451Here's the next chapter everyone.
Chapter 9 - Older Sisters will always whoop your ass no matter how strong you get; Part 3
Today was a strange day for Tohsaka Rin.
It was just yesterday that the whole fiasco about the Rogue Mage's Association and uprooting the secret organization from its roots with the help of Emiya. She didn't deny that the scale of such an act was different from her previous escapades acting as a Second Owner of the city, especially since she almost died more times than she can count—in fact, she would have died if it weren't for the presence of her newfound assistant.
It felt strange to be walking to school as if nothing happened. Still, she appreciated the little moments of peace she found herself in after such an event.
—But of course, life as a magi is a hard one, and the peace that she had for herself was quickly shattered with the appearance of another potential problem.
Because Tohsaka knew that, as of this moment… she was currently being watched.
Her watchers were well hidden, blended among the crowd. She had noticed their presence ever since morning leaving her house a while after Emiya did, quietly watching her manor from a couple blocks away. In fact, she wouldn't have noticed them if it weren't for her hidden amethyst owl familiars that were actively watching the area around her manor.
They continued to follow her on the way to Homurahara Academy and continued watching her even as classes went on. She in turn observed them as well with her familiars, and she noted that her watchers didn't even attempt to set foot inside the school. In fact, they actively seemed to not get near it, avoiding the detection of the hidden bounded field that she had set up a while prior.
Whoever these people were, they were aware of her status as a magus. Yet the way they were trying to spy on her was almost childish in a way that they didn't know what they were doing. There are more efficient ways to observe someone than doing this.
The reason for this had quickly turned apparent when she managed to get the opportunity to take a good look at her watchers by getting close with her familiar sometime near afternoon, when class was already over.
Tattoos in their bodies… There's no doubt about it. These are yakuza.
Yet that begs even more questions. This was undoubtedly connected with her contact in the underworld, the yakuza princess and her English teacher Fujimura Taiga. It was strange for the teacher to not be present at school today, further cementing her thoughts on what was happening—but for the life of her she couldn't see any reason that would cause the yakuza princess to order such a thing.
And that was a problem. As much as they are part of the mundane, her contact to them as her cleaners were invaluable. She needed things to be swept under the rug as well as some other connections that they could bring. This sudden hostility by the yakuza… it would mess up many of her goals.
Tohsaka frowned as she gathered her bag and walked through the school's halls.
…Did Tohsaka somehow upset her? Perhaps broke a deal? Although they weren't friends, they were at least colleagues with an amicable relationship born from shared interests. She couldn't think of anything breaking that relationship that would cause such a response like this—heck, they even seemed fine a few days ago!
The only thing that came to mind was the recent call with her, where she asked a favor of covering up for Emiya… though, looking back, she did seem to be upset during her call, even hanging up in the middle of the conversation.
Did that have anything to do with it? She only wanted Emiya to—
Tohsaka paused, suddenly remembering a small detail.
"Wait, Emiya was called by Fujimura-sensei during the opening ceremony…" she muttered to herself. "Do they know each other?"
Her musings were cut off when the sliding door suddenly opened beside her, leading her to see a familiar face. It was Issei Ryuudou, the current student council president and an eastern monk residing in the Ryuudou Temple.
"...Tohsaka?" he said in surprise.
Tohsaka blinked at his appearance and felt slightly irritated at the sudden distraction, but she didn't show it and instead plastered a polite smile on her face. "Hello, Ryuudou-kun."
Unsurprisingly the student council president gave her a frown like usual. "What are you doing here, Tohsaka?" he asked with suspicion clear on his face.
She ignored it. "...I was just on my way home, Ryuudou-kun." she answered with a smile. "I didn't expect to run into you here, but you seem to think not? Is there something wrong?"
You're not that important for me to single you out. She meant to say without speaking it out loud, and judging by the grimace and slight embarrassment she could make out on his expression the student council president had noticed what she implied.
He coughed and looked away after being called out. "I see, nevermind. I apologize for jumping into conclusions. I had assumed that this would be one of your furtive schemes again."
Tohsaka's brow twitched but she controlled her expression.
"My… furtive schemes? What exactly do you mean by that?" she questioned.
Ryuudou just turned back and gave her a look that shows exactly how little he buys her clueless act. "It means exactly what it means, Tohsaka."
"Is that so…? I'm not really sure what you're getting at." she said with an unsure look on her face while smothering the bout of irritation that she always felt when dealing with the bespectacled boy. She had things to do. "Ah, but you'll have to excuse me, Ryuudou-kun. It was a bit sudden, but it was nice seeing you."
With that, she moved on—
"Hold on a moment, Tohsaka." the bespectacled boy suddenly said.
She paused, then turned back to him with a questioning look on her face. "Yes?"
"If I may ask; have you seen Emiya anywhere? I would like to speak to him."
Her eyes minutely narrowed at the mention of the name, before blinking as if stunned. "Emiya…? Ahh, you mean the student that was the recent talk of the school. What about him?"
"About that, the faculty had a meeting earlier and were given things to do. Fujimura-sensei wasn't able to attend for some reason I wasn't privy of, and I was hoping to give her the things she missed."
"...But how does Emiya tie into this?"
The bespectacled boy blinked. "Ah, right. It's a bit unexpected and I don't know much of the details, but apparently Fujimura-sensei is related to Emiya. She had acted as his guardian when he was sometimes in trouble here in school."
Tohsaka's eyes widened.
Emiya was related to Fujimura-sensei!?
"I was hoping that I could pass this to Emiya so he could give it to Fujimura-sensei, but I've never seen him anywhere… Tohsaka?"
She ignored the call of Ryuudou behind her as she hurriedly rushed through the halls, mind racing at the implications of what he had just told her.
And just like that things fell into pieces.
Emiya was related to the Fujimura-sensei, and Tohsaka involved him in the moonlit world. With the attitude the yakuza priestess has with all things related to magecraft Tohsaka knew that she wouldn't like that one bit—And Tohsaka had boldly said she had done so right to the yakuza princess' face yesterday night without even realizing it.
No wonder why she suddenly got her men to watch her.
"Damn it, Emiya… why are things always so complicated when it involves you!?" she muttered in frustration underneath her breath.
She needed to get rid of this terrible misunderstanding, immediately.
Back in the Fujimura compound, roars of gunfire were heard along with the various sounds of crashes and explosions.
The Yakuza men were shooting their guns at a single robed figure, who was gracefully dancing between the bullets and deflecting others with their Qiang spear. Despite being outnumbered by almost hundred to one and all of them shooting machine guns, none of the bullets managed to hit the interloper.
And in a small gap of time when some of the men started reloading, the robed cultivator dashed to the nearest men. The men flinched at the robed cultivator's sudden appearance, shots missing because of their surprise, and the cultivator brandished their spear about to attack them—
—Before the spear's blade was intercepted by a wooden shinai, holding it in place just a hair's breadth away from reaching one of the men's neck. The sword was then redirected to slash at the robed cultivator who simply jumped back gracefully.
Taiga held Tora-shinai in front of her, the taiga strap tied on its pommel clinking. The men quickly regrouped behind her.
"What a surprise." the robed cultivator commented with a mildly curious tone. "I didn't expect you mortals to be able to apply magecraft, much less use it in combat. And a cursed sword as well? Fascinating."
They were referring to Taiga, whose hands had glowing circuit-like branches flowing down her arms and to her sword, Tora-shinai, spewing bloodlust that is felt by any supernaturally attuned being. She had casted a reinforcement spell in order to strengthen herself and her sword to withstand the attack against the cultivator's spear.
"You tend to pick up some things after dealing with things like you." Taiga answered simply.
A frown appeared in her face. I hate using what that magus taught me knowing now what her true face is… but I've got no choice.
Her answer was met with an amused scoff.
"Deal with me? Know your place, girl. Simple magecraft or a cursed sword like that would not be enough." the robed cultivator settled on a stance, and Taiga tensed. "You cannot beat me!"
"Let's see about that." She said back, readying her own stance.
With that the cultivator suddenly rushed towards her, and she was able to react fast enough to deflect the spear coming her way. Taiga grit her teeth and slashed her opponent but it was avoided, and she in turn avoided the counter-slash.
Parry, dodge, counter, attack—Taiga used her reinforcement to the best of her limits to keep up with the cultivator as they exchanged a flurry of attacks to one another in a way that was hard for normal people to even register.
The wooden floor of the compound was cut and smashed into wooden pieces by an errant attack or stomp here and there. Her men also tried to assist her by shooting the cultivator given the opportunity. Combine that with her skilled swordsmanship, she was somehow able to keep up with the cultivator in front of her.
For a while the cultivator was pinned down and was forced to defend with the relentless attacks of Taiga and the suppressing fire of her men.
"Hoh…" the cultivator muttered, before choosing to change their approach.
Taiga's eyes widened as the battle then completely went on a different turn, as when she slashed tora-shinai, the cultivator deftly avoided it and instead used it as an opportunity to take down some of the men shooting them in the process.
She realized what her opponent was going for; it was to take out the men supporting her. No good, I have to make sure he doesn't do that!
Taiga charged and attacked once more, pushing the cultivator back as they tried to avoid the bullets of her men. Yet despite the pressure they were putting on them the cultivator remained untouched and calm, as if they were in complete control of the situation.
—An errant swing from her sword was dodged with minimal movement.
—A bullet dodged by leaning before the firearm was fired that Taiga had to block because it was expertly positioned.
"Grgh!" Taiga let out a grunt of pain as the spear managed to get through her guard and nick her arm, before ignoring it and pushing on.
—And a spear that seemed to get past through her guard even if she tried her utmost skill to defend against it.
Taiga grit her teeth in frustration of being unable to hit the robed cultivator.
Damn it, I just need to find an opportunity…!
Crack!
Luckily, fortune seemed to favor Taiga.
"Wha—!"
Because at some point, the cultivator accidentally stepped into a weak part of the floor and they staggered momentarily. Taiga used that moment of weakness to become aggressive, capitalizing it and managing to put the cultivator on the backfoot for the first time in the fight.
The cultivator brought up their spear to defend and Taiga simply knocked it out of the way, and with her opponent unbalanced, they had no way of defending her next attack.
The Tiger Heiress grinned ferociously.
"Take this, dumbass! Orya!" Taiga shouted with a thrust of her sword.
"Grk!"
Tora-shinai reached its opponent, drawing blood due to the sword's reinforcement moments before the cultivator could jump back and disengage. The cursed sword seemed to relish the action as they touched their opponent for the first time in the fight.
The cultivator growled and touched the wound on their side. Tora-shinai managed to pierce the side of their stomach. For a normal human it could be serious, but otherwise it was just an annoyance.
It was nothing serious compared to Taiga, whose blood was flowing from the many nicks the cultivator's spear with some parts of her clothes teared up. Yet despite the difference between the injuries from the two of them…
Taiga held her sword and sneered at her opponent.
"So, know my place, eh?" she taunted.
The cultivator growled. "You dare… mocking me…!?"
…She had shown that her opponent isn't as untouchable as they think themselves to be.
Taiga scoffed. "Yeah, I do dare. What are you going to do about it?"
The robed cultivator slowly stood up straight while holding their spear on the side.
For an intense moment, they were completely silent. The guns of Taiga's men were still trained on him, and they all watched him closely for any movement.
Then… the robed cultivator's shoulder's started shaking.
"Ha… haha…"
Taiga blinked, and her eyes narrowed.
"—HAHAHAHAHAHA!" the robed cultivator laughed loudly.
"What are you laughing at, huh!?" Taiga demanded.
"Interesting! I did not expect that someone could challenge me in a backwater place like this!" the robed cultivator said jovially. "I find myself pleasantly surprised!"
"The hell are you on about?"
She had a feeling that the cultivator was grinning underneath their robes. "I have not been wounded in combat for a while. You and your men have achieved something that is worth praise. So, be honored because now, I will treat you as a proper opponent…."
The cultivator then grabbed their robes, tossing the clothes away…
Revealing their naked upper body, toned and filled with scars from various battles. But what was most eye-catching of all was the grafted flesh that was sewn into the muscles of the man's arm in an almost tattoo-like form, the one that was spear.
"...And I will show you the true power that we have attained."
And with that declaration, Taiga felt magical energy gather towards the cultivator as the grafted tattoo-like muscles began to glow in an ethereal blue light on the man's arm, extending up to their neck and down to the spear he was holding as the weapon started to glow as well. The wound that the cultivator had almost seemed to completely disappear as well, the blood that was pooling on their wound disappearing into motes of blue.
Taiga paled as the magical energy the man started to gather exceeded far onto the ones she had ever felt before. She could feel the very air tremble around the man from the sheer power the cultivator exuded.
"Witness… the power of our ascension!"
Then the cultivator moved.
Taiga, even with her senses reinforced, wasn't able to register it until the spear was heading straight for her gut.
Taiga desperately threw herself to the side with reinforcement turned up to their limits.
There was pain, then the feeling of gravity leaving her, followed by a very painful impact that almost drove her breath out of her lungs. Everything after that was some sort of blur.
—The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with her side heavily bleeding as she tried to keep herself conscious, as she stared up at the cultivator holding the spear.
She followed the direction of the spear… and her eyes widened in horror.
Because extending beyond the spear, Taiga caught the glimpse of something like an isolated and horizontal tornado dispersing, revealing a destruction that messed up the entirety of the room, concentrated into a line that the spear extended to. In that direction, all the walls were completely smashed, reaching to the other side of the compound and revealing all the other rooms within.
Her men weren't even near the attack yet they were tossed all around the room, many buried on the walls and floors from the impact and while others caught with the launched debris.
Taiga looked down, and saw that the source of her bleeding was a piece of wood protruding on her side. She managed to dodge the attack and was launched as well, landing roughly into the floor.
She was the only one left conscious.
The cultivator casually brought down the spear then turned to her.
"Y-You…" Taiga's mouth was dry, never seeing such destruction caused by a human being before. "How…?"
"Surprised?" the cultivator questioned with an amused tone. "I suppose I can explain. In a certain sense, we do owe it to you why we were able to achieve this power."
Taiga's eyes widened, recalling what these 'cultivator' group had done. "You mean, that monster body…!"
"You came to the right conclusion—Yes, that's exactly correct!" the cultivator proudly displayed the flesh grafted on their spear hand. "What you are seeing grafted into my hand is the flesh of a phantasmal creature; the same one that you were safekeeping! We have managed to make a breakthrough and ascend because of it!"
"These muscles… with its unique property to metabolize so much of the surrounding mana with its abnormal muscles…" the cultivator swung his spear to the side, and Taiga had to cover her face as the displaced air blew away the dust and debris all around them. "I can feel it, the power—all of it at my fingertips!"
"It's a mystery how you mortals were able to find its corpse. A phantasmal creature with muscles like this would undoubtedly be destructive and a nightmare to fight… but, I suppose that would be because of this city's Second Owner. Our sect is aware of their dealings with you." the cultivator continued.
Taiga bit her lip. She knew that the monster that they kept was powerful, just judging by the things they needed to clean up when it attacked, but she didn't know that it was this powerful. She herself didn't know how Tohsaka managed to beat this monster, but she assumes that it's because of some powerful spell at her disposal.
And what's more, she wanted to involve Saitama into all of this!? Is she insane!?
"It's annoying that a phantasmal creature like this appeared in a backwater place like Japan instead of being in China." the cultivator then followed. "It would've been more convenient if it were to appear there instead."
Taiga then tensed as the cultivator walked towards her. She tried to raise her sword into a stance, but pain flared up her side that made her drop her sword.
"But nonetheless… you people should be honored. For you will be a stepping stone to the ascension of our whole sect to reach the heavens."
The cultivator was now looming right in front of her.
Move, damn it! Saitama's back there! Move Taiga, move!
But she couldn't. Her body was at its limit from all the fighting, and with her new wound she couldn't even muster the strength to stand up anymore.
The cultivator raised their spear.
Taiga, helpless and unable to move, closed her eyes in frustration.
"Now… perish!"
With that… the spear moved in to pierce her.
…
…
And it was stopped by hand grabbing hold on its blade.
Taiga opened her eyes.
"...Saitama?"
Being a hero… it's complicated.
At the surface, you'd think it's easy. Fight the monster, save the day, and everybody is happy. But Saitama knows better than anyone that things in life aren't that straightforward.
To save others, you'd have to risk yourself… and thus, risk those around you. There's no inbetween.
Sometimes, Saitama just wonders if he should live on his own. The choice wouldn't be present if that was the case. If there's no one that will mourn for him, no one at risk if he tries to fight a monster, then doesn't that mean he has nothing to lose by being a hero?
But… that's not it.
…Maybe, if he was a full-time hero, he could do that.
But he wasn't. There are things he considers in life important besides it. Being a hero is something he enjoys, and he's satisfied with not dedicating his entire life to it.
He was a hero for a hobby.
"Saitama…?" his elder sister suddenly muttered, looking at him in confusion.
"You…" the weird spear guy said, tone surprised. "How did you catch my attack?"
Saitama didn't answer his question, the spear guy suddenly growled and jumped back while withdrawing the spear from Saitama's grip. That action broke Taiga's trance and she suddenly straightened up in fear and panic.
"Saitama, what are you doing!? Get out of here!" she shouted.
Saitama was silent.
"Listen to me, Saitama! Get out and run!" Taiga continued. "Leave me be, that monster will—!"
"No." he said, interrupting Taiga and turning to the spear guy. "I'm not going to."
Taiga stopped. "Y-You…" she muttered, before her eyes lit up in horrified realization. "Saitama… You… Are you seriously trying to be a hero!? Right here!?"
"..."
Her face scrunched up, confusion and frustration apparent… but what was most glaring of all was the concern and desperation in her face. "Saitama! Listen to me! Don't kill yourself!"
…Saitama knew that she was hurting her for this choice.
It was selfish, in a way, even if he chose to do this to help people.
"P-Please, Saitama… just… go!" Taiga pleaded, tears falling from her eyes.
But, even if he was hurting her… Saitama didn't move.
"I can't do that, Taiga." he answered simply. "If heroes run away and hide, then who will stay and fight?"
Taiga paused for a moment at what he said, stunned.
But before she could say something more, she was interrupted with the sound of boisterous laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The spear man, who had listened in to the conversation, had laughed at what he had heard.
"You amuse me mortals. A hero, you say!?" he repeated incredulously, before laughing again. "Such frivolousness! I thought that I would be fighting a warrior, but it's obvious that the one in front of me is a clown!"
Saitama didn't react.
The spear man's derisive laughter continued on, before slowly losing steam. Then, when his laughter was over, he looked at Saitama with a condescending expression. It was as if staring at him was some sort of affront to the spear man.
"You, you mock me with your frivolous purpose for fighting. Throwing your life away for something as silly as acting a 'hero'? What are you, a child?" the spear man said with a sneer. "I do not know how you managed to catch my attack that time, but it clearly must be a fluke."
"Do you even have any sort of clue what you're up against, boy?"
The spear man hefted his spear in front of him, the cursed-looking spear gleaming menacingly as he loomed over Saitama.
"I am a member of an Ancient Cultivator sect that has survived to the present ever since the Age of Gods! I belong to a chosen group of people who have gone beyond mortality!" he shouted. "We have fought many men and monsters alike, and killed much more!"
He then spread his arms in display, showing off his body that had transformed into something else.
"Our group left China in order to achieve our true potential, and here we managed to ascend thanks to a phantasmal beast—a creature that is so rare as they belong in the Reverse side of the World! Our power is beyond what people can reach, and with this power, we are fated to reach the heavens!"
The monster pointed at him with his spear, the movement whipping up the wind from the sheer power of the movement.
"Do you really think that someone like you, a whelp who doesn't even look like he's of age yet, would defeat someone like me!?"
"..."
Saitama looked down.
"...Hey, Taiga." he suddenly said, getting her attention.
"I know, that it's selfish. Trying to do this." Saitama said to her, expression unknown as Taiga stared at his back. "I did this out of a promise from Kiritsugu, but as time went on, I've come to enjoy it. Being a hero I mean."
Saitama stared at his fist.
"I know I'll get hurt. I know I'll hurt you too. But if you're asking me to choose between saving others and not hurting myself for your sake… it's a no brainer, because I'm a pretty selfish guy."
Saitama then turned to Taiga with a resolute expression, and her eyes widened.
"I'm going to choose both." he answered.
The spear man growled as Saitama spoke.
"What nonsense are you babbling about! Don't think you can insult me by ignoring me, you fool!" he shouted.
"—You might say that it's impossible—"
"Enough of this mockery! You, that woman, and the men here will all perish by my hands!" the spear man shouted.
In his rage, the spear man started to gather energy, and the muscles on his arm started to glow. Surrounding mana was pulled into the spear man, and he absorbed more, and more… and more. An aura of power started to appear around the spear man and a tremor could be felt that blew dust and debris away from the man's surroundings due to the sheer power he emanated.
Taiga paled at the sight.
Yet, Saitama still remained unconcerned.
"—But, if that's going to be the case…" he continued.
"—You will forever regret making the choice of crossing me!
The spear man roared as he concentrated all this energy into his spear.
The spear lit up brightly, tendrils of magical energy going haywire and burned everything around it. The sheer amount of power concentrated was unlike anything else seen before, and it was having an effect as the spear transformed once more, merging with the arm of the man.
And what was left was a byproduct that is beyond man, but rather a creature with a spear for an arm, bathed in an ethereal white light as if imitating a holy nature.
The monster jumped up high, reaching height beyond the two-story building, then aimed down his merged spear-arm at Saitama. It shined in the sky like a bright star.
"Witness, the true power of a cultivator of our sect! All of my power, put into my spear! Take this—!"
The monster then dropped down like a white bright meteor falling from the sky.
"Spear of Heavens!"
The meteor fell towards Saitama, intent to obliterate every single fiber of being—
—And Saitama looked up, facing the falling meteor head-on and raising his fist.
"Then I'm just going to be the strongest hero there is." he declared.
Then Saitama punched.
The entire compound shook as his fist met the glowing spear, followed by the distinct sound of it shattering.
And the monster, who fell like a meteor while holding exceedingly large amounts of power stored in the spear…
"—Ghfffoouughhh!"
…Got punched in the gut, its body abruptly stopping from high speeds and the impact almost folding its entire body in half, before launching forward like a bullet.
What came next was the sound of the body crashing through the walls of the compound, and then a resounding boom! as the body hit another building, followed by the sound of that same building collapsing judging by the tremors that accompanied it.
And after that…
Silence.
"..."
"..."
Saitama looked at the direction of the monster with a blank face. "Seriously, what's with that weird guy? He kept interrupting me when I was talking." he suddenly said.
Hearing Saitama speak, Taiga was broken out of her trance of staring at the sheer destruction her little brother had caused.
"W-What…?" she muttered with wide eyes, staring at Saitama unable to comprehend what was going on.
"Ah, sorry about that, I got annoyed with that weird guy… Anyway, back to what I was saying. I decided to keep being a hero." Saitama said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "So… uhh, I heard someone fighting earlier, I'm guessing you guys were fighting a monster? It must be pretty strong to take out you and your men like that…" he looked around cluelessly. "Where is it by the way? It must be somewhere, right?"
Taiga was speechless.
"Taiga? Hey, you listening—?"
A familiar voice interrupts Saitama however, thankfully sparing Taiga from dealing with the madness she had just witnessed.
"H-Hey, what happened just now!? The building next to this one just collapsed!"
Tohsaka arrived at the entrance from one of the tears in the walls. Her hands clutching her gemstones as she looked around warily while entering, before pausing when her gaze landed on Saitama. She then looked at the destruction around him, then to the beat up men, followed by the stunned and wounded Taiga on the floor.
The magus then sighed, putting her arms down.
"I guess things are handled already." she said exasperatedly. "...Seriously, Emiya. It's not even a full day yet. You couldn't just catch a break, could you?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Saitama asked, before pausing as he finally noticed something and took a closer look at Taiga. His eyes widened. "W-Wait, Taiga, are you bleeding!? Oi, Tohsaka—!"
"Yes, yes. I'll help her. Just calm down." the magus waved a hand dismissively while approaching Taiga. She kneeled down, then looked at the stunned and injured woman in the eye. "Looks like we're going to need to clear things up a bit."
Taiga looked at her, before staring at Saitama and the destruction he caused. She then nodded dumbly.
"Yes." she answered. "We really do."
And now Taiga knows what's up with Saitama.
I know the last chapter was pretty short and ended on a cliffhanger, so this chapter would be pretty much concluding the fight and Saitama's dilemma. I hope I managed to convey the things I wanted to convey here and not make it look forced or anything. Especially the fact that he chose to save everyone and keep himself from harm.
You see, in any normal circumstance that might be impossible. Take a similar situation to Emiya Shirou—by choosing to become a hero he was hurting others around him as well as himself. And it's all too plausible that his life will end too soon, hell it's only because of a combination of mostly circumstance and luck on why he even is alive at the Holy Grail War while carrying that Ally of Justice mindset.
Saitama is rejecting all that by saying he's going to be the strongest, saying that he can save others while not being hurt himself, and by extension, the others around him. Anybody else saying that would be taken as empty words. But… we know what Saitama is going to be, don't we?
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review if you have any criticisms. As always, thank you for reading.