Glancing at the time, Lena saw Aurora’s birthday banquet was nearly upon them. She stood to take Celia and the others shopping for gifts when—**BOOM!**—a deafening crash shook the ground.
“What was that?”
“An earthquake?”
Lena braced herself against the armrests as the opera house trembled. Patrons who hadn’t yet left tumbled to the floor, faces frozen in shock.
Two figures burst through the exits, waving frantically at the crowd. “Run! Monsters are attacking the city again!”
“What?!”
“Monsters?!”
The memory of the Demon Scorpion’s rampage months ago still haunted their nightmares—the sheer destruction, the suffocating dread. Panic erupted. Screams tore through the air as people stampeded toward the exits, trampling each other in their haste.
Celia exchanged a glance with Isa and Aurora. Understanding passed between them.
“Lena, take them to the Beast Tide Shelter. Don’t wander the streets,” Celia urged, gently pushing Lena away. Light flashed in her palm, coalescing into a longsword.
“And you?” Lena grabbed her wrist, worry tightening her voice.
“We’re Aspirant Heroes! Time to handle this!” Isa grinned, twin Ring Blades materializing in her hands. The weapons hummed with eerie, sentient light.
“But your injuries—”
“Pfft! These monsters are nothing to us!” Isa patted her flat chest with a mischievous smirk. “Consider this a demo! And hey—stop treating us like kids. I could pin you down with one hand now!”
Lena didn’t argue. She released Celia’s wrist, pressing a hand to her own chest. “Just… be careful.”
“Mhm.”
Celia channeled magic, parting the panicked crowd like a blade. Isa and Aurora followed. Seeing the Heroes, the mob’s terror eased; their frantic scramble slowed to a steadier rush.
Outside, icy raindrops kissed Celia’s cheeks. Night had fallen, stars swallowed by thick clouds. The drizzle was sharp, clarifying—a mirror of the night the Demon Scorpion appeared. Above the rain-slicked streets, spatial rifts shimmered like shattered glass. From them emerged monsters radiating savage mana.
Smaller than the Scorpion, yes—but there were *five* rifts at least. Five monsters.
“One’s heading straight for the theater. Fast,” Aurora murmured, gaze piercing the rain-drenched darkness. “Unidentified Third Rank monster. Strange build. Not from Silent Forest.”
No data. No known weaknesses. Against a Third Rank foe, their Second Rank squad would be outmatched without Elder Silverflower’s teachings.
Celia’s eyes flicked to the fleeing crowd near the opera house. She raised her sword, voice glacial. “It won’t reach the theater.”
*Lena’s still inside.*
Three lives meant nothing compared to hers.
They shot toward the monster.
Streetlights flickered over rain-slicked roads, illuminating families clutching children, stumbling toward shelters. Cries and wails filled the air.
“Get to the Beast Tide Shelters!” Celia’s shout cut through the chaos. Faces turned upward—hope flaring at the sight of Heroes hovering above.
“The Heroes are here!”
“We’re saved!”
“Make those monsters pay!”
Despair bled into resolve. Shoulders straightened. Even fallen strangers were hauled upright by helping hands.
Watching them, Celia finally grasped Elder Silverflower’s words about what it truly meant to be a Hero. Her grip tightened on the sword hilt. *This is why I fight.*
Rain blurred her vision. At the street’s end, a shadow coalesced under a flickering lamppost—tall, distorted, stretching unnaturally long. The downpour muffled all sound. An unnatural silence pressed in.
It drifted closer, ghostlike.
Three meters tall. Noseless. Sunken eyes. Lips fused by raw flesh. One massive bat-wing sprouted from its back; the other side hung empty. Its hands and feet seemed half-erased, dissolving into mist. It reeked of decay.
Celia had never seen its kind—not in Elder Silverflower’s lessons, not in any bestiary. Yet golden flames ignited along her blade.
“You go no further.”
…
Meanwhile, Lena slipped out of the opera house with the crowd. Rain soaked her hair as she ducked under an awning, avoiding notice. Her crimson eyes shifted to molten gold. A black robe materialized around her.
With Seventh Rank mana perception, she knew these Third Rank monsters posed little threat to the city’s Heroes.
But…
Her gaze pierced through walls, settling on the winged horror facing Celia.
*That’s no Demon Race beast.*
*That’s a Demon.*
