From This Moment, Kill Each Other
The villains' raid hit the hotel.
In the dead of night, the hero Annasui watched them pour in like a swarm of bees.
"Get inside the hotel!"
The villains had taken cover on the beach and opened fire. Dodging the hail of bullets, Annasui somehow forced her power into a finished barrier.
She had never seen so many villains in her life—a number that truly came on like a hive. The beach was already theirs. Before anyone could speak of striking back, she had barely crawled her way into the hotel.
"Damn it! Since when did those bastards start getting along?!"
Alliances between villains weren't unheard of, but this was far past the line.
"We left them alone because they weren't making trouble, and this is how they stab us in the back?!"
Annasui ground her teeth. The Hawaiian government had chosen to leave them be—clear one out, and another simply filled the gap—and that restraint had become the root of the disaster.
"Hey! What's a hero like Annasui doing, trusting villains?!"
Heh heh heh. Pure Bear rose from the beach and laughed. Rotten teeth bared, he sprayed gunfire.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Aww, there there! Bet that betrayal stings!"
Hahahaha! The villains roared with laughter.
"Those bastards……."
"Calm down. Step outside and you die."
"I know! I know!"
The hero Magus held Annasui back. She fed her rage into the defense and locked it tight, and the blue barrier covering the rear of the hotel grew stronger still.
Annasui's ability was Water Barrier. Wherever there was water, she could raise a shield.
"Whoops! We went and crawled back into Mommy's belly! When we pop out, think our dicks'll be gone? We'll be born all over again!"
"Bet there's a whole lot of water in there!"
"I don't go for women that wet!"
Hahahaha!
"Grrrrrgh!"
Annasui's face went past red and started to turn blue.
"Those—"
Magus couldn't endure it. For an answer, he sent a shockwave. The blast of sound tore toward the villains.
Boom!
Sand leapt. The villains clutched their ears.
"Aaaagh!"
"Magus, you son of a bitch!"
"Fuuuuuck!!!"
Magus clutched his own ears. Blood ran from them.
His ability was Sound Ear. He could detonate the source of any sound he heard—and the attack struck his own ears just as hard.
"Don't push yourself."
Annasui tried to stop him. His power was tremendous, but the recoil was brutal. One mistake and he could lose his hearing for good.
"If the gear had only held……."
He gripped the headset in his hand. It had shattered in the opening assault, and that was all he could regret.
"Magus, you deaf little cripple! Just you wait!!!"
Pure Bear came walking up to the barrier. It was raised on both faces, so attacks from this side were stopped as well. Unless the strike was something like Magus's, neither side could reach the other—and knowing that, Pure Bear advanced without a shred of caution.
Ordinarily she would have reshaped the barrier and bound him, but she couldn't manage a manipulation that precise with the other villains watching.
"Die!!!"
Pure Bear's ability, Bear Force—strength like a bear's, enough to origami a car.
"Hrrraaaagh!"
Whump!
"Kh—!"
Annasui staggered under the impact ringing through the barrier. Overwhelming physical force. Power made of superhuman ability landed harder than bullets or bombs.
"Fuck! This thing's rock solid!"
Pure Bear shook out his hands. Red blood ran down them.
"Hey, hey. Move. Let me take a crack."
"One punch and you're already bleeding?"
"Even Bear-boy's all worn out~~."
The other villain bosses sauntered over, loose and cocky. They had realized Annasui couldn't drop the barrier, and it showed.
"Backup?"
"Pinned by villains out on the main road. Reinforcements won't be here anytime soon."
Magus passed along what a guard had told him.
"What in the world is happening……?"
Villains uniting was already past belief. And they were concentrating on a single hotel—while holding off the police and the heroes besides? There was certainly some organization behind it.
"Evacuation?"
"Almost everyone is out."
"Damn it. Do we dig in at the shelter?"
Annasui assumed the worst: the villains forcing their way all the way to the shelter, and the tragedy waiting there.
"We have to hold them. Somehow!"
She was ready to die. For some reason the lobby side was quiet, but if the rear was breached, even that would mean nothing.
"Send the guards down below, form a defensive line, and the two of us hold here."
"Understood."
"We can't do that!"
A guard shouted. Things were already desperate; leaving only two heroes here was suicide.
"Go. That's a hero's job."
"B-but……."
Wham-wham-wham-wham!
"Ghhh—!"
Annasui groaned. The barrier shuddered violently.
"Ah, come on! Why's it so goddamn solid today!"
The villain Turbo Punch clutched their hand.
"Told you it was hard, dumbass."
"Fuck. Of course she's sitting on the ocean."
"She can't last anyway. You think she can hold something this size for long?"
One of the villains jabbed a finger at Annasui.
"Keep hitting it and she'll drop on her own."
"Oh. Then we bet on who breaks it first?"
"Hundred bucks to the winner."
"Okay. Move. I'm next."
The villains talked as if they had all the time in the world. Annasui looked at Magus.
"Go."
"And a minute ago you said just the two of us stay!"
"I thought about it. It won't work."
She gave a bitter smile.
"Isn't it better if more heroes are left alive?"
"I'm not going. I won't. I'd rather throw my ears away."
Magus was absolute. How was he supposed to walk off and leave her, after all the years they had stood together?
"Hurry……!"
Kzzzt—!
"Gaaah—!"
Electricity slammed into the barrier, and Annasui coughed blood.
"So close!"
"Whoa, that scared me. Almost lost a hundred bucks."
"See? Electric types are the answer!"
One of the villains slapped the ground.
"Ms. Annasui!"
"Mr. Magus! I can't hold much longer!"
Annasui's arms shook without cease. Her blood had pooled beneath her.
"I'll hold to the end! Get out of here!"
Magus squeezed his eyes shut.
"Stay alive."
"My wife's pregnant."
Annasui grinned, fierce.
"I'm not going anywhere before I see that kid."
"……Right."
Magus turned his back. He couldn't let her see his tears. The guards bowed their heads.
"We'll build the line at the shelter."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the guards were about to scatter in perfect order—
"Being a hero isn't so bad, after all."
A woman passed between them, a boy tucked under her arm.
"……?! You can't be here!"
Magus blocked the woman who had appeared without a sound.
"It's all right. Step aside."
Korean……?
He was startled that he understood Korean, but stopping her came first.
"Please get down to the shelter at once! The situation here is under control!"
"I said it was fine."
The woman flicked her fingers, and Magus's body stepped aside on its own.
"What—!"
"This is my disciple's live combat. I'll ask your indulgence."
A strange light moved through her eyes. Beneath that gaze, Magus and the guards could not move. Reason screamed that they had to stop her, but an instinct higher than reason refused. She was different. She was not to be refused.
"To handle water to this degree. Limited to defense—yet gifted."
The woman approached Annasui.
"Wh-who are you?"
Annasui looked at her through clouded eyes.
"You've forced the power out until your meridians are twisted. By rights you should have collapsed. You're holding on by will alone. I salute that resolve."
The woman drew out a talisman and pressed it to Annasui's forehead.
"Sleep a little. It's a healing talisman. When you wake, you'll be fresher than ever."
"What in the—"
Annasui collapsed, out cold, and the barrier vanished.
"Yes! It broke!"
"Aaaaagh! Fuck, Annasui, you couldn't even hold that?!"
"Fuck! Boys, tear them apart!"
"Annasui's neck is mine!"
The villains roared and charged. At the sight, the strength nearly left Magus's legs.
"How conveniently they come."
The woman smiled, savage. There was no fear in her at all. Watching her back, Magus felt—without knowing why—at ease, as if he had placed himself in the hands of something absolute.
She spoke, and the villains halted where they stood.
"……?!"
Magus and the guards stared, mouths hanging open. They wanted to say something—anything—but a power beyond common sense left them unable to speak.
The woman waved a hand. The villains rose into the air, limbs flailing.
"Clustered together like a nuisance. Stay over there."
They were set down on the beach in neat, orderly rows. She turned.
"Don't just watch. See to your own work. Pay no mind to this side."
"……Ma'am?"
Before Magus could get another word out, she was already far away. His exceptional hearing caught the woman and the boy.
"A fine stage has been set."
She threw the boy.
"Waaaaah!"
He dropped into the middle of the pack of villains.
"Rise, one at a time, and come at him."
The woman stretched out on a sun lounger. A drink appeared in her hand.
"Whoever fells my disciple, I shall grant you freedom."
She drew on the straw.
"Master?!"
The boy's scream rang across the beach. Magus sat down hard.
"A god has saved us……."
He laughed, hollow.