Huge explosions strong enough to shake the entire offshore platform were repeated over and over like crashing waves. The wailing alarm sounded like the death throes of the “Village” that had imprisoned countless mysterious beings.

「…………!」

When Colonel Usanyi-chan opened her eyes, a large, hairy body covered her field of vision like a wall. A moment later, she realized the situation she was in.

「Bearion-sama……?」

Amidst the falling debris, Bearion shielded Colonel Usanyi-chan with his own body.

However, even Bearion with his strong body would not be able to escape unscathed if he were to be hit  directly with rubble weighing several tons.

「Why- Why something like this…… Bearion-samaa!!」

But then Colonel Usanyi-chan suddenly realized something.

There was another, a huge shadow was hanging over them both as if to protect them. Bearion’s eyes were wide open.

「Kyururururuu……」

「Haru…… You……」

It  was Bearion’s family, who had transformed into a giant dinosaur… It was Haru, an 18-meter-tall Tyrannosaurus-like mysterious being.

Haru used her massive body to catch the huge block of concrete and the steel pillars that were like giant trees.

Her two thick legs were dug into the concrete floor, and a large amount of blood was gushing down from her back, which was covered in hard scales. The wounds were so deep that at first glance it seemed there was no hope of survival.

「「……………………」」

The two beastmen were at a loss for words.

Her appearance transformed, losing her sense of self, and knocked unconscious by the sleeping gas. Haru, who should have had everything taken from her, had indeed saved both their lives.

But even though she was bleeding and her neck were broken, the vitality of her giant body did not allow her to enjoy the peace of death.

「Kyururururu…… rurururuu」

“Haru” held out her thin-scaled throat in front of Bearion, as if to say, “Cut off my head.”

Deprived of freedom, deprived of self, yet Haru.

She couldn’t let even death be taken from her. She refuse to let them take away her resolve and her dignity.

It was as if she was saying that.

「Usanyi, watch carefully what’s gonna happen now.」

Bearion gently stroked Colonel Usanyi-chan’s head, then clenched his fist so hard that it drew blood.

「Responding to resolve is the family way. If this happens to me, you’ll be the one who have to do it. Hey Usanyi, you’re my family too, aren’t you.」

「……………………Yes. Under- stood…… Bearion-sama.」

Colonel Usanyi-chan no longer had the slightest intention of stopping him. There was no longer any rudeness to dampen his resolve as a family.

Petty love and jealousy are like dust in the face of resolve.

Even if the result is that they turn into murderous beast, they must respond with resolve as the beast’s family.

Colonel Usanyi-chan opened her eyes as wide as she could. She was determined to see Bearion’s resolve through to the end.

「Sorry, Haru. I’ll be joining you there soon as well.」

His hard fists turned into steel bullets, and his toned biceps turn into hammers. The beast’s eyes turned into gunsight, aiming to kill his target with a single blow.

Just as the decisive blow was about to be struck.

「……aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!」

A person fell from a gaping hole in the ceiling. To be specific, it was a man with a girl in his arms.

「Ugeffoa!!」

The man crashed into Haru’s back, letting out a shriek like a squashed frog. It was none other than Kuriyama Rintaro, aka Death Green, who had been in charge of holding back the heroes on the upper floors.

The impact of the fall sent Samecchi flying out of Rintaro’s arms.

「Fugyan, ssu!」

Samecchi rolled down the dinosaur’s back like it was a slide and landed face-first in front of Bearion, who had his fist raised.

「Ouch, ssuu… Ah! Ojiki and Colonel Usanyi-chan are safe, ssune!」

「O- Ou, Samecchii……」

「Hawa, ssu! You two have really scary faces, ssuyo! Has the plan failed, ssuka!?」

「No, that’s not the case but…」

Rintaro, who had been sprawled out on Haru’s back, regained consciousness.

Although he fell on Haru’s back, he fell almost entirely from the top floor to the bottom. If there had been a hard concrete floor below, he probably would not have survived.

「Ouch ouch…… I thought I was gonna die……」

「Ma- Major Death Green! How dare you undermine Bearion-sama’s resolve!!」

「Ha? Eh? What?」

Rintaro, who was being scolded by Colonel Usanyi-chan as soon as he woke up, still couldn’t comprehend the situation.

Gogogogogogogogo……

At that moment, the entire platform shook violently once again. But it wasn’t caused by an explosion.

Everyone present except Rintaro stared in amazement at the source of the tremor.

「Ah……?」

Rintaro was the only one unable to comprehend the situation, all he saw was a black sword stuck deep into the floor.

「Kyurururugoaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!」

「No waaaaaaaaaaaay!?」

By the time he realized it wasn’t the floor, but the back of a gigantic creature, Rintaro’s body was already flying high into the air.

「Brother!!」

Just before Rintaro’s body was thrown back and hit the hard concrete wall, Bearion ran at the speed of an arrow and caught him in an instant.

The impact was so great that the Bearion’s massive body was embedded in the wall. Had his judgment been even a moment slower, Rintaro’s limbs would have been shattered to pieces.

But in terms of life-threatening danger, It was just been a matter of it coming sooner or later.

「Kyururururugoagyagyaaaaaaaashh!!!!」

A loud noise, so loud it was no longer clear whether it was a voice or just noise, made the air tremble. In front of the four mysterious beings, a huge figure with a sword thrust into its back slowly raised its head.

The sword stuck in the mysterious being’s back was no ordinary sword. It was a vicious magic sword that will convert 100% of its body into mysterious being cells, even if only temporarily.

「Major Deathgreen, what on earth is this?! What did you do?!」

「Hey brother… this is turning a little messy, isn’t it…?」

「Hawawawawa, aniki, Samecchi is about to pee her pants, ssuuuu.」

Rintaro knew firsthand more than anyone the threat of having one’s entire body transformed into mysterious being cells.

「Uwah, this is bad……」

The first thought that crossed Rintaro’s mind was, “I shouldn’t have brought it.”

Transformed into pure mysterious being cells that give explosive fighting power and endless regenerative power.

However, in exchange for these, reason is trampled upon and anger is only amplified. That is the “Black Sword.”

Dragius told him to refrain from overusing it. Now, Rintaro regretted, he should have taken that advice seriously.

「Kyurugogyaaaaaahhh!!!!」

The wounds all over Haru’s body healed in an instant, and the mysterious being cells began to affect her scales, staining them a dark color. The eyes of the “Terrifying Dragon” that had transformed into a demonic beast glared at its prey, trembling with its huge, black body.

However, her eyes were not fixed on the four mysterious beings. Her gaze, thick and sharp like the spear wielded by a giant, was fixed on what was behind them.

「Hiih……!」

The research staff, frozen in terror, remained in the position they had assumed when pulling the Village’s self-destruct lever. They were the very ones who had stripped “Haru,” now transformed into a Black Dragon, of her freedom, her body, and even the dignity of death itself.

「Kyururururu……」

「Wait a minute. I was only doing what my superiors… Director Tamba told me to do…! I’m sorry, I apologize. If there’s anything you want, I’ll give you anything. So, let’s calm down and talk…」

「Kyurururugogogogyagyagyagyaaaaaaaaashhh!!!!!!」

Realizing what was about to happen, Rintaro gently covered Samecchi’s eyes.

After it was over, Rintaro pulled out the “black sword” from Haru’s back, who had turned into a black dragon.

He holds out the sword with surprising sincerity, and sheathed it, as if to overlap it with his future self. As if to confirm the power he has gained and the weight of what it will bring.

Whatever you take will one day be taken from you. Whatever is stolen from you will one day be taken back.

Providence speaks not a word. It simply was, as it should be.

………………

…………

……

The veteran hero piloting the high-speed helicopter couldn’t believe his eyes. The offshore platform “Village” was engulfed in crimson flames and was on the verge of collapse, leaving only the framework behind.

Sweat trickled down his cheeks. After all, the crumbling “village” is currently home to the de facto heads of Hero HQ, the acting director and the chief of staff.

The Apache Five captain, anticipating the worst-case scenario, placed his finger on the radio transmitter.

『This is Apache Five, Six Two. We have confirmed a large explosion in the Village. We have sighted several personnel on the heliport.』

『HQ, Understood. Immediately begin rescue operations. Beware of secondary disasters.』

『Six-Two, understood. However, the scale of the explosions feels somewhat too uniform for a mysterious being attack. This incident appears to be man-made.』

『This is Headquarters. Six-Two, don’t overthink. Over.』

As he approached, he could feel the intense turbulence of the air coming from the control stick. But using his highly skilled piloting skills, he managed to hover above the heliport.

The heroes on board immediately began retrieving the staff members who had somehow been wrapped up in a bundle on the heliport.

「Hey, get a grip! Where are the others!?」

「……The rest of the staff are all in the containment area… they’re already…」

「Don’t be ridiculous! Where is Acting Director Kurenai? Is Chief of Staff Samejima not here?」

「……It’s too late now… This place will soon collapse… It’s all over…」

Hearing the employee’s words, the heroes looked at each other. None of the heroes said anything out loud, but from the situation they could tell that the explosion was the work of the employee.

However, the crying and screaming staff members in front of them didn’t seem to have the resolve to fight to the death with the mysterious being. They get the impression that they’re trying to hide something important.

「Hey! It can’t hold on any longer!」

「……No choice. Accommodate as many as we can! We’ll stop searching for survivors and leave here. Everyone, withdraw!」

As soon as the helicopter took off, cracks appeared across the entire helipad, and the area where they had been moments before turned into rubble and fell into the sea.

「Damn it, the warning won’t stop blaring because of the blast wave. No choice—ascending.」

「Wait! There’s something on the surface of the sea right now… It might be someone who needs rescue!」

「I saw it as well. What is that?」

It was a purple light. What looked like a faint human figure could be seen in the center of the light.

But it was a little, no, quite large to be a human figure. The purple light gradually grew larger on the surface of the water far below.

At that moment, one of the heroes shouted. 「It’s a shark! A shark holding a taiyaki and a dinosaur!」

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<227: The Determination of A King, The Determination of A Loyal Subject
229: It Was A Very Scary Dream>