177: Open Seam
It has been 50 years since the Hero Headquarters was established.
Numerous heroes were born and disappeared every year. In the midst of their rise and fall, there is only one man who is called an immortal “hero”.
A man who has supported Hero Headquarters for 50 years.
Hero, Akajustice Morikuni Ittetsu.
Everyone admired him and knocked on the door of the hero school.
Hence, heroes were always with heroes. With envy, trust, and pride, they clung to the everlasting spiritual pillar of heroism.
A man named Masayuki Kazami was one of them.
On the day Morikuni announced his retirement, something that had sustained Kazami’s heart rolled out of his hands.
It was a reminder that “heroes” are neither immortal nor eternal.
…………
「Then let me create, with my own hands, an eternal spiritual pillar. This time, a truly immortal hero!」
In his hand is a detonation switch for a high-performance bomb placed in the “hero” Victor Red’s hero suit.
The name of Kurenai Retto, who stood up to the mysterious beings until his last moment, will be talked about forever. It is a longing that all heroes, present and future, will hold equally in their hearts.
「Farewell, hero! And happy birthday!!」
Zuzuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!
Even the control room inside Kanda Jimbo-shin shook with the sheer impact of the explosion. Everyone on the battlefield heard the loud explosion.
The hero staffs, the mysterious beings, and even the person involved, Kurenai Retto himself.
「Asaka-san, Asaka-san, it hurts…… Gueee.」
Perhaps she had resigned herself to death and was trying to at least mitigate the effects of the blast, or perhaps there was some other reason. Asaka, who had been holding Retto with all her might, came to her senses and looked up.
There, Retto was standing with a puzzled look on his face, as if he still hadn’t fully comprehended the situation.
「……Kurenai, -san……？」
「Yes, it’s me!」
Instead of exploding, Retto responded full of energy. Asaka could feel the unmistakable beat of his heart in his chest.
As Asaka removed her body from Retto, she once again placed her hand on his chest to check his heartbeat.
「Um, Asaka-san! It tickles!」
As Asaka traced the scars here and there, she suddenly realized something.
The suit that Kazami handed to Asaka and then to Retto must have been brand-new and freshly put on. But what about this suit? It looked as if it had been through a lot of hardships.
「Kurenai-san, this suit……? Could it be……」
「Well, I…… thought it would be better to wear something I’m used to wearing. And it’s kind of a waste to wear the new one! Is it not allowed?」
「Then the explosion earlier was……」
Asaka looked cautiously towards the source of the thunderous noise and explosion, then was speechless. Next, Retto, who had no idea what was happening, shouted loudly after seeing the scene.
「God Kanda Jimbo-shin is! How could it beeeee!!!!!」
Inside Kanda Jimbo-shin, operators were panicking as warnings appeared one after another on the monitors.
Kazami himself could not catch up with the sudden shock and alarm warning of an emergency. Due to its enormous size, it is difficult to immediately grasp the cause of the abnormality.
In the midst of the confusion, one of the operators reported the situation with a very pale face.
「C-Chief Kazami…! It appears there was a large explosion in block A located in the lower back.……！」
「Block A you say……!?」
Block A, the first section everyone visits.
That is the entrance lobby of the new Hero Headquarters building in Kanda Jimbojin.
And displayed in the center of the entrance lobby was a red hero suit placed in a glass case.
「Could it be…… could it be, could it be, could it be, could it be!?」
Kazami’s mind and vision went completely white.
――It’s precisely that “could be”.
The tattered red suit, which had been displayed as a symbol of the strong hero headquarters, had been replaced with a new suit by Retto’s attachment and spirit of not wasting.
Of course, it was the “new suit” that Kazami set off the high-performance bomb.
「The crack in the waist armor is getting bigger! It’s going to fall off!」
「Impossible…… Such thing, can’t happen……!」
The interior of the super-massive robot Kanda Jimbo-shin GOD was exposed from where the armor had collapsed. The main gate of the gigantic mobile fortress was left wide open and defenseless.
And the Machinery General’s eyes are not so blind that she would miss such an opportunity.
「Well done, nou, I’ll pay it back to you a billion trillion times over, wai!! There is gap, ryaryarya!!」
A thumping vibration reverberated in its stomach, even reaching all the way to Kanda Jinbo-shin’s cockpit. The Tagarabatrion’s remaining right arm stabbed into Kanda Jinbo-shin’s waist, where its armor had been peeled off.
Its protruding arm serve as a bridge between the battered Tagarabatrion and Kanda Jimbo-shin.
「Everyone! The way has been opened, zoi! Now hop in, hop in!!!」
「「「「「Ooooooooooooh!!!」」」」」
Rushing across the steel bridge, the mysterious beings, pent up with pent-up frustration, all surged into Kanda Jinbo-shin interior. Among them all, the hunger of the Hundred Beasts Legion was particularly striking.
「Listen up, you guys! We’ll show you that we, the Hundred Beasts Legion, are the strongest when it comes to hand-to-hand combat!!」
「「「「Gaoooooooooooooooh!!!」」」」
As if this was the highlight of the night, majestic roar rang out. The beasts, each powerful enough to withstand a thousand blows, attacked the hero staffs, who were thrown into a panic.
「I’ll teach you what real fighting is! Electric shock Biribiri Whip!!!」
「I won’t let Ojiki and anego show off on their own!」
「Finally, I can fight properly, nyan. It’s stressful when you can’t move your body, nyan’na.」
「……Being a punching bag was frustrating, wan…… It’s so vexing, wan……」
Bears hit, rabbits kicked, cheetahs ripped, cats beat, and dogs slashed. The one-sided destruction by the evil mysterious being organization, the secret society Ark Dominion, had begun.
「Engine room 5 stopped functioning! Fighting has also occurred in engine room 3! Director Kazami, please give the order!」
「A fire has broken out in Block D! The bulkhead of Block E has also been breached! Director, please give your orders!」
The reports coming in from various sources no longer reached Kazami’s ears.
Inheriting Retto’s spirit, he would pass on his legacy to the heroes and encourage them to awaken. To that end, Kazami planned to turn Retto into a hero, and ultimately deify him.
Kazami’s “heroic plan” was about to collapse due to a tiny crack.
「Director Kazami, please give your orders! Director! Director!!!」
Kazami, who had been in a state of lethargy, came to himself at the sound of a voice calling out to him. He then hurriedly sent out instructions to the operators.
「Ha… A- aah, drive them away immediately!! What are you doing? Hurry!!」
「However, that would mean the power of Kanda Jinbo-shin would…!」
「If they were to get inside and there won’t be any power left!! Drive those mysterious beings away!! We should have the advantage in numbers!!!」
It’s not over yet, he’s overcome difficult situations many times during his active career. He must get through this in order to rework his hero plan.
Kazami told himself and picked up the radio.
「Engine room 1, can you hear me? You must deal with the intruders immediately! The number of mysterious beings that have boarded the ship is no more than 20 at most, so we have more than enough chances to win!」
More than 200 employees were aboard this Kanda Jimbo-shin to maintain it with its massive size. In particular, the first engine room, which is the main engine, is staffed by nearly 100 heroes, half of the total number of employees.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that if that point were to fall, it would be a defeat.
「What’s going, Engine Room 1, please respond!」
『Yes, this is Mayuzumi from Engine Room 1. I accidentally wiped out the entire garrison.』
「Wh-…… Wha-……」
Inside Kanda Jimbo-shin, Engine Room 1, the main engine room. The heart of the God was filled with the moans of the hero staff.
Everyone was cowering, clutching the bruises on their shoulders and backs. Others were pinned to the wall like specimens by countless swords, slumped over in daze.
Standing in the center of the bodies was a girl in a black jacket with shimmering silvery white hair. And a tall girl in a red coat breathing heavily.
In contrast to the sweaty Minato, there was not even a trace of sweat on Kirika’s well-groomed white face.
「Haa, haa, I- I- I- I- I thought I was going to die!! Even though I told you to wait for the others behind us!!」
「The more targets there are, the more test cuts you can make. I’ve finally got my beloved sword back in my hands.」
In Kirika’s hand was a sword with a blackened blade.
―― The name is “Kuroageha”――
It is the masterpiece created by Swordminus, aka Minato, the Sword Mountain Mysterious Being, after numerous experiments, and is the unique weapon of Kirika, who was once Victor Black. It was one of the items brought back by Samecchi when she snuck into the director’s office at the new Hero Headquarters building.
In a confined space such as an indoor space, the large wings of the mysterious being form Kirika would get in the way. On the other hand, the Kuroageha is easy to maneuver and will not accidentally set the engine room on fire.
「It still feels good in the hand. And it’s much sturdier than a wooden sword. ……This is a good product.」
「No, well, un… please don’t ask for another one.」
While Minato smiled bitterly, Kirika picked up the radio, which was still in the middle of a call. Through the call, she could hear the faint sound of breathing.
「Oh yes, Director Kazami, was it? I forgot to tell you. Someone very scary went that way, so you’d better get ready to surrender.」
As soon as Kirika uttered these words, countless gunshots echoed from the radio. This was followed by the sound of footsteps and screams of operators running away.
「Oh, it looks like you’ve already arrived」
Tossing the radio with a pop, Kirika left the engine room, tugging on Minato’s sleeve, who was concerned about the moaning heroes.
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