Eve's voice echoed throughout the academy grounds over the intercom.
The announcement was that all combat-capable personnel within the academy should immediately gather in the gymnasium due to an emergency.
The first-year students who had been terrorized by the mage.
The student who had been stabbed and was still recovering, and those whose mana had been removed but had yet to regain their senses.
Everyone, except for a few who were caring for them, gathered in the gymnasium.
"What's this sudden emergency...?"
"Does anyone know what's going on?"
The students, who had been trained to respond to emergencies, naturally lined up by grade, but the sudden call had left them murmuring in confusion.
The teachers, too, were equally bewildered by the sudden summons.
However, a few who knew the current situation stood with stern faces, keeping silent.
They knew that causing unnecessary panic would only make things worse.
As the roll call was completed, Eve walked to the front of the lined-up students and teachers.
As everyone's attention focused on her, Eve looked at the students and began to speak.
"Without further ado, I'll get straight to the point. The reason I've called everyone here is that, as the acting principal of the academy, I have judged the current situation to be a Disaster Level 1."
The gymnasium, which had been buzzing with murmurs, fell silent at the mention of Disaster Level 1.
According to the rules of the Aegis Academy, students, who are temporary heroes, are generally expected to leave rescue operations to the heroes.
However, there are cases where students are also required to participate in rescue efforts, and this is one of them—when the principal or someone of equal authority judges the situation to be a Disaster Level 1.
In the silence, a pink twin-tailed girl whispered her question.
"...Hey, Marin. What does Disaster Level 1 mean?"
Flone, who seemed to be the only one not aware of the gravity of the situation, asked the question. Marin, the class president of 1-B, standing in front of her, replied with a serious face.
"...We're in big trouble."
It had been hundreds of years since the last Disaster Level 1 was declared, back when witches roamed freely.
This meant the city was on the brink of collapse.
People were being controlled by mana, and as a result, were causing chaos.
Eve recounted the events that had transpired at the school today.
The current situation, as learned through emergency communication using magic in place of the now unusable phone lines, made people's expressions even more serious.
Controlled people were wreaking havoc throughout the city, and the heroes, though deployed, were severely understaffed.
Eve, addressing those who would be going to support the heroes, said with a warning tone.
"The goal is always the rescue of civilians. Understand? Remember that the people you need to save include those who are being controlled."
Heroes are typically trained to deal with enemies like mana or criminals.
Naturally, subduing them is far more difficult and requires more caution than simply eliminating them.
But in this case, the ones they had to face were not enemies, but innocent people who were merely being controlled.
They were someone's acquaintances, friends, and family.
Thus, we had no choice but to subdue them.
The students and teachers, assigned their respective areas by grade and class, headed out into the rain-soaked city.
What greeted them was a scene reminiscent of hell.
*
"Ugh, honey! Snap out of it! What are you doing!!"
The husband, who had been slashed by the kitchen knife wielded by his wife, desperately tried to hold her back.
"Please... help... My child, my child is acting strange..."
A mother, clutching a child who appeared to be around five years old, sobbed as the child bit and clawed at her.
"I... I didn't mean to... He suddenly went crazy and I just tried to stop him..."
A boy, gripping a blood-stained baseball bat, stared blankly at the body of someone who had fallen in front of him, crying.
The city was filled with sounds.
The cries of the living and the dying.
Overwhelmed by the cacophony mixed with the heavy rain, I stared blankly at the city, wondering why this was happening.
I hadn't thought things would go this badly, having prevented the disaster that was supposed to happen in the gymnasium.
But what was the reality?
An event that shouldn't have occurred had happened, and the city was filled with blood, screams, and cries.
My hands and feet began to tremble.
An event that shouldn't have happened.
Perhaps this was all my fault, I thought.
It felt like all this tragedy was because I had tried to change the future without fear.
Even though I knew these thoughts were pointless, my body trembled and I couldn't move.
Just as I was about to succumb to despair and fear, I saw a child crouching and crying in front of a man who was about to strike with a metal pipe, his eyes unfocused.
My body, which I thought was frozen, was already running and subduing the man by pinning him to the ground.
"Silvia! Over here!!"
As I shouted, a sphere of light flew from a distance and merged into the man's head, causing him to collapse as if unconscious.
I let out a sigh of relief and patted the child, who was crying uncontrollably, on the head.
"...Stop crying, it's okay now."
The child looked at me with teary eyes, sniffled, and grabbed the unconscious man's arm.
"Ugh, sniff, D...Dad is okay, right?"
"...Yeah, he'll be fine. It's cold in the rain, so I'll take both of you to a warm place."
I picked up the child, who was tightly holding the unconscious man, and carried them both.
Since it was raining, leaving unconscious people on the street could be dangerous due to hypothermia, so I moved them to a temporary shelter set up for evacuations.
To prevent the child from getting cold, I dried them with flames before heading back outside.
The child, who had been clinging to the man, ran over and grabbed my left hand with their tiny hand.
Seeing my prosthetic arm, the child seemed startled but then looked at the unconscious man and turned back to me, bowing their head.
"...Thank you for saving us."
The child then ran back and nestled into the man's arms.
I watched them for a moment and then looked at my left hand, which the child had grabbed.
Even though it was a metal arm and lacked sensation, I clenched my fist, feeling something.
"That's right... I came here to save people."
Muttering to myself, I ran outside.
Now was not the time for other thoughts; it was time to save people.
One more person.
*
Thanks to Silvia, who could remove mana without touching people, and Yun Siwoo, who was subduing people at an incredible speed, the shelter was filled to the brim with unconscious people and their families.
But during our encounter, Yun Siwoo, with a serious face, said:
"Even though we've brought so many people, there's no sign of it decreasing..."
Subduing people, transporting them to the shelter, and providing first aid to the injured.
We had been repeating this process, and even the students who were running on fumes started to appear.
To fill the gaps, we had to push ourselves to cover wider areas, even if it meant exhausting ourselves.
Despite our best efforts, anxiety began to show on the students' faces.
We, who were witnessing the city's reality firsthand, knew this all too well.
Someone muttered in despair.
"...If this continues..."
People are the most important in the city.
We couldn't tell how many were dying at every moment, but if this continued...
The outcome was predetermined.
I clenched my teeth, determined to stop it, and ran through the streets, looking for controlled people.
"Hey, Eva. No, Eva-like."
She appeared as if detached from the world, standing calmly in the pouring rain without getting wet.
The girl with dark purple hair, who was likely a witch based on our previous encounter.
And if she was a witch, it was highly probable that she was involved in this incident.
[Burn her.]
The voice in my head whispered.
It was always an unpleasant voice, but this time, I felt like following its advice.
Suppressing the urge to unleash flames, I asked her.
"Did you do this...?"
"What did I do?"
"...Controlling people and turning the city into this mess, this damn thing."
Flames began to emerge from my body.
But the girl didn't flinch at the flames, answering nonchalantly.
"Hehe, I did help, but it wasn't entirely my doing, so maybe half and half. I, myself, have no interest in such troublesome matters."
The moment she said she had helped, I lunged at her, grabbing her collar.
Or rather, I tried to.
But my hand was blocked by something that seemed to be protecting her body, unable to grab her clothes.
"What is this...?"
Seeing my confusion, the girl slightly lifted the corners of her mouth.
"Hehe, don't get angry. Your temper is still as fiery as ever. Well, that's a good thing. Hey, do you want to know how to stop what's happening now?"
"...Can you stop it?"
Despite the suspicion that it might be a trap, I asked, thinking that if there was a way to stop it, I had to do whatever it took.
The girl's lips curled into a disturbing smile.
"If you want to know, follow me. I'll tell you if you follow."
It was a smile that felt like stretched cheese, unpleasant and unsettling.
"Let's play hide and seek, like before."
With that, the girl vanished without a trace.
As I frantically looked around, feeling mocked and growing angry,
[Burn her.]
A mysterious memory flashed through my mind.
[I will burn her.]
Even as my body burned,
[I will burn her for you.]
Instead of tears and blood, flames flowed from my eyes,
[You who hurt me, made me sad, caused me pain, made me angry, and set me on fire.]
The memory of chasing someone.
[I will chase you to the end and burn you to death.]
The dark purple-haired girl was slowly clapping and smiling at the sight.
...
[Burn her.]
...I somehow knew.
[Burn her to death.]
"...You're here."
As I took a step, a giggling laugh and the sound of clapping echoed from somewhere.
Author's Note
The city, in danger due to the witch.
Ironically, the only one who knows how to save the city is the witch herself.