To my left, Yamabuki had her stomach skewered. Her assailant had also paid the ultimate price, but one disposable minion among countless still spawning at the moment, compared to our only medic and a key member in our group of six… the exchange was hardly what one would call “equivalent”.

“Yellow! Hang on!” In desperate times, Midorikawa had no choice but to be the one to attempt first aid. One look, and anyone could tell that the man wasn’t used to the job—his bandages were messy and loose, while his hands were still shivering due to anger and shock.

Yamabuki had also realized this issue. With what little strength left, she lightly touched Midorikawa’s frantic hand on her stomach.

“Don’t worry,” said the golden-armored girl. “Yakushi-kun can handle a little jab, what makes me unable to?” Glancing towards me for confirmation, she flashed a gentle smile. “Isn’t that right?”

That’s right. The more dire the situation, the colder and more calculating we had to be.

“Yamabuki-san, you still have your pills, right? How much time can they buy us?”

“No more than yours,” she answered. “And you must also be on borrowed time as well.”

With a grin, I nodded. “Yeah. I have around five minutes left, give or take. That’s how far my body is gonna hold before I pass out.”

Turning to Midorikawa, I asked. “Does that thing of yours can be done within then, Green?”

“Barely,” nodded the man. “We just need to make our way to the entrance. And to do that…”

Taking a deep breath, Midorikawa took a step towards the husk of a man remaining on the battlefield. Clutching his fist, he threw the strongest punch that he could muster at the target’s head.

“Wake up, Red! We’ve lost our main healer and our brains, is this really the time for you to sit around and do nothing?”

The punch was enough to shock Akabane out of his depressive trance. But it only lasted for a moment, for as soon as he saw a bleeding Yamabuki, his shoulder loosened and his knees turned weak again.

“It… It’s all my fault…” Tears flowed out of the sorry man’s helmet. But that was not the right way to quell our anger, and to assure us right now.

“God damn it, get a grip of yourself!” With another hook in the opposite direction, Midorikawa roared. “We’re not dead yet! The operation hasn’t failed yet! What good is a leader if he’s depressed at any moment’s notice?”

But it was not the last of his anger. Grabbing Akabane by the collar, Midorikawa threw the former leader towards Aozaki, along with a grunt:

“Blue, you handle this meat sack! Black, escort Yellow to safety! I’m taking over this operation, and I don’t want to hear any complaints!”

“Yes, sir!” The two men gave a salut before rushing out of the larvae swarm with all their might, each carrying a victim on their shoulder.

“Sorry for leaving you to yourself, kid,” turning to me, Midorikawa let out a sigh. “But out of the three, you’re the most capable of fighting left, despite what your current injuries might entail. So the blood path towards the entrance is now our duty.”

As I looked at his face, there wasn’t a trace of worry. This man was completely and utterly confident in my ability… No, it had to be something else. Those were eyes of absolute trust. He had a plan, and he needed my help for it to happen.

A flash of genius ran across my mind.

“Nah, it’s fine,” I shook my head and replied with a smile. “Besides, I never fight alone anyway. Isn’t that right, Akari?”

Following my raised finger towards my head, my partner in crime lightly nudged her head towards my hand. “Kuri!”

“I should have known, shishi,” chuckled Midorikawa.

“Finally getting rid of the serious tone?”

“Yeah. I’m more relaxed when I’m with you, kid. For some reason.”

“For some reason indeed.”

Even I had to admit it. I never liked humans. But after everything that I’d been through, he was the one whose company I enjoyed the most.

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Perhaps, in another world, in another circumstance… we could have been just regular friends, instead of blood-sworn comrades.

But this wasn’t such a bad feeling either.

“Race you to the entrance,” I raised my fist sideways, casting a wink.

“Sure. But I’m fast, y’know?” Midorikawa responded in kind.

“On my signal. Three… Two… One…”

“GO!”

Midorikawa’s wings vibrated at the fastest speed I’d seen from him. With a burst of sonic boom, the man zipped through the hordes of Shinyou, ripping the entire left flank to shreds. By the time my eyes had registered the movement, he had already appeared at the cave’s entrance, long before the rest of the group, and waved at us with all his might.

“Blue, Black, kid! Pick up the pace!”

“Got it!”

Even with the extra baggage weighing them down, both Aozaki and Kurogiri wasted no time in dispatching the larvae on their paths. A flurry of swift, smooth arm movements, combined with earth-shattering strikes, and the Shinyou to my right had also been wiped.

But even so, the ones in front of me were the main issue. In particular, the queen and her ever-increasing swarm.

I had already realized the rest had it too easy, and it was because of one simple matter—there was no new Shinbachira coming at them. But if the Shinjoura’s limit was five at once, then where did those go?

Simple. They never attacked. It was preserving numbers.

If the queen could make five hornets grow from their larval state at once, then instead of sending them in batches to die like before, it would be far better to save them for a later use, while keeping on making more minions on the way. Since we were on a defensive retreat, we wouldn’t notice the ever-increasing number of monsters, and even if we did, there was no time for us to spare—we’d rather escape with our lives than go back and fight a losing battle.

But it still begged the question: why would the Shinjoura make so many underlings? What would be the target of her army?

Well, the answer was easy enough to guess, considering that surrounding me was nothing but gold and black.

“You little bitch…” I let out a bitter grin.

“If you’re really the next heir of Onisatsu, then it would be in my best interest to get rid of you early before your partner evolves,” the Shinjoura answered with its own toothy smile. “No hard feelings, boy.”

“I’m surprised a monster like you had feelings in the first place.”

“Are those your last words? I’d choose things more carefully.”

“Of course not,” I answered. “Who said I was dying?”

Immediately grabbing Akari on my head and snuggling her tightly in my chest, I curled my body and lied down on the ground stomach-first, my hands covering my ears the best I could.

“Now, Green!”

“You got it!”

Even with my eyes and ears closed, while my body was essentially glued to the floor, I could tell how strong his trump card was.

Thinking about it, there were names that the Shinjoura had mentioned. Onisatsu, apparently Akari’s next form. Shinbachira, what I was all too familiar with. Herakabuto, the beetle Omushi with unparalleled strength. Setsujin, the race of people that Aozaki belonged to. But the last one was what caught my attention.

Yanonpa. Sound waves.

It all made sense. His green motif. His absurd speed. And the fact that he somehow had a trump card to deal with this kind of situation—a battlefield of countless small grunts trying to crush us with force of numbers alone.

Even with my covered senses, my ears were still ringing with no signs of stopping. My lungs and stomach felt like they were being crushed under the weight of the sound alone. My mouth could once again taste the iron that had long closed. And that was with me already taking every precaution I could to minimize the damage. I could only imagine the effect of it being transmitted through the air.

Touch was the only sense I could rely on the time being, and even I could tell that the ground was shaking from the rain of hornets. The thudding barrage kept on for a good minute, until finally my eyes and ears regained their minimal function. Once the first rays of light hit my cornea, the corner of my mouth curled up into a smile.

There it was. Stunned. Motionless. The Shinjoura had also been affected by the sound wave. Its eyes were no longer the threatening crescent moon, but rather just a swirling line as if hypnotized. The wings on its body even loosened, revealing a shining gem on its chest acting as the main core.

As I stood up, Akari jumped on my head like usual. Thankfully, she also didn’t seem to be affected by the blast too much. Which meant that there was only one job left for us to do.

Taking a step forward to face the lying queen, I grinned.

“Any last words?”

Replying to me was nothing but silence. Of course, it had long lost the ability to respond.

“Yeah, I thought so as well.” Snapping my finger, I ordered. “Make it quick, Akari. At least I can spare it from struggling in pain.”

With a jump and spin, her scythes broke the crystal on the Shinjoura’s chest in half, and its body crumbled into dust. However, just when I least expected it, a whisper flew within the wind, like one final ghostly reminder that came to haunt my actions:

“All… according to plan…”

Before I could contemplate on the final words, another voice had interrupted my thoughts. “Kid! You okay?”

“I’m fine!” Waving to Midorikawa and the rest, I answered. “Let’s go back!”

“... Kid! Kid, are you…”

I couldn’t hear the rest of his warnings. Or rather, as soon as I took another step forward, my ears rang an annoying tune, while the earth and sky spun out of my control. My footwork was wobbly at best, but I doubt I was strong enough to even walk properly. The honey pills and the adrenaline had finally paid their toll, leaving behind only my battered flesh and bones to suffer the consequences.

As the blurry image of a man in green armor ran towards me, my consciousness took its final deep dive into the abyss.