Chapter 30 Oh, Hero from the SouthBehindthe mask of the hero called Ramone, Kinjou Yuuta protected the inhabitants of the island from the Santana.
Attaching a bracelet pa.s.sed down by his ancestors onto his wrist, he was able to manipulate spirits, thus giving birth to the hero Ramone. He mastered the art of karate at a young age with the help of his grandfather.
The Santana stole the souls of humans. Yuuta learned that they have been attacking people and stealing their souls since the Ryukyu dynasty (EDN: The Ryukyu dynasty is the time when an independent kingdom unified and ruled Okinawa and nearby islands. Or so Wiki says). Yuuta’s ancestors also protected the people of the island.
According to the legend, the Santana had stopped appearing after a certain time. Surely though, if they were to reappear, it would be disastrous to the people of Ryukyu.
Supposedly, the Santana’s activities ceased due to them having collected enough souls to sustain their base, Niraikanai (EDN: a mythical place in Ryukyun religion…says Wiki).
The legend also predicted, however, that with the advance in human technology and science, Niraikanai would be found and disturbed. That would be the day the Santana would attack humans again.
Although now, it was the fault of the humans, Yuuta didn’t hesitate on taking them down. He pitied the Santana, but he lived a normal life – he had family, friends and a lover. His only goal was to protect the society in which his loved ones lived in. For the Santana who threatened this, he had no choice but to stop them.
Yuuta knew that currently, the Santana’s base was temporary and that they needed to replenish the souls regularly.
He had noticed that the Santana could only increase until a number of ten from his previous battles with them since they were conserving energy.
Naturally though, the Santana did increase their numbers when they were below ten. He never found a day where their numbers decreased.
With the divine protection and guidance from the spirits of Ryukyu, Yuuta acquired the ability to determine the location if somebody was attacked. The Santana steals human souls. He detects them, protects civilians and defeats the Santana.
There were formally ten Santanas, but with his effort, he managed to reduce their numbers to six. They may try to repopulate, but he just defeated equally the amount of creatures born. This had always been the case.
But for some reason, they didn’t show themselves for a while. They also didn’t attack humans for their souls.
Why?
Without any signs of movement, Yuuta couldn’t detect the Santana. It’s good that they stopped attacking people, but without him taking them down, their numbers could significantly increase.
After all the trouble I went through to reduce their numbers? That’s not a laughing matter.
Yuuta was lost in his thoughts. He decided to investigate.
He was in the dark for quite a bit, but he managed to stumble upon some information.
He looked for news within the prefecture around the web, and found an article about the Santana being sighted.
{I saw them in the abandoned village near the cliff.}
He thought of ignoring this, but other people also relayed the same information.
{I saw them with my friend.}
{There should be a cave route leading to an underground area beneath the sea.}
{According to rumors, that was apparently the Santana’s base.}
Those rumors weren’t only spread online. It was also well spread in the real world.
Okinawa isn’t a huge island, so rumors spread really fast. The online source also seems suspicious.
There’s no way I can trust this.
But, there’s no demerit in investigating it… And I can’t just leave that as it is.
The entrance beside the cliff was really hard to get into. A normal civilian would have trouble, but Yuuta got in easily.
He transformed and went in the cave.
(TLN: The word “transformed” surprised me quite a bit. I think he’s like a power ranger or something. We’ll see.)
At that moment he noticed.
The rumors appear to be true…
There was an ancient dark aura emitting from within the cave. The spirits were restless within.
This is the Santana’s base….
Yuuta proceeded further.
In the end, I can only rely on myself. Now that I found their base, there’s no choice but to eliminate them completely. They are beings that shouldn’t exist in modern society. This is all for peace.
My grandmother always said [you’re too short tempered] but that’s what the real Yuuta would do.
Yuuta completely transformed into Ramone and proceeded to attack…
[Haaa-!]
Dealing with the surprised Santana, he dealt a back blow to one of them.
[Ha-i-ya!]
A Santana was blown away spinning.
It was their leader that got blown away. It was still wearing the bracelet where souls were contained.
Due to the attack, the beads glowed brightly blue and got flew away. He realized that if you dealt enough damage, he was able to free a human’s soul. With his attack, he once again saved many souls.
But,
[…Kukko…Kukko…]
They were tougher than usual. They didn’t die from the fiery fist strike.
[…Ramone…Kill!Kill!…]
The Santana fired out water from their mouth towards him. They were stronger and more deadly than a normal rifle.
[Ku-!!…]
He managed to dodge it, but he grazed his left arm. He started running while enveloped in pain.
They’re one h.e.l.l of a bunch…
There’s no way a Guardian could withstand them. Even the Organization of Metallica stationed in the island can’t do anything against them.
[You d.a.m.n fish-men! Today, I’ll rip you to…]
The battle raged on for quite a while.
He kept fighting and struggled against them one after the other.
I’ll rip you apart no matter what happens, I’ll erase their faces off this planet. They are beings that shouldn’t have existed from the start.
Chop, punch, kick, grab, back kick, elbow, low kick, shove, and penetrate.
Yuuta kept repeating his karate techniques with the air of a man serving justice.
[Kukko-!!]
They shot their hard scales towards him.
I can’t be defeated here…
My fist are what protects the people of this island. They are the symbol of hope for them…
Ramone proceeded to attack their leader.
[Sei-ya!!]
Mustering all of his power, he hit an underling hardly in the head. The head shot and got buried in the ground. Ramone created a small crater.
[…Haa…Haa…You’re all… that’s left…]
Only one of them was left, and it was the Santana’s leader.
Yuuta was already covered in wounds, but he couldn’t afford to miss one of them.
Evil… Beasts that only lead society to the wrong path and end up destroying the world…need to be annihilated.
[I’m coming for you with the last of my strength!]
His fist burned fiercely.
I’ll gamble everything unto this strike. If I miss, I won’t have any power left. I’ll surely lose. But there’s no other option.
Borrowing the power of the spirits, mustering the courage to serve justice, his spirit burned with fire.
Focusing all of his power onto his fist, he leapt towards the leader.
[Kukko!! Ramone!!!]
The leader, in his own way, gathered his strength and attacked Ramone with full force.
[Sei-ya!!!]
One strike.
The fist that burned fiercely, which was Ramone’s ultimate move, was similar to the Justice Hammer Beetle had. Their attacks exploded.
[It’s finished… I win!]
Before the leader managed to hit Ramone, he side stepped and managed to hit the leader in full force at his chest.
Engulfed in flames, the leader got blown away, unable to get back up. Given a few minutes, he should burn throughout.
[I did it! I…really did it…!]
Yuuta was too tired from the attack. His legs were shaking. He ended up kneeling. He was at his limit. There was no strength left to even gather the power of the spirits.
But, it really didn’t matter. With this he won. The wretched Santana are now annihilated.
Ill rest my body… a bit… I’ll go home, and let grandma make goya chanpuru (EDN: Okinawan stir fry of bittermelon, tofu, egg and pork)… A bottle of beer would also be nice…
The hero Ramone was glad that the battle was over.
But,
Clap clap clap clap.
It was then he heard a mysterious sound from afar.
It seemed like an applause.
He was very far within the Santana’s base. There was no way other humans could get here. Therefore there was no way he could be hearing applauses.
Clap clap clap clap.
The sound didn’t stop.
[What the h.e.l.l is happening…]
He tried to turn around but he was too weak. He managed to turn while still on his knees. He confirmed where the sound came from.
There.
A slender looking man was sarcastically applauding. Behind him were more men equipped with guns.
They were all wearing black. He recognized those costumes. He fought against them and saw them on T.V for a few times. He knows them.
[That was quite splendid Ramone.]
The slender looking man called out to him.
Who the h.e.l.l is this guy…?
He was apparently the leader of the group. Ramone saw his expression… He was grinning.
He had a huge grin on his face, but in Ramone’s eyes, he was a really cold blooded individual. His piercing eyes were enough to send shivers down his spine.
At the back of his mind, Yuuta already knew. The ones in black were evil beings.
But even without relying on his stock knowledge, he knew the slender looking man was incomparable to the others.
He was the embodiment of [Evil].
[…Who are you guys…?! What do you want?!]
Yuuta tried to get up.
The slender looking man looked at him and called out.
[We are Metallica. A proud evil organization. Oh, hero from the south, this where you’ll meet your end.]
The slender looking man proclaimed boldly.
As a master of karate and a spirit wielder, Kinjou Yuuta felt a kind of fear he never experienced before.