The emergency station wasn't far from where I was. I could practically see it from where I stood.

It was within a tall, black spiral that twisted towards the sky, starkly contrasting with the surrounding buildings. The structure's dark, glossy surface reflected the dim red light coming from the Crimson Shade, making it look like a shard of obsidian jutting into the sky.

It was hard to not take notice of such a building.

Rushing with all my might, I looked behind me to see several eaters glancing my way. I pursed my lips and continued to sprint.

Bang--!

"....!"

The building next to me shattered and a hand crept in my direction.

I felt my heart jump out of my chest at the sight of the hand. It was fast, and I just barely managed to avoid it by ducking down.

"Hiieeek--!"

Emerging from the building was an eater who twisted its head in the air to feel for any noise.

At the same time, I felt the sound of multiple rushed steps heading in my direction. It was likely that the eaters had been attracted by the noise.

I bit my lips and fiddled with my pocket. I only had one mana bomb left.

I couldn't just carelessly throw it.

.....I needed to make good use of it. After a little bit of thought, I put my hand away from my pocket and moved back while keeping my gaze on the eater who continuously tilted its head for any sound.

The wails of the other eaters grew near, but I kept my lips pursed and my heart steady.

"...."

In the silence, I continued to move back.

Every part of my body felt tense.

Licking my lips, I continued to move back. Silence completely took over my surroundings. Holding onto my shoe, I coiled the threads around it before eventually tossing it towards the distance.

Thud.

Without looking back, I rushed towards the emergency station.

I was just about to retrieve the thread when I felt a certain pain in my chest.

Something leaked from my nose. Wiping it, I could see that it was blood, and it was then that I realized that my thread had been snapped.

....Just like that, my shoe was gone.

'I'll really ask for reimbursement after this!'

I quite liked my shoes.

Turning the corner of the street, I finally managed to spot the entrance of the spiral.

But soon, my steps came to a halt.

"....."

I stood silently while catching my breath.

'.....This is troublesome.'

Standing right before the entrance of the spiral were over a dozen eaters, all looking around with their heads twitching.

I fiddled with the mana bomb in my pocket.

'Good thing I didn't waste it.'

Things would've been a lot more troublesome otherwise. Gathering my mana into the bomb, I turned around to throw it when I stopped.

"....!"

A face appeared right before me and I shuddered. With its eyes staring directly at me, its grotesque smile widened.

"Haaaa..."

My feet numbed, and its hot breath fell on me.

....I tried my best to keep my heart steady.

But it was hard.

Really hard.

Especially when its mouth opened, revealing a long, serpentine tongue that slithered out like a grotesque tendril. It extended impossibly far, snaking through the air slowly and steadily, heading directly towards where I stood.

"....."

Swallowing my saliva, I tossed the mana bomb in the eater's mouth and jumped back.

Thud.

Over a dozen gazes fell on me at that moment, but I didn't care. I turned towards where they were and directly rushed at them.

Tak. Tak.

I could hear the sound of my steps echo within the silence, and I felt my throat clamp up.

The eaters in front of me opened their mouths to scream, but just before they could, the sound of an explosion resounded.

Bang--!

Their heads twitched, and they rushed forward at incredible speeds.

I didn't stop.

I continued to run forward, while they ran directly at me.

I could feel their gaze on me as they rushed, and my heart pounded out of my chest.

I didn't let that affect me and continued.

Three meters...

Two meters...

One meters...

We were now just a meter away from each other. Their mouth opened to reveal their sharpened teeth, and I ducked down.

"Hieeek--!"

The eaters chomped at the air before rushing forward, completely dismissing me.

Without looking back, I helped myself from the ground and rushed towards the emergency station.

The door was broken, and so I didn't need any keys to enter.

"...."

Slowing my steps down, I took a small orb from my back and tapped on it. Light immediately appeared, illuminating my surroundings.

Holding it in front of me, I was able to see the insides of the building.

"...."

Everything was a mess. Shards of shattered glass littered the floor, glinting ominously in the dim red light, while torn-out papers lay strewn about, fluttering slightly due to the heat.

Walking towards the stairs, I held onto the handrails and took my first step up.

Creak...!

But the moment I did, I almost felt my heart jump out of my chest.

I immediately looked back and sighed in relief upon seeing that no eater had noticed anything.

'How annoying.'

Looking down at the wooden stairs, I tried to think of a way to move up without making any sound.

Putting pressure over the handrails, I made sure that they didn't break at my weight, and held onto them more tightly.

'....Okay, this might work.'

With the aid of the handrail, I took a slow and careful step up. Unlike the first time, no sound came out this time.

I nodded in relief and took another step.

The location of where I needed to go was the last floor. Because of the method that I was using to go up the stairs, it took me several minutes to get up there, but once I did, I pressed my foot against the ground and relaxed upon seeing that no sound came out.

I immediately rushed forward after that.

The last floor was rather small. It was about the size of a classroom, with a door on each side.

I looked to my right and then to my left before deciding to go on the right side.

Opening the door quickly, I went in and looked around. The room was quite small with little decoration. Nothing about the room popped out besides the large windows that allowed one to get a look at the entire city from above and the wooden desk before it.

I looked outside and felt my expression stiffen slightly at the number of eaters that were present outside.

'This is not good.'

There were more and more entering by the second. It wouldn't be long before the entire station would be flooded by them. Not only that but looking up, I could also see that the large creature behind was getting closer and closer to tearing the walls down.

Cr Crack...!

The sound of the walls cracking continued to echo in the air.

Such thoughts brought urgency to my mind as I picked up the pace.

'Ah'

I soon found what I wanted and moved towards it.

'This is it.'

It was a small device that looked like a remote. It was quite small and was easy to miss since it rested on top of a chair.

I didn't hesitate to channel my mana into the device before pressing on it.

WHIIII!

Immediately, the blaring sound of the sirens echoed throughout the entire station.

WHIII!

They were loud, and the noise was hard to dismiss.

Immediately the eaters looked up and their heads twitched.

"Hiekk!"

Their screams and wails echoed throughout as they appeared utterly confused by the situation.

I had been worried they'd attack the sirens, but they didn't since they were so evenly spread, making it hard to pinpoint.

Latching onto their hair, the eaters pulled them out while they wailed in the air.

"This is good."

I could finally relax. Holding onto the remote, I grabbed anything that looked useful before heading back down.

This time, I didn't need to use the help of the handrails and was easily able to get down to the first floor where I rushed out.

"Hiseek!"

As expected, none of the eaters took notice of my presence the moment I came out. With the sirens blaring loudly, they didn't have time to pay attention to me.

I finally was able to calm down.

'.That's one situation resolved.'

Then, staring in a certain direction, I pursed my lips before rushing forward,

It was now time for me to handle the other situation.

***

Bunker, Outer Area.

Panic was already blooming within the bunker. Such panic only intensified at the presence of the eaters. Everyone was naturally scared, but the people who were protesting were no longer protesting as none of them wanted to leave anymore.

It was for that reason that the situation calmed down.

"Tsk."

Clicking her tongue, Kiera sat down with a sullen expression.

With what was happening outside, it was hard for her to stir up some shit.

She felt a little disappointed at that fact.

Staring at the window outside, she suddenly heard a loudly blaring sound.

WHIIIII

It appeared to come from the entire city, and the eaters outside the bunker appeared to go berserk.

She was surprised by the situation, and before she could even question what happened, a voice echoed from beside her.

"..It's probably Julien's doing."

Recognizing the voice, Kiera frowned. However, she pushed her feelings down and turned to look at Aoife.

Her expression changed a little when she saw the state of Aoife was in.

She looked rather haggard.

As if she hadn't slept for a few days.

"He's escaped."

That was all she said, and Kiera's focus shifted away from her well-being. Well, it didn't matter to her anyway.

"..That guy escaped?"

"Yes."

Aoife nodded.

"He's created quite a mess. All the post leaders are discussing sending a potential team out to get him back, but the situation turned like that so it has been postponed."

"Oh."

Kiera understood what she meant.

She could tell that there was chaos in the inner parts. She didn't really know why, but now she knew.

"So you think he's the one responsible for the sirens?"

".Yes, most likely."

Aoife sat down next to her. She looked even more tired now, and Kiera tilted her head.

The scene looked a little familiar.

'Don't tell me'

Slap

".!"

Aoife turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"What was that fo"

Slap!

Kiera slapped Aoife again while looking at her with an extremely serious expression. It almost looked like she was trying to help.

"You're showing the same symptoms as the others. You're about to turn into a screaming bitch. Let me fix you before it's too late."

"What? Wait!"

Aoife raised her hand to block Kiera's slap.

She then glared at her.

"I'm not turning! I'm tired because I've been questioned by all the post-leaders due to what Julien did! I helped him out a little!"

"Ah."

Only then did Kiera understand as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

".You should've said so sooner."

Aoife didn't respond to that.

She didn't know how to respond to that. How could she have known Kiera was going to slap her like that?

Clenching her teeth, she turned her head to look outside.

'I don't have the energy to fight her.'

It was all red, and quiet.

"Hmm?"

Looking in the distance, she spotted a faint silhouette approaching their direction.

It appeared to move nearer to them. Frowning, Aoife squinted her eyes to get a better look, and when she did, her eyes widened.

"What the"

"Uh, what?"

Kiera similarly looked in the direction she was looking.

Her expression also changed.

"Uh...?"

It looked like Kiera also recognized the figure.

Aoife pursed her lips.

.....Why was he back?

And why did it seem like he was looking directly at her and Kiera?