Tokyo Area · Outside the Monolith
"Roar! Roar!"
"Awooo! Awooo!"
"Sizzle... Sizzle..."
On the plain outside the Monolith, Gastrea were tearing into each other by the hundreds, their bodies littering the ground for miles in every direction.
Then, without warning, a massive white [Dimensional Gate] tore open in the middle of the plain.
Once it stabilized, columns of Orcs and Security Force members began marching through.
"Is this the New World? The air is awful. And those things over there... are those the Gastrea? They don't look any different from low-level monsters."
Benimaru stepped out and swept his gaze across the barren wasteland, nose wrinkling.
"Don't let that fool you, Benimaru. Gastrea are ranked by stage, and the ones at stage five have regenerative abilities down to the atomic level. Your [Black Flame] can handle them, but don't get careless."
Kaito stepped through behind him and caught the comment before it became a problem.
"Understood, Kaito-sama!"
"Good. Though it looks like our welcoming committee has already noticed us."
Every Gastrea in the vicinity had gone still. The infighting stopped. Then, as if a single signal had passed through the whole swarm at once, they turned and charged.
"Roar!"
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
"Roar! Roar! Roar..."
Kaito watched them come and said to Benimaru, utterly unbothered:
"The main force is yours. Clear out every Gastrea in the area and set up camp. Any Cursed Children found inside the city get brought here. I'm heading in to have a look around."
Benimaru gave a short bow.
"Yes! Rengoku Kyojuro! Geld! Take the troops and start the sweep!"
"Understood! *2"
Rengoku Kyojuro and Geld moved out immediately. The main force, which had been holding formation, finally began to advance.
"Trample! *n"
The front row of Orcs raised their right feet and brought them down in unison.
"Boom..."
The ground cracked open in a line stretching several thousand meters, a jagged canyon more than ten meters wide splitting the earth. The Gastrea rushing at the front tumbled straight into it.
"[Black Flame]!"
"Boom..."
Benimaru dropped it right into the canyon. The explosion ripped through the entire length of the trench, kicking up a mushroom cloud of dust and debris that swallowed everything inside.
"[Stone Breathing, First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar]!"
"[Wind Breathing, First Form: Gale Slash]!"
"[Flame Breathing]..."
"[Water Breathing]..."
Security Force members who had trained in enhanced Breathing Techniques broke from the main formation and drove into the swarm. They cut through the mass of Gastrea freely, carving out open ground wherever they went.
Kaito watched the slaughter from above for a moment, decided it was well in hand, and turned toward the city.
"Stop her! Someone grab that girl!"
Two men in convenience store uniforms were sprinting after a girl who looked about ten years old, a battered brown hat pulled low over her head, clothes worn through at the elbows. She had three cans of food clutched to her chest and was running flat out.
Satomi Rentaro and Aihara Enju happened to be right in her path.
A Cursed Child. From the Outer District.
Rentaro's eyes went to the red irises. There was no mistaking it.
Enju stood beside him, staring at the girl in silence.
The girl looked at the two of them blocking her way, opened her mouth to say something,
The clerk behind her grabbed her by the head and shoved it down hard before she could get a word out.
"You little thief!"
"Let go of me!"
The two clerks wrestled her to a stop, not letting up for a second.
"You're nothing but garbage. Tokyo Area's garbage!"
Rentaro stepped forward.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing to a child?!"
One of the clerks didn't even look up.
"This brat didn't just steal. She put the guard who stopped her in the hospital."
Enju watched the girl reach toward her, fingers stretching out. Her clenched fist slowly opened. She started to reach back.
Rentaro's hand caught her arm.
He shook his head, quietly, once.
Two police officers came running from down the street. Rentaro turned to them immediately.
"Please, she needs protection." He didn't get to finish.
They walked straight past him.
"Hey! Stop struggling, you little rat!"
The girl pulled against the grip on her collar and shouted right back at him.
"You don't even know what I did!"
The officer looked down at her with something that wasn't quite a smile.
"I know exactly what your kind is capable of."
He grabbed her by the collar and started dragging her off, muttering as he went.
"Move it. Walk faster."
Enju watched her go. When she finally looked away, her eyes were somewhere else entirely.
"Rentaro." Her voice came out small. "Why didn't you help her?"
"Enju." He kept his voice low.
"She was asking me. She looked right at me and asked for help. Why didn't we..."
"If they figure out what you are, you'll end up the same way. You know that."
Enju's head snapped up. Her eyes were full.
"Rentaro can do anything! You always said you're supposed to be a hero, so why..." Her voice broke apart. "Wah... wah..."
Rentaro looked at her, chest tight, and then made a decision.
"Enju. Stay here."
He turned and ran.
In an abandoned shell of a building, half-finished and long since forgotten, the two officers had the girl cornered on the concrete floor.
The kicks landed without hesitation.
"Filthy little..."
"Ugh..."
She curled in on herself and coughed up blood. Neither of them stopped.
One of them reached for the pistol at his hip.
The shot rang out.
The girl's cry tore through the empty building. She was still moving, barely, but still.
"Huh. Still breathing."
He raised the gun again, leveling it at her head.
"I'd put that down if I were you."
The voice was quiet. Calm. And somehow colder than the concrete under their feet.
"Who said that?!"
They spun around.
A young man stood watching them, eyes like winter, every trace of warmth completely absent from his face.
"Pull that trigger," he said, "and I promise you, dying will be the best thing that happens to you tonight."