"What are we doing Shiro-nee?" Kanae asked curiously as she had her Katana strapped to her waist.

  She had two katanas and she used, one as backup. Normally, people would store them in the inventory but Kanae found it easier to just keep it on her waist.

  Earlier today, she was helping the police patrol the city when Shiro called her phone and asked to meet her in the office.

  "The scouting drones have found a small group of survivors. I want you to come with me so that we can help them. Since you’re still a little young, I want to see how you deal with situations like this." Shiro smiled as Kanae paused.

  "Sure. But since Shiro-nee is there, there’s not much I need to do." Kanae tilted her head in confusion.

  "I’ll just be watching by the side don’t worry. Also, how is your training with the Yin Style Phantom Path?" Shiro asked as she had given Kanae the full manual script of the martial art considering her past identity.

  "Oh it’s been going good. This martial art is so easy to use! I had tried to use other martial arts when I was training to be a bodyguard but it’s always the phantom path that Shiro-nee gave me that felt the most comfortable." Kanae smiled happily as Shiro nodded.

  ’That’s because it’s yours to begin with.’ Shiro thought with a soft smile.

  "Mn That’s good. I hope that I’m not overworking you. You’re still young despite what you look like." Shiro nodded as she stood up.

  "It’s fine. I had a talk with my mum and we limited how much I’ll be working per day. Plus, I’m taking weekends off. Mum’s fine with me training since she knows how dangerous the world is now." Kanae replied.

  "Speaking of your mum, how are you two holding up in the city? I hope everything is to your liking." Shiro asked as the two of them made their way out of the tower.

  "It’s a bit overwhelming with all of this new stuff but mum’s getting a hang of it. She’s just happy that we’re living together again since I moved out for a bit after getting stuck in the dungeon. I was living in Russia for a bit after all." Kanae smiled while hugging Shiro’s arm.

  "Mn, her precious daughter got stuck in a dungeon and came out looking much older. Plus, she must have been shocked the first time you brought up the fact that you wanted to move out for a bit." Shiro joked as Kanae nodded.

  Talking while they made their way to the edge, Shiro waved her hand and her form started to shrink before stopping around palm size.

  Sitting on Kanae’s shoulder, Shiro crossed her legs.

  "I’ll just watch like this. Don’t mind me and try to help the people ok?" Shiro smiled as Kanae paused for a moment before nodding her head.

  Stretching her body for a moment, Kanae jumped off the edge of the map.

  Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

  ’Gahhhh!!!! Shiro-nee is too cute!!!! I wonder if she’ll be ok if I poke her cheeks a little. She’s so small right now!!’ Kanae cried out in her mind since it was quite distracting.

  However, after appreciating the small Shiro on her shoulder, her eyes focused and her aura steadied.

  Noticing this, Shiro raised an eyebrow since it was similar to when she would cut off her emotions for a little while so that she could kill the enemy in front of her.

  ’This level of concentration is quite impressive for Kanae’s age.’ Shiro thought with an appreciative nod.

  Sending out her senses, Kanae discovered the signatures belonging to the survivors.

  She could see a group consisting of 4 monsters and each one was quite high levelled compared to the survivors. If it wasn’t for one of the survivors having such a strong aura, they might have been wiped out long ago.

  ’The woman is struggling but she’s holding off the four monsters while running. If they continue like this, they’ll all die.’ Kanae thought as a tier 4 magic circle appeared beneath her feet.

  Stomping on it like it’s flat ground, she propelled her body towards the survivors as fast as she could.

  ###

  "Haa……" Breathing out heavily, I wiped the blood that was filling my vision.

  The monsters were chasing after us but it seems like they find it more fun to torment our mind rather than just killing us outright.

  They could have easily overtaken me and killed the rest of the survivors but instead, they made sure to stay just out of range. If we were to slow down even slightly, we would be killing.

  I know that this was a false hope that the monsters were instilling in us but I still wanted to take this chance to see if I can help these people escape.

  I wanted to try to split up the group but the monsters would round us back up.

  Stumbling on my foot, I slowed down slightly as one of the monsters tried to bite me.

  Turning around, I tried my best to parry its bite but my arms were weak from the extended combat.

  "Arg!!!" Crying out in pain, my body was flung past the survivors and my sword was broken in half.

  My back was on fire as one of the branches on the tree stabbed into my body.

  Holding back my scream, I stumbled back up while using the tree as a support.

  Unfortunately, it seems like the monsters have had enough fun. They cornered us off completely as the leader of the monsters walked up and smirked.

  Trying to get away from the monsters, the survivors huddled up together in fear.

  I glanced in my inventory but there was only a single dagger left. I didn’t know how useful this was but I prepared myself to summon it if a gap reveals itself.

  "Do you want to live?" The monster spoke out as we all paused in surprise since monsters speaking was very rare. Hardly anyone has heard a monster speak before but it wasn’t impossible.

  But the fact that it could speak meant that there was no chance of us surviving today.

  Most of the survivors understood this truth and they collapsed in despair but there were a few who had fire burning in their eyes.

  "I want to live! What do I need to do!?" One of the survivors shouted out as he stood up. His eyes were desperate but I shook my head.

  These monsters won’t let him live. They just wanted a bit more enjoyment before killing us.

  "That girl. The one who protected you, if you eat her alive, I’ll spare you. Anyone who helps to eat her will live. Once there is only bone left, I’ll let you go." The monster grinned as the man slowly turned towards me.

  ’You’re kidding right?’ I thought in disbelief. Surely they’re not stupid enough to believe that lie. But the look on their faces proved otherwise.

  One by one, the survivors started to stand up but a couple stood in front of me, shielding me from them. their kids held me with worried faces.

  "What are you doing?! You know they won’t let you live! Why not die a proper human then become a cannibal! Have some integrity!" The man shouted out but a dagger was stabbed into his shoulder. If he didn’t move to the side, it would have pierced his heart and killed him.

  "There’s no use for integrity if there’s a chance to live! Don’t you want your kids to have a chance at living as well?! If we eat her there is at least a chance!" The man shouted back while keeping a firm grip on the dagger.

  Hearing this, the man who shielded me widened his eyes as he was clearly thinking about it but eventually shook his head.

  I didn’t know what he was thinking but he only smiled.

  "Which father doesn’t want their kids to live! However, I believe that there is a better option than relying on these cruel creatures! Holly! Take the kids and our benefactor and run! I’ll try to hold them off even if I die." The man shouted out as a blue aura exploded out of his body.

  Slowly, it started to turn red as I understood that he was burning his lifeforce to forcefully empower himself. At most, it’ll only hold them back for a few seconds but the woman named Holly tried her best to carry me and ran with the kids behind her.

  "Good attitude!" A young female voice shouted out.

  *BANG!!!!

  Crashing into the monster that was the leader, a flash of red filled our vision as a third of the monster was cut off and thrown into the air.

  "Now then, I’ll deal with you lot after I kill these monsters." The young girl said coldly as her black hair fluttered in the wind. She held a single Katana in her right hand as killing intent permeated from her body, causing the ones that wanted to eat me collapsed on their legs with pale faces.