...Yeah, for you as you are now, Master, it really is pretty weak. But we still have time to grow stronger.
"Is that so? You know, Phantom, this is the first time I've ever felt so powerless, so insignificant."
Master.
"But I'm not going to give up that easily! After all, my dad's going to come save me!"
Senba Gari had already made peace with things, but Silver Phantom's next words nearly drove him mad with anger.
As expected of you, Master. You got your emotions under control so quickly. I think that's what you humans call being thick-skinned.
"Thick-skinned, my foot! Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Clatter."
Squeak~ Woof~ Squeak~
"Hm? What are these things?"
Suddenly, Senba Gari heard some strange noises in front of him. Then three animal-shaped miniature robots appeared before him.
The three miniature animal robots in front of Senba Gari seemed like the With birds (Flame Sparrow) he had seen before. One was shaped like a mole and was brown, another was shaped like a dog and was gray, and the last was shaped like a bat and was purple. The robot dog seemed to have a small bottle in its mouth. It set the bottle in Senba Gari's hand, and then Silver Phantom's voice came through his earpiece.
Oh, it looks like they've found you, Master. Let me introduce them. Like With birds (Flame Sparrow), all three are Beast God Cubes: Hades bat (Underworld Bat), Shadow dog, and Digger Rat. The thing in your hand is a pill that can quickly restore some of your spiritual energy. There are only a few, though, so save them for emergencies like today.
"Is that so? A little will be enough. If we want to get out of here, we'll have to keep going up."
As he spoke, Senba Gari swallowed a pill from the bottle.
Then I'll be outside, ready to help you, Master. Also, I've transmitted instructions for using all three of them to your brain through your earpiece.
"Okay."
After feeling some of his spiritual energy return, Senba Gari cut off communications with Silver Phantom, then set off with the three Beast God Cube robots to find an exit on one of the upper floors.
--Searching--
On the clothing floor of the collapsed department store, the area was surrounded by casualties. Eli Ayase held her younger sister, Arisa, tightly and tried to soothe her trembling body. Then she turned to Nozomi Tojo beside her and asked in a hoarse voice,
"Nozomi, do you think we'll ever make it back?"
Nozomi Tojo heard her and took out a tarot card.
"Don't worry, Eli. The tarot cards told me a knight will come save us very soon."
Hearing Nozomi's words, Eli Ayase gave a bitter smile.
"A knight? Nozomi, have you been reading too many fairy tales? In a situation like this, it'd be hard for anyone to find us, let alone some knight."
"Eli, do you think Big Brother will come save Arisa?"
Suddenly, Arisa, nestled in her arms, looked up at Eli Ayase with red-rimmed eyes full of hope.
"Um..."
Looking into Arisa's eyes, Eli Ayase couldn't bear to crush her hopes. After all, their encounter in Akihabara last time had just been good luck. They might never meet him again. Seeing how difficult Eli found it to answer, Nozomi Tojo turned to Arisa.
"Don't worry, little Arisa. Your Big Brother will definitely come."
"Really?"
"Nozomi..."
Unlike Arisa, who was hopeful, Eli Ayase felt a little frustrated. She thought her friend was only trying to comfort Arisa. But then a noise from ahead caught everyone's attention.
"Bang!!!"
Right in front of everyone, the door to a stairwell that had been blocked by the collapsed building suddenly came loose with a burst of force. Everyone stared blankly at the two people who appeared on the other side. One of them turned to the boy beside him, who had black hair and eyes, wore a strange pair of goggles, and had two animal-shaped robots on his shoulders.
"Hey, Senba, are you really going to save everyone here?"
Hearing the person beside him, Senba Gari replied,
"Well, I can't just leave people to die. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here with me."
"Tch."
When Nozomi Tojo and Arisa heard Senba Gari's voice, their eyes widened. Only Eli Ayase thought it sounded familiar. Then Arisa's eyes filled with tears. She slipped out of her sister's arms and ran toward Senba Gari, shouting,
"Big Brother!"
A Knight and a Delinquent
A few minutes earlier, in the underground parking lot of the collapsed department store, Senba Gari looked at a stone pillar in front of him. It was wedged against the ceiling, where there was a large hole. Then he turned to the three Cube Beasts on his shoulders.
"Well, well. I didn't expect to get this lucky. If I bought a lottery ticket now, maybe I'd win. Don't you think so?"
Squeak~ Woof~ Squeak~
The three Cube Beasts let out helpless cries, as if to say, "Boss, you're dreaming."
Ignoring the unspoken words of the three little guys, he grabbed the stone pillar and climbed up, pulling himself with his arms and legs. When he was nearly at the top, Senba Gari reached out and grabbed the edge of the hole in the ceiling. He caught it with his other hand, then kicked off with his feet and jumped up to the floor above.
"Whew~ Counting the underground parking lot, this building should have five floors. And if I remember right, this floor sells men's clothes. I just don't know which floor has an exit."
Senba Gari had been trying to figure out how to escape when a voice from nearby caught his attention.
"Help! Is anyone there? My leg's trapped!"
"Hey, are you okay?"
Following the voice, Senba Gari came to a pile of rubble. Beneath it was a delinquent wearing a black jacket, with a red pompadour. He looked like a typical troublemaker.
At the moment, a broken stone pillar was pinning the delinquent's leg. He kept pushing against it with both hands, trying to move it, but it wasn't working. Senba Gari's voice came from beside him, and the delinquent whipped around to look at him. Though he was relieved that someone had come to save him, he said,
"Tch, took you long enough. I thought nobody was coming. Hey, you, get over here and help me move this pillar!"
"Huh?"
Senba Gari let out a strange cry and looked at the delinquent oddly, thinking, How can someone be so arrogant?
"What are you saying 'huh' for? Hurry up! My leg's about to break!"
"Yes, yes. Honestly, you were just calling for help. How'd you go from that to ordering me around?"
Senba Gari muttered too quietly for the delinquent to hear. Then he pulled a pair of black fingerless gloves from his pocket. Strange runes were etched on them. When he put them on, the runes on the gloves' surface flashed with a faint blue light. He clenched his fist and said to the delinquent,
"I'd advise you not to move around. If you get hurt by accident, don't blame me."
"Hey, what are you—"
"Bang!" "Crash!"
Before the delinquent could finish speaking, Senba Gari smashed the part of the stone pillar pinning his leg with a punch. The delinquent was stunned, but he didn't notice the faint blue glow around Senba Gari's fist or the flash of fatigue in his eyes.
Then Senba Gari said to the stunned delinquent,
"First of all, my name isn't 'Hey.' It's Senba Gari. Also, can you stand?"
As he spoke, Senba Gari held out a hand to the delinquent.
"Ah, oh! I-I can."
Perhaps Senba Gari's feat had scared him. The delinquent stopped calling himself "this great me" and instead said "I," afraid Senba Gari might hit him with the same force. He grabbed Senba Gari's hand, and Senba Gari pulled him up.
Senba Gari didn't continue talking to the delinquent. Instead, he glanced at the hole overhead, then gathered some men's clothes and trousers scattered nearby. Then he remembered something and asked the delinquent beside him,
"Oh, right. What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Kuryu Tenkeiji."
"Got it. Then, Tenkeiji, could you tie these clothes and trousers together for me?"
After learning the delinquent's name, Senba Gari tossed the pile of clothes in his hands in front of Kuryu Tenkeiji.
"Uh, Senba, what's the point of doing this?"
Kuryu Tenkeiji asked, puzzled.
"Look up there. There's a big hole. If we tie those clothes and trousers together into a rope and throw it up, we might be able to loop it around that jutting piece of rock and climb up."
Senba Gari pointed at the hole above their heads as he answered Kuryu Tenkeiji's question.
"Oh, I see. Okay, I'll get started right away."
Once he understood what Senba Gari meant, Kuryu Tenkeiji helped him tie the clothes and trousers into a rope.
Before long, Senba Gari threw the rope they had just made up and looped it around the jutting piece of rock. He tugged on it to make sure it was secure. Then he and Kuryu Tenkeiji climbed up, one after the other.
Once they got up, they faced another problem.
"Hey, Senba, what do we do now?"
Kuryu Tenkeiji looked at the exit behind them, now blocked by fallen rubble, and the deformed door in front of them. He looked at Senba Gari hopefully. After Senba Gari's earlier display, Kuryu Tenkeiji had begun to believe they might survive.
"Let me check what's inside first."
After hearing Kuryu Tenkeiji, Senba Gari simply walked up to the door and held out his hand toward Hades bat (Underworld Bat). Understanding what Senba Gari meant, Hades bat transformed into a pair of bat-shaped goggles with a purple frame and blue lenses. Senba Gari put them on.
Through the goggles Hades bat had become, Senba Gari saw that there were many casualties on the other side of the door. The passage beyond it wasn't blocked. Senba Gari stepped back slightly. Beside him, Kuryu Tenkeiji watched him in confusion, thinking,
Is he going to kick that warped door open? No, uh... He's definitely going to, isn't he?!
Then he remembered how Senba Gari had smashed the stone pillar with just one punch. Surely kicking open the door was well within his abilities!
Senba Gari spun around in place and channeled some spiritual energy into his raised right foot.
"Bang!!!"
The door flew open under Senba Gari's kick. The people inside stared at him and Kuryu Tenkeiji. Kuryu Tenkeiji looked at them, furrowing his brow as he spoke to Senba Gari.
"Hey, Senba, are you really going to save everyone here?"
Hearing Kuryu Tenkeiji, Senba Gari replied,
"Well, I can't just leave people to die. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here with me."
Senba Gari's words left Kuryu Tenkeiji with no reply. After all, if Senba Gari had really abandoned him earlier, he might have been left to die.
"Tch."
A sudden, clear voice interrupted their conversation.
"Big Brother!"
A Sudden Attack!
"Big Brother!"
A clear yet hoarse voice caught Senba Gari and Kuryu Tenkeiji's attention. The voice sounded familiar to Senba Gari. He had just turned around when Arisa rushed over and hugged him.
"Whoa!"
"Hss—" ×2
Arisa caught Senba Gari by surprise with her hug. He lost his balance, and the two of them fell to the ground. It aggravated the injury to his left hand and jostled Kuryu Tenkeiji's injured foot as he fell, making them both suck in a sharp breath.
Arisa looked up and saw Senba Gari's pained expression. In a panic, she scrambled off him and asked carefully,
"Big Brother, are you okay? Did Arisa hurt you?"
Once Arisa had gotten off him, Senba Gari heard her ask if he was hurt. He knew she hadn't done it on purpose, so he stood up and gently patted her head with his uninjured right hand. Then he asked, puzzled,
"I'm fine. By the way, little girl, do we know each other?"
Hearing Senba Gari's question, Arisa replied in a trembling voice,
"Big Brother, don't you remember Arisa? Did you forget how you saved Arisa from the monster in Akihabara that day?!"
Arisa's faintly trembling voice and her words reminded Senba Gari of the little girl he had rescued from Lion Mlortha amid the chaos in Akihabara. The blurry image in his memory came into focus. The little girl was the one standing before him.
Senba Gari looked at Arisa and spoke with some excitement.
"You're the little girl from that day?!"
"Yeah! I'm so glad you still remember me, Big Brother! Arisa thought you'd forgotten me."
After hearing Senba Gari's words, Arisa excitedly hugged him again. But two voices beside them interrupted.
"Oh my, I didn't know you were into this sort of thing, Senba."
"Arisa! Can you tell me who this person is?"
Senba Gari looked up and saw Kuryu Tenkeiji giving him a mischievous smile as Arisa hugged him. Behind Arisa stood a purple-haired girl with twin tails, Nozomi Tojo, and a blond girl with a single ponytail, Eli Ayase. Eli Ayase was glaring fiercely at him, her eyes fixed on him as if she wanted to eat him alive. Seeing her expression, Senba Gari thought innocently,
Hey, miss, I don't think I've done anything to you. You chased me off last time, so why are you looking at me like you want to eat me now?! And you, shrine maiden, stop laughing and help your best friend already!
But Arisa, still in Senba Gari's arms, hadn't noticed the awkward atmosphere. Instead, she took him over to Eli Ayase and said happily.
Before you continue