The female guard investigates the direction fast in worry as a yell like that couldn't mean anything good. But before Rose manages to find her two comrades in the distance, she first notice something rolling towards her feet.
Trembling in fear, she looks down. Rose already suspects what she's about to see, yet hopes her assumption is incorrect - it Isn't. The roundness of the object. The pigment and hairstyle. The bloody trail it left behind. The painful expression on it. Her vision blurs as she looks down upon the remains of her dear comrade.
"No... Kenjiro..."
A shaky voice escapes her lips as she covers her mouth with a single hand and tiny tears start running down her cheeks.
"Damn it. What is this monster?! It's on a completely different level, we don't stand a chance. There is only one thing I can now do."
Cliff mumbles to himself before yelling out.
"Rose! Take the mayor and run! I will stay here and give you some time!"
Rose looks at my captain with terror in her eyes.
"What!? Are you out of your mind!? I'm not leaving you here and I'm definitely not saving this swine!"
"This is our only option, Rose. This demon is something far beyond us. We aren't prepared. Go and alert the rest of the town. Let them know how dangerous this thing really is! Save the Mayor, be better than him, or would you rather stoop down to his tier of degeneracy!? Now go, and don't let Kenjiro's death be in vain!"
"Tsch."
The guard lets out a sound of visible annoyance as she helps the mayor to stand up and get to the carriage. She barely gets into the driver's seat and shout with the last of her strength.
"You better survive, you hear me!?"
Rose then hits the horse in order to make it advance and heads to alert the rest of the soldiers.
"Heh. Giving me impossible tasks, that's so like you. Now then, shall we?"
The captain prepares for his last stand.
———
[Back at the school]
The emergency bells can be heard across the training grounds. The instructor immediately halts the exams and sends everyone to hide inside the school until he has a better understanding of the situation. While inside, each teacher attempts to group up each class assigned to them in order to ensure all of us are present. There is a lot of panic caused by some of the younger students... and some older scaredy cats.
"What do you think is going on out there?"
Himari curiously asks while standing next to Lena. Confusion lingers within her expression - something all of us can relate to. We will most likely be stuck here for a while.
"It's probably just another B-Class demon. Hopefully it'll be dealt with soon, I would like to go home."
Lena murmurs to which Himari reacts with a smile.
"That's just like you. Most people would usually panic in a situation like this."
"I guess…"
Himari's words got Lena thinking.
The teachers are steadily finishing with checking their students, after which we are sent to classrooms on the first floor, filling up their capacity. Since Charlotte and Hidiku are in the same class as me, we end up separating for the rest of our group and as we are sitting down, legs stretched, leaning on the cold stone wall beneath one of the windows, Charlotte descends her head directly onto my lap.
"So sleepy.... I wanna go... Home..."
She immediately falls asleep so I start patting her.
"It's kind of impressive you can just fall asleep like that given our situation."
Hidiku mumbles while sitting next to me. But as soon as he finishes hi sentence, something explodes in the distance and rocks our building to its core. Not even Charlotte manages to stay asleep through this one.
"Who dares to interrupt my slumber..."
I look out of the window behind us. There is smoke coming out of another building at the end of the district, on a hill. That's the mayor's mansion.
"Is that... the demon?"
My friends join me in the observation.
"Hey, our house is in that direction."
My expression takes the shape of clearly visible nervosity after Charlotte's uncomfortable realisation. Out of sympathy she gently hugs me, shoulder to shoulder.
"It will be alright. Mom and Dad can handle themselves just fine. You know what they are like first-hand, so there's no need to worry about them. Okay?"
It kind of helped... a bit, but Hidiku's place isn't far from ours. Knowing that, my big sister drags us both back down and starts chatting with us to ease up the mood. And as we are hiding in the school, the commander is outside on an investigation.
———
[Before the school entrance]
Commander Spriggan stands not so far from the school's main entrance. Being informed by another fellow soldier serving as a messenger, Nolen realizes just how dire situation may be and decides to evacuate the school when something in the distance catches his attention.
Looking down the long street leading into the town of Hikone, nobody could possibly miss the large clouds of dust forming one after another. The smokescreen progressively becomes larger and larger as the particles of dust stack upon each other and soon enough, a humanoid figure takes form within the fog of destruction.
Soon enough, the instructor's greatest fear is revealed. It's the demon, heading straight for the school. And as it marches down the narrow district, all of the buildings surrounding it crumble after merely sliding its finger over their walls. This leaves only chaos and destruction in the shade of what used to be the homes of families living happily just earlier this day.
Countless soldiers attempt to stop it, one after another, yet anyone that tries to get into its way gets torn to pieces, has their body mangled to an inhumane state or suffers a different kind of horrible death. Nobody can stop it, and the commander knows too well he will be no match for this monstrosity either. After all, it has wiped out the best of the best the town had back in the mayor's mansion.
Commander Spriggan instruct the messenger to carry on with his duty and returns to the school to begin the evacuation process.
———
[Yuuna's class]
It took some time, but most of us have somewhat calmed down. Or at least until one of our panicked teachers barged into the classroom and instructed all of us to group up in the hallway. Did the evacuation begin?
Panic arises yet again and seeing our teacher in the same state doesn't help it either. Normally the threat would have already been dealt with. Yet, in a town practically swarming with soldiers, this thing is still moving around freely. I can't help but wonder just how horrifying must that monster be. I begin to tremble in fear when Charlotte grabs my hand.
"Come, we need to find the others."
She smiles faintly and drags me out with Hidiku into the hallway full of students. The adults start leading everyone to the nearest shelter, out through the only back exit our school has.
As we are making our way through the corridor swarmed by all of the students, we happen to find the others. Student after student leaves the building and head straight for the shelter without looking back.
The exit is near when a another tremor stuns the student body. What is that? An earthquake? The ceiling comes crashing down before our eyes, blocking our route and creating a large smoke screen of dust in the process.
I happen to inhale a large amount of it and catch myself momentarily choking together with a few other people. But that is the least of our problems at this moment. I ascend my gaze from the dust covered ground, fearing that the worst outcome possible just became reality right before my eyes.
A heap of rubble lies beneath a hole in the ceiling, shedding sunlight into the previously covered hallway. That pile of stone bricks now serves as a grave for many unfortunate students and you can see their body parts sticking out of multiple openings. Beams of setting the setting Sun color the building in a crimson color and reveal a dark tall silhouette within the artificial cloud.
It has the flavor of decay and an aura of pure evil emitting from it. A strong scent of death.
The smokescreen is about to disburse when a distinct cracking sound echoes through the building as the figure with a demonic presence progressively straightens up its posture. Followed by its head being tilted towards us, a nasty grin covers its face.
No lips, its human-like teeth are visible at all times. No hair nor ears, just holes in its skull. The nose is pure bone and its eyes are also absent, as if they were gouged out, leaving you to stare straight into the demon's void. Eventually, the rest of the beast's crooked body is unveiled. It's almost as if someone has resurrected a mangled corpse with a beast-like volume of muscle still well preserved on it.
Soundless and motionless, the crowd stares back at the universal living nightmare as it has made its grand entrance. Petrified by the first sight of a demon, the feeling of pressure combined with fear has overwhelmed us all.
One… two… three… four… five. The number of cracks that can be heard as the unholy thing makes slight movements before our eyes gradually increases. It's like nothing I've ever imagined. Its strong presence, accompanied by the awful stench and overwhelming dread, turns my stomach upside down.
Its head bearing a human-like menacing grin and large, empty eye sockets slowly rotates towards us. It almost feels like the creature is staring directly at me. We are jolted awake as the terrible Demon takes one stride forward, crushing through the back of a body that has already been mangled. Everyone falls victim to panic. The race to get through the school's main entrance peaks in intensity. The real pandemonium has barely started.
Without a warning, the remaining students before us surge through the constrained hallway, separating me from the rest of the group. Then one of the passing pupils knocks me to the ground, using me as a prop to distract the Demon. I'm left behind.
I hear some of my friends reaching out to me as they are being swept away, but it's all in vain. Soon I feel something wet wrapping around my hand. What is that? It's all tender but also complex and pointy at the very bottom. I'm aware that I have somehow damaged the object beneath my palm. In a strange sense, it already feels unpleasant as it is, but realization occurs only when I run my eyes down my arm, all the way.
Red, purple, yellow, all these colors intertwine as the yellow and purple fragments are drenched in the liquid swirling around my hand. My palm is piercing through the lungs of a dead girl as her chest has been torn open by the debris. Her expressionless face reveals how painful her demise was.
I vomit almost instantly; there is no longer a way to resist the urge. Slowly, tears start to trickle down my cheeks. Before I know it, my breathing becomes unstable and I'm slowly falling into despair. My legs have given out; getting up isn't an option, and I'm in too big of a shock to call for help. My body trembles more and more as the beast moves forward, crushing through the corpses with each stride.
As the smell of death grows stronger, a sudden headache deepens me into a sea of visual illusions. The rear of a girl covered in white hair. Buildings engulfed in flames. An unrecognizable boy lying on the ground and smiling as blood pours out of his mouth. It all phases through so fast that I can't comprehend what is happening, and once it's over, I find myself gasping for air.
What was that? A hallucination? A vision of some kind? It felt like I wasn't breathing at all for a moment. The noise in the background is slowly fading away… or is it just my consciousness? Staring at the ground after being startled by an event I can't understand, two dark and rigid feet appear before me. The tough-looking skin makes the twisted bones beneath it appear even tougher, and the odor…
The contents of my stomach are thrown out once more; I can still make lunch out of the image before me, even if just barely. Suddenly I can feel an intense scorching sensation coming from the back of my head as my body is being lifted from the ground.
The Demon grabs hold of me and drags me up by my hair, untying it out of a ponytail. But it doesn't pull me up to my feet. It continues and leaves me hanging in the air. The pain is overwhelming; I grit my teeth, trying to clutch its thick arm while kicking the air, yet I can't help but cry.
Ignored while still streaming down my mouth, the vomit gradually combines with the tears. The struggle takes away most of my strength, and my arms give out. They are left hanging with the rest of me. All I have left is to pray for a miracle to occur, and as my voice trembles with the last of my strength, I utter my final faint words.
"Help… me."
At that very moment, one of the walls next to us gets forced open. Pieces of stone and dust shoot our way when a sharp blade and a manly figure just behind it emerge from the artificial smokescreen. The weapon pierces the hellish creature's side as it gets propelled through the opposing wall, forcing it to release me.
I drop down on my knees and begin to pant heavily. Fear is still controlling my body, but it's progressively improving as if part of the weight has been lifted. Have I been saved? I'm slowly regaining consciousness and gathering myself. I need to get out of here.
Someone grabs my arm and pulls me towards the back entrance as I get back on my feet. I then inspect the person dragging me out. It's Enmei; he has come to get me out of here. Soon a blinding shine hits me directly as we escape our school's crumbling building.
Enmei halts beneath the steps where Lena stands with her two watery eyes. Her face is stained, and her hair is partially covered in dust, but I'm probably the winner when it comes to looking like a mess. She touches me all around, then wipes the fluids off with a tissue. All that while interrogating me.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere? Has the thing done anything to you?"
She's worried sick. My body is still trembling, but seeing her face again brings me great relief. I hug my older sister as I spill tears once more. In response, she hugs me back and sheds tears alongside me. I wasn't the only one who felt anxious. Lena was terrified for me the entire time, if not more so than I was.
Something explodes inside the building and a big cloud of dust is released. Both of us pause as we look at the same rumbling structure.
"What are you standing there for?! Let's get a move on, we are still in danger!"
Our attention is again redirected to Enmei as he stands behind us with the rest of the group. They all waited for me. Lena nods and begins to move down the street. My arm is being held firmly in her grasp. I can feel she doesn't plan on letting go; it makes me feel at ease.
We are headed for the nearest shelter located about fifty meters away. Running between the damaged buildings, we encounter just a few dead soldiers. It doesn't appear like much has happened in this direction.
"Are you alright? Your hand is covered in blood!"
Hidiku freaks out at the sight.
"I'm fine, The blood isn't mine. It's just a few scratches."
"And wet panties."
Enmei tries to crack a joke. Big mistake as he's right before me - I kick him in the back. Charlotte, running behind me, lets out a sigh.
"Man, I wish I was there to witness it."
"I didn't wet myself!"
I wish they'd stop with this.
"All of you shut up! We are almost there!"
Himari startles all of us with her usual loud voice possessing a slightly hostile tone. She's right, a bit further up front is a space between two of the houses and in that space peaks out a metal bunker entrance. Safety is within our reach, but just as we approach it Lena suddenly yells out from the very back.
"Everyone, heads up!"
The rest of us turn around to see what's going on, but before we get any time to react, something zooms right past us and hits the ground. It's a body wrecked beyond recognition, but one thing about it I can identify is the outfit that looks just like what the commander overseeing our exams wore. But I thought he was supposed to be strong. Was the Demon too much even for him? There's no time to mourn him as another object rockets past us and strikes a tower right on top of the bunker. Debris explodes out of it and the structure collapses into the street. Everything is up in dust.
———
"Ow… my head. What happened? …Did I black out for a moment?"
I sit up and touch my head after being knocked down by the impact. There's blood coming out of it. My vision is distorted. I'm too busy swaying my blond hair covered in dirt from my field of view when one more blast startles me. A hole has been forced open through the remains of what used to be the collapsed tower, and through it passes two people. Though, there's too much dust to tell who they are.
"What kind of a monster are you?"
That's Lena's voice.
"What are you talking about? This much is normal."
And that's Himari's. I'm guessing they have been separated from us by the debris. That would explain the blast too. Himari is a monster of its own class when it comes to physical strengt. She probably had no problem making a hole in that wall with her gift, she must have cleared the bunker entrance too. I try to get up, but my legs fail, and I fall to my knees. At least by doing so, I make enough noise to get their attention.
"Yuuna! Hang on, I got you!"
Himari is the one to recognize me first and rushes to support me, leaving Lena to concentrate on searching for the others. As she supports me with her shoulder I can feel just how much strength this petite girl has in her. Though it's not like I haven't felt it during the exams. Soon enough, the smokescreen breaks up just a little bit and reveals two more people marching toward us. It's Charlotte supporting Hidiku. She smiles and salutes; Lena rushes to their aid.
We are carried to the bunker and left on the staircase leading down into the depths when Hidiku brings attention to a missing member.
"Where's my brother?"
He could be injured badly. What's more, we don't know anything about the demon's whereabouts. We need to get him as soon as possible. Everyone is already waiting inside, except for the missing boy's older sister.
"Yeah, I know. I will go look for him. You guys go hide. We will be back in a second."
She announces as she's about to go on a search further in the school's direction, where dust rules over the street.
"Wait, I'm going with you."
Hidiku responds as he wants to help out his siblings.
"No, Hidiku. It's too dangerous. Listen to your older sister and go take shelter."
With no intention of listening to what her younger brother has to say, Himari marches into the slowly resolving mist. But it's too late as a large silhouette crossing through the smokescreen becomes more visible with each passing second, until it finally steps into our field of clear sight. It has caught up to us. Where's Enmei? Did it get him? Is he still somewhere hidden in the layers of dust? I can't tell.
"We need to go."
Charlotte pronounces as she takes a step back. Her voice trembles with fear.
"Are you saying we should leave my brother behind?!"
I gaze in the direction of the two friends about to get into a fight as Hidiku responds with aggression. He's right, I feel the same way. Maybe we can fend it off together until we get Enmei back. If we combine all of our abilities then maybe-
However, my brainstorming comes to a fast stop as the beast makes a heavy step. So much so it crushes a large rock beneath its foot. I take another good look at its build containing a crooked bone structure supported by its dense muscle mass. And that creepy smile… it makes my skin crawl. I can yet again feel the heavy pressure it emits. I'm frozen in place.
The bunker's two trapdoors are right next to us. I could just shut us in and we would be safer, but there's a feeling stopping me from doing so. What is it? Is it fear for my friend's life? Nevertheless, my sisters grab one of the giant metal plates each as Himari yells.
"Close the bunker! Now!"
What's going on? I was lost in thought for only a second. The Demon is tossing fragments of the rock it just crushed beneath its foot. The exit is shut before anyone gets to see the outcome and all that can be heard is the banging sounds of a hard downpour.
It's quiet, almost too quiet. The area has just been bombarded, but after that, it's complete silence as we are shut out from the outside world. Being the closest to the gateway, I take the liberty of opening it up just enough to sneak a peak, fearing to witness the worst outcome.
The demon is still standing in the same position. To my surprise, my friends are nowhere to be seen. It's still slightly hard to see, but the dust remains only in a small portion of what it used to be. They must have escaped.
Taking aim with its unholy gaze, the beast remains to look at me with the same old expression before launching itself above the streets to a different location. I don't know what it is about this creature. Am I imagining it glaring at me all the time? It's almost as if the being straight from hell is observing me, as if it wanted me to watch. But for what purpose?
I'm thinking too hard about this, I need to calm down. The metal doorway is forced open by another person and the last beams of the setting sun strike my sight.
"Where did they go? We need to go after them!"
Hidiku's anxiety is rising and it feels like it's slowly influencing the emotions of the rest of us in the process. He jolts out of the bunker, but not before Charlotte manages to grab the back of his top and stop him for just a moment.
"Where do you think you are going? Come back down! This is beyond our power, leave it to the adults!"
Without a single word, Hidiku looks at my sister with anger in his eyes.
"What adults!? Most of them are already dead and those that aren't will probably be nothing more than meaningless sacrifices. I won't let my siblings be one of them!"
He slaps her hand to break loose, and takes off into the street. In hopes of stopping the boy, Lena rushes after him, and without thinking I follow her lead.
"Are you serious?! Fine! But just so you know, if anything happens, I'm leaving you behind!"
Charlotte is irritated beyond belief, yet she decides to step out of the shelter's safety and follows us. I can't believe we are doing this, I still fear what could happen. Hidiku isn't showing any signs of stopping, I don't think he knows where he's going either. What's more, the monster could be lurking anywhere. Who's to say there's only one of those monsters roaming the town? I'm scared, I don't want to be here.
Along the way can be seen bodies of fallen soldiers as well as some innocent families caught up in this tragic event. All of a sudden, Hidiku starts climbing one of the taller houses in the street and Lena is right behind him.
Are they crazy? I know those two are agile, but come on, I'm not climbing that! The race continues on the rooftops, though it's halted for a moment when an earthquake violently shakes the ground; it lasts only for a few seconds.
Was that the Demon? What's going on? I notice the two house-climbers staring into the distance, surely they must have spotted something from there. I follow the direction of their gaze and find a black cloud of smoke rising beyond the buildings. That must be it.
"What was that? Did you find them?"
Charlotte barely catches up to us when Hidiku gets back to moving, leaving us behind again. I'm not confident enough to join them up there so I'll have to take the first turn along the path.
"Let's go before we lose them."
I instruct my older sister before she gets to catch her breath. Fortunately enough there is a turn close enough to keep an eye on my friends before me and behind that turn the cloud of black becomes much more visible. We might be on the right path, but the fear within only grows stronger with each step. What are we supposed to do once we reach them? It's only now that I ask myself this important question.
My head is struck by a shocking pain, forcing me to stop in my tracks. It feels like it's about to split. It's happening again. White flowers in an open sunny field, A black crown swimming in a puddle of blood, and something that seems to be a town square full of corpses. Yet again I've been drowning in a sea of illusions. It's still hard to tell what I'm seeing, and what is this numbing pain? Why is this happening to me?
"Why now…"
"Yuuna? What's the matter?"
Charlotte runs up to my me, but I decide to keep it to myself. It would only make things worse right now.
"It's nothing. Let's go."
I reassure her before catching Hidiku's voice in the near distance.
"Sister!"
They have located them! Please, don't be too late! We are almost there. It's just one more turn when another aggressive bang rocks us to our cores. Moments later we are about to cut the final corner when we witness someone get launched out of it, straight into the house.
Whoever that was is going to be in a fatal condition after a crash as such. We rush over to the damaged structure; the impacted wall has collapsed. Its contents make it difficult to get through. The person is partially buried beneath it, covered in blood and unconscious. Yet despite all that, it's not hard to identify the person lying before me.
My breathing gets out of control, and I'm nearly passing out again, but I won't let that stop me! With my sweating palms, I get to work instantly, clearing rock after rock from the motionless body, only praying my older sister will pull through.
"Charlotte, help me, please! It's Lena, she's hurt badly!"
I cry out to my second sister as tears begin to emerge from beneath my watery eyes. Charlotte hurries over and joins the rescue mission. Looking at us, I can't tell who's more worried.
"Everything will be alright. We will get everyone out of here and find help. It will work out just fine."
She murmurs to herself. I'd like to be optimistic, but the only people around, except for us, are the dead ones. Are we really going to die here? Like this?
"Yuuna, help me out!"
Charlotte brings my attention back from the land of thoughts; she's trying to move Lena out of the house. We move her a bit further from the construction, in case it were to collapse. And just as we place my sister on the cold ground, one more blast echoes throughout the area.
"Hidiku! Take care of Lena, I'll go help him!"
"Yuuna, wait!"
I call out to my friend before jetting off without a second thought, leaving my sisters behind. The rest are still fighting. Himari! Enmei! Please be alright! I'm heading down the final street leading to my destination and at its end I spy the back of a familiar, tall, dark figure. However, I'm unable to reach before entering an unnaturally expansive landscape. I stop to take a moment and assess the situation that's seemingly beyond my comprehension.
A large area littered with the remains of formerly standing structures, crumbled stone bricks, and splintered wooden boards all over the place. Even though some of those buildings are severely damaged, they nevertheless remain around the area's perimeter, giving the place the appearance of an arena formed by a meteor crash. And almost as if showcasing its work, in the center of it all stands tall the rotting cause of this destruction.
"Yuu…na.."
The voice is faint and thin, barely spoken or heard. It's Hidiku's, I can tell. Throwing my gaze from left to right, I desperately search for my friend. With nothing but an unclear lead of his whereabouts, I ask for his attention one more time.
"Where are you? Hidiku!"
"Save her… please…"
This time concentrating on the direction of Hidiku's voice. It became much clearer to me. The only problem is… it leads straight to the Demon. I swallow my saliva fearing the outcome of their encounter, yet my fear becomes true as I catch a glimpse of something moving beneath the beast's foot. The Sun has already set; it's hard to see anything. Desperate to get a proper visual in, I squint my eyes until I can make out what exactly I'm focusing on. All of that ruble doesn't make it any easier, but what I'm looking at is undeniably a pair of legs. That's him!
A bone snaps, then another, and another. The continuous cracks of its spine send a stunning chill down my spine as the beast slowly rotates its bony head toward me. It feels as if I'm watching some kind of a force controlling its vessel - a puppet. My skin is overrun with goosebumps. I need to get him out of there, but in order to do that, I have to force the demon to move its leg.
It's now or never; I will have to use my gift if I hope to achieve anything. Suddenly, my mind finds itself full of distressing thoughts. What if I fail to move it? What If it catches me instead? I'm beginning to doubt myself. The clock is ticking, I don't have time for this. In a hurry, I brace my cheek muscles and give them a slap resonating throughout my entire body.
I grab the nearest piece of wood that looks stable enough for at least one strike and get into focus. Stay calm, Yuuna. You won't get any more chances if you fail. Once I feel I'm prepared to give it my all, I take in a deep breath and dash off against the gawking monstrosity.