[ Minutes before the smoke disperses ]
The lingering scent of ash and burnt steel curled through the air, mixing with the coppery tang of blood and the distant hum of collapsing magic. Inside the pocket of silence created by the smoke, time seemed to pause.
Emilia trembled. Her hands clenched into fists, her lips drawn thin, and her voice quivering.
"Shin… why are you doing this? You're not… you're not seriously planning to fight that thing, are you?"
She couldn't hide the crack in her voice—the fear clawing at her throat. Shin stood still. His face was calm, but his fingers twitched at his sides. He wasn't calm. Not really. Behind those eyes, a storm raged. He looked over his shoulder. The smoke curled around them like a veil, a brief sanctuary from the chaos beyond.
"I'm not going to fight it," he said quietly.
"…Then what?" Emilia asked. "What are you going to do?"
"I'll draw its attention. Just enough for you to get away."
"No—" Emilia took a step forward, her voice almost breaking. "That thing isn't just going to ignore you! Shin, you saw what it did to the others. You can't just play bait! That's suicide!"
Shin didn't answer right away. His eyes drifted downward, then back up to meet hers.
"I know."
The silence that followed was heavier than anything the Demonoid could conjure.
"I'm not strong enough to fight it," Shin admitted. The words felt like glass in his throat. "But if I don't do something now… if I just stand here while people die—if you die—I'll never forgive myself."
Emilia's eyes brimmed with tears. "So you'll forgive yourself if you die instead?! That's not— that's not okay! That's not fair!"
Shin stepped closer. Gently, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "You have to survive. You're important to this. More than I ever was. I've seen what you can do, Emilia."
"I don't care!" she shouted, voice raw. "I don't want to be 'important' if it means losing you!"
A bittersweet smile touched Shin's lips. "You're strong," he said. "Stronger than me."
She shook her head, tears streaming freely now. But he gently brushed her hair back and leaned in.
"I need you to run," he whispered. "When I step out… go for the gate. Don't stop. Promise me."
"…Shin—"
"Promise me."
Her breath hitched. Her heart screamed no. But her voice… her voice betrayed her heart.
"I… promise."
Shin turned back toward the smoke's edge. The brief calm shattered the moment he stepped through.
[Present]
"Come and get me, you bastard!"
Shin roared, forcing his body to move forward as the smoke cleared, exposing him to the monstrosity that towered before the ruined school.
The Demonoid's horned head turned, its glowing red eyes locking onto Shin. Shadows shifted beneath its feet like living tar, pulsating with malevolent hunger.
Good. Its attention shifted. That was all he needed.
He sprinted toward the right—darting through debris, leaping over broken walls. His lungs burned. Every second counted.
The Demonoid moved, its footsteps like thunderclaps. With each stride, the ground quaked.
It lunged.
The Demonoid's massive clawed hand swept through the air like a falling guillotine. Shin ducked low, narrowly evading the blow, the wind of it brushing against his hair. He bolted left—another claw came from above, trying to crush him into the concrete. He rolled just as the ground cracked beneath the force of impact.
Another attack. A black, tendril-like appendage lashed out. Shin leaped backward, skidding across rubble, adrenaline screaming through every vein.
Too fast. Too strong. One mistake, and he'd be pulp.
But his body moved—faster than it should have. Reflexes sharper than he remembered. Each dodge, each sidestep, felt like instinct. His muscles reacted before his mind could fully catch up.
No time to think. Just survive.
The Demonoid growled as its frustration built. It slammed both arms into the ground, sending shockwaves through the concrete. Shin used the momentum to propel himself over a chunk of debris, flipping midair, barely avoiding the collapsing pavement.
A claw missed his back by inches.
Still running.
Still breathing.
Still alive.
But barely.
Suddenly, the sky darkened with a crackling pulse of black energy. The Demonoid raised its clawed arm, summoning a mass of condensed shadow between its palms.
Shin's eyes widened.
That's—
The blast surged forward.
A column of darkness shot out like a cannon, consuming the air itself. Shin threw himself to the side, the edge of the attack catching his shoulder. The force of the blast hurled him like a ragdoll.
Pain exploded through his body as he slammed against the ground, bouncing once before skidding to a halt near the fractured foundation of the school. Before he could recover, the Demonoid closed the distance in a single bound.
Its twisted silhouette loomed above him.
Then—crack.
A brutal backhand slammed into Shin's chest.
His body lifted off the ground before he was sent flying through the air. He crashed into what remained of the outer school wall, concrete and steel folding around him with a deafening crunch.
Silence.
Dust hung in the air like snowfall.
From the distance, a cry broke through the chaos.
"SHIN!"
Emilia had stopped halfway to the gate. Her eyes wide in horror. Her heart seized at the sight of Shin's limp body crumpled in the rubble.
"No… no no no—" she turned back, her feet moving before her thoughts could catch up.
She couldn't run anymore.
She couldn't just leave.
Not him.
Not like this.
Outside the school walls, the remaining students and teachers watching the battlefield stood in stunned silence. Kazuma's fists clenched. He slammed his fist into the nearby wall.
"Dammit, Shin! Get up!"
Hana gripped her uniform's sleeves with trembling hands. "Why did she stop?! Emilia, run!"
Shin, half-buried in rubble, forced his eyes open through the blurring pain. His body battered. But his mind… it burned.
He heard her.
"Emilia... she stopped running…"
His chest tightened—not from the injuries, but from dread.
"You idiot…" he rasped, breath catching in his throat. "Don't stop… the Demonoid… it'll kill you…"
As if responding to her scream, the Demonoid halted its steps toward him. The beast stirred at her voice, its glowing eyes snapping toward her.
The beast growled. Its massive legs shifted. It began moving again, this time toward Emilia. Shin watched in horror as the creature turned, abandoning its hunt for him.
One step. Two. It closed the distance toward Emilia, its clawed hand rising.
Emilia had just started to run toward Shin… but froze.
The Demonoid was faster than she realized. In seconds, it was closing the distance.
"No…" she whispered, legs shaking as her breath caught in her throat.
The hulking monster loomed over her. Its claw raised into the air, casting a shadow of death over her form.
And Shin—
"No…" Shin whispered.
His breath caught.
No, no, no.
His vision blurred. His hands trembled.
I need to save her. But my body... it hurts. I can't even stand...
I need to save her… but can I do it?
I need to save her, but can I fight that monster?
Save her. But how?
SAVE… HOW?!
Am I capable of that?! Am I just pretending?
His nails dug into his palms, blood mixing with dust.
Just move. MOVE, BODY, GODDAMN IT!!!
Every part of him screamed in agony. Bones ached. Muscles throbbed. But none of it compared to the storm inside his head.
His thoughts spiraled, collapsing into chaos and desperation. Every muscle throbbed, every bone ached. And yet—the fear gripping his heart wasn't for himself. It was for her. For the one who stood by him, trusted him, believed in him…
Even when he didn't believe in himself.
"You are you, Shin."
The phrase from his gramps came flooding his thoughts. That phrase came as the trigger in dragging him out of the cage he created himself.
Why am I still denying it?
Why do I keep running from what I am?
Why do I always hesitate?
He remembered the things he had pushed away his whole life—his strange resilience, his exceptional strength, his speed, his instincts.
He had always called it a burden. Nuisance. Nothing more. He did not wish for any of this gift. Pushing it aside, considered it as a nonexistent part of him. Because if he admitted it was something real… then he'd have to face what that meant. What others would expect. What he would expect of himself.
Expectations.
The word that had betrayed him, causing sadness towards everyone surrounding him, including himself.
But now—
It didn't matter. Not when she was in danger. Not when he could save her.
I don't care anymore!!
I can't lose her!!
His fingers curled into the ground. Then his arm moved. Then both legs braced beneath him, trembling, but not from weakness. From resolve.
His heart pounded. Blood surged.
I'm not normal. I never was. So what?
If this strength was given to me… if this is who I really am… then I'll use it.
Not for glory. Not for recognition.
But to protect the people I care about.
His eyes flared open, sharp with purpose. With a scream that tore from the depths of his soul, Shin blasted out from the rubble. The world blurred around him. His feet tore into the cracked ground, launching him forward with blinding speed. The debris behind him erupted in a burst of dust and rock.
The Demonoid's claw hung in the sky, ready to come down on Emilia.
But before it could descend—
CRACK!
Shin's fist collided with the side of the Demonoid's face, the impact ringing like a cannon blast. Shin had swung his right fist with all his might in order to save Emilia. Consequently, the beast's head jerked violently, and its body was thrown back several meters, claws gouging trenches as it tried to remain upright.
Emilia gasped, collapsing to her knees in disbelief. But before she could hit the ground, Shin caught her.
He turned to face the beast, blood trickling down his brow, chest heaving.And then, he stepped forward, shielding her with his battered form.
"I'm done running away," he said, voice firm, unshakable.
"This time… I'll save you."
His words didn't need to be shouted. They rang louder than any scream.
Because for the first time ever, Shin believed in them himself.