"Haru-chan!" A scream filled with desperation and fury it made everyone freeze for a split second when it echoed around the chamber.

  Suddenly, A girl leaped into the room like a hurricane. For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating. But no, it was her—definitely her.

  The knight barely had time to react before She screamed again.

  She lunged at it, with a blood-filled axe that was glowing with crimson blood as she smashed it into its chest with the force of a train.

  The titanium knight staggered backward, skidding across the stone floor as its armor cracked like spiderweb holes.

  The cult leader's face twisted in horror as her face was pale. "NO! Impossible! How you were able to damage it!"

  She nded between me and the knight, her breathing was heavy, but she steadied it with her axe.

  She smiled at me and turned her focus as she locked on the towering figure in front of her. Her axe is clenched.

  I blinked, half-stunned from the exhaustion I had taken earlier. "Ayumi? What the hell are you—"

  I didn't get to complete my sentence as she soon whipped her head around, her and replied "Stay down!" Her eyes softened as she looked at me for just a moment.

  "You're hurt. I won't FORGIVE HIM." she tuned at the knight, her voice filled with rage that I had never seen.

  " I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU" She replied in rage while sshing across the shadow knight with her axe

  The knight roared, its crimson eyes narrowing as it steadied itself. It charged at Ayumi, its massive sword carving through her. Ayumi didn't flinch. Instead, she let out another scream, leaping straight toward it quickly, making my jaw drop at how bold she was.

  A girl my age is fighting toe to toe against A giant knight and then there is me colpsed. Then again Ayumi isn't an ordinary teen girl. She somehow felt familiar to me like a nostalgic moment.

  She smashed it on the knight's arm, her axe colliding with the metal bde. The impact sent a shockwave through the chamber, shattering nearby stone pilrs and forcing the cult leader to shield her face from the debris. The knight's sword fractured, and chunks of titanium scattered across the floor as Ayumi gracefully nded in front of it.

  Ayumi then unched her axe in the knight face making it stagger and colpse in the ground, then she proceeds to the sm the axe repeatedly against the knight making sure it never wakes up "DIE DIE DIE DIE " She repeated those words as she smmed her axe.

  The cult leader staggered backward, shaking her head in disbelief. "No... NO! You're just a highschool girl! You can't—"

  Ayumi turned her head toward the leader, her crimson eyes bzing. She didn't say a word. She didn't need to. The sheer intensity of her gre was enough to make the leader stumble and fall to her knees.

  I am, lying down, couldn't help but stare at her, trying to process what I have just seen. "Ayumi... you..." I shook my smirking at her as I tried to get up. "You just smashed a giant bde with an axe."

  Ayumi finally turned back to me, the glow around her fading slightly. She knelt beside me, her hands trembling as she reached for the rubble trapping my leg. Despite her earlier dispy of strength, her voice was quiet, almost fragile. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

  Ayumi leaned closer to me, her trembling hands trying to remove the rubble. She was so close I could feel her warmth radiating, even through the cold, blood-stained air of the chamber.

  Her long bck hair cascaded over her shoulders, the loose strands swaying slightly as she removed rubble. Lavender smell, a surprisingly delicate smell on my nostrils. A few locks fell forward, grazing my cheek, and I fought the urge to flinch.

  I couldn't help but stare at her as I asked her the question bewildered. "You just smashed a titanium knight with an axe—split its sword like it was nothing—and now you're looking at me with this... soft, devoted, womanly face?"

  " You are safe....Thank god " She sighed and held me closer to her.

  Her uniform was torn and bloodied, clung to her like a second skin, with some of her skin visible slightly. Her full chest rose and fell with each shaky breath she took, with the smell of sweat on her skin rolling down.

  Why I am hyper-aware of her features? Ah! It might be my new power that is making my senses feel more stimuted. So, I have like hyper-awareness due to my senses being more sensitive.

  I am meticulous and can be a detective if I want to be.

  Nevermind! I don't want to deal with corpses.

  Ayumi's lips twitched into a small, fleeting smile, but it didn't st. Her eyes darted back toward the cult leader and the knight, who were already starting to repair themselves. The cracks in their armor sealed up like nothing had happened.

  "We're not done yet," she said, her voice steely. Then she gnced back at Haruto, her expression softening again. "But don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

  The Bck Knight lunged, its massive greatsword carving through the air with a deadly, fluid grace that felt impossible for something so heavy. I was able to get up

  My senses fred, screaming at me to move, and I threw myself to the side, barely dodging in time.

  The bde smmed into the ground with an impact so powerful it cracked the stone beneath us, sending a shockwave that rattled my teeth. I stumbled, struggling to keep my bance as the sheer force of the swing knocked the air from my lungs.

  But Ayumi didn't flinch.

  Instead, she stepped forward, gripping her axe with both hands. With a scream that was both raw and almost girlish, she smmed her axe upward, meeting the bde head-on. The impact rang out like a thundercp, a shockwave rippling through the room and forcing me to shield my face from the debris flying everywhere.

  The Bck Knight staggered, its weapon snapping in two as Ayumi's strength tore through the titanium-like paper. The massive hunk of metal cttered to the floor, but Ayumi wasn't done.

  "Don't touch him!" she shouted, her voice filled with a terrifying fury. Her crimson eyes burned like molten fire as she lunged forward, her axe cleaving through the Knight's armored torso with brutal efficiency.

  Chunks of the Knight's body began to fall, one after the other, as Ayumi swung her axe again and again, each strike more vicious than the st. Sparks flew as the jagged pieces of its armor hit the ground, and soon its metal figure was reduced to little more than scattered limbs and a head that flickered faintly before going dark.

  I can see the dismantled hand and head near my feet as I covered my face.

  I stood there, stunned, my mouth half-open as I watched Ayumi rip the Bck Knight apart with what could only be described as inhuman ferocity.

  I was scared....I was really scared of one girl.

  I fear being in her bad side but somehow it made me proud when a strong and badass girl like her is so protective towards me. It might end up with me getting killed but somehow I like it.

  The cult leader, who had been frozen in pce moments ago, was now staggering backward, her face pale with terror. "N-No... This can't be! That Knight was supposed to be unstoppable!"

  Ayumi turned toward her, her expression eerily calm now, but her eyes told a different story. "You're next," she said ftly, her voice dripping with venom.

  The cult leader took another step back, shaking her head frantically. "No! It doesn't matter if you kill me. I've already paid a rge organization to make sure Haruto is hunted—forever!" Her lips twisted into a cruel grin. "Even if I die, he'll never be safe! I made sure of it!"

  She turned on her heel and bolted for the exit, her ughter echoing as she ran with crazy expression.

  *BANG*

  But before she could reach the doorway, a loud crack split the air.

  The cult leader stumbled mid-step, her body jerking forward before crumpling to the ground. Blood seeped from the back of her head as silence fell over the chamber.

  The faint click of heels against the stone floor echoed in the quiet. I turned, my breath hitching as I saw her.

  A familiar girl stepped into the room, she was composed, graceful as usual—but this time, there was something colder about her. Her bck coat swayed with each deliberate step, her sharp blue eyes glinting under the faint light. In her hand, a handgun still smoked faintly from the shot she'd just fired.

  "Kei...?" I muttered, disbelief thick in my voice.

  She didn't answer right away. Instead, she gnced at the cult leader's motionless body before holstering the gun at her side. Then her eyes nded on me, and for a split second, they are soft.

  "What?" she asked, her tone cool and steady. "You look surprised, Haruto-kun."

  Is it me or all the women in this town nutcases?