He who Protects the Transforming Heroines from The Shadows - Chapter 7 - Second Transformation

『This is troubling. It seems that Youka and the others have indeed made contact with Ralva. Just yesterday, he came to visit me—with Tokyo Banana as a souvenir.』

“So he did… And don’t talk to me while I’m napping.”

Eito was lying on a bench along the riverside, eyes closed. It was his day off, and he’d planned to take a peaceful nap under the sun. But just as he was about to drift off, a certain goddess’s voice echoed in his head. And really—Tokyo Banana?

『It’s your day off today, isn’t it? And yet you’re here napping alone by the river… Do you not have any friends?』
“Shut up. None of your damn business.”

Eito replied irritably to Soleil’s voice, which was tinged with sorrow. Don’t treat him like a joke—he does have at least one friend.

『But now it’s clear to the Guardian side—Ralva included—that you exist. I did tell the girls when they came to visit me that Spriggan was probably not a Guardian, but…』

Still, it seemed Soleil’s half-hearted attempt at misdirection hadn’t worked. Honestly, they had assumed Spriggan’s presence wouldn’t be exposed to the Guardian side until later.

“…Whatever. They were bound to find out eventually. Don’t worry about it.”

With a yawn, Eito opened his eyes beneath his overly long bangs. Watching the clouds slowly drift across the sky, he felt like his worries were small and meaningless.

『You really are something… It’s starting to feel ridiculous for me to worry so much. But… yes, perhaps you’re right.』

Soleil’s voice echoed again, sounding a little exasperated, but Eito was already starting to doze off again, eyes fluttering shut.

Come to think of it, he’d only transformed once. Now that a Guardian named Kouji had appeared—would he ever have reason to transform again?

As sleep began to claim him, Eito pondered that question.

♦

Somewhere in this world, in a place shrouded in darkness—
Blending into that darkness in a black mourning outfit, her beautiful white hair gleaming in the gloom, Reizeroll was lost in thought.

(Those two Lightbearer Princesses in Japan… they’re the “troublesome type.”)

Reizeroll had fought countless Lightbearer Princesses before. Some of them had given her a hard time. And those two—those girls—had the same eyes as the ones she had struggled with.

Eyes that believed in justice. Believed in the future. Believed in people. Eyes filled with a strong, unwavering will. Those with such eyes were without exception strong.

“…Better to erase them before they grow.”

Reizeroll muttered quietly. Fortunately, those Lightbearers were still in the process of developing. Eliminating them now shouldn’t be too difficult.

“…Please allow me to take care of that task.”

A voice suddenly echoed from the darkness before her. The owner of the voice emerged from the shadows. He was a tall, well-groomed man.
Wearing a finely tailored outfit reminiscent of a tailcoat, a monocle perched neatly on his composed face. With his hair slicked back, he resembled a refined butler from the medieval era. The man knelt respectfully before Reizeroll.

“You were here, Feliet.”
“Yes, Reizeroll-sama.”

Raising the head he had bowed, Feliet gave a calm, pleasant smile. Reizeroll turned her cold eyes toward him and spoke.

“What do you mean, ‘leave it to me’?”
“Exactly what I said. If you would grant me a single Dark Thrall, I shall kill those Lightbearer Princesses myself.”

Feliet stated it matter-of-factly, in a calm and gentle tone that made the horrifying proposal all the more chilling.
Hearing this, Reizeroll brought a hand to her chin in thought.

“…I see. You mean to lure them into a trap.”
“Yes, precisely.”

Realizing what Feliet was getting at, Reizeroll considered it for a moment, then delivered her decision.

“Very well. It’s true that someone like you could wipe out those Lightbearers instantly. As for the Dark Thrall… I’ll create one on-site myself.”

Only Reizeroll possessed the power to corrupt a human into a Dark Thrall.
To lure the Lightbearers into a trap, a Dark Thrall had to be created in Japan, at the scene itself.

“…But how did you know I was talking about Lightbearers? And not just one—but two?”
“I am honored, my lady. After all, it is the role of a butler to understand their master’s thoughts.”
“That’s not an answer…”

Reizeroll gave her self-proclaimed butler a weary look. His expression remained ever composed.

“Well, whatever. The targets are in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Since they’ve only recently awakened as Lightbearers, we’ll keep the Dark Thrall at the lowest threat level. Use that as bait to lure them out. Got it so far?”
“Yes.”
“The issue is your presence. There’s no way Soleil wouldn’t detect someone like you.”

Soleil could sense the presence of Dark Thrall.
This current location was hidden by Reizeroll’s barrier, but that wouldn’t be the case outside.
There’s no way Soleil wouldn’t notice someone of Feliet’s level. If Feliet were anywhere near the Dark Thrall, Soleil would instantly suspect a trap and likely send a different Lightbearer instead.

“…Yes, that is indeed a problem.”
“Are you trying to be funny? …Well, I’ll figure something out. But in return, I want you to make sure they’re wiped out.”
“Thank you, my master. And what strategy do you intend to use?”

At Feliet’s inquiry, Reizeroll gave a faint smile and said:

“Simple and clear: a double decoy.”

♦

A few days later, on a clear evening.

Since no Dark Thrall had appeared recently, Eito had been living his life like a normal high school student.

On his way home from school, a familiar sound suddenly rang inside his head.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin

“Goddamn it, it’s been a while!”

Eito cursed and broke into a run.
The signal told him that the Dark Thrall had appeared about five minutes from here—so he likely wouldn’t be teleported.

『Eito, I’m sorry, but I need your help again.』
“I know already! Where are the others?”
『Youka and Miya are already on-site. The barrier should be forming soon. The Guardian is on his way, too.』

Soleil’s voice echoed in his head, calmly explaining the current situation. As usual, those two were fast. Eito thought to himself, just as Soleil’s voice suddenly trembled.

『…!? Wait! This presence… what is this…!?』
“Huh? What’s wrong, Soleil?”

Sensing something abnormal, Eito instinctively stopped running and addressed her.

『Eito!! Emergency! Reizeroll has appeared in central Tokyo!』
“What!?”

Eito’s eyes widened at her words—but he had no time to process the shock.

『Eito, keep going to the other two! I’ll contact other Lightbearers and request Guardian backup from Ralva to deal with Reizeroll!』

After leaving those words, Soleil went silent—she must have shifted her focus to handling Reizeroll.
With no idea what had just happened or what was about to, Eito ran again, following her instructions.

(What the hell is going on!?)

Reizeroll had shown up before, but only when she created a Dark Thrall. She always appeared the moment she turned someone, and never otherwise. But this time, a Dark Thrall had appeared simultaneously with her, and she was somewhere else entirely.

It had only been about a month since Eito began watching over Youka and Miya from the shadows, but this was the first time anything like this had happened.

(If even Soleil was panicking like that… this must be really bad.)

Eito mulled it over as he sprinted at full speed. Ugh, school uniforms were such a pain.
Panting hard, he made his way to the location Soleil had indicated.

“Haa… haaa… ugh…”

There was no one else around—he figured the others were already fighting.
Finally reaching the destination, he tried to catch his breath.

“…A shrine?”

Regaining his breath, Eito looked around.
A bright red torii gate stood atop the stairs.
With the sun starting to set, he cautiously climbed up.

“Haaaaaaaaaah!!”

A loud battle cry shook his eardrums.
Eito climbed the steps and immediately took cover in the woods nearby.

“Youka! Kounomiya-kun! Get back!”

Peeking through the trees, he saw three people battling a giant frog-shaped Dark Thrall.
Right now, Miya was attacking the monster seated before the shrine.

She swung her staff, summoning a serpent of water that lunged toward the Dark Thrall.
It seemed the monster had already taken heavy damage from Youka and Kouji—it didn’t move well and took the attack head-on.

“Geko!?”

The watery serpent slithered up its body and coiled tightly, restraining it.
The frog Dark Thrall could no longer move.

“Youka!”
“Yeah, Miya!”

The two nodded at each other and thrust their hands forward.
Kouji stood near them, sword at the ready to protect the pair.

(…I’m seriously not needed here.)

Eito thought again what he had a few days ago as he listened from the trees.
Well, of course. Kouji was a top-tier Guardian.

He wasn’t being self-pitying; Just honestly wondering if there was any point in him being here.
Honestly, he wanted to quit this whole job as soon as possible.

“Purifying light—GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

As Eito pondered, Youka and Miya released a massive purifying blast.
The restrained Dark Thrall took the attack head-on.

“GEKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!?”

The frog-like Dark Thrall let out a bizarre death cry as it was purified and returned to its human form.
Kouji gently helped the now-unconscious woman sit beside the offering box.
She would likely remain unconscious for a while, but she would recover soon enough.

“…All done, huh.”

Eito muttered and turned to leave—
—but then, from somewhere, he heard clapping.

“…Huh?”

The sound echoed strangely through the evening shrine, and Eito turned his head in confusion.
The one clapping slowly emerged.

“Well, well, splendid. Truly excellent coordination.”

From the shadows of the shrine emerged a man who looked exactly like a butler.
With a gentle voice, he offered his praise.

Youka and Miya looked at him with a mix of confusion and suspicion.
Kouji is the only one whose eyes widened in recognition, and his face twisted in fear.

“…No… no way…!”
“You know him, Kounomiya-kun?”

Youka asked, catching on to Kouji’s reaction.
The man before them remained as calm and composed as ever.

Kouji re-readied his sword and, filled with tension, said to Youka and Miya:

“Both of you—run! Now! I’ll buy the time!”
“Ko-Kounomiya-kun…?”

Miya’s voice trembled at his alarming tone.
But Kouji continued urgently:

“Hurry! Get as far away as you can before he attacks!”

He was unlike his usual calm self, and Miya asked, voice shaking:

“Wh-Who is that!? What is that man, Kounomiya-kun!?”

Kouji glared at the butler-like figure and answered:

“He’s a Dark Thrall that gained intelligence—a Darkian!”

In response to that declaration, the man gently placed a hand to his chest, smiling warmly as he spoke:

“Yes, quite right. I’m but a humble Darkian…Feliet is my name.”

♦

“This is strange… What was Reizeroll even trying to do?”

From the divine realm, Soleil was observing the battle between Reizeroll and the Lightbearers/Guardians and couldn’t help but feel something was off about Reizeroll’s movements.

Soleil could see the same scene as the Lightbearers from the heavens. This time, she was seeing it through one of the Lightbearers currently fighting Reizeroll.

Watching closely, she noticed Reizeroll’s actions felt unnatural—almost like she was simply dodging the attacks of the Lightbearers and Guardians, not retaliating at all.

“Why did Reizeroll even show up in the city center in the first place…?”

Reizeroll usually concealed her presence. Because of that, her whereabouts were always unknown. Bbut this time, she had deliberately not hidden her presence.

There had been past instances where Reizeroll appeared like this. But back then, it always led to intense battles, not the kind of stalling she was doing now.

Soleil had anticipated another major clash this time too, so she’d summoned Japan’s top Lightbearers and Guardians in preparation.

And yet, Reizerol’s behavior was clearly strange, almost as if she were stalling for time—

“…No. It can’t be!”

Soleil searched not just for Reizerol’s presence, but for the aura of the low-tier Dark Thrall she had sent Youka and Miya to confront.

“This is…!?”

But that Dark Thrall’s presence was already gone. Most likely it had already been purified. And in its place, Soleil now sensed an overwhelming aura of darkness.

“This level of darkness… it’s a Darkian!?”

And then Soleil realized it.

She had been tricked.

Reizerol’s true target from the very beginning… had been Youka and Miya.

“…We’ve been had!”

Reizerol had been a decoy. And not just her—the low-tier Dark Thrall was a decoy too. It was a double feint. Soleil had been completely caught off guard.

“But even so, I can’t just leave Reizeroll free to act as she pleases…”

What she wanted was to ignore Reizerol and rush reinforcements to the girls immediately.
But if she did that, Reizeroll would be free—and that was unacceptable.

“…Eito.”

Faced with a decoy she couldn’t ignore, Soleil clenched her teeth.
Youka and Miya were her trump cards. She could not afford to lose them.

So she entrusted everything to her other trump card—

♦

The moment that man—Feliet—gave his introduction, Eito felt killing intent for the first time in his life. Every hair on his body stood on end. He broke into cold sweat. His instincts screamed at him to run.

But Eito ignored those instincts. He held the black gemstone pendant in his right hand and murmured:

“Transform.”

The black jewel flared with dark light.

In an instant, his school uniform changed. A black cloak enveloped him, and a deep crimson tie adorned his chest. His pants turned navy, and he wore black lace-up boots. A wide-brimmed hat appeared on his head. His long bangs shortened just enough to reveal his handsome face. His eyes turned golden. The transformation was complete. And perfectly timed, as Feliet spoke again just after Eito finished transforming.

“However, I didn’t expect a Guardian to be present. Since the Dark Thrall was such a low rank, I assumed there wouldn’t be one…”

Feliet, the Darkian, glanced at Kouji and sighed.

“And not just that—you appear to be quite the capable Guardian. My, this is becoming troublesome.”
“Cut the crap! What’s a Darkian doing here!?”

Kouji snapped at him.Buying time and gathering information is most vital now, more than ever. Kouji discreetly signaled Youka and Miya to run.

“My purpose is simple, I’m here to eliminate the Lightbearers behind you.”
“”—!?””

The words Feliet uttered nonchalantly shoot Youka and Miya to their core. It was surely from fear. They could feel the overwhelming difference in power. They both knew—they had no chance of beating Feliet as they were now.

And yet, they looked at each other and stood firm beside Kouji.

“What are you doing?! Run! You two can’t beat him right now!”

Kouji shouted in frustration and panic. It would be a one-sided slaughter even if they stayed here. The difference in power between them and it was just that great of a gap.

“…We know, Kouji-kun. We have no chance of winning against him..”

Youka readied her gauntlet with a serious expression.

“Then—!”
“But that’s true for you too, right?”
“…!”

Miya’s words took Kouji by surprise. He hadn’t expected them to realize that. Even Feliet raised his eyebrows. An intrigued “Oh…?” escaped his lips.

“Even so! The value of a Guardian and that of a Lightbearer aren’t the same! Sure, I probably can’t beat him alone. But here, I—”
“There’s no such thing as a difference in the value of life, Kouji-kun.”
“Youka’s right. And besides, even if we run, he’ll kill us in the end. That’s why—”

With firm eyes but a defiant smile, Youka and Miya declared in unison:

“”We’re fighting too!!””

Their determination left Kouji in a shock. They were far stronger than he had thought. Letting out a heavy sigh as if he had no choice, Kouji gave them his answer.

“…Alright. But—”
“This is taking too long.”

Before Kouji could finish, Feliet struck with blinding speed. Kouji barely managed to react, clashing with Feliet at equally inhuman speed.

“Gh…! Coward—!”
“There is no such thing as cowardice in a battle to the death. Frankly, I think I’ve been very gentlemanly, waiting this long.”

Feliet parried Kouji’s sword with a black knife pulled from seemingly nowhere.

“Too fast…!”

Unable to even see his initial movement, Miya could only gasp. Youka shared the sentiment.

And in that instant, everything was over.

“Well then, I’ll be taking your life.”
“Eh?”

Miya heard a voice from behind and turned instinctively. What she saw was Feliet, who should’ve been fighting Kouji, driving a hand blade into her chest.

And thus, Tsukishita Miya has died—or should have, under normal circumstances.

“Chains.”

But she didn’t. Just one centimeter before the hand blade reached her heart, it was stopped by black chains.

“This is…”

Feliet looked at his entangled right hand in genuine surprise. And finally, Youka and Kouji realized there were two Feliets.

“M-Miya!? Are you okay!?”
“What’s going on!?”

Kouji glanced behind him for just a second, then back to the Feliet in front of him. Somehow, there were two Feliets. And the one who stopped the second Feliet’s attack stepped out from the forest.

“…Too bad for you.” Pulling on the black chains with his right hand, Spriggan glared at the Feliet who had tried to kill Miya, his golden eyes gleaming.

“…And who might you be?”

Feliet turned toward Spriggan with wary eyes, but the one who answered his question wasn’t him, but Youka.

“…Spriggan…”
The voice that slipped out from her lips was faint and emotional.