Chapter 264

The one hundred sixty-third chapter Awakening of a Gentle Person Through This Love

“Thank you young man!” The people escorted to the shelter all shed tears as they expressed their gratitude to Ash. “You’re truly a hero!”

“No, I’m not really a hero…” Facing such gratitude was rare for Ash and made him feel quite uncomfortable. So he kept fidgeting, trying to shake off this numb feeling.

At this moment, an old uncle suddenly left the line and stubbornly walked towards the Selfish Beast with his cane. Luckily, Ash stopped him first.

“Let me through. I got separated from my granddaughter. She’s still there—”

“Old uncle, you should stay put. You might hurt your back.” As he redonned his helmet that was hanging on the handlebar, Ash revved up the motorcycle and made a sharp turn, ignoring everyone’s calls and went towards the monster-infested area.

“Don’t worry about me. I am a knight… A Kamen Rider!”

And a Kamen Rider never dies!

“Grandpa, where are you?” The brunette girl with a bird cage walked down the deserted street. The empty surroundings frightened her; she could only call out to her sole family member.

“Selfish!”

But no one answered. A strange, giant crab appeared with a human face, frightening the small girl who promptly sat on the ground. Her bird cage dropped, and the cage door opened. A blue bird took the chance to burst out, spread its wings, and flew into the sky, toward freedom.

“Selfish!”

Seeing the crab’s claws about to crush the girl, a motorcycle, its head adorned with flames, rushed forth at high speed and lodged its blade into the crab’s back.

“This won’t do!”

Taking advantage of the monster jumping away and creating an opening, a dark figure slid underneath it. The dark figure scooped up the child and dashed away.

However, soon he had to run back due to surrounding Selfish Beasts that blocked his path.

“Selfish!”

“Poor Mr. Ash sure is unlucky.”

It felt like running the gauntlet during the Battle of Huaming Road, but none of these Selfish Beasts were like Guan Yu.

Subconsciously reaching into his pocket, he found only a Pucca candy instead of his disk and card box. He remembered he left them behind.

Tigers in Qin lost to dogs in Pingyang.

“Uncle…”

The terrified girl clutched tightly onto the only support she had and looked pitifully at this man with her teary eyes before being silenced by a lollipop.

“Not Uncle, but Brother… Though I don’t exactly remember, I can’t be too old.”

Scarcely had he spoken when a great ape-like Selfish Beast nearby sent both of them flying with a punch. Instinctively, Ash held her close while they rolled on the ground.

Damn, why did I forget to have Madoka fetch back the card box!

Think, Ash, aren’t you always so proud of being a genius? How come you still look down on Duan Litou and Xikali! Come up with some escape plan!

Little watermelon ball… too many monsters, useless! Armor of Xiu… Can’t use both hands to operate! Right, I have a pure Gaia Memory… No, I haven’t done the surgery yet, it won’t fit!

Time waits for no one, and Ash doesn’t have the ability to freeze time while deep in thought. During this brief moment, a spider-like Selfish Beast seized the opportunity and lifted its sharp forelimbs to sting him.

“Danger—”

There was no way to dodge! Holding the child, I can’t counter-attack— unless I throw her at the enemy, but—

A certain someone flashed through his mind. Involuntarily, he tightened his grip on the girl and faced the monster, pushing her forward.

Ah, this is where I’ll meet my end? That’s pretty lame. If possible, I’d rather die in the midst of a large crowd.

‘I remember, I was certainly a villain. Now, have I turned into a hero? What a laugh.’

‘Anyway, what’s the point of complaining? Still, I don’t want to suffer like this.’

“Ash will be protected by me—!”

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice almost breaking into a screech, followed by a pink streak striking the ground and breaking the crab’s limb.

“Nobody said princesses can’t protect their knights!”

Following close after, Regina wielded her Light Gun, piercing through the Selfish Beast and guarding Ash, sweeping around her, cleansing the surrounding monsters in an instant.

“Huh—” Watching Cure Heart defend Ash, Rikka holding the rescued girl felt relieved.

“We succeeded in saving her.”

“You…!?”

“We trusted that Ash would come!” Guessing what Ash would ask next, Ai raised her thumb and replied first.

“Ash, stop acting so recklessly!” Arisue, also trembling, gave him a big hug after the girl descended from the sky and retracted her wings.

Rikka placed the saved girl down. The girl held the empty bird cage, mustering the courage to thank the somewhat scary-looking Ash.

“Big brother… um, thank you!”

“Yes, you’re welcome.” Ash lowered his head, noticing the empty cage. “Did the bird escape? We’ll catch another one later, let’s get you back to your family now.”

“Yeah!”

Noticing everyone struggling to suppress their laughter, Ash turned away expressionless.

“Laugh if you want, since I’m like this anyway.”

“Ha—Nope.” Makoto actually laughed, but she too gave Ash a thumbs-up. “Ash like this is amazing!”

“You Pretty Cures dare finish off half and then dump me, Lord Levi!”

Angry, Levi arrived just in time to see Ash standing up again.

“You, you didn’t die!”

“You don’t die because I don’t die!”

Ash clenched his fists and made crackling sounds.

“Don’t get in the way,” Levi said, mocking Ash with his eyes. “You’re just as selfish as us, and perhaps more so!”

“Once bullying Precure based on your own will, now pretending to make peace by fawning over them and become one of the good guys, how shameless can you be!”

Hearing this, even the少女 looked uncomfortable. Ash stood with his hands in his pockets, listening quietly.

“You will forever be just a villain like us. You’ll never change!”