"Traitor!"
"Human rat!"
"She's not fit to be the Holy Child! She's a demon wearing human skin!"
"Burn her with Lord Kagutsuchi's holy flames!"
"You've betrayed everyone's trust!"
"She wants to give our taxes to those monsters!"
"She's the one who released the Gastrea Virus!"
The Holy Child's speech had failed.
Her voice was drowned completely by the roaring crowd. Too many outsiders had mingled with them. They had endured patiently, planned carefully, and at this moment, ignited the mob's frenzy and violence.
Torches rose high, firelight illuminating twisted, furious faces. Some even produced Molotov cocktails.
"Are these people insane?!"
Tendō Kisara gripped the railing tightly, eyes wide with shock.
Beside her, Rentarō Satomi's face was grim, sweat beading at his brow.
They had known the speech wouldn't go smoothly—the Holy Child's unsettling words before stepping on stage had hinted at the storm.
Yet, neither had imagined it would descend into such madness.
"These aren't protesters anymore..." Rentarō ground his teeth. "They're raving rioters!"
The mob waved torches, shoving forward to storm the stage, eyes burning with near-mad hatred.
Gasoline and smoke tainted the air, as though the entire plaza would ignite.
Who could believe it? In a lawful society, people were trying to burn their leader alive in broad daylight.
And before this, the Holy Child had been the most popular, the most beloved of her line.
Now, if not for the location—at City Hall, with the stage on a platform accessible only from within—the mob would already have torn her apart.
This was too abnormal.
Kisara and Rentarō both realized it instantly.
Scanning the crowd, they quickly spotted the truth.
Many weren't ordinary citizens.
Dressed like civilians, moving like civilians, however, the aura around them and the way others clustered subtly around them made it clear.
It was one of these who raised the Molotov cocktail.
And they saw a familiar yet distant emblem—the Pureblood Society, a secret extremist group with nearly a hundred thousand members in Japan, violently opposed to the Cursed Children.
The two realized: if this continued, disaster was certain.
Ordinary people might not dare harm the Holy Child, but these zealots would.
And though guards tried to hold order, the government itself was paralyzed. The Holy Child was truly in danger.
They moved to rush forward—right then, abruptly, armed guards blocked them.
"Do not interfere with the Holy Child's speech."
"What are you saying? Can't you see her danger?!"
"Do not interfere with the Holy Child's speech."
The guards repeated it, unyielding.
Meanwhile, on the stage—
"Quiet! Please, listen to—"
"Shut up, witch! Go to hell!"
Before she could finish, a flaming bottle spun through the air and smashed against the stage's edge.
Flames exploded outward, engulfing the platform.
"—!"
Kisara's pupils shrank, her eyes hardening with killing intent.
"Move!"
She swung her sheathed blade, the air shrieking. With a thud, the guard before her flew like a broken kite, crashing into a wall unconscious.
Rentarō followed instantly.
The other guards closed in, and the mob noticed them. Someone shouted:
"They're the witch's allies! They're trying to save her!"
And the mob, already spilling into City Hall, surged toward them.
"They're with the witch!"
"Catch them!"
"Don't let them take her!"
"Burn them too!"
The two were trapped.
Kisara struck hard with her scabbard, each blow heavy, but sheer numbers slowed her.
And Rentarō, facing civilians, dared not strike with full force, and was swiftly pinned.
was nearly overwhelmed.
"Holy Child! Get out of there, it's too dangerous!"
Kisara fought while shouting into her comm. Most of the stage was already ablaze, fire spreading fast.
The Holy Child wasn't yet burned, although the next bottle could come at any moment.
"..."
Hearing the voice, the Holy Child raised her head from where she sat collapsed, meeting Kisara's gaze.
"I'm sorry... for dragging you into this..."
Her soft voice, laced with apology, came through the comm.
"This isn't the time! Your back is still safe—hurry and escape!"
"...Yes, I know."
She said it, but did not move.
"You two should go. Your reward, the evidence of the Tendō clan's corruption, is ready. On my nightstand."
"And you?" Kisara asked without thinking.
"..."
The comm fell silent.
However, Kisara could see her—still sitting there on the stage.
Sitting amid the flames, unmoving, lifting her head weakly to gaze at the sky—as though she had accepted her fate.
"Holy Child!"
...
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