Awakening! Ruby Scarlet.

……First priority: get the broken Ruby back on her feet.

I looked at the woman aiming a lightning spear at us and forced the corner of my mouth upward.

Inside, of course, I was burning alive. My heart hammered like a mad thing, and every nerve in my legs screamed to buckle and drop me to the ground.

"……What the hell is this insolent human brat? You looking to die? Get out of the way."

"I'm afraid I can't. I refuse to watch my client die right in front of me."

"Bullshit, you pathetic little shit!"

Whish—————!

The elf raised her spear of lightning, her eyes gleaming with pure cruelty — a killing intent that all but screamed, Become a skewer!

A black lightning spear shot from her fingertips.

There was no dodging it. No human reaction speed could match that velocity. Ruby was mentally shattered and collapsed on the ground, and even the Phase Shifter couldn't keep up with something that fast. We were completely defenseless.

In the instant death closed in, a blinding white light erupted from near my heart — against my will.

White's Oath.

As long as I had this, I would never die a meaningless death. Even if the miracle only came once a day.

KRAAAAAANG—————————!!!

Just before the lightning spear struck my brow, a vast, transparent crystal of absolute-zero ice surged up from empty air. This was no one-circle parlor trick. This was the strongest shield, infused with the power of a hero — Elara von Heim.

The first wicked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman I had ever saved, the hero's blessing itself, had protected me.

Zzzzt, crackle!

Black lightning and white frost collided in a hideous, tearing roar.

"……What?!"

From a distance came the elf's voice, raw with shock. She had never dreamed a mere human could stop her full power — and with ice, her elemental opposite, no less.

Sssssssss—————!

The lightning's searing heat met the ice shield's cold, and a dense white fog exploded outward, blotting out the world. A white mist so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead.

Now. Without hesitation, I pulled a robe from my coat.

The stealth item — the Where Am I Robe. Duration was generous. I had to vanish into this chaos.

"Ruby!"

I scooped up the trembling woman crumpled on the ground and yanked the robe over both of us. We slipped deeper into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠steam cloud, into a darker seam of shadow.

— Cough, cough! Fuck! What the hell! Where'd they go!

— Damn it, I can't see a thing!

Outside, the lightning-mad girl and the knight shouted in panic.

— Find them now! They can't have gone far, that human bastard! I should have killed him first!

But inside the robe, it was silent. A narrow, dark space cut off from the world.

Ruby, clutched against my chest, still shook like a leaf in a storm.

"U-uhh…… Father…… I'm sorry…… M-my fire, the fire……"

Her eyes were still trapped in the inferno of the past. She couldn't fight like this. She couldn't even survive.

I held her tighter. Her soaked body pressed flush against my chest without a gap. The sensation through her wet uniform was painfully raw. Every time she gasped in terror, her full breasts pushed softly, insistently against my ribcage.

"Haa, haa…… Father…… It's hot…… Father, I was wrong…… I-I burned everything……"

Every tremor of her body sent the soft give of her thighs and lower belly against me, jolting straight through my skull. Cold air, wet cloth, and the heat of her skin rising between them. A faint rose scent teasing my nose.

Death was right in front of us, and a man's instincts still had zero sense of timing. The dizzying rush down my spine was enough to scramble my thoughts.

……Damn it, focus. Getting hard right now makes me actual garbage.

I bit down hard on my lip and forced the noise out of my head. Feeling this woman mattered less than forging her back into the strongest weapon I had.

I gripped her trembling chin and forced her face up.

"Ruby."

"U-uhh…… N-no…… I killed him……"

Her unfocused eyes still wandered through empty air. Ordinary persuasion wouldn't work. She needed a sharper shock.

Slap—————!

A sharp crack rang through the cramped robe. Ruby's head snapped to the side; her eyes flew open. She stared up at me, dazed. Her struck cheek was already flushing red, but she didn't even seem to feel the pain.

"……D-Doc?"

"Snap out of it. This isn't the past."

I released her collar and cupped her wet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cheeks in both hands instead. Cold. And yet, even through that cold, the skin under my palms was maddeningly soft.

"Ah, ah…… You……?"

"That's right. You may have killed your father. Fire burns — that's what it does. But……"

I locked her wavering red eyes with mine, holding them as if I could cage them. Our noses nearly touched. Hot breath mixed between us; heartbeats hammered nakedly through wet cloth.

"It's different now, isn't it? You didn't burn me."

I pressed harder against the chest already flush with mine and whispered,

"Can you feel it? I'm not burning. You're holding me this tight, and I'm still perfectly alive."

"……Even so, I-I'm a filthy bitch who burns people and smashes everything. You know that!"

Ruby tried to shake her head, voice thick with tears. I didn't let her go. Instead I snaked one arm around her waist and hauled her even tighter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against my lower body.

"Hik……?!"

"No! You're wrong."

Soft give. Her full curves crushed against me through the soaked uniform. The raw contact roughened her breathing. I growled into her ear like an animal, chewing the words out.

"You are not a filthy bitch. You're the only blade holding my life in its edge."

"……A b-blade?"

"That's right. Does a sword feel guilty for stabbing someone? Does fire apologize for burning a forest?"

My lips brushed her wet earlobe as I spoke.

"That's instinct. And yes — your instinct is a disaster."

"……Ah."

Ruby's lips trembled. I roughly thumbed away the tears at the corners of her eyes and drove the decisive line home.

"So choose."

I jerked my chin toward the outside of the robe — toward the elf who wanted us dead.

"Stay locked in the past and let that bitch turn me into charcoal right along with you."

I looked at her again.

"Or take that catastrophic fire of yours…… and make her pay for daring to touch your partner. For daring to touch me."

"……!"

In that instant, Ruby's pupils contracted. Your partner. The moment the words sank into her skull, the black aura binding her began to thrash.

The ringing in her ears faded. Deep in her dead pupils, a blue-green venom started to kindle like a spark.

"Ruby Scarlet…… no. Ruby. Listen carefully. You will never burn anyone. As long as I'm here, I will never let you burn anyone……"

"Doc……"

"You're stronger and greater than any elf. Don't forget that."

"You have a chance. A chance to change things — to make it right."

"……"

"So right now, in front of me — prove the fire inside you. Not a disaster. A fire that burns for the world! Right in front of these elves!"

Those words must have been the spark. Her extreme possessiveness over anything she claimed as hers. Her trampled pride. All of it detonated at once and forged an aura of a new color.

Crimson. Hope and courage — and unbreakable resolve.

"……Hmph. For a little shit, you talk a good game."

"……?"

A smile slowly spread across Ruby Scarlet's lips. Not the old smile of pure destruction — the confident smile of a victor.

"That slap? I'm paying it back. You know that, right?"

"……Ah, uh, about that……"

"Forget it. Having to hear this crap from a brat is just embarrassing."

Sssssss……

An unbelievable heat began to rise from the body pressed against mine. The clammy dampness wrapping us evaporated in an instant, boiling off into white steam.

"Ha…… haa……"

Ruby let out a low moan, head bowed. Then she slowly lifted her face.

The crying girl was gone. Bloodshot red eyes. Breath short with excitement. A dangerous, intoxicating smile hooked at the corner of her mouth.

She seized my collar and yanked me in hard.

"Hey, Doc."

Her scorching breath stopped just short of my lips.

"Take responsibility."

"……Excuse me?"

"You got me this hot…… so take responsibility, you bastard."

Got her what hot, exactly……?

I was speechless, but all I could do was stare. Ruby Scarlet. The light in her eyes no longer held fear — it glittered with hunger for the enemy in front of her.

"Fine. I'll show you. Just how hot I burn!"

The instant she declared it—

KRAAAAAAAAAA——————!!!

Mana erupted inside the robe with enough force to blow the cramped space apart. Not ordinary flame. A warm, all-consuming crimson fire.

— Found them! You little rats…… Aagh?!

The knight pushing through the fog screamed and scrambled backward. What he'd taken for simple smoke had become, in a heartbeat, a scalding storm of superheated steam that could cook flesh.

Flutter.

Ruby kicked the robe off hard. A witch in a red uniform — dried stiff and flapping in the heat — strode out into the world.

"Hey. You. The stupid zap-zap bitch."

Ruby swept her tangled crimson hair back and looked down on her opponent with the most arrogant expression on earth.

"What? You were hiding in there? You half-breed mutt."

"Thanks to you…… I finally get it. I'll prove it through you."

The elf woman snorted and let out a sigh.

"What the fuck are you babbling about, you crazy bitch? Daddy-burning fire-attribute filial daughter, shut your damn mouth and just die already, yeah?"

Fwoooosh—————!

Crimson fireballs rose in both of Ruby's hands like twin suns.

"Yeah. I burned him to death. So what?"

Ruby took a step forward, a smile full of beautiful madness on her face.

"If you've got a problem, try burning too. Before that, I'll turn you into ash myself!"