Hina's Perspective
I was starting to lose control of the situation.
At first, I had honestly believed I could handle them.
When I arrived, there had only been a handful of those strange paint monsters running through the streets. Compared to Razorblade, they didn't even look particularly intimidating. Their bodies were little more than moving masses of brightly colored paint, shaped into crude creatures that looked as though someone had pulled graffiti off a wall and somehow given it life.
But appearances could be deceiving.
Every time I destroyed one of them, I quickly discovered that it wasn't actually gone.
Its painted body would break apart across the pavement, splashing against the road and surrounding buildings. For a brief moment, the creature would appear to have been defeated.
Then the paint would move.
It would crawl across the ground as though it were alive, gathering itself into new shapes before splitting apart into even more creatures.
One became two.
Two became four.
And four became even more.
The longer I fought, the larger their numbers became.
"Why are there so many of them?!"
I swung my arm forward and released another sphere of light.
The glowing projectile shot across the street and struck one of the paint monsters directly in the center of its body.
The creature burst apart beneath the impact.
For a moment, I felt a tiny sense of relief.
Then the scattered paint began to move.
My expression immediately fell.
The colorful liquid twisted across the pavement, pulling itself together before separating into several smaller creatures.
My eyes widened.
"No way..."
The number had increased again.
I took several steps backward, breathing heavily as I watched the newly formed creatures crawl across the street.
My body was beginning to feel heavier.
When I first transformed into Shina, the power flowing through me had felt almost limitless. My movements had been faster, my senses sharper, and the strange energy surrounding my body had made me feel as though I could accomplish anything.
But now that feeling was fading.
My arms weren't moving as quickly as before.
My breathing had become uneven, and every time I raised my hands to attack, I could feel the exhaustion spreading through my muscles.
I clenched my fists.
I couldn't stop.
There were still civilians nearby.
I had already seen people running through the streets, desperately trying to escape the monsters. Some had taken shelter inside nearby buildings, while others were being guided away by the police.
If even one of these creatures reached them, someone could get hurt.
I couldn't allow that to happen.
"Shina!" Ryuna's voice echoed inside my mind. "Be careful!"
"I know!"
Several paint monsters suddenly lunged toward me.
Their strange limbs stretched forward as they attempted to grab my arms and legs.
I quickly twisted my body to the side.
One of them passed only inches away from me.
I ducked beneath another attack before jumping backward, barely avoiding a third creature that tried to catch me from behind.
Their movements were clumsy.
Slow.
That was one advantage I still had.
"They're slow," I muttered, watching them carefully.
Individually, they weren't particularly dangerous.
Their movements were predictable enough that I could dodge them without too much difficulty.
The problem wasn't fighting one.
It wasn't even fighting five.
The problem was fighting dozens.
And every time I attacked them, their numbers increased.
I turned around and sprinted down the street.
My boots struck the pavement as I put as much distance between myself and the swarm as possible.
Behind me, I could hear the monsters chasing after me. Their footsteps slapped against the road in a chaotic rhythm, accompanied by the strange sounds their painted bodies made whenever they moved.
I glanced over my shoulder while continuing to run.
"Take this!"
I extended both hands.
Several spheres of brilliant white light formed around my palms.
I fired them one after another.
The glowing projectiles streaked through the air and crashed into the pursuing monsters.
A series of bright explosions illuminated the street.
For a moment, the creatures disappeared beneath the light.
I slowed down slightly.
Maybe that had worked.
Maybe—
The paint began moving again.
My stomach dropped.
"No..."
The scattered paint pieces crawled toward one another.
Then they split.
One became two.
Two became four.
And four became even more.
The creatures multiplied across the road.
My eyes widened as I stared at them in disbelief.
"You're kidding me..."
"Shina!" Ryuna shouted. "They're multiplying again!"
"I can see that!"
I turned around and started running again.
However, after only a few seconds, something strange happened.
The monsters stopped chasing me.
I slowed down.
"What are they doing?"
The creatures weren't moving toward me anymore.
Instead, they were moving toward one another.
My expression changed.
The paint began flowing across the pavement, gathering into larger and larger masses.
The monsters began merging.
Their bodies twisted together.
Their limbs stretched and fused.
Their painted forms collapsed into one enormous mass before beginning to rise.
I stopped running.
"What are they doing?"
The mass continued to change shape.
At first, I couldn't understand what I was looking at.
Then I realized what was happening.
They weren't creating another ordinary monster.
They were creating something much larger.
The painted bodies stretched outward and locked into place.
A thick structure formed at the center.
More paint gathered around it, creating a massive frame.
The creature continued growing until it towered above the street.
My eyes slowly widened.
"What... is that?"
The answer became obvious a moment later.
A gigantic painted cannon had formed from the combined bodies of the monsters.
The long barrel pointed directly toward me.
A strange glow began building inside its opening.
My heart jumped.
"That's not good."
Ryuna's voice immediately became urgent.
"Shina, move!"
The cannon fired.
A massive blast of paint erupted from the barrel.
I jumped sideways as the attack tore through the street.
The projectile followed my movement.
I quickly looked around.
There was nowhere to run.
Then I spotted a parked car along the side of the road.
"Sorry!"
I rushed toward it and dropped behind the vehicle.
The paint blast slammed into the car.
BOOM!
The entire vehicle shook violently.
I pressed myself against the back of it as the metal groaned beneath the impact.
The windows rattled.
The tires trembled against the pavement.
The force of the attack continued pushing against the vehicle, causing it to shake beneath me.
"This car isn't going to hold forever!"
Another blast struck.
The metal bent inward.
I immediately grabbed the edge of the vehicle with both hands and planted my boots firmly against the ground.
"Come on..."
The force of the attack pushed against the car, trying to shove it away.
If the vehicle moved, my cover would disappear.
I pushed harder.
"Stay... right there!"
My arms trembled from the effort.
The car groaned beneath the repeated impacts.
The vibrations traveled through the metal and into my body.
My breathing became heavier.
I couldn't keep doing this.
"Shina!" Ryuna shouted. "You need to do something!"
"I know!"
"If you stay there much longer, the car will be destroyed! Once that happens, you'll be standing directly in front of them!"
"I said I know!"
My voice came out harsher than I intended.
I immediately regretted snapping at her.
But I was scared.
I was exhausted.
And, for the first time since becoming Shina, I genuinely didn't know what I was supposed to do.
I cautiously looked around the side of the car.
The cannon was still firing.
Paint blasts tore through the street, splattering across buildings and pavement.
I looked to my left.
More monsters.
I looked to my right.
More monsters.
Then I looked behind me.
My heart sank.
The blasts that had missed the car hadn't simply disappeared.
They had splattered across the surrounding streets.
And now the paint was moving.
Again.
I watched in disbelief as the scattered paint began forming bodies.
One monster appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
They rose from the painted streets one after another.
The creatures slowly began surrounding me.
My eyes widened.
"No..."
Ryuna fell silent for a moment.
Then she spoke quietly.
"Shina..."
"I know."
There was nowhere to go.
The enormous cannon was in front of me.
The newly formed monsters were behind me.
More were appearing along the sides.
The surrounding buildings blocked most of the possible escape routes.
I couldn't simply run through them.
And if I stayed behind the car, the vehicle would eventually be destroyed.
I needed another way.
I looked upward.
My eyes traveled along the side of the building beside me.
Windows.
Concrete walls.
Air-conditioning units.
Then I noticed something on the rooftop.
A large water tank.
I stared at it.
An idea slowly entered my mind.
It was reckless.
It was probably dangerous.
And there was a very good chance it wouldn't work.
But right now...
I had nothing else.
I swallowed nervously.
"Ryuna."
"Yes?"
"I have an idea."
There was a brief pause.
"Is it a good idea?"
I glanced at the growing army of paint monsters surrounding me.
"No."
Ryuna sounded even more worried.
"Shina..."
"But it's the only idea I have."
The monsters continued closing in.
I took a deep breath.
If this failed, I could be captured.
But I was already almost completely surrounded.
There was nowhere else to run.
No other place to hide.
So I had to try.
I released my grip on the damaged car.
The moment I stepped away, another blast struck the vehicle.
The metal shook violently.
I turned toward the building and raised both hands.
Light began gathering between my palms.
At first, it was nothing more than a small glow.
Then the glow expanded.
A sphere of brilliant white light formed between my hands.
It continued growing.
Larger.
Brighter.
Heavier.
Within seconds, the sphere had become enormous.
The surrounding paint monsters turned toward me.
I could hear their strange movements approaching from every direction.
I didn't wait.
"Please work..."
I thrust both hands forward.
The enormous sphere of light shot upward.
It traveled toward the rooftop and slammed directly into the water tank.
BOOM!
The tank ruptured.
A massive hole appeared in its side.
For one brief moment, everything seemed to freeze.
Then the water came pouring out.
An enormous torrent cascaded from the rooftop.
The water rushed down the side of the building like a sudden waterfall.
My eyes widened.
"Yes!"
For the first time in several minutes, I felt a spark of hope.
But that relief lasted only a second.
The paint monsters had already reached me.
They surrounded me from every direction.
I could barely see the street anymore.
There were only painted bodies.
Dozens of them.
They moved toward me from behind, from the sides, and from the street ahead.
I had nowhere left to go.
The water continued pouring down from above.
I looked toward the approaching creatures.
Then I looked upward.
I tightened my fists.
"Here goes nothing."
The flood finally reached the street.
Water crashed across the pavement.
It swept around my boots before rising higher, catching the paint monsters in the rushing current.
The creatures were knocked off balance as the water surged through them.
Paint began spreading across the flooded street.
The monsters struggled against the current, their painted bodies twisting as the rushing water carried pieces of them away.
I braced myself against the force of the water.
My hair and clothes were soaked almost immediately.
The flood continued pouring down around me, carrying paint through the streets and away from the civilians.
For the first time since the battle began, the overwhelming army was no longer moving according to its own plan.
Everything had been thrown into chaos.
I stood in the middle of the rushing water, breathing heavily as I watched the paint monsters being swept away.
I didn't know whether my plan had actually worked.
I didn't know if the creatures could reform themselves again.
And I certainly didn't know whether I had enough strength left to keep fighting if they did.
But at least for the moment...
I had stopped them.
I clenched my trembling fists.
"I have to keep going."
Ryuna's voice returned inside my mind.
"Shina..."
"I know."
I looked toward the flooded street.
"We can't let them reach anyone."
Even though my body was exhausted, I forced myself to remain standing.
I was Shina.
I had promised to protect Tokyo.
And until every civilian was safe, I couldn't afford to give up.