A monstrous roar tore through the forest, its sheer force rattling the trees and sending flocks of birds scattering into the pale sky. The ground trembled beneath heavy, deliberate steps as something ancient dragged itself fully into the waking world.
It was massive.
An insectoid beast, towering like a walking fortress, its body plated in hardened chitin that had long since fused with nature itself. Moss clung to its limbs like worn armor, and jagged crystal formations jutted from its back and joints, glinting faintly under the dim light. Time had not weakened it. It had refined it.
Behind the creature, a gaping crater-like hollow marked where it once rested, buried beneath layers of earth and time. Something had disturbed it.
And now—
It was awake.
Its wings vibrated with a deafening hum, the sound sharp enough to make the air itself feel unstable. Each beat sent ripples through the surroundings, an invisible pressure that warned everything nearby to flee.
Everything except—
Her.
The crimson ant princess stood her ground.
Between the monster… and the children.
Her blade slid free with a quiet metallic whisper, held firmly in her hand. There was no elegance in her stance, no refined posture born of years of training. Just resolve. Raw, unpolished… but unshakable.
Behind her, the lab-coated woman gathered the children close, her body already angled to run at a moment's notice. Her eyes never left the princess, waiting for that single signal.
The beast's eyes flickered.
A deep, burning red.
Then—
It moved.
The ground cracked beneath it as it surged forward, its massive limbs tearing through snow and soil alike. One of its front claws rose high before crashing down toward her with crushing force.
The princess reacted instantly.
Her wings snapped open, propelling her upward just in time. The claw slammed into the earth where she had stood, shattering the ground beneath it.
The creature didn't hesitate.
It twisted mid-charge, making an unnatural U-turn despite its size, its gaze locking onto her airborne figure with terrifying precision.
She felt it.
The pressure. The difference.
This wasn't something she could casually overpower.
She had never fought something like this before.
But that didn't matter.
Not now.
Not when failure meant—
Death.
Without giving herself time to hesitate, she surged forward. Her wings beat hard against the air as she dove, her body aligning into a single, focused strike. Sword extended, she shot downward like a crimson bolt, aiming straight for the creature's head.
The beast reacted faster than expected.
Its tail snapped upward.
The impact came from nowhere.
A violent strike that caught her mid-dive, throwing her trajectory off completely and launching her skyward. The force alone rattled her senses, but the beast didn't stop there.
It pivoted.
Spun.
And struck again.
The second hit came from the side, far heavier than the first. Her body was crushed between motion and force, sent hurtling through the air before slamming into a massive boulder.
The impact cracked stone.
Her body didn't stop there.
She was driven through it, fragments exploding outward as she tore through, smashing into trees one after another until her momentum finally died out in a storm of splintered wood and falling debris.
For a moment—
She didn't move.
Then the rubble shifted.
Stone slid off her shoulders as she pushed herself up, tossing aside chunks of broken rock as if they weighed nothing. Her body ached, but the pain barely registered.
She stood.
Eyes burning.
Her gaze snapped back toward the beast—
And froze.
Her weapon…
Lying near it.
Her grip tightened.
Unarmed.
But it didn't matter.
Not anymore.
Her wings spread once more, a low hum building as her body surged forward again. If steel wasn't enough—
Then she'd crush it herself.
The beast seemed to understand.
It lowered its body slightly, legs bracing as it prepared to meet her head-on.
They collided.
Her hands shot forward, gripping onto its forward horns, her body twisting as she tried to redirect its momentum. For a brief moment, it worked. The massive creature shifted, its weight forced slightly off balance as she spun with it, trying to overpower it through sheer force.
But her grip faltered.
Not from hesitation—
From limitation.
So she tightened it.
Harder.
Her fingers dug into the hardened structure, muscles straining as something within her surged. A raw, instinctive burst of strength pushed through her arms—
And the horns shattered.
Fragments broke apart in her grasp.
But instead of pain—
The beast reacted with fury.
Its head jerked violently, catching her off balance. With its horns now jagged, broken edges replaced blunt force with cutting brutality.
The counterattack came instantly.
She was thrown back again, this time with tearing force, the sharpened remnants grazing against her body as she was sent skidding across the ground.
The beast watched her.
Not wounded.
Not shaken.
Only angrier.
It stepped forward.
Ready to finish it.
The princess forced herself up again, wings trembling slightly as she tried to lift off. Escape wasn't an option. Not when she had to hold it here.
But the moment she moved—
The beast adapted.
Its tail slammed into the ground, sending a massive wave of snow upward. The sudden burst engulfed her mid-flight, disrupting her balance instantly.
Cold.
It clung to her.
Seeped into her.
Her body reacted violently to it, her movements slowing for even a split second—
And that was all it needed.
The beast turned.
Not toward her—
But past her.
Toward the children.
The ground shattered beneath its charge.
It moved faster than before.
A direct line.
No hesitation.
The woman's eyes widened.
"Run—!"
She grabbed the children, forcing them to move, but before they could even take more than a step—
The beast roared.
The sound wasn't just noise.
It pressed down on them.
Crushed their will.
Their bodies locked in place, frozen under an overwhelming wave of fear that paralyzed them where they stood.
They couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't even scream.
The distance closed.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
They dropped instinctively, curling in on themselves as the shadow of the beast loomed over them, bracing for an impact that would never be survived.
Behind them—
The princess tried to move.
Forced her body forward.
Pushed against the cold, against the pain, against everything that told her it was too late—
But it was.
She knew it.
Just one second too slow.
And then—
Something fell from the sky.
A force so overwhelming it didn't just strike—
It collapsed.
The beast was driven into the ground mid-charge, its massive body halted instantly as the impact sent a violent shockwave rippling outward. Snow exploded into the air, trees bent under the pressure, and the earth itself groaned beneath the weight of it.
The sound echoed.
Then—
Silence.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
For a moment, no one moved.
No one spoke.
Only the drifting snow remained—
Falling slowly…
…over the figure that now stood where the beast had been stopped.
The princess didn't hesitate.
The moment she realized the beast had been stopped—no, overwhelmed—her body moved before her thoughts could catch up. Wings snapping open, she rushed past the settling snow, landing beside the children who were still curled behind the trees.
"Are you all okay?" she asked quickly, dropping to one knee as she scanned them one by one. "Did anyone get hurt?"
The children trembled, their small bodies still locked in the aftershock of fear. None of them spoke, but they shook their heads repeatedly, clinging to each other as if letting go would drag them back into that moment.
A breath escaped her.
Relief.
Short-lived.
Her gaze shifted immediately to the other woman.
"You… are you alright?"
The lab-coated woman blinked, clearly caught between disbelief and annoyance.
"…Did you really just forget I was even here?"
The princess stiffened.
"I—no, I… well…"
A pause.
"…yes."
The answer slipped out before she could stop it.
The woman stared at her for a second, then simply sighed and looked away.
"I'm fine."
But her tone had already changed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she turned toward where the beast had charged from, her focus sharpening as the drifting snow slowly began to clear.
Something was off.
She could feel it.
A presence.
Familiar… yet distant.
Like a memory she couldn't quite grasp.
The air itself felt different.
Heavier.
Calmer.
And that… was wrong.
---
The dust settled.
The truth revealed itself piece by piece.
The beast—
Lay motionless.
Its massive body sprawled across the shattered ground, its once impenetrable head now completely crushed inward, fractured beyond recognition. Cracks ran deep through its structure, fragments of crystal and chitin scattered around it like broken armor.
The scene was brutal.
Final.
Instinctively, the lab-coated woman stepped forward and covered the eyes of the nearest children, shielding them from the sight.
And then—
They saw him.
Standing atop the corpse.
Still.
Unbothered.
Haruto.
His blood-forged scissor claws remained manifested, their curved edges glistening faintly under the pale light. His gauntlet was drenched in thick, green-blue fluid, dripping slowly from his fingers.
He didn't even glance at it.
With a simple flick of his hand, the blood scattered, flung away as if it held no weight or value.
Then—
He stepped forward slightly.
A single drop of crimson fell from his fingertip onto the beast below.
It spread instantly.
Like a living stain.
The blood expanded, seeping into cracks, devouring the corpse piece by piece with quiet, insatiable hunger. Flesh, crystal, chitin—everything dissolved into it, consumed without resistance.
Only after that—
Did he turn toward them.
"Hi," he said casually, as if he hadn't just crushed something that could wipe them out moments ago. "Sorry to interrupt, but… that looked like a pretty sticky situation."
A brief pause.
His eyes moved across them, quick but observant.
"No one's hurt, right?"
---
The children stared.
Eyes wide.
Shaking—yes—but now filled with something else.
Awe.
To them, he wasn't something to fear.
He was the one who saved them.
A hero.
---
The princess, however—
Felt something entirely different.
Her body tensed.
Her instincts screamed.
A Majin.
Not just any.
A strong one.
The kind that didn't need to show it.
The kind that was it.
If he recognized her…
If he realized what she was—
Her wings twitched slightly, ready to spread at any moment.
Run.
That was still an option.
It had to be.
---
But the woman in the lab coat stepped forward.
Without hesitation.
"Hey—are you by any chance—"
"Stop."
The princess moved instantly, stepping in front of her and cutting her off.
"What are you doing?" she whispered urgently.
The woman frowned. "What's wrong?"
"He's a Majin," the princess replied, her voice low but firm. "And not a weak one. We don't know if he's hostile."
Haruto tilted his head slightly, watching the exchange.
His gaze lingered for a second—
On the coat.
Recognition flickered.
Lab coat…?
That wasn't something you just found lying around in a world like this.
Interesting.
But that thought didn't last long.
Because something else caught his attention.
Something far more obvious.
The red.
The structure.
The wings.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hey."
His voice cut through the tension.
Both of them looked at him.
"Are you from the Crimson Battalion?"
The shift was immediate.
The air tightened.
The princess's breath hitched.
"…I knew it."
Her mind raced.
This was it.
If he decided to attack—
She wouldn't last.
Not against someone who could crush that thing so effortlessly.
Her wings tensed, ready to spread.
If she moved now—
She might escape.
She could leave.
Take the children and run—
Or…
Leave them behind.
The thought flickered.
Cold.
Practical.
And for a split second—
Real.
But then—
"Are you here to avenge your fallen commander?"
Her thoughts stopped.
"…What?"
Her voice came out smaller than she intended.
Haruto didn't move.
Didn't press forward.
"You heard me," he said evenly. "Are you here for that or not?"
Something didn't add up.
He wasn't attacking.
He wasn't even moving.
He was asking.
That alone—
Was enough.
"…I am not!"
The words came out before doubt could stop them.
She stepped forward.
Then—
Dropped to her knees.
Her blade lowered.
Her head bowed.
Submission.
A gamble.
A dangerous one.
But it was the only one she had.
"I hold no ill intent," she said, her voice steady despite the tension coiling in her chest. "Please… believe that. I am not here as a representative of the Crimson Battalion. Not in any way."
Haruto watched her.
Quietly.
His posture didn't change, but something in his gaze softened—just slightly.
Not trust.
But… consideration.
His eyes shifted past her.
To the children.
To the woman.
To the way she had stood before.
He had seen it.
Even from a distance.
The way she fought.
The way she didn't run.
The way she placed herself between danger and those who couldn't protect themselves.
That wasn't something you faked.
Even if she was part of the enemy.
That meant something.
At least…
To him.
"…You're not?" he asked again, this time less sharp.
Then—
"Then why are you here?"
The princess lifted her head slowly.
Her heart was still racing.
But now—
She was certain.
This gamble…
Hadn't failed.
"You see…"
...