Scarlet

After finishing off the last demon, I turn around to find Blaze standing at the entrance of the building with his eyes alit with flames. And it’s only now that I realize the flames have small flickers of black in them.

Interesting. Guess that’s what sets his flames apart from regular flames in terms of appearance.

Anyways, I turn around to check on the Class I Guardian, only to find him sitting on his rear with his arms on the ground behind him.

What’s he doing on the ground? Actually, doesn’t matter.

He looks fine. And so do the others.

Kind of surprised no one was hurt, but now I should bring them to a bunker.

“Hey, do any of you know where the closest bunker is?” I ask the civilians, and the Class I Guardian. And fortunately, one of them quickly answers me, pointing in the direction of the hallway that was on the other side of the room from them as the demons. Which brings my attention to a bunker that I really should’ve seen before asking that.

Guess they were rather close to making it.

Unfortunate for them that they were cut off by those demons.

“What are you all waiting for then?” I hear Blaze’s voice from the door, bringing my attention to the man to find him frowning at the civilians. And without any more hesitation, the civilians all rush over to the bunker with the Class I Guardian, who gives the typical hand sign to let them in.

The Guardian hesitates for a moment at the door before calling out to us, “Thank you!” and going inside, the bunker door closing behind him.

A moment of silence passes after that, and right when Blaze looks like he’s about to say something, the red tint in the air vanishes, marking the end of the Fracture. Meanwhile the corpses of the demons around us all vanish in a faint red light, going back to Tartarus.

I blink in surprise at that timing, only to feel my terminal buzz. So I open it to find a message. One from Sage that makes my face turn grim.

[According to our sources, including the young miss Belle, your friend Arthur is currently trapped in a Class II Fracture. I’m telling you this now that your own Fracture has ended. If you would like to help him, respond to this message promptly.]

Without a moment of hesitation, I reply, following which Sage sends me the exact location he’s at. So I immediately start running towards the door, only taking a brief moment to shout at Blaze, “There’s an emergency! Gotta go!” when I pass by the man, leaving him startled into silence.

But that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that once again, one of my best friends is in danger.

Inside of the Outer Station

Arthur deeply regrets having come to the capital today. It was supposed to be a great day where he could finally come back to the capital again and see his girlfriend, along with the closest person to being his sister that he’s ever known. But now? Now he’s wondering if he’ll ever see them again in his life as he runs straight down the train station, briefly wondering why the hell these Fractures keep happening whenever he goes to the train station.

Screams continue echoing out from every corner of the Class II Fracture as he runs, occasionally ducking under the spells sent flying at him by the two demon acolytes chasing both him and the few dozen other people running away. And his fear only increases every single time he hears someone cry out in pain, accompanied by the sounds of tearing flesh from fomorians’ swords cutting apart the people who’ve lagged behind.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, why today!!!

Arthur’s eyes immediately lock onto one of the train’s entrances right when the thing opens, and he continues running straight towards it while still dodging the occasional spell. But since he’s just a human, the fomorians continue to slowly catch up to him, only being slowed down a bit by the other humans they’re tearing apart in their wake, along with the bright flashing lights shining from the ceiling that Arthur has to block out from his sight with his hand. Lights that are specifically meant for Class II Fractures to give the humans a chance to escape from the light sensitive fomorians.

Unfortunately for him, none of the bunkers will even consider opening the doors when a large group of demons is chasing them. Leaving them all to run for their lives in the hopes of either losing the demons somehow despite their vastly superior physical prowess, or that they’ll be able to avoid them long enough that a Guardian might save them.

Without an ounce of hesitation, as the closest person to the train itself, Arthur jumps into the train when he reaches the door, right when it begins to close again. Only for him to find himself climbing back to his feet to see a fomorian entering the very car next to the intermediary car he’d boarded.

Shit.

He slowly walks backwards into the other car, taking advantage of how the fomorian is looking out the window and not at him to slowly make his escape. All while occasionally glancing at the door to make sure any other humans or fomorians didn’t make it inside the train.

Why did the train door open and shut anyways? Is it broken?

Arthur puts that thought to the back of his mind though when he passes through the door of the car and it closes in front of him, immediately catching the attention of the fomorian in the process. But with the door shut, Arthur begins to run through the car towards the other end of it, only hearing the door behind him getting slammed into after he’s already at the other side of the car.

But the door on the other end does not open when he tries.

Are you kidding me?! Now my luck runs out!?

Arthur slams on the door a few times, but no matter what he does, it doesn’t budge. So he turns around to find the door on the other end slowly beginning to dent from the fomorian’s attacks.

This isn’t good… if only Belle or Scarlet were here.

The man’s face morphs into a grimace.

Damnit, I hate being weak!

“Greetings, human,” a voice suddenly echoes in his head before a miniature wolf appears floating in the air in front of him, making him blink for a moment. “Would you like to-”

“Yes!” Arthur shouts, understanding immediately what it is and not giving it the time to finish asking.