In the morning at Sato's apartment, he was still lying on the couch when suddenly the curtains were forced open, light suddenly engulfing the room.
Startled, he jolted upright from the couch, looking around to see what had happened while Irina was already approaching him with determined steps.
"Wha–What happened?"
"We need to go, now!"
Her expression was serious and cold, just like the one he had seen when he first met her, nothing like the face he saw last night when she was teaching him what runes are.
"First, explain to me what happened. Then we'll go," Sato said, his voice steady despite having just woken up.
Irina silently pointed at the TV. The live broadcast showed the Black Knight in a frenzy, tearing through the park and crushing every hero who tried to stop him.
"That is…"
"Now you understand, right? I want my revenge on that bastard. The first time we fought he humiliated me because I didn't have an exis at the time, but now it's another story," Irina said, rushing, wanting to go already.
So she wants revenge on him…
Thinking this, Sato took a quick peek at the screen, seeing how the knight easily parried the heroes' strikes.
For one reason or another I don't feel like this is the best thing to do, but…
He looked at her, she was furiously biting her nail, frustration creasing her face.
She is clearly distressed, and if taking revenge on that knight would make her feel better, then I will follow her.
"Very well, let's go."
He changed quickly, then swung open the fridge, rummaging through it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Irina's voice cut through the room, her arms crossed as she watched him grab last night's leftover pizza.
Sato pulled out two slices—one for himself, and one he held out to her.
"We can't just leave like this. I bet you haven't even eaten."
Irina stared at the slice for a second before setting it on fire with her flames. In seconds, all that remained of the pizza was black dust.
"We don't have time for this nonsense."
Without another word, she opened the door and stormed out.
Back to square one, huh.
Sato sighed, disappointed, staring at the ashes of what was once her favorite pizza.
Both rushed down the street toward the park where the knight was rampaging.
"I was wondering…" Sato said between breaths, still running, catching Irina's attention.
"Why didn't you just go alone? A hero can act without their exis nearby, right?"
"Yes, we can," Irina replied, her steps steady despite the pace. "But doing so limits our power. The further our exis is from us, the weaker we become.
"I see…"
I guess this makes sense.
Closing in on the park, the scenery had already changed, everything around them was either crushed by falling debris or toppled by the trees that had been cut down.
From the opposite direction, a child was running to safety just as a car was hurled out of the park, now ready to crash down on him.
Seeing this, Sato sprinted toward the boy, wrapping his arms around him to shield him from the danger.
Irina, who had been running straight toward the park, came to a sudden stop and turned back. In an instant, she positioned herself between Sato, the child, and the falling car.
With a swift motion of her hand, flames burst to life—a blazing wave that incinerated the car completely.
"Thank you…" The child said shily.
"It's alright now. You should hurry as far away from this place as possible. Where are your parents?"
A shout could be heard in the distance, calling the child's name. Further down the street, his parents were waiting for him.
The child hurried toward them, waving to Sato as he reunited with his family.
That was close.
As the thought crossed his mind, Irina suddenly grabbed him by the collar, pulling him toward her and locking eyes with him.
"Did you lose your mind? What do you think you were doing?"
"I did what I thought was right," Sato replied firmly, not looking away.
"Is that so? Your little 'righteousness' would've gotten you killed if I wasn't here."
"I know," Sato said, his tone softening, "but you were here."
"Tsk…" She released his collar with a sharp click of her tongue. "Do this one more time, and you're on your own."
Without another word, she turned and continued toward the park, with Sato following right behind her.
Earlier that morning, before Sato and Irina headed to the park, on the other side of the city, at Asahi's house.
Asahi woke up lazily, his vision still blurry. Beside him, Blueblade sat perfectly still in a meditative pose, silently watching him.
"..."
Asahi stared back, unsure what to say.
"..."
Blueblade didn't speak either.
The silence stretched until Asahi finally broke it.
"Blueblade."
"Yes, little exis."
"What are you doing?"
"I have news for you," Blueblade replied calmly, "but I was waiting for you to wake up before delivering them."
Asahi blinked, looking at him for a moment.
"And why didn't you just wake me up?"
"Where I come from," Blueblade said with composure, "it is considered impolite to disturb someone's rest. In my world, waking another before sunrise was a sign of poor manners."
"I see… So, what news do you bring me today, oh you polite samurai?"
"..." For a second, Blueblade fell silent, and then a small smile appeared at the corner of his face.
"A hero has gone berserk, and if my memory doesn't betray me, it's the same hero Sato told us about when we talked at karaoke."
When Asahi heard that, he jumped from the tatami bed, hurrying to get change.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? We need to go help them! That moron probably decided to follow Irina for her revenge or something."
While Sato and Irina were heading to the park, Irina sneezed.
"Can heroes get sick?" Sato asked, while running.
"Of course not."
Back at Asahi's house, he was ready to leave. Both leaving the house in a hurry.
Asahi's house was quite far from the park where the berserk hero was rampaging, so they decided to take some shortcuts.
Blueblade ran ahead of Asahi. When they were about halfway there, he caught a faint trace of mana lingering in the air.
Glancing to his right, he noticed a narrow alley connecting to their path—and deep within it, a small light began to grow brighter and brighter.
In one swift motion, Blueblade unsheathed his sword and sliced in two an incoming icicle aimed straight at his head.
Both Asahi and Blueblade stopped, from the darkness of the alley light steps barely heard as they approached.
"Who would have thought I would meet you here…"
From the alley slowly emerged a woman with long white hair, pink eyes, and a fluffy white tail and ears.
"Yuki." Blueblade finished as she became fully visible.
"Reiji, it seems you haven't lost your edge," Yuki said in a composed tone, as something in the shadows readied to strike.
"How could I…"
Blueblade didn't even finish his sentence when, in a flash, a man with long dark hair and red eyes rushed to strike him.
Blueblade dodged with ease, letting the man pass him as he missed. Now, surrounded by both.
"When my old friends are here to greet me," Blueblade said calmly, eyes closed, as if contemplating their past.