Ikebukuro Train Station
Time: 4:15 PM
The Ikebukuro train station was as busy as ever.
Ezakiel darted his eyes at what was that called again—the thing that shows the schedule of trains arriving and departing? He had forgotten the term.
Then his gaze shifted to the sky, which was slowly darkening, thick clouds cloaking it and stretching shadows across the platform.
His hair blew in the wind, and in his hand, he held a folded umbrella.
At least this time I'm not stuck like last time. If only that damn driver had remembered to service the car… I wouldn't have to take the train! I'm exhausted from walking all the way here from school!
It was rather ironic.
He was a monster—a literal monster—with stamina far greater than ordinary humans, and yet here he was, tired. All around him, people—including some students from Summer Fall High—looked perfectly fine. Some chatted with each other, others scrolled through their phones to pass the time.
Then again, perhaps it's more mental exhaustion than physical.
He had spent most of his energy thinking about how to proceed with Phase Five with Enma. He needed to come up with something that would ignite the spark of love in her widowed yandere heart—a spark still dormant at the present moment—and direct it toward him. The effort was so mentally taxing it felt almost like physical exhaustion, heavy in his chest.
He exhaled with a sigh, waiting. After another ten minutes, the train finally arrived, stopping at the platform.
Woosh!
The doors opened, and the passengers inside exited. He and the others then boarded, and he was lucky enough to find a seat.
This journey was going to be rather short—or long—depending on one's perspective.
Once he reached Kita-Senju, he would have to get off and board another train to Umejima, where his mansion—or house—was. It was starting to get rather confusing for him, as he couldn't quite settle on the right term.
The train began moving.
Everything inside was normal—people quietly standing or sitting, creating a calm, almost serene atmosphere. He kind of liked it; the silence might actually help him restrain his monstrous impulses. The loud chaos of the school lunch break had been nearly unbearable. At first, he hadn't realized it, but as he walked down the hallway earlier, he had slowly felt the urge, and only he knew how barely he had managed to control the desire to kill, with Rin behind him.
To kill them for being human, to slaughter them, to hang them upside down by their own entrails, to feed them their flesh as they begged for mercy—all the basic monster urges, courtesy of Gaia herself.
He was beginning to feel it—hour by hour, his monster side was gaining too much control.
Only he knew how difficult it was not to lose it, and to hold onto his human rationality, his only advantage in the deadly game of cat and mouse against the magical girls, who, as Mari had said, were going to hunt him down.
It was painfully clear: the very moment he used his powers recklessly, it would be the death of him, as Death itself would finally have the chance to grasp his life.
I should take a quick nap…
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
....
Summer Fall High, Time: 4:27 PM
I didn't find her anywhere…
Tatsuya muttered in a dejected tone as he exited the school grounds, making his way toward the train station, back home.
There was no sign of Tsumi at school. Perhaps she hadn't come today, likely busy with magical girl activities—or whatever she had planned.
Then the first drops of rain fell from the darkening sky. He opened his umbrella just as the rain began to pour, droplets tapping against the fabric while thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning flashed across the clouds.
[You have a new mission!]
Without warning, the system HUD appeared before him.
---
[New Mission: A train departing from Ikebukuro platform, along with several dozen passengers aboard, has been transported to the Exo Zone. The train wrecked, leaving most of the passengers dead. Your job is to save at least one person and defeat the monster.
Difficulty: 10/100
Reward: Regeneration Ability Granted (Low-tier: instantly heals wounds that would otherwise leave scars. Can later be upgraded to higher tiers, allowing full regeneration—even from ashes—depending on concepts, etc.)
Punishment: A new feature has been added to improve your performance. Failure will result in three days of unbearable nightmares, and cancer.]
---
Cancer?!
Tatsuya mentally exclaimed, eyes widening at the glowing display.
Are you kidding me?! Why the hell would you give me cancer just for failing a mission?!
[Yes, I would. Because I love cancer. Now shut your complaining mouth and do the mission.]
Tatsuya let out a long sigh, then hurried toward a nearby alley. Water splashed around his shoes as the system opened a swirling portal to the Exo Zone.
He stepped inside.
...
What the hell just happened?
Ezakiel muttered, finding himself trapped beneath the wreckage of the train. Rubble pressed down on him, some bodies pinning him further, while faint, extinguished flickers of fire danced in the gaps between debris, mixed with rainwater dripping from the darkened skies above.
Through the gaps, his eyes locked onto the monster responsible—a towering, grotesque creature.
Its dark, leathery wings stretched wide like tattered shadows, somehow remaining dry despite the heavy rain.
Amid the wreck and rubble, a single eye gleamed with the jagged intensity of a predator—sharp, unblinking, and calculating.
Its body was rough and chitinous, segmented like a cockroach, and a long, spiked tail coiled menacingly, ready to impale anything that came near.
Is that the one-eye roach monster…
This was the third monster Tatsuya had faced—and the second one he had to fight as part of his mission—which meant he should be here, just as the plot dictated.
Which means I boarded that damn train?!
His luck was shitty, and he knew Tatsuya was coming. This was bad—he couldn't reveal himself in human form; it might change the course of the plot.
And unfortunately, before he could think of anything else, through another gap he saw Tatsuya clad in silver armor, gripping his golden sword tightly.
The monster lunged, its spiked tail whipping violently, and Tatsuya met it head-on.
The fight was about to erupt amid the twisted wreckage, sparks of chaos and fire dancing through the air.
....
"Yaaah!"
Tatsuya charged at the monster, swinging his sword horizontally with a sharp swoosh.
The creature dodged the strike, then violently flapped its massive wings.
The rapid motion displaced a huge volume of air, generating a focused shockwave. Coupled with the monster's control over mana, the air pressure was compressed and accelerated, forming a gust strong enough to slam Tatsuya against the ground, throwing him off balance.
[Seriously, why even engage in close combat? Why not just use magnetism to reverse its blood flow, or give it an instant heart attack—if that thing even has a heart?]
Yeah, yeah… I get it already…
Tatsuya quickly raised himself and extended his hand, creating a magnetic field gradient to pin the monster to the ground.
The creature responded by slamming its spiked tail into the floor.
[Up, you moron!]
Hearing the system's voice, he launched off the ground, narrowly dodging the tail as it threatened to pierce him.
With precision, he grabbed the monster's tail, lifted it high, and slammed it back into the ground. Simultaneously, he manipulated the iron in its body, instantly reversing the flow of its blood. The sudden disruption caused micro-turbulence in its circulatory system, paralyzing key muscles and leaving the monster staggered and vulnerable.
Before he could deliver the final blow, a mana-induced bolt fell from the sky, completely atomizing the creature.
"Well, well, well… we meet again."
Tatsuya recognized the voice—it was Tsumi, descending into the Exo Zone as a portal opened in the sky above, cracking into pieces that fell like scattered puzzles before it closed.
Tsumi…
Tatsuya muttered, gripping his sword tighter as he descended as well. The system spoke.
[Do it quickly, Tatsuya. You're running out of time. Only six or seven are still alive, and they'll soon die from blood loss.]
On it…
He glanced at Tsumi, then raised his hand toward the wrecked train and scattered rubble.
....
Shit, shit, shit, shit…
Ezakiel cursed, his expression tense. If Tatsuya were to lift the wreckage and rubble, both he and Tsumi would see him completely unharmed—and that was something he could not allow.
I can't let them see me…
He had no choice but to transfer on the spot and run, before the other magical girls arrived to hunt him down.
He took a deep breath, and soon the entirety of Ikebukuro was incinerated, consumed by sudden flames as he transformed. He manipulated his mana to combust the oxygen in the air, sending bursts of fire licking across streets and buildings, creating thick, swirling smoke that obscured his escape. The heat radiated outward, scorching the pavement and making the air shimmer, yet he carefully controlled it—ensuring the flames and smoke would not harm Tatsuya or Tsumi.
One misstep could destroy the balance of the plot, and he couldn't risk that.