Chapter 18
We rushed out of the darkness and straight to the souvenir shop.
Inside, it was a complete mess. Was it an orchestrated attack? Screams echoed everywhere, and the sounds of fighting didn’t cease.
Amidst the sudden chaos, civilians were running around in a panic, completely disoriented.
“Get out of the way!”
“Help me!”
People were colliding with each other, lost in their own world and not watching where they were going. No one bothered to help anyone who fell; they just trampled over them and kept running. The agonizing screams were drowned out by countless footfalls.
It seemed like nobody had the luxury to even look around at the situation unfolding before them.
If someone trips now, it could be a disaster.
“Bigger sister…”
I felt the small, trembling hand of Sea in mine. I held on tightly to comfort her, making sure she wouldn’t be scared or fall.
“Get out of the way, kids!”
Just as we were nearing the end of the corridor, a man shoved us aside with his arm and darted past.
Our clasped hands broke apart, and Sea gasped as she almost fell over.
I quickly moved to catch her.
Phew. Thank goodness I made it in time.
I shot a glare at the man as he turned a corner and disappeared.
Three seconds later, his scream rang out, followed by blood splattering on the wall.
Sea flinched at the sight.
Her face turned pale as she trembled.
Step by step.
A shadow loomed large against the wall. A figure emerged from around the corner.
It was dressed the same as the person I just pushed away.
A member of the Black-Black Organization.
Was it ten of them? Looks like it’s more than before. But now that Sea was with me, it’s a bit tricky to move like before. What should I do?
“I’ve spotted the target. Continuing the mission.”
At that moment, the emergency lights that illuminated the corner suddenly turned off, plunging us into darkness.
They were lurking in the shadows.
It seemed they didn’t want to give us a moment to think as the sound of swords being drawn rang out.
“Red… what do we do…”
Sea’s voice trembled heavily.
Good question. What should we do?
Just then, I heard hurried footsteps coming from behind us.
“I won’t forgive these bastards!”
At first, I thought it was another enemy, so I got defensive, but thankfully it wasn’t. The person who jumped in front of us was wielding a weapon.
From the looks of it, they seemed to be a hired solver.
Sea’s expression brightened just a bit at the sight of someone coming to our rescue.
The solver charged at the Black-Black members and began to fight fiercely.
Watching them, I frowned.
It didn’t seem like they would win easily.
‘Should I take this opportunity to escape? No, with the solver’s skills, they probably won’t be able to buy us much time. They’ll be right after us in no time. In that case, maybe it’s better to take them down here and pass through….’
There was no choice but to gamble. I steeled my resolve and shook Sea’s shoulder to snap her out of her stupor.
Sea looked at me as if she were finally coming to her senses.
She seemed really scared, her eyes were red. Her once pristine blue hair was disheveled.
I wiped away the big tears welling in her eyes with my finger and tidied her hair a little.
Then, I gestured for Sea to close her eyes for about 30 seconds.
Under normal circumstances, she would have asked why. But perhaps due to the current situation, she silently complied and covered her eyes with her hands.
And so, one, two, three… she slowly began to count.
‘So far, so good.’
I stood up and kicked the ground, charging at the enemies.
“Ugh!”
Just as expected, the solver let out a short, desperate cry as they were struck by the enemies.
As the solver fell, their weapon dropped. I snatched up the sword before it hit the ground, swinging it to quickly slice one of the foes.
“Ugh!”
Surprised gasps echoed around me.
Well, it seems even they were taken aback by a child showing such movements.
Without wasting a moment, I continued my attack. The enemies, now somewhat realizing the situation, scrambled to defend themselves.
In the flickering lights and the clanging of metal, I quickly took down one opponent after another.
Their attacks barely grazed me, while my strikes dealt fatal blows to them.
In just ten seconds, all the enemies were down.
‘Thank goodness, they weren’t strong enough to be taken seriously.’
Minimal magic usage. Just a little physical enhancement was enough.
I returned to Sea, who was now counting to 18 and about to open her eyes.
Suddenly, I heard a strange clink and quickly turned my head.
One of the enemies was struggling to stand.
I didn’t expect them to still be alive. I thought they were all finished off.
They looked barely conscious, so I figured they wouldn’t last much longer without me needing to do anything.
But I couldn’t let my guard down!
The moment I moved to finish them off, they extended their arms towards us, both hands together.
Mechanical sounds emitted from their arms, which swiftly transformed into a gun barrel. I could see an ominous red light glowing from the muzzle.
‘Oh no!’
-Bang!
What followed was a deafening explosion and a fired projectile.
I raised my sword diagonally, flicking the incoming projectile away just as it reached me. An explosion erupted behind me, and a fierce wind rushed past.
My silver hair fluttered in the wind.
After the first attack was deflected, the enemy rushed to launch a second one.
I quickly swung my arm, tossing my sword at them.
Thud!
The sword struck their head perfectly, and the red light from the muzzle went out.
The emergency lights, which had been extinguished, came back on.
Phew.
Fortunately, Sea seemed to have followed my orders.
“W-what’s happening…?”
I poked Sea’s chubby cheeks, telling her she could open her eyes.
She slowly opened her eyes.
“Eek…”
Her face turned pale at the sight of the corpses scattered around.
Thankfully, although she was shocked, she didn’t lose consciousness. For a typical child, bursting into tears would be the norm, but for those growing up in this era, they were used to such sights.
Still, regardless of familiarity, it was not a pleasant sight, and Sea shuddered in shock.
I held her steady so she wouldn’t fall. I gestured urgently to head towards Red.
Sea nodded, breathing heavily.
“Y-yeah… we have to go back to you, big sister…”
As I took her small hand again to start moving, Sea froze in place.
Her gaze was fixed on the fallen solver.
I conveyed to her that this solver had put their life on the line to protect us.
Understanding my gesture, her expression turned sad.
“Oh, I see…”
Sea closed her eyes.
She was paying her respects for the life that had saved hers.
There was no need to burden her with the ugly truth.
It was for her and this person’s sake, after all.
We hurriedly moved on.
*
“Big sister!!”
“Sea!”
Fortunately, we met with Red and the others along the way.
Red opened her arms wide, and Sea ran into her embrace. Red held her tightly.
Holding back her emotions, Sea burst into tears.
Red kept reassuring her, patting her back.
Other kids were sniffling along beside her.
‘Looks like she can erase her expression too.’
I was secretly surprised by Red’s expression, but perhaps noticing my gaze, she glanced over and reached out to me. Suddenly, I found myself drawn into her embrace as well.
“I’m so glad you’re safe, Lily. Really, I’m so glad…”
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I squirmed to get out, but I couldn’t escape her grasp.
Fine. Do as you please.
I raised the white flag first, feeling the soft pats on my back.
What a strange feeling.
I felt embarrassed, yet not entirely unpleasant.
“Alright everyone, let’s get moving. Don’t stray from my side, got it?”
The kids nodded in agreement.
The group began to move.
It truly was chaos and disarray, but the kids were holding up surprisingly well just because Red was by their side.
I hoped nothing else would happen, but contrary to my wish, dangers continuously lurked along our path.
“Prioritize the target!”
Members of the Black-Black Organization charged at us, aiming for the children.
Red moved swiftly, blocking them from reaching the kids.
The enemies couldn’t stand a chance against her.
“Where do you think you’re going, targeting the kids in front of me?”
But the enemies didn’t back down.
Whenever they saw us, they seemed to set aside other things and charge straight at us.
I wondered about their behavior.
‘Why are they only targeting the kids?’
The enemies were persistently after the children.
Red seemed to not be on their radar at all.
Why on earth were they after these kids? Who had sent them?
Red seemed to have the same thoughts as I did but didn’t have time to figure it out in the heat of battle. After all, she was desperate to protect the children.
But that didn’t mean I could exert my power here.
For now, I think I’ll keep an eye on the situation a bit longer.
After a little movement, there seemed to be at least fifty of them surrounding us.
‘We’re completely surrounded.’
“Big sister…”
“Sister…”
The kids were getting scared.
“Tsk.”
Red clicked her tongue, clearly displeased with the situation.
It wasn’t because the numbers were overwhelming.
Even if they came at her tenfold, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
But for her, who had to fight without harming the children, it was genuinely a vexing position.
What should we do?
The enemies all took their positions, seemingly ready to charge all at once.
‘I need to step up… huh? What’s this power?’
While I debated whether to jump in or not, I felt an unusual power nearby.
I turned my head.
Red seemed to have noticed something too and looked in the same direction as me.
In that brief moment, our focus drifted elsewhere.
The enemies were quick to seize that opportunity, charging at us in unison.
But it was fine.
A fierce wind surged from the direction of that power.
“Ahhh!”
The kids were startled.
It was a cold wind.
The intensity of the wind made the kids close their eyes. I was fine, thanks to the mask I wore.
When the kids opened their eyes again, they gasped at the sight before them.
“Wow~ it’s sparkling!”
“It looks like it’s snowing!”
I had to agree.
Tiny ice particles floated throughout the space we occupied.
Under the light, the particles sparkled beautifully.
The other kids became mesmerized by the view.
As they exhaled, white puffs of breath escaped their small mouths.
The chilling air lingered in space.
It was cold.
‘But what about the enemies…?’
I turned my gaze to the enemies.
They were all completely frozen, turned into literal ice statues.
I shifted my gaze and noticed someone approaching with footsteps.
“Isaac…”
I heard Red mumble.
It seemed she wasn’t pleased with this person according to her tone.
He was a handsome man with his hair tied back.
He wore a face that showed he was quite happy to see an unexpected acquaintance.
“I never imagined I would see you in a place like this. Is this what they call fate? But I hope I’m not interrupting your moment…”