It ate her.

Before Hekate could strike, the water dragon swallowed her whole. The command had wrung out every last drop of my strength, but it worked.

I frowned hard, holding onto control of the massive creature.

Back to the sewer.

But before the Leviathan could lower its head into the sewer mouth, a sharp flash of light and a piercing sound stabbed through my senses.

Boom!

Damn it.

Sylvia.

The bomb she’d thrown hit the dragon. The Leviathan screamed, twisting violently in pain.

Luckily, it didn’t rupture.

Scales tore and blood gushed, but its hide held firm. There was a reason it was called a Leviathan.

It didn’t stop.

Instead of turning on Sylvia, the dragon twisted its body, forcing itself toward the sewer to escape.

I gritted my teeth and clung to control.

Go on—get back in and disappear!

Ratatatatat!

The Leviathan’s eye exploded.

Fluid gushed, and its shriek battered my eardrums.

I turned sharply toward the gunfire.

“Yun.”

And there he was—standing atop the giant’s corpse, pulling the trigger, aiming straight for the Leviathan.

Around the giant’s body lay piles of shattered mineral Creatures and wolf carcasses.

It struck me then—this was my first time seeing my superior actually fighting Creatures himself.

The way he fired—each bullet embedding perfectly in the Leviathan’s mouth just as it opened—left me stunned.

KIEEEEK!

“Not enough firepower.”

Sylvia had appeared beside me, muttering to herself.

“We’ll lose it.”

Her assessment was right.

The Leviathan obeyed me to the end. Even with one eye destroyed, its tongue full of holes, it managed to shove its massive head into the cratered asphalt and force itself down.

My view filled once again with glimmering scales.

Then, with a rush of water, the creature vanished into the sewer.

Splash!

It was gone, back the way it came.

Once I confirmed that the beast which had swallowed my kin had escaped underground, I lifted my head.

Sylvia did the same.

“You tore off your flesh to summon it, didn’t you?”

She clicked up her visor, her ice-blue eyes glancing up at me.

“Maybe you taste good. That’s why they keep trying to eat you.”

“Ha. Maybe.”

“Hildebert.”

As I replied faintly, Yun called my name.

He always moved so quietly.

I turned my head—he was already beside me.

“Yes.”

My throat was seized.

Yun yanked me forward harshly. My breath caught, and I couldn’t resist. He dragged me, his grip half choking me, toward a still-standing building.

He ignored Leonard’s cheerful, “Don’t take too long!” and Sylvia’s muttered, “Boring bastards,” as he went.

Thud! Yun kicked the door open.

Bang!

Pain followed immediately.

A small groan slipped out.

I frowned from the ache and looked at the superior who had slammed me against the wall.

His murderous gaze pierced my skin.

“I said I’d give you a chance to kill her. I never said you could let her live.”

His voice was low and cold, filling the abandoned ruin.

Even with his helmet on, I could feel the chill of his eyes.

“Treason?”

“No.”

“Disobedience?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

“She didn’t get bitten ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) by a Titan. She swallowed one and ran, didn’t she?”

“Yes. I’m sor—”

My breath stopped.

He tightened his fingers. I couldn’t speak; the lack of oxygen burned my chest.

I had no thought of betrayal—but I knew exactly how it looked.

Only when I began to truly believe I might suffocate did Yun finally release me.

“Kh—kugh!”

“Make an excuse, at least.”

His muttered tone was deadly quiet.

I wheezed, forcing in air, and managed to lift my head.

“I’ll kill her. I swear it.”

“When? Next time? After she kills more people?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t get dragged around by your pathetic sentiment.”

The communicator crackled with Jerry Jones’s panicked voice, calling for Yun—but neither of us answered.

Yun’s fingers tensed again.

“If you ever pull something like this again, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Yes.”

“You just didn’t want to see her die by human hands, right?”

“Yes. I was stupidly sentimental.”

“Your feelings don’t concern me.”

Yun spoke fact, not emotion.

“Don’t make Yehyeon regret choosing you.”

Breath caught again.

I didn’t resist; I stood still like a soldier under punishment.

Breathing grew shallow, vision dimmed.

This man knew exactly when a person was about to pass out.

“Kh—ugh!”

“Well, even if I warn you, I can already tell you’ll keep being stubborn.”

He released me right before I lost consciousness.

“If you were some worthless nobody, I wouldn’t even bother letting go.”

I had no strength to reply.

Reflexively, I clutched my throat, gasping for air—gulping it down like someone starved for days.

My vision blurred, then narrowed.

Through that haze, I saw him—Yun, walking toward the door.

Coughing blood, I watched him head back out to the battlefield—

as calmly as if he’d never strangled me at all.

“Follow me.”

Even his next words carried no anger anymore.

“We’ve got dead weight to clean up.”

My superior vanished from sight.

Silence descended.

In that frigid stillness, I gasped, trying to steady myself. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I knew I should move, but my body wouldn’t respond.

The wounds Hekate left had bled me badly, and controlling the Creature had drained my energy completely.

Now, after Yun’s wrath on top of that...

If I relaxed, I’d probably faint.

I leaned against the wall, breathing carefully, gathering what little strength remained.

Then, like a corpse, I forced my feet to move.

“Ah.”

And there they were—the worthless seniors.

They were half-hiding behind the three psychopaths.

“Seniors.”

“Hilde.”

Isaac spoke first.

I blinked, too tired to answer. After several blinks, my vision cleared.

A battlefield transformed.

The fight still raged—but with Hekate gone and our seniors holding strong, the firepower had weakened.

We could probably finish before reinforcements even arrived, especially with those three cutting down the last of the Creatures.

Nothing left to clean up, really.

I thought so as I walked toward the useless ones huddled behind the stronger seniors.

They looked up, panting, having tossed aside their empty rifles.

I ignored their half-open mouths, ready to lecture me but shutting again when they saw my wounds.

“Hilde, you’ve lost a lot of blood... like me,” Lucia murmured weakly.

“I’m so dizzy...”

“The wound’s still open.”

Isaac’s eyes flicked to my abdomen.

“So this is what you meant by slow regeneration. Come here, I’ll stop the bleeding. Temporary fix.”

Why does Yun hate Isaac so much?

He seemed the most normal of the bunch.

Sure, he’d been the first to run from the giant, and now he was hiding behind maniacs—but honestly, those were reasonable decisions.

I didn’t have the energy to think about it anyway.

I staggered toward Isaac, and he used something like a staple gun to close the wound.

My left hand was finally free.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. But you really look bad.”

He frowned, inspecting the injury.

“You should be the first to return. I’ll help you walk later—don’t strain yourself.”

Ah...

So he just wanted to go back first.

When he insisted on helping me even after I said no, I was certain.

Repeating how I should “return first” made it obvious.

Still, his motives didn’t matter—he was helping.

I decided not to take offense.

Might as well rest until this wraps up.

I leaned on him, thanked him softly, and didn’t move again until Yun, Sylvia, and Leonard finally stopped shooting.

***

It wasn’t long after the three psychopaths ended the fight that reinforcements arrived.

“You’re late.”

Of course, leading the group was Richard Green.

“Good work.”

Then came a row of familiar faces.

Choi Ami. Ricardo Sordi. Jonathan Kudo. William Walker. Aki. Jason Trevain.

I recognized every face stepping off the motorcycles.

Only the best had come.

Most of the Badgers stationed in B-5 had already returned to base, they said.

Only the uninjured elites came to reinforce Zone 7.

B-sector was dangerous even for a full squad, so once their mission succeeded, most had immediately evacuated through the Portal.

I sat on the ruins, listening to the explanations, watching the familiar faces.

Even after Yun’s briefing, they kept scanning the surroundings before finally lowering their guard.

“What’s with him this time...”

Ricardo was the first to speak, removing his helmet and staring at me.

I gave him a faint, bitter smile.

“Still a long way to go, apparently.”

“Did you get a transfusion?”

Ami didn’t scream or panic anymore.

Instead, she hurried over, pulled out a blood injector, and stuck it into my arm.

“The wound’s bad. You might not be able to return through the Portal...”

Does that even matter?

I didn’t really understand what she meant about the Portal—

Maybe I hadn’t remembered enough about how it worked.

But I had no strength to ask.

So I just met her gaze and smiled faintly.

Then I fell silent again.

Even when Jonathan Kudo approached Ricardo—who looked like he was holding back a lecture—I said nothing.

I just stared blankly at the rising sun.

Until Richard Green finished reporting to Yun about what had happened in B-5 sector.

“We were hit by an attack that split the ground apart.”

I shot up to my feet.

Ami flinched in surprise, but I didn’t notice.

“It was like a white shockwave,” Green continued. “We still don’t know what caused it.”

Kyle.

Even from that brief description, I knew.

That attack—it belonged to Kyle.