My youth story cannot be a knight war

【But for the sake of caution, Zaimokuza still stared at the ruins in front of him, not daring to relax even a little bit, and his limbs cycled back and forth between tensing and relaxing, keeping his body in a state of combat at all times.】

【“…”】

[But after about three minutes, there was still no movement in the collapsed ruins, which made Zaimokuza feel a little suspicious. Obviously, the unconfirmed life forms that were hit by his special move before should have died in the explosion, but what is going on now? ]

[Having never seen such a situation before, he subconsciously raised his alertness and walked forward step by step. There was still no movement when he reached the collapsed delivery shed. This situation made Zaimokuza feel even more strange. This unexpected situation also made his body, which was in a fighting state, relax.]

【And at this moment, the situation suddenly changed! 】

【"Well--!!!?"】

[A huge sense of crisis suddenly rose from his heart, and Zaimokuza immediately wanted to do a backflip to get away from here, but he was still a step too slow.]

【boom!!!】

[“Puff!”]

[A dark ball suddenly shot out from under the collapsed ruins. Because the distance was too close, Zaimokuza, who had no time to dodge, was hit on the shoulder by the ball. In the explosion caused by the hit, Zaimokuza screamed and flew backwards, falling heavily on the ground in the distance.]

[“Gu…!”]

[Zaimokuza, who had fallen to the ground, raised his upper body with difficulty, and turned his head in unbearable pain to look at his right shoulder that had just been hit. He saw a deep dent on the red reinforced muscle of his right shoulder, and white smoke rose from the dent. At the same time, a pain of burning fire continued to be transmitted to his brain.]

"You're being careless, KUUGA."

[“Hmm!?”]

Zaimokuza, clutching his right shoulder, looked toward the collapsed maternity shed. Giiga's silver-white figure pushed aside the pillars and tiles weighing him down and slowly stood up. A crimson flame totem flashed upon his muscular chest, unleashing a powerful force that burned his body.

[Zi——]

[But the scarlet totem mark gently brushed past its silver-white palm, and then turned into red light particles and dissipated from its chest, leaving behind a slight sound like a bonfire being extinguished by water.]

[“What a familiar feeling, but the sealing energy carried by your attack is much weaker than your predecessor, and it also feels different to me~”]

Giiga lowered his right hand, which had been brushing across his chest, and with a pair of crimson eyes he looked at Zaimokuza as he stood up, his teasing tone suddenly changing to an extremely cold one.

[“Well, this time, it’s your turn as the junior to experience the pain that your predecessor gave me. I will take back the humiliation that “He” gave me from you bit by bit!”]

【"snort!"】

As Giiga snorted, Zaimokuza saw a familiar "flame" totem appear on his chest. His silver-white body turned dark red, as if roasted. The dark silver belt around his waist was wrapped in red stripes, and his scarlet eyes turned orange.

[The moment it became like this, it seemed as if a scorching wave of air burst out from its entire body, suppressing the flames of the nearby police car for a moment, then rising again and burning more vigorously than before.]

【"The power of red...?"】

Zaimokuza looked at the transformed Giiga before him, gazing at his form and the totem mark, which gave him a sense of déjà vu. He then recalled the promise he had made to Kousaka Kyousuke...

[Looking at the unidentified life form No. 21 in front of him, he felt the violent energy in his body, which was like an awakened volcano, far exceeding the No. 6 and No. 14 he had dealt with before, even if he hadn't used it. If his face could make a "smile" expression now, Zaimokuza really wanted to laugh. ]

[——It was just a bitter smile, because Zaimokuza felt his mouth was extremely bitter and dry. This time, the terror of his opponent was beyond his expectation.]

[Now, let alone fulfilling the promise I made to Kousaka Kyousuke to help him after I defeat his opponent, I'm afraid this time it's really bad news. 】

[“I’m sorry, Mr. Kosaka…”]

[With a silent sigh, Zaimokuza looked at the enemy's new appearance who was slowly approaching, and clenched the five fingers of his right hand one by one. ]

[“I’m afraid I’ll break my promise this time.”]

48. Fear of Battle/Prayer of the Dead (two in one)

【Tokyo, Shinagawa Warehouse District.】

[“You’re sure this is the place, right?”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke and a group of armed police officers crouched in the woods, using binoculars to peer into the warehouse with its side door torn open.]

[“Ah, according to the person who reported the case, he called the boss here but no one answered. He felt uneasy and drove here to check. While looking for someone, he heard strangers talking outside the warehouse in a language he had never heard before. Finally, he was scared away by the screams of what seemed to be a fight between unidentified life forms, so he immediately called the police.”]

[Officer Sugita, who was squatting next to him, was also looking through binoculars at the warehouse. He could only see many feet in shoes moving around through the torn open side door. In addition, there was a sturdy figure covered in blood lying on the ground, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.]

[After checking without success, he put down the telescope and said solemnly.]

[“…I have to admit that the reporter’s approach was very wise. The warehouse owner’s body was just found in a small forest not far from here. Apparently, the other party handled it very perfunctorily, not even wanting to bury it, and just left it under a tree.”]

[“And judging from the appearance of the remains, the victim’s body was extremely shriveled, with two bite marks on the neck similar to those of a wild animal, and the blood in the body was almost completely sucked out.”]

[“It was done by No. 3. This victim died in exactly the same way as the first victims in Nagano Prefecture. They all died of blood loss after their blood was sucked dry.”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke immediately identified the true identity of the murderer. He put down the telescope and narrowed his eyes. The cold light in his eyes was like that of an experienced hunter watching the prey that came into the shooting range.]

[“You are right. So the order from above is to attack directly without any investigation. If you can capture them, try your best. If not, drive them away with all your strength, even if it means razing the entire warehouse area.”]

[“…Officer Sugita, which one do you want? To be arrested or to be killed?”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke had a calm expression. He reached out from his bosom and took out a small box, which was filled with rows of brand new bullets. These bullets were the stink bombs produced by the police's scientific research institute that were used against No. 20 last time. They were special ammunition developed based on the characteristics of unconfirmed life forms that hate harmful gases.]

[Kousaka Kyosuke opened the box and loaded the ammunition into the chamber of his sniper rifle one by one while speaking without raising his head.]

【"Ah……"】

[Seeing his performance, Sugita smiled. This police officer, who usually gave people a sense of calmness and reliability, smiled very freely at this moment, just like a young boy sitting in his favorite will-o'-the-wisp and about to drive on a wilderness road where life and death intertwine.]

[“Generally, orders from above are of primary importance, but in special circumstances, that’s another matter. What’s the saying? It seems to be from one of the chapters in The Art of War.”]

[“When a general is on the battlefield, he may not obey military orders.”]

【“Yes! That’s it.”】

[Officer Sugita smiled as he pulled out his pistol and began to load it with ammunition. The sound of bullets entering the chamber was crisp and pleasant.]

[“Except for the third one, we don’t know how many enemies there are. In this case, it is a little difficult to capture them, so let’s choose a more relaxed approach. This way, our work won’t be too tiring. Why work so hard~”]

[“Can I understand this as encouraging me to be lazy? I will report your lax work attitude to my superiors, Officer Sugita.”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke also smiled, pulled the bolt of the sniper rifle that was loaded with bullets, and stood up from the bushes where he was hiding. Not only him, but all the police officers who were crouching nearby began to approach the warehouse cautiously with guns in hand.]

[“Please spare me. I just want to get through retirement. Life is not easy for everyone these days. Please don’t make me lose my job.”]

[Officer Sugita smiled bitterly as he looked at the tall back of Kyosuke Kosaka standing beside him. He scratched his scalp, which had few hairs left, and stood up with his gun in both hands.]

[“Although I said that just now, I think we’ll have to write a lot of pages of review reports after we go back this time. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. I hope everyone won’t go too far, especially you, Kosaka. Don’t blow this place up like you did last time when you blew up the factory.”]

[“Don’t worry. If you really do that, I will finish half of the review report for you.”]

[“This way of comforting me makes me even more worried. Are you really planning to blow up this entire warehouse area? I was just joking!”]

[“Who knows?”]

[“…Why do I feel like you’ve changed a lot recently, Kosaka? You’ve even started teasing others. Did you get a girlfriend?”]

[“…Officer Sugita, do I look like I have a girlfriend?”]

[“Oh~ That’s hard to say. As far as I know, you are very popular among the female colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Department. Who knows when you got a girlfriend while no one was paying attention? If that’s true, then five—ahem! Those who like you will be sad.”]

[“Why do I feel like Officer Sugita has something left to say?”]

[“Who knows?”]

【“…”】

[Although the two were joking with each other, as they got closer to the warehouse, their expressions became more and more serious, and finally all the smiles disappeared, leaving only solemnity.]

[The words just now were just used to ease the tense atmosphere. Although they said it lightly, in fact, both of them knew very well that if the worst-case scenario really happened in this mission, then the next meeting would probably not be in the Metropolitan Police Department, but at their respective funerals, or at the funerals of both of them being attended by others.]

[A policeman at the front of the warehouse turned around and gestured to everyone behind him, indicating that they could attack. Everyone held their weapons tightly in silence, and some people couldn't help swallowing because they were too nervous.]

[At the last second before launching the attack, Kousaka Kyosuke aimed his gun through the scope at the warehouse exit, but his mind wandered for a moment, remembering the white-haired young man who had gone alone to fight against the newly appeared unconfirmed life form No. 21 after parting with him.]

[Zaimokuza...how are you doing now? ]

……

【Tokyo, downstream of the Sumida River, quarry. 】

【boom--】

[A huge mushroom cloud rose up with the sound of an explosion, and a tall red figure flew out of the rising cloud of smoke, wrapped in flames and dust. It rolled and rubbed on the gravel-covered ground of the quarry while screaming in pain, and only stopped when it came not far from the fallen Triangle Tracker 2000.]

[“Aa ...

[Zaimokuza fell to the ground and kept rolling around, wailing in pain. A burning white mist rose from his body. The strong muscles in his hands and the armor turned black, and there was even a faint smell of burnt meat.]

[One strike, just one strike, and Zaimokuza was beaten into this state. ]

After seeing Giiga transform into his enhanced form, Zaimokuza, having learned from his previous two experiences, immediately rushed forward to attack it as soon as it completed its transformation. However, Zaimokuza, seeing through his intention, simply sneered and, like before, raised his hand and sprayed a ball from his mouth to attack.

[This time, the ball that spewed out of its mouth was no longer pitch black like before, but instead turned into a strange color covered with dark red stripes, and the surface became smoother and rounder.]

[Just when Zaimokuza wanted to dodge by turning his head like before, the ball that was about to pass by his face suddenly flashed red light on the dark red stripes on its surface. Zaimokuza, who noticed something was wrong, immediately stretched out his hands to block his face.]

[The next moment, the light that illuminated his eyes hidden behind his arms bloomed from the sphere, and the huge shock wave that followed almost shook Zaimokuza's soul out of his body, blowing him away directly. The high temperature and flames burned his whole body, causing him unbearable pain.]

[“Hey, hey, hey, is this the limit of your skills? This is so disappointing!”]

Giiga looked at Zaimokuza, who was struggling in pain on the ground, and shook his head in disdain, his dark red palm continuing to caress his mouth.

【Bear--】

With this movement, twisted heat waves and red vortexes converged from the surrounding air towards the palm of his hand covering his mouth, forming a small fireball between his palm and mouth. In the center of the fireball, a black bead resembling liquid could be seen. As time passed, the fireball encased in the black bead grew larger and larger, until it was the size of Giiga's head. The color of the flames also deepened, from orange to crimson, and even began to turn blue.

[“Gu!?”]

[Zaimokuza, breathing heavily, felt the hairs on his back stand on end as he saw the fireball forming in front of Giiga's face. A chill shot up his tailbone.]

【From his own instinctive reaction, Zaimokuza knew that this attack would definitely kill him, so he stood up while enduring the burning pain on his body, and his body was once again in a posture ready for the all-powerful kick, and red flames flashed under the sole of his raised foot.】

[He actually didn't plan to escape, but was ready to take on this attack head-on! ]

【"snort!"】

Giiga snorted coldly at Zaimokuza's actions, lowering his hand. A fireball, now completely blue in color, erupted from his open mouth. The enchanting blue fireball left a blue afterimage and a blurred trajectory distorted by the heat in the air, before shooting squarely at Zaimokuza's chest.

[Faced with this attack, Zaimokuza stood still, neither dodging nor avoiding, his gaze fixed intently on the incoming attack. The deadly blue fireball grew closer and closer in Han's red compound eyes, becoming increasingly brighter and hotter.]

[“Taku!”]

[Just before the blue fireball was about to hit him, Zaimokuza twisted his waist and turned backwards, kicking the incoming fireball with his flaming right foot, just like kicking a soccer ball, with the sole of his foot burning with red flames "touching" the bottom of the blue fireball, and with this one volley, he changed its direction, and the straight-flying fireball drew an arc in front of him, flew behind him, and crashed into one of the delivery rooms! ]

【boom! ! ! 】

[The fireball hit the factory building, and a huge explosion sounded the next second. All the glass in the building was shattered by the shock wave from the explosion. Blue flames rushed out of the windows, and the entire reinforced concrete building was instantly enveloped by raging blue flames, like a pillar of fire rising into the sky.]

[“Huh?”]

Giiga was clearly surprised that Zaimokuza was able to block his attack in this way, and even clapped his hands in praise while exclaiming in amazement.

"Beautiful! It seems your Kuuga isn't that weak after all."

【Om—】

Zaimokuza had no intention of paying any attention to this "praise" spoken in Japanese. Instead, he placed his hands on his waist while Giiga didn't launch an attack. The red spirit stone changed to purple with a humming sound.

[“Super Transformation!”]

[After Zaimokuza's right hand swept across his eyes and he suddenly spread his hands to both sides of his body, the silver-white armor quickly covered his upper body, and the pearls on his limbs and the red compound eyes also changed from red to pure purple. Finally, as two petals of armor with purple stripes stretched out from his shoulders, he turned into a purple Titan form.]

[“Purple power? It seems that you want to withstand my attack... Can you do it?”]

After seeing Zaimokuza transform into his defensive Titan form, Giiga's tone remained calm and composed, even rubbing his chin with interest. His words and actions revealed a strong sense of confidence.

[The hand wrapped in white armor paused for a moment as it reached for the handlebars of the Triangle Tracker 2000, clearly hesitant, but then immediately grabbed the handlebars and pulled them off. The sound of the handlebars being pulled off quickly was like a sharp blade being unsheathed.]

【"……drink!"】

【Zaimokuza endured the burning pain that still came from his body, tightly grasped the handlebars that had been pulled out, raised them in front of him with some trembling, then gritted his teeth and swung to the right.】

[Clang! 】

[The short handlebar changed shape in Zaimokuza's hand, becoming the purple and gold Titan sword that defeated No. 20. A small hollow blade extended from the front of the thick upper half of the sword.]

[Although he transformed into this powerful purple form again and held the seemingly indestructible sword, Zaimokuza did not feel the slightest sense of security at this moment.]

[The enemy in front of me is unprecedentedly powerful. The Gurongi I encountered before are nothing compared to him. Even No. 6 and No. 14 have never given me such a sense of oppression. And seeing that he is still leisurely after seeing me transform, it is obvious that he is not afraid of the power of the purple form. ]

[For the first time, Zaimokuza felt a fear of "battle" in his heart. Although he immediately suppressed it with his will, the fear of battle and pain still spread uncontrollably in the depths of his heart like a seed taking root and sprouting.]

[I can really——No, I can’t let my imagination run wild anymore! ]

[As he hesitated in his heart, Zaimokuza subconsciously took a step back, but immediately stepped forward again, as if he wanted to cover up his inner cowardice and refused to retreat.]

[——If I run away here, who will defeat the unidentified life forms that will appear next? How many innocent people will die tragically at the hands of these guys? ]

[You can’t run away! You can’t run away! You absolutely can’t run away! ]