29-153

EP.153 Akane – Leave This to Me, Go On Ahead! 

Bang ! 

The tightly closed door burst open with a deafening crash. 

“Haa… haa… haa…” 

On the other side, Akane stood, clutching her chest as if her pounding heart might explode, panting heavily for breath. 

Having run as hard as she could the moment she got the call, sweat-soaked training clothes clung to her spine. 

“Haruto…!” 

Her desperate, almost tearing shout shattered the club room’s peaceful silence. 

Several startled cats darted behind the cat tower at her yell, but Akane ignored them. 

Rushing inside, her burning reddish-brown eyes frantically searched for any trace of Haruto but saw not even a shadow of the man she sought. 

“You got here quickly. Or maybe… you’re late.” 

A cold, icy voice stabbed her dulled ears. 

Only then did Akane’s vision settle on the three who’d been there the whole time: Hikari, Mizuki, and Kai, standing in front of the sofa as if they were actors in a well-rehearsed play, staring at her. 

“What happened?” 

Anger blazed up her throat. 

Like a growling beast, she strode toward Mizuki, grabbed her slender shoulders, and shook her. 

“Why was Haruto kidnapped?! You said you’d go see the club together! You must have been right with him!” 

“Calm down. We’re just as confused as you,” 

Mizuki’s businesslike tone was at odds with her words; she shot Akane a sidelong glare as she pulled the hands from her shoulders. 

“When we got here, Haruto was already gone.” 

“Only Haruto’s bag was left on the couch,” 

Hikari’s trembling hand pointed to the couch, where an abandoned bag and a carelessly crumpled note lay as if in mockery. 

Akane’s eyes fell upon the unevenly written words: 

[Let’s see if your “justice” can save the man you love. Waiting at the old Central Command Center.] 

“…Obvious trap.” 

Mizuki, scanning the note with lazy eyes and resting her chin on her hand, added dully, 

“They’re using Haruto as bait to draw us in. They know we haven’t fully recovered yet it’s all part of the plan.” 

“Damn…” 

Akane inadvertently ground her teeth. Haruto’s last image flashed through her mind: 

‘Akane, do you want to come too?’ 

If she’d only accepted his invitation then, if she’d gone with him instead of avoiding that awkward spot… 

None of this would have happened. 

All the “what ifs” cut her heart like a razor. 

“…What are we going to do?” 

Breaking the suffocating silence, Kai’s low voice slipped between them. 

Like a starting signal, Hikari and Mizuki turned their gazes toward Akane simultaneously. 

They all knew it was a trap. 

They all knew that letting emotions take over was a mistake. 

“What do you mean, what are we going to do?” 

But Haruto meant too much for Akane to listen to reason. 

“There never was a choice.” 

Regret, guilt, suspicion towards her strange companions all that could wait. 

The only thing for her to do now was  

“We go, right now, and save him!” 

Her voice no longer shook. 

Her eyes burned brightly with a resolve as solid as steel. 

By the time the four reached the redevelopment district, the landscape seemed as if the world’s end had come. 

Desolate wind whipped dust through the skeletal remains of buildings. 

The slanting, blood-red sunset cast long, haunting shadows on the concrete ruins. 

In the center, standing as if to swallow up everything, loomed the old Central Command Center a grotesque hulk. 

Shattered glass windows stared like the vacant eyes of a beast; rusted steel beams looked like skeletal ribs. 

“Dark Redemption’s hideout, the Abyss, is down the elevator past that control center,” 

At the entrance, Hikari recited the plan calmly, her voice sounding colder even than the ruins ahead. 

“My guess is Haruto is likely on the third or fourth floor, just like when I was caught before.” 

“So, in other words, we just have to fight our way down, floor by floor. I like how simple that is,” 

Akane replied gravely, gripping her sword hilt so hard it creaked. 

“Don’t get too excited. They’re expecting us they’ll have set up all sorts of traps,” 

Mizuki added coolly, and Hikari nodded. 

“We also have to watch out for executives or monsters.” 

“It’s not just the bosses or monsters…” 

Akane stopped, looking Hikari straight in the eye. 

“And the big guy? Onyx Rex. Is he in there, too?” 

At the name, Hikari instinctively averted her gaze and shook her head. 

“…I don’t know. When I was captive, I never saw him directly. It was all I could do just to escape.” 

Akane let the inquiry drop, just tilting her chin. 

If the bosses and Onyx joined forces, things would get complicated fast. 

Plus, they weren’t yet at full strength. 

They had to finish this quickly. 

Turning, she snapped, “And why did you even come along?” 

Her fiery glare was now on Kai, standing like a ghost beside them. 

“Huh? Me?” 

Kai pointed to himself innocently, and Akane’s brow twitched. 

“Yes, you. Who else? This isn’t a playground. Go back. Now.” 

“Quit saying dumb stuff. This isn’t child’s play.” 

Despite Akane’s biting words, Kai only shrugged helplessly rather than looking rattled. 

“Doesn’t matter. The other two already said I could come.” 

“What?” 

Before Akane could snap back, Mizuki cut her off. 

“Enough, Akane. Kai’s coming with us. It’s not your decision.” 

“Mizuki, you…!” 

Was she serious? Not only dragging a civilian into this she had the nerve to talk down to Akane for objecting. 

“Kai’s got real resolve. Having someone who can keep a cool head is probably more useful than letting someone like you, who only acts on emotion, call the shots,” 

Mizuki added coldly. 

And Hikari gently looped her arm around Akane’s, smiling sweetly. 

“Please don’t be so mad, Akane. Kai has real courage. We can’t snuff out the will to save friends, can we? We’ll protect him. Promise.” 

It was as if the two friends were forming a united front for this strange man making Akane feel like she was the weird one. 

Even Hikari? 

“……” 

Her head felt like it would burst. She no longer had the will or energy to play verbal chess with them. 

Her attention was needed elsewhere. 

“…Do what you want.” 

Eventually, she gave up and sighed deeply. 

“But if something happens to him in there, we’re not responsible.” 

“Got it!” 

Kai replied cheerfully with a shrug. 

For a moment, both Hikari and Mizuki let flickering, sly smiles pass their lips. 

Just then  

Thunk  

Without warning, a heavy rumble shook the ground from below as if clutching at their hearts. 

Thunk  

Another, closer jolt Akane instinctively stopped and gripped her sword. The air itself seemed to change. 

The winds stopped, replaced by a heavy stillness thick with the scent of steel and oil. 

“That’ll do for chatting.” 

Hikari’s sharp voice sliced through the air, killing the conversation. 

“…Sounds like we got a welcome party.” 

Her gaze rose to the shattered door of the command center. 

From the pitch-darkness beyond, “it” finally showed itself a massive shape closer to a moving fortress than a man. 

Every heavy step thudded with the sound of grinding machines, and its blazing mechanical eye swept through the gloom, fixing on them. 

“…Intruders confirmed. Targets: Saviors. Eliminate at once.” 

“There you are, you tin can junk heap…!” 

Every hair on Akane’s body stood on end. 

Her instincts screamed from the memory of the last battle, but a volcano of anger devoured the fear. 

“The fight we didn’t finish last time we finish it today!” 

As she tensed to spring forward  

“Akane, wait!” 

A gentle, but iron-strong grip seized her arm. Hikari. 

“Out of my way, Hikari! That thing is ” 

“We’re not at full strength yet.” 

Hikari’s calm logic doused Akane’s fury. 

“Going all-in on a tough opponent like this is a waste. We need to conserve strength to rescue Haruto.” 

She explained coolly, stepping forward to face Cerberus. 

From her small body radiated not a trace of fear. 

“Leave this to me go on ahead.” 

There was not a second of hesitation in her voice; Akane couldn’t reply before  

Flash ! 

Instead of her usual golden halo, something twisted and dense red-black magic burst from Hikari’s body, enveloping her like hell’s own flames. 

“Urgh!?” 

Each time the light surged, the air around them seemed to scream and warp; Akane shielded her face. 

When the sinister radiance faded, it was no longer the “Magical Topaz” Akane knew. 

The nun habit had vanished; 

Instead, she wore a suffocatingly revealing, decadent battle suit  

A tight crimson leather corset cinched her waist, 

A wickedly short frilled skirt revealed legs wrapped in fishnet stockings, 

Her exposed cleavage and shoulders radiated not holiness, but a sadistic sensuality. 

“Hikari, what… what is that…?” 

Stunned, Akane asked; Hikari only curved her lips up in a slantwise smile. 

“I think the torture before affected my contract. But it’s fine, it doesn’t affect my fighting ability. Don’t worry.” 

She explained it away lightly, gesturing with her chin. 

“Go on ahead! There’s no time!” 

Pushed forward by Hikari’s urging, Akane forced her feet to move. 

Her mind was a tangle, but saving Haruto came first. 

“…I’m counting on you.” 

“Leave it to me.” 

The few steps past Hikari and toward the rusty elevator felt like they took forever. 

Behind them, the sounds of magic and metal colliding exploded like thunder, threatening to split their eardrums. 

CLANG ! 

With a racket, the elevator’s metal doors clashed shut, severing them from the outside. 

Even Hikari’s battle cries and Cerberus’ roars became faint beyond the thick iron. 

Inside the perfect darkness of the steel box, Akane stood, back turned, fists clenched so hard her nails cut into flesh. 

‘I will I WILL save him.’ 

As though mocking her, the elevator began its slow, ominous descent toward the abyss. 

With a dull clang, the elevator doors closed, and Akane’s group vanished from view. 

All at once, the thunder and lightning of battle just moments before died away, as if none of it had happened. 

It was like a stage after the curtain had fallen a strained, awkward silence between the two left behind. 

Hikari quietly withdrew her light whip. 

The red-black magic surrounding her faded as if it had never been. 

“….” 

Cerberus, too, lowered the plasma cannon mounted in his mechanical arm. 

“The show’s over, woman. Now, go to the position assigned by the Boss.” 

His voice was completely mechanical, utterly devoid of emotion. 

His sole job had simply been to play an “obstacle” to lure Akane to the next trap, and that role was now finished. 

But Hikari seemed to have no intention of obeying. 

She spread her hands, running them dreamily over her debauched costume. 

“Hehe, no. You’ll have to spar with me a little longer.” 

“Defying orders?” 

A hint of caution entered Cerberus’ voice. 

“Don’t misunderstand. This is all for Onyx-sama’s glory.” 

Hikari licked her red lips, eyes shining with decadent ecstasy. 

“Don’t you wonder why I’m stronger now, after losing my sacred virginity?” 

Like a priestess heralding divine grace, she spread her arms wide. 

“This is… a blessing from Onyx-sama, and me alone. His seed inside me has been reborn as new power. How ecstatic how holy, this miracle!” 

With a fanatical confession, a storm of crimson magic erupted from her body a second time. 

“So I must test it. This new power… How far can this blessing reach?!” 

Swoosh ! 

Even before her words finished, Hikari’s body shot into the air. 

She twirled her light whip from above Cerberus’ head, shrieking with pleasure. 

“Take it, Lord Cerberus! My new ‘divinity’!” 

Bang! 

Her whip cracked against his steel body with a spray of sparks. 

It was an attack filled with pure destructive will nothing like the earlier sham. 

Cerberus lifted his mechanical arm lightly to block, staring expressionlessly up at Hikari aloft. 

For the first time ever, his mind registered a new word: 

‘…Annoying.’