— — — — — —
"Onii-Chan is so strong!"
The little girls, who moments ago had been sobbing uncontrollably, clung to each other and fell silent, staring blankly at the sight before them.
Floating Cannons up in the sky, a swarm of guns and swords poured from glowing golden gates, so many that they seemed to blot out the sun itself.
When all that unleashed their fire, it was as if the sky was collapsing—everything beneath was swallowed by blinding destruction.
Below, shadow soldiers with glowing red eyes tore through the battlefield, devouring every trace of life with merciless hunger.
For one breathless instant, the entire world fell silent.
Every gaze turned to the man standing in the center of it all—Kazuma. No matter how powerful the floating cannons were, no matter how fearless and relentless the shadow soldiers became, no matter how massive the Gastrea monsters loomed—
In that moment, every being on the battlefield found their attention drawn to him.
Here and now, he stood alone as the absolute monarch, his will deciding the life and death of countless humans and monsters alike.
With a single command, he had drenched the soil of Tokyo in blood.
---
Inside the Civil Police command unit, Moto Tadashi watched the live feed in growing panic.
His hands trembled. For a fleeting, shameful second, he actually hoped Kazuma would lose—that the Gastrea would kill him.
Because if that happened… he wouldn't have to face the wrath of this demon king.
But the world is cruel; the more you pray not to see something, the faster it happens.
In the blink of an eye, the Gastrea were annihilated. Blood soaked every inch of the battlefield.
Moto felt his heart seize in his chest—it was as if invisible hands had crushed it still.
"N-no… impossible. No human could do this… It has to be an illusion… it has to be!"
He stumbled backward, legs giving out, collapsing onto the floor.
The mighty general of the Civil Police, once proud, fearless, and convinced of his own justice—now trembled like a broken, cornered old dog.
No one around him dared to laugh. How could they? They had taken part in the attack too.
And now, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail is their enemy.
They all knew what that meant.
They wouldn't simply die. No—he would make them wish for death.
Their eyes turned to the broken, twitching corpses of the Gastrea—still barely alive, still being pierced again and again by the shadow soldiers' blades, but not killing them
They saw a glimpse of their own future.
Someone couldn't take it anymore. The stench of fear filled the air—and then, the sharp crack of a gunshot.
"I'd rather die now than be tortured like that!" The man slumped over, still clutching his pistol.
One by one, panic spread through the command unit. Officers turned pale, shaking, some screaming, others following suit. More and more gunshots echoed.
"Seal the news! Don't let the rest of the Civil Police know!"
"We—we still have a chance! The army's behind us! Seitenshi-Sama will protect us!"
"He won't dare to destroy us all! There's still hope!"
Moto had completely lost his mind. He clung desperately to a fantasy—to the belief that Kazuma would fear the government, fear the military.
But that was nothing more than a fool's dream.
Then, on the screen, Kazuma—having just wiped out the last of the Gastrea—turned his head, almost idly, toward the camera.
For a heartbeat, their eyes met through the feed.
Moto froze. His vision went dark.
Because in those red eyes, he saw pure killing intent—and on those barely moving lips, he read the words: "You're next."
He fainted instantly.
— — —
Meanwhile, in the underground shelter, chaos reigned.
"Seitenshi-Sama! W-we…" The officials who had ordered the bombing could barely stand. Their legs shook uncontrollably.
Unlike the battle-hardened soldiers, these sheltered bureaucrats crumbled completely.
"We made a mistake…."
"That man… he won't forgive us. Say your goodbyes while you still can."
Seitenshi herself felt fear too—but also, strangely, relief. When she'd given the order to attack, she'd been torn apart by guilt.
Now it was over. Even if death awaited, her heart felt lighter.
She knew she had never been a true ruler—too kind to be ruthless, too weak to follow through on kindness. Just a figurehead, nothing more.
She sat quietly in her chair. When the end came, she realized there wasn't even anyone to say goodbye to.
Watching the panic around her, she sighed and turned her gaze to the screen—to Kazuma's face.
"One man," she murmured, "So this is what true power looks like."
Kazuma turned from the battlefield and walked back toward the girls. His eyes softened as he took in their battered forms, and finally rested on Sanae, who lay badly injured.
"Onii-Chan… I… I didn't listen to you. I'm sorry," she whispered weakly.
"No, Sanae only did it to protect us—it's not her fault," Kayano said quickly.
"You're all blameless," Kazuma replied quietly.
"Then it's your fault, Onii-Chan!" Kayano suddenly burst out."If you'd come back sooner, none of this would've happened! If you'd come sooner, Sanae wouldn't be hurt—Tina, Enju, Rita, Louise, Kayo… they wouldn't be like this!"
Her voice cracked. The facade she'd been holding together shattered.
She was still just a kid. After everything she'd just gone through, she couldn't stop herself from breaking down.
Through tears, she sobbed and shouted, "But.. But the ones who did wrong are the Gastrea, and the people who attacked you."
"...."
"Kayano, if you want to cry, then cry. Once you're done, pull yourself together… because next, we're getting our revenge."
Kazuma pulled her into a hug. Murderous intent still simmered in his eyes as he took in the blast marks all around them. He also noticed Sanae's injuries. These weren't caused by Gastrea. Only the military could've done this.
The fight wasn't over. It was still going on.
"I've got recovery potions. Drink them first."
"Next, we're going to settle this. I never leave revenge for the next day. They sure as hell won't see today's sunrise."
He pulled out a pile of healing potions. For people without natural regeneration, they boosted physical strength and sped up recovery. For those who already had regeneration, they worked like HP red potions in games.
Kayano cried her heart out, then wiped her face clean, downed the potion, and steadied her breathing. She knew very well this wasn't Kazuma's fault. He'd prepared everything before he left. If not for the attackers, they would've been safely hidden.
This was all on those people. They were the real monsters.
Pitch-black, twisted monsters.
Enju, Kayo, Rita, Tina, and Sanae drank their potions too. Their wounds closed up quickly, and they followed behind Kazuma.
They stepped out from the safety of their home and began walking toward where the Defense and the Civil Security forces were stationed.
Anything they ran into along the way was wiped out without hesitation.
Soon they reached the Civil Security base, where they ran into Moto and his men right at the entrance.
"The war's over," Moto said, guilt written all over his face. "I deeply apologize for using you earlier. We're willing to offer full compensation."
"But if you keep moving forward… you'll be making yourselves enemies of Tokyo's JSDF, Civil Security, and ISSO."
"If that happens, what awaits you is a complete and total war. We'll respond with even stron—"
Bang.
"War? You're giving yourself too much credit. This won't be a war. It'll be a massacre. Our massacre of you."
Before Moto could finish, Kazuma didn't even bother listening. His bullet punched clean through the man's chest.
But he was careful not to kill him.
"Find his family. I want him to watch each of them die right in front of him."
Kazuma realized he sounded a lot like a final boss villain right now… but honestly, he didn't care.
"Chief Moto!"
"You bastard, you actually dared—!"
"Take him down!"
The Civil Security officers, completely unaware of what had really happened, exploded with rage the moment they saw their boss get shot.
They had no idea what kind of enemy they were facing.
"We were sitting quietly at home, doing nothing!"
"We only rejected a dangerous job—"
"So you people attacked us just to force us onto the battlefield?!"
"You wanted us to share your burden? Why?!"
"Why should we risk our lives for people who hurt us?!"
"We just wanted to live. Just wanted a home. And you destroyed it!"
"You tore apart our only refuge. Now don't expect to live in peace!"
The loli voices carried straight into the ears of every Initiator nearby. The few remaining cursed children from ISSO Tokyo who'd been ready to fight froze mid-step.
They stared at the girls from Fairy Tail—kids just like them, cursed children with the same blood-red eyes. And suddenly they didn't know why they were fighting.
Everything the Fairy Tail girls said was exactly what they longed for too.
All they wanted was somewhere small, somewhere warm, somewhere willing to accept them.
Yet they themselves were supposed to fight these girls? Wasn't that just killing their own? Destroying their sisters' dream?
"You cursed kids still have one last chance."
"Join us. If you do, you'll be one of us, and we'll take down the real enemy together."
"Or you can stay where you are. We won't touch you."
"But if you attack us…"
"Sorry, but cursed or not, I won't go easy. Mercy toward the enemy is cruelty toward your own."
"This is my final warning."
Kazuma saw their hesitation and raised his voice. It echoed across the entire area, freezing every cursed child in place.
They hesitated. They thought.
Why were they fighting? Why were they protecting people who looked down on them, even hurt them?
Just because they were tools? Assigned to a promoter, ordered around, forced to fight?
They weren't born for this. That organization kidnapped them and pushed them into war.
"I knew it! They're monsters wearing human skin!"
One promoter suddenly turned on his own Initiator, but another child reacted instantly.
She struck him down, killing him on the spot to protect the other cursed child.
"You… you killed him!"
Her promoter stared at her with shock and fury, pulling out a weapon and attacking.
"No, wait, listen… I just wanted to stop him, I didn't mean—!"
The girl froze where she stood. Even if she was treated like a tool, she didn't want to hurt her partner.
Or rather, she thought he was her partner. Kids were so quick to trust. So simple. So easy to fool.
"Don't just stand there!"
The child she'd just saved jumped in to defend her. In the end, she chose Fairy Tail—same past, same eyes, same pain.
And in that instant, the entire Civil Security system collapsed.
Their already fragile trust shattered completely. Battle erupted.
Promoters and Initiators turned on each other. And with Kazuma's group helping the cursed children, the fight became one-sided instantly.
Within minutes, only a handful of people were left alive… along with a crowd of cursed children.
And among those survivors stood Rentaro Satomi.
"You're slaughtering innocent people! You think you're saving these cursed kids? Look at what you're doing!"
"You accuse us of treating them like tools, but you're using them for killing!"
"At least we never let them butcher others without cause! We didn't turn them into mindless weapons!"
Rentaro shouted at Kazuma, and to be fair, the guy had some strength. His mechanical body let him hold out even against being swarmed by lolis.
"It sounds like he's trying to reason with me?"
Kazuma stared at Rentaro, puzzled. Did all protagonists get this naïve nowadays?
They were already this deep in blood and he was still trying to argue? Were main characters always this stupid?
He didn't remember it being like this before.
"You're scared of the truth, aren't you?! Can you face these cursed children and call yourself righteous?!"
"You can't! Because you're nothing but a murderer!"
"If they're guilty, the law will judge them. You don't get to kill them! If everyone acted like you, the world would have ended by now!"
Rentaro still thought he was the hero here, and Kazuma was the villain.
He raised his voice even higher, trying to wake the cursed children up, trying to make them turn against Kazuma.
"He's tricking you! If he cared, he'd let you grow up like normal kids!"
"He'd send you to normal schools, teach you normal things, not how to kill! He would teach you how to change."
"That's right. He should be protecting you, not sending you on killing missions, showing your red eyes, making the world hate you."
"And Seitenshi-sama has already approved the Cursed Children Protection Law. Soon you'll be treated as humans. Kazuma is destroying all of you—wake up!"
"Just think about it. He's just using you!"
Rentaro saw the lolis lowering their weapons. Relief washed over him.
So they could still be saved.
.
.
.