Chapter 578

The Ninetieth: Gale of Friendship, Cure March!!

“What the heck — Clown Monster!”

Feeling a sense of impending doom, Joker no longer cared whether Ash was still around and immediately ordered the Clown Monsters to attack the rising girls.

Dark tragic energy bullets flew toward the girls, but they all exploded behind their feet instead, leaving only sparks. At this moment, what filled the girls’ eyes was nothing but the friend they had abandoned.

“No!”

“That’s enough!”

With emotions already at the breaking point, they finally burst through under the stimulation of this moment’s heavy blow. One after another, they rushed in front of Ash, desperate to stop him from proceeding further with whatever he was doing.

Five girls and one sprite, collectively embracing Ash’s body parts, managed to actually push back the seemingly crazed Ash when all exerted their strength together.

“Bad guy, bad guy, bad guy!” Holding onto Ash’s arms, the crying girl Yayoi continuously struck his chest with her tiny electric fists. “Why, why did it have to come to this?”

“Ash! Stop it!” Similarly in tears, Akane held onto his other leg. The pain on her face mirrored the grief she felt for the wounds he once inflicted upon her. “It’s our fault, it’s our mistake! Sorry, sorry!”

Ash ultimately let go of his sword, taking two steps back and thrusting it into the ground beside him. In front of him, the girls gathered around the stunned Naoko, none of them free of tears.

“I’m so sorry, Naoko, I’m sorry—!” Thinking about her actions, Rihua, almost too ashamed to look at her dear friend, held Naomi tightly. Despite being usually composed, she couldn’t stop the flood of genuine sorrow that erupted now. “We really did an injustice to you!”

“I know saying sorry doesn’t make up for it, but — Naoko! I’m sorry!”

She looked just like that hated version of Ash in her eyes… No, even worse!

You trusted us so much, yet we only remembered everything after it became irrevocably too late.

I’m sorry… beyond sorry, I don’t know what else to say. Compared to this humiliated you, it’s us who aren’t worthy of carrying on the name of Pretty Cure.

“Naoko-san—!”

“Naoko—!”

The words of apology and regret were repeated countless times by the girls ashamed with emotion.

“Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Rihua…” Seeing their eyes eventually return to normal, she felt a mix of intense joy and grieving sadness rise within her. She wanted to tell them not to apologize because this wasn’t their fault.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, the overwhelming tears would simply fall uncontrollably. All she could do was embrace them as much as possible.

“It can’t be, this can’t be!”

Joker muttered with disbelief, seeing another failure for the Tragic Kingdom. It shouldn’t have happened, he altered sensory rules, thus they should rightly despise her, so why have they reverted?

Affection, friendships? After scheming so long, they’ve been overthrown by something so trivial?!

“Why?”

Feeling the breeze brush past her cheek, Ash stared up at the sky where Joker was blown away, becoming a star. Gripping his sword with both hands, he said something meaningless, only understood by him.

“You called yourself Joker, but Cyclone is your opposite, wasn’t it?”

It’s your own fault, isn’t it?

Sure, if villains hadn’t experienced firsthand how hero’s ‘friendship is power’ worked, naturally they wouldn’t comprehend it.

“What is this feeling?”

When the breeze brushed against her, Naoko sensed completeness, like the missing piece of a puzzle was finally found.

Looking at the disheveled girls before her — her comrades — she nodded and produced a glowing compact from her bag.

“Precure Smile Change!”

With innocent cyclonic energy infused into the powder puff, she caught the jumping puff, and drew a bold, emerald green triangle in the air, a strong green wind blowing over them.

Her attire transformed into similar forest green battlewear, and a sudden swirl of wind surrounded her. As the wind dispersed, her long radiant hair flowed like a green waterfall down her back.

“Boldly confronting, let’s decide— [Cure March] (Forward Angel)!”

Completing the transformation, Cure March, the green girl, winked at Ash, her gemstone eyes reflecting complex emotions.

She might not be the traditional feminine ideal, but her spirit was undeniably cool.

Unspoken, Ash simply nodded back.

Thus, the five Smile Precure were now all assembled.

His hand, unknown to them, had reached for the hilt of his sword. Behind the mask, Ash’s eyes that had shut for a while now opened again. The answer was still the same inevitable bad end ahead of him.

But he won’t succumb to despair or blindly pursue his goals. With the five Precure reassembled, his bargain seems to be fulfilled.

“Now it’s time.”

As if concluding the first act of a TV drama, it’s time to embark on the second.

“Ha!”

Undeterred by whatever ‘evil’ plans Ash might have in motion, the emerald green girl marched forward first towards the super Clown Monster.