“…!!”
Skull’s body trembled when it heard Yuugo, and the flames on its neck burned brighter.
Looking at its face from the side, its regret, anger, and sadness were clear.
“I dunno how it happened, but I kind of get how you feel. You’re frustrated, Skull…”
As Yuugo said, he did not know what happened to them that led to this, but he could show understanding towards the regret and sadness of suddenly losing its life.
One day, all of a sudden, an attacker came and took the lives of its friends, putting an abrupt end to the happy days they led until that point.
The sound and honest lives they had were forcibly put to an end.
It could be understandable if that happened due to the food chain that was said to be a law of nature, but that was not the case.
The corpses of the horses were not eaten. There was proof that they were not attacked by carnivorous animals or monsters so they could eat them.
And so, if the killer had a goal, it could only be one… Entertainment.
Anything would do. It did not matter what it was. The lives of Skull and the other horses were taken because they just happened to be seen at that moment.
The horses that were killed were all part of the same group, including Skull.
Surely it called some of them friends. Maybe there was even a mate.
And all of their lives were taken for sport. Parents, children, all of those that lived on that land with it were killed for no particular reason.
It had to be regret. There was no doubt it was frustration. There was no way it could sit still after everything was taken from it.
It felt anger and hatred towards the ones that killed it and the others, and its soul was called back to its body due to that intense desire for revenge.
What must it have thought when it came back as a monster, and saw the dead bodies of its friends? It saw what remained of its friends after they were mercilessly killed, the same ones who were living alongside it until just before that. How must it have felt?
Surely it must have felt nothing but frustration and sadness.
Skull vowed to avenge them as it stood surrounded by its dead friends. And it went there in search of the target of its revenge.
“It must’ve been tough. Sad, and frustrating…! There’s no way you would have felt nothing after your friends were killed and the blame was shifted to you…!!”
“Guh, hihin!!”
Skull neighed, as if responding to Yuugo.
That voice was not gallant or frightening. It just carried with it the pain of regret and sadness.
And as Phi and the others heard that, they began to understand why Skull rampaged through the plain.
It was definitely trying to warn people. Whatever killed it was on its way there.
“…Flames of anger and sadness…”
Angel’s words describing the flames all over Skull’s body echoed quietly in that barn.
They watched the flames burning brightly and shaking, fueled by revenge towards its attacker, but they also saw that Skull retained its sense of reasoning, rather than being dominated by hatred.
And Yuugo spoke to it again.
“Skull, you saved me. And partially to repay that, and because I’m your friend… I’ll help you beat your enemy.”
“…!”
Skull opened its eyes a little wider, and Yuugo continued speaking while being reflected in them.
“You might be thinking I’m just meddling, but what kind of person sits quietly after knowing the frustration a friend is feeling? Your frustration is my frustration. So I’ll help. I’ll do my best as your friend to clear away that regret of yours.”
“…”
Yuugo’s spoke while looking directly at it, and it found it accepted them strangely well.
And as Skull thought back to the previous night, when Yuugo decided to go there to become its friend despite the difference in species, the others also spoke.
“If my big brother says so, I’ll help too. Let’s avenge your friends, Skull.”
“Me too! I don’t know who did it, but we can’t let someone who killed horses like that go free!”
“I agree. And it’s not like this doesn’t concern us either. I’ll fight too, so what happened to Skull doesn’t happen again.”
It died once, and came back. And despite this being a monster outside the laws of nature, these humans showed no fear, as they reached out to help.
It was strange, and maybe even foolish from the perspective of someone watching from the sidelines… But Skull felt thankful.
“Let’s tell the guards, and form a defensive line.”
“Yes. We don’t know what it is, or the scale of it. We need to do what we can to prepare.”
“Then I’ll see you in a bit! Yuugo, check the adjustments made to Blaster so you can be ready to fight at any time!”
“I’ll tell you what I did. If anything feels off, tell me right away.”
Skull watched as the humans moved out to prepare to fight.
As it watched them move out for its sake, the heart that was filled with hatred and a desire for revenge… Was illuminated by a warm light called friendship.
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Any Kamen rider or power ranger need a good transport vehicle.