"No..." Hitsu begged under his breath. He desperately wished that single word would be enough to stop the giant shadow, but it did nothing at all. The shadow's sister grin didn't vanish and its ill intent didn't dissipate. If anything, that single word only fueled the shadow further. Calmly, the shadow began to push itself up to stand on its hind legs.
"Jinsuke!" Hitsu shouted, "Don't let it break free!"
Jinsuke grunted as he tried to tighten the Earth's grip on the shadow's arm. Despite the rocks squeezing harder and the fact that its arm was still trapped the shadow didn't seem deterred. The giant shadow balanced as well as it could on its hind legs and raised its free arm high into the air casting a dark shadow over Jinsuke. Jinsuke's eyes filled with conflict as he watched the shadow's hand stop over where he stood. Even with death looming overhead, Jinsuke held strong and refused to release his hold over his opponent. Seeing this, the shadow dropped its giant hand down on Jinsuke's location. Fear filled Jinsuke's eyes as his final seconds appeared to pass by and the shadow's hand grew closer.
"Move!" Sel shouted as he slammed into Jinsuke, flames spewing from his feet. The sudden force sent both Sel and Jinsuke tumbling across the ground. The shadow's hand slammed into the ground with immense force, enough to nearly knock the others to the ground, breaking the cement in the process. As the dust cleared the forms of both Jinsuke and Sel became clear, both barley out of the claws impact zone.
"Are you alright?" Sel asked with a groan as he lifted his head.
"No..." Jinsuke responded.
Sel looked to see that Jinsuke wasn't answering his question but instead was staring fearfully at the giant shadow. Sel turned his head to watch as their last defense crumbled away. With Jinsuke's concentration broken, the rocks that held the giant shadow in place lost their shape and fell apart. The giant shadow was free. Sel and Jinsuke were so terrified they failed to notice that Enai had joined them.
"Get up!" Enai commanded in a hushed whisper, "Come on!"
"What?" Sel asked not entirely listening.
"I said let's go!" Enai whispered angrily as she pulled both Sel and Jinsuke to their feet. The three ran weakly to where Nox and Hitsu stood. Nox and Hitsu stood defensively as they stared up at the giant shadow, its eyes set out on the horizon. The civilian was gone, likely told to run already.
"What is that thing looking at?" Enai asked as she reached Hitsu and Nox.
"It figured out that we will protect people," Nox said, her face filled with guilt.
"What does that mean?" Sel asked angrily, "Where is it looking?"
"It's looking at the people," Nox answered.
"What?" Jinsuke said with wide eyes, "What did you say?"
"The people," Hitsu answered with a grimace, "it's looking at where the people are, the evacuation area."
"No way," Enai said in shock as she looked back up to the giant shadow, "you can't be serious."
"I am," Hitsu said seriously, "There are multiple evacuation areas in New Faith but I can't imagine that they aren't packed to the brim right now."
"So it's looking for the place with the most people possible," Jinsuke said fearfully.
"Yeah," Hitsu responded, "and if it gets to them... If it kills them... It won't matter what comes afterward... We will lose."
The moment Hitsu finished speaking the giant shadow started moving as if it had been listening and waiting. Just lifting one foot off of the ground caused it to shake and the heroes to turn their heads in fear. Rocks and rubble launched into the air as the giant foot moved forward towards the evacuation area.
"Come on!" Hitsu commanded, "We have to move!"
"You guys go," Sel said sternly, "I'm gonna buy some time."
Hitsu looked as though he was going to argue with Sel but quickly stopped upon seeing the look on his face. It was clear Sel was scared but he was also determined, determined to save as many people as he could. Hitsu looked to the others to see they were just as concerned with leaving Sel alone but yet they all looked to him for an answer.
"Alright," Hitsu conceded, "but you better not do anything stupid."
"Yes sir," Sel responded.
With one last nod, Hitsu and the others ran off towards the evacuation area leaving Sel behind to fend for himself.
"Don't mess this up," Sel whispered to himself as he turned to face the giant shadow, "Everyone needs you."
As the shadow's foot neared the ground Sel sprung into action. His hands shot forward and out came a volley of flames. The flames quickly covered the ground where the shadow's foot was about to rest. As the heat and pain covered the shadow's foot it pulled its leg back and cried out in pain. The shadow looked down at Sel and narrowed its eyes. Quickly, it kicked its leg forward and destroyed the ground in front of it. The flames vanished as rock and dirt flew into the air towards Sel. Sel held his hands in front of his body as searing hot rocks flew past him. He growled angrily as the shadow started walking once again.
"You aren't going to make this easy, are you?" Sel asked. "Alright then..." Sel said as flames consumed his arm, "Bring it on!"
...
Through the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing Enai's voice could be heard.
"Did we really just leave him behind?" She asked, "Was that the right thing to do?"
"We had to, right?" Jinsuke asked, "We need more time."
"Time for what?" Nox asked, "What are we even going to do when we get to the evacuation area?"
"We'll be able to help somehow... Right?" Enai asked desperately, "We aren't doing this for nothing... We didn't leave Sel behind just to get in the way... Right?"
Enai didn't receive an answer, the only voice heard was the one that echoed within Hitsu's head.
"What the hell are we doing?" Hitsu thought as he ran forward aimlessly. "We placed the title hero on our names and thought that we were invincible. Look at us... We can't do anything... We can't help... We are just out of our league. I always wanted more people to be around me... Why? So they could fail with me? In the end, we achieved nothing... We are failures. In the end, we didn't fight... We are cowards. In the end, we didn't win..."
"...We are nothing but losers."
...
End of Episode 44