The elevators didn't work. It must have been their doing, which made them smarter than she had thought. So they used the elevator shafts to go up, though it surely wasn't much faster than running up the stairs.

They came to a ballroom. Or what had once been a ballroom. Now it was nothing more than a shelter for a bunch of scared people.

"We're syndicate agents. We're here to..."

Help.

A bit of a cliché phrase, perhaps, but it was usually reassuring. This time she couldn't even finish it, though. She heard a cracking sound and her first thought was of a walnut being cracked open.

Then that noise got worse and she realized it was the crunching of bones.

In front of her eyes, without her being able to do anything, one of the hostages was ripped open. The air was filled with screams and the smell of blood. Out of the box came a creature that didn't belong to this world, to any sane plane of existence.

She would have to report this to the boss, though he seemed to have taken his time sharing necessary information, calling her only when he was done with his own fight.

She contacted him.

"I have found the second Remnant."

"Third."

She heard what sounded like something large falling to the ground.

"I'm fighting, too."

Oh. Cynthia didn't know what was going on here.

If there were several creatures cooperating somehow, for some reason, or was it just one like the Remnant that had attacked the plane and nearly killed them all. Copies of itself, or the ability to create dangerous servants.

In any case, the situation had become more complicated than they had imagined.

The nature of this job was that they could only react. Lunar Remnants could be born at any time and anywhere in the world, so there was no way to proactively eliminate them. Almost every time they would arrive when the damage was already done. Sometimes they couldn't even save anyone.

Just kill the monster, a hollow victory. But this tower was full of potential victims. Scared people within reach of the monster she could save, right in front of her very eyes. That was the most important thing. They were right there.

They weren't a vague idea of the innocents the Remnant could have slaughtered if they hadn't stopped it in time. They were right here, counting on her. Desperately wanting to survive.

It was a selfish wish, but not in the sense that she wanted them to be present so they could thank her. She simply wanted to see it with her own eyes. She simply wanted to save the people within her reach.

Maybe it was selfish, but it was human.

And there was nothing wrong with that wish being granted. Cynthia drew his revolvers and raised them, taking aim. She would defeat this creature and any others that came her way, and she would protect everyone.

"Come and get me, you bastard."

——

The creature lunged at him, leaping over the kitchen counter. The same move could work twice -- why fix what wasn't broken? But he didn't want to get his arm bitten a second time.

Instead, he jumped.

Not toward the mouth of the beast, but toward the ceiling. And as he descended, Sylvester fell like a comet, splitting the creature in two as he passed. But it was too soon to claim victory.

Though in two, the Lunar Remnant had survived. Its tentacles curled around one of his ankles. By pulling it managed to knock him down. It dragged him across the floor and slammed him against the fridge like a whip.

It was natural.

Even he had survived, albeit barely, being snapped in half once. It was only natural that a creature from beyond the stars would have no problem with something that had nearly killed him.

The knives placed just above his head trembled. They had been rattled by the force of the blow, which had been transmitted even up there.

As they trembled, they ended up falling right on top of him.

——

The creature that emerged didn't attack Ryan and her first, recognizing them as the biggest threat in the room, no, as the only threat. Instead, its claws and tentacles immediately turned toward the helpless crowd.

Cynthia clicked her tongue.

Firing continuously, she broke into a run towards the enemy. It wasn't as if it was using the hostages' lives as blackmail to force them to do what it wanted. It had simply set out to slaughter them.

Even if she had dropped her weapons, the slaughter would have continued. There didn't seem to be a reason beyond that they were the closest humans.

Even though that thing must have been part of this plan, it didn't seem intelligent. It appeared to be an animal like a newborn Lunar Remnant, so.... Was it? Is that what this was all about?

Questions for later.

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

Ryan also charged at the enemy, of course. Humanity's supposed hope.... They'd already taken samples and all, but he still didn't understand how they'd let him stick his neck out on a cam mission.

Ryan also charged against the enemy, of course. The supposed hope of humanity.... They'd already taken samples and all, but she still didn't understand how they'd let him stick his neck out on a field mission. She hadn't protested because it was none of her business, but it still struck her as odd.

Anyway, she wouldn't turn down any help right now.

The bullets didn't do much to the Lunar Remnant. Their explosive power could blow a hole in a bank vault, but they didn't even pierce the skin of that beast.

It was tougher than normal.

As it got close enough, Cynthia jumped. She covered the rest of the distance feet first.

Her boots hit the beast's head.

The blow didn't do much to it, but it did disorient it, causing it to stagger, more out of surprise than anything else perhaps, and finally turning its attention to her.

Which was where it belonged. Because she could handle it.

Using the monster's body for support, she leapt again.

Towards the ceiling. Towards the chandelier that hung there.

Cynthia brought the chandelier down on the creature's head with one shot. The monster howled as it rolled over. Again, more rage than pain, but at least she had put an end to the slaughter.

She was going to save them.

It was a pity that people had died even after she had arrived, but.... She would save them, even if not all of them. She had to do it so that she could go on living with pride.

Then, she had a more or less good idea.

If she wanted to prevent such a thing from happening for good, she had but to change the battlefield.

Easier said than done, but it could be done.

"Hey, you dumbass. Push him toward the window."

If she were fighting next to the boss, that cunning professional would understand what she was planning at a glance. It was too early to say it was a bond forged in the heat of battle, but they did understand each other better than other people.

But since she had ended up babysitting this guy, well, she would have to settle for the time being.

At least he didn't protest.

Every second counted, every second could mean the difference between a dozen more or less survivors. So, knowing that there was no time for her to explain anything to him, he ran to carry out his orders.

He tackled the creature and dragged its massive body closer to the window. Slowly, he gained the upper hand in the grapple and caused the beast to lose ground. It had done well, but not well enough.

Cynthia finished the job by firing point-blank. As close as possible, in fact. She pressed the barrel of both revolvers against the monster's forehead, then the triggers.

And then she flew.

Against the glass and through it. The glass explosion was vaguely satisfying. This was the tenth floor, but even if it had fallen from the top of the tower it wouldn't have died.

For that reason, it didn't even let him fall.

Cynthia jumped behind the monster. She used the rope launcher twice in quick succession to perfection. First, she nailed a rope to the edge of the shattered window.

Secondly, one to the monster's body, preventing it from falling.

That monster dug its claws into the facade of the building as it had given it the opportunity, strengthening its position. Even if the rope was torn off, it wouldn't fall now.

It was she who was in a precarious position, with only a steel rope protecting her from a fall of more than ten stories. Certain death.

But at least she had gotten what she wanted. To get the monster away from the crowd, away from the helpless victims who could only be slaughtered.

She could defend herself. If she died, it would only be her fault.

She could do this.

"Hey, what am I supposed to do?"

And he couldn't even figure that out on his own.

"You... stay where you are and be ready to grab the rope if it falls."

It was basically trusting a complete stranger with her life only if she let things get to that point. She'd get this over with quickly and get back up to the ballroom.

The beast ran upwards towards her, leaving deep furrows in the facade with its claws. Sylvester and Ryan were also in the building, but right now she was the defense of the people in the ballroom. That was the current reality she couldn't hide from.

And a thin steel rope was all that separated her from death.

She didn't even have to shred her to kill her, just cut that rope. She'd left Ryan in charge of grabbing it in the worst case scenario, but even then the creature's victory would be all but assured as soon as it cut that rope.

Cynthia didn't want to depend on that guy, in any case.

The thought of that was as unpleasant as the thought of swallowing her own vomit. Dying here would seem a thousand times better to her than being saved by his assistance were it not for what that would mean to the people in the ballroom.

It was almost upon her. Of course she'd kept firing on the enemy, not just thinking useless things, but her bullets weren't doing much for her.

She hadn't done much good on the plane or on the island either.

Maybe that's why she didn't just have to do it, she wanted to do it this way.

She had nothing to prove, but maybe a surprisingly large part of her didn't agree at all.

Now. Claws flew. Silver flashes against the unfathomable darkness of night. Since bullets were doing nothing, she thought of using the revolvers in another way. Crossing her arms, she pushed them against the claws, stopping the attack.

One of the claws came close to stabbing her in the eye, and she already had enough with having lost an arm, but she stopped in time, thank God.

Anyway, yes, at least it had served her well for this.

Using one revolver to keep its claws at bay, she slid the other against the being's chin and pulled the trigger. Sending it away. Sending it down again. And, of course, it saved itself in the same way.

Somewhere along the way it had gotten rid of the wire that she'd shot at it, so she couldn't take advantage of that, either to attack or as a defense.

But...

But what?

She let it get close. Didn't even fire. Just because there were no visible wounds didn't mean she wasn't hurting it at all except when it got close enough, but even then she didn't shoot. She waited patiently until the time was right.

Leaning her boots on the wall, she jumped.

Over the claws that sought her, over the closing jaw, and landed on the beast. She wasted no time. Cynthia turned and wrapped the rope around the monster's neck.

Tightening.

She'd thought there was something odd about it from the start. While distance was a factor for firearms, a few feet couldn't make the difference between some damage and none at all. That wasn't how things worked.

Did it have some sort of invisible defense that only had time to activate with distance? In any case, this was working.

The wire sank deeper and deeper into the neck. It wasn't designed as a weapon, and it was weaker than the shots from her revolvers, though it was something that shouldn't be compared. But it was clearly working better.

Just a little more.

Just a little more and...

It ripped her head off. Like a guillotine.

It came out even better than she'd hoped.

Much better. She'd even say that decapitating it had been too easy. With that move, of course, not only did the creature's head fall off, but the rope snapped and Cynthia was about to accompany the enemy into the dark abyss beneath her feet.

But Ryan was there.

He caught the rope and pulled it upward. Just as he had instructed her, but it was a bit annoying all the same.

Cynthia raised her head.

Well, she'd let it go just this once.

Irrational? Okay. Unfair? Not a chance. But that was just bullshit, fair or unfair, rational or irrational, it didn't matter a damn. Here and now, all she was thinking about was whether it was useful.

And it wasn't. It was counterproductive.

Cynthia buried that grudge for the moment as she stepped back into the ballroom.

——

There was no tension or danger. The rain of knives fell on him and he couldn't avoid it. One stuck in his hand, a couple in his arm. Another in the shoulder. In any case, they were like mosquito bites. Something absolutely irrelevant.

He got to his feet.

Sylvester wrenched the knife that pierced his hand. He had to use it to ward off the Lunar Remnant's attack. It didn't give him time to let go and swing the katana.

In the second before the creature leapt for him again, he dropped the knife and ripped another one out as fast as he could. Mosquito bites, only. Yes. He hadn't lied, but mosquito bites were still a nuisance.

That was what his job was all about, after all.

To eliminate any annoyance immediately, as soon as possible.