Chapter 452

The Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Solitary Pondering in the Endless Night

“Hehe… hehe, it seems that the power of hatred will always be defeated by a more righteous force.”

With a relieved smile, the eye pupils of the Dark Pretty Cure gradually closed as her breathing calmed down, and she sank into a deep sleep with the fading breath.

Even though she had lost a lot of blood and her body was trembling, Lily, who could not hate her enemy anymore, loosened her hand pressed against her abdomen, enclosing it tightly in her palms.

“Ho, ho……”

In a daze, she saw the figures of two people who left the deepest marks on her life besides her parents, Ash and her spirit, Kuron, walking toward her side by side.

Ah… Kuron, have you come to take me?

The sea waves slapped her face, her last breath tainted by salt in the air, and holding deep regrets toward her mother, Lily lost consciousness and collapsed onto the Dark Pretty Cure’s body.

Though their destinies were starkly different, they ultimately bled the same blood. Two red lines interlaced and merged together, eventually flowing into the sea mixed indistinguishably.

“Stomp—”

Another figure stepped onto the small island where the two warriors had finally fallen. The leather shoes stepped over the dark red blood splashes, landing on the smooth pebbles left by the aftermath of battle. The cold wind blew past Ash’s face, adding an even more chilling sensation as he faced the two “corpses.”

In a certain sense, these two deaths were partly his fault.

“Ash, is this the moment you’ve been waiting for?”

Kayin appeared beside Ash, standing on his shoulder as they both watched the fight coldly.

A small demon floated slowly down from his shoulder, sniffing out the bloody scent mixed with the stench of decaying flowers, then made a displeased expression before returning to Ash’s side.

“Witnessing girls fight is quite pleasant to look at, but watching two girls battling each other… that’s really hard to celebrate.”

“That’s very much unlike a devil.”

Ash’s comment was promptly retaliated by Kayin.

“Sorry, I’m the devil born from within you, so blame yourself.”

Regarding the devil, there is something Ash doesn’t know: for some reason, the remnants of his memories in the Kamen Rider Levi world are particularly sparse, including even battle scenes that one would assume would be unaffected by the System. There’s only a vague memory about public bathhouses.

There is still an enigma that even though he had no recollection of the first encounter, Kayin seems to have been around as if they have known each other for a long time.

The only thing Ash is sure about is that Kayin was indeed a devil born from himself; what exact part of his soul Kayin originated from remains unknown.

“Indeed, brilliance and strength stem from decisive battles.”

“But this isn’t everything about being human… Tell me, is this what you truly seek?”

Without waiting for Ash’s response, it carried something as large as itself and drifted away towards the back.

“In their situation, someone needs to understand… It’s better to resolve a ticking time bomb now rather than later.”

After a profound pause, Ash directed his response to the already magic-less direction, while instinctively raising his hand to his heart, feeling its rapid beat… Yet,

This scene is causing anxiety to overshadow the excitement of the moment.

“Love and hate, and the instinct for strife, which one truly nurtures growth?”

One thing is clear though, I’ve become weak because of my emotions.

But unexpectedly, I don’t mind it.

However, instead of pondering over these philosophical questions, what matters most now is that if he doesn’t want the situation to spiral out of control, he must act swiftly.

Pulling Lily away from the Dark Pretty Cure’s body, her unconscious head resting on his legs, Ash probed the pulse at her neck artery, checking the gaping wound from which blood was spouting, and the fading warmth from her fingers. He started to tend to her immediately.

“It hurts even to me to see my most proud employee gone!”

The needle and thread danced in the air as he skillfully completed the sterilization, suturing, in a manner barely visible to the naked eye. Ash checked her pale cheeks and remembered the Heart Seed from Rei he hadn’t returned after grabbing it earlier. Erasing the red on her lips, he wiped them before taking out two slices from his collection. The human essence collected by Rei and crushed into rainbow-like dust were fed into the girl’s lips by Ash.

Seeing the girl regaining color after the spectral light entered her body, Ash felt a moment of relief.

“Even if we’re at Toei Studios, this isn’t the set of Kamen Riders… You are young, and you’ll survive.”

On the other side, the heart-wrenching Dark Pretty Cure… hmm?

Just as Ash tried to move his leg, he felt a pull from underneath and looked down to see Little Dark, somehow having lifted his pant leg despite being in her moment of passing. This should have logically been impossible for her to do anything.

Even if it was just enough motion that wasn’t difficult, it…

Hearing the murmurs from the girl, a tightening squeezed Ash’s heart.

Even though Ash considered himself selfish and cared only about himself, with how familiar they had grown with every detail, how could he still claim he was a heartless person now?

“Little Dark… If you die, it will be my fault, so!”

“You can’t die!”