There was a man with a Japanese sword.

More precisely, a man wearing the scabbard of a Japanese sword. In his right hand he held a blade that had been kept polished smooth.

He had cared for it thoroughly.

I stared blankly at the drawn sword.

That’s first-rate maintenance.

I approached the man who stood with his back turned. A purple coat, sword in his right hand. Standing like a statue amid the panicked people.

The handbook shoved into my pocket reacted.

[Creature ‘Fire Shield’]

The creature was heaving beside the broken fountain.

[Stage 5. A floating-type creature. Drifts slowly in the air while breathing out powerful pillars of flame. The better its skill, the stronger its fire. Chemical attacks are more effective than physical ones. If approached, it swells in size to swallow its target. Weakness is water and fire. Often sighted in deserts.]

I watched the ember-like thing floating above the melted fountain.

Until the unmoving man turned his head to look at me.

A gaze with not a fragment of interest in it.

“I will make sure civilians are not caught in the flame pillars.”

I looked at the young, firm-featured handsome man.

“I will not be a hindrance, sunbae.”

“Motorcycle.”

Jonathan Kudo raised his sword, pointing to a display on the first floor, and opened his mouth.

His voice carried no trace of interest, as expected.

“Move it away.”

I didn’t even have time to answer before he tightened his grip on the sword and charged straight toward the creature.

I lifted the motorcycle and ran.

Running with my eyes fixed on Jonathan Kudo, I tried to get a grasp of the situation. The wide, open lobby typical of a mall. The ruined fountain in the center. The escalators.

From the escalators it was just a short run to the exit. The elevators must have stopped. Everyone on the second floor was rushing down the escalators.

In the middle of the fireball floating above the fountain, a vortex formed.

The senior stopped right in front of it.

Fwoooosh!

A blast of heat surged out.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Run, quickly!”

People fleeing screamed.

I shoved the motorcycle aside and spun my body. Turning my eyes to the center of the lobby to confirm the situation.

The man struck by the creature’s fire pillar.

He brought his long sword down gracefully.

He had cut through the heat with the blade.

Screeeech!

Kudo’s sword, seared red-hot, scored the marble floor.

The floor did not split easily. Too thick, naturally. The fireball hovering above swirled again. It would breathe fire soon.

I turned my head quickly to find the people to protect.

Most of the people in the first-floor lobby had escaped. The ones upstairs were the problem. They were hurrying down the stopped escalator.

They were running to the door, eyes only forward.

There was quite a distance from the escalator to the entrance. That stretch had to be defended.

I’d have to become a human wall of fire.

I sprinted toward the escalator.

“Ugh!”

“Got you.”

I caught a man stumbling on his run to the door.

Flustered, he stammered as I pulled him upright and shoved him on.

“Keep running.”

“Y-yes, th-thank you.”

“Looks like the power’s out.”

Students leaping down the escalator whispered.

“Thank you!”

“Hold it off properly for us.”

I let their voices wash over me without reply.

I stretched my arms out, separating the fleeing civilians from the creature with my body. Making a wall with my body, I watched them descend the escalator and rush to the exit.

Above, Shu was moving fast. The sound of her hoverboard slicing the air, people murmuring thanks, the pounding of feet as those who made it to the second floor ran for the escalators to the lobby.

And the sound of the creature breathing fire again....

“There!”

“Kyaaah, look out!”

“Uwaaaah!”

Boom!

Hot air seared my back.

I rolled across the lobby floor with a large man in my arms. Tumble, tumble, tumble. After several rolls I sprang up and saw the senior blocking us.

The hem of his purple coat crumbled to ash in the flames.

Once again, he had cut through the fire with his sword. Thanks to him, the civilian clutched in my arms hadn’t been scorched.

No time for thanks though.

“Run!”

“Y-yes! Thank you!”

“Hey, wait, you there!”

Screeeech!

Jonathan Kudo dragged his red-hot blade across the floor again.

The thick marble was cracking. I jumped up and ran to shield the escaping people, watching Kudo and the creature.

He was trying to cut through the floor. To rupture the pipes underneath.

The water lines that fed the fountain.

Boom!

“Hot damn!”

“Run! Run!”

“Almost everyone’s evacuated!”

From above came Shu’s voice.

“These are the last ones!”

“Hey!”

As I shielded the people rushing for the doors, someone shouted behind me.

“You, white-haired! Protect me!”

“No!”

A woman clutching a disabled person on the escalator’s last step cried out.

“Don’t go! There are more people over here!”

“I said protect me! A Badger must guard civilians!”

“It’s coming again!”

Fwoooosh!

Fiery pain spread across my back.

Two attacks had come. Kudo had cut one fire pillar, but not the follow-up. Fire poured down near me—fortunate, for I could shield civilians in a single stride.

Without combat gear the pain was sharp and biting.

I clenched my teeth as I shoved the woman I was shielding toward the door.

“Run.”

“Ah, ah....”

“Go!”

Pushing the dazed woman, I sharpened all my senses.

After confirming she stumbled away, I turned my head.

The fireball trembling in the melted lobby.

I didn’t like how it had spat two pillars in a row.

Screeeech!

Another harsh sound.

As Kudo gathered his blade in a linear sweep, I saw water burst from the pipe.

Shhhhhhh!

“Eeeeek!”

“Oh! Water!”

“You, white hair! Protect me!”

“Excuse me.”

Shu swooped down to pick up stragglers. I too began lifting the last few civilians, helping them flee.

I ignored the shouting behind me. Only one man’s voice came from that direction anyway.

In times like this, one must choose to save as many as possible.

Thanks to Shu and me running about, the civilians were evacuating faster.

While Shu dropped three kids by the door, I turned to save the last straggler.

“Can you run?”

“Yes.”

I helped the man, the final one down the escalator.

Shielding him from fire, I reached the door. It opened, and a woman cried out.

“Have you seen two kids?”

“Please wait outside. We’ll look for them, ma’am.”

“My two kids are missing!”

“What the—!”

Even the voice of the man behind me still rang.

“What’s wrong with it?!”

Boooom!

An explosion.

Its heavy force battered everything. My vision blazed painfully bright.

At least I managed to shield the man who kept calling me white-haired. I threw myself over him and rolled.

The shockwave struck my back, drawing a groan.

Had everyone else escaped safely...?

My body wouldn’t obey.

My voice wouldn’t come out. I strained to prop myself over the man, to sit him up and shield him.

Forcing my eyes open, I surveyed.

The lobby was wrecked by the blast.

The fountain gone without trace, the water pressure dwindled. Broken windows, shattered glass scattered across the melted marble.

The creature, now blue, quivered in the air.

Fortunately all civilians seemed to have escaped. The lobby was empty. All had slipped out by a hair. Except the man under my arm. He was shaken, but unharmed.

I turned from him to where Kudo, who had been closest to the blast, staggered up against the wall.

“Are you all right?”

No reply.

But as he gripped his sword cleanly again, I knew he was fine.

“I’ll get this man out and return quickly.”

“Don’t come.”

The senior tossed aside his tattered coat roughly.

Without sparing me a glance, he declared:

“You’ll only get in the way.”

Well, I expected as much.

But someone must check for remaining civilians. That mother had screamed for missing kids.

I didn’t answer him. Smiling faintly, I turned to the civilian.

Who knew when it would explode again. I had to get him out quickly.

I pulled the dazed man up. He looked late 30s, neat in a suit.

“Let’s go.”

I grasped his shoulder lightly.

“It’s dangerous here.”

“Why did it suddenly explode...?”

“No idea. But best you leave before it does again.”

“Sunbae!”

From above, Shu’s voice rang.

Kudo didn’t respond. Though she was clearly calling him, he only kept slicing through fire pillars in the lobby.

Boom, boom, bang! Fire bursting as his sword cut them.

Shu’s hoverboard darted out ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ of sight.

“I’ll burst the aquarium tank on the third floor!”

“Hey! Wait! Why burst that!”

“Let’s go.”

Realizing the man wouldn’t walk out on his own, I hefted him up.

“It’s dangerous, so I’ll escort you myself as you wish.”

“I invested so much in that! Don’t burst it, don’t burst it!”

“HQ.”

Carrying the man on my back, I dashed for the entrance. Behind me I heard Kudo reporting into his comm.

“Civilian evacuation at H Tower compl—”

Kwooong!

Another shock slammed me.

Far stronger than before. Enough to blank out my mind.

My vision flipped.

A ringing tone filled my ears. My body beaten by the heavy blast.

Through the chaos, I tried to shield the man.

I lay sprawled long after the explosion. Even as an ominous cracking sound rose immediately after the shockwave passed.

The tower would collapse soon. It wouldn’t withstand.

But my body wouldn’t move.

Get up.

Get up and carry him.

Now....

Craaaash!

A thunderous noise filled the hall.

I gathered my last strength, recalling only running with the man in my arms toward safety. Running until the roar of falling stone over my head cut everything off.

With the sound of stones raining down.

I lost consciousness.

***

The sound of stones being cleared.

“Kudo sunbae.”

Stones rolling aside. A shaft of light breaking in.

I saw the face that appeared and faintly smiled.

“Are you all right? I feared you were crushed.”

Jonathan Kudo, smeared with dried blood, looked down at me coldly.