— — — — — —
Twenty hours remained before the Gastrea were expected to breach the Monoliths Line.
Inside central Tokyo, the evacuation of those chosen by lottery had already begun in an orderly fashion. Those not selected, however, began to resist.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire echoed down the streets, and the would-be rebels fell where they stood.
"Seitenshi-Sama has already shown great mercy by allowing a fair lottery to decide who may enter the shelters!"
"This is the most impartial method—left entirely to fate!"
"I grieve for those who weren't chosen, but for the sake of Tokyo's survival, your sacrifice is necessary!"
"Your names will be remembered! After the war, they'll be engraved upon the Monument of Heroes, honored by all!"
The shelter supervisor delivered his speech with grandiose conviction, all while his gun remained trained on the crowd he'd just gunned down.
"Damn it all!"
"I don't want to die! I'm still so young!"
"I'm not afraid to die, but please—please let my child in! I'm begging you!"
Desperate cries filled the air. None had the power—or the courage—to resist the soldiers' weapons. They could only weep and plead, collapsing to their knees, foreheads knocking against the pavement in pitiful prayer for mercy that would never come.
Seitenshi, the so-called "Holy One," was already deep within the heavily fortified shelter. None of this misery would ever reach her eyes.
Those left outside had no hope, only the cruel fate of being abandoned.
And when people finally accepted that they were powerless to change their reality, madness followed.
They smashed, stole, and killed. Right and wrong no longer mattered—only the raw release of hate.
— — —
Meanwhile, in an empty school building, inside a small room that had been secretly renovated—
"Tch. 'Fair lottery,' huh? What a pretty phrase."
"There's no such thing as fairness in this world. Everything's decided by whoever's in power."
"The strong make the rules. The weak live—or die—by them."
Sumire Muroto stared at the shelter ticket in her hand and let out a dry laugh. The world hadn't changed at all.
It was still pitch-black, while Seitenshi, the so-called saintly ruler, always appeared in spotless white garments. Of course she did—she never set foot in the dark places of the world. That was why her clothes stayed pure.
Sumire shook her head and tore the ticket in half. She had no intention of entering the shelter—or of giving her spot to anyone else.
It was like holding a cup of water in a desert full of dying people. That water wasn't salvation—it was the spark that ignited bloodshed.
For once, she decided to treat herself: a bath, a bit of grooming, a fresh change of clothes. Even at the end, a woman had the right to look good.
She glanced at her reflection and smirked. "Still quite the beauty, if I do say so myself. Aside from one man with no taste, no one would ever call me an old hag."
Thinking of Kazuma's dismissive expression made her bristle a little. Old hag, her ass. She wasn't even thirty yet—right at that perfect balance between youth and maturity.
---
Out on the chaotic streets, Kayano and the others had gone shopping for a gift for Kazuma, only to find themselves in the middle of a city unraveling.
"What's happening here?!"
Enju looked around at the panicked crowds and stepped forward to ask someone—
"You! Red eyes—damn Cursed Children! This is all your fault! If it weren't for you monsters, we wouldn't be dying!"
The man's gaze caught her crimson eyes, and rage consumed him. He pulled a knife and lunged.
Bang!
Enju didn't hesitate. One shot, clean through the chest.
"What the hell's wrong with these people?" she muttered, scanning the next passerby. But every time someone noticed their eyes, it was the same—they'd lose control, scream, attack.
And every time, Enju put them down without a second thought.
"I found out what's going on," Tina said, typing furiously on her laptop. "The Gastrea are about to break through the defense line, so Seitenshi opened the shelters. But they only hold thirty percent of the population. The other seventy percent have been left behind."
"They can't do anything to the soldiers with guns," she continued bitterly, "so they're venting their rage on us instead."
Enju clenched her fists. "So that's it. Cowards. They can't fight the real enemy, so they come after us instead?!"
It wasn't their fault the Gastrea existed. They never asked to be born cursed. They just wanted to live.
More people gathered around them now, drawn by the commotion. None dared to attack at first—but as their numbers swelled, so did their false courage.
"You monsters!"
"Beasts!"
"Trash!"
"You cursed children are just like those creatures outside!"
"You shouldn't be alive!"
"Monsters in human faces!"
The mob hurled insults and rocks from a distance—until one man fell dead from a single, echoing gunshot.
"You dare shoot us?! You'll all be killed by the militia!"
"Monsters! This is our land—you don't belong here! Get out! Get out! Go fight the Gastrea and protect us now."
Fear rippled through the crowd, but the sight of the approaching militia emboldened them again.
Enju's eyes flared red. "That's it—I've had enough! I'm gonna kick every last one of them—"
Kayano grabbed her arm. "Enju-chan, no. Remember what Guildmaster told us?"
Her own eyes glowed crimson now. She looked deadly serious.
"He said, if you can cover it with firepower, don't bother with hand-to-hand."
Without another word, the girls pulled out grenades and lobbed them into the street. Crimson blossoms bloomed amid the screams.
The militia barely had time to react before they were torn apart by the next wave of fire.
No hesitation. No second-guessing. In this world, anyone who dared to challenge them met only one end—death.
Kazuma's teachings might have sounded ruthless in peacetime, but in this hell, they were gospel.
He'd taught them how to survive. And that was all that mattered.
I live, they die. That's all there is to it.
Even as the city outside collapsed into chaos, the girls hadn't given up on their plan to make Kazuma a gift. They raided what stores were still standing for ingredients, carried everything back to their base in the Outer Area, and set up shop in the kitchen.
"I think we should make a strawberry cream cake."
"No way, chocolate's better."
"I don't care what kind it is, as long as it's big! I want a huge one so we can eat till we drop."
"You guys do realize we're baking this for Onii-Chan, right? Not for you to stuff your faces."
Kayano rapped each of their heads in turn with a wooden spoon.
"We just thought maybe he likes these flavors…" one of them mumbled.
"Yeah, right. More like you like them. Quit slacking and get over here to help!"
With a sigh and a smile, Kayano herded everyone into the kitchen. Soon the place was alive with the sound of clattering bowls and cheerful chatter.
---
Meanwhile, in the living room, Kayo was deep in thought about what gift she should prepare. That's when Tina shuffled over, half-asleep.
"Hey, Kayo… aren't we supposed to be, like, doing something? The Gastrea are attacking, right?"
In the guild, everyone had their specialties.
Real-world problems? Ask Kayo.
People problems? Ask Enju.
Everyday life? Go to Kayano.
So Tina's question naturally went to Kayo.
"No need to worry," Kayo said calmly. "Guildmaster thought of that from the start. All sisters were rescued from the city. And he installed a powerful item in the house—it can generate a protective barrier."
"Plus there's a magic array buried under the house. When the Gastrea attack, the whole building will sink underground to hide."
"As for food and supplies, we've been stocked for ages. Onii-Chan took care of all that back when he built this place."
Tina blinked in surprise. For all his casual attitude and "bring it on" bravado, their leader had been ridiculously meticulous.
Sanae, their defense perfectionist, had even helped refine the design, making the defenses nearly impenetrable.
"The only sad thing," Kayo added with a wistful sigh, "is that our amusement park outside isn't finished yet."
"It's fine," said Sanae, wandering in. She'd been a key part of the construction—her talent for defense was unmatched. "Once all this blows over, we'll rebuild it from scratch."
Tina tilted her head, gazing around the cozy home they'd built together. For the first time, she felt something deep and warm—this is what it means to belong somewhere safe.
The people outside had it wrong. They weren't monsters or trash. They weren't unwanted. They cared for each other, helped each other. They were family.
Kazuma had accepted them, taught them how to survive, and stood behind them no matter what.
The world was vast, and most of it still rejected them. But they didn't need everyone's acceptance—just one place to call home.
They were small, so their home didn't need to be big. Just big enough for all of them to fit together. That was enough.
...
Fifteen hours remained until the Varanium Monoliths Line fell... or that was according to the experts.
"Seitenshi-Sama! The barrier is about to collapse!"
"What? I thought we had over ten hours left—how could it be this soon?"
Seitenshi's composure cracked as the report came in. The timing was disastrous—the evacuation wasn't even complete.
"The weather changed too quickly," the officer explained, trembling. "And the Gastrea… they've spawned another creature like Pleiades—one that can corrode the barrier!"
"They're moving far faster than predicted. We estimated two thousand before, but now there are over five thousand confirmed—and that's just the ones we can see!"
"Scanners also show countless others still approaching Tokyo!"
The officer's voice shook. The Gastrea were advancing with terrifying coordination, like a trained army.
According to the latest data, by the time the Monoliths Line collapsed, the Gastrea horde would already be fully assembled.
"How long can our Self-Defense Forces hold out?" Seitenshi asked quietly.
"Unclear."
"The civilian militia?"
"We've rallied over a thousand, but… the outcome's the same."
He didn't say it outright, but the truth was obvious. Both the soldiers and the militias were just cannon fodder, meant to buy time. The real defenders were already secured inside the shelters.
"Seitenshi-Sama," the officer said, falling to one knee, "we're out of time. We need to seal the shelters now."
"But the ones still outside…" Seitenshi hesitated.
"Please, Seitenshi-Sama. If we delay any longer, it won't just be some who die—it'll be everyone! For the greater good, we must act!"
His family was already inside. To him, the choice was simple. Other lives meant nothing next to theirs.
Seitenshi drew a long breath. "Sometimes… sacrifices are unavoidable. To protect the many, a few must fall."
"As long as we survive, Tokyo will not perish. Seal the shelters. Take us underground."
Her words were polished and righteous, an elegant mask for cowardice. And so the shelters began to close.
Cries and pounding echoed through the tunnels. Those who'd thought they were safe now faced despair even greater than those left behind.
...
An hour later, the Monoliths Line crumbled.
The Gastrea's advance began.
Explosions and gunfire thundered across Tokyo. The Self-Defense Forces' artillery filled the air with smoke, but the Gastrea's toxic mist swallowed the sky. Day turned into endless night.
Outside the shelters, the abandoned screamed, cursed, tore each other apart.
...
And in a military camp on the edge of the chaos—
"Captain Ibara, did we send the request to Fairy Tail Guild?"
"Yes. Despite our bad history with them, Tokyo is in danger. We have to stand together now."
"They've got almost all the Initiators—each one stronger than an entire militia unit!"
Rentaro Satomi slammed his hand on the table during the command meeting, his voice full of conviction.
"We sent the request," Captain Ibara replied coldly, "and received a response. They refused. Said it has nothing to do with them."
"What? How can it have nothing to do with them? This is about everyone's survival!" Rentaro shouted, standing up. "We're fighting for Tokyo—for justice!"
He truly believed it. To him, the cursed children should fight alongside them—for the sake of humanity, for their Seitenshi.
Boom!
An explosion shook the camp.
"Gastrea attack! The Self-Defense Force has fallen!"
"No time for talk!" Ibara barked. "All squads—engage independently! No tactics, just fight!"
Grabbing his weapon, he charged out with his men.
The war had begun.
"Damn it! The army fell this fast?!" Rentaro gritted his teeth, rallying his team and rushing into battle.
---
Meanwhile, back at the guild's base, the girls had finished the cake.
And there was a special gift.
Their gift for Kazuma wasn't expensive or fancy—but it was made with their own hands, from the heart.
.
.
.