Chapter 528

The fortieth hero, of course, was real!

“Boom!”

From the center, the steel bars split apart smoothly and fell on either side of them, the huge sound blowing up dust and lifting the man’s ash-covered coat.

“Really, making such unnecessary moves,” Ash grumbled, rising to his feet, speaking about a culprit who wasn’t there. “Dammit, did I underestimate him?”

They were all ready to face a terrible bad end when a sudden intrusion caused the man to kneel and cut the flag in half. Revived Yayoi’s mouth opened wide, unable to speak at first.

“You… you really saved these people from over there?” Yayoi’s disbelief shone as she took a look at the workers she pulled behind a barrier. She exclaimed, somewhat in astonishment, “With your skinny arms and legs… this has got to be miraculous, right?”

Come on, she is a young girl and those workers are all adults; this doesn’t add up at all! Okay, it’s highly subjective and very Toei stuff.

Yayoi, panting and gasping for breath on the ground, sweat on her forehead enduring pain in her chest, mustered the courage to voice her own doubts.

“Huff… Ah, why… why are you here?”

“It’s because you told me! Really, villains are doing all kinds of shady work here! They’re so bad! That’s how it is!”

She didn’t notice that when she entered the factory, a black shadow hidden in the darkness stealthily moved like a spider waiting to catch its prey, skillfully navigating through the complex pipes above, following Yayoi’s back in close pursuit with an inhumanly strange posture.

On the way, he found an old woman wrapped in a green robe. Ash, being kind-hearted, persuaded the stubborn old lady out of the factory with much effort but ended up causing a delay, leading to the situation Yayoi witnessed.

“As for you, tell me, why did you come to such a place?”

“Bomb! Boom!!”

Explosions still echoed around them. Irritated, Ash continued looking down at her. “Aren’t you aware of your situation? If I came late, what would have happened then? You’d be doomed, Yayoi. I don’t want to pull people out of rubble just to piece them back together.”

Yayoi, unable to stand, turned her head away.

“I’m telling you, even if you obtained courage, if you die, all will be lost. Consider Miyouki and others, and your mother—”

“Mr. Ash!”

Surrounded by blazing fires, Yayoi’s shout reached Ash’s ears.

“If you really hate me so much!” For the second time in her life, Yayoi raised her voice out of anger. “If you only want a hero to serve yourself! Say things that make you look great!”

Without remorse, you strike us to pave the way for a future, sealing away my, Akane’s, and Naoko’s powers, and making me cry. Now you want to rescue me—what do you want from me? Do you want gratitude?!

“Just leave me to die, don’t bother saving me!”

I, a weak person, can never become a hero!

After a brief silence, Ash lowered his head this time.

“All right, I get it!” He made a French salute, sighed deeply, and for the first time before Yayoi, lowered his head.

“It’s my fault… I messed up. I am sorry…”

…

What is this person?

Starting sincere, then turning into a weird, awkward reading, after saying his piece, Ash turned his head away to avoid Yayoi’s expression. Reaching out to pull her up, but hesitantly it went uncaught.

“I… I’m too exhausted…” Amidst her speech, Yayoi reverted to her soft, helpless tone.

“Got it!” Ash’s cheeks flushed, shook his head, slipped his hand under Yayoi’s armpit, and lifted her like a kitten.

“Hold on tight!”

Hearing Ash’s reminder, Yayoi shut her eyes and tightly clung to Ash’s back.

A silver box appeared in Ash’s hand instantly, launching a grappling hook through the distant glass where it hooked the edge. The tremendous force dragged Ash upward, soaring past the flames.

Never in her dreams did she expect something like this, Yayoi felt the fierce wind against her cheek closing her eyes, but not feeling afraid.

Being held and swinging in mid-air… It was truly like a scene from an animated movie.

“Mr. Ash, why are you following me, rescuing me?”

In a soft-spoken voice, Yayoi asked her most pressing question.

“To bully someone doesn’t need a reason.” Flying high, Ash glimpsed fiery columns falling towards him. He let go his grip on the hook and hugged Yayoi tightly, rolling over to dodge the heat.

“Likewise, helping someone does not require a reason.”

“Mr. Ash…” Clinging closely to the man’s chest, the teenage girl’s cheeks turned red like an apple. “Thank you.”

“You… are really too good.”

With no more use for the hook, Ash protected the girl with his hands, repeatedly kicking the wall ahead of him, and finally landing near the workers with a spark.

“Yayoi Huangai… that’s your name, right?”

“Names and titles are troublesome, in short, I can just call you Yayoi, correct?”

“Wait, that’s a bit…”

Ignoring Yayoi’s embarrassment, having already known the answer, Ash straightforwardly asked, pulling out a bird-shaped handgun from his suit.

“As compensation for apologizing, I’ll tell you this one thing.”

Watching destruction spread from explosions, watching the flames encroach nearer, a golden gear slid out along the man’s sleeve and fell into the weapon’s slot.

“Justice’s hero, Masked Riders, and Santa Claus.”

“Are all real!”

Dark Call!

“[Change↘to→~], [Masked Rider↘fourze↗]”

Yayoi’s eyes widened in an instant, momentarily forgetting to object to how familiar Ash addressed her.

Only because last week on Sunday, she had seen on TV那位充满热情如宇航员般的火箭头假面骑士，现在已经打破石头，真正地站在她面前！

Note: The section in Chinese in the last part is incomplete and could not be accurately translated without context.