The Raven Dark Hero 46

Chapter 46 : The Nature Stranger Arrives!

TL:SummerPeanut

Xie xie for the support Bloodymirage and David Cruz;’D

Author’s Note:

※I’ve changed the method of determining who has abilities.

Kouki fell to his knees with a thud.

(Shit...Even if it's not fatal, I’m going to bleed to death…)

Kouki wondered why he had saved Hiro after all this time. ...It was just that the words he had said to Hiro the other day when he had hit him back, had stuck with him strangely.

"...You're a liar, narrow-minded, and a coward, but…”

(...I swear, the sarcasm I said to Hiro, on second thought, applies to myself as well...)

The him from childhood. His egoistic self....

As soon as his gift manifested, he suddenly became so self-assured…

(Hahaha... that explains why Hiro hates me. I said I wanted to be a hero, but in the end, it was because I wanted to feel superior by helping others. To put it bluntly, it's just because I want to stand out... And yet, I’ve gone crook just being labelled as a non-gifted, and once a gift actually manifested I became drunk with power…)

After considering those thoughts, his one-sided desire for revenge weakened. He was definitely at fault for Hiro's harassment, and how Azusa and Haruka chose to believe Hiro's lies.

“Ko, Kouki…?”

Hiro, too, remembered the past. He always found himself looking at Kouki's back. Why? It was because he was inferior. He was only someone to be protected. Because Kouki and he were not on equal footing.

And now. Hiro saw Kouki's image from the mysterious man’s back.

Kouki is a non-gifted. He knew that this mysterious man was not Kouki, but….

As the two men looked on, Skull prepared himself to activate his gift.

"Stupid idiots. If it was just you, you could have dodged that attack, but you went to the trouble of saving that baggage!”

Baggage.... When he said that, something inside Hiro collapsed with a sound.

"I'm going to finish you off. See you later, bitches!”

(Damn...is this the dead route! But I don't want that Skull’s gift at all!)

"Sonic... What the hell is this!? Whoa!”

Suddenly, a violent tornado erupted in front of Kouki's eyes, and Skull was swallowed by the tornado and thrown into the sky.

“That's enough!!”

At the sudden voice, Kouki looked up. There, he saw the ‘Nature Stranger’ that he had always seen on TV.

"Nature Red!”

"Nature Blue!”

“Nature Yellow!”

“Nature Green!”

“Nature White!”

“......When we five together!”

「「「「「 Nature Stranger!! 」」」」

Nature Strangers. A group of five super specialists known throughout Japan.

Each of the five wears a costume of his or her own colour. The designs are in the style of the old anime Gatchaman, with helmets, tight suits, and capes. The helmets are covered with a special smoke that prevents their true faces from being seen even at close range.

Looking at it again, it's probably a coincidence that it looks similar to the Jet-Black Birdman costume.

And the reality of it is that they are a group of the most capable specialists with gift abilities of fire, water, ice, lightning, wind, and recovery that are selected among the soldiers of the NDF.

Their rank in the NDF is Captain. Their strength is such that it would not be an exaggeration to say that there are five Saejimas.

(Nature Stranger….Too cool...It's the real deal…)

Even though he was now their enemy, Kouki was a little bit excited in front of the national hero that he had always admired.

"Damn it, it’s Nature Stranger! Fighting them is a bad idea... Oi, Joker! Time to retreat!”

"Ugghhh… I agree.”

Skull who was blown away just now returned immediately to wake up Joker. However, it was clear that it was unlikely for them to be able to run away with so many police officers and Nature Stranger surrounding them.

(Uh-oh, that's why I told you to get the hell out of here earlier...)

Kouki was relieved for the moment, but he was also thinking about how to get out of this situation.

(If this happens... I'll have to count on Hiro to persuade them. And while he’s at it, let's get out of here.)

Kouki stood up and reached out to call out to the dazed Hiro.

"Hey, recruit. I need a favour…”

“I won't let you! Fireball!”

A fireball shot out from Nature Red's palm. According to the information on TV, that fireball is has a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius.

That fireball flew… not towards the Skull and Joker, but to Kouki!

"Whoa!?”

The fireball of 1,000 degrees Celsius struck the guarded arm and disappeared with a small explosion. ...but the hot air definitely damaged Kouki.

"What!? My Nature Fire!?”

This surprised not only Nature Red but also the other members of the group. Nature Fire is a powerful gift after all.

“Wait, wait, wait! Why me!?”

Of course, Kouki wasn't happy about it. He would rather help Hiro, a member of NDF, and fight against the perpetrators of terrorism.

"I didn't know Red's fire could be blocked... Then how about this Blue's attack! Ice Arrow!”

This time, the ice arrow attacked Kouki. According to the information on TV, the speed of the ice arrows is Mach 1. It's powerful enough to easily penetrate a steel plate. …But again, Kouki guarded it with his hardened arm, and the Ice Arrow shattered into pieces! …but the impact resonated to his core.

“What? Even my Ice Arrow? What kind of hardening ability is that!?”

Although he guarded himself, the impact of Red and Blue's attacks had certainly damaged Kouki's body.

"No, wait a minute! I'm not the enemy! ...Recruit, say something to them!”

Kouki asked Hiro for help. However, Hiro had a vacant look on his face, as if Skull's words from earlier had taken effect.

There, Nature Green says it as if it were a matter of course. In his hand, he was holding a scope that identifies people with gift.

“What are you talking about? I don't see any sign of the mark anywhere on your body. Besides, you tried to attack Private Sanada just now, didn't you?”

(What the hell? Obviously, I didn’t have any barcodes on my body, but did they misunderstand just now as an attack? This is bullshit! Are all the people in the NDF people that don’t listen?)

It was the same with Saejima. However, this was due to the influence of the lessons that are first taught to a soldier in the NDF.

In the NDF, they are taught, ‘Don't hesitate. When in doubt, shoot first’. This is because if you show even a momentary gap against the filths, you will be killed... but it is also an abominable lesson for Kouki, whose life has been threatened twice.

"Hey, recruit! Say something!”

“Private Sanada! Are you sure he's not the enemy?”

Hiro swims his gaze at Red's question. Then his thoughts came back to reality...

"What? Uh, ...... Oh, he's... he's probably... he's probably a ‘stray filth’..."

Inside Kouki’s head… Strangely enough, no anger arose. It's just the way it is. He was a fool for expecting even a little bit from Hiro.

"Oh...! No, but this is…”

As soon as the word ‘stray filth’ left Hiro’s mouth, he realized what he had just said, and hurriedly tried to add more words, but…

“I see. So he said, Muffler-kun?”

Already unable to hear any of Hiro's words, Nature Red took up his attack position again.

The next thing Kouki knew, Skull and Joker were already gone as well. They must have seen an opening and retreated through the net of police officers.

(Sigh… They only think about themselves... I guess I’m not in the position to say about others either.)

Kouki's mind was surprisingly calm even to himself. He was calmly thinking about how he was going to defeat everyone in front of him.

Kouki remembered this feeling. ...Yes, when the Revived Hunter was activated, Kouki always had a strange urge.

A dark feeling of exterminating the enemy in front of him.... But now, even though Revived Hunter has not been activated, the desire to kill boiled from deep within....

Even so, Kouki's determination suppressed his impulse to defeat his enemies instead of killing.

(God, I couldn’t care less if they found out my identity now. I’ll just tell them that Kouki is actually a gifted. And beat them all up…)

Kouki put his hand on the scarf. Just when he was about to pull it down, exposing his face…

“Please wait for a moment!”

Then Azusa and Haruka, who had been watching the whole thing, came rushing in panic.

"This man is not an enemy! He was protecting Hiro from terrorists!”

“That's right! Furthermore, this person saved us from a filth the other day! Oh...your wound is bad! Let's go to my family’s hospital right now!”

(What? Why are these two looking out for me? And they recognized me as the guy from that previous day? ...I guess I am using a pretty much identical sunglasses and scarves, but...)

However, Yellow stood in front of them.

“Wait, you two. Gifted people are basically required to carry visible proof of their identity. Since you are gifted so you should know better, right? And he doesn't. Therefore, it's only obvious for him to be a stray filth.”

“But! We've been watching from the start! ...Hey! Hiro, you have to say something! Didn't you get saved by this person!?”

Hiro, who still had a blank expression on his face, stared at Azusa in a huff.

Hiro was also aware that he had been helped. He also realized that what he had just said was a big gaffe.

...But was it about looking good in front of his harem members? Or was it a rivalry against the man in front of him who was dubbed as Kouki by him? Thus he said words that he didn’t intend to say.

"Azusa…. He saved me? That's ridiculous. I can't be saved by some stray filths! I could've fought on my own without him! I'm an elite!”

"You… Are you being serious?”

With a disbelieving expression, Azusa moved towards Hiro but was then stopped by Kouki.

"That's enough, Azusa. I told you, right? That he's just a coward. He's always been…”

“Eh? Erm…”

Suddenly, the mysterious man called her name, and she became flustered.

"Well... maybe it was my fault too…”

(Damn…, That's what I said, but I'm still pissed off. I want to kill them all... Aah...I'm starting to feel faint... I can't go on like this... I really don't want Skull’s gift...? …That’s right, might as well…)

It seems that Kouki's injuries were more serious than he initially presumed. At this rate, he would not be able to defeat the Nature Stranger. On the contrary, he would probably bleed to death in no time.

So, he decided to gamble on the only way left... Revived Hunter. And since he was going to die, he decided to obtain the gift of a member of Nature Strangers.

(An ability that works well with me…. If that's the case...)

Nature Red was calmly analyzing Hiro's words.

"Hmm... Could you have done it alone? So this guy is not an enemy…”

Just as Red was about to admit that the sunglass muffler person was not the enemy, Kouki saw his target. He opened his arms and leapt at Nature Green, the ‘Wind Wielder’, as if to embrace him.

"Wha-!? A-Air cutter!!”

The gift that was launched from close range, slashed through Kouki's body.

“Argh…”

(...please... activate... .........)

Kouki was hit by an air cutter and was torn to pieces... fatally injuring him….

Then the air cutter exploded causing the muffler to came off and the sunglasses destroyed.... When Azusa and Haruka saw the man's true face, they screamed in astonishment.

“Ko-Kouki!!??”

"Ko…Kouki-san!!??”

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