One thing I’ve hated about fear was how it affected your ability to think and how it affected your body’s natural ability to move, for this was something I had experienced when I had accidentally crashed my parents’ car when I first started driving. When we did crash, I tried opening the driver’s door. It’s something you should be able to do without thinking. Just reach for the handle, pull it, then push the door. Something so easy that you could do it with your eyes closed.

  But when I attempted to open it in my panic-filled state, I just couldn’t. It was as if the door suddenly became heavier, or the handle was fixed.

  It was both an unforgettable and humbling experience.

  Fortunately, everyone was able to get out alive, but we had to go to the hospital, and my parents eventually had to get a new car as a replacement.

  That was when I swore to never drive again.

  …

  That was the moment I finally understood the phrase, ‘life flashing before your eyes.’

  You’re faced with inevitable death, its machinations staring at you in the face. Your mind runs through countless ‘what-if’ scenarios.

  Instead of letting guilt overcome me, I should’ve stayed inside where everyone else was safe.

  Instead of running out to check out the storm in the sky with everyone else, I should’ve stayed put.

  Instead of trying to look for survivors, I should’ve headed back to where the warehouse was and joined the others.

  Well, it was a nice second life. Kyori, I’m sorry you had to waste your summons on someone like me.

  I stared at the cyan-haired attacker as he waved his hand in a line. It was a movement I saw before, when I saw the wind dancer fighting against the vine conjurer. A blade of wind, directed at me.

  I merely stared at it, watching the blade make its way. With how fast the wind dancer’s blades traveled, it’d probably take less than a second, if this guy is stronger than her, perhaps even faster.

  There was a shout. It sounded like a girl. A strong breeze blew over me.

  The blade of wind flew over us, hovering inches over me.

  The man stepped back, the arm he used to conjure the blade retracted, shielding himself from the wind rushing toward him.

  Suddenly, the man was enveloped in flames. A torrent of fire came from above.

  I looked in its direction. A student in a pastel orange shirt, propelling himself with flames erupting from his feet.

  It was Fireboy.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The man waved his arm, using wind to blast the fire away.

  That would be his biggest mistake.

  Clarity coming back to me, I used the opportunity of his momentary distraction to envelop the man in an amorphous blob of telekinetic force. The amount of force squeezing him was proportional to how much I squeezed my hand. Currently, it was open, as if tightly gripping a mound of clay.

  I squeezed harder, and the man screamed as his confines squeezed tighter around him.

  He was utterly powerless, his body floating in the air according to my will. I was focused on him, and only him.

  I could kill him right now if I wanted to.

  As I raised the hand controlling how much I was squeezing the man, I noticed Ms. Black Ponytail standing next to the man. There was a look of concern- no, fear on her face as she looked between the cyan-haired attacker and me.

  Is that pity?

  I looked at the man, his movements completely restrained by the amorphous blob that enveloped him. He couldn’t move much, restricted to only centimeters of movement.

  The armored woman shook her head, staring directly at me, realizing I was controlling the man’s prison.

  What? Does she want me to release him?

  I kept my focus on the blob, looking around at the devastation the man had inflicted on the town. Destroyed buildings and injured people in my field of vision.

  I merely looked back at the woman straight in the eyes. My thoughts were conveyed with a single glare.

  Something else touched the arm I had raised. It was the hand of the peach blonde girl who was shouting at me earlier. She, too, had a similar look of pity like Ms. Black Ponytail’s.

  Her too?

  I analyzed the situation, trying to understand what everyone was trying to convey to me with their expressions. Everyone here fought tooth and nail, trying to stop the man terrorizing the town. Now that I have him restrained, they feel bad?

  No, letting him go doesn’t make sense.

  He’s proven an ample amount of times that he’s a danger to everyone around him. If letting him go isn’t an option…

  I looked at the cyan-haired attacker, noticing he wasn’t moving around as much.

  Wait,.. OH SHIT!

  I lightened my grip on the man, reducing the density of the force enveloping him. He awoke and started taking in large, heavy breaths. I still kept him enveloped in the force, but reduced the amount around his head to give him a little more breathing room, keeping some in front of his face in case he could use his mouth to attack me by blowing really hard.

  After a few minutes of maintaining him inside the blob, with me lowering my arm so that I wasn’t straining him as much, there was the sound of many footsteps clattering.

  My summoner was walking on the wall between the roof, accompanied by men in armor, with one of them holding a large ring with a peculiar-looking, dark purple crystal embedded in it, and the other holding a much larger crystal of the same color.

  Standing behind the cyan-haired attacker, the larger crystal glowed, producing a bright purple, almost pink color. I heard grunts or groans coming from Fireboy and Peach Blonde, with my summoner wincing at its activation. Weird, does it make them uncomfortable?

  The armored man with the large ring opened, showing that it was 2-half circles that formed a full one. It was connected by a hinge at the joint.

  He moved to try and put it around his neck, but was stopped by my amorphous blob of force. Peach Blonde turned and spoke to me, trying to force my arm down. I complied, and the collar was quickly put on the attacker, glowing purplish-pink immediately after it was equipped. After that, the larger crystal was deactivated, reverting to the dark purple I had seen earlier.

  The cyan-haired man tried fighting it, but was immediately held in place by the armored men, shouting manically. It sounded ugly and unbearable to listen to.

  The armored man to the attacker’s left simply punched him in the face, and he was out like a light. Then, the two simply carried his limp form away, using the wall I had erected as their path. As they left, they spoke some words. Though I simply ignored them, given how indecipherable they sounded.

  It’s over.

  Relieved, I felt fatigue overwhelm me. With no urge to continue staying awake, I rested my head against the tilted platform and let myself fall asleep, uncaring of the shouts that followed.