Why can't I protect anyone?
What's the point of being as strong as a High Ranker?
All I can do with this power is aninglessly slaughter Regulars or Rankers far weaker than . Other than useless, blood-soaked rampages like that, what can I even do?
It's my fault.
From the mont I accepted an offer that was practically a trap—sothing I would have never agreed to under normal circumstances—everything was already wrong. I rushed in recklessly because Anna was taken hostage.
It's all my fault.
"Aaaah…!"
My heart felt like it was being torn apart. It pounded violently, as if it would burst at any mont. This pain wasn't from my recent heart condition—I simply couldn't endure it anymore.
No… I didn't want to endure it.
If I just let myself sink into this pain, would these mories finally disappear?
What happened to Maschenny?
Maschenny…
No. Stop. It's just that her Pocket signal cut off. That's all. She has to be alive.
Calm down. Slowly. Think rationally.
She's alive. She has to be. There's no way she'd die like that—so aninglessly.
Tzzzzz—
"…?"
Sothing began to seep out of my body.
From deep within my heart—no, from even deeper than that, from my very core.
Black-and-white… shinsu?
Before I could even process the thought, a crushing headache struck , like my skull had been smashed with a hamr.
—No matter what happens, never change, boy.
"…Ugh."
Why did the Guardian's words suddenly surface now?
After all this, I'm supposed to not change?
How is that even possible?
I've lost my family. I've lost Maschenny.
What am I supposed to do?
What do you want to—!
"DIIIIIE!"
"…!"
At that instant, a pale white arm suddenly lunged toward .
Damn it—Lo Po Bia Leta Zahard.
I'd forgotten to finish her off.
But why?
She shouldn't be able to do anything anymore.
Even as that thought crossed my mind, I tightened my grip on Baekya and swung toward her neck.
At this distance, her hand shouldn't reach before her head cos off—
But the heavens refused to side with until the very end.
Thump.
"…Ghk!"
Damn it—my heart condition.
Why now, of all tis?!
My blade failed to draw its arc.
Leta Zahard's hand reached my head.
Mind control shouldn't work on —so was this just aningless resistance?
As I staggered under the agony tearing through my heart, I looked at her, and she seed to read the doubt in my eyes. Staring back with madness burning in her gaze, she answered.
"If I can't kill you…"
"Then I'll make you live like a vegetable."
"I'll shatter your mind completely. Even if I have to use this."
The ring on her finger glowed with an ominous violet light.
"You think so cursed item like that can—!"
In that instant, a massive purple flash erupted from the ring and swallowed my entire body.
—
"…Ugh."
When I opened my eyes, the surroundings were shrouded in thick, gray fog. Visibility was almost nonexistent.
I clearly rembered taking the cannon blast from the floating ship in Maschenny's place—and then suddenly being teleported…
"…?"
What happened after that?
I should rember…!
Ugh—my head felt like it was splitting open.
Was I not supposed to think about it?
If I couldn't rember, did that an this was where I'd been teleported in the first place?
I didn't know what was going on, but one thing was clear—I had to return to Maschenny as fast as possible.
With that thought, I spread my enormous wings.
A few flaps should be enough to blow away so fog.
I folded my pure white wings—then unfurled them fully.
The fog was violently pushed back.
Drip. Drip.
The sound of droplets hitting the ground echoed.
As the fog cleared like a lie, the scenery around was revealed.
Sothing felt wrong.
I looked down.
I wasn't standing in a pool of water.
I was standing in a pool of blood.
Those weren't water droplets falling from my wings—they were drops of blood, splashing into the crimson puddle beneath my feet.
Slowly, I raised my head and looked forward.
…Huh?
In that instant, all thought stopped.
Before lay a sight so horrific, so utterly unbearable, that my mind couldn't process it.
A blue-haired, blue-eyed girl—dead.
Maschenny, brutally murdered, nailed to a cross.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
"…That damn item…"
Only now did I rember what had just happened.
A hallucination-type ntal interference artifact?
My breathing grew ragged. My heart raced.
The thought that this grotesque scene would haunt my nightmares enraged beyond reason.
My killing intent toward Leta Zahard—who thought sothing like this would work on —boiled over violently.
I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my flesh, drawing blood.
I wanted to gouge out my own eyes. Scrub my brain clean.
As my overflowing rage snapped one of the final threads holding my sanity together—
RIIIP—
The space itself tore apart.
A gigantic hand erged.
"…?"
From the space gap stepped sothing with a massive, blood-red eye.
A pitch-black, grotesque form forced its way through the widening rift.
That crimson eye was unmistakably fixed on .
The mont our gazes t, my face drained of all color.
Oppression.
Terror.
The incomprehensible.
Only those three emotions crashed over like a storm, trapping both my body and mind.
[An unexpected opportunity.]
"…What?"
[I will not repeat failure.]
What the hell was it talking about—
Sothing murky and chaotic began crawling up from beneath my feet.
The instant it touched , an overwhelming dizziness struck.
My consciousness began slipping.
My thoughts scattered.
What is it doing?
Sothing… is cutting—
The fragile thread of reason I was desperately holding onto was severed in an instant.
That was exactly how it felt.
No matter how I tried to cling to my sanity, my head only hurt more.
My vision blurred.
Everything got worse.
All that remained were fear, rage, sorrow—raw, primal emotions.
A monstrous wave of negativity swallowed my reason and devoured my body.
The sensation of my self being eroded by mories and emotions was horrifying beyond words.
And then—
Agony.
Unimaginable pain crashed down on .
The red-eyed being stood right before , reaching out its claw.
That thing… is the cause—!
"GRAAAAAHHH—!"
A scream so shrill it felt like it would tear my eardrums apart burst from my throat.
As my consciousness sank into the deepest abyss, I realized—
My entire body was engulfed in black-and-white shinsu.
—
"Huff… huff… D-did it work?"
Lo Po Bia Leta Zahard steadied her breathing as she stared at the man standing before her.
His once-clear, white eyes were unfocused, staring emptily into space.
Anyone could tell—his condition was abnormal.
She had done it.
Finally—finally, she succeeded.
It worked.
"Fuhahaha… hahahaha!"
"Serves you right! Live the rest of your life as a vegetable!"
A severed arm could always be reattached.
But shattering this monster's mind completely?
This was a bargain.
As she praised herself, Leta Zahard glanced at the ring on her finger.
It had lost all its forr beauty, cracked and ruined—its purpose fulfilled.
It didn't matter.
She had used the last of her cursed items.
A ring containing ancient sorcery, believed to date back to shortly after Zahard and the Ten Great Families entered the Tower.
She didn't know its na—but she knew its effect.
If the wearer pressed the ringed hand to the target's head and spilled their blood onto it, the ring would activate instantly—
Forcing the target to witness what they feared most, utterly destroying their mind.
Combined with Fulpur's full-powered ntal assault and her own anima control, there was no way this man—Hoaquin—could endure it.
Especially not when his mind was already shattered by the deaths of Anna and Maschenny.
"…Wait."
"If Maschenny's dead… doesn't that an we won?"
That thought made the corners of Leta Zahard's lips curl upward—
[Aaah… aaAAAAH—]
A chilling voice echoed.
In an instant, the surroundings were swallowed by darkness.
Leta Zahard froze, unable to hide her shock at the sudden turn of events.
"What the hell is this all of a sudden?"
[So… you've finally returned.]
"W-what… what is this?"
[I will not… fail again.]
KRAAAASH—
The gentle, almost soft-spoken tone the man had used before was nowhere to be found. Instead, a chilling, bone-freezing voice filled the space. At the sa ti, the black shinsu flowing around his body began to surge violently.
His mind should have been broken. Completely shattered.
And yet—even that ring hadn't worked on him at all?
That was impossible…!
Leta Zahard, who had believed that even her final trump card had failed to do anything, was forced to abandon that thought the mont she saw Hoaquin's current state.
No matter how she looked at it, this was not normal.
[I will not… repeat it anymore.]
Black shinsu stretched outward in all directions, filling the entire space. From the center of his chest, Hoaquin's body began to be slowly covered in white shinsu.
In an instant, the white shinsu completely enveloped him. His flickering, radiant form gave off such overwhelming pressure that he resembled a ghost—or a white demon, even a grim reaper.
That much shinsu… and he's a Regular? Th-this is insane!
SHUAAAAAK—
As Leta Zahard, utterly horrified, desperately searched for a way to escape, the black and white shinsu that had filled the space suddenly began to compress into a single point.
Shinsu condensed to a size that could fit in Hoaquin's hand.
Then—
[I will not repeat failure.]
The mont his words ended, the condensed black and white shinsu erupted with their respective lights, forming a massive vortex.
At last, Leta Zahard had no choice but to accept it.
She hadn't destroyed Hoaquin's mind.
"T-this is insane… I shouldn't have—KYAAAAAH!"
She had rely severed the final thread holding his reason together.
By ddling with his mind, she had committed an irreversible mistake.
Unable even to flee, she was dragged into the expanding vortex, her body torn apart piece by piece as it swallowed everything around it.
The output of the shinsu continued to rise, growing ever stronger, until the storm reached its limit and released its remaining power.
A razor storm of black-and-white shinsu raged across the ceiling and the ground, slicing apart everything it touched.
[AAAAAAAARGH!]
As if reflecting his rampaging emotions, the black-and-white shinsu that covered the 96th Floor was ferocious and violent down to every single droplet.
The rampage showed no sign of subsiding—instead, it only intensified. And as it did, the shinsu grew more aggressive, more destructive.
Before long, the residents of the 96th Floor witnessed it.
Black-and-white shinsu dyeing the world as it destroyed the entire floor.
[A strange on has appeared in the ninety-sixth world. The ceiling was stained black and white, and upon the land raged a catastrophic storm, as though the Administrator itself were enraged.
At the center of it all stood a being wielding a darkened sword, with long white hair and a pure white crown upon its head.]
—Record of a nearby bard—
—
Maschenny pointed out the window at the massive storm.
Then she issued an order to Asensio.
"Asensio. Go into that storm. To Hoaquin."
At her seemingly reckless command, Asensio widened his eyes in shock—but instead of questioning her, he obeyed imdiately.
"Yes, ma'am. Taegong, you heard her. Enter."
Even the mountain ranges that once inspired awe at the grandeur of the 96th Floor's nature were being shaved away and destroyed by the rampaging black-and-white shinsu outside.
The residential zones, located dangerously close to the affected area, continued to suffer accumulating damage.
The situation was dire, and Asensio's deanor reflected that seriousness.
He trusted Maschenny completely and followed her orders without question.
Of course, Taegong—the subordinate who actually had to carry out the command—was living in absolute terror. But when your superiors tell you to do sothing, you do it. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the controls and pushed the high-speed floating ship forward.
If I die piloting this thing, at least the two of them die with .
Thinking that way made it feel slightly less unfair. His tension eased just a little.
"Hold on tight! The warp device is broken from overuse earlier! I'll fly us there manually—watch out for motion sickness!"
KWOOOO—
The high-speed floating ship pushed its remaining engines to their absolute limit, carving a path through the black-and-white shinsu.
Thanks to Taegong's almost divine piloting skills and the ship's speed, the distance to the massive storm rapidly closed.
"Noona. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No. Saving was enough. You did well."
"…!"
Asensio nearly shouted in joy, but he wasn't so clueless as to do that in this atmosphere. Instead, he restrained himself, smiling as he let the joy well up inside.
anwhile, Maschenny kept biting her nails anxiously, staring beyond the storm.
So far, things were proceeding smoothly—but all three of them could feel it.
The deeper they went, the stronger and more violent the flow of shinsu beca.
At this rate, they wouldn't be able to enter much farther.
"…?"
Then Maschenny spotted a man.
White hair. White eyes. A white sword in hand.
And a shinsu flow that was anything but ordinary.
Even among the Khun family, she hadn't seen many this strong.
Which ant—
"A ruler?"
An Arie Family High Ranker—soone who appeared to be a Ruler.
He glanced in their direction, then casually raised his hand, blocking the floating ship's movent.
Taegong tried to force the ship forward, but it wouldn't budge, as if reverse flow control had been applied.
"You look like Regulars, but don't go any farther," the Ruler said calmly. "It's dangerous."
After that, he turned his gaze back toward the center of the chaos—toward Hoaquin, who was indiscriminately destroying the 96th Floor.
"Haa… just what did that Dickel guy raise? I even did him a favor, and this is how he repays —by stabbing in the back."
As he extended his hand, a faint light appeared, and a sword ford in his grasp.
Holding it in one hand, he swung it a few tis, then looked up toward the ceiling.
"Administrator, I know he's technically a Regular, but… you know what I'm trying to say, right?"
An hour earlier, when he'd first received the report that a Regular was rampaging, he'd smacked his subordinate across the face.
Reporting sothing like that to him—seriously?
A Ruler was a position so important that they might only appear when a High Ranker was causing chaos.
But the follow-up report had been different.
And so, dragging his heavy body here, he had no choice but to admit his subordinate was right.
"…Yeah. High Ranker level. Rankers alone won't even co close."
Mm. Mm.
At this level, a Ruler had to step in.
He silently apologized to the subordinate he'd struck earlier and, exercising his authority, looked toward the area closest to Hoaquin.
Buildings were being pulverized, shattered by the raging shinsu storm.
The foundations where structures once stood had been completely devastated, and the natural landscape had suffered no less.
The black-and-white shinsu covering the skies of the 96th Floor lashed out violently, attacking everything above.
"…It hasn't even been an hour, and he's already created an apocalypse. How is that a Regular?"
"…Will you not stop him?"
At that sight, the Ruler found it even harder to understand.
From what he could tell, if an ordinary Ranker were struck by even a single strand of that black-and-white shinsu, the impacted body part would be severed instantly.
No matter how much she was a daughter of the Khun family and a Princess of Zahard…
Maschenny quietly observed the Ruler's reaction—and realized sothing.
She was different from others.
Which ant there was definitely sothing she could make use of.
The Ruler had been here for a while now, yet he still hadn't restrained Hoaquin. That could only an one thing…
Maschenny politely posed her question again.
"I'll ask again—will you not stop him?"
The Ruler frowned and answered.
"…That guy is a Regular. To interfere directly, I need the Administrator's permission. But the Administrator hasn't given it. They're a fickle one."
The Administrator could grant permission—or not—on a whim. But a Ruler didn't have that luxury.
Especially a Ruler affiliated with one of the Ten Great Families—failure to properly manage a Floor could result in punishnt, or even removal from the position.
As ti passed, the Ruler of the 96th Floor grew increasingly anxious.
From his perspective, if any more damage occurred on this floor, severe punishnt was unavoidable.
Then—
From the Ruler's point of view, an offer ca that sounded both absurd… and strangely tempting.
"Then let us help you."
"…What?"
At Maschenny's bold proposal, he frowned.
The only reason he was even entertaining conversation with a Khun in the first place was because of his fondness for Regulars—and because she was a Princess of Zahard.
And now she was trying to stand on equal footing?
"…I'm not in the mood for jokes."
Despite his sharp rebuke, Maschenny calmly continued.
"You saw it earlier. I don't take significant damage from that shinsu vortex. If you help us enter the storm with this floating ship, I'll take care of the rest."
Sensing a certain logic in her claim, the Ruler silently studied her.
He had no idea how she intended to suppress the rampage once inside the storm…
But even if she died, it wouldn't personally harm him. And if the 96th Floor suffered any more damage, his punishnt was all but guaranteed.
This was no ti to be picky.
"…Fine. Get on the ship. I'll guide you into the storm."
—
KWAHHHH—
The floating ship soared forward at full speed, unobstructed.
There should have been countless obstacles in this airspace, but everything had either been pulverized beforehand or repelled by a shinsu barrier.
All thanks to the Ruler, who stood on the deck, tirelessly eliminating every danger.
Shinsu vortices, building debris, scattered fragnts—he cut through everything impartially.
And it didn't take long to enter the storm itself.
The mont they crossed into it—
SHWAAAAAK—
"…!"
A high-output shinsu blast ca flying straight toward the ship.
The Ruler's eyes widened as he swung his sword, deflecting it and changing its trajectory.
The redirected shinsu blast illuminated the surroundings, making its sheer destructive power unmistakably clear.
[Have you co to take sothing from as well?]
A chilling voice followed, accompanied by an ominous shift in the shinsu's flow.
Another attack ca flying toward the ship.
This ti—dozens, hundreds of slashing waves.
They ca from Hoaquin, whose entire body was wrapped in white light.
Stunned by the impossible sight, the Ruler gritted his teeth and grabbed his sword with both hands.
"…This is insane. He's really at this level?"
As the Ruler swung his blue blade without pause, thousands of blue sword arcs burst forth, swallowing every single slash Hoaquin had sent.
The sword arcs moved as if alive, blocking the attacks with ease—
But the Ruler himself was drenched in sweat, teeth clenched, as he struggled to contend with the rampaging Hoaquin.
[KRAAAAAAA!]
"Damn it! What kind of Regular is this?! Hey! Princess of Zahard! Is it ti yet?!"
Fortunately, thanks to the Ruler's exceptional support, the distance between the floating ship and Hoaquin had closed enough for Maschenny to find a suitable point to jump.
She couldn't fly—but the area where Hoaquin stood was layered with massive shinsu droplets, forming makeshift footholds.
"Everyone else, fall back now!"
She shouted as she leapt down.
Starting with the Ruler, Taegong and Asensio aboard the ship withdrew without hesitation, retreating far away and escaping the storm.
[KRAAAAAAA!]
"…Just what… is this…"
Maschenny stared at Hoaquin with shock evident in her eyes.
Wrapped in glowing white shinsu, flickering like a ghost as he roared—he looked utterly unfamiliar.
What on earth had happened on the Second Floating Fortress…?
[…I will not… repeat… mistakes.]
"…What?"
Could it be…?
The words not repeating mistakes triggered Maschenny's mories of Hoaquin's scars.
She felt she could finally understand the situation.
Hoaquin was rampaging.
She didn't understand the exact chanism, but his unstable mind had exploded due to sothing—like a dam bursting.
Without reason. Without control.
He had beco a white demon, hurling an unidentified black-and-white shinsu storm in every direction.
Did that explosion make him think I was dead? Or did Leta Zahard do sothing…
Having pieced together the situation, Maschenny's eyes turned cold.
"…Hoaquin."
[KRAAAAAH!]
Even at her call, Hoaquin failed to regain his senses and swung Baekya at her.
At his current High Ranker–level power, a direct hit would an almost certain death for her—
"…?"
But strangely enough, his sword swung in a completely different direction.
Maschenny tilted her head slightly, confused—but Hoaquin himself, even in his rampage, seed equally baffled.
He swung Baekya several more tis, violently—but each ti, his arm and blade veered away from her.
As if he were instinctively refusing to harm Maschenny.
Maschenny looked at him.
His hands—his arms—were trembling violently.
She closed her eyes, gathered her thoughts, then opened them again and began walking straight toward him.
"Hoaquin. Get a grip. I'm right here—alive and unhard."
[KRAAAAAAA!]
As she took several steps closer, Hoaquin clutched his head and unleashed black-and-white shinsu toward her, trying to drive her back.
Since the sword didn't work, he must have tried another thod.
SHRAAAK—
The violently surging shinsu slashed across her abdon—but Maschenny didn't stop.
She moved even closer.
"This won't be enough."
Not only his sword—but even his shinsu itself—was fundantally refusing to seriously harm her.
An attack that would have been fatal even to a Ranker rely left shallow cuts on her body.
Of course, if the wounds kept stacking, it would beco dangerous…
But Maschenny didn't care.
…Sorry for leaving you alone.
That strange sense of responsibility wasn't just her imagination.
She knew how much he relied on her.
She knew how precious she was to him.
And yet—she hadn't considered what it ant to leave him alone.
So it was only right that she dealt with the aftermath.
Maschenny continued stepping forward without hesitation.
The closer she got, the more violently the shinsu around Hoaquin lashed out at her.
"…."
A sharp shinsu blade cut across her cheek.
She didn't wipe away the blood—she kept walking.
[AAAAAAAH…!]
"…."
Hoaquin raised Baekya, now darkened, threatening her again.
She ignored it.
With each step forward, shinsu streams tore into her body, spraying blood in all directions.
"…Ghk—"
Maschenny tried to keep moving, but the accumulated wounds and blood loss were pushing her body to its limit.
Another cut from Hoaquin's defensive shinsu made her grimace in pain.
But she didn't stop.
This reminds of the Selection Ceremony.
Back then—no matter how many tis she was cut by his sword, she'd kept charging forward and landed a blow on him.
To be honest, the thrill of that mont had been indescribable.
And now—once again—she was advancing, getting cut again and again.
Back then, it was to punch him.
Now—
Yeah. This ti too, I'm going to hit him.
A hit to knock so sense into this idiot.
[...…!]
KRAAAASH—
An enormous amount of shinsu began converging around Baekya.
Power so overwhelming that if Maschenny—who wasn't even Ranker-level—were hit, death would be instantaneous.
Hoaquin pointed his sword at her, threatening—
But Maschenny walked even faster toward him.
[U… UAAAAAAH!]
KRRRRRRUMBLE—
The condensed shinsu finally erupted from Baekya in a single release, flooding the entire area in blinding white light.
The attack had clearly displayed trendous power—but it didn't even graze Maschenny.
Once again, completely contrary to the rampaging Hoaquin's will, the attack flew off in an entirely different direction.
Without even glancing at where it passed, Maschenny took another step toward Hoaquin.
The raging shinsu surged and lashed out at her repeatedly, yet Maschenny continued forward without even a mont's hesitation.
"Stop screaming if you can't even hit properly."
[...?]
Unable to harm Maschenny with any attack he unleashed himself, Hoaquin showed clear signs of confusion.
And finally, Maschenny—who had been cut dozens of tis by the rampaging shinsu around them yet never once stopped walking—stood directly in front of him.
What should she do?
How could she pull Hoaquin back?
Hoaquin no longer tried to stop her.
Instead, just as before, he began muttering the words he had buried deep inside, turning them inward as self-bla.
Maschenny felt a pang of pity at the sight.
The closer she ca, the more confused Hoaquin beca.
If that was the case, then—
[Don't co closer… you…]
"…Hoaquin, none of this is your fault. You didn't do anything wrong."
The closer she got, the more flustered he beca—and it was clearly visible that his rampage was slowly subsiding.
If that was true, then—
"There's no need to be afraid. No need to run away."
[Ghhk...]
At that mont, beyond Hoaquin's eyes—glowing pure white—a chilling red flickered past.
"…?"
Maschenny didn't miss it.
A sense of unease struck her instantly.
She realized then that this bizarre rampage wasn't caused by Hoaquin alone.
Sothing else—a third-party interference—flashed through her mind as a possibility.
What was that just now—
But more importantly, stopping Hoaquin's rampage ca first.
[…I must… not… repeat mistakes anymore…]
"That's right. Don't lose anything. Don't repeat the sa mistake ever again."
A little embarrassing, but…
Having finally chosen her approach, Maschenny took one final step—
and spread her arms wide, pulling Hoaquin into a tight embrace.
"See? I'm not running away. So you don't run either."
[...]
With their bodies pressed together, Maschenny held Hoaquin firmly in her arms, supporting him.
"Look at , Hoaquin."
Hoaquin, who had been muttering just monts earlier, froze completely and said nothing.
Maschenny wrapped her arms around him, feeling his body heat.
It was cold—unlike him.
She knew her own skin was cold as well, but even so, she hoped she could warm him now, and held him even tighter.
"You idiot. I'm right here."
[Maschenny…?]
At last, Hoaquin began to recognize her.
Only then did Maschenny's expression finally soften.
Though his voice was still different from before, the chilling edge it once carried was completely gone.
Like comforting a child, Maschenny kept one arm around him while gently stroking his head with the other, speaking softly.
"Yes. It's . So co back—back to yourself, from whatever that strange form was."
[Ah...]
As if her words had pulled a trigger, the white shinsu enveloping Hoaquin imdiately began to fade.
The black-and-white shinsu that had ominously covered the 96th Floor and wrought destruction gradually cald.
At last, Hoaquin's clear white eyes regained their focus.
The pallor covering his body vanished completely, and Baekya—once stained black—returned to its original color.
Hoaquin's mind had fully returned.
The first words he spoke after the rampage ended were—
"…You're safe."
Maschenny nodded quietly in response.
As she loosened her arms from around his upper body and tried to step back—
"Don't go."
This ti, his pale arms wrapped around her.
"…Huh?"
Caught off guard, she let out a pointless sound, but Hoaquin didn't care.
Instead, he pulled her in even tighter.
His body—now warm again—pressed against hers, and sohow, Maschenny felt herself relaxing, as if lting.
Holding her close, Hoaquin spoke softly.
"Just… stay like this a little longer. Maschenny."
He spoke with a childlike desperation.
After hesitating briefly, Maschenny nodded and rested her head against his chest.
"…Okay."
The shinsu droplets Maschenny had used as footholds had already disappeared when the rampage ended, so Hoaquin held her firmly to keep her from falling.
The warmth of his hands against her skin felt like a stove in the middle of winter.
With the arm she had been about to release, Maschenny quietly wrapped him back in her embrace.
For quite so ti after that, the two remained there, holding each other and sharing warmth.
The black-and-white shinsu storm—still not fully dispersed—perfectly concealed them from everyone's view.
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