The Blight Beast stood snarling under the blood-red moonlight. Yuzuru thought he was looking at a wolf that had gone under some freakish mutations, but when the monster reared up on its hind legs like a man, he knew this was something else.

Taiga fired her crossbow. A trail of silver gleamed under the moonlight and the beast fell back, hairless limbs flailing. Before it could even hit the ground, more were slashing their way through the front door. Yuzuru froze in horror, watching as the boards they spent so much effort putting up were reduced to splinters.

Taiga’s nails dug into his arm. “Now’s not the time to fall asleep, traveler!”

Another crash. One of the windows was demolished. Black shapes hurtled through, scrambling across the floor on curved claws. Taiga reloaded then fired. The bolts flew through, ramming between the beasts’ eyes as they leaped for the second floor. Furniture cracked apart. One creature fell into the bookshelf, toppling it over a bed.

“Don’t let them find the hatch!”

Spurred by Taiga’s command, Yuzuru took hold of his own crossbow. The beasts were a mass of moving shapes but their eyes gleamed. He fired, watching his bolt sink into a wall.

“Shit!”

Yuzuru grabbed another bolt and jammed it onto the latch. The living nightmares were streaming in. He aimed for the biggest one, swiveling his crossbow to track its erratic movements. The creature found the stairs. It clambered out from its brethren and slammed one stalky limb onto the first step.

Yuzuru squeezed the trigger. The bolt flew into the creature’s shoulder. Black blood jetted across the steps. The beast howled but it kept coming, curling one limb over the other. The entire balcony shook as Yuzuru fumbled for another reload.

“There’s too many of them!”

Taiga shoved him aside. She held up a tin can with a fuse stuck on one end. “Look away!” Snapping her fingers, she produced a spark that lit the fuse.

Yuzuru ducked behind the half-dome. Through the gap, he watched a trail of orange curve to the ground, disappearing among the throng of monsters.

The night blossomed. Yuzuru was knocked onto his back as the explosion rocked through the shack. He covered his head with his arms, hearing the pinging of nails ricocheting off the metal dome and dreading one of them might get through.

It was some time before the chaos subsided.

Yuzuru got up slowly, nursing his ringing ears.

Taiga was moving endlessly, raining bolts below. The fiery glow lit up her grim expression.

Yuzuru peered over the edge of the dome. The first floor was consumed with smoke and burning carcasses. He watched as bolt after bolt flew into whatever was left of the monsters.

“You could have led with that,” he said.

After firing one last bolt, Taiga sat back. Sweat trickled down her cheeks but she made no move to wipe them away. She winced, ears twitching, and it was then Yuzuru spotted the blood that had stained the white fur lining them.

He stepped over to help but Taiga waved him away.

“I crammed it too full of explosive powder,” she said, one hand against the wall to steady herself. Her long black tail curled and uncurled around her legs like a nervous snake trying to get its bearings. “These beasts weren’t nearly as strong as the ones dropped during the last Blight Moon.” She reached up and gingerly felt around her ears.

“Is the basement safe?” Yuzuru asked.

Taiga nodded. “It’ll just be a pain to clear all the-”

Something moved below. Before any of them could react, a shadow erupted from within the smoke. It flew under the ceiling, arcing down with jaws wide. Yuzuru dived for Taiga but he was too late. The beast crashed into her, slamming her into the box of bolts. With a metallic groan, the balcony collapsed, taking them all down.

The moment of weightlessness was brief. Yuzuru had no time to brace for impact as he hit the ground.

Gasping, eyes burning from smoke, he clawed out of the debris. He shouted for Taiga but the smoke bounced his voice back. Falling rubble clanged over the sounds of snapping teeth. His blood ran cold.

More were coming.

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He had to fight.

Yuzuru pulled a piece of metal out from a burning mattress. Clutching it with both hands, he whipped in the direction of the nearest monster. He couldn’t see anything through the smoke but from the sounds, could guess where it was.

The creature leered closer. Yuzuru struck first, connecting with a fleshy crunch. The creature yelped, claws scrambling as another beast crashed through the roof. The newcomer landed on the broken bookshelf, the wood skewering it through.

Moonlight flooded in. Wind pulled the smoke away, revealing the carnage around him. It was surreal. Shadowy bodies littered the floor, some still struggling from their wounds while others lay crushed and burned. The beast Yuzuru clubbed was by an empty window, limping as it circled him. It was missing half its face, the rest of its body hairless with oily fur sprouting along a crooked spine.

Yuzuru readied his metal bat. But the beast didn’t charge. It turned and exited into the red-colored night.

A pained scream cut his celebration short. Yuzuru raced towards the sound, spotting Taiga in the corner, wedged up between a Blight Beast and the wall.

Brandishing his weapon, he charged. Pieces of metal rained from the collapsing ceiling, slicing apart the bodies as he jumped over them. With a war cry tearing out of him, Yuzuru brought the weapon down, slicing through the monster's chest as it turned. Blood sprayed across his face. He thrust again, catching the creature’s claws. Sparks ignited the dark. Yuzuru staggered back, holding his pipe up as the creature swept over him. They went down, Yuzuru managing to shove his pipe between the monster's jaws as it snapped at his neck.

This is it, he thought as he saw his terror-stricken self in the reflection of the monster’s thick, wet fangs. This is how I die, for a cat girl.

“Flame Touch!”

Heat flooded Yuzuru’s face, scalding winds burning his eyelashes. The creature reared up, its body consumed in fire. Howling in rage and agony, it twisted an arm around and threw Taiga onto the ground.

She didn’t get up.

With a surge of adrenaline, Yuzuru picked up his piece of metal and rammed it through the creature's waist. He felt the metal glide through flesh and come out the other side.

The creature gave a long shuddering cry and fell to its knees. Yuzuru yanked the metal out, one foot pressed against the creature for leverage. The fur was matted and coarse like wire.

The monster toppled onto its face in a shower of embers. As fire surged, it chased away any stragglers around the house.

Yuzuru threw the bloody metal aside and staggered over to Taiga. "We did it," he panted, feeling his heart stutter in his temples. He turned Taiga onto her back. "Hey, we-"

Taiga's hands fell limply from her neck, where there was a series of holes still oozing with blood.

“Oh, god.”

Yuzuru yanked off his cape and stuffed it against the wound. Taiga hissed, her eyes opening into slits. Her gaze was listless. When she saw Yuzuru, she reached out for him. “The kids.”

“They're alright,” he told her, even though he had no idea if that was the truth. “You’re alright too. You’re going to be fine.”

Taiga coughed, blood spattering down her chest. She smiled faintly. “Looks like… I was wrong about you dying first.”

The cloak was soaked through. Yuzuru pressed down harder. He didn’t know what to say.

“Wait till morning,” Taiga whispered, her voice papery thin. “Get them to the city.” She let out a weak gasp as fresh blood spilled between Yuzuru’s fingers. “You have to do this for me.”

“No,” said Yuzuru. “You’re going to do it. You’re not going down here. I won’t let you die. I… I still need a tutorial from you, damn it.”

The corners of Taiga’s lips quirked. She closed her eyes. A bloody tear slid down her cheek, catching the red moon.

Keeping pressure on her neck, Yuzuru looked around for help. The basement door was covered in burning metal and the rest of the shack was destroyed. One entire wall had collapsed, and he could see the glint of red eyes far out across the waste fields. The sky was red. The world was red. Taiga’s blood was red, staining his hands red.

Hands. Red.

Fire Hands.

Yuzuru recalled what Taiga shouted just before the creature burned. Was that a spell? Could he learn it? Did he need a skill book? A scroll?

Taiga’s breathing slowed. Her skin was deathly pale. Yuzuru stared helplessly at her, frustration and fear boiling over. That was when he saw something strange that took his breath away.

Letters were glowing on her cheeks, spelling out words.

> Experience...

> Chaos...

He looked closer. The words weren’t on Taiga. They were hovering over her. No, that wasn’t it either. He looked up and the words followed his gaze, materializing along the walls. He reached out, watching them shimmer into existence at the tips of his fingers.

> Experience Points gained: 1

>

>  

>

> Chaos Total: 1/100

Yuzuru’s heart started to race. He read on. Where his eyes went, the words made themselves clearer, forming a table with two columns. On the left was a list of attributes and on the right were options to increase them. There were six in total. Scanning through them, Yuzuru felt hope welling up.

This was it. This was what he knew.

He went through the options, passing the usual physical attributes of strength and agility until he got to the last two - Mana and Chaos Control.

Yuzuru touched the marking next to Mana. He didn’t know if this was what he had to do to learn spells but he couldn’t think of any other way that could work. Mana was tied to magic in almost every game he’d ever played, after all. It only made sense.

Unless it didn’t. Then Taiga was dead.

As the Mana tab lit up, it made a pinging sound, followed by a female voice echoing in Yuzuru’s ears.

> Mana increased to 1.

>

> New Spell learned: Flame Touch.

“Sweet Jesus, thank you.”

It wasn’t a healing spell but Yuzuru knew what to do. He looked down at his hand, feeling the magic flowing under the skin. Yes. He could wield this power.

With no time to second-guess himself, he lifted the soaked cloak from Taiga’s neck. Blood immediately began to flow. He had seconds, if that. Pushing his hands straight onto the torn flesh, he focused and directed the power through his fingers.

“I’m really sorry, Taiga,” he whispered. “But this is gonna sting.”

The fire was instant, the heat intense. As dawn broke over the horizon, Taiga's screams echoed through the slums.

> Chaos Total: 2/100