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Minato, for his part, is oblivious to Noriko's stewing, and nods at Winter and Enn.
"Do we know if that one was working alone, or do we have a larger ring to worry about?"

"....you know, you don't have to apologise, and you don't have to pretend for me. I can tell you're more than a little stressed. I'll be honest; not everyone can just walk away from something like that and not be."

Minato slowly approaches Faith, confident but not entirely certain she needs someone close to her right now. He sits down with a grunt, wincing at what he was definitely sure were quite a few magic-induced wounds; leyline exposure wasn't healthy at the best of times, even with the boosted stamina and increased durability Godslayers had, and he'd dipped into it at least three times in the past hour.

There was also the matter of being electrocuted, choked, shot, stabbed and generally thrown about like a rag-doll. He, of course, could walk it off; he'd been doing this for a long while, alone, with no help as the lone defender of Sendo, so he'd gotten used to walking off wounds, at worst going to Tsukasa or the family doctor to patch himself up. Faith wasn't faring so well, however. She'd taken quite an intense hit; Noriko had been hurt too, and everyone bar Yuki, really, himself included, but Faith was taking it the hardest. So it was with Faith he concerned himself with for the moment.

He pulls out his phone for a moment, quickly tapping away with a message for their handlers.
We'll need a ride at the next station and a clean-up crew. Definitely some medical personnel. Possible collateral damage; prep a cover-up.
He was praying that nobody had been beneath them in that fight; right now, though, his current priority was one of his ailing allies. At least that, he could do something about.

The boy exhales deeply.
"That's.....taken care of. I'll....be here, if you need anything until then. Right here, next to you."

Minato is the first to react, his armor disappearing in the usual golden flashes of light to reveal a rather dishevelled, exhausted and rather bloodied young man as he slumps to the ground, breathing heavily and clearly exhausted from the effort of having exposed himself to the leylines twice consecutively. Some sort of indicator light had gone off on the belt proper; he would likely have to go speak to Tsukasa about that when she checked the combat data.

He looks around at his allies, leaning on a nearby seat, his gaze specifically focusing on Faith.

Level Up:
Excel Hyper: +2
Mobility: +1
Close Quarters: +1
Defense: 1

New Excel Hyper: True Regalia Invocation: Sword of Promised Victory: Minato summons the original concept of Excalibur itself from the Gaia Memory instead of simply imitating it. Excalibur is unrivalled in speed and strength, and is far superior even to the perfect copies that Minato can invoke using True Regalia Replication.

New Hyper: Imperfect Regalia Replication: Flying Palace [4]: Vimana, the Chariot of Lord Kubera that rides upon the skies at speeds unparalleled. Minato may summon Vimana for short periods of time, allowing him to teleport into combat or out of it quickly.

Metal Waltz on the Collector

Dia on myself

Minato wrenches himself off the ground, his body ravaged by the energies of the leyline, barely making it in time just to see the Aramitama clash with Faith, electrocuting her with as much energy as he could muster. He slumps to the ground- whether it was from pain and fatigue or the realization that his friend had gotten hurt and he'd failed, he didn't know.

Faith was in danger.

Faith was hurt.

He'd screwed up. He'd let the Aramitama get to her.

He'd failed.

The boy clenches his fist, pulling himself to his feet with sheer will, lowering his hand towards his belt again. Her screams ripped through the air, keener than the grunts and moans of the rest of the group.

For some reason, Faith's pain enraged Minato, suffusing his being with fury. His blood boiled, his mind rushing at light speed.

Then clarity, and then reason.

Perhaps it was because, at the heart of it, Faith and the Aramitama were playing out a tale as old as time, one that Minato had seen many times before.

The strong beating around the weak. Schoolyard bullies and weaker students or Aramitama on unawakened Godslayers; it didn't matter to Minato, both were fundamentally the same, and both enraged him. The strong had no right to oppress the weak; the weak had the right to live untouched and unharmed. His family had taught him this much; to do the right thing, to protect those who need to be protected from those who would do them harm.

This was why he'd become a hero. To protect the little guy. To hunt the hunters. To do the right thing.

The Aramitama were for the most part nothing but glorified bullies, preying upon those unfortunate enough to be weak and stumble upon their hidden world. And so Minato became the Masked Knight to protect them and humanity from their predators.

Faith was still alive; hurt, but alive, and the Aramitama was rounding on her to try to finish her and everyone else.

Not on my watch.

Minato pulls himself to his feet, wrenching his belt open once more, gathering what little energy he had left to try and resist the leylines for just a moment longer. Just enough to finish the job.

Just enough to protect Faith.

"Didn't....didn't you pay attention? I'm your opponent, you bastard, so fight....with....ME!"
Minato Dai-Henshins once more, spawning a shield in front of him to take out the blade by first parrying the blade and then exploding it out of the way with his shield, using the combination of the explosion temporarily moving the sword away and his momentum to get into a vulnerable spot, before summoning another sword to drive it deep into his vulnerable side with all his might.
Alteration to 6
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