The park was peaceful.
Families had gathered in groups, spreading picnic mats across the grass. Parents sat with their children, food laid out neatly on cloths, laughter and casual conversation filling the air.
Yuzhou observed quietly.
He counted more than ten families that included a young boy around elementary-school age.
He had no interest in approaching them one by one to ask who Haruki was.
Instead, he leaned his back against a tree trunk and waited.
He did not wait long.
The ground began to tremble.
"An earthquake?"
People froze mid-motion, expressions turning uneasy as they sensed the vibration beneath their feet.
In Japan, earthquakes were common—after all, the country sat atop tectonic boundaries and volcanic belts.
Some stood up cautiously, testing their footing, ready to flee at the first sign of danger.
They were wrong.
This was not a natural disaster.
A thunderous explosion rang out as massive chunks of black soil were blasted into the air at the far end of the park.
From beneath the earth, a colossal beast clawed its way out—ferocious, towering, resembling an ancient dinosaur.
Mud clung to its head and body, falling in clumps as it lifted itself upright.
"What is that?!"
"It's a monster!"
"Run! It's a monster!!!"
"Hurry! Get the kids—move!!"
The monster roared, baring its fangs, and began striding toward the park.
Panic erupted instantly.
People abandoned their picnic mats, their food, everything—dragging children along as they fled in chaos.
Yuzhou watched the creature calmly, recalling its profile.
Giestron.
A ferocious-type kaiju.
Somewhat similar in appearance to Black King, with strong dinosaur-like traits.
A species related to Arstron—often regarded as an embodiment of the earth's rage.
The bone horns on its head could unleash electromagnetic attacks.
"So it begins."
Yuzhou shifted his gaze from the monster to the fleeing crowd.
Everyone was running for their lives—except for one man.
That man kept turning back, waving his arms frantically, shouting directions as if organizing an evacuation.
Behind him were a woman and a young boy.
His wife and son.
As for the boy's identity, Yuzhou no longer needed to guess.
That child was Haruki.
"Everyone, this way!"
"Don't panic!"
"Please evacuate calmly and in order!"
The man shouted continuously.
But the park was vast, and there was only one direction to flee—away from Giestron.
There was no bottleneck, no real congestion.
No one was listening to him.
"…A firefighter's instincts," Yuzhou muttered softly.
After handing Haruki over to his mother, the man turned and ran straight toward Giestron.
Yuzhou followed—but deliberately kept his distance.
He was here to save Haruki's father.
And he had to do it without damaging the flow of time.
Haruki's father ran while shouting warnings, scanning the area to ensure no one had been left behind.
Most people had already escaped.
"Is anyone still here? Evacuate immediately!"
"Anyone left?! The monster is coming—run!"
"Anyone—ah—"
His voice cut off abruptly.
A massive shadow swallowed him.
He looked up.
Giestron loomed overhead, raising its enormous claws, its roar nearly deafening.
"…Damn it!"
Cold sweat streamed down the man's forehead.
His eyes burned with determination as he kicked at the monster with everything he had.
It was futile.
An ant shaking a tree.
To Giestron, he was nothing more than an insect—one that had dared to challenge its authority.
And insects that did so were meant to be crushed.
"So this is what they call 'the moment the author decides someone must die.'"
Yuzhou sighed internally and stepped forward.
In stories, when a character is destined to die, they always say things like:
"Run! Don't worry about me!"
"You go first—I'll hold it off!"
"Protect him! Leave this to me!"
Once those lines are spoken, death is inevitable.
Haruki's father was supposed to die here.
But Yuzhou had come to take him back—from the hands of fate itself.
The moment Giestron's foot came down—
Yuzhou vanished.
A blur of motion crossed the field.
In the next instant, he stood in front of Haruki's father.
Boom.
The monster's foot slammed down—
And stopped.
Yuzhou caught it with one fist.
The massive leg froze in midair, unable to descend any further.
"…What?!"
Haruki's father stared in disbelief, his worldview collapsing in real time.
A human—
Stopping a monster bare-handed?
Was this a superhero?
Or a movie set?
"Huh? What's with that look?"
Yuzhou glanced back at him casually.
"…Is this… a film shoot?"
The man asked instinctively, utterly stunned.
To him, the scene was indistinguishable from cinema.
"No," Yuzhou replied flatly.
"And if you don't leave right now, that foot is coming down."
"I—I'm going!"
The moment the man took a step back, Yuzhou shoved Giestron away.
The kaiju had not expected such overwhelming strength from something so small.
Its balance broke, and it crashed onto the ground.
The impact sent mud flying and shook the earth violently.
Haruki's father was knocked off his feet.
Unluckily, his head struck an exposed tree root as he fell.
He lost consciousness instantly.
"…That works."
Yuzhou had not planned for that, but it simplified matters.
Originally, Haruki's father was meant to die here.
He could not remain in this timeline.
Yuzhou's objective was clear—
Take him into the future.
Giestron soon struggled back to its feet.
This time, the monster regarded the "small insect" before it with genuine caution.
Yuzhou looked up at the towering kaiju.
He did not transform.
Energy surged quietly within his human body.
Electromagnetic energy gathered at Giestron's bone horns and fired toward him.
Yuzhou moved.
His speed—and his small target size—made the attack easy to evade.
After dodging several blasts, Yuzhou came to a halt.
He pulled both arms back.
Particles of light began spilling from his body.
The air itself trembled.