章節 26: Battle with the Hero
Kimika and Toga continued to flee, desperately rushing forward. Toga resolutely pulled Kimika along, constantly changing direction, turning from one alley to another, hoping their pursuer would fall behind.
But suddenly, when they turned another corner, they were gripped by terror: before them was a dead-end, with a low wall at the end. Its height was enough to make them spend a lot of time climbing it, and they had no time left.
"No, no, no!" Toga screamed, her voice filled with panic as she tried to run into another alley.
But it was already too late. The hero who had been chasing them all this time was already standing behind them, blocking their escape route.
Kimika felt her heart freeze in her chest, and fear gripped her like a cold hand. Toga, still holding her hand tightly, quickly looked around and realized they were trapped.
Eraser Head, the hero who had been chasing them all this time, was now standing behind them. His calm yet piercing gaze left no chance for escape. Known for his strength, he always caught criminals with incredible ease. Everyone he captured was always covered in numerous wounds—bruises, scratches, and broken bones.
He wasn't in the habit of showing mercy to those he hunted; his job was to catch criminals, and he did so without the slightest compassion.
"You two..." he said, letting out a slight sigh. "I'm not in the mood for this. As you can see, there's a wall behind you. So surrender, or I'll make you."
His voice was quiet, with a hint of exhaustion, as though he had long since exhausted all his energy. Eraser Head had been working since the early morning without a break, and now the only thing he wanted was to go home and finally sleep.
"Not a chance! We won't surrender without a fight!" Toga said with a note of determination, though anxiety still gnawed at her inside. If she were here alone, she might still have a chance to do something.
But since Kimika was with her, she had to think not just about herself—she had to protect her friend. The thought of escaping without her didn't even cross her mind.
"Ugh... Are you sure 'you' won't surrender without a fight? Judging by your partner's appearance, she won't just fail to give me a fight, she won't even be able to move..."
And that was the truth. Toga, glancing at Kimika, saw how she was trembling with fear.
"So, are you giving up? I think if you surrender, at least your partner will get a much lighter sentence... Maybe just community service. No one will ever believe she could have done anything serious."
Hearing these words, Toga realized that she could no longer waste time. She noticed how Eraser Head was just standing there, almost contemptuously watching them, as if deliberately dragging out the moment. His calm confidence gave it all away—he knew his backup was about to arrive, and then they'd have no chance.
Glancing at Kimika again, Toga quickly slapped her across the cheek, trying to snap her out of it.
"For my sake, wake up! Remember your goal! Remember your father, the one you want to save. You can't afford to lose this fight!" she said, not taking her eyes off the hero in front of them.
Kimika, who had been in a state of terror this entire time, couldn't think of anything but escaping and how wrong it had been to take on this mission. Her mind was filled with thoughts of what would have happened if she had chosen a different option instead of this one.
She tortured herself, remembering how she had prevented Toga from killing the guard, knowing that this was exactly why they had ended up in this trap.
But hearing Toga's words about their goal, about her father, and about how all of this was for Toga, who had supported her the entire time, Kimika gathered all her strength and resolve to fight back.
"Are you finished? Not that I want to listen to your melodramas... So, last time I ask: are you surrendering or not?"
"NO!" both girls immediately replied.
Eraser Head quickly assumed a fighting stance, preparing for the attack. His calm expression didn't change, but memories flooded his mind, memories that had brought him here. He had just finished his patrol and was heading home when he received a report of a museum robbery. It hadn't been pleasant news, but as a hero, he had no right to ignore the call.
He quickly arrived at the scene and saw the two criminals fleeing at high speed. To his surprise, they accelerated even more when they noticed him pursuing them. Other heroes had also responded to the call, but only Eraser Head managed to close the gap quickly, chasing them, jumping from roof to roof. With each step, he saw how the criminals began to lose their pace — their speed was decreasing, and they couldn't maintain this frantic rhythm for long.
He even gave them a chance, something he usually wouldn't do, due to his own exhaustion. But they didn't take it — and that was their problem now.
"Well, don't say I didn't give you a chance..." Eraser Head said, observing their determination.
And now, closing in on the criminals, Eraser Head was ready to use his quirk at any moment. He suspected that one of them had the ability to accelerate.
He quickly approached the criminal in the front — the one who seemed to be the leader. Eraser Head readied himself for an attack, hoping that if he could incapacitate her, her partner would instantly lose all morale, and the fight would end as quickly as it had begun.
Without hesitation, Eraser Head activated his quirk, erasing her ability, but in doing so, he left himself open for a momentary attack. Toga seized this opportunity, and he barely managed to dodge a sharp knife strike aimed directly at his face.
Reacting quickly, he used his Binding Cloth to grab Toga and violently threw her into the wall. Not giving her a second to catch her breath, he continued landing quick blows on her body.
Despite this, Toga continued to fight him on equal terms, but the impact with the wall took its toll. Her body was heavier and slower than usual, causing her to misjudge the timing and miss a blow.
This allowed Eraser Head to knock the knife from her hands. He immediately followed up with another powerful strike to her stomach. The force sent Toga flying into the wall, gasping for air.
Eraser Head, seeing that Toga couldn't get up, rushed toward Kimika, who was standing behind, watching as her friend lost without even trying to activate her quirk. She just watched, not making any move to help, as her body was paralyzed by fear. How had it happened that her friend, her mentor, the person she had considered invincible, had lost in less than a minute?
Quickly and decisively, he began landing blows, forcing Kimika, who instinctively started to defend herself, to retreat toward the wall. She tried to react, but her movements were too slow to block his attacks.
Each step she took backward pushed her closer to the wall, until, eventually, she found herself cornered. With nowhere to retreat, she received a powerful blow to the liver. Pain pierced through her, and like an electric shock, she instantly lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.
But that wasn't enough — he felt that one blow wouldn't be sufficient. If she suddenly regained consciousness, it could give them a chance to escape. Without hesitation, he lifted her from the ground and struck her again several times, each blow stronger than the last, to completely rob her of any ability to resist.
Now, refocusing on Toga, who was breathing heavily and holding knives, ready to return to the fight, he couldn't help but notice her resilience. Even though she hadn't had time to recover from his blows, and despite the fact that she could barely stand, her movements slow and heavy, determination still radiated from her.
'An interesting person. Everyone else would have tried to escape or surrender by now, especially seeing my brutality. But she keeps fighting, even after everything she's endured.' He couldn't help but feel a certain respect for her unbreakable spirit, but it was nothing more than a compliment. 'But sheer spirit isn't enough to defeat me.'
Seeing a teenager in her, he couldn't help but think of his own students, which sparked a new flash of thoughts: 'If my students had even a fraction of this determination, I wouldn't have had to expel the whole class this year.'
So, closing the distance, they began a new round. Eraser Head felt that, due to exhaustion, his reactions had become slower, and he was no longer acting as quickly as usual, but he still remained strong enough.
Surprisingly, even in this state, Toga could still put up an equal fight. Their blows turned into a real contest: both sought each other's weak points, but often it ended in retreat and a new attack, each trying to find the moment for a decisive blow.
Toga used her knives, attempting to land quick strikes, which she succeeded in doing, but Eraser Head evaded them, and each of her hits only left superficial cuts on his body.
For every one of these attacks, he successfully counterattacked, throwing the girl off balance with each strike, causing her movements to slow down with every passing moment.
At the same time, using his binding cloth, he restricted her movements, not giving her any room to maneuver. And at one point, ignoring the sharp knife strike that cut his arm, he decisively delivered a powerful blow to Toga's stomach. The pain was so intense that it forced her to drop the knives, which clattered to the ground.
Without stopping, he began striking her body, especially her arms, trying to prevent her from grabbing the knives again. Toga attempted to rise, but due to the pain and exhaustion, her movements grew slower and slower.
And when the opportunity arose, he quickly wrapped his binding cloth around her, pinning her in place. Now she was completely defenseless, unable to move at all.
"You know…" he began, exhaling in relief, knowing the fight was over, "you still fight decently and might have had some potential in the future. Just answer me one question that's been on my mind throughout the whole fight: why bother with this hopeless trash?" he said, gesturing toward Kimika. "If it weren't for her, you could've just escaped. Most likely, you wouldn't even have gone on this little adventure. So why?"
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The chapter turned out to be quite short, only 1900 words, but it's actually just half of the chapter. Originally, this chapter and the next were supposed to be together, but that would have been 4000 words in total... So, I decided to split them. I'm not sure if it was a good decision or not...
I also want to inform you that two chapters come out every day on my Patreon! Here, only one is released, but on my Patreon — there are two a day, hee-hee-hee. Come by so you don't miss new chapters and can read them faster than anyone else! patreon.com/Zoi4erom
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創作者的想法 
Zoi4erom
Zoi4erom Oh… Eraser Head is an incredibly strong hero in close combat, even when exhausted! Kimika and Toga have been defeated and likely captured just a few chapters after starting their criminal path… The masked cat is unhappy with the result!
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票