Chapter 72: Toward the Form I Longed For

Time rewinds slightly.

"Aaah enough, why is the timing always this bad!"

Not long after seeing Grace off, Zero Ko’s smartphone received a call.

She found the unknown number suspicious, but because she had just given Grace a memo with her contact information, she thought it might be a call from Grace.

’You’re Knuckle, right—please, save Knight...!’

It was an unfamiliar young voice.

But Zero Ko did not raise a questioning voice; she listened to that voice. There was also the fact that those who called Zero Ko "Knuckle" were limited—but hearing that desperate voice, she could not think something like "Is this a prank?"

And she came to know—what had happened at Grace’s mansion, and what she was doing now.

After immediately sending a message to Leas, she used the newspaper club account to create an article directed at Atel Octo, then Zero Ko immediately transformed and dashed toward the abandoned factory.

Kicking the ground at high speed, leaping onto building rooftops.

Jumping from building to building, she ran the shortest path.

(Gure-senpai—no, when in this form I have to unify it as Knight-senpai or I’ll slip and say her real name when I let my guard down while transformed... anyway, Knight-senpai’s condition is the worst both physically and mentally, and leaving her alone carelessly is bad... but Saber-senpai is on this side.)

A senpai far stronger and more dignified than herself.

She had some airheaded places, but as far as Knuckle knew she was the person who most resembled a champion of justice.

Someone like that should have already rushed splendidly to a comrade’s pinch—that was what she thought.

"You’ve come, Knuckle."

——But.

The Sacred Saber Knuckle had believed in like that confirmed Knuckle’s existence, put on a smile, and began running alongside her.

Let’s go to the meeting place together—at that casualness, Knuckle involuntarily raised her voice.

"Wha—what are you doing, senpai! Do you understand the situation!?"

"...? Ah, I understand. That’s why I was waiting for you like this, right?"

"If you understand, why are you going so slowly!?"

Saber put on a suspicious expression for an instant, then immediately smiled.

As if to calm the impatient Knuckle, as if teaching her that there was no need to rush that much.

"Knuckle—you probably don’t know, but Knight is very strong. Not only in battle, but her heart as well."

Therefore it was only natural that she would hold out.

If a hostage was being held, even more so. Rushing in carelessly might crush Knight’s plan.

Join with comrades, search the surroundings in a fully prepared state—find the hostage, rescue swiftly. Arrange the stage so that Knight can fight in perfect condition.

"Therefore there is no need to rush, Knuckle. Calm down—Knuckle?"

"A—aaah...!"

At those words, at that absolute trust, Knuckle realized her own failure.

——Sacred Saber did not know.

What kind of situation Sacred Knight was in right now.

Of course she was probably confused by the fact that she had attacked Atel Octo. It also looked as if she wondered why she had rushed ahead like that.

But even so—to her, Knight was still "the senpai Sacred overflowing with confidence."

Because she had not seen the current Knight’s figure.

Because that ojou-sama had been one of the precious people she had desperately kept up appearances for so as not to make them worry.

If they had spoken face-to-face even once the story would have been different—but Knight who had remained in Calmate and Saber who had continued fighting Monster Villains on Earth had not had that kind of opportunity.

As a result—now a fatal passing-each-other-by was occurring.

——If it’s Knight she’ll be fine.

——Even in a somewhat disadvantageous situation she can hold out—because she’s a strong and noble person.

——Then rather than going to save her alone, let’s join with comrades and head to support in a solid state.

——That person can fight even by herself—and if it were a critical situation, even more so one person rushing in would be water on a hot stone.

——It’s fine. Even if she’s at a disadvantage she will hold out.

Because she was directing such straightforward trust.

What Saber was assuming was the figure of Knight written in the letters—the woman like the sun overflowing with confidence from one year ago.

She had not even imagined that she was exhausted both physically and mentally.

That was certainly according to Sacred Knight’s plan—but in the current situation it had become a piece for completing the worst picture.

"Kh... aaah, enough! Aaah enough, why, why...!"

This kind of thing, neither side was at fault.

The thought of not wanting to make someone precious worry was something Knuckle could also understand. Anyone would want people close to them to be smiling, and would not want to become a burden.

The feeling of believing in a reliable senpai as well—since becoming a Sacred she had always been beside Saber, so there was no way she would not understand.

And yet—why had they meshed in such a distorted form.

She would not say the two of them were doing everything perfectly well, but both were good-natured and had done what they thought was correct.

"Saber-senpai! I’ll explain later, so I want you to head there quickly! Please, quickly...!"

She shouted while running.

Saber was currently the fastest of the Sacred. Knuckle did not know the other Sacred well, but even so she understood that she could run far faster than the likes of herself.

If she had not been waiting for her, Saber would have reached Knight long ago.

"What’s wrong, Knuckle, suddenly—"

"Just hurry!"

There was not enough time to explain.

Trust as well.

Knuckle was Saber’s junior, still a newcomer not used to combat—she could not possess persuasive power that surpassed the Sacred Knight living in Saber’s heart.

She thought if she had written Knight’s current state in the message she sent, but it was already too late.

Even so, Saber accepted Knuckle’s words while half-doubting.

She said only a small "Understood" and increased her speed.

——And then they saw it.

In the middle of leaping across building rooftops—far, far away, an abandoned factory that looked like a miniature.

A human figure that had broken through it and was rolling on the ground.

A girl wearing silver-white armor over a red corset dress, holding a burning greatsword—Sacred Knight who was not even twitching like a broken doll.

The figure of a Monster Villain approaching such her and pressing a blade to her neck.

The Monster Villain in black armor putting on a smile, convinced of victory.

Slightly later than Saber, Knuckle also visually confirmed it. She heard the sound of blood draining zaa.

"Gray, ce, Onee, chan—?"

It leaked out from ahead.

It was a young voice Knuckle had never heard, yet the voice of a person she was used to hearing.

The raw voice of Saber, whom she had thought of as basically a cool and cool person even if she occasionally showed cute sides.

Hearing that, unrelated to dignity, age-appropriate and girl-like, Knuckle realized she did not understand a single thing about the senpai right next to her—the comrade she fought together with—and was astonished.

Just earlier she had been angry at Saber for not noticing and going quickly.

But—the self who had thought that had only been looking at the senpai she fought together with on the surface.

(Ah—this is)

Gichiri, the sound of her heart creaking.

Receiving contact from the girl calling herself Sacred Arrow, Knuckle had thought "Why did it become like this."

The answer was now right in front of her.

They had not truly cooperated, had not understood each other. The gears had looked like they were meshing, but they had not been touching at all.

The result was this.

Why did it become like this? That’s wrong.

They—like a ball falling to the ground when thrown, had broken down as a matter of course.

"No good, no—!"

Saber raised a pained voice and raced.

A completely different speed from when she had been running alongside Knuckle. An all-out dash with no thought of stamina allocation, heading toward the abandoned factory to save Knight.

But she would not make it.

Saber was certainly fast. If it was only chain-link fence she could pass through using the protection of the Water Spirit and run through without stopping.

But the blade was already pressed against Knight’s nape.

Already, Saber would not make it.

(But with me, no matter how I struggle...!)

Sacred Knuckle possessed the highest output among the Sacred.

Because she was from Earth, she did not use the magical power of light for life maintenance like the residents of Calmate—therefore she could allocate extra magical power to attack and defense compared to the other Sacred.

Therefore her physical ability was also the highest among the Sacred, and she could run faster than anyone—only in theory.

Knuckle had never received combat training in her life so far, and had not belonged to an athletic club.

Compared to the other Sacred her way of moving her body was clumsy, and she could not effectively utilize her surplus specs. The current Knuckle was slower than Saber even running at full power.

Of course she had been training under Saber’s instructions since becoming a Sacred, but it had only been a few months. It was only that her movements had become a little better than before. There was no way she could catch up to people who had been training the whole time since before Knuckle became a Sacred.

That was natural logic—but it was unbearably frustrating.

She had become a Sacred and become able to fight enemies called Monster Villains and Diabolics.

But had the existence called Sacred Knuckle accomplished anything?

Even the battle against the Panty-Flash Monster Villain she had challenged with spirit, in the end she had only watched, leaving it to Atel Octo and Saber.

And—now as well.

At the time when Knight was about to receive the finishing blow,

even though Saber was desperately running,

she herself could do nothing.

Even though she had obtained the power to fight, the power that could protect everyone—was it not that nothing had changed from when she had been a powerless bystander.

——Yes. Therefore her name was "Rei"ko. Zero.

No matter how much she longed for transformation heroines, longed for heroes, thought of someone, wished for salvation, in the original what she could accomplish was zero.

She was only a victim to be trampled by the original protagonist, an unsightly loser who no matter how she struggled could not become the self she wanted to be—originally.

"Knuckle...!"

——She heard a voice. A man’s voice.

The one who appeared while falling at high speed from the sky grabbed Knuckle with "two tentacles."

"Atel-san...?"

An abnormal form whose entire body was covered in tentacles. Wearing a black parka and pants said to have been created from tentacles, ugly—yet a reliable comrade, Vigilante Atel Octo.

His tentacles wriggled while grabbing Knuckle.

Two tentacles tangled and created a foothold for Knuckle—and Atel Octo began swinging the tentacles at high speed as if throwing a stone with a slingshot.

While being pressed against the tentacle foothold by centrifugal force, she directed her gaze at Atel Octo while flustered without understanding the meaning.

"I’ll throw you—match the timing and jump with full power!"

He made his crimson eyes shine and said such an outrageous thing.

What was that, adding centrifugal force to this side’s physical ability and telling her to jump to that Monster Villain.

Hie, a weak voice leaked involuntarily.

It was outrageous. She had never practiced that even once, and there was no guarantee it would go well.

If they were going to do something like this, Atel Octo should go—

(——Ah, I see.)

——Wrong.

He had also judged that he could not do it alone, that he would not make it, and had stretched tentacles to Knuckle.

Around here there were few buildings that looked like tentacles could be hooked on, and even if there were they were aged and looked about to collapse.

The ground as well was scattered with trash apparently discarded by delinquents using this place as a hangout and fragments of collapsed buildings, unsuitable for sliding. He would not make it.

Therefore he had relied on her—he had relied on her.

"Heroes help each other—you said it, Knuckle! Take responsibility for your words...!"

——Ah.

Sacred Knuckle put a smile on her mouth.

Yes, a hero was not a lonely existence. There were such existences, but that was not the hero image Knuckle sought.

Joining hands with comrades, and even with enemies they had continued fighting, heading toward a happy ending.

Because Haga Reiko—wanted to become that kind of justice transformation heroine Sacred.

She had not tried to know her comrades well? She had no experience and was the weakest?

(So what about that...!)

She would properly accept her own foolishness and her own weakness and connect them to the next.

Therefore now, this instant—borrowing his power, she would save a comrade. Weak ones together, ones whose hands could not reach alone, stretching their hands toward a happy ending.

Can or cannot doesn’t matter—I’ll do it!

"I’ll leave the timing to you! I think the tentacles will end up in a pretty bad state so I’ll apologize in advance, sorry for making it hurt!"

Her vision spun.

The world rotated.

But Knuckle’s eyes were accurately directed toward the Monster Villain.

——Sacred Knuckle’s physical ability was the highest among the Sacred.

That fact also affected her semicircular canals.

In addition—the power of will to absolutely see it through, though incomplete, began strengthening Knuckle as magic that enhanced physical ability.

The current her should be able to calmly judge the situation even if tied to a wheel rotating at high speed.

"We’re going————I leave it to you, Knuckle!"

Atel Octo shouted.

To throw, he took one step forward.

Knuckle as well.

Gu, she put force into her legs—

"Yes————left to me, Atel-san!"

——Launch.

While feeling the tentacles used as a foothold tearing with merimeri sounds, yet without the momentum dulling, forward, forward.

Like a bullet she overtook Saber who had been running ahead, and in an instant reached Knight and the Monster Villain.

"This—!"

And.

Faster than the blade could cut off Knight’s head, Knuckle’s fist arrived.

The fist that scored a direct hit on the Monster Villain’s face blasted the head, and the remaining body was also blown away like a doll—and slammed into the abandoned factory.

That was probably the finishing blow; the abandoned factory that had been maintaining its shape even while aging collapsed while resonating a roar.

But now that kind of thing did not matter.

Without breaking her stance, she turned only her face behind.

Toward the ojou-sama with red vertical rolls staring this way blankly—Saber’s senpai, her.

"As promised, I came to help—Sacred Knight-senpai."

Like the champion of justice she had wanted to become, she smiled gently.