What’s happening here…?

In front of me is the large open gate of the supposed Dragon Capital…but…is this it? Fire spreads out everywhere and buildings collapse to the ground. Rubbles even block half of the large gate.

I can hear roars of devils and people alike. I can hear clashes of arms and I can feel the ground trembles. I can feel the malignant aura drifting in the air that it makes me shiver from the spine going throughout my body.

In that very instance, my mind is filled with negative thoughts and my anxiousness grows as I think of what’s happening to my friends.

Before I could even think properly, my body moves on its own and runs towards the burning city, not minding the maddening heat the wafts in that atmosphere and leaving behind the warp Violetta opened.

“Milady!”

I heard Milin screaming on the top of her lungs as I run farther away from her. My mind won’t listen to me anymore as I grew more worried.

I began thinking less of my own safety and began thinking of others since coming back from the madness I am plunged into back into the demon continent. Not to mention, I dearly missed them as they are like family to me.

They are the people who I came with on this world, summoned for a purpose. Smiled happily in slow uneventful days, but those days are already happiness for me. I cannot be more greedy as I am already lucky enough because of this second chance I am given.

But where…?

I just run straight without thinking where could I find them.

Just when I was about to stop… I saw something in the corner of my eyes in one of the open streets…

Corpse…!

Horrible killed bodies of soldiers…

Children…

Woman and Elderly…

And not just one or two… there are trails of them…

My mind becomes foggy and my body halts as the stench of the dead permeate my senses. I can feel my fingers shaking at the sight of the dead. My breathing becomes labored and my chest began to tighten as I try to catch for air.

Remembering that this world is a merciless one where this would occur with just a single mistake, a world where mystical beings and evil creatures roam, a world where not only men are evil but even unknown forces that want to drive everything to extinction.

My knees gave out and I just flatly sat where I was while gazing at the corpses that are now drowning in the sea of flames. Even though they are no longer with the livings, my mind hallucinated as if I am hearing their screams and pleas for salvation.

I never saw before what devils are capable of…

I just thought naively that I should just get stronger to help my comrades, my friends, and allies…

But…

How about these people?

Did I just selfishly declare that I want to be my comrade sides but… what about them? Those who are unable to fight?

ROAR!

Ah…

A devil is heading my way…

Crawling on all four with beastly figure and size that could easily rip a normal man apart with its jaws and, black ebony skin that a normal iron sword can never hope to pierce, is rushing at me with maddened vigor.

“Ah….”

ROAR!!!

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“[Barrier!] [Thorn!] [Force!] [Spin!]”

Per my command, a translucent blue spherical wall envelopes me and produces thorns attached in vines that also encroaches my whole barrier. As the vine pops up from my barrier, the barrier expands while spinning in a strangely fast velocity.

As it made contact with the devils who tries to pounce on me, it got caught up with the spinning thorny barrier and is juggled as the barrier keeps expanding. The body of the devil got shredded little by little until it dies, evaporating into nothingness.

…......

I always thought that I am weak.

I always compare myself to the people around me.

To Alstroe-nee, to Higan, to Master, to Violetta, to Fon-nii and even the heroes who were summoned together with me.

But my scaling was wrong…

All I think of is to get stronger… I never thought of the people who are in need the most.

I am still lucky to have this power... they don’t have it…these people… I was able to fend for myself even against a single devil, they died…

And I am mulling myself over for strength because I feel inefficient within my close friends who I treat as a family when these people want to protect their family even without power.

……….

I shouldn’t stay here. I shouldn’t have strayed far from Milin and the others.

As I calm myself for a little, I lift my body and try to stand up, albeit, my legs are still shaking. But nonetheless, I manage to stand up. It is dangerous here and I just realized that.

I avert my gaze from the burning corpse and run to the opposite street where it hasn’t succumbed to the flames that burn this city yet.

I run again aimlessly because I got lost. Some of the paths I remembered going to was blocked because of the rubbles from tall houses that collapsed. 

In the corner of my mind, I am hoping that I didn’t trap myself in a maze of hellfire.

“Kyaa!”

“Ahh!!”

As I was plunging deep into my thoughts again, I heard voices which sounded like they got hurt!

At the same time, I feeling of fear loom throughout my body. A tremendous presence is nearby. I don’t have to be an expert in magic not to know what blind blood thirst is.

But thanks to it, my legs freezes again at its place as fear was struck deep in my heart.

“No way… move…!”

My body trembles as the feeling of strong blood thirst plunge my mind in a state of chaos. What is this presence anyway?!

I am not even familiar with it but I know it is not something normal!

“Hurry up! Hurry up! It’s coming for us!”

“Haa...Haa… I’m sorry… I’m slow…”

The voices became more audible as they get closer to my location. At another intersection beyond this street, several meters away from me, two elven children came to my sight.

One has a pale skin and blond hair and the other has healthy tanned skin and silver hair. Both of them are wearing matching maid uniforms.

They are both running away from something. As they desperately run, the girl with tanned skin trips and falls over.

“Auu!”

“Hibiscus! Stand up!”

“I’m sorry…Casablanca…please leave me behind…”

“*sob* What are you saying…?! *sob* I would…never do that…not even in my whole life…*sob* I left from your side!”

“Casablanca! But…*sob*… but…”

As the blond haired girl try to pull the silver haired girl to stand up and run, another being entered my view.

!!!

Donning full-plate armor and dragging a battle-axe in its left arm, a man…no… a humanoid creature appears. He has no countenance or such as his top to bottom is only dyed in black.

The two elven children can only sobs and cry as they hug each other as they await for their end.

The creature, which I presume to be the source of this looming fear that paralyzes me in place, raises the battle axe overhead…

………

Move…

Move…!

Move damn it!

This damn body of mine! Please…! Please move! I want to save them!

I bit my lips and blood start to roll down from my mouth. Tears started to form in the corner of my eyes as I struggle to overcome the fear that envelopes me, desperately trying to reach those two in front of me.

What did I train myself for?

My hand trembles as I raise it as if reaching out to them…

I felt fear more terrifying than this…!

I felt pain more than I could imagine!

I won’t let this simple intimidation gets the best of me!

“GRAAAGGHHH!”

“HIBISCUS!”

“CASABLANCA!

“[Morning Glory Ninety Nine Petal Layered Barrier!]”

BSSSHHHH!

When the creature swung down its axe, I managed to put a barrier between it and the two elves who are crying on each other’s shoulder.

But it has not ended yet!

The barrier was able to block the attack but it keeps breaking the layer of the barrier as milliseconds goes!

………

“MOVE YOU DAMN LOLI BODY!”

As I shouted it at the top of my lungs, my feet moves forward rushing to the two elves. I run without hesitation to save those two.

Closer…

Closer…!

Closer!

“Haa!

“Hiya?!”

“Auu?!”

BAM!

As I tackled the two out of the axe’s way, the axe landed at an empty ground creating large crack and producing a ringing sound.

The three of us lands on its side.

“[Barrier!][Force!]”

I cast my barrier between us and the creature…

I immediately hug the two girls in my shoulder and blow us apart from the creature with the barrier’s force, flinging us a dozen of meters against the creature.

“Guh!”

And the result…

Cushioning them with my body, I slammed flat to the ground, breaking several backbone and ribs in the process.

As I peek at the creature from far away, instead of chasing after us, it heads into the opposite direction.

“Hey…! Um…little girl…”

“Casablanca… we are also little girls…”

“But she is smaller than us… anyway…hey…are you okay?”

“Are you okay?”

Little girl?

I am…

As I try to feel the injury I occurred myself, it seems that it is regenerating fine so I give them a thumb up as it is hard to speak or even breath.

“Thank goodness!”

“Thank goodness she is safe!”

“You really saved us!”

“Thank you! I thought we are done for…”

“But…what should we do now? Can you walk?”

“Can you walk? Do you need help?”

I wave my hands left and right towards them indicating that I don’t need any help as I am recovering fine.

And at the same time, a footstep becomes audible…

“S-someone is coming…!”

“Are they here to help?”

As the footstep stops, I saw someone…

Someone I know…

With a messy long hair and stubble on his chin…

He carries a bloodied sword with fresh blood dripping on its tips…

………

It’s Shun!

“Oh… isn’t it Asagao?”