Ch.22. Betrayed (2)

My body moved.

I rose from my place again.

I realized it for the first time.

I had confidence that I could get back up no matter how many times I fell.

As long as what I needed to protect was behind me.

There was one more thing.

When I became this angry, when I lost my mind.

I could stand up.

“Y-you bastard.”

Ji Se-hwa was flustered. Understandably so. Until just now, I was half-dead from my battle with Dark Arthur, and my left arm had been severed.

I wasn’t in any condition to stand.

“Apologize.”

“What?”

“To Somi, apologize…!”

“What ears does a dead bitch have to hear with?!”

Ji Se-hwa charged at me with that shout. Her fist flew toward me.

“UOOOOOOHHH!!”

I swung my right arm with all the strength I had left in my body. Our fists collided.

But.

KWAAANG!

Every bone in my right hand shattered. All the muscle fibers burst. I was blown away by the shockwave and collapsed.

This is shit.

Fucking shit.

Han Somi.

Pink Wings.

She was a member of Dragon King Sentai Draodger.

And… she was my lover.

But she died.

Just as Ji Se-hwa said, she died because of my mistake.

Because of my poor judgment of the situation.

Even though it didn’t have to happen.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Somi.”

The person I want to kill for insulting you is right in front of me, but I can’t punish her.

How pathetic, how miserable.

Self-loathing washes over me.

“Shit, you scared me. My bones are broken. You used this much power without transforming? What kind of freak are you…”

I hear Ji Se-hwa’s complaints.

“I always doubted if you were human. Before you joined the Sentai, didn’t you have a monster-like appearance?”

That was because of the dragon characteristics I chose. To become stronger, I had to choose the most overpowered option in the game, “Red Dragon of Apocalypse,” from my initial ability selection.

When I worked alone, I looked more like a dragon-person, close to a monster.

“He might actually be a monster. That bastard used to chew and eat monster corpses after killing them, right? Ugh. I almost threw up, it was so disgusting.”

That’s also a characteristic of the Red Dragon. Because its nature is close to evil, I had to consume evil to maintain its power.

I didn’t do it because I wanted to. I’ve thrown up from disgust while eating monsters more times than I can count.

It was painful.

But I endured it, telling myself it was to become stronger and protect the world.

I explained the characteristics of my ability to them many times.

I asked them to understand.

I thought they would understand.

“That’s it. Apocamellot is destroyed. We’ve achieved our goal of getting the Switch, so let’s escape now.”

“Hehe. Right. Let’s blow up this ship. Our partner mechs are waiting outside, so we’ll use those to return.”

“Wait a moment. What about Jung Ui-seok?”

Kang Yerin, who had been quiet until now, objected.

“Huh? That bastard dies here too.”

“What?”

“Eh? I-I didn’t hear about that part!”

Kang Yerin’s voice rose. Choi Minseo also seemed surprised.

“What were you thinking? When you heard about this operation, did you think we’d bring Jung Ui-seok back with us?”

“W-well, yes… But what do we say when we return? That only Ui-seok couldn’t make it back?”

“The story is that Jung Ui-seok betrayed us for Dark Arthur’s side, and we defeated them all. The Association President has already prepared it, hehe. All the rewards and honor for destroying Apocamellot will be ours.”

“Honor…! I see… Then I guess there’s no choice.”

Choi Minseo immediately accepted it and smiled innocently.

“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s murder.”

In contrast, Kang Yerin bared her teeth.

“How is this murder, you fucking bitch? Are you trying to frame an S-rank hero for murder? You want to fight?”

Ji Se-hwa’s expression turned vicious.

“Fight? Do you think you can beat me?”

Yellow energy began to rise from Kang Yerin’s body. Seeing this, Ji Se-hwa immediately reacted. Just as the blue dragon and yellow dragon were about to manifest—

PAPAK!

Shin Yukyong moved first. The ninja moved with speed. Suddenly her hand was covering Kang Yerin’s nose and mouth. Yerin struggled briefly but soon lost consciousness from the anesthetic.

“Tsk, what a nuisance.”

“W-well, shall we go now?”

“Mm.”

The three moved away, taking the unconscious Kang Yerin with them.

They didn’t even look back at me.

My body couldn’t move anymore.

My vocal cords couldn’t make a sound.

All my blood had drained out. My muscle fibers had all dissolved.

My, my Switch.

The Red Dragon’s Switch. It was too far away, along with my severed left arm and transformation device.

I couldn’t even think about crawling all the way over there.

So this is it.

It wasn’t a long time.

Maybe three years at most.

Since I was transported to this world, fighting evil while shouting about justice and peace.

I wanted to be a beacon of hope for people in this world, so I’ve been running until now.

Of course, there were times I wanted to give up.

The first woman I fell in love with in this world.

The one I thought I could give everything to.

Somi.

When I ran my fingers through her pink hair, it had a soft fragrance.

“Don’t despair. Fight for justice.”

She left those words behind when she departed.

I kept that promise completely.

Until my kick pierced through the leader of evil, I never despaired. I fought for justice until the end.

Even if the ending was garbage.

KWAKWAKWAKWANG!!

Bombs exploded.

The explosions drew closer, and soon they consumed my body as well.

Along with the massive spaceship of the evil organization, Red Dragon Jung Ui-seok met his death.

First.

[Achievement “All Challenge Collector” effect activated! You will be resurrected once from fatal death with a 400% increase in abilities!]

My body was reconstructed among the fragments of the spaceship. Somehow I was floating in space, completely intact.

“Fuck.”

I shouted, but in the airless space, no sound spread.

“Fuck. Fuck. FUUUUUCK!!”

A truly silent scream.

“You fucking bitches!! You goddamn bitches!! I’ll tear you apart!! Ji Se-hwa! Shin Yukyong! Kang Yerin! Choi Minseo! You fucking bitches!!!”

I struggled like a madman in the zero-gravity space for a long time.

Eventually, I tired myself out.

I looked at Earth.

It was fucking beautiful.

Resurrection bonus.

I knew I had it.

I had many special bonuses earned through achievements.

I still had unused cash items for upcoming scenarios.

True to its pay-to-win nature, the performance gap between normally obtainable items and cash items was incomparable.

I clenched my fist.

With the resurrection bonus, my abilities were now five times greater.

I was already an S-rank hero.

Heroes grow stronger in crisis.

How powerful am I now?

It’s beyond imagination.

I wanted to postpone using this resurrection bonus if possible.

The higher my abilities were, the more beneficial a five-fold increase would be.

As scenarios progressed, the difficulty increased exponentially, so I was saving this stat pumping for when things got really tough.

Well, as proof of that.

I’ve been in space without a spacesuit for over 30 minutes, not breathing, and I’m fine.

But I can’t ignore the laws of physics.

Since I can’t create a reaction force, I can’t move.

If I could use my abilities, it would be simple.

Normally I could, but now I’m part of the S-Sentai.

Heroes belonging to a Sentai team have their abilities stored in transformation devices. Without transforming, they can’t use their abilities.

In exchange for this disadvantage, their power increases when acting as a Sentai team.

This means my abilities are now stored in that stupid Switch.

I can return the abilities from the Switch to my body, but I need the Switch to do that.

This is the worst.

Am I going to float in space for hundreds or thousands of years, just staring at Earth?

Still, fragments of the space battleship are floating around.

If I’m lucky, I might collide with one and create enough reaction force to move.

Just a little more, let me hold on a little longer.

……

Damn it…

There’s no concept of day and night here.

Of course not.

How much time has passed?

My senses are going numb.

My skin is cold, I can’t breathe so it’s suffocating, and the sunlight is fucking hot.

What are those bitches doing now?

Are they being welcomed on Earth for defeating the evil organization?

They must be gloating.

Damn them.

The joy is short-lived.

There’s a reason I hurriedly collected Pestam.

The next scenario will begin soon.

A scenario from a theatrical release of the original content.

Looking at the difficulty level of the “Galaxy Empire,” the Dark Kingdom Apocamellot will seem like child’s play.

Those bitches won’t be able to control the Switches, so Earth is definitely screwed.

Ah, I remember.

I have this.

[Superior Sentai Red Achievement Special Skill]

[Soul of Comrades]

[Sentai members gain 300% additional experience]

[Sentai members’ skill ranks increase by two levels]

[Sentai members’ stats increase by an additional 30%]

This is a skill I got from an achievement when I was transported here.

A skill befitting a leader, given to the greatest Red.

“Deactivate.”

[Deactivating Soul of Comrades.]

[Warning! All levels and stats gained by team members through Soul of Comrades will be removed! Are you sure you want to deactivate it?]

Why are you asking me again?

“Deactivate.”

[Soul of Comrades has been deactivated.]

Get screwed.

You think you became S-rank because you’re strong?

Let’s see how well you do.

“Hah…”

I closed my eyes for a moment.

Peace of mind just wouldn’t come.

Anger, endless anger flows through my entire body.

Blue Saber Ji Se-hwa, Silver Mirrored Shin Yukyong, Yellow Cloaker Kang Yerin, Green Nature Choi Minseo. The faces of the four pass through my mind.

The Hero Association President. That bitch too.

My mind must have lost its balance because the light in my vision flickers. It shakes uncontrollably.

Hm? Light?

I opened my eyes.

A small spacecraft was floating there.

A black spacecraft approaching me.

That shape. I know what it is. It’s a spacecraft from the Dark Kingdom Apocamellot.

The door opened and someone in a spacesuit came out. They slowly floated toward me and grabbed my arm. Using air to adjust direction, they returned to the spacecraft with me.

The hatch closed. Decompression.

“Who are you?”

I asked in a low voice. The person in the spacesuit slowly removed their helmet.

Horns on both sides of the head. Seductive lips. Haggard eyes. Jet-black hair sticking to her cheeks, slightly damp with sweat.

“Pain Queen Morgan.”

“…It’s been a while, Red Dragon.”

The female executive of pain from Apocamellot.

Morgan greeted me.