A chilling silence, broken only by the soft thrum of a distant wind, enveloped Tetsu as he found himself chasing Haruto and Mio up a surreal staircase.
The steps, shimmering with an ethereal glow, floated above a swirling, opaque white void. It was like something from a dream, or a nightmare.
"Wait for me!" he called, his voice ragged, echoing oddly in the vast emptiness.
His heart hammered against his ribs, each beat a frantic drum against the surreal backdrop. He sprinted, his legs burning, each step feeling like it was carved from mist, offering no real purchase.
The distant wind whispered around him, a mournful sigh, stirring the edges of the void where shadowy tendrils of darkness flickered and danced like restless spirits, yearning to pull him in. He strained to catch them, his fingers outstretched, but no matter how fast he ran, the distance between them remained agonizingly constant.
Haruto suddenly turned, his smile gentle, almost sorrowful. His eyes, usually so vibrant, held an unsettling knowingness.
"Stop chasing us, Tetsu," he said, his voice soft, yet it resonated with an undeniable finality.
"Huh? Why?"
Tetsu asked, confusion clouding his mind, his breath catching in his throat.
Why would they tell me to stop? We're always together.
"You don't belong here," Haruto replied, his gaze drifting over Tetsu, a profound sadness in his eyes.
Just as the words registered, Tetsu slipped on a step, his footing lost on the illusory surface, and he tumbled backward.
A sharp gasp escaped him as the stairs in front of him, the path to his friends, began to crack and shatter, splintering into the hungry white void. Yet, the step he was on remained solid, stubbornly holding him in place.
The void, a hungry, formless expanse, started to crawl towards both Haruto and Mio, tendrils of darkness reaching, beckoning.
Before they completely lost their footing, before the void could consume them, the image began to blur, to pixelate like a failing projection.
The last thing he heard was Haruto's voice, distant and ethereal, carried on the phantom wind:
"You're still too early to be here."
Tetsu woke with a jarring jolt, his eyes snapping open.
He wasn't in his familiar room, with its sleek, minimalist design, but in a capsule bed, the soft hum of machinery filling his ears. His mind felt like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, fragments of memory dancing just beyond his grasp.
An overwhelming sense of vulnerability washed over him, a chilling realization of loss—friends, missions, and even his own identity slipping through his fingers like grains of sand.
He was wearing the Darkside Destroyer's medical uniform for injured personnel, a thin, sterile gown that offered little comfort, and several medical machines hummed softly around him, their wires attached to his body, a silent web of life support. The air was sterile, with a faint scent of antiseptic and something metallic, like ozone.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the medical bay, he saw a blonde man seated beside his bed, absorbed in a thick, leather-bound book.
The man wore a doctor's version of the Darkside Destroyer uniform, pristine white with the organization's emblem subtly embroidered on the lapel. He looked up, a friendly, warm smile gracing his face as he noticed Tetsu was awake.
"Oh, you're finally awake," the man greeted warmly, his voice gentle and calm.
"Who are you?"
Tetsu asked, his voice rough, unused, as if he hadn't spoken in days. A dull ache throbbed in the back of his head.
"I'm Watanabe Yasu, the head doctor of the medical site," the man introduced himself, closing his book and setting it aside. "How are you feeling?"
"Why am I here?"
Tetsu tried to sit up, but a sharp, dull ache in his lower back reminded him abruptly of the sewer fight, sending a jolt of pain up his spine. He winced, settling back onto the bed.
Yasu's smile faltered slightly, a slight frown touching his brow.
"Don't you remember anything?"
He paused, studying Tetsu's face, then his smile returned, tinged with a hint of pride.
"You were found unconscious when the support Destroyer arrived. Even through you suffered heavy injuries, the Anomaly was successfully eliminated. Congratulations, Tetsu. You completed your mission, even though the expected Level was miscalculated."
Tetsu stared, confused, the words swirling without coherence.
I... eliminated it?
He shook his head slowly.
"I… I don't know anything," he confessed, a frustrating blankness where vital memories should be.
The last thing he remembered was Reiji's booming shout, "Tetsu, I trust you!" Beyond that, a void.
Yasu's face darkened for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable, perhaps concern or doubt, in his eyes.
"Is that so?"
He paused, then brightened, his professional cheer returning.
"Well, you still completed your mission anyway. You can still receive the reward."
Yasu gestured vaguely to the surrounding medical equipment, the tubes and wires connected to Tetsu.
"For today, you don't have any missions. Take your time and rest properly, okay? Your body needs it."
Tetsu nodded, though a faint sense of unease lingered, a persistent whisper of something missing.
"Thank you," he murmured, lying back down, the softness of the bed a welcome relief.
Yasu offered another reassuring smile, then quietly left the room, the sliding door closing with a soft whoosh.
Outside, in the sterile corridor, he pulled out his phone, his face immediately losing its warmth, replaced by a serious, almost grim expression.
He scrolled to a contact and called Reiji.
"It seems Tetsu isn't the one who finished the Anomaly," Yasu stated, his voice low, a conspiratorial whisper.
"Is that so?"
Reiji replied on the other end, his voice thoughtful, tinged with surprise.
"Thanks for the information, Doc. Please take care of him."
The call ended. Reiji leaned back in his chair in the command center, a thoughtful frown on his face, his gaze fixed on the holographic map of the city.
The Destroyer who arrived yesterday also confirmed the monster was already dead the moment he got there.
His brow furrowed.
This is strange. If neither Tetsu nor the aid Destroyer killed the Anomaly, then who did it? And why?
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Mizuki knocked on his door, her knuckles rapping sharply.
"Katsuragi," she announced, her voice crisp and professional, "you have a mission from Commander Arata."
Meanwhile, Tetsu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying desperately to recall the missing memory, the blank space after Reiji's words.
He pressed his palms against his temples, trying to force the information back, but nothing. He felt a sudden, intense surge of restlessness, a simmering discontent.
I shouldn't just stay here and do nothing. Not after that, not after I froze up in the sewer.
I need to get stronger. Much stronger. I can't be useless anymore.
A while later, the door slid open with a soft sigh, and a nurse entered, carrying a breakfast tray laden with steaming food.
She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening, a small gasp escaping her lips.
Tetsu was on the floor, doing push-ups, his face set in a grimace of determination, with a stack of medical books piled precariously on his back to increase the weight.
The sterile air of the room was suddenly filled with the faint scent of sweat and straining muscles.
As he reached for yet another heavy tome, a thick anatomy textbook, to add to the already teetering stack, the nurse shrieked, her voice high with alarm,
"If you do that, you'll–"
But it was too late.
As she spoke, Tetsu grunted, adding the final book. A sharp, searing pain, white-hot and excruciating, ripped through his lower back.
He screamed, a raw, animal sound, his body seizing up as his now-repairing bone, freshly mended by the advanced medical tech, broke again, a sickening pop.
...
"No! Please! Please, don't do it!"
Tetsu screamed, now lying prone on the bed, restrained by several nurses who were pressing him down with surprising strength.
He flailed, trying to escape their collective grip, his injured back protesting with every movement.
"Don't!" he cried, his voice laced with terror, as Yasu, who had just entered the room, his face a mixture of exasperation and grim determination, reached for a button on a complex machine by the bedside.
The machine was a sleek, metallic console with multiple dials, glowing screens displaying pulsating waveforms, and thick wires ending in nodes. A large, prominent red button, stark against the metallic grey, stood out among the controls, almost daring to be pressed.
"Shut up."
Yasu said, his voice flat, devoid of its earlier warmth, and pressed the red button with a decisive click.
Tetsu's body convulsed violently, arching off the bed, as if he were being electrocuted, every muscle spasming, his teeth clenching against the scream that threatened to erupt.
The air crackled with a faint, static charge. After what felt like an eternity, though it was only seconds, Yasu turned the machine off, leaving Tetsu motionless on the bed, gasping for breath, his chest heaving, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow.
"Why would an electric user be afraid of electricity itself?"
Yasu complained with a sigh, then knocked sharply on Tetsu's head, a surprisingly firm rap that made Tetsu yelp again, a fresh wave of pain blossoming from his scalp.
"Why were you doing push-ups, even though I told you to rest properly?!"
When Yasu questioned him about the push-ups, Tetsu's eyes, still wide with lingering pain, flickered with an urgent, desperate fire. "I want to be strong," he rasped, the weight of his words heavy with unspoken fears, the lingering shame of his failure.
"I can't afford to let anyone down again."
"I need to stand on my own, even if it means facing pain alone. I can't be useless."
"Why?"
Yasu asked, genuinely puzzled, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Sometimes it's totally fine to rely on someone—"
"No!"
Tetsu interrupted, sitting up abruptly despite the searing pain in his back, ignoring the nurses who tried to gently push him back down.
He stared down at his hands, clenching them into fists, his gaze fixed on the trembling knuckles.
"I don't want to."
"I'll just become weaker and more reliant on someone if I continue relying on them. And soon, like the previous mission, I'll just be a useless person when doing it alone."
He looked up at Yasu, his eyes wide with a desperate, almost pleading intensity.
"I want to be stronger. Strong enough to receive upper-level missions. But more importantly, strong enough for everyone to not worry about me anymore. Strong enough to never feel like that again."
Yasu's eyes widened, a distant, pensive look coming into them.
He flashed back to his own past, a vivid, almost painful memory. He saw himself, younger, but with the same fierce, unyielding determination, training from day to night, day after day, without rest.
He pushed his body to its absolute limits, believing that sheer effort, sheer willpower, would overcome any obstacle, any weakness.
Through intense, grueling training, he gained immense confidence, convinced he was ready, that he had forged himself into something unbreakable.
He evaluated his power, using the very same machine Tetsu had just experienced, hoping for a sign, a confirmation of his strength. The screen had displayed a devastating, soul-crushing result:
Level 0.
Other Destroyers, their eyes filled with pity and a touch of condescension, had recommended he give up.
"Level 0 won't be able to defeat anything," they'd said, their words echoing in his mind even now.
Back in the present, Yasu looked at Tetsu, a profound understanding in his gaze, a shared burden visible between them.
This boy and I are the same, he thought, a bittersweet pang in his chest.
Yet our futures are so different.
"I won't stop you in your trial of getting strong," Yasu said, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips, a flicker of camaraderie.
"But."
He clapped his hands together, the sound sharp in the quiet room.
"Nurses!"
The nurses, as if on cue, immediately pressed Tetsu back onto the bed, restraining him, their movements swift and practiced.
"What?!"
Tetsu demanded, struggling against their grip, his eyes wide with renewed alarm.
"We're not done," Yasu said, reaching for the red button again, his smile widening, becoming almost malevolent in a non-serious, teasing way, a hint of dark humor in his eyes.
"You have ten times left, Ishizawa. It'll be alright soon. Think of it as… accelerated recovery."
"Te–ten times? No. No!"
As Yasu turned the machine on, the low hum building to a crackle, Tetsu's bloodcurdling scream echoed across the entire base, a testament to the doctor's unorthodox, yet effective, methods.
The air in the dense forest was thick with the earthy scent of damp soil and the sharp, clean aroma of pine needles.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of tall, verdant trees, dappling the forest floor in emerald shafts, painting shifting patterns of light and shadow. The rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze was the only sound, until…
A monstrous silhouette, the insect humanoid, horizontally sliced in half with impossible precision, fell from the dappled light of the canopy. Its grotesque, still twitching remains hit the forest floor with a wet thud, scattering leaves and dirt.
As its upper half slid to a stop, it revealed Reiji, standing amidst the ancient trees, his katana still glinting from the precise, instantaneous cut.
Just as Reiji sheathed his blade with a soft click, another insect humanoid, larger and more agile than the last, leaped from above, its dagger-like appendages extended, aiming for his head.
Reiji, with a flick of his wrist, manifested a shimmering, transparent force field, perfectly square and surprisingly dense, blocking its attack with a dull thud.
Simultaneously, he used the hilt of his katana, still gripped firmly, to deliver a swift, sharp blow to an enemy that had attempted to sneak up behind him, a blur of motion from his peripheral vision.
The impact disoriented the sneaking insect, sending it stumbling.
With fluid, almost effortless motion, Reiji then tossed the dazed creature towards the airborne one, causing them to collide in a tangle of limbs and chitinous armor.
Without hesitation, he leaped high into the air, his katana flashing, and vertically slashed both disoriented Anomalies, ending their threat with a clean, decisive cut.
He landed gracefully, his boots barely disturbing the fallen leaves, turning to look behind him, a hint of playful challenge in his voice.
"Hey. Are you watching my back properly, Asahi?"
Behind him stood Asahi, his expression typically calm, almost serene, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
"Oh, sorry," he teased, his voice a low, even baritone.
"I was trying to locate their nest. They tend to hide their queen."
Just then, another insect humanoid, its movements silent, unnoticed by Reiji's focused senses, descended from the canopy, aiming for Asahi's seemingly unaware back, its dagger-like limbs outstretched.
"I can see you," Asahi stated, his voice devoid of humor now, a cold edge to it.
He spun, turning his back to the attacking insect with a deliberate, almost dismissive movement, and snatched its head mid-air, his grip surprisingly strong.
With a powerful, almost casual throw, he slammed the creature onto the ground, its body hitting hard, bouncing slightly, momentarily suspended just above the forest floor. In that split second, Asahi pulled out a pistol, its metallic gleam stark against the muted greens, and fired a single, precise shot.
The bullet blew its head apart with a wet, grisly pop, terminating it instantly.
They then dashed backward, their backs touching with a soft brush of fabric, forming a united front, their eyes scanning the surrounding trees.
"More are coming," Reiji said, his voice serious now, the playful banter gone.
"Be careful."
Indeed, the forest seemed to hold its breath, and then, a huge swarm of insect humanoids, their many eyes glowing ominously like scattered embers, emerged from the shadows, surrounding them in a menacing circle.
"Right back to you," Asahi replied, his hand resting casually on his pistol, his eyes narrowed, assessing the horde.
Then, with a synchronized burst of speed, they dashed forward, each choosing their own direction to engage the endless tide.
Asahi moved like a blur, a phantom through the trees, rushing forward and delivering a powerful knee-kick upward into an insect's jaw, sending it flying high into the air, a broken puppet.
Another, moving at incredible speed, charged directly at him, its limbs blurring, but Asahi executed a graceful roll-jump, dodging the attack while airborne, his body twisting like an acrobat.
In mid-air, he snapped out his pistol and shot the charging creature in the head; it went motionless, plummeting to the ground with a dull thud.
Yet another insect leaped up, aiming for him while he was still suspended in the air.
But Asahi, with uncanny agility, used his hand to push against its head, propelling himself upward and behind it.
He then spun in the air, launching a powerful kick into its neck, sending it crashing to the ground with a sickening crack of chitin.
Two more came at him from his left and right, and one from behind, a simultaneous assault.
The one from behind reached him first, its claws extended.
Asahi slightly dashed to the side, expertly guiding the monster's head towards him, and then brutally smashed its head onto his raised knee with a bone-jarring impact.
He then grabbed its body, still twitching, and, with a terrifying display of strength, used it as a shield against the attack from the left-sided insect, its own ally's attack inadvertently killing it.
Once its lifeless form fell, he tossed the ruined shield aside.
He then grabbed the head of the left-sided insect, and as the right-sided one reached him, its claws outstretched, he simultaneously grabbed its head too, then smashed both of their heads together with sickening force, a grotesque, final collision.
They fell down, lifeless, their multi-faceted eyes staring blankly at the sky.
On Reiji's side, an insect humanoid charged, its movements surprisingly swift.
Reiji effortlessly pierced its neck with his katana, the blade sliding through chitin and flesh like butter, then released the blade, letting it stand impaled in the monster's dying form.
He leaped a low altitude into the air, manifesting a squared, shield-like force field beneath him.
He placed his hand on it as a pivot, then balanced one foot on his blade's hilt, kicking it.
The blade spun around in a deadly, shimmering circle, a silver disc of death, cleanly severing the insect's neck, its head falling away from its body.
Two more insects rushed towards him from either side, their claws scraping against the forest floor.
"Oopsie," Reiji murmured, a playful lilt in his voice, and then kicked the blade high into the air, sending it spinning upward.
He then brought his foot to the manifested floating force field and leaped into the air, catching his airborne blade high above the ground, effortlessly.
Then, as he began to fall, he manifested another squared, shield-like force field on his way down and grabbed its edge with one hand, his grip firm.
Using it as a makeshift swing, he hung upside down, pointing his blade downwards. He brought his other leg to another edge of the force field, then released his hand, using his leg to swing himself acrobatically, a blur of motion against the green canopy.
His blade, pointed downwards, slashed through all the insects in his path, their bodies falling cleanly into pieces.
Still hanging upside down, his brown hair swaying, he saw the last remaining insect running away, a desperate scuttle for survival.
"Trying to run? Dream on," Reiji declared, a predatory glint in his eye, a hint of a smile on his lips.
He then yanked himself in the air, landing perfectly on a new force field he had instantly created, barely pausing.
Then, he leaped forward, each jump creating a new force field for him to land on, moving with the fluid grace of a parkour master, a ghost through the trees.
As he positioned himself directly above the fleeing insect, he rushed downwards, raising his blade, and cleanly slashed its head as he descended.
Its body fell to the ground with a final twitch, while its head bounced wildly forward, only to be crushed by a large, thunderous, insect-like foot.
It was a huge insect humanoid, even larger and more menacing than the previous ones, its multi-faceted eyes glowing with an ancient malevolence.
Reiji faced it, a wry smile on his face, his posture relaxed yet ready.
"Quite a big one. So, the boss is on me, huh?"
His mind flashed back to the anomaly Arata had fought, the one that had been even more monstrous, a terrifying blur of raw power.
He compared the two, a silent, almost scientific assessment. "You're definitely a bit smaller," Reiji mused, his voice carrying clearly in the forest, "and weaker than that one."
He smoothly sheathed his sword, letting it drop to the ground with a soft thud, and adopted a ready stance, his fists clenched.
As the massive monster charged forward, a living tank, Reiji grabbed its claw, pushing against it with all his strength.
"Let's have a fair and fun wrestling match," Reiji challenged, his voice surprisingly cheerful, meeting its raw power with his own, a clash of titans.
They were equally matched in strength, a stalemate of brute force, the ground groaning beneath their feet.
But suddenly, the monster's mouth opened, a gaping maw of fangs, and it spat a stream of vile green liquid.
The fluid splattered directly in front of Reiji, entirely covering him, a sickening, corrosive splash.
As some drops fell to the ground, they sizzled and corroded the earth, sending up wisps of acrid smoke. Reiji appeared to be in grave danger.
Still completely covered in the corrosive green fluid, Reiji's voice, surprisingly calm, came from within the greenish mist, completely unperturbed.
"Hey, you cheated. That isn't fair."
Then, with a sudden, almost magical deflection, the green fluid, as if by an invisible force, was slung away, cascading off him like water from a slick surface.
Reiji had already covered himself with a thin, imperceptible layer of force field, so the corrosive fluid couldn't harm him.
He then placed his leg, stomping on the boss's head and pressing it onto the ground with immense force, grinding its face into the dirt.
Reiji gathered his strength, a fierce howl escaping his lips, a primal surge of power.
He pulled, muscles straining, tendons taut, and after a moment of intense resistance, the creature's huge arms were ripped clean off its body with a grotesque tearing sound.
The monster howled in agonizing pain, a guttural shriek that echoed through the trees.
Reiji then shoved his leg below its grounded body, tossing it briefly into the air, before delivering a powerful kick that sent it soaring high above the trees, a dark projectile against the grey sky.
He walked calmly towards his dropped blade and picked it up, wiping off a speck of dirt.
"Forget about wrestling," Reiji muttered, flexing his now-free arms, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"It definitely doesn't suit me."
He continued walking, smoothly unsheathing his blade as the monster began its descent from the sky, a rapidly growing speck.
The wind intensified, whipping through his brown hair, rustling the leaves.
"Because after all," he declared, his voice cutting through the air, sharp and clear.
"I'm a swordsman after all."
The monster was still falling, a massive, grotesque shadow, very close to the ground, very close to Reiji.
Then, in a blur of motion, a barrage of slashes from Reiji's blade utterly dismembered the monster, a flurry of impossible speed and precision, terminating it with swift, clean cuts before it even hit the ground.
Asahi walked towards the scene, stepping over the grotesque remains, his boots crunching on chitin.
"I'm finished," he said, sheathing his pistol with a soft click.
"What about you?"
Reiji turned, his blade still gleaming, a faint smile on his face.
"I'm also finished. All Anomalies were eliminated."
"Good work," Asahi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the scene, acknowledging the efficiency of Reiji's work.
"Then let's head back."
"Yeah," Reiji replied, a thoughtful smile still on his face.
"It was fun."
Asahi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
"What was fun?"
Reiji's smile widened, a mischievous glint in his eye, a hint of secrets kept.
"You don't have to know."
The fluorescent lights of Seiryu High's corridor hummed, casting a sterile glow on the lockers and polished floor.
A lone girl, her backpack slung casually over one shoulder, walked with the easy rhythm of a student nearing the end of her day.
As she passed a recessed alcove, a hand shot out, clamping firmly over her mouth.
A sweet, cloying scent enveloped her as a chloroform handkerchief pressed against her nose and lips.
Her eyes widened in alarm, her struggles weak and fleeting. Within seconds, her limbs went lax, and she slumped forward, unconscious.
A cloaked figure, indistinct in the dim corridor, effortlessly lifted her. The figure moved with surprising speed and silence, carrying the girl like a sack of laundry.
They emerged into the school's back service alley, where a seemingly innocuous delivery truck was parked, its white exterior emblazoned with a generic, bland company logo.
The figure yanked open the back door of the truck, revealing a surprisingly empty cargo space. With a grunt, the girl was unceremoniously thrown inside, landing with a soft thud on the truck's metal floor.
The door slammed shut, echoing loudly in the quiet alley.
A moment later, the truck's engine rumbled to life, and it pulled away, disappearing around the corner, its true purpose hidden behind a mundane facade.