An iridescent blanket of glass spread across the night sky, the sea of flames below tainting it in an emerald haze. Cracks rippled like veins from a single point, sending vibrant beams of light that scattered throughout the ruins of the bleeding city. On the ground, at the center of the once densely packed metropolis, was a crater at least fifty meters to a side. A titanic beast birthed from the depths, arms like buildings grappled onto the nearby landscape as it forcibly pulled itself from the earth.

Although humanoid, there was nothing human about the creature. Long claws jutted from its panel-like palms. Its entire body was murky black with a hint of a translucent layer below the scorched patches. Jagged protrusions haphazardly bulged from its torso and appendages. And its face was expressionless, its features replaced with a plain crystalline surface.

Calling it a monster wasn’t a fitting descriptor. Maybe a “being” was more apt. Either way, this being or monster or whatever you want to call it was just one of many issues plaguing this place. Thousands of people were trapped in the buildings at the perimeter of the city, under rubble, or simply frozen on the street in shock. Plenty were definitely injured, and many more were surely dead by now, but whatever happened now was entirely up to me—er, us.

While this could’ve easily been prevented, the stupidity of people is much less so. No matter what world it might be, it always feels like they’re trying their hardest to end their species. So, while we can’t stop people from being stupid, we can clean up after them.

But this is really getting tiring.

While we were free-falling two thousand or so meters in the sky, a rouge gust of wind blew my hair towards my face. I quickly spat some strands out of my mouth and pulled the rest away. If I’d been told we’d be falling from this high up I would’ve tied it before I plunged down, but of course, as usual, I’m not told things around here.

Putting my wrist against my chest, the bracelet that clung tight glowed a faint white before ejecting a coin. Catching it with my opposite hand, I clutched it in my palm and watched a glow spread from inside my fist. I opened my hand to reveal a round, stretchy, transparent object—a makeshift hair tie.

As I began to gather all my hair, there was a voice that came from my left:

“Did you really use one of your coins as a scrunchy?”

Staring at me, her hair tied with a normal hair tie, was none other than the “leader” Yukae Hitomura. Large green eyes, blue hair, and a look that screamed “older sister”. She was the second biggest pain in my ass apart from that asshole wannabe god entity, The Dreamcatcher. Except that she was more annoying.

Like me, Hitmoura wore what I could only describe as fantasy Knight armor—entirely impractical. Nothing like what an actual knight would’ve worn, mind you, but anyone who looked at it would probably say that it’s knight-ish. A metal plated skirt, metal boots, chest plate, and arm guards.

To top it off, on the chest plate was inscribed an insignia. Our stamp as The Dreamcatcher’s little puppets.

“If it had to come down to my last coin, then I’d be fighting an unwinnable fight. Nineteen is more than enough,” I snapped back.

She sighed. “You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days, Koko.”

I flinched at her use of the nickname she’d given me back when we were kids.

It’d been so long that the memories didn’t come back clearly, but I’m sure at some point we’d wished to have magical powers like we now had. As children, we would’ve just thought it’d be cool to have them, without thinking of the implications wielding such power came with.

There were times I wished we could’ve gone back to that sweet childish innocence, but I knew better now. This world, no, this universe, had to be cleaned up. And if I’m given the chance to be on the frontlines as that happened, then I would go at it wholeheartedly.

Like a switch had been flipped in Hitomura’s eyes, they became sharp, and she turned behind us. There, trailing us a few meters back, were two groups of four people, all of them wearing variations of the outfits we wore.

“Squadron one, follow me, we’ll slow down the beast! Squadron two, follow Nishiya, rescue any survivors!”

“Got it!” came a chorus behind us.

And just like that, I’d become a leader. No matter how many times I objected to this, it usually ended up this way.

“Hey, Koko…” Hitomura called for me in a lower voice. “Please be careful.” Her words came pared with gentle eyes. Beneath their glossy exterior was something that stung my heart. A something I was painfully aware of.

Ignoring that, I nodded and turned my body towards the entrance to the city. The small squadron assigned to me followed closely behind.

It’d already been a few minutes since the chaos began, so anyone who was able to get out already had. At this juncture, with so much debris scattered throughout and buildings either collapsed or halfway to being so, there was only one way to quickly save the survivors. But doing that also meant getting an earful from Hitomura later.

Not that I couldn’t handle that.

Holding my hand to my chest, I lightly pressed down until a glow emanated from beneath. With a beam of light, my chest plate extended downward, segmenting itself to make it easier to move in. One after another, the panels that made up my skirt attached to my thighs, sliding down until they formed armor that covered my legs and connected with my boots.

With a glow of my bracelets, ten coins rhythmically clicked and shot out, five from each, and formed a circle around me. They kept an unnaturally steady pace, falling ever so slightly slower than I was. With one last click from my left bracelet, I caught a coin and held it tight in my palm.

Ding!

The coins, which had simply been falling before, began to spin, leaving me as its nucleus. They spun and spun, leaving a blurry bright afterimage of a ring. As the ring solidified, shards of glass filled up the inside, covering the empty space inside. By the time it did so, I had made myself like an arrow to speed by faster, leaving the ring behind me.

In one swift motion, I turned, let go of the coin in my hand, and continued the turn until I was facing the ground once more.

That last coin sunk into the glass-shard surface and let out a stream of light that connected the floor three hundred meters away and the sky. Assuming my team was already in position, that being above the light, I placed my hand into the massive beam.

***

“What would you want as a pet, Yuka?”

My best friend, Yukae Hitmoura, turned to me with a start. She looked away for a second before turning back. “I’ve…never really thought about it.” She answered in a low voice. “I didn’t want them finding out.”

“Come on!” I let out as I dropped to the dirt behind me. “There has to be something, right? Anything?”

The girl stared into the distance, where factories took up most of the horizon. Twiddling her thumbs, she pouted. “I’m just playing it safe…But how about you, Koko? Have you ever thought about it?”

“Of course I have!” I nearly yelled. “I want to have a huuuge dragon! One that is long enough to carry and fly us and everyone else in this town to a faraway place! Away from everything!”

Yuka’s eyes widened, but then she let out an “Eh…” and frowned. “Is that really considered a pet? That’s basically a world-ending creature.”

“But it’ll be helping us—!” I sat up but was quickly pushed back down.

“Plus, dragons aren’t real, you know. How are you planning to get around that?”

I stared up into the murky sky.

Smoke hid in the clouds, blocking out the sun.

It was a fantasy I’d lost myself in for years now, but one I was nowhere near getting to. It was way too unrealistic to ever come true, but I simply wished and dreamed that one day that would all change. But with the way things were, it was nigh impossible. I was eleven, the same as Yuka, so hope was all that my mind was filled with, and that’s all that kept me going.

Nothing but an innocent, childish dream.

“I don’t know,” I eventually answered.

“Right…”

“But if I ever figure it out, I swear you’ll be the first to know Yuka.”

“I’ll definitely be waiting.” She smiled and let out a laugh.

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An alarm blared in the distance, cutting in between our talk. A red spiraling light some ways away snapped to life before a second alarm went off as well.

“Well, it’s time to get back to work,” I said as I jumped to my feet. Helping Yuka up, I added, “Just think about what I asked. Our first stop when I get the dragon will be to get that pet for you as well!”

“…I think you should focus on figuring out how you’ll get that dragon first…” She laughed.

***

Who would’ve thought getting the dragon would be the easiest part of all of this?

Clenching my fist inside the light, there was a cacophony of glass cracks that echoed in the sky. The ring behind me split in two, stretching out towards the ground and to the sky simultaneously. As they did, they revealed the light inside had turned into a massive snake-like beast with opaque crystal scales. It was formed from the middle of its body, so long legs soon followed with their talons sharp enough to cut at a mere touch. Finally, a tail and its massive head came through, exposing the ginormous thirty-meter-long dragon.

“—Ryudra heeds the call of Lady Nishiya—” The dragon spoke directly to my mind.

“Ryudra—you know what to do,” I simply responded.

Without another word, the dragon coiled itself once, and as soon as I grabbed onto its back, burst forth towards the city, cutting through the air before swerving up just before it hit the ground.

“Raaa!” Ryudra roared and small dots of light appeared throughout the field. Signatures of life nearby.

Taking a single glance behind me, I saw the rest of the squadron holding onto the dragon’s back. Although they weren’t very fond of this, they were all used to it by now, so instead of complaining they immediately got to work.

Ryudra passed through the city streets, a few meters off the ground. It knocked down light posts and wires, launching vehicles to the side and making its way through the rubble toward the first batch of lights.

Readying myself, I crouched low before launching myself towards a nearby building.

Click, click!

Click, click!

Two coins shot from each of my bracelets, which I caught with opposite hands, and I burst through the window of one of the buildings. The glass shattered and crunched as I tumbled inside. Without missing a beat, I ran to the closest room and found a person crushed under a pile of rubble. With no life signature showing up in my field of view, it was certain they were dead. So, ignoring them, I headed to the next room where two signatures were blinking furiously.

I had barely caught sight of the two people huddled in a corner before I picked them up and ran through the closest window. As soon as I did, I dropped the coins, evenly spaced out, then dropped the two people right after.

They screamed as they fell to their deaths, but before they did, the coins I had dropped created a square-shaped surface that rippled like water. The two people fell right through, then disappeared. I, however, had jumped, ejected two more coins, and traced over them from a distance with my hand. In an instant, a white bar formed from between the two coins and froze mid-air. In a split second, I caught the bar and swung myself forward into the empty street—right as Ryudra soared by, allowing me to land on his back.

A few more screams came from behind, where the rest of the squadron had dropped more people off in a similar fashion.

Once they did, all four jumped right back to the dragon.

It took five minutes to clean up the perimeter of the city.

Ryudra burst from the subway system, creating a massive hole in the road. In its mouth was the end of a train car with people inside but was quickly swallowed as soon as we reached the surface. The blinking life signatures were all but gone, all the survivors were currently taking refuge elsewhere. Only a few were left near the crater.

After that, we could deal with the big guy.

Almost as if it had heard my thoughts, the massive being turned in my direction. Ryudra’s speed was incomparable, but in size alone, whatever this thing was had him beat.

“Help Hitomura keep it at bay, Ryudra. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“—Will do—”

“All of you,” I addressed the squadron for the first time. “Help Hitomura!”

“Got it!” they shot back.

Upon hearing their confirmation, I jumped off his back once more. Behind me, Ryudra bit the being’s arm, taking all its attention away from me. The squadron at the same time jumped onto the being and ran up its arm.

Taking those few moments of freedom, I softened my blow by rolling as soon as I landed, my armor absorbing any damage I would normally suffer.

There were four signatures, three were in a clump with the last one further away.

I sprinted over rubble, mantling over crushed cars and other vehicles. A cloud of smoke infested the air, and fires broke out in every direction.

Suddenly, an explosion burst forth from my left, launching me off into a nearby crushed bus. A sharp piece of metal jutting out from the debris pierced through my right shoulder, sending an agonizing wave of pain rushing down my arm.

I gritted my teeth, stopping myself from screaming.

This was nothing, I told myself. This pain, it was nothing. Not compared to what these people felt and not compared to what I’d felt before. I repeated those words like a charm, before ejecting a coin from my left hand, the slight force of which shot fire up my nerves, and caught it with my left.

Conjuring up a blade, I cut through the metal and fell to the ground. I dropped my weapon and caught myself with my left hand. Breathing heavily, I tried to stand, stumbling as I did. Just as I was about to fall, I was caught by a warm hand.

“What part of being careful didn’t you understand?” Came the familiar voice of Hitomura as she lifted me from my uninjured arm.

“I don’t want to hear it from you.”

“But you are, so listen. You might be strong, but you can die just the same as all of us, so don’t push it.”

After catching my breath, I stood on my own, letting go of Hitomura. The piece of metal was still stuck inside of me, but at least I wasn’t bleeding much.

“We have to save those people, they’re too close to the crater.”

“You didn’t listen to a word I said, did you?”

“Just shut up and go!” I sprinted toward the clump of people I was targeting earlier. Hitomura, after sighing, followed right behind me.

“It’s not safe to run so recklessly into the eye of the storm like this!”

“Since when have your words stopped me from doing anything!”

“Trust me, I know. At least you go for the furthest one, I’ll deal with these. You’re faster anyway.”

“I’ll leave them to you,” I said before darting off past the vicinity where the clump of life signatures was.

After maneuvering through the wreckage, I came across where the life signature was coming from. From under a mountain of rubble, with a single beam of light leaking through.

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to….”

A whisper floated to me as I approached the rubble. The mountain was taller than me, almost creating a small hut of debris. That same whisper came chanting once again. Again and again. Repeating, more like a curse.

An uneasy feeling filled my stomach.

I summoned the weapon I had left behind, and it snapped back to my palm. Holding the sword with two hands, I approached the life signature.

“Who’s there?”

“—!” The chanting stopped. Even the previous glow subsided.

Slowly moving around to an opening, I waited for a response, but one never came. I had no time to waste. Hitomura and the others were waiting for me to aid them. If they didn’t want to respond the easy way—

“Come out now!” I yelled.

Finally, a woman with both hands in the air, one balled up in a fist, slowly made her way out from the rubble. A gash ran down her leg, blood dripping onto the street. A faint glow shined through her clutched fingers, one that I recognized immediately.

“It was you.”

“…” The woman dropped her head, shaking it as she said, “I didn’t mean to…”

In her hand was none other than one of The Dreamcatcher’s coins. Under the wrong hands, one of the most destructive objects that could exist in this universe. That’s what had summoned the being terrorizing the city. She’s what caused the being to be summoned here.

And it was because of her that so many were dead.

That’s all that I needed to hear.

“Raa!” I let out. Bringing the weapon up by my shoulder, making the wound there larger, I jammed the blade into the top left of her chest, away from any internal organs.

She screamed silently, sucking in a jagged breath.

“The only reason you’re alive is because death wouldn’t be a harsh enough punishment.”

The words escaped my lips. Little thought was left behind what I said. I simply spoke on pure instinct.

The woman, however, only sobbed in response. She also stupidly tried to pull the blade from her chest, which only resulted in her hand getting sliced open.

“Hand over the coin.”

“I…” She struggled to speak. “I can’t…”

I jammed the blade deeper. She squealed in pain.

“I’m only so patient with people like you. Nothing is stopping me from killing you and just taking it. A little reprimand, maybe, but that’ll be worth getting someone like you out of this universe.”

She stayed silent for a bit, possibly thinking over her situation. Eventually, she tried to stand, completely ignoring the crystal blade stabbing through her.

“I…was just trying to help…”

“And this is how it turned out.” I turned the blade.

This time she didn’t scream. Instead, she gritted her teeth as tears streamed down her cheeks. “But I had no other choice! If I didn’t use this…my people…” she trailed off. After shaking her head, she continued, “My people would’ve…”

“And now thousands are dead. Is that what you wanted?”

“No!” She screamed. “I just wanted them to give us more time…but they refused…and I got angry…and…”

Them.

Without even knowing who she was referring to, I felt all too well how she felt. At least, something in my mind told me I did.

A dream of getting away from everything.

A dream of helping those we love.

A dream of power.

“Koko, watch out!”

I looked up, and before I could even register the voice, I shot out a coin, caught it, and slammed it onto my chest plate. Pressing down on it, my entire body began to glow. It was a risky action meant to be used only if absolutely necessary, but at a time like this, with a massive hand only a few meters away from crushing me, it was hard to argue there was any other way out.

As my body shined bright once more, I stared at the woman lying bleeding on the floor.

All I had to do was touch her. That’d be enough to bring her with me and save her.

But this was all her own doing. If she hadn’t messed with forces she didn’t understand, none of this would’ve happened. Thousands of people wouldn’t have died.

So whatever happened now, she deserved it. It was the price you paid when you played with fire.

Are you not doing the same?

I shook my head to clear whatever voice had sneaked in there and felt my vision blur as my body whisked away and the woman’s face was burned into my retinas.