Kamen Rider is playing the villain in Pretty Cure

"She's probably referring to the time when you threw the Dark Evolver over there." Kain, who had disappeared and reappeared, quietly reminded in her ear.

"what?"

Dark Mephisto will absorb Nexus' light. The system, which had previously played dead, popped up again to explain on Ash's behalf. "She's probably referring to the light you absorbed from them before."

"......"

Ash was stunned for a moment. What the hell? Whose light are you talking about?

Wait, isn't that thing broken down to just the plastic shell? Where's the light coming from? I can't even get there.

"Besides, didn't you just defeat the otherworldly monster that tried to attack me?"

Seeing the harmless smile from the "Tree of Heart" towards him, Ash turned his face away uncomfortably.

"Because of...something like this..." Ash moved his extremely dry lips and whispered words of disbelief.

I clearly have no intention of helping you at all.

"Actually, when I first saw you..." The Heart Tree was silent for a moment, then gently placed its green, fluorescent palm on Ash's back. "Your mind was completely dark at the time. I did regard you as a new enemy, but..."

As an aggregation of the inner hearts of humans in this world, the Heart Tree is extremely sensitive to what is within, which allows her to see things at a deeper level.

"Flower of the Heart."

These simple words swept away all the other emotions of Ash, who had been filled with confusion and irritation from beginning to end, leaving only shock in his heart.

"In a dark and desolate desert, the flower of Naraku withers but never dies." The heart tree, in its Cure Flower form, revealed a deeply human sadness. "Seeing such a heart flower in such sorrow, how could I not want to help you?"

At this moment, the first emotion that arose in Ash's heart was "anger", just like the secret that a boy had been hiding under the bed was turned out and exposed to others. Of course he would be angry.

But before he could express his anger, the tree's next words left him speechless, and he couldn't even muster the slightest bit of blame.

"Then, I saw that your life force was constantly being consumed. Even if those children could help you, your body would wither before the flower of your heart could bloom."

"After I realized this, and before I made any judgments about your behavior. When we first met, when I put the ring on my finger, and even now, all I can think about is helping you."

"!"

Ash remembered that time with Anmei at the Heart Tree, when he'd clearly appeared to be weakening, yet he'd instantly stood up. He'd felt strangely comfortable when he'd put on the ring, and he'd loved it. And now... he could feel his body recovering at an incredible speed!

The fact that he could still stand up even though he didn't care about his life was not because he had fooled around with things like momentum, but because the tree of his heart secretly supplied him with vitality and helped him!

"This kind of thing..." Even Ash opened his mouth in surprise and couldn't utter a word.

I have seen it before, there is so much malice without any reason!

But what about kindness that comes without any reason, even kindness bestowed upon oneself by the whole world?

"Why....?"

Facing Ash's eyes full of confusion and doubt, the "Tree of Heart" gently tapped his round chin with his finger, thought for a while, and gave the answer with an extremely loving smile.

"There's no need for a reason to help others, right?"

The overly gentle wind blew up the light pink hair beside the big tree's ears.

"Peng!!"

Clench your fists and hit the ground hard!

But it wasn't enough. Again and again, until the ground was covered with spiderweb cracks, until his fists were stained with his own blood, the silent and terrifying Ash still waved his fists.

"A-Ash, what are you doing? Stop it!"

The "Big Tree of Heart" hurriedly stepped forward to stop his self-harming behavior. When she looked over with a reproachful look, she saw that Ash's face was filled with indescribable twisted pain.

"Why is this happening... What has happened to everything I've done...?"

As for Ash, he is a self-centered person who only thinks about himself and doesn't care about anything else as long as he is happy.

But this does not mean that he can sit back and watch evil things happen and take pleasure in ugly things.

He felt at ease playing his own "little game" of harming others, while at the same time shamelessly accepting other people's kindness. This was obviously not something Ash would accept.

Even I have my own dignity!

Ash couldn't describe how he felt at the moment.

"What a joke, what a joke, you bastard!"

"Ash, don't do that, you'll only hurt yourself!"

Just when Ash's defense was suddenly broken and he was close to collapse, Lily, who was expected by Ash, was standing in front of the main body of the Heart Tree and having a conversation with Kolon.

"Thanks to everyone's continuous fighting, we have collected many Heart Seeds, and the future Heart Tree has gradually regained its extraordinary vitality under the influence of the light."

"I also have the opportunity to recover and talk to you through my past body."

Kolon, who has both the present and the future memories, calmly explains to Lily who is holding him.

"Ever since my soul returned to the Heart Tree, I have been watching you."

"There's nothing more gratifying than seeing you, the stubborn you of the past, gradually opening up to others."

After explaining the whole story, Kolon didn't get an immediate response from Lily. He just quietly gave his reunited partner a hug until her tears fell on his head.

"It's so nice to be able to hug you like this again..."

"Kolon, I'm such an idiot."

She thought of a question Koron had once asked her. He asked her why she was looking for other Pretty Cure companions, and she replied that she didn't need any companions. She felt that if her senior's Cure Flower could defeat Doone alone, then she could do something similar.

"You clearly reminded me at the time that there were now more Desert Apostles than before, including Professor Shabak and Dark Pretty Cure."

"But I arrogantly said I was the only Pretty Cure and I wouldn't lose to anyone, but I still lost..."

Lily burst into tears as she thought about this decision she had regretted countless times. "It was because I was overconfident in my own abilities that I killed you..."

It was this thought that kept gnawing at her heart that led her to sign a contract with the Demon God, wanting to go back to the past and change everything.

"Kolon, you already know the future now, right? If you become my partner, it will end up like this, so... don't argue with me anymore..."

Although she knew that time could not be changed, Lily still said it, words that made her feel extremely painful.

Chapter 127 What he/she can do

"What kind of fun games are these? What kind of happy goals are these?... If this is the case, then isn't it completely meaningless?!"

Confusion, blame, hardship, these expressions that should have nothing to do with Ash, who adheres to the philosophy of freedom and independence, are now all concentrated on his face.

It's not like he hasn't encountered all kinds of distressing and tangled things before, but Ash usually dealt with them head-on. He simply ignored the other party's moral blackmail and turned the table over. Anyway, as long as I'm unhappy, I don't care about life or death. I'll do it if I don't agree. It's such a simple thing.

But now Ash is completely unable and unwilling to solve the problem with angry violence.

Not to mention that the other party had no intention of moral blackmail at all. After knowing that the other party was repaying evil with kindness, just facing her smiling face that did not seek an answer, Ash could not say anything unpleasant or weird. The nonsense in this situation was too ugly and petty even by his own standards.

Yaxiu is now being tortured by his own self-esteem, which makes him so exhausted that he has no energy at all.

"People like me are just like mayflies floating in the universe, meaningless dust..."

"It's wrong to think like that, Ash."

He was halfway through his words when he was interrupted by the "big tree of heart" in front of him, and his hand was grasped affectionately by a soft hand.

"Although it's not good to try to sense your heart like this." Holding Ash's hand tightly, the Heart Tree passed on its warmth, overflowing with vitality. "I can see that you've been trying to hide your feelings, but like a lie, your deception is so straightforward that I can actually understand your intentions."

"In your heart, the withered heart flower is filled with longing emptiness, but you did not allow malice to be born from the emptiness, so I believe, I want to believe that what you did was not wrong!"

Facing the encouraging look from the "Tree of Heart" in front of him, Ash remembered and understood something.

In the past, he was also empty, looking for some kind of feeling that would make his "heart surge". It was at that time that a woman named Cure Heart jumped out and satisfied his surging heart with her efforts, and also made him desire the miracle of Pretty Cure.

Although the "heart surge" that I longed for was satisfied...but what comes after that?

Just because you have a big meal today and feel full, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to eat tomorrow.

So, as if returning to emptiness, he longed for the "miracle" that he had once glimpsed, and took the initiative to contact Lily, Lei and others as the store manager, wanting to witness the miracle by encouraging them.

But Ash found that as their contact and relationship developed, he actually began to immerse himself in their interactions, and even indulged himself in the leisurely feeling brought by the emptiness. This was something he could not accept, so he maintained another identity of "Timmons" to fight against them while reminding himself of his original intention.

The numerous instances of indecision and fence-sitterness in this world are the result of this world being decisively different from the previous one, and of the emptiness caused by the lack of clear goals.

And now...

After a fierce ideological struggle, Ash, who had been keeping his head down, raised his head again. His bloodshot eyes were filled with determination and clarity that he had never had since he came to this world.

"Are you going to change, like that kid Lei?"

"What they can do won't work for me. I won't change my plan... but I'm also a man with ambition!"

What we are going to do won’t change, but the goals we need to achieve have increased. What we need next is their character and my determination!

“When what you think in your heart is consistent with what you hear in your ears, what you should do becomes clear!”

At this moment, Ash, who had made up his mind, swept away all his previous confusion. The man, whose eyes had changed, looked at the vague figure on the other side of the barrier.

"I have decided."

"Lily, everyone including you will definitely be able to decide."

The lily that Ash was talking about was pouring out the thoughts that had been bothering her for a long time. She wiped her wet eyes with tears in her eyes, but felt much better, and waited for Kolon's answer.

"No, Lily, that's not the case." Despite Lily's words, Kolon didn't seem shaken. Instead, he comforted her calmly, as if he were still alive. "You know better than anyone the importance of protecting the flower of humanity's heart, the importance of your responsibility as a Pretty Cure."

Kolon, who has memories of the future, can also see how hard Yuri, who has become a Pretty Cure, is fighting against the Desert Angel Zha.

"That's why you decided to take on everything yourself and fight alone, thinking that it's enough for you to bear it all alone and not wanting others to suffer."

"Whether in the future or now, besides you who are so gentle, is there anyone else who can be my partner?"

Even though he knew that if he continued, he would die in the future, he did not show any sadness, but only a smile on his face without any sign of hesitation.

"Lily, I don't blame you, whether you are now or in the future. Rather, it's really great to be able to partner with you."

"Kolon..." The flowing tears stopped in the girl's eyes.

"You have to accept yourself, Lily. You've already gained Rei and the others... and the irreplaceable friendship with that Ash, right?"

"Being able to do this shows that you've become decisively different from your past self." Realizing his time limit was approaching, Kelon continued to offer encouragement without hesitation. "As long as you can recognize this, as long as you possess the heart to fight for those who matter to you, you can once again gain the strength to fight the Desert Apostles."

Hearing this, Lily opened her palm, and her half of the heart seed was lying quietly in her palm.

"As long as I want to fight with everyone, and want to protect this world and the people who are important to me."

"You will definitely be able to transform again!"

The broken and incomplete heart seed is the shape of his heart after he was defeated by the Dark Pretty Cure and lost Kolon, so even his heart flower looks withered.

But, the friends who gathered at that irreplaceable coffee shop, their smiles, the smiles of important people, and that guy's smile are all before my eyes at this moment.

Whenever I think of these, think of the way that guy threw the seed of his heart to me when he faced the alien demon god alone (from Lily's perspective), and think of what he said, the empty space in my heart has slowly begun to fill with new light again.

"Don't let everyone down..."

Holding the glowing heart seed tightly in her hand, Lily watched as a phantom identical to Kolon separated from behind him and merged into the heart tree in front of her.

The girl, whose thoughts in her heart and the voice she heard were consistent, and who had a clear vision of what she should do, conveyed her wish with the greatest voice she could from her heart.

"The tree of heart!"

"I want to fight again!!!"

An unpredictable light emanated from the heart seed in the girl's hand, which was no longer incomplete, and enveloped her graceful figure.

Chapter 128: Resurrection! Cure Moonlight!

"An attack of this magnitude... huh, what?"

Now that the sky was covered by dark clouds, the pale blue magic bullet dragon that had been finally condensed from the Dragon-Slaying Sword was blown away by the concentrated burst of dark power.

"Will it let you do this?"

"It won't work." Turning towards the swordsman who had transformed into a blue light and rushed towards her, the Dark Beauty raised two fingers. In front of Eddie's extremely horrified eyes, she actually used her fingers to block the dragon's sword attack! "The vulgar attack, no matter how many times, will be useless!"

“Quack——!!!”

Eddie, who was unable to react quickly as he was bullied, only saw the opponent's fist brushing against his armor and approaching him from bottom to top with terrifying momentum. Then his eyes went black and the world turned upside down. The lower part of his helmet was smashed into pieces and he was upside down, turning into a living gyroscope and rolling all the way out.

After suffering a severe blow, there was no place on his body that didn't hurt. He was knocked flying and rolled all the way down the ground. Even the grass beneath him was scraped off by himself. The magic bullet armor on his body, which could no longer support him, automatically de-transformed. The man with his mouth open and eyes closed covered his chest in pain.