My youth story cannot be a knight war

【Zaimokuza put away the momentary loneliness on his face when he heard the voice, smiled and stretched out his hand to ruffle Tsurumi Rumi's hair until her neat long black hair was messed up.】

[“… As expected, Yoshiki is still Yoshiki. He has never changed. He still likes to touch people.”]

[Tsurumi Rumi turned expressionless again and slapped away Zaimokuza's hand that was making trouble on her head, puffing up her cheeks slightly in dissatisfaction as she looked at him who was still smiling.]

[The sea breeze blew by, taking away the crying and sadness, leaving only the smile. ]

[——Until interrupted by a shout. ]

【“Zaimokuza!”】

[A familiar shout came from behind him, and Zaimokuza's smiling expression froze. He turned around and saw Kousaka Kyousuke running towards him on the beach.]

【"Mr. Kosaka——"】

【“Number 14, be careful now!!!”】

[Kousaka Kyousuke, who had already run very close to the three of them, had just opened his mouth to speak, but the sudden strong sense of danger made him and Zaimokuza's faces change at the same time.]

【Kousaka Kyosuke rushed forward and threw the shocked Tsurumi Rumi and the other person to the ground. Seeing this, Zaimokuza also rolled to the side.】

【call out--】

【Puff! 】

[A sound as subtle as a mosquito or an ant entered my ears, and the next moment, blood splashed. ]

[“Ugh!”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke loosened his arms around the two girls, covered his right shoulder with cold sweat on his forehead, and scarlet blood flowed out from between his fingers.]

Beneath him was a vacant-looking Rumi Tsurumi, and Natsume Mika, who was held in her arms. There was a hole in Rumi Tsurumi's face, and white smoke rose from the hole, which had been formed through the sand.

[The needle went straight through Kousaka Kyosuke's right shoulder and missed her face by a hair's breadth. If Kousaka Kyosuke hadn't knocked them down, the needle would have gone straight through Tsurumi Rumi's brain.]

["Mr. Kousaka!?"]

【Zaimokuza stood up and looked back to see Kousaka Kyosuke lying on the ground in pain, holding his right shoulder. He immediately rushed over with a changed expression.】

Chiba Prefecture, Takasaka House.

"a……"

Kousaka Daisuke supported his wife who had just woken up from a coma, holding her trembling hand with one hand, and watched the scene on TV in front of him where Kousaka Kyosuke fell to the ground after being attacked through the right shoulder, and was silent for a while.

"Dear, Kyousuke he!?"

Kousaka Yoshino looked at her "son" who fell down after being injured again and clenched Kousaka Daisuke's broad hand, looking at him in panic because she had found her backbone.

"Don't worry, wife, Kyosuke is fine, he is our son..."

Whispering to comfort his wife, Kousaka Daisuke raised his head and looked at Kousaka Kyosuke who was helped up by Zaimokuza on TV, a relieved smile on his face.

"When you sensed danger, you chose to use your body as a shield to protect innocent people without hesitation instead of running for your life... You are worthy of the police uniform you are wearing."

"You are my pride, Kyousuke."

[“Tsk! Pretty lucky.”]

Thousands of meters in the air, Badjisu retracted his right hand, which had shot out the silver needle, and spoke without interruption. His sharp eyesight captured every move of the four people below.

“Forget it, it’s just a side dish. The real main course is you, KUUGA…”

【Om—】

[As the voice fell, the simulated firearm it was holding in its hand changed in its palm, and the pitch-black short crossbow reappeared in the world.]

Badjisu aimed his short crossbow downwards and pulled the crossbow's lever. As the wings on both sides of the bow drew together, a dark green whirlwind gathered frantically at the firing port.

【"Mr. Kosaka! How are you!?"】

[Zaimokuza helped up the painful-looking Kousaka Kyosuke, and as he looked at the blood on his right shoulder that kept coming out from between his fingers, his pupils suddenly shrank, and he clenched his teeth tightly.]

[“Don’t worry about me, No. 14 is up there now, and that guy’s target is you!”]

【Kousaka Kyosuke endured the excruciating pain in his right shoulder, and reluctantly used his left hand to open his windbreaker, took out the pistol tucked into the lining and handed it to Zaimokuza, who took it with a solemn expression.】

【“What’s going on——”】

【Tsurumi Rumi, who was sitting up and hugging the frightened Natsume Mika, had no idea what was happening. She looked at Kousaka Kyosuke who had fallen to the ground and Zaimokuza who had stood up with a gun in his hand, and she felt that her brain was completely stuck.】

[What happened? Why was the officer injured? Why did Yoshiki take his gun? And number 14 - could it be the unidentified life form number 14 mentioned in the news report? The officer said Yoshiki became its target?]

[“Yihui, for——”]

[“Rumi, take good care of Mr. Kosaka and Mika!”]

[Zaimokuza didn't wait for her to finish, he immediately stood up with a gun in his hand and slapped his waist. ]

【Om—】

[A silver belt appeared around his waist, and the green spirit stone on his waist flickered, illuminating Tsurumi Rumi's eyes that were wide open at that moment, like an emerald green gem.]

[That belt is——]

【"overtake--!?"】

[Zaimokuza's expression changed drastically just as he finished speaking. He looked up and saw a dark blue arrow shooting straight at them.]

【boom! 】

[When Zaimokuza saw the arrow, it exploded and turned into countless green needles that shot towards all of them, and the attack range covered the entire surrounding land! ]

「——Oh no! ! ! 」

[At this moment when he was about to be hit, Zaimokuza, without thinking, immediately leaned over and hugged the remaining three people, shouting the rest of the words in a hurried tone.]

【"——Henshin!!!"】

【boom--! ! ! 】

[When Zaimokuza finished speaking, a literal blanket of blue needles had already hit them and the surrounding land. The dust and sea water in the sky exploded the moment they were hit, and the dust and water mist rose into the sky, covering the area.]

[“Solved…”]

Badjisu retracted the short crossbow that had fired the arrow, looked at the smoke rising from below, and nodded with satisfaction. He raised his left hand, which was wearing a bracelet, and with his right hand, which held the crossbow, he pressed the next row of magatama and moved it to the right.

[“Twenty-seven people, that’s it——Ugh!???”]

The fingers that were moving the magatama suddenly paused. Badjisu looked at the smoke and dust below that began to dissipate with the mist, his tone filled with disbelief.

[“What, what is that!? That looks like——”]

……

[Do you believe in the existence of angels? ]

【Tsurumi Rumi's answer was: I don't believe it. 】

[Because she had never seen an angel since she was born, she had long ago understood that the so-called angels were just beautiful totems woven by religions to attract more believers. If you remove the religious filter, the so-called angels are actually no different from other paintings created by artists.]

[But at this moment, she inexplicably believed in the existence of angels. ]

[——Because she really saw the figure of an "angel".]

【Wow.】

[The blue transparent wings passed by, and the dust in the surroundings was blown away by the sudden whistle of the wind, and the light shone into the girl's pupils again. ]

【“…”】

[The hand covered in a layer of green armor let go of Tsurumi Rumi's shoulder. She stared blankly at the figure that slowly stood up in front of her. The emerald compound eyes also reflected her face.]

[“I’ll leave it to you next… Zaimokuza.”]

[Kousaka Kyousuke, who was supported by two girls, panted and spoke with difficulty while looking at Zaimokuza who stood up.]

【Zaimokuza didn't say anything, but just gave him a thumbs up, and a pair of wings that were cyan and glittering with green light spread out to both sides, and under the sunlight, the same pair of wings with flowing light were projected onto the three of them.】

[Zaimokuza holds the Pegasus crossbow in his right hand and raises it. A few wisps of feathers like gauze flow from the shoulder armor on his left shoulder, and the whirlwind created by the wings behind him spreads and sways in the air.]

[Kuga·Pegasus Form·Elemental Awakening (Wind).]

【“This is… Unconfirmed Lifeform No. 4.”】

[Looking at this figure, whom she had never seen in person but had seen repeatedly in various online news and newspaper headlines in the past month, Tsurumi Rumi was briefly shocked before recognizing the true identity of Kuuga, who Zaimokuza had transformed into.]

【At the same time, she immediately recalled what Kawasaki Saki said in the restaurant earlier.】

[——That day I searched for him on the street for a long time before I found him. When I found him, he was squatting next to his motorcycle, eating a bowl of instant noodles. Yukinoshita said that because Zaimokuza's wallet and ID were burned in a fire in Nagano Prefecture, he was penniless and didn't know where to go, so she asked me to take him in. ]

[——Ah, since your uncle’s incident happened in Nagano Prefecture, and Yukinoshita was his student, and Zaimokuza’s things were also burned down in Nagano Prefecture a few weeks ago, this shouldn’t be a coincidence. Maybe that guy knows something, so Yukinoshita asked you to come to me.]

[——Is Yoshiki busy recently? ]

[——Who knows? He is now hanging out with a police officer named Kosaka all day long. I don’t know where these two grown men go and what they do. Anyway, they always look exhausted when they come back. Could it be that the guy finally fell into the state of being a gigolo when I wasn’t paying attention? That vain look is because he has too many customers?]

[…Nagano Prefecture is where the unidentified life form first appeared in the news report. Including No. 4, Yoshiteru also lost his wallet and ID there. On the day when the incident happened at the Kuroyama Ruins, Yoshiteru also happened to be there—]

[So, that's how it is...Yihui, you have always been——]

[“This is impossible!”]

An angry roar echoed through the sky above the Futtsu coast. Badjisu stared intently at Zaimokuza, who looked up at him. The pair of glowing green compound eyes seemed to be right before his eyes.

[“You actually evolved again!??? How is this possible!”]

Zaimokuza listened to Badjisu's voice. His roar from thousands of meters above was as clear as if it were ringing in his ears. Without a word, he raised his Pegasus crossbow and aimed the muzzle at the enemy far across the sky from a great distance. His eyes, which had already been shining, lit up again.

【Om—】

【“!”】

A sudden burst of light below her made Tsurumi look down in surprise. Suddenly, a gigantic green totem emerged from the sandy ground where she sat, echoing from Zaimokuza's waist. This totem, approximately five meters across, encompassed a portion of the sea's surface. Each line of the totem shone with a turquoise hue, like emerald green. Its shape was identical to the totem on Badjisu's chest high in the sky; it was the totem representing "wind" in the ancient writings.

[The green totem rose from the sand beneath the girl's incredible gaze, turning into green light particles that flowed into the green gem in the Pegasus crossbow that Zaimokuza raised. The green gem inlaid on the Pegasus crossbow glowed brightly. As Zaimokuza pulled the lever, the two wings extending from the bow body spun and gathered in parallel at an even faster speed, and even the blue wings behind Zaimokuza turned into particles and flowed into the gem.]

"Damn it! KUUGA!"

Watching Zaimokuza's prepared attack, a chill ran down Badjisu's spine. Knowing that waiting to be killed was a dead end, he aimed his jet-black short crossbow at Zaimokuza, roared, and pulled the lever, ready to strike. A dark green whirlwind gathered at the firing port once again.

[Both parties prepared for the shooting, just like the last time they fought.]

[After a short period of accumulation, one side finally launched the first attack. ]

[“——Die! KUUGA!!!”]

Badjisu roared, pulling the trigger. A dark green arrow, almost completely black, shot from the slit where the whirlwind had gathered, and shot towards Zaimokuza and the others below. Its trajectory through the air left an ominous afterimage, like a dark stroke on a cyan canvas.

[During this buildup, Badjisu, who came in later, attacked faster!]

[Zaimokuza's blue compound eyes reflected the pitch-black arrow approaching at high speed in his field of vision, but he remained indifferent until the wings behind him completely dissipated and turned into a stream of light and merged into the gem of the Pegasus crossbow, turning the green gem completely into a glowing blue color, and then he pulled the trigger.]

【"drink!"】

[With Zaimokuza's light shout, a blue arrow shot out from the firing port of the Pegasus crossbow, heading towards the incoming jet-black arrow.]

【This moment is just like that moment.】

【boom!!!】

As expected, the moment the two arrows were about to collide, the pitch-black arrow exploded first, transforming into a rain of black needles that was even denser and more diffuse than any before, rushing downwards, just like Zaimokuza's battle with Badjisu that morning.

【But, the result is already different! 】

【"What!???"】

【boom! 】

Amid Badjisu's incredible cry, the cyan wind arrows also exploded, transforming into a cyan tornado that shot up into the sky. The tornado's suction completely disrupted the trajectory of the spreading rain of needles, forcibly sucking them together and carrying them towards him. The cyan tornado, mixed with countless black needles, resembled a black dragon. Those needles were the dragon's scales!

【"Damn!"】

Badjisu was in disbelief when he saw that his attack was not only completely ineffective but actually increased the opponent's attack power. In shock and panic, he pulled the lever again, intending to attack again, but it was too late.

[Just as it raised its crossbow, a cyan light flashed in the center of the tornado that was rushing towards the sky, and then a light of the same color suddenly rushed out from the center of the tornado, and the tornado was instantly shattered. Countless black needles fell in the air and turned into black particles and dissipated.]

[And that ray of light, at a speed far exceeding its previous one, reached Badjisu, who was holding up his crossbow. The cyan light instantly filled his green compound eyes!]

[A ray of blue light suddenly passed through the thick clouds in the blue sky. The next moment, the clouds dispersed with the path of the light as the center, revealing the magnificent sea below the clouds.]

[…Uh…Gu…]

The black crossbow fell from his loosened palm, but Badjisu remained rigidly in his stance, ready to shoot, his head slowly lowered to his chest.

[There is nothing on its chest.]

[——This is not an adjective, because its chest is truly "empty", including the green "wind" character, the entire chest has disappeared, and a big hole has replaced its chest. You can even see the back from the front through the big hole in the chest.]