Chapter 132

Twenty-Sixth Twice Disappointed

“Makoto—sword—!”

“It’s me, Dabi—please, wake up quickly!”

The anxious voice of her partner echoed in her ears. Lying on the cold ground next to a burning phone booth, Makoto Kanzaki, who was barely conscious, finally opened her eyes.

Through blurry vision, she saw five-colored figures slowly approaching her and Yashu observing from afar. Her thoughts momentarily paused, but she soon recalled what she was doing.

Yes, she needed to win against that man to find out where the princess was.

No, I can’t fall here…

But even as she thought so, the pain in the girl’s chest was no illusion. She wanted to cry out, but she didn’t even have the energy for that…

Blinking once, Makoto saw through her blackened vision that Yashu was mouthing words in the distance, as if speaking to her.

Her dry throat moved slightly as she followed Yashu’s actions, tremblingly opening her lips to mimic his words.

“Try… to stand… up…”

Is this what you want to say…?

Unknown strength circulated through her limbs, and Makoto gritted her teeth, determined to stand up again.

She remembered what Yashu had said before, maybe it was because of her incompetence that she failed to protect what she should have protected.

But even if she was incompetent, she didn’t want him to underestimate her!

Seeing Makoto revitalized, a smile couldn’t help but form at the corner of Yashu’s lips.

“What? Aren’t you doing quite well?”

The battle reached a critical and intense phase.

“Illuminate, HolySword!”

Taking advantage of the precious chance to create distance with the enemy, Makoto inserted Ai Decoration into the Heartphone, activating the skill. She raised her hand to draw a purple fissure in front of her space.

“Power increased after standing up.”

Despite being covered in dirt and her purple dress stained by mud and previous explosions, Makoto Kanzaki, Cure Sword, showcased an evident increase in power.

Stirred by my words, your renewed spirit grants more power to the Pretty Cures? No wonder legends write such things about the power of will.

From within the fissure, countless Spade-shaped deep purple swords shot towards the adventurers. Although not very damaging individually, this move covered a vast area. Even Yashu, watching from the sidelines, sidestepped behind a nearby pillar to avoid collateral damage. The adventurers raised their hands to defend, halting their advance.

This move provided Makoto with an excellent opportunity for an attack.

“Makoto, use HeartBowArrow, Dabi!”

Recalling Ais’ efforts to bring new powers to the Pretty Cures, Makoto’s spirits lifted. She grabbed the new Ai Decoration and summoned the HeartBowArrow to her hand.

“HeartBowArrow!”

Gripping the craftsmanship-like HeartBowArrow, Makoto felt full of confidence. With this, victory was guaranteed!

After inserting the LoveDecoration corresponding to her power into the HeartBowArrow and sliding her finger along the center, marking hearts, she condensed the Pretty Cure’s entire strength into the weapon. In a moment, the adventurers finally reacted, looking up just in time to see Makoto ready her arrowhead and rapidly pulling the string.

“PrettyCureSparkleSword!”

Shouting her technique’s name, countless powerful cleansing Spade-shaped light swords flew out. Although they resembled the previous HolySword in appearance, their destructive power and sharpness were vastly different, ten or even a hundred times stronger!

Faced with another assault, the adventurers scrambled to react. The Yellow and Pink adventurers, attempting to dodge, were unable to escape the cone-shaped AOE attack, turning into a cluster of dark mist.

Black and Blue adventurers pulled out their weapons, trying to deflect the light swords, only to be caught off guard by the overwhelming sharpness of SparkleSword. Their weapons and bodies were torn apart, following closely behind the first two.

Left standing was the Red adventurer, desperately holding on. Knocking down four adversaries boosted Morale Kanzaki. She aimed her arrow and unleashed a concentrated attack until the opponent’s figure faded beneath the dust raised by her shots.

Yashu, quick-eyed, caught sight of a round disk emblazoned with a compass sign flying into the dust.

“I did it! I did it! I won!”

Excitement flooded her; pride in keeping her promise with Yashu and defeating the strong adversary washed away the earlier frustration.

However, glancing at Yashu, she saw a man with a mocking expression.

“You don’t mean to back out now, do you?!”

As though doused with cold water, Makoto quickly asked, her nerves taut.

“No, I’m just reminding you to take a closer look.”

“Fights aren’t always resolved so easily.”

Take a closer look… Does that mean there are more enemies?

“Makoto, look over there, Dabi!”

Dust gradually scattered, revealing the red human shadow standing up. Tattered armor showed exposed electronic core components, indicating not a hair was untouched, but compared to earlier attacks, the Red adventurer’s chest now bore a shimmering silver breastplate.

“The Acceleration Armor of the adventurers, dragon scales are quite tough,” Yashu commented, enjoying Makoto’s varied expressions.

“Let’s try again then!”

If we don’t defeat them the first time, let’s do it again! Clenching her teeth, determined to continue fighting, Makoto raised the HeartBowArrow, ready to launch another attack. But opposite her stood the Red adventurer, brandishing a suitcase-like weapon with a concrete sprayer.

The substance struck her HeartBowArrow, surprisingly without any impact. It dispersed like liquid, staining her Arrow in an unsightly muddy gray, almost appearing as if coated with stone.

Too slow, Makoto quickly pulled the arrow, but no matter how hard she tried, the HeartBowArrow remained unresponsive.

Checking frantically for the issue, she discovered the arrowhead was clogged and dried up with rapidly solidifying concrete.

It can’t… shoot? The weapon of a Pretty Cure sealed by concrete?!

Facing Makoto’s immobilized attack, Red adventurer hesitated no further. Pulling the upper lever, the weapon’s barrel flipped, transforming from a sprayer to a golden drill.

Rotating swiftly, the drill released a spiral burst of energy, embedding itself forcefully against Makoto’s flat chest, causing it to spin wildly. The momentum propelled her back into the wall, leaving a silhouette outline. Shrieking, she struggled to push the drill out of her chest, her hands repeatedly recoiling from the force.

Finally, the drill’s energy depleted and vanished. Due to near-exhaustion, Makoto’s Pretty Cure transformation dissolved, allowing her to fall backward, crashing into a hole in the wall.

This time, Makoto did not rise from her fall.