Catching the Collapsing Tower
"What's the deal?"
Nova races forward with her signature leap, closing the distance in a flash.
The wind roars in her ears, but she presses close to the intercom.
"What?"
In a society short on heroes, any Awakener who wants to can become one with pretty decent treatment.
It sounds ideal. But reality is the polar opposite.
That's because there are that many villains to make heroes scarce.
Some pull off outlandish pranks that even amuse people, but others just aim for horrific carnage.
"People in the tower?"
"And?"
The lower-rank heroes have already arrived.
But there's no good way to rescue those trapped inside the sealed tower.
I see it.
As Nova listens, the tower finally comes into view.
It's already tilted at a severe angle.
Raising it back up by force is impossible now; it's wobbling precariously, tilting further bit by bit.
One wrong move, and even the heroes inside will be crushed to death in the collapse.
Think! Think...!
Nova spins her brain faster than her thundering legs.
She's not the type who likes using her head much.
But saving people often demands it more than anything.
"A-rank agents!!!"
Her ability—body enhancement—amplifies her voice into a booming roar that shakes the surroundings.
It reaches the A-ranks inside the tower, no doubt.
"Even if the tower shakes or tilts more, make the civilians your airbags!!!"
There are surely more experienced, older heroes than her in there.
But an S-rank hero's word is absolute.
"I'm gonna catch it!"
The tower collapses.
But not sinking straight down—no, it's tipping to one side.
"Raaarghhh!!!"
With a monstrous shout, she charges to the drop zone where civilians have already evacuated.
She doesn't need the radio to tell her that.
The tower looms closer and closer.
She thrusts out her hands toward the crumbling mass.
BOOM!
The tower crashes... but doesn't hit the ground.
"Urrraaagh!!!"
Nova holds up the entire massive tower.
"Nngh...!"
She catches the structure hurtling down at terrifying speed with raw strength alone.
No matter how well hero agents predict a hero's capabilities, S-ranks defy expectations.
Making the impossible possible—that's the hallmark of S-rank judgment.
"This is... my limit...!"
But even her monstrous strength can't sustain the miracle forever.
Nngh...!
Her body enhancement can't hold the entire tower.
No, not like this...!
-You held up well, Nova.
A voice whispers past her ear in that instant.
VRRR!
A chilling sword aura erupts outward.
SLASHHH!!!
The sword slices the tower apart.
It looks random, but the strikes are so precise and swift they blur like rain.
Everything but the people inside is diced into fragments.
The hazardous debris turns to dust, scattering on the wind.
The collapse threat vanishes at the blade's edge.
Click.
A light breath, and the sword slides back into its sheath.
"Nova, you've gotten stronger. Not a bad choice."
S-rank #2, the swordswoman known as Captain, finishes what Nova started.
"Ugh... C-Captain...!"
Unpredictable prowess—that's S-rank.
And the top tiers don't predict; they expect miracles.
"Catch the falling people."
"Oh, right...!"
The rescue succeeds.
Meanwhile, the perpetrators slip away from the chaos.
"Mission accomplished. And hey, heroes ain't all that, huh?"
"Right? Look at all the S-ranks scrambling over one collapsing tower."
They should've been arrested, but quelling the fire to catch the arsonist took priority.
Escape was permitted... or so it seemed.
"Huh?"
Thin wires appear around the lead man's body.
"Wh-what the hel—"
...?
BOOM.
He explodes.
Wires wrap his entire form, yanking tight—slicing deep into flesh...
He shatters into pieces without even realizing death.
To the eyes of those beside him, only a bloodstain remains, as if he evaporated.
Splat. Splat.
Chunks of meat rain down from the sky instead.
Not just meat—unspeakable horrors pour like precipitation.
-Gaaahhh!!!
The gruesome scene horrifies the terrorists.
These villains boasted they'd fight heroes to the death.
But visceral revulsion breaks them.
"Hi there~?"
A hero appears before the panicking group.
They realize her identity too late.
S-rank hero—Rose, also called the worst hero.
Blood-smeared face, golden eyes gleaming with pure delight.
"Hiiik...! P-please spare me!"
They'd braced for death at a hero's hands when they started this.
But watching a comrade burst apart changes everything.
"Spare you?"
"S-surrender! We're surrendering...! Uh...?"
Ominous translucent wires have already coiled around them too.
A few visible strands hide dozens more, invisible and aimed at vital points.
"Don't wanna~."
BOOM.
Blood and flesh spray wildly again.
Several villains evaporate into a mist of gore in an instant.
Who’s the villain here?
"Got a talker secured... Just keep this high-ranker barely alive, yeah?"
She spares the one who looks most important, most knowledgeable.
His limbs are severed by wires, but his torso's intact. Secured... intact?
"Hi~"
The torso villain's drenched in blood; so is the sweetly greeting hero.
He's in no state to reply.
Already passed out from agony, foaming at the mouth.
She injects him to stave off shock death, ties off the stumps with wire.
A street turned slaughterhouse—blood-soaked buildings, meat chunks rolling in the gutters.
From this hellscape, the hero leisurely drags a half-corpse villain away.
Rose's mission complete.
"Wonder who cleans this up~. Gonna be a pain."
Hospital.
"Damn it..."
She pulled off an amazing feat with confidence, but her body gave out.
Not a major injury, but hospital-bound for now.
"Shoulda dropped lower and caught it with a bam!"
"It would've been the same either way..."
One of her dedicated Hero Association handlers listens to her grumbling.
"Watch me next time. I'll catch it for sure."
"Shouldn't there be no next time?"
The handler pokes at Nova's competitive fire.
-Nova!
Her childhood friend arrives at the room.
An S-rank hero injured? Big news.
Of course he's worried.
"Nova, you okay?"
"Y-yeah... Of course."
She pushed too hard, but S-rank is S-rank.
Holding a whole tower? Just hairline fractures in a few bones.
S-rank bodies heal in days.
"What the hell did you do to get hurt?"
"You worrying or yelling?"
Friends gotta tease, especially when she looks fine on the surface.
"Was gonna ask about your aptitude test anyway, but now..."
"No way! I'll be fine quick!"
"Forget it. Not like you're a kid scared of shots calling for mom."
It's not an interrogation—aptitude measurement.
No need to drag a recovering patient.
"Eh, what could go wrong there?"
"Yeah, most folks are good people."
"Bad ones for you?"
Nova's upbeat by nature.
More boyish than boys sometimes.
She turns rejection positive, wins people over.
Even she got rejects?
"Psh, what are the odds?"
Flags raised high, Kylun heads to the Hero Association alone.