sunlight. He looked down at Ye Shan who fell to the ground at his feet and said, holding the card.

"Now, it's over—"

Click!

The sound of shattering glass made Hoshino stop stuffing the cards into the opened card slot of the "Dark Summoning Machine". He looked in the direction where the sound came from. At this moment, one of the glass exterior walls of the building was shattered, and the ground in front was covered with broken glass.

"Huh...huh...huh..."

On the other side of the building, a heavy trash can rolled on the ground and went away. Hikigaya Komachi, exhausted and panting, supported herself with her hands and gasped for breath.

She raised her head, and stared stubbornly and sternly at the broken outer wall in front of her from under her sweaty forehead.

Although no words were spoken and no one could see, Hoshino on the other side of the mirror already understood what she meant by breaking the glass.

"Ha...really, is it really necessary to go to this extent?"

The hand holding the card hung silently at his side. Hoshino looked down at Ye Shan who was motionless on the ground. He let out a long sigh and spoke, his tone full of helplessness.

"I understand. I'll listen to you, Komachi. I won't kill him."

"cough……"

Ye Shan, who was lying on the ground, turned his head with difficulty. At this time, his line of sight was parallel to the ground. Through the shattered glass wall in front of him, he saw a girl's stubborn face divided into dozens of parts.

The next second, all the scenes in front of him were covered by a dark curtain from the edge of his vision, and his clenched hands loosened due to loss of strength.

Just like that, the severely injured Ye Shan lost consciousness. 】

8. The Name in Memory (6K)

"Hmm~ I think I understand."

Arima Kanai held her slender chin in her hand and pondered for a while, then she pounded her clenched right fist on the palm of her left hand and spoke seriously.

"Aqua, there's only one truth—that your future self is a villain!"

The deep red pupils sparkled, and at this moment, a white holy light seemed to emerge from behind Arima Kana with her arms outstretched. World-famous detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Di Renjie, and Francois Eugen Victor appeared in the light, and their figures overlapped with this petite girl. At this moment, she seemed to be possessed by the god of wisdom, and even her pupils were flashing with the light of wisdom!

The girl favored by the God of Wisdom pointed a finger at the blond young man and shouted sternly:

"That's definitely the case! I've noticed since we first met as children that beneath that angelic and lovely face of yours, you hide a sinister and insane soul. That soul has endowed you with an incomprehensible maturity that's completely inconsistent with your age!"

Snapped!

With a snap of his fingers, Arima's eyes sparkled and the syllables of his words began to become more passionate.

"That's why I, who was hailed as a talented child star at the time, encountered my first setback in acting. Because you weren't normal back then! That wasn't your acting, but a manifestation of your true evil soul!"

With her hands folded in front of the flattest chest in the entire rehearsal room, the girl in the white hat's eyes were filled with hatred for the evil in the world and indignation at injustice.

"Even though I'm a genius, my acting skills at that time still hadn't reached a certain level. Facing your smile that truly revealed your inner evil, I was naturally powerless to resist. My defeat wasn't unfair, but I'm not convinced! Because I realized at that moment that your evil soul would eventually break free from the constraints of your own rationality as it grows, and sooner or later, it would evolve into a cruel and ruthless demon."

"It turns out my intuition was right! And here's the proof!"

The delicate white index finger pointed to the curtain beside him. Inside the curtain was a red knight lying on the ground with wounds all over his body, and a black knight holding a spear blade beside him. No matter who looked at it, the first impression given by the body composition of this picture was that of a murder scene in progress.

Pointing at the world-famous painting on the curtain titled "Hoshino Aikyuu and Hayama Hayato Killing Each Other at Sea", Arima's delicate cheeks flushed red with excitement and disgrace!

"Spanning the distant past, present, and into the yet-to-arrive future, the evil hidden deep within you finally matured, completely shedding your veneer of elegance and indifference. Without hesitation, you committed the despicable act of assaulting your comrades after the war! Simply to satisfy your long-suppressed, perverted urge to harm others!"

"Amidst the sparks flying from the spear blade slicing through armor and Mr. Hayama's screams, your future self has fully awakened to an unspeakable quirk! The evil soul has gained access to—Oooooh! It hurts! What are you doing?! I can't see! Let go!"

"...Be good, listen to me. Go squat in the corner and memorize your role. Don't add drama to my character or act crazy here."

Aqua, with veins bulging on his forehead like snakes, extended a ruthless iron hand expressionlessly. He grabbed Arima's hat and scalp together with the iron hand and applied pressure hard.

"It hurts!!! Help! Ruby!"

The five slender fingers that were put together burst out with a bite force comparable to that of industrial pliers. Arima felt that his skull was about to break under the pressure of this strange force, and he screamed and shook his hands, struggling under Aqua's palm.

Aqua looked at Arima screaming under his iron palm with an indifferent expression, but a hint of warmth flowed through the depths of his deep blue eyes when he reflected the girl in front of him with tears in the corners of her eyes.

But thank you very much anyway, Arima.

After expressing his gratitude in his heart without anyone hearing it, Aqua glanced around at the people around him seemingly without intending to.

Except for a very few people including Arima, many people present at the scene involuntarily looked away to avoid eye contact when they met his gaze. Some of them showed an awkward smile on their faces for fear that they were too obvious, but they still did not dare to look Aqua in the eye.

Even I, who don't like interpersonal communication, can see everyone's attitude towards me now. Aqua doesn't think that Kana Arima, who grew up in the entertainment industry, will not notice the gradually weird atmosphere in the scene.

Perhaps it was because he saw this that this guy suddenly did something stupid and performed this impromptu manzai performance... in order to "protect" himself.

He loosened his hand, but Arima was still covering his forehead with tears and looking at him angrily. Aqua shook his head silently.

It seems that the so-called image packaging issue is indeed something that we have to pay attention to.

Glancing at the curtain floating next to him, Aqua sighed silently. Even those who had spent some time with him had this attitude after seeing the performance of his future self in the curtain, not to mention the other strangers.

Considering that the spread of this curtain is probably the same as the previous videos and light curtains, which is the whole world, Aqua feels that the people who have seen the performance of "Hoshino Aikyuu Aikai" in the curtain will probably have the impression of him as a "despicable villain who stabs his allies in the back" and a "villain who stands on the side of justice" from now on.

It's not that he is a pure villain, but people are thieves when compared with others, and goods are thrown away when compared with others. With positive heroic predecessors like "Kousaka Kyosuke" and "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" whose personal images are almost flawless, it is hard for this kind of maverick image not to attract rumors.

The "audience" always maintains a picky and harsh attitude towards the "protagonist" of a sequel whose previous work is praised as too good. This is true in any era.

If "Hoshino Aikyuu Aikai" really kills "Hayama Hayato" this time, he will probably become the first human character to be cursed by all viewers in the two "stories".

However, as the "character" in the veil, Aqua knows that his future self will not do so.

Because from his future self, Aqua could not sense any murderous intent or hatred or other emotions that would require the person to be killed. Murderous aura and murderous intent were completely different concepts, and he knew this very well having experienced it himself.

...But why do you do this?

Staring at the armor in the curtain that broke into pieces and dissipated, revealing the blond young man with dark eyes, Aqua murmured in his heart.

At that time...were you still bound by hatred and the past like I am now?

"Ouch!!!!"

The dragon's roar, filled with extreme brutality and anger, shook the entire world. No matter whether inside or outside the curtain, everyone who heard the sound was instantly captivated.