Chapter 452: Himekoji Takes Responsibility

The location for this battle was a shopping mall.

Leaving Rikka to go alone made Himekoji extremely uneasy, so he stubbornly insisted on going along.

Also watching the battle with him was Rikka’s sister, Touka Takanashi.

“Does a fight like this happen every single day?”

Why?

It made absolutely no sense!

Himekoji tilted his head and asked in a low voice.

As her sister, Touka was certain to be in on the truth.

“Sometimes she rests too. A Brave’s daily life cannot be just fighting.”

Brave?

He must mean the other fighter.

The Brave and the Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord – the story’s hero and villain. That must be how it was assigned.

Touka had said, a Brave’s daily life couldn’t only involve fighting.

“What about Rikka?”

What about Rikka’s daily life?

In response to Himekoji’s question, Touka just shook her head.

So what did that headshake mean?

Say something!

Himekoji silently urged her onwards with nothing but his gaze.

This seemed to make Touka uncomfortable. She turned her face away.

Still no answer.

Meanwhile, within the bustling mall filled with shoppers, the battle brimming with mystery and superpowers had already begun.

Seeing this, Himekoji forgot about further questioning. His anxious gaze snapped back to Rikka.

Brilliant magic circles, beams of rainbow light, streaks of sword light whooshing past – the battle had become white-hot almost from its very start.

But what bewildered Himekoji was that the shoppers acted as if they saw nothing!

They calmly walked by the edges of the battlefield, chatting and laughing.

Magic circles, light beams, sword flashes – everything seemed deliberately kept away. Despite the ferocity of the fight, not a single unrelated person got hurt.

“W-what in the world is going on?”

An intense feeling of absurdity washed over him.

Again, Touka offered no answer to this question Himekoji had asked.

“Why fight in such a crowded mall? Wouldn’t somewhere else be better? Like an empty spot in the suburbs! And… can’t they see? This crazy battle is happening right next to them!”

“Every battle location is chosen after very careful thought. Once selected, it can’t be changed.”

Touka finally spoke.

Her eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the battle. Only when Rikka safely dodged another strike did she seem to find a moment to address Himekoji.

“Also… they actually can see. They just don’t care. Because… this town was custom-made for the Brave. All of it – the ordinary people, and even… the Wicked Lord who’s meant to be defeated.”

“Cu… custom-made?”

Himekoji mouthed the word, feeling dazed. The next moment, it felt like something clicked.

He turned his stiff neck. His gaze, filled with complex emotion, chased after Rikka, now locked in that intense fight.

“‘Once chosen it can’t be changed’… does that include… being defeated?”

After Himekoji asked this, Touka fell silent again.

But this time, Himekoji didn’t press for an answer.

He knew, too. That answer was something the one who knew wouldn’t want to say, and the one asking wouldn’t want to hear.

Every story ends with the Brave winning. A perfect finish. A happy ending.

There were no exceptions.

…

The battle entered its final moments within an extremely short time.

If there was background music, this would be the moment it surged. The Brave slowly raised his hand. A dazzling light gathered in his palm.

This one strike, meant to crush everything, would end the battle, a performance scripted from beginning to end.

Himekoji had watched Rikka from the very start.

So of course, he noticed now. For Rikka, it was the critical moment, life or death.

Her dark, gothic girl-style outfit was soaked through in large patches of blood.

Her chest, stomach, ankle, shoulder – just what he could see, four terrifyingly serious wounds.

Where was that damage immunity?!

Would she die?

She would die!

No!

His body moved before his mind fully caught up.

But—

“Calm down!”

Despite his own serious injury, Himekoji found himself firmly pinned in place by Touka.

His own weakness combined with her strength – Touka’s hands pressed down on his shoulders like giant iron clamps weighing tons.

“Let me go!” Himekoji yelled frantically.

Touka was unmoved.

“She’ll die! Rikka will die!”

The grip on his shoulders didn’t loosen even a fraction.

Clothing Explosion! Clothing Explosion!

Himekoji silently screamed at the system inside his mind.

But there wasn’t even an echo back from the system.

Now, of all times!

Damn it!

In his panic, Himekoji naturally didn’t notice. The System’s energy gauge had already hit zero percent.

“Let me go! LET ME GO! That’s Rikka! RIKKA! How can you just watch your Imouto in danger and do nothing? Are you even her sister?”

Forgetting all about politeness, seeing the huge gushes of blood from Rikka, Himekoji’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“I…”

Touka, who had just told Himekoji to be calm, now seemed ignited by his words, her own calm shattering like firecrackers. She yelled back, even louder than him, her words crashing down,

“Do nothing? You say I’m doing nothing?! But… what can I do? What CAN I do? Tell me what you want me to do!”

“Save her! Obviously, save her!”

Himekoji answered instantly. His mind held only that single thought.

“How? Can it be done? If it could, it would have happened already! So don’t say something so irresponsible!”

Both Himekoji and Touka yelled furiously, faces red, veins bulging in their necks.

Arguing wouldn’t help. They both knew it. But neither could control themselves.

So arguing became the only way to let out the storm inside them at that moment.

Just as Himekoji was about to yell back even louder, suddenly, he felt a cool wetness on his shoulder.

The crushing weight vanished, replaced instantly as Touka buried her face against his shoulder, weeping silently. Her tears poured out like a collapsed dam, quickly soaking him.

Looking down at Touka like this, the frantic hysteria that had consumed Himekoji, fueled by his overpowering fear for Rikka, evaporated from his overheating brain instantly.

Seriously…

Who wouldn’t worry about their own sister…

Realizing how badly he’d spoken, and seeking some way to make amends, Himekoji turned slightly. Gently, he rested his hand on the head pressed against his shoulder and gave it a soft pat.

“Rikka will be fine.”

Until now, those had been Touka’s words to comfort Himekoji with.

But this time, he said them, pledging them to Touka.

“So, like I told you! Stop saying such irresponsible things!”

Still not lifting her head from his shoulder, Touka only cried harder within her muffled sobs.

“I’m not being irresponsible.”

Himekoji said softly. His voice held a determination. Half his face was wrapped in bandages, showing an expression both resolute and fierce.

“After all…”

“I’ll take responsibility!”

If it was irresponsible talk… let Himekoji be the one responsible.

…