I took refuge inside a nearby building with the citizens to escape the bombardment of black stakes raining down in the rain.
The people who had fled were seated on the building’s floor, panting heavily to catch their breaths.
Everyone was trembling like aspen leaves.
They might even be suffering from hypothermia, so I lit a fire to dry the soaked bodies of those around me. The terrifying sound of the downpour that had been pounding just moments before had quieted as if nothing had happened.
A momentary peace settled in, but I couldn’t hide my devastated heart.
Thirty seconds.
That was the time it took for me and the citizens to run away here after witnessing our teacher being pierced and melting from a black stake that had fallen from the sky.
It was painfully clear that just a mere thirty seconds had resulted in significant damage.
I looked around to confirm the number of people present.
It was obvious that there were noticeably fewer than before we had fled.
To be sure, I began to count.
Thirty-one, thirty-two… that was all there was.
There had been forty-five just thirty seconds prior.
Thirteen had died in just thirty seconds.
I struck the ground with my fist, biting my lip tightly in response to this fact.
The stakes falling through the black rain had a color that matched the rain, making them hard to spot with the naked eye.
Moreover, they fell at a considerable speed, so only someone trained like a hero would have the chance to react.
Average civilians had no choice but to run without stopping.
However, if someone had been paying attention beforehand, they could manage to deflect a stake that was falling nearby with their hands.
I knew that the attack was coming because the teacher warned us.
That knowledge made me miserable.
I had known, yet I could only protect so few.
I couldn’t save those who were out of reach due to my lack of ability.
The fact left me frustrated, and the force of my biting my lip made it bleed.
The wound on my lip healed almost instantly, and the metallic taste of blood quickly faded, but the pain lingered on without subsiding.
I blankly gazed at the empty spaces, recalling the faces of those I couldn’t protect.
Among them were eight people who had frozen in place when the teacher melted, unable to respond to my shout to run to safety.
There were four who had turned back to rescue those impaled and melted, likely family members among the dead.
And then there was the woman who, as she slipped in the rain just before reaching the building, tossed the baby she held at me with all her strength, pleading, just before she too was pierced and melted by a stake.
If I had been stronger, I could have saved them.
As I continued to chew on my lip in frustration and self-reproach, I heard the sound of a baby crying in my arms.
The baby seemed to instinctively realize that the person holding her was not her mother, wriggling around before bursting into tears.
The sound of the baby’s wailing, now unable to be cradled in her mother’s arms for the rest of her life, was heart-wrenching, almost making tears well up in my own eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But I promise, for the remaining people, I will do whatever it takes to protect them.”
Therefore, it was not the time to be like this.
Whispering softly in the baby’s ear, I took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that were about to spill, lifting my head to take in the scene of the people around me.
The survivors couldn’t freely rejoice in their survival; they gathered around the fire I had built, shedding tears.
Since everyone was crying, I couldn’t allow myself to cry.
The voices begging me resonated in my mind, constantly reminding me of my role.
Save the energy I might use to cry for rescuing these people.
Think of ways to save the lives you are responsible for.
I clenched my fists tightly, forcing strength into my body, and cooled my head.
What was needed to resolve the current situation was, first, information.
I pulled out a communication magic tool from my arms and contacted all the teams that were assisting with evacuation in the area.
“…Ah, this is Scarlet. Is everyone safe?”
[…This is Mei. I just managed to escape from an attack that fell from the sky into the building.]
[Jessie here… I’m fine, but many people who fled with me suffered severe injuries because of that attack… sniffle…]
It seemed everyone had also managed to take refuge in the building, as voices from the connected teams began to come through.
Most of them spoke in shaky or distressed tones, except for a few kids.
It seemed those who had been trained suffered nearly no injuries, but many regular civilians incurred significant damage, similar to my side.
Seeing people melting before my eyes would make it hard to keep anyone in their right mind.
But now was the time to think about what to do next rather than mourn what had just happened.
I steeled my mind and asked the kids,
“…Does anyone know anything about the attack that just fell? All I know is that it melts whatever it hits.”
As reactions came in, it seemed most were unaware of anything specific aside from that until one among them finally spoke up.
[This is Dwight. I was in the process of evacuating people not far from where the demonic beasts were, and I saw it just now; the attack was launched directly by the monster. It seemed to fire using hardened tentacles from its back.]
So those stakes weren’t stakes but tentacles.
It looked like it shot them like a hydralisk from StarCraft.
Now knowing that, anger bubbled within me.
That damn beast was clearly aware of what the heroes were trying to protect and unleashed such an attack.
It was as if it was laughing, fully aware of our intentions.
But to think it could launch such a wide-ranging attack directly…
No matter how developed its hearing or smell was, how could a form of demonic beast that had no eyes accurately sense that many people in the rain and strike?
I began to worry about how such a remarkably capable monster could detect and launch attacks on people despite the downpour all around.
[This is Marin. I just finished evacuating people so I’m a bit late. What’s going on?]
While I was lost in thought, I heard Marin’s calm voice coming through, arriving late on the communication line.
When I explained the demonic beast’s recent attack to her, she responded with surprise as if she had heard it for the first time.
[…We didn’t encounter any such attack here.]
“You… didn’t?”
[Well, maybe it’s related to that… Suddenly, a dangerous-looking colored rain began falling from the sky, and I used my abilities to keep it away from people.]
That’s it, I thought.
After asking for everyone’s understanding, I opened the door and reached out.
As soon as my hand touched the chilling black raindrops, a loud sound accompanied by a tentacle shot pierced the very spot I had just reached out to.
When I withdrew my hand, the attack that had been aimed at the roof of the building ceased immediately, just as I ignited flames on my hand, evaporating the raindrops.
With that experiment, a question was answered.
Probably, it was detecting living beings that made contact with the rain to launch an attack.
I had wondered why the monster called forth such a sudden rain, but it seemed it was necessary for them to rain down food in order to detect humans for wide-range attacks.
Upon explaining my newfound understanding, several people muttered in distress.
They lamented that had they known in advance, they might have been able to save everyone.
Understanding that feeling, those who had fallen into silence soon began to discuss ways to evacuate people.
They discussed gathering heroes capable of preventing contact with the rain.
However, the conclusion drawn from those discussions was…
[…Damn, this is tough.]
[…The number of capable heroes we need and the time to escort people to safety are both lacking.]
It was deemed infeasible to evacuate all the citizens in dangerous areas in this state.
While the heroes fought desperately to hold off any advance, the demonic beasts were making steady progress toward the center of the city even at this very moment.
At the very least, those who remained hidden in the buildings along the hazard route could not be evacuated, and right outside, rain was falling that would most certainly kill them upon contact.
Yet, since not every hero possessed the ability to ward off rain, just calculating the circumstances would inevitably lead to the conclusion that there was no hope.
This very place I stood was already within the hazard range, and I had no such ability to safely evacuate people.
If I were alone, I could set myself ablaze to evaporate the raindrops touching me, but I couldn’t set people’s bodies ablaze simply to keep them from contact with the rain.
I could only let out a deep sigh while glaring at the rain pouring outside with a hatred so great.
The rain painted the city in shades of despair, flowing away mixed into black sludge with the remains of those who used to be human.
“…?”
Then, I saw it.
Confirming the strange sight that entered my view, I rubbed my eyes and looked outside once more.
No matter which way I looked, the direction in which the rain was flowing was consistent.
It was peculiar.
That it flowed in one direction, ignoring any elevation.
Between intervals, puddles should have formed, yet it was strange how the flowing rain avoided those spots entirely.
Did this mean the rain was anything but ordinary, its color suggesting something amiss?
[■■■■■■■!!]
The cries coming from the direction of the flowing rain seemed to affirm that notion.
But none of that mattered.
What was significant was that the rain was flowing along the surface, not soaking into the ground.
I held the communication magic tool to my mouth.
A way to evacuate more people was forming in my mind.
*
A person capable of evacuating people without the rain touching them.
Sylvia was one of them.
The ability of a star spirit could be applied diversely, so she could certainly create a barrier to fend off the rain.
In fact, she was already using her powers to evacuate people now.
“…Is this place really safe?”
But the unease was evident in the voices of the people I had brought to safety.
Toward them, Sylvia offered a gentle smile and spoke.
“Indeed, you needn’t worry. Everyone else has safely evacuated there as well.”
“But…”
It was surely secure, and it was okay to go inside without fear. Yet still, the hesitance of the crowd remained.
And among those people, a girl boldly offered her courage to overcome their fear.
“Hey, take this. With this, you won’t be scared.”
“Ah… thank you.”
What people fear is darkness.
But even in such dark times, if there is but a light, one can muster the courage to go on.
Those who received a torch that flickered even in the damp weather took a deep breath and stepped one by one into the pitch-black darkness.
Watching that scene, Sylvia smiled slightly and said.
“Honestly, thinking of evacuating people through the sewer, Scarlet, we really could’ve been in big trouble without you.”
“…It’s not a big deal. I just happened to think of it since the rain didn’t flow toward the sewer.”
“But if you hadn’t thought of it, this many people wouldn’t have been able to evacuate.”
Upon hearing Scarlet insist it was nothing significant, Sylvia said that.
Despite her modesty, countless people had safely evacuated due to her idea.
The sewer was indeed the best shelter given the circumstances.
The rain wouldn’t reach it.
Because it was underground, malicious attacks wouldn’t reach either.
And most importantly, the manhole covers connected to the sewer were only a short walk from any building.
It significantly reduced the burden on the abilities needed for evacuation.
In any case, she had nearly evacuated everyone in this area along with those near her.
If she checked a few more spots, they might finally be able to catch their breath.
As Sylvia thought this, Scarlet beside her asked,
“Sylvia… are you okay? Did you push too hard?”
“…Does it show that much?”
Sylvia answered with a bitter smile to Scarlet’s question.
Forcing herself, she had certainly overexerted.
She had been continuously casting mental calming spells to soothe those in panic and had to maintain barriers to ward off the rain while evacuating people; she wouldn’t have been surprised if she pushed her stamina and mental strength to the limit.
If it hadn’t been for Scarlet’s quick thinking easing things up, she might well have collapsed long ago.
But in such an urgent situation, who wouldn’t overexert?
Even the person standing next to her was busy creating torches to share with those entering the sewer while warming up trembling people.
Far away, heroes were fighting with their lives to buy time to evacuate civilians.
Thinking like that, Sylvia smiled lightly and responded to Scarlet.
“It’s tough, but it won’t be long now, so let’s get everyone evacuated and then rest. Just a little more effort together.”
With that, she nodded, and they proceeded together to evacuate the citizens once more.
How much longer had they been successfully evacuating?
By now, they had checked all the surrounding buildings and were in the process of ushering the last few remaining people down into the sewer.
Three left.
Two left.
And finally, one last person.
“…Waaah, I’m scared.”
“It’s okay! Your mom and dad are waiting down there, right? And that big sister over there gave you a torch so you won’t have to be scared.”
As the trembling child clung tightly to her, fearful of entering the dark sewer, Sylvia gently patted the boy’s head with a smile.
Finally, this is it.
Once I evacuate this child, we can take a moment to recover our strength.
As Sylvia reached out toward the boy’s parents waiting below in the sewer, cradling the last child,
Perhaps it was the tension of thinking this was the last child?
Feeling her surroundings sway due to overexerting herself, Sylvia’s barrier collapsed.
And with a thud,
She saw the black droplets fall upon the child’s face.
Simultaneously, a sound echoed nearby, as if something had fired toward them.
“Ah…”
Realizing with desperate acuity that she no longer had the strength to repel the imminent attack, Sylvia thought,
At least for this child.
With the last remnants of her strength, she wrapped her body around the child, squeezing her eyes shut.
Then came the dull sound of impact.
It wasn’t the sharp pain of being pierced…
“…Huh?”
Sylvia, sensing something odd instead of the pain she had been bracing herself for, exhaled gently, feeling her back slowly get wet.
What could possibly be soaking her back?
Could it be the raindrops?
But the sensation on her back was too warm to be mere raindrops.
Entranced by that chilling warmth, she opened her eyes.
As the drops began to fall upon the child’s face once again,
This time, the liquid was not black.
What marked the boy’s cheek was a color reminiscent of a girl she knew.
That brilliant red liquid…
Revealed what had just transpired.
“Ugh… sniffle…”
The boy seemed terrified, starting to sob.
His tears mingling with the remnants of the black and red, creating a disturbing color as the mixture trailed on his face.
The hand reaching out to wipe it clean belonged to someone behind her.
The vision reflecting in the boy’s eyes was one he dreaded to see.
What became visible to him was the figure of a girl who was bleeding from her mouth, “Ah,” he thought, just as he had, escaping a natural sob from Sylvia’s lips.
Then, the girl reflected in his eyes spoke.
“…It’s alright. I’m okay.”
As if to comfort both the boy and herself, the girl smiled softly.
“I’m okay?” Really?
The question intertwined with flashes of those melting away under the demonic beasts’ attack thrummed through her mind.
She wanted to ask if she truly was okay,
But her words escaped her like a soundless gasp.
Turning to check on her condition, she realized she didn’t have the courage to look over.
In a situation more terrifying than ever, trying to calm herself, the girl quietly embraced the child.
“The weather is rough… it’s raining here…”
“Ah… sniffle…”
“Let’s go inside… okay?”
With that, the girl gently pushed both herself and the child into the depths of the sewer.
The child’s parents burst into chaos, embracing their child.
“…Thank goodness.”
That voice echoed from above.
Sylvia intended to respond,
“Scarlet, please hurry and come in!” she yearned to say.
However,
When she looked up from within the sewer, the only thing she saw was a thunk,
The already closed manhole cover.
“Scarlet…?”
The words barely escaped her lips, echoing vacantly in the sewer.
But there was no response to reach her.
When Sylvia opened the cover once again to look,
She found that Scarlet had vanished without a trace, as if she melted away into the rain.
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