The Jaegers' emergency summons brought every member rushing back immediately.
Esdeath wasted no time on unnecessary explanations.
"Several villages outside the Imperial Capital have been attacked. We haven't identified the enemy, and Night Raid may be involved. We'll divide into three teams and investigate the affected areas."
She began assigning the groups.
"Bols, Noah, take the village to the west."
Noah naturally glanced at Bols.
They often chatted in the meeting room, but this appeared to be the first time they had been sent on a mission together.
"Wave and Run, investigate the southeastern village."
"Leave it to us," Wave replied.
"Seryu, you're coming south with me."
"Yes!"
"Then move out immediately."
Esdeath rose, took her military coat from the back of her chair, and swept it over her shoulders in one smooth motion.
...
While they hurried toward their destination, Bols suddenly asked, "Mr. Noah, are you still single?"
The question caught Noah off guard.
Strictly speaking, he probably could not call himself single.
His true body in Orario was still only a child, but in the world of Blazers, his relationship with Stella had already reached the point where an engagement would not have seemed unreasonable.
The problem was that he did not yet possess enough influence in that world.
Stella was the princess of an entire kingdom and an A-Rank Blazer, making her an enormously valuable asset to her country.
Noah had earned a degree of status in Vermillion through his past actions, but it was not enough.
Even if the King personally approved of their relationship, there would still be plenty of domestic opposition.
Other nations might object as well.
However, the next time Noah projected himself into that world, it would mean he already possessed enough power to resolve every concern standing between them.
As for this world, there were certainly people he cared about, but those feelings had not developed into love.
"I have someone," Noah answered honestly. "She's very far away right now, and for various reasons, I'm unable to visit her."
As he spoke, his expression relaxed, carrying a mixture of happiness and longing.
Bols noticed all of it.
"Hahaha. She must be a wonderful person." He sounded genuinely pleased for Noah. "I thought you might be the type who didn't place much importance on romantic relationships."
"Did you?"
"You're always alone, and there's something mysterious about you. Sometimes it feels as though you aren't truly here with the rest of us."
Bols's words left Noah silent.
He was technically a member of the Jaegers.
In truth, however, he had never thought of himself that way.
He had always regarded everyone and everything around him from the perspective of an observer.
He could already predict how the Jaegers' story would end.
None of them were likely to meet a peaceful end.
Esdeath and the other members possessed individual strength far beyond that of ordinary people. In this world, every one of them belonged among the powerful.
But they stood on the wrong side.
Or perhaps the positions assigned to them had doomed them from the beginning.
The people of the Empire were already turning toward the Revolutionary Army.
More than half of the Empire's generals had defected with their soldiers, all of them seeking to break open the cage that had oppressed the population for so long.
Anyone standing against the people was destined to lose.
In only a few years, an Empire that once held every advantage had become a hollow structure on the verge of collapse.
Its remaining power was no longer sufficient to crush the rebellion, yet its internal institutions were too rotten to support meaningful reform.
Even under those circumstances, the Jaegers continued fighting for it.
Their ending had already been decided.
To Noah, they resembled pieces being moved step by step toward an abyss by fate.
Even if he watched them fall, it would only be the conclusion he had already foreseen countless times.
He had treated their lives and their very existence with indifference.
Earlier that day, he had rescued three girls who had already reached the edge of their own abyss and even arranged safe employment for them.
Helping them had made him happy.
But another thought had influenced his choice.
Those girls were so insignificant to the larger game that saving them would not change the board.
That was why he had acted.
Bols was right.
Noah had not truly been looking at the people around him.
The silence between them lasted until they reached the village.
"This is awful..."
Bols stood before the remains of what had once been a warm family home, his fists tightening at his sides.
The building had been reduced to rubble.
The body of the husband could no longer be recovered in full. Only a pair of legs remained, still wearing their shoes.
His wife had been pregnant.
Her stomach had been torn open, and both the unborn child and her internal organs had been removed.
A small child lay beneath her body, only a few years old.
The child was dead as well.
Noah used Appraisal on the three victims before looking toward Bols.
He could feel the anger surging from the man's soul.
Perhaps it struck him so deeply because Bols had a wife and daughter of his own.
"Mr. Noah, tracking isn't one of my strengths," Bols said quietly. "Can you find where the killers went?"
"I already have. They headed downstream."
Bols looked at the ruined home and the scattered remains before removing the large flamethrower from his back.
"At least allow me to give you a proper cremation. Rest peacefully. I promise I'll deal with the creatures that killed you."
Flames roared from the Teigu and engulfed the wreckage.
The house and the bodies inside were swiftly consumed and reduced to ash.
Purgatory's Invitation: Rubicante.
The Teigu could produce flames that water could not extinguish, along with streams of molten rock capable of reaching considerable distances.
Its destructive power was formidable.
Unfortunately, it was extremely heavy, poorly suited to close combat, and severely limited the user's mobility.
Bols essentially became a medium-range artillery platform whenever he wielded it.
As Noah followed behind him, he studied the man's soul.
It looked like a cluster of flames.
The outer fire was gentle, surrounding an inner flame stained almost completely black, yet the core at the center still shone brightly.
Bols's experiences were not so different from those of Zank the Beheader.
The difference was that Zank had been driven insane, while Bols possessed enough love and familial affection to keep his darkness under control.
His wife and daughter were the light within him.
"I found them."
Noah and Bols took a shortcut through the forest and soon encountered the perpetrators responsible for attacking the house.
Their appearance surprised both men.
"Danger Beasts?" Bols asked uncertainly.
He had never encountered Danger Beasts shaped like these.
Noah was surprised for a different reason.
He had seen such creatures very recently.
They were failed modified humans once controlled by Dr. Stylish.
Their bodies remained vaguely humanoid, but they had lost the ability to think, and their intelligence was severely damaged.
They probably understood only one command.
Destroy.
Noah was certain that Dr. Stylish was dead.
Had these monsters been released before his death?
Or had other subordinates survived somewhere beyond the forces Noah destroyed?
If so, why would they release the creatures now?
"Can you understand me?" Bols asked, barely containing his anger.
The only answer was a series of roars and bloodthirsty stares.
"I see. You poor creatures."
Fire erupted from Rubicante and swallowed all four monsters at once.
They howled in pain, but Bols showed them no mercy.
As their cries gradually weakened, however, the sounds began to change. What started as the roaring of monsters slowly became unmistakably human screams.
When voices began begging for help from inside the fire, Bols's entire body stiffened.
He stared at the burning creatures as their warped bodies slowly took on more human features.
Human screams and desperate pleas echoed through his mind.
"Why...?" His voice shook. "Weren't they Danger Beasts?"
Noah walked to his side.
"They were probably human once. The modification procedures failed and turned them into creatures resembling Danger Beasts."
He placed a hand on Bols's shoulder.
"Those people died the moment the procedure destroyed them. What you killed were only new forms of Danger Beast."
Noah did not know whether those words would truly comfort him, but he had nothing better to offer.
Before leaving, he glanced toward a distant section of the forest.
Then he and Bols returned together.
Hidden among the trees, Leone wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
"He noticed me from that far away? That guy is really a monster."
She looked toward the ashes left behind by the creatures.
"These new Danger Beasts are attacking ordinary people all over the area. I need to report this to Boss immediately."
...
With both the Jaegers and Night Raid hunting them, the harm caused by the new Danger Beasts gradually decreased.
Both sides concluded that few of the creatures could remain.
Noah continued helping with the cleanup, though this time he operated alone.
Once Esdeath understood the approximate strength of the monsters, she decided that pairing her people together was a waste of combat power.
Spreading them out allowed the Jaegers to cover far more ground.
Had the creatures not caused such serious damage, she would never have bothered fighting such unworthy prey in the first place.
Being allowed to move alone suited Noah perfectly.
He had already noticed that someone was controlling the Danger Beasts. During several recent encounters, the hidden controller had apparently begun trying to preserve their forces.
Whenever the monsters faced an opponent they could not defeat, they received orders to withdraw.
Noah used Black Nightmare to follow one of the fleeing creatures from a distance.
Eventually, every surviving monster entered the same cave.
Now Noah stood before its entrance.
"Let's see who you are."
Someone was using what Dr. Stylish had left behind to cause widespread destruction.
Noah wanted to know what they hoped to accomplish.
He entered the cave without attempting to conceal himself and formed a small light from the light element, illuminating the passage ahead.
The twisting network of tunnels quickly became irritating.
Five Sights granted X-ray Vision and Farsight, but it offered no night vision. In complete darkness, those abilities were nearly useless.
A faint vibration traveled through the floor.
A monster?
Noah increased his pace and moved toward the source.
The moment he reached another fork in the tunnel, a concealed weapon flew from the darkness and shattered the light he had created.
An instant later, two figures surrounded him from the front and rear.
'Taking away my vision immediately?'
Unfortunately for them, everything inside Noah's domain could serve as part of his senses.
He lowered himself and avoided a horizontal kick from behind.
A slash came from the front immediately afterward.
Noah pulled a stone sword from the cave floor and raised it to block.
The blade flashed.
Surprise crossed Noah's face.
His stone sword had been cut apart.
That degree of sharpness was extraordinary, even for a Teigu.
The darkness was absolute, preventing him from making eye contact and using Seeker properly.
'I was slightly careless.'
Noah touched the wound across his chest.
The enemy's blade had cut through the stone sword and continued into his body in the same instant.
The injury would heal within seconds, but he decided it was time to become more serious.
Another slash cut through the darkness.
This time Noah reinforced his legs with mana and reduced the weight of his body.
He shifted aside in an instant, avoiding the blade, then drove the heel of his palm into the attacker's stomach.
"Gah!"
The enemy in front was launched across the tunnel.
From the sensation against his palm, Noah suspected that the strike had been blocked.
Even so, crashing into the cave wall at that speed in such a confined space could not have felt pleasant.
Perhaps because their companion had been injured, the presence behind Noah became unsettled.
The second attacker began moving more urgently, and their strikes gradually lost precision.
"One elite and one idiot?"
Now that he understood the pair, Noah swept his foot backward and destroyed the second enemy's balance.
He caught them, lifted them into the air, and felt armor beneath his hands.
In that case...
Noah summoned Ravenfeather.
"Impact!"
A formula unfolded across his palm, releasing an invisible shock wave that passed through the armor and inflicted serious internal damage.
"It's over."
Noah raised his foot to deliver the finishing blow.
Before he could bring it down, he heard the sharp sound of something tightening throughout the cavern.
Twang!
Powerful threads wrapped around him in an instant, binding all four limbs.
'This is...'
The weapon was familiar.
He had only seen it once or twice, but something this distinctive could hardly be mistaken for anything else.
The Teigu Cross Tail.
Were the two people who had attacked him members of Night Raid?
"Now!"
Someone shouted from the darkness.
A brilliant flash immediately flooded Noah's senses.
"Cutter of Creation: Extase!"
The corner of Noah's mouth rose slightly.
This enemy was intelligent.
On the surface, using a flash in complete darkness appeared pointless.
Neither side had been able to see from the beginning, so why bother taking away vision that did not exist?
But an intense flash did more than blind someone.
It disrupted the senses, caused dizziness, and damaged a person's balance.
Unfortunately, it was useless against Noah.
With his eyes closed, he avoided the attack by the smallest possible margin and caught the attacker's wrist.
Once he controlled that arm, the weapon no longer posed a threat.
He could have paralyzed the enemy with lightning or disrupted their circulation until they lost consciousness.
Since he still had questions to ask, he decided merely to incapacitate them.
"Lie down quietly."
Noah lifted the attacker over his shoulder and slammed them into the ground.
He added considerable gravitational force to the impact. Even a Danger Beast would have struggled to endure it.
After dealing with the two attackers, Noah grabbed a bundle of Cross Tail's threads wrapped around his body and charged toward their owner.
"There aren't any corners or obstacles in this tunnel to increase the friction on your threads. It must be difficult, isn't it?"
Cross Tail's threads were extraordinarily durable, but the Teigu had one major weakness.
Its effectiveness depended heavily on the terrain.
In forests or cities, the user could loop the threads around trees, buildings, and other objects, increasing friction and greatly improving their restraining power.
But when two people faced one another in an open space with nothing nearby, binding the opponent meant relying almost entirely on the user's own physical strength.
Lubbock was far weaker than Noah, and the smooth cave walls gave him nowhere to anchor his threads.
There was nothing he could do to stop Noah from moving.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
After a burst of screaming from deeper inside the passage, Noah returned while carrying Lubbock.
Once he had gathered all three attackers together, he snapped his fingers and created another light.
The glow illuminated the surrounding cave and finally revealed their identities.
As expected, one of them was Lubbock.
The armored idiot was Tatsumi.
The final attacker was Sheele.
So she had joined Night Raid after all.
Leone must have approached her earlier for precisely that purpose.
The three members of Night Raid reacted far more strongly when they finally saw Noah.
"Why is it you?!" Lubbock shouted. "Wait, were we fighting you this entire time?"
His face twisted with regret, as though he had only now realized how spectacularly foolish their plan had been.
Had he known the opponent was this monster, he would never have suggested an ambush in the first place.
Tatsumi and Sheele were both in poor condition after Noah's attacks.
Lubbock's reaction also made something clear to Noah.
Night Raid had not prepared this trap specifically for him.
There was someone else hiding behind them.