"Did something happen?" Shine asked. He was looking at Jhed in a strange way — as if telling him wordlessly how big a mistake he'd made. Seeing the regret in Jhed's eyes made Nain feel uncomfortable.
Jhed stood frozen.
"This... this happened because of me. She was so beautiful. How did she end up like this. I only left her alone. I knew a monster had bitten her. And I stayed quiet. Seeing her like this makes me feel terrible. I can't even say anything to her. She must be furious with me. But I didn't do anything directly. So why do I feel so guilty? Did I ruin someone's life? What do I even say to her?"
All three of them looked at each other. Jhed stared at Nain without blinking. Feeling his gaze, Nain stepped behind Shine. She said nothing. Maybe silence felt right to her.
Silia watched from under the bed.
"What kind of monster looks half-human, half-monster?"
"Is he still angry? Is that why he won't talk to me? Or is he scared of me? Yes, that must be it. He was jumping around when he saw me. Maybe I really am a monster now. I shouldn't have come here. It isn't safe for me to be around people." Nain had fully hidden herself behind Shine.
There was no anger toward Jhed left in her. She had grown quiet.
"Whose voices are those? That can't be Daichi — there are too many." Shine put his hand on his sword.
Then — from behind, Maruls swung his sword at Nain. Shine had already sensed it.
"You won't escape this time, monster!" Maruls shouted.
"Did they find me? No — I'm still in human form." Silia thought from under the bed, convinced they were after her.
Shine pulled Nain aside in an instant. His sword met Maruls's with full force.
Uni, Metye, and Asfer stood ready behind Maruls — positioned to stop the monster if it tried to run.
The moment Shine's sword struck —
crack — Maruls's sword shattered. Maruls and his entire team were launched into the wall and crashed through it, tumbling out onto the road below with a heavy thud.
"Ow — my arm—" Maruls screamed, flailing on the ground. Uni, Metye, and Asfer were buried under the collapsed wall.
The force of Shine's strike had hurt Maruls badly. People passing by rushed to help. He couldn't get up — he'd just felt the full weight of S-Class power. It was a miracle they'd survived at all.
"Nain — stay here. I'm going down." Shine sheathed his sword and walked down to the road through the broken wall. A crowd had already gathered. People helped pull the three out from the rubble. All of them had taken injuries.
Shine lifted Maruls onto his back and carried him inside. Others helped bring Uni, Metye, and Asfer in too. They were seated in chairs.
Jhed still hadn't moved. He was lost inside himself — as if the explosion that had just happened around him hadn't reached him at all.
Nain stood in the corner, silent. Maruls had tried to attack her. That hurt in a different way.
"He must have thought I was a monster," she said to herself. The four of them were now seated. It had all happened because of the attack on Nain. But no one had been seriously hurt — that much, at least, was a relief.