— — — — — —
"They say a handmade gift is the most precious kind. So this—this is something we all made together!"
"Onii-Chan is definitely going to love it!"
Everyone looked at the finished piece they had worked on so hard, and genuine smiles lit up their faces.
It was a large sheet of white cloth, covered all over with bright red handprints.
Each mark came from one of the girls—tiny hands dipped in paint and pressed onto the fabric, one after another. A true handmade gift.
But in the upper left corner, among all those handprints, there was one small footprint—that was Enju's idea. She'd suddenly decided to stomp her little foot down, giggling the whole time.
"So this is what they call art, huh? It's perfect!"
Enju put her hands on her hips and grinned proudly at her masterpiece. She could already imagine Kazuma's face when he saw it—surprised, touched, maybe even speechless.
"Alright, the cake's done, the decorations are ready, and the gift's finished. Now all we have to do is wait for Onii-Chan to come home."
"Oh, right. There's one more thing," Kayo said as she flipped through her little notebook, checking each item on the list. "The military sent a request earlier—they wanted our help fighting the Gastrea."
"But after talking it over with Kayano, we turned them down."
Everyone nodded. None of them seemed too concerned. Whether Tokyo was destroyed or not—what did that have to do with them?
Their whole world, their home, was right here, in this small little place. Everything beyond it was just… noise.
"Also," Kayo continued, "the drones detected Gastrea breaching the outer defense line. They'll be reaching the outer area soon."
"So we need to activate the magic circle and start heading underground."
She pulled out a remote control—the activation trigger for the circle—and got ready to press it after giving everyone a moment to prepare.
Then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The entire building shook violently. Explosions echoed through the air. The defensive wards Kazuma had left behind flared to life, spreading a faint blue glow as a barrier formed around the house, holding off the barrage.
"What's happening?!"
"Is it the Gastrea attacking?!"
Everyone's eyes turned toward Kayo, waiting for her answer.
"...No," she said after checking her readouts. "It's not Gastrea. Someone's firing artillery at us. A full bombardment."
"Judging by the type and power… it's military-grade. Those bastards attacked us because we turned them down!"
She connected her computer to the external drones for confirmation, and her expression darkened with fury.
"Unbelievable! Those scum!"
"They're using dense saturation fire, and… damn it, they even mixed in anti-regeneration shrapnel!"
"They're trying to kill us!"
"Onii-Chan said it himself—anyone who dares to raise a hand against us has only one fate: death!"
A crimson gleam filled the girls' eyes, their anger boiling over. But before anyone could move, Kayano's voice cut through sharply.
"Stop. The Gastrea are attacking outside—we can't go out there right now. It's too dangerous."
"We'll go underground and wait it out. Once this is over, then we'll make them pay... if they are still alive by that time."
Kayano's voice was firm, though her own anger trembled beneath it. As the oldest, she had to keep her head clear. The outside world was chaos, and Kazuma wasn't here. Their first priority was to protect everyone still inside the guild.
"...Got it."
Kayo nodded and pressed the activation button.
The runic pattern around the house lit up—then flickered—and went dark.
"Huh? Why didn't we move? Kayo, did you press it or not?" Enju asked, tilting her head.
"I did. Hold on, I'll check."
Kayo frowned, quickly pulling up the system diagnostics. Her face tightened as she saw the readings.
"This isn't good. The earlier blast hit part of the array. It's not completely destroyed, but the energy flow's disrupted. The magic circle can't activate."
"I can fix it," she said, already heading for the supply closet. "We've got tools ready. Sanae, you're coming with me."
Sanae—who'd studied magic arrays alongside her—nodded and grabbed her gear.
"We'll go with you," Kayano said. "If anything happens, we can help."
"Yeah, no way we're letting you two go out alone!" Enju chimed in, her eyes still flashing red.
"Don't worry about fighting," another girl added. "You just fix the circle—we'll handle the rest."
Kayo didn't waste time arguing. Every second counted.
The girls rushed out together, leaving the safety of the barrier and hurrying toward the damaged section of the magic circle.
Overhead, more shells screamed down from the sky.
"Everyone—switch the canons to gravity mode!" Sanae shouted. "Catch the incoming shells and throw them back before they explode! Save as much energy as you can!"
At her command, the floating canons shifted formation. Blue light pulsed as they seized incoming artillery rounds midair and flung them aside, detonating them safely away.
Wave after wave of bombardment followed. Each one was blocked, deflected, or detonated harmlessly at a distance.
But Sanae frowned. "They know this isn't working. So why keep firing? Do they really hate us that much?"
Something felt wrong. Her instincts—honed by endless fights and beatings—were screaming at her.
"Gastrea incoming!" someone shouted.
"I get it now," Tina gasped. "Those shells—they're not meant to kill us. They're bait!"
"There's something inside them… something that's attracting the Gastrea!"
Tina's sharp eyes, perfect for low-light combat, caught sight of the monsters first. In an instant, she understood.
"So that's their plan. We refused their request for help, so they're forcing us into the fight. They used the bombardment to lure the Gastrea here!"
Her voice trembled with anger.
"The commander in charge of this operation," Kayo said coldly. "He's dead the moment I get my hands on him."
But there was no time to waste. The repair on the magic circle still needed time, and the Gastrea were already swarming closer.
They could stay inside the house for a while longer—the protective barrier would hold for a bit—but if they didn't make it underground soon, the defense artifact would run out of energy.
The only real option was retreat.
"We'll pull back for now," Kayo said, forcing herself to stay calm. "Head into the outer area and avoid the main horde. It's dangerous there too, but we can survive it."
Before she could finish, Enju spoke up, her voice sharp and defiant. "If we run, what happens to our home?"
"…It'll be destroyed," Kayo admitted quietly.
"Then I'm not going anywhere!" Enju snapped. "We finally built our own home. I'm not letting it be destroyed!"
She clenched her fists. "It's just a bunch of Gastrea. I'll crush them all myself!"
And before anyone could stop her, she charged straight at the oncoming monsters. That was Enju—always moving faster than she thought, always acting from the heart.
Kayo watched her friend rush ahead and lowered her head, tears filling her eyes. "It's my fault," she whispered.
"Enju's such a reckless idiot," Kayano said softly. Then her tone hardened. "But she's right. We're not abandoning our home."
"Kayo, keep working on the magic circle. Sanae, handle the aerial defense."
"The rest of us will take the front lines."
She turned toward Kayo, who was trembling, lost in guilt. Kayano knelt down and wrapped her arms around her.
"Listen to me, Kayo. None of this is your fault."
"No, it is my fault!" Kayo's voice cracked. "If I had pressed the button sooner, we would've been underground already. I messed up again. I'm supposed to be the smart one. The Guildmaster trusted me, and I failed him… I failed you all..."
Tears spilled down her cheeks. For all her brilliance, she was still just a child.
They had prepared for everything—food, defense, supplies—but they hadn't prepared for how cruel humans could be.
The Gastrea were already invading, and yet those same humans had turned their cannons on them, using them as live bait to delay the monsters.
Why?
When there was peace, everyone rejected them, looked at them like freaks, pretended they didn't exist, or wanted to kill them. But when danger came, suddenly they were "needed."
The same people who despised them wanted them to fight and die in their place.
"Tell me, Kayano… are we really not human?" Kayo whispered, her voice breaking. "Are we really just monsters wearing human skin? Otherwise, why would they treat us like this?"
Kayano's expression hardened, her red eyes glowing fiercely.
"Now's not the time to cry," she said. "Every second you spend talking is another second lost."
"Enju, Sanae, Tina, Rita, Louise—they're all fighting. You have to fight too."
"This isn't your sin. It's theirs. The ones who fired on us."
"Onii-Chan always said—never blame yourself for what others do. If someone attacks us, they've chosen their fate."
"They don't need forgiveness. They need to die."
"It's not the world that abandoned us. We're the ones abandoning it!"
The gentle big sister everyone loved was gone. Kayano's calm warmth turned to blazing fury.
She had spent the longest time with Kazuma, learning from him, training beside him. She'd learned his core principle by heart: protect your own—no matter what.
If someone threatens your family, they die. No apologies. No hesitation.
Their justice lay not in words, but in the weapons they held.
Kayo looked up at Kayano, wiped her tears, and returned to her work.
Now, all that mattered was fighting. Fighting until the very end.
Kayano turned back to the battlefield, charging into the chaos. She always led from the front—because she was their eldest sister.
Meanwhile, in the military command tent, the commander stared at the battle feed.
"T-They're incredible…" he stammered. "Just a hundred of them holding off that kind of Gastrea assault… their strength rivals a full battalion!"
"Monsters. Absolute monsters." His lips twisted into a grim smile. "Good. The harder they fight, the more Gastrea they'll draw away. The longer we can survive."
"Seitenshi-Sama," he murmured reverently, "I will not fail your expectations. I'll defend Tokyo with my life!"
His voice shook with excitement and fear. The sheer power of those girls was terrifying—but he had already made peace with dying.
His wife and son were safely in the shelters, under the Seitenshi's personal protection. That was enough. Even if he died here, he'd die a hero.
He believed that.
But they weren't the only ones watching.
Far beyond the city, hidden in the shadows, the Zodiac Gastrea, the highest-ranking Gastrea, had taken notice of Kayano and her group.
It began to stir, summoning more of its kind toward the battlefield.
Minute by minute, the fight grew more desperate. The girls were surrounded, forced to face endless waves of Gastrea—levels 1 through 4, with even one nearly reaching Level 5.
"This one's mine," Rita said, eyes narrowing. She deployed her floating canon and dashed forward.
Among them, she was the strongest. And the strongest had to protect the others—that was what she had learned.
"We'll help!"
In seconds, the most capable fighters joined her, launching a coordinated assault on the massive creature.
But before they could land the final blow, a blinding beam of light ripped through the sky—a condensed blast of mercury-like energy fired at terrifying speed.
"Watch out!"
Sanae reacted instantly, redirecting her repulsion canon to cover the front line. The beam struck, exploding with deafening force.
The others were saved. But Sanae's own canon was shattered.
"Sanae!"
Kayo screamed as Sanae's body was hurled backward. She wanted to run to her, but she didn't stop working—every second of hesitation could cost another life.
Tina rushed over to check. "She's hurt bad, but it missed the vital areas. She can heal, but she can't fight anymore."
Relieved, she carried Sanae back inside the barrier.
"You didn't have to protect us like that," Tina whispered, her voice shaking.
"I'm fine," Sanae said weakly. "I'm good at taking hits. You aren't."
She smiled, though it was barely more than a twitch. "I'm sorry, Onii-Chan. You told me to run when things got dangerous… but I couldn't."
She was the one most afraid of pain, the one who had spent all her time learning how to defend herself.
And in the end, she was the one who bore all the pain for everyone else.
Kazuma had told her not to take attacks head-on. But when the time came, she couldn't follow that order.
"Don't talk," Tina whispered. "You'll be fine."
Meanwhile, Rita and the others kept fighting, refusing to back down. Their attacks rained down in a storm of fire and light until the near–Level 5 Gastrea finally fell.
But it wasn't over.
More monsters poured in, the battle growing fiercer with each passing second.
Less than ten minutes had passed, but it felt like an eternity. The ground burned, the sky screamed, and as the clouds of dust cleared—
The real battle had only just begun.
.
.
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