Knight of Prophecy
"Cough..."
The moment Transfer's ability deposited me on the outskirts of the seminar grounds, the agony I had been holding back hit me like a tidal wave.
"Ugh..."
It felt as though every fiber of my flesh was being shredded apart, as if a massive iron spike had been driven straight through my heart.
Did Ariel engage in combat?
Right now, I was sharing her burden through the Physical Link skill. Her untrained physique was suffering an overwhelming backlash from the Concept of the Hero, compounded by the raw trauma of battle itself. Every ounce of that destructive recoil was channeling directly into my body.
I can't even gauge how bad it really is.
Physical Link was an intensely sensitive ability—it would transmit even the stinging prick of a papercut across her fingertip. Because of that extreme fidelity, once the threshold of pain soared past human tolerance, my senses blurred into white noise, making it impossible to judge just how much danger she was actually in.
"...Hello?"
Slumping back against a rough concrete wall to steady my ragged breath, I clicked the radio transceiver to reach Miracle Shine, who was supposed to be supporting Ariel by now.
"Are you two all right?"
— Wh-What? When did communications get restored?
If Ariel were truly in dire straits, I was prepared to risk everything and rush back in to pull her out.
— You! Did you go and blab my real identity to your student?!
"Excuse me?"
— If you did, I will never, ever forgive you! I'll torment you for the rest of your life!
Instead of a tactical update, what burst through the speaker was an incoherent, screeching accusation.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
— How else could Ariel Everray possibly recognize me when I haven't even transformed?!
What did that mean?
Ariel knew Miracle Shine's civilian identity?
"Calm down. I haven't breathed a single word about your identity to Ariel."
— Don't play dumb with me! Haaah... I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!
"Think about it. I have zero reason to expose you."
I had no idea how Ariel could have known, but my first priority was de-escalating this furious magical girl.
"You told me yourself that your powers weaken whenever someone sees through your identity, didn't you?"
— Yeah! That's why I go through all the trouble of hiding it!
"Exactly. Why would I ever blow your cover? That would only work against me."
— What?
"Right now, we are surrounded by an overwhelming majority of Kaijin. Having a powerhouse like you on our side is an immense advantage. If I leaked your identity and sapped your strength, wouldn't that undermine my own survival just as much as yours?"
Faced with cold, irrefutable logic, Miracle Shine's furious sputtering trailed off into silence.
"Has anything else seemed off about Ariel?"
— Mmm... now that you mention it... there is something.
After a short pause, she answered in a subdued, bewildered murmur.
— She's too strong.
"Pardon?"
— I said she's too strong.
A question mark practically materialized over my head.
— She evades dozens of incoming strikes with nothing more than a casual tilt of her head. When she throws a single punch, scores of Kaijin end up buried under tons of rubble. Aside from struggling to control her own output, she's practically flawless.
"............"
— If it weren't so visibly a physical power-type ability, I would've sworn she possessed future sight like the Child of Prophecy.
Was she truly describing Ariel?
— By the time I reached her quarters to rescue her, she had already shattered her own door and wiped the floor with the auction enforcers who came for her.
"Uh... well..."
— And after that, she sprinted toward the main seminar hall taking the absolute shortest path, then pulverized the entire auction house security grid with a single, full-force blow...
The Concept of the Hero nestled within Ariel's body.
It was a supreme power-type concept recorded only once throughout history, capable of multiplying its wielder's physical parameters by astronomical leaps when certain heroic conditions were satisfied. Yet, no matter how miraculous the concept was, it failed to account for what Miracle Shine had just witnessed.
A concept granted immense physical prowess and unyielding willpower—it did not bestow years of hardened combat instincts.
— At any rate, she doesn't seem to need my help anymore. My distress-detection ability isn't pinging off her at all.
As I sank into quiet contemplation, Miracle Shine's voice crackled through the transceiver once more.
— In fact... you're the one in danger.
"...What?"
— My concept has been screaming that you're in far greater peril than Ariel ever was.
The moment her warning registered—
"Found you."
A genial, resonant voice rang out directly ahead.
...Damn it.
Standing before me was none other than the Top Hero, Humanity.
"Haha! Young man, you certainly stirred up quite a storm back at the seminar, didn't you?"
"............"
I had never imagined I would run into this man here.
"Still, the longer a tail is, the easier it is to step on."
Hero Name: Humanity. An elderly gentleman distinguished by warm, dignified laugh lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. While his grandfatherly demeanor might lead the foolish to underestimate him, he stood proudly at World Rank 3—a revered founding elder among the superhero community.
"And your tail was far, far too long."
Calling him a founding elder was an understatement. A founding member of the Hero Association. The chief contributor to the subjugation of the Seven Great Evils. Former Association Chairman. Former Rank 1 Hero. The master of Justia herself.
Pluck any single accomplishment from his storied life, and it would suffice to rewrite modern history. A living legend worshipped by countless heroes, an indelible titan of the supernatural era. Though he had long since stepped back from the front lines past his prime to nurture the next generation, his influence remained staggering.
I still don't see any tentacles.
More importantly, alongside Miracle Shine and Great Order, he was one of the exceedingly few Top Heroes who had not been tainted by the Kaijin.
Which meant he was not my enemy.
"I was not aware you were attending the seminar."
"I slipped in quietly on my own without making a fuss. When a man gets to my age, he occasionally needs a bit of solitude."
Unfortunately, Humanity had clearly pegged me as a villain.
"Hup!"
ROOOAAAR—!
Before I could even register the motion, an explosive blast of compressed air roared toward my face.
CRACKLE-SHATTER!
"Oh my. What an intriguing trick."
A mass of dark tentacles surged from my coat, intercepting the gale-force shockwave and shredding apart in my stead.
"Usually, young fellows fail to react to an ambush of that caliber."
Humanity was right. I hadn't seen the attack coming at all.
— Gyureuk!
The bizarre creature coiled within my coat had reacted on pure instinct to shield me.
This little guy is absurdly strong.
I had suspected as much earlier, but its power was genuinely terrifying. It had subdued Transfer without breaking a sweat, knocked out the server room staff in under a second, and now cleanly parried a sneak attack from Humanity himself. If this entity continued to protect me, my chronic deficiency in pure offensive firepower might be permanently solved.
"However, do not let that make you overconfident."
Crack, crack...!
Just as an odd sense of fondness began to warm my chest toward the squirming bundle, Humanity rubbed his knuckles and tilted his neck with a dull pop.
"This old man is only getting started."
We had weathered the opening salvo, but if he unleashed his full might, things would spiral out of control fast.
What do I do?
Could I persuade him right now?
With Miracle Shine, I had bound her first and reasoned with her slowly, aided by the sheer luck of a Kaijin parasite attempting to breach her defenses in plain sight. But Humanity stood before me primed for battle, on high alert after hearing my broadcasted speech in the seminar hall. Waiting to convince him before the other corrupted Top Heroes arrived was a gamble with terrible odds.
Besides... I can't be one hundred percent certain he isn't complicit.
It gnawed at me that the Association had rotted to this extent right under the nose of humanity's greatest idol. Could he be harboring some secret arrangement with the Kaijin as well?
...Do I really have to fight?
Every instinct told me to neutralize him quickly and escape. Transfer was currently resting in hiding, completely drained from repeated concept activations. With my hypnosis liable to unravel at any moment, relying on my own two feet was safer than betting on her power. Yet to do that, I would have to incapacitate Humanity.
"Well then. Allow me to proceed in earnest."
It was the last outcome I wanted, but Humanity had already shifted into a textbook combat stance.
"Wait!"
Steeling myself to end the clash in a single decisive strike, I began raising my hand—only for a frantic shout to echo from behind us.
"Please, wait a moment!!"
The Hero Association Chairman and a retinue of Top Heroes were sprinting toward us in a panicked rush.
"...It's you lot."
Humanity lowered his guard slightly, casting a chilly, assessing glare at the approaching Chairman.
"With catastrophe tearing through the venue, where on earth were you dithering before finally crawling out now?"
"We were striving to accurately assess the situation—"
"Tsk."
Clicking his tongue in open disgust, Humanity turned his piercing gaze back to Trauma.
"Leave this to—"
"We will take over here. Master Humanity, please hurry to the main seminar hall at once."
When the Chairman cut him off, Humanity's eyes narrowed into an icy glare.
"As you can see, the situation has grown dire."
"...Hmph."
The Chairman thrust forward his smartphone, displaying a live feed of the seminar hall.
— GRAAAAAGH!
A blood-drenched Kaijin had swollen to monstrous proportions in the center of the auditorium, thrashing and bellowing in frenzy.
— I'm not falling for that a second timeee!!
CRUNCH...!
Ariel's war cry tore through the speaker just before her crimson-sparking fist slammed square into the creature's maw, obliterating its skull. Startled, the Chairman hurriedly yanked the phone away.
"Every second counts, Master."
Pressing himself close to Humanity's shoulder, the Chairman whispered in an urgent, hushed tone.
"If we delay... the tragedy of that day may repeat itself..."
Snap...!
Humanity's eyes flared with sudden fury as he rounded on the Chairman.
"Prying at an old man's deepest wounds is hardly the conduct of a gentleman."
The suffocating pressure radiating from the elder titan forced the Chairman to stagger backward. Slowly letting the murderous aura subside, Humanity smoothed down his lapels with cold, measured poise.
"Please conduct yourself so that I may continue to hold you in respect."
Leaving behind those biting words, Humanity pivoted on his heel and strode purposefully toward the seminar hall.
"............"
A heavy silence fell over the corridor.
"Are you quite finished with your discussion?"
Trauma, who had watched the entire exchange in silence, finally broke the deadlock with a low, gravelly rasp.
"Then I suppose it's my turn."
None of the gathered heroes replied, but Trauma pressed on regardless.
"Who would like to step forward first?"
Black tentacles slithered out from beneath his coat, unfurling in every direction with menacing undulations.
Slither...
The atmosphere stretched taut, ready to snap at the slightest breath—a razor's edge between life and catastrophic slaughter.
— Gyureuk?
It was precisely at that breathless second that a pitch-black, rounded head poked curiously out from the folds of Trauma's coat.
"O Being of Prophecy! Please, punish us for our insolence in daring to oppose you!"
"Grant us your judgment!"
What in the world was happening?
Just moments ago, these people had swarmed like a pack of rabid wolves intent on tearing me limb from limb. Now, every single one of them was prostrated flat against the floor, hands raised in trembling supplication like deranged cultists greeting their messiah.
"Ohhh!"
"He embraces Truth in its absolute entirety!"
"As expected of the Knight of the Apocalypse!"
Staring down at them in total bewilderment, I unconsciously reached up and stroked the slender tentacle peeking out from my coat. Gasps of ecstatic awe erupted across the hallway.
— Gyururu...
"Please, caress me as well, Sir Knight!"
"Please embrace me too, Lord Trauma!!"
"M-Me as well...!!"
When the little creature leaned up and affectionately licked my cheek, the surrounding heroes let out feverish wails, gazing at me with eyes drowned in rabid fanaticism.
"Would you all please just fuck off."
What kind of absolute circus had I walked into?