The Raven Dark Hero 70

Chapter 70 : The Will of the Elite

TL:SummerPeanut

Evil was engrossed in watching the battle between Bright and Hiro.

(I'm surprised... that Hiro is going toe to toe with that Bright, although not equally matched... I mean, how did he manage to react to that speed? Could it be... that Hiro has also awakened?)

Evil(Takahiko) didn’t really have high hopes towards Hiro.

Takahiko, who usually worked with Kuroyume's numbers and someone who easily saw through Mizutani Fuuka at school even though she was hiding her true identity, thought that Hiro was just a narrow-minded person with an elitist face. He had no great ability and was secretly plotting something trivial behind the scenes even though he admired Kouki more than anyone else. Takahiko thought he was just someone unimportant.

(...What the hell happened to him? How did he become so lively in such a short time? ...I'll have to ask Kouki later.)

After that, Hiro continued to counter Bright's flashes with time control. However, Hiro had no decisive means to attack. It was clearer than day that he could not win with time control alone.

(…Kuh, Just the time control alone is enough to put so much stress on my body! But in this state, I need another way to attack, one that can reach Bright!)

Hiro was now able to control even time. If he could calm down and visualize it, he would surely be able to find a way to attack Bright. But unfortunately, Bright would not give him the time to do so.

After Hiro responded to his awakened movements and ate a counter from him, Bright would no longer be caught off guard by Hiro.

“ORA!”

“ORA!”

“ORA!”

The hit-and-run attacks gave Hiro no room to think.

“What's up, hero? I don't know how you're coping with my moves, but you can't beat me like this, you know?”

Bright was still unaware that Hiro is controlling time through the World Master.

(DAMMIT~! I've come this far and yet I’m missing one more move! Even though I’ve made up my mind to be someone that even Kouki can take pride of!)

From Hiro's point of view, Bright looked composed. In reality, he was not.

Composure and carelessness are only paper-thin different, he thought back to his past. But from Hiro's point of view, Bright was so absolutely strong that he could be forgiven for being careless.

(I'm being underestimated... If it had been me before, I would have been so angry that my pride was hurt that I would have lost my cool... ...but this is good, if he’s letting his guard down, it's more like an opportunity for me!)

Hiro focused all his nerves onto his right arm... Every gifted can enhance their physical abilities to some extent. So, he strengthened his right arm to an unprecedented degree….

(Earlier, I was able to land a counter, but it had only little effect on Bright's hard body. So, one blow is all it takes. After that, even if this right arm is shattered later... I don't think I can defeat Bright with just this, but if I don't damage him at least once and knock him off his high horse, I won't be able to report anything to Kouki in the afterlife!)

Hiro, who was prepared even for death, was about to set something in motion. Bright, noticing this, stopped boldly. He was planning to take everything Hiro had to offer and achieve a complete victory.

“Those eyes... they're the eyes a hero has when he performs a miracle at the last minute. Do it... Let me have it! I'm going to overcome your desperate attack as if it’s nothing, and bury my regrets(towards being a hero) once and for all!”

Evil felt slightly uncomfortable when he saw Bright's condition.

(This guy… It's not like Revived Hunter was triggered today, right? Why is he so excited? Well... if it's a result of his naive mindset being fixed, then it's probably a good change, but...)

He had heard that after activating Revived Hunter, Kouki’s tension became higher, which meant his desire to kill became stronger as well. But the usual Kouki is someone who rejects unnecessary killing. With that in mind, Bright's current mood was clearly strange.

“Here I come! Bright……Eh?”

Just as Hiro was about to launch his final attack, Fuuka was standing next to him…

“Wait… Captain? What's going on?”

Hiro does not know that Fuuka is the captain of the Byakkotai. This was despite the fact that the captain's name was Mizutani. That was how cornered Hiro was recently. So much that he had no spare time to care for anything else.

And this irritated Bright, who had been interrupted in a good situation.

“Hey, lass. Don’t just butt in into our fight. Just stay still like a good little coward, you are.”

These words were Bright's greatest compliment to Hiro. But until just a few moments ago, that assessment had been the opposite.

“...this is frustrating, but it looks like I'm going to have to ask for your help.”

“Captain, do you have a plan?”

“Yeah… I will…”

Bright was leisurely waiting for the two soldiers who were making some kind of plan.

“Heh, strategizing in front of the enemy. Don’t you think you are being too daring, protagonists. Did you think I'd wait quietly for you?”

“...You’ll wait, won’t you? You have all that power after all.”

Bright smiled inappropriately at Hiro's provocative words.

“Such a simple provocation…”

He wondered if they were ready. Fuuka looked at Bright with vigor in her eyes.

“Bright, your smug act ends here. If it hadn't been for you, filths… if you, Kuroyume hadn't attacked us that day… ……HE WOULDN’T BE DEAD！！！”

A vicious storm that surpassed Hurricane Mixer was unleashed from Fuuka's palm. This was the ultimate technique of the World of Windham, the Hyper Cyclone.

(Hmm? ……He? Wouldn’t be dead? ...she isn’t referring to Kuroyume’s terrorist attack at that time, is she? I mean, I don’t even recognize this girl… Eh-, Ah!)

While he was thinking, the cyclone was right in front of him. However, it would be easy for Bright now to evade it in less than 0.01 seconds.

Flash was activated. Cyclone is a wide range technique, and the only sure way to escape it is to go backwards. He tried to jump backwards to avoid it, but something blocked Bright from moving.

Hiro broke the ceiling and let it fall over Bright's head.

(YOU’RE INTERFERING FROM THE SIDE AGAIN!?)

“You haven’t changed one bit... I knew it, you’re a failure as a hero…GUOAAAAAAAAAH!”

Bright was being swallowed by the cyclone!

“…Being a failure is fine by me! Now, if I can just take you down, that's all that matters! Come on, now's your chance! Yellow-san! Everyone... attack Bright with everything you've got!”

Bright was swallowed by the cyclone, and his body was taken and spun around in the storm. That alone would normally be a fatal attack, but...

“Ye, Yeah! THUNDERBOLT!!”

Yellow unleashed a series of powerful electric currents.

“Captain! One more shot... an extra-large attack!!”

“I will defeat you! I'm not going to let more people experience what I did!!”

Then, an oversized icicle created by Water Master appeared and struck Bright!

“Alright… eat this for the finale, WORLD MASTER!!”

Furthermore, Hiro took control of the icicle, manipulating it to wrap around Bright once it had been shattered in half by the previous direct hit!

Bright was trapped in the icicle and froze with a look of agony on his face...

“Did that do it…… Phew!”

Hiro let out a nosebleed as if he had reached his limit due to overuse of his abilities.

“Sanada! Hey, are you alright? White, please heal him!”

Yellow was worried and rushed over to Hiro.

“S-sorry, I pushed myself too hard...”

“No, no, honestly, you're amazing. When I saw you the other day, I thought you were just a little boy with a big mouth, but you're a hell of a guy.”

He was praised. It was at this moment, Hiro was somewhat happy.

Even during the battle, that extremely powerful Bright had made a statement that basically meant him approving Hiro. Hiro had been living with a sense of inferiority towards Kouki, but he was truly relieved that he didn't have to feel that way anymore.

(Now... have I become a little closer to someone who Kouki would be proud of...?)

“After all that concentrated attacks, that demon must be dead, right?”

Yellow was looking at the icicles and admiring them. Hiro also looked at the icicle that he had manipulated. In it, Bright was frozen over in agony.

(That icicle by itself was hard enough. Then we disassembled it once, trapped Bright in it, and then added more pressure to trap him in the icicle... I'm glad it worked…)

Yellow approached the icicle.

“Uwah, it's so tough! It being like this, this thing definitely won’t break, right?”

“Yeah, I think so…… YELLOW-SAN, RUN!!”

“Eh? What…”

The icicle shattered with a violent explosion.

The shattered ice exploded with tremendous speed. Hiro barely managed to activate his World Master and change the trajectory of the ice that was coming towards him, but Fuuka was unable to avoid all of it, and one lump hit her helmet, exposing her eyes.

“Kuh… To think he would make it out of there...!? Aahh… Yellow-San……”

Hiro was surprised when he looked up. There stood a demon with his hand piercing through Yellow from behind with a knifehand. Bright lifted Yellow up just like that.

“Ma… Mari… n…… I’m… Sor… ry…”

Yellow drooped helplessly and…… died.

“KuhKuhKuh… It's no use! Your attacks are no more effective against me than a mosquito bite!”

“Ko… Kojirou?”

White's hand, which had been healing Hiro, stopped…. Her beloved man had been stabbed through the chest right in front of her.

“Y-you demon…”

Hiro, too, had run out of ideas. He didn't even have a little bit of energy left in him.

Fuuka, too, although she was not fatally injured but the damage from the direct hit of the ice and the exhaustion of her stamina caused her to slump to the ground.

“Even after all of that, we still can't defeat him...? What the hell even is that demon…”

As declared by himself, the jet-black demon Bright took all the attacks and stood there leisurely. But his actual feeling was...

(…Hmm, just now, was a bit exaggerated. Honestly, I thought I was really going to die…)

Author’s Note:

I'm going to start experimenting with a teaser for the next episode. If it's not popular, I'll stop.

Next chapter, will Bright finally find out who she is?

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