Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Rescue Mission (2)
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There was a man wearing a katana.
To be precise, it was a man with a katana sheathed at his side. In his right hand, he held a meticulously maintained blade that had been drawn.
He'd put real care into it.
I stared blankly at the exposed blade, lost in thought.
Top-notch maintenance work.
I approached the man, who had his back turned to me. Purple coat, sword in his right hand. He stood like a statue amid the panicked crowd.
The field guide in my pocket reacted.
[Creature 'Fire Shield']
The creature was panting beside the ruined fountain.
[Stage 5. Aerial levitation-type creature. Slowly floats through the air before unleashing a powerful pillar of fire. The stronger the individual, the more potent the flames. Chemical attacks are more effective than physical ones. It enlarges its body to devour targets that approach. Weak to water and fire. Frequently sighted in deserts.]
I watched the ember-like thing bobbing beside the melted fountain.
Until the unmoving man turned his head to look at me.
His gaze held not even a fragment of interest.
"I'll make sure no civilians get caught in the fire pillar."
I looked at the young, stern-faced handsome man.
"I won't get in your way, Senior."
"Motorcycle."
Jonathan Kudo raised his katana and pointed at the one on display on the first floor.
His voice, as always, held no trace of interest.
"Get it out of the way."
Before I could even say yes, the man swung his arm to grip the katana properly and charged straight at the creature.
I picked up the motorcycle and ran.
Keeping my eyes on Jonathan Kudo as I ran, I assessed the situation. The shopping mall's characteristically wide, airy lobby. A collapsed fountain in the center. Escalators.
A short run from the escalators led to the exit doors. The elevators seemed to have stopped. People from the second floor were all crowding onto the escalators.
A vortex formed in the center of the floating fireball by the fountain.
The senior halted right in front of the fireball.
Whoosh!
An immense heat poured out.
"Kyaaah!"
"Run, hurry!"
The fleeing people screamed.
I shoved the motorcycle into a corner and spun around. I turned my gaze to the center of the lobby to check the situation.
The man struck by the creature's powerful fire pillar.
He gracefully lowered his long sword.
It looked like he'd blocked the heat with his blade.
Screeech!
Kudo's sword, heated red-hot by the flames, scraped across the marble floor.
The floor didn't crack easily. It was thick, after all. The flames hovering above the marble generated another vortex around its body. It would spew fire again soon.
I quickly turned my head to find the targets I needed to protect.
Most of the people in the first-floor lobby had escaped. The problem was the ones from upstairs. People were desperately bounding down the stalled escalators.
They ran toward the doors, eyes fixed ahead.
There was quite a distance from the escalators to the main entrance. I'd have to protect that stretch.
Time to become a human firewall.
I dashed toward the escalators.
"Ugh!"
"Got you."
I caught a man who tripped while running for the door.
I helped the flustered, fumbling man to his feet and shoved him onward.
"Keep running."
"Y-Yes, th-thank you."
"Look at that guy."
Students leaping down from the escalator whispered.
"Thanks!"
"Block it properly for us."
I brushed off the barrage of voices.
I spread my arms wide, using my body to separate the people running for the main doors from the creature. I formed a wall with myself and watched as they descended the escalators and headed for the exit.
Shu seemed to be moving quickly above. I could hear the whir of the hoverboard slicing through the air, people murmuring thanks, and those who'd reached the second floor running toward the escalator leading to the lobby.
The sound of the creature spewing fire again...
"Over there!"
"Kyaaak, dodge!"
"Ugh!"
Boom!
Scorching heat seared my back.
I rolled across the lobby, clutching a burly man. We tumbled over and over. After several rolls, I sprang to my feet, and there was the senior blocking our path.
The hem of his purple coat had frayed and burned away into ash.
This time, too, he'd sliced through the flames with his sword. It was thanks to him that my back, wrapped around a civilian, hadn't caught fire.
No time to be grateful, though.
"Run!"
"Yes! Thank you!"
"Hey, wait, you there!"
Screeech!
Jonathan Kudo began scraping the floor again with his red-hot sword.
The thick marble was cracking. As I jumped up and ran to protect the evacuating people, I kept an eye on Kudo and the creature.
He's trying to cut through. Cut the floor to burst the pipes inside.
The pipes connected to the fountain.
Boom!
"Ugh, shit, it's hot!"
"Run! Run!"
"Almost everyone’s evacuated!"
Shu's voice came from above, where she rode her hoverboard.
"These are the last ones!"
"Hey!"
As I protected people running for the door, someone shouted from behind.
"You there! White-hair! Protect me!"
"No!"
A woman clutching someone with limited mobility as they descended the final escalator steps yelled.
"Don't go! There are more people over here!"
"I said protect me! Black Badgers are supposed to protect civilians!"
"It's coming again!"
Whoosh!
Intense pain engulfed my back.
Two attacks in a row. Kudo had gracefully sliced through one fire pillar, but he couldn't block the follow-up. Fortunately, the flames poured right up to me. I dashed forward in a single stride to shield the civilians.
I wasn't wearing my combat suit, so the pain was excruciating.
Grimacing, I shoved the woman I'd wrapped my arms around toward the entrance.
"Run."
"A-Ah..."
"Hurry!"
I pushed the dazed woman away and heightened all my senses.
After confirming she was staggering away on shaky legs, I turned my head.
The fireball quivering in the melted lobby.
It had spewed two fire pillars in a row out of nowhere, and I didn't like that.
Screeech!
Another sharp sound rang out.
In the instant Kudo linearly sheathed his sword, water burst from the pipe.
Pssshhh!
"Mommyyy!"
"Oh! Water!"
"White-hair! I told you to protect me!"
"Excuse me."
Shu, now down on the first floor, scooped up stragglers. I, too, lifted the few remaining people one by one to aid their escape.
I ignored the voice from behind. There was only one man's voice from that direction.
In a situation like this, I had to make the call to save as many as possible.
If I had to choose...
Thanks to Shu and me darting around busily, the civilians evacuated much faster.
While Shu set three kids down by the entrance, I twisted to rescue the last civilian.
"Can you run?"
"Yes."
I helped the man who'd just bounded down the final escalator to escape.
As I shielded him from the flames and reached the main doors, they opened, and a woman cried out urgently.
"Have you seen two kids?"
"Stay outside. We'll look for them, ma'am."
"I can't see my two kids!"
"What?!"
Surprisingly, the man's voice from behind was still there.
"What the hell is wrong with that guy?!"
Boom!
There was an explosion.
The heavy force of the blast struck the surroundings. My vision flashed painfully bright.
Luckily, I was able to wrap around the man who'd been yelling at me, calling me white-hair, in a single stride. Clutching the very man who'd demanded protection, I rolled across the floor.
A groan escaped me from the shockwave slamming into my back.
I hoped the others had all gotten out safely...
The impact left my body unresponsive.
My voice wouldn't come out properly either. I propped up my upper body at an angle, shielding the man with mine.
I forced my eyes open to survey the situation.
The lobby, wrecked by the explosion.
The fountain had melted away without a trace, and the water gushing from the pipe had weakened. Shattered glass windows. Glass shards scattered across the melted marble floor.
The creature, now blue and wriggling in midair.
Fortunately, all the civilians seemed to have evacuated.
The lobby was empty. They'd all slipped out by a hair's breadth. Except for the man I was protecting. He was in shock too, but his body looked fine.
I turned from the man and took in Kudo, who would have been caught closest in the blast. He was staggering to his feet, hand against the opposite wall.
"Are you okay?"
No answer.
But since he'd cleanly gripped his sword again, I knew he'd be fine.
"I'll get this guy out and be right back."
"Don't come."
The senior roughly discarded his tattered coat.
Without sparing me a glance as I struggled to stand, he declared.
"You'll just get in the way."
Yeah, I figured you'd react like that.
But don't we need to check if there are more civilians inside? Someone was yelling about missing kids earlier.
I didn't respond to the senior. I just grinned and turned toward the civilian.
No telling when that thing might explode again, so I had to get the man out fast.
I stretched out my hand and pulled the dazed man to his feet. He looked to be in his late thirties, dressed impeccably in a suit.
"Let's go."
I lightly gripped the dazed man's shoulder.
"It's dangerous here."
"Why did that thing explode all of a sudden...?"
"Who knows. Either way, better get out before it goes off again."
"Senior!"
Shu's voice came from midair.
Kudo didn't react. It was clearly meant for him, but the senior gripping his katana raced across the lobby, slicing through the successive fire pillars.
Boom, boom. Bang! The sound of fire pillars bursting against the katana.
Shu's hoverboard vanished from sight.
"I'm bursting the aquarium tank on the third floor!"
"Hey! Wait! Why burst that?!"
"Let's go."
Realizing the man wouldn't leave on his own, I hoisted him up.
"It's dangerous here, so as you wished, I'll escort you out."
"I invested so much in that! Don't burst it. Don't burst it!"
"Headquarters."
As I carried the man toward the main doors, I heard Kudo reporting into the comms device in his ear.
"H Tower civilian evac compl..."
KABOOM!
An impact slammed into me.
Twice as strong as before. My mind blanked out for a moment before snapping back.
My vision flipped upside down.
A piercing ring filled my ears. My body, swept up in the massive explosion. Heavy pain battering every inch.
Amid the wild shaking sensations, I struggled to protect the man.
I lay sprawled on the floor, wrapped around him for a long time. Even after the explosion passed, even as an ominous cracking sound began right after the shockwave.
The building was about to collapse. The tower, unable to withstand the previous blasts, probably in a few minutes.
But my body wouldn't obey.
Get up.
Get up and carry this guy out.
Right now...
Crack, crack, boom!
A colossal roar filled the hall, rivaling the explosions.
The memory of dragging together every ounce of strength to rise. Of scooping up the civilian and dashing toward what looked like a safe spot. I only remembered running. As I ran, rocks poured from above, and my consciousness snapped.
Amid the sound of stones raining down.
I blacked out.
***
The sound of shifting rubble.
"Senior Kudo."
Rocks tumbling to the side. Light seeping in.
I faintly smiled at the face that came into view.
"Are you okay? I thought you got crushed and was worried."
Jonathan Kudo, covered in crusted blood, looked down at me coldly.