[HARU'S POINT OF VIEW]
"Ka...zuki..."
My voice grew weaker with each syllable. I almost forgot how fragile human life was. But there was no time to mourn. The monster had already turned its head toward me, locking eyes with mine. Even without words, its gaze was enough—it was mocking me, as if telling me I was next.
"What... are you doing?" Ueda's weak voice reached my ears as she regained consciousness. "Leave me and run."
I quickly summoned several layers of barriers between me and the monster, buying time before taking off. I was never the athletic type, yet somehow, my body felt unnaturally light as I ran, even with Nozomi in my arms. But still, I found myself right back where I started—away from the exit. My steps came to a stop as I hit a dead end. Behind me, I heard the monster's footsteps closing in, my barriers shattering one by one.
I let out a sigh. "Am I seriously going to solo this thing?"
Through heavy breaths, Ueda scoffed. "You seem way too calm about this," she muttered, her voice strained from pain. "I told you to leave me and run, didn't I?"
I crouched down and gently placed her on the ground. "I think it's a little late for that."
"So?" she responded weakly. "You're gonna fight the monster alone?"
"You tell me. Can you still fight?"
"No way."
I sighed again. "Then I don't really have a choice, do I?"
"What are you gonna do then? Even Masashi's laser beams couldn't put a dent in that thing."
She had a point. Compared to her and Saitou Masashi, I was a nobody—a weakling. But that didn't matter now. I was the only one standing between her and death. Kazuki died trying to make a difference with whatever power he had, even knowing it was pointless. That was something that I could never hope to understand. But even so—even if my actions had no meaning to me, if I was able to produce results, that was enough.
"Don't worry, I won't let myself die," I said. "I just need to stay alive and keep the monster busy until help arrives."
I stood up and turned to face the creature, its towering figure casting a massive shadow over us.
"You better not break your word," Ueda said.
I wasn't planning on dying. There were still things I wanted to do with this life.
I sprinted forward at full speed, summoning a barrier above me just in time to block an incoming attack. As expected, it shattered instantly, but I used the moment to slip away, barely dodging the massive fist that smashed into the ground. I maneuvered around until I was behind the monster. My goal was simple: keep its attention away from Ueda until she escaped or help arrived. The monster turned toward me, its back now facing her—a small success. Now, I just had to stay alive. How I'd manage that... I had no idea.
Even that much was close to impossible. We had never seen something this massive move with such speed. And on top of that, it was intelligent—at least to some degree. If I wanted to keep my distance, I'd have to pull off some insane tricks because there was no way in hell I could actually beat this thing. So I kept running.
Even if I were fast enough to outrun it—which I wasn't—I would tire out long before the monster did. I knew I couldn't run forever. At some point, I would have to face it, and that moment came sooner than expected.
I turned around just in time to see a massive fist accelerating toward me. In a split second, I summoned a barrier—this time, not a flat surface, but a narrow concave shape to trap its arm and gradually absorb the impact. A sharp pain shot through my head as the barrier cracked, but miraculously, it worked.
The monster broke free effortlessly and prepared for another strike. It pulled its fist back, loading up for the next punch—but before it could throw it, I summoned a barrier mid-air, right in its path. The obstruction forced it to stop short, making it harder to generate full force. I knew it wouldn't hold for long, so I wasted no time. Just as the barrier began to splinter, I leaped to the side, barely dodging what would've turned me into a stain on the pavement.
After that, I ran out of tricks. I bolted away, summoning barriers again and again, only for them to shatter instantly. I lost track of time as waves of pain surged through my skull, praying that help would come soon. My breaths were ragged, my clothes soaked with sweat, and my legs felt like lead. The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue. The world around me faded, drowned out by the violent pounding of my heartbeat. With the last of my strength, I formed a single barrier—just enough to block one more punch—before it, too, crumbled into pieces.
I had overestimated myself… or underestimated the enemy. I might actually die here.
"Kid!!!" A familiar voice rang out in the distance. "Hold it from the shoulders!!!"
My eyes widened as realization struck. I summoned barriers around the monster's shoulders, curving them to restrict its movement. Its struggle, the sheer frustration in its face when it realized it couldn't move, brought a smirk to my lips. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? If I locked its shoulders—the point where its torque was weakest—even something this massive wouldn't be able to move freely. Kugiwara's ice vines had failed because gravity still affected them, dragging them down. But my barriers were different. They floated indefinitely, immovable until broken.
Then, out of nowhere, Ueda Nozomi struck. She tore through the air at supersonic speed, her blade gleaming as she drove it straight into the monster's eye. The sheer force of her attack sent deep cracks splintering through its skull. The creature's agonized roars shook the entire school, its body flailing wildly, shattering my barriers in the process.
Ueda landed smoothly, then sprinted toward me before pivoting to face the monster again. It seemed she had managed to retrieve her sword.
"Not bad, kid," she said, flicking the blood off her blade with a quick downward swing.
"Thanks." I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Thought you'd run away."
She scoffed. "Aren't you a cheeky one?"
The ground trembled as the monster roared and charged toward us. Now that it had momentum, my barrier tactic was useless unless it stopped moving somehow.
Before I could speak, Ueda had already dashed forward, kicking up dust clouds in her wake. She moved with terrifying speed, but if I were her, I would've used that speed to escape. Then again, maybe she already knew—there were still students trapped inside the buildings, too scared to come out.
She wasn't planning to run. She was planning to kill that thing. Right here. Right now.
Ueda quickly dodged an incoming smash to the ground before countering with a sudden jump toward the monster's face. She only managed to stab its face shallowly—since the monster suddenly turned its head—but she did manage to halt its movements, prompting me to join the fight.
After Ueda landed, I immediately summoned barriers around the monster's shoulders and legs, ensuring that the surface area would optimize the strength of my barrier. Even so, I didn't think that would hold the beast for long. In that moment, I felt a limit in my ability break—my barrier grew stronger.
"Now! Ueda-san!" I shouted.
Ueda made a sharp turn, pivoting back toward the monster before leaping into the air, her sword pointed directly at its other eye.
But the monster was smarter than we had thought. When Ueda was about a meter from its face, it suddenly opened its terrifyingly wide mouth. Its mouth was so enormous it could swallow two people at once—and a girl of Ueda's size would surely be devoured without fail. Naturally, she couldn't change her trajectory mid-air; she could only watch in horror as she drew closer toward that enormous pit of sharp fangs and throat.
I supposed they had forgotten what my ability was. Surely they weren't expecting me to just stand there and watch?
In a split second, I summoned a barrier between Ueda and the monster's mouth; she used it to dart away and change her trajectory while the monster chomped nothing but air.
"Again!" Ueda shouted as she was falling. Immediately understanding what she meant, I summoned another barrier at her feet before she could fall, and then she leaped higher into the air—above the monster's line of sight. Attacking from above, I saw her execute the perfect plunging strike. She fell like a meteor, her sword poised to tear through the monster's remaining eye and strip it of its vision completely.
Just when I thought it would finally be over, the monster looked up, attempting to catch her with its mouth for a second time. But before its jaws could gape open, I quickly summoned another barrier around its mouth to serve as a muzzle. Only then could Ueda complete her strike that would finally end our struggle.
Her blade met a giant fist and splinters of shattered barrier. I saw her being blown into the sky before the ground accelerated toward my face. Luckily, I was quick enough to barely catch myself by blocking the ground with my hands, though I hadn't even noticed that my knees had given in.
I had used too much surface area—the barrier I had been using to hold its shoulders had weakened, leaving Ueda open to a counterattack. My barriers broke more today than in my entire life combined, leaving me with intense dizziness and a splitting headache. As expected, I had reached my limit. Blood from my nose stained the ground as my vision blurred.
When I looked up, Ueda's body had already hit the ground. The monster simply walked toward her, ready to end her. As much as I wanted to crawl and try again to save her, I could barely breathe.
Then, the next thing made me doubt whether what I was seeing was real or a hallucination. A giant figure of dark smoke materialized into what looked like a human hand, hovering freely above the monster. It was something that could terrify even the biggest beasts. So enormous was it compared to the monster that the creature looked like a little kitten in comparison. The giant hand simply grabbed the monster by the torso and squeezed the living shit out of it. I saw its blood and organs drip heavily to the ground before everything went black.
[ END OF CHAPTER ]