Ajax had counted the dead. So many melted skulls, so much burning… But, if that woman was also successful, then wouldn't the amount of dead have skyrocketed? He actually saved a lot of people, he doubts anyone would argue with him on that. He certainly did save many lives through his actions just now.

No one would be able to doubt that.

But, he cannot feel at all good about even one aspect of this.

I even killed her, that fucking nameless woman. That was my first kill. I did all that, robbed her life, stole her energy, froze her corpse as if she had stepped out of the fucking shuttle without a suit on… I had mustered up the courage to do that, swallowed every shred of fear and guilt over it, and yet… over sixty people still died. It feels so… half assed…

***

Dzan witnesses the fire bomb in front of him. He shields his eyes when he realizes what's happening. He blinks a few times to get rid of the bright spots in his vision.

"Sig… Sig, are you…"

Dzan looks over at Sigvor. He's covering his nose. Dzan smells that disgusting stench as well. Both of their beastkin-enhanced noses smell the burnt, human flesh all the way over here. Luckily, both of them are far away from the fire bomb, enough to not be in any danger of being set ablaze.

Yet even at this distance, they can feel the air grow warmer.

"Sig, hey, we gotta get away from the fire, the smoke'll…"

Dzan notices something.

He sees that the lobby entrances to the three apartment buildings are open now. He squints towards the direction of one of them in particular and sees someone closing the door behind them. He looks at the other two apartment buildings. There is similar movement near them as well, some suspicious people in cloaks calmly walking into each of the two buildings and closing the door behind them.

They all entered the three buildings, right when the bomb went off, but… why doesn’t it feel like a natural occurrence to Dzan? They went into the buildings not in fear or panic, but… calmly. Dzan looks closer at one of the buildings, particularly the lobby door.

Whoa…

The people who entered didn’t open the door using an apartment key either. They forcibly entered. It’s easy to tell because if he squints, Dzan can see that the door windows were shattered.

Why did… they break into them? Why did they pick the moment when the fire bomb went off? That’s… that’s not just a coincidence, right? There’s something weird going on out here. Does this have anything to do with–

Dzan tries to consider this more, but Sigvor shakes his shoulder a bit. He might have been more focused on the fiery explosion, but the bright white flames prevent him from staring directly into them, as if he’s staring at something just slightly less intense than the sun. However, that issue is currently being dealt with.

"Huh? Sig? I just saw there were three groups that went into–"

"Nobody cares about that, look!" Sigvor points to the still burning fire. However, Dzan notices that the intensity of the fire light is waning.

Sigvor and Dzan both see someone moving through the crowd at an incredible speed. This person’s clothes are covered in ash, with holes in some places. However, wherever the person rushes towards, the fire is extinguished. Both Dzan and Sigvor watch, mesmerized, as the strange figure moves through the crowd like a blur while putting out the fire.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As the fire gets dimmer and dimmer, Sigvor can get a closer look at the actual carnage. She notices something surprising.

"Dzan… is that Ajax? His clothes are…"

"Ajax? Wait, yeah… How can he move that fast?" Dzan asks, slightly taken aback.

Dzan and Sigvor start to get a better look at the person running at a swift pace. In a couple minutes, he starts to slow down. First, he was helping treat whatever injuries he could treat. Then he started moving bodies away from the corpse filled death field. Dzan and Sigvor were afraid of getting close because they didn't want to interfere in the man's work.

Honestly, besides helping moving people, what can they even do? Besides, Sigvor is still carrying Dzan's thieving haul at the moment. He might have been able to carry Willia in a moment of high adrenaline, but would he be able to carry a full grown man or woman?

"...Sig. Do you think we should get out of here?"

"I think that's a good plan, Dzan. I don't know why the fuck this fire started, but this area became so dangerous. I'm not about to deal with any of this."

Dzan and Sigvor start to leave. It is about now that they see Ajax carrying people away from the epicenter of the fire bomb. They're not certain whether he's carrying bodies or living people.

"Do you think we should…" Dzan considers helping Ajax. At least he’s able to carry maybe one or two people at a time away from that mess.

"We'll only get in his way, Dzan. I'm not exactly surprised that Ajax is able to do this kind of thing so quickly. But… well, those are human supremacists. Every last one of them. Let members of their own race help them. The moment I even think of approaching one of those pricks to pick them up and get them to safety, they'll just spit on me anyways."

"Hm…" Dzan understands Sigvor's point of view. He's not in the mood to help them either, especially after saving Willia and Pieroly. He's never professed to be a saint or even someone capable of forgiving the people he hates.

Though, if he saw people have their skin melt, their heads burned away, choking on smoke… well,.he might not think about whether or not they're good people before trying to save their lives. He doubts Ajax thought about whether the people he was saving deserved to live before trying to keep them alive.

Isn't it natural to try to help people who are about to die with no way to defend themselves? Dzan can only think that way to himself right now. Especially after seeing a particular person in Ajax's arms missing an arm themselves… there's another with the skin on their faces half gone.

He doesn’t think anyone should have to go through such horror.

Then, Dzan thinks to himself. Who caused this fiery mess? He doubts it was a demihuman terrorist group, though it's not like those aren't around anymore. Though, prior to slavery being abolished, they were around in much large numbers. The Federation would never acknowledge it but they were instrumental to the abolition of slavery actually taking place.

No… honestly, the groups capable of something like this were all hunted down. How could one of them still be around with this kind of firepower? Weren't at least forty or fifty people killed here? Within seconds…

Then, he remembers the three apartment buildings. Within seconds of the explosion, those strange people had entered those buildings, broken into them specifically.

Wait… why did they pick that exact moment? Was it coordinated so that they could break into the buildings right when the bomb went off?

If it was coordinated, if the fire bomb was planned to serve as a means of allowing those terrorist groups to enter the three buildings, then what can Dzan do right now? How can he make sense of this information? At the very least, this information is relevant to figuring out who was responsible for tens of people dying instantly. Would he keep such information a secret?

Dzan considers telling someone, starting with…

"Sig… you know, right when the fire bomb went off? I saw something that… Well, it didn't make sense to me."

"Hm? What'd you see? Oh yeah, you were trying to tell me something then."

Dzan explains to Sigvor what he had noticed. He emphasizes his uncertainty about the fire bomb.