The Wrath was impatient.
It surged forward with a speed that defied its massive frame. It was too fast and too heavy, each stride leaving jagged cracks in the asphalt of the narrow alley. The two remaining Aegis Sacra soldiers tried to hold their ground from the right side, their weapons glowing dimly as their stamina reached its breaking point.
Seraphine didn't move.
It wasn't a lack of will. Without a weapon, her only options were physical maneuvers, and facing a Class A Wrath without a magic weapon was the fastest way to die in vain. She knew that, and it was a feeling she loathed more than anything else in life.
"Warden!" one of her soldiers shouted from the right. "We can't hold much longer. Retreat?"
Seraphine gritted her teeth.
Retreat meant the Wrath would reach the main road. The main road meant crowds of civilians who hadn't yet been fully evacuated. It meant casualties that shouldn't happen.
"Hold for thirty more seconds."
"Warden, with all due respect, we are—"
"Thirty seconds."
The soldier didn't argue further. They obeyed because that was what people did when Seraphine Aldcroft spoke in that tone.
But Seraphine knew thirty seconds wouldn't be enough. Not without a weapon.
Behind her, Rein was still standing there. He should have been gone by now. The Warden had given him a clear instruction: at least don't die. That was usually enough for a normal person to run. But this man didn't budge, and Seraphine could feel it without turning around. His presence was calm and steady, like something that simply refused to cease existing.
She turned her head slightly.
"You're still here." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Rein didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the advancing Wrath. "I don't know. It feels wrong to leave."
Seraphine stared at him for a full second. A former Grey Bearer, expelled from the academy, with no weapon, no combat skills, and no rational reason to remain in this alley. Yet here he was, and his eyes showed no sign of panic.
Something shifted in her mind. It wasn't logic, but an instinct she had long trained herself to ignore, yet one that never truly left.
Try it.
"Former Grey Bearer," she said quietly. "How many Callers have tried to summon you?"
Rein looked at her, a single eyebrow raised slightly. It was an odd question for the situation.
"Twenty-three."
"The result?"
"None succeeded."
"Is your Core Crystal still intact?"
"As far as I know, yes."
Seraphine faced the Wrath again. Her soldiers were failing; the weapon on the left had faded almost completely. She made a decision.
"I'm going to try something," she said. "You have the right to refuse."
"Try what?"
She turned to face Rein fully for the first time. Up close, Rein realized just how narrow the alley was. Seraphine left very little space. This woman was more real than he had imagined not a figure from a textbook or a name on a news ticker. Her face looked weary beneath her controlled expression, and there was a weight behind her eyes that suggested a burden carried for far too long.
"Resonance Call," Seraphine said. "I will touch your chest and attempt to summon you."
"I told you, twenty-three Callers already—"
"I am not an academy student." Her tone remained flat. "And I have no other choice right now. If nothing stops that Wrath in the next minute, the people outside this alley will die."
Rein looked at her. Seraphine didn't look away.
"I'm not asking you to believe this will work," she continued. "I'm only asking you not to reject it before we try."
One second. Two seconds.
Behind Seraphine, a loud crash echoed as one of her soldiers was thrown back, his weapon extinguished. The soldier fell to his knees, head bowed, finished. Only one remained.
Rein watched it happen, then looked back at Seraphine.
"Do it."
Seraphine didn't hesitate. She stepped forward and raised her right hand. Rein didn't flinch or move. He stood with his back against the wall and let her palm land on his chest, directly over his heart.
The warmth was instantaneous. It wasn't an ordinary heat. It felt as if someone had ignited something deep inside him, like a room that had been dark for years finally having its door flung open.
Seraphine furrowed her brow. Her eyes were half-closed in deep concentration. Rein could feel the pressure of something searching for a path inward.
But it was different from before. The twenty-three previous Callers felt like knocks on the wrong door: awkward, uncertain, and lost. Seraphine's touch felt like someone who already knew where the door was and was pushing it open.
Click.
Rein couldn't accurately describe what happened next. Heat exploded from his chest. It wasn't painful; it was more like something long-suppressed finally finding the space to breathe. There was a sound like a crystal cracking, but not breaking more like opening. Light flooded his vision even though his eyes were wide.
And then, he was no longer there.
Not in the sense of death. His consciousness remained, but it had shifted. He was inside something rather than outside. Warm, heavy, and solid. He could feel Seraphine's hand gripping something, and that something was him, but in a form he had never imagined.
A sword.
A long blade of fire, glowing with a pulsing orange-red light like a heartbeat. The hilt fit perfectly in Seraphine's hand as if it were forged specifically for her. There was no smoke or sparks, only a steady and intense heat.
Seraphine stared at the sword. For three seconds, her eyes widened a rare occurrence for a face trained to remain stoic. Her lips parted slightly before closing again.
Dormant Obsidian.
She had read about it. It was the highest grade of fire ever recorded, more powerful than any weapon she had held before. She cut her thoughts short. Not now.
The Class A Wrath was right in front of her. For the first time since morning, she had a weapon in her hand.
Seraphine stepped forward. Her movements changed instantly. Her shoulders dropped and her stance widened. As she gripped the sword, Rein could feel something strange from within his transformation. He could feel the rhythm of her movement. The way she moved was like water taking any shape, but now she was fire, and fire does not follow; fire leads.
The Wrath turned toward her, the dark void on its face pulsing.
Seraphine didn't stop. She closed the distance in two strides. The sword in her hand swept in a clean arc. It wasn't a massive strike meant to destroy everything at once, but a precise one. It hit the gap between the Wrath's raised right arm and its torso.
The Wrath shrieked. The sound wasn't like a scream; it was more like burning metal, a high frequency that made Rein's teeth ache, if he still had teeth in this form.
But the monster retreated.
"Good."
Rein didn't know if Seraphine was talking to him or herself. But he felt a warmth that didn't come from the fire, but from the word itself.
A second strike followed, then a third. Seraphine moved through the Wrath's attacks with movements that truly looked like a dance. Not because they were beautiful, but because they were efficient. No movement was wasted. No step was in vain. The Class A Wrath that had overwhelmed an entire squad was being driven back.
One final attack. Seraphine leaped, and Rein could feel her entire weight centered on a single point. He knew what was coming before it happened.
The sword struck the center of the Wrath's chest. Orange-red light exploded in every direction. The Class A Wrath crumbled into black ash, scattering between the walls of the narrow Sector 7 alley.
Silence followed.
Seraphine stood in the middle of the drifting ash. Her breath was slightly faster than usual, the only sign that the fight had required effort. Her hand still gripped the sword. Slowly, she lowered her arm.
And Rein returned.
The process reversed: the heat receded, his form returned, and suddenly he was standing in the alley on his own two feet. His back was against the wall, and his orange cashier uniform felt utterly out of place after what had just transpired.
He stumbled. It wasn't a fall, just a wobble, like legs waking up from a long sleep.
Seraphine had already turned to him. Her eyes were sharp and assessing. Before Rein could speak, she stepped toward him.
"Your Soul Gauge," she said. "What is the status?"
Rein blinked. "I... I don't know how to measure it."
"Dizzy?"
"A little."
"Nauseous?"
"No."
"Your hands are shaking."
Rein looked down. His fingers were indeed trembling slightly. He hadn't noticed until now.
"Oh."
Seraphine was silent for a moment. Her expression remained unreadable, but there was a flicker in her eyes something like a calculation, but also something more.
"This was your first time becoming a weapon," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Minor Soul Erosion. It's normal." She paused. "I need to perform a Soul Return."
Rein stared at her. Seraphine stared back. Nothing about her expression changed, but the way she stood was different. She was more alert, perhaps even a bit uncertain a rare sight for a woman who had just fought a Class A Wrath without flinching.
"Do you know what a Soul Return is?" she asked.
"I studied it at the academy."
"Good. Then you know this isn't a choice." She paused. "It is my duty as the one who used you."
Outside the alley, the sounds of arriving Aegis Sacra units grew louder. The sirens were fading. People were beginning to venture out again. The world was moving once more.
Inside the narrow alley of Sector 7, Rein looked at the Warden standing before him, her hands still slightly warm from the remnants of the fire. He realized his monotonous life had just come to a total end.
"...Alright then," Rein said finally.
Seraphine nodded once.
"Follow me."