* * *
Frustrated, Ben slammed his fist against the trailer’s steering wheel before glancing at the side mirror for a solution.
The problem seemed to be the wrecked white car wedged into the coupling joint.
Liran, who had pulled out her handgun and was in the middle of loading it, didn’t seem interested in his predicament.
“It won’t move! I think that car’s stuck!”
“Are you kidding me? I should already have put a bullet between that guy’s eyebrows by now!”
CRACK—!!
With a sharp kick, fueled by frustration, Liran tore the thick passenger door right off its hinges.
Watching the trailer door fly away so effortlessly, Ben briefly considered whether it might be faster if she just pushed the truck from behind.
But hearing her muttered curses and the loud noises outside, he decided it was better to just focus on steering.
“No way!”
BANG!
“I mean!!”
BANG!
“Why the hell!!!”
BANG—!!
And just like that, Liran, still clinging to the passenger side, kicked away the car lodged in the coupling joint with sheer force.
VROOOOOM—!!
As soon as the wreckage detached, the wheels finally started to move.
Seizing the opportunity, Ben floored the accelerator, sending them speeding down what was now their escape route.
BANG! BANG-BANG!!
He couldn’t see what was happening outside, but the metallic bursts told him all he needed to know.
Even in this chaos, Ben wondered if he should report the situation to his superior.
He instinctively reached for his smartphone, only to realize it had been flung out of the car during the previous impact.
“Ah, hell!”
“Can you watch your language? Do all Central people talk like sandpaper?!”
“Like I care?! How about you actually look ahead while you talk?!”
Whatever grudge that girl had, she was still staggering after the violently shaking trailer truck.
Her eyes had turned blood-red, and in one hand, she was gripping the black car she had failed to throw earlier.
The sight of her pursuing them with a car in hand was like something straight out of a horror game.
“What the hell is up with her? Did we piss her off or something?”
“She’s about to go berserk. She’s completely lost it.”
Just as Liran said, the ends of the girl’s ashen-gray hair were turning stark white, oxidizing rapidly.
Her entire body was emitting smoke as if it were overheating—clear signs of an Esper on the verge of a breakdown.
If an Esper reached this state, they either needed a Guide to stabilize them, or they had to be taken down—either by being subdued or by a stronger Esper stepping in.
“Well, at least she’s just using brute strength and not any real Esper abilities. The problem is, I’m also in that same category.”
In other words, both of them were melee fighters, meaning there was no way to handle this from a distance.
Ben, understanding the situation from her blunt explanation, pondered whether Liran could simply overpower the girl.
“If you’re stronger than that Esper, shouldn’t this be an easy fix?”
“Of course I’m stronger! But that’s only when my Guide has me properly regulated!”
Wait a second. That meant her synchronization wasn’t stable?
“Didn’t you just say everything was fine earlier?”
“How was I supposed to know this would happen?! I’m normally very delicate, you know?!”
Unbelievable!
Seeing Liran awkwardly avert her gaze, as if she realized her own shamelessness, Ben could only stare at her in disbelief.
But what was the point in pressing her on it now?
Instead, he focused on another issue—why the hell weren’t reinforcements arriving?
He was just about to suggest she use her phone to call for backup when something fell from her hand.
Her state-of-the-art smartphone, now split in half, rolled across the floor.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
“The truck won’t go any faster! We’re lucky it’s even moving at this point!”
“Put your soul into it—wait! MOVE, MOVE!!”
“Huh—?”
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.
The sight in the side mirror was grotesque—a black sedan, soaring toward them like a missile.
BOOOOM—!!
The airborne vehicle crashed right in front of them, forcing Ben to slam the brakes with all his strength.
SCREEEEEECH—!!
The force was so intense that the trailer truck let out a strained groan, unable to withstand the sudden inertia.
Inside the cabin, the impact was just as brutal.
A white airbag exploded right in front of Ben’s face, and the handle Liran had been gripping snapped off, flinging her outside.
She tumbled several times but landed smoothly, performing an expert roll before immediately drawing her gun.
BANG!
She fired at the rampaging Esper’s leg the moment she regained her footing.
“Argh!”
“Hey! If you’ve still got any sense left, answer me! Where’s your Guide?!”
BANG—!!
Liran barked out the question, gun still trained on the Esper, who staggered from the gunshot wound.
But instead of responding, the girl rolled her red-streaked eyes back and let out a twisted grin.
“You really think that matters… when I’m this strong…?”
Her voice was metallic, unnaturally distorted, as if her vocal cords were melting from the overheating.
“Wow, real edgelord energy. So, what, just because you’re an Esper, you think the world revolves around you?”
“Don’t need ittttttttt!!”
Letting out a screech that grated against their ears like nails on metal, the Esper lunged.
Liran, unfazed, ruthlessly smashed the butt of her gun into the girl’s face.
THWACK!
“Do I look like your damn friend?! Huh?!”
She could’ve just shot her, but it was clear she was venting some personal irritation.
With a sickening crunch, the girl’s face twisted grotesquely, bones cracking.
Liran, seemingly satisfied, slammed her gun into the opposite cheek.
THWACK—!!
“Can we try solving this with words, please?!”
“You think I wanna use words right now?!”
“Ever heard of inner peace?! INNER PEACE?!”
Ben, barely managing to crawl out from the wreck, was in no better shape.
A nasty bruise had formed around one eye, and he wiped the last traces of his nosebleed on his sleeve.
Seeing the Esper’s ruined face, he grimaced before speaking again, trying to calm Liran down.
“She’s still conscious. If we restrain her now, we just need to keep her contained until her Guide arrives.”
“No? I couldn’t care less if this guy dies. I don’t even have 0.01% of a desire to save him right now. Unless… you’re his Guide or something?”
“…I am a Guide. Even if it’s just an F-rank Guide.”
It was almost the first time I had ever called myself a Guide out loud, aside from when I took the civil service exam interview.
How did people react back then?
I remembered the atmosphere being quite tense, probably because calling myself a Guide felt almost laughable.
And right now, it wasn’t much different.
“F? You mean F as in failing? That kind of Guide? Oh, so an F-rank Guide is supposed to do what, calm down an Esper on the brink of rampaging? Have you even been deemed compatible with anyone before?”
“…In my case, the likelihood of compatibility is practically zero.”
“Are you kidding me?!”
“That’s why, Riran, you’re supposed to capture him alive.”
“Are you deaf? I just said—!”
While Ben and Riran were arguing over what to do with the Esper, a girl, taking advantage of their slight distraction, launched herself at Ben.
She must have thought Riran was too difficult to handle, so she went for the easier target instead.
The only reason I managed to raise my arm in time to block her punch—faster than a boxer’s jab—was thanks to all the training and military drills I had gone through.
But that didn’t make it hurt any less. It hurt like hell.
Damn it.
“Ugh, you’re really pissing me off!”
Bang!
Ben clutched his left arm, which was definitely going to bruise and throb painfully later, and braced himself for the girl’s next attack.
But before she could make another move, Riran swiftly grabbed the Esper’s arm and threw her.
The girl crashed headfirst into the container behind the trailer.
As she twitched and struggled to move, Riran grimaced in disgust.
“Seriously, like a damn leech.”
Boom—!
“I’m strong, I’m strong! Why would I need anything else?! I’m strong! Strong! STRONG!!”
The moment just now must have been the trigger for her to completely lose control.
The air around the Esper began to heat up, her muscles swelling unnaturally, distorting her human form.
Even the massive container, something no ordinary person could lift, began to shift under her strength.
“…Is she seriously trying to throw that?”
“Are you insane?”
They say expectations can kill, and apparently, that was true.
That container had been transported here with an entire trailer truck.
The way it sluggishly scraped across the ground felt surreal, like watching a cheap, low-budget circus act.
If she threw it the way she did that car earlier, forget dodging—it was a matter of survival.
Ben turned to ask Riran if she had a plan, but before he could get the words out, he saw her face contort into an expression he’d never seen before.
“No… No way. Absolutely not. That thing cannot be opened!”
It was a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.
Liran Siu was genuinely tense.
There was no way she’d be this alarmed just because some girl she had been kicking around was about to throw a container.
* * *
