"That idiot jumped!"

  Mina shouted. After all, her hospital room was on the fifth floor. Jumping out the window was suicidal.

  "Nooooo!"

  With a stomach-lifting sensation of floating, she fell while flailing her hands. Her chest tightened with intense fear, and her face contorted into a demonic expression.

  "Stop struggling!"

  "How can I not struggle?!"

  Just as she was about to crash into the ground, somehow their falling speed began to brake.

  "Huh?!"

  It was a strange sensation—gradually they began to glide just above the ground like a roller coaster.

  "We're not falling!"

  Mina didn't know what kind of sound to make.

  "We're actually going up!"

  When Arc said this, they began to float upward.

  Still held in Arc's arms, she slowly ascended.

  "Whaaaat?!"

  Seeing Mina's reaction, Arc grinned.

  "How's that? I can manipulate spatial gravity."

  Arc soared even higher while holding Mina.

  "You should've said that first, idiot!"

  Arc laughed. He had hidden his ability to surprise Mina.

  "You wouldn't have believed me even if I told you!"

  "That's true, I wouldn't have."

  Actually, she still couldn't believe it even now.

  Flying through the sky while being carried princess-style!

  Mina looked up and glanced at Arc. He had a youthful face but looked kind. At least compared to yesterday's old man and the octopus-like monster, he seemed trustworthy.

  "Look, Mina, check it out."

  When she turned at Arc's voice, a magnificent night view spread before her.

  "...Unbelievable."

  A night view from an angle she'd never seen before. She had no idea the lights of her town could be this beautiful... Mina's heart was captivated by the city's brilliance.

  But that night view lasted only a few seconds before Arc quickly landed on the ground. They were in the hospital parking lot.

  "Why did you land?"

  "Because I can't fight with both hands occupied if I don't put you down."

  Hearing this, Mina remembered those tentacles.

  "Right, what the hell was that thing anyway?"

  Looking back at the hospital, she could see a giant octopus-like monster crawling down the hospital wall. Just its head alone was as big as an elephant.

  "What is that? Does an octopus that big even exist in this world?"

  Arc nodded.

  "That's a magic beast called Dark Tentacle. The guys trying to capture you probably sent it."

  "Me? Why..."

  "Isn't it obvious? Because you have the 'key.'"

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  The hospital windows began shattering one after another. Mina watched it as if it were a distant event. Then suddenly, a wriggling black tentacle appeared right in front of her face.

  "Kyaaa! It stinks!"

  Mina leaped backward like a cat.

  "Hey, this is no joke! Why am I—Kyaaa!"

  Looking down at her feet, she saw several black tentacles wrapped around Mina's body. She screamed as she was dragged several meters, then lifted into the air upside down.

  "Eek! Why? Why does everyone want to go into the sky?!"

  But this time, she had no leisure to enjoy the night view.

  Then an incredibly foul smell hit her, so Mina turned and looked up.

  Right before her eyes, the slimy, gleaming black Dark Tentacle glared down at her while exhaling its fetid breath.

  Mina's spine froze.

  "Eek! Help me! Aaaaarc!"

  Mina's mood was the worst.

  "Hang on, Mina!"

  Arc's voice came from above.

  When Mina looked up at the sky, a single black shadow appeared from the bright moonlit night sky.

  That shadow gradually transformed into the shape of a white-haired boy, falling toward the Dark Tentacle.

  "Arc!"

  He pulled out a meter-long sword from his back and raised it overhead.

  "Take this, you bastard!"

  Arc's sword sliced through the Dark Tentacle's round head.

  "Buoooo!"

  The Dark Tentacle roared in pain.

  Arc's sword had torn through the monster's head. She thought it was only a matter of time before the monster fell.

  The Dark Tentacle trembled in pain and flailed its tentacles. As a result, Mina, who was caught by the tentacles, was also swung around violently.

  "Wah wah wah wah!"

  Arc continued bouncing around in mid-air, wielding the long sword in both hands relentlessly, slicing through the octopus's body.

  "I cut through its heart! Just a bit more!"

  But countless tentacles attacked Arc. Arc danced through the air dodging them, swinging his sword to slash them, and the tentacles were quickly cut to pieces.

  "Arc! Did you defeat it?"

  "No, octopuses have three hearts!"

  "There are still two more?!"

  "By the way, they have nine brains."

  "I don't feel like we can defeat it at all!"

  Mina couldn't stand the fishy smell and furrowed her brow. She pinched her nose, but apparently her fingers already had Dark Tentacle slime on them, and now the smell wouldn't come off from around her nose.

  "Ugh, this is the worst!"

  Mina almost cried.

  Then Arc pulled something from his inner pocket and threw it toward Mina. It flew like a Frisbee and stopped floating above Mina's head. The ring was golden and sparkled brilliantly, like an angel's halo.

  "Use that ring... and somehow escape on your own!"

  "Somehow—me?!"

  "I'm busy right now!"

  "Hey!"

  Mina glanced up at the Dark Tentacle above her head.

  "Buoooo!"

  The Dark Tentacle seemed frightened and stretched the leg holding Mina as far away as possible.

  ...Could this angel's ring be some kind of scary weapon?

  "Buoooo! Buoooo!"

  The Dark Tentacle extended several tentacles to grab Mina's arms and legs. Was it trying to restrain Mina?

  "Ahh! Don't do that!"

  Mina reflexively guarded her face with both arms.

  Then the ring automatically flew around with swooshing sounds and sliced through the attacking tentacles. Mina blinked while looking at the angel's ring glowing above her head.

  "Amazing! It's like a chakram weapon! Is it automatically protecting me?"

  Looking ahead, the Dark Tentacle was writhing while screaming. It seemed Arc had sliced through another heart. Arc turned around and shouted:

  "Touch that ring!"

  Mina nervously stretched her fingertips upward.

  "Where should I touch it?!"

  "Anywhere!"

  "Won't it cut my fingers?"

  "Hurry up, you idiot!"

  "Did you just call me an idiot??"

  Mina touched the ring with her fingertip, annoyed.

  Then the ring left its position above her head and descended near her fingertip.

  "Um... what should I do now..."

  Mina hoped this ring was an item specialized in defense and would surely protect her from the foul odor as well.

  "Please... get rid of this smell from my nose!"

  However, perhaps Mina's gesture was wrong... the angel's ring reacted to her casually moving fingertip and suddenly flew off somewhere.

  "H-hey! Come back!"

  Mina waved her hand telling it to come back, but the angel's ring flew toward the Dark Tentacle as if running amok.

  But Arc was fighting the Dark Tentacle over there!

  "Dangerous! Dodge!!"

  It was unclear whether Arc heard Mina's voice, but sensing something wrong, Arc immediately jumped to the side.

  Then Mina's chakram passed by him with barely an inch to spare. And as it zigzagged out of control, it sliced through tentacles before plunging into the Dark Tentacle's round head with a thunk!

  "Buoooo! Buoooo!"

  The Dark Tentacle screamed.

  And the angel's ring continued moving left, right, and diagonally with swooshing sounds, instantly tearing the Dark Tentacle to pieces.

  "Whoa! That was close!"

  Arc turned around while wiping sweat from his forehead.

  Mina stared at Arc in a daze.

  "Did I do that?"

  Arc grinned.

  "Yeah. That's your power."

  "What amazing power..."

  "I almost got torn to pieces too, though."

  As Mina stood dazed, the angel's ring slowly returned and transformed into a small hair ornament that attached to her head.

  At that moment, her footing suddenly became unsteady.

  "Hm... wait, what?!"

  Arc was shouting something. Listening carefully, he seemed to be saying they were going to fall!

  Thinking about it, it made sense. After all, they had defeated the Dark Tentacle. Of course its limbs would lose their strength.

  "Hey! What do we do about this?!"

  "Can't you somehow get out of the octopus legs?!"

  Arc rushed over but couldn't make it in time.

  "Eeeek! Aaarc!"

  "Hold on tight, Mina!"

  Arc held Mina protectively as they fell together.

  Looking down, there was about three meters to the ground—high enough to cause injury.

  "Arc, let go! You'll get hurt too!"

  But Arc held Mina to his chest to protect her head. Mina gripped Arc's clothes tightly and closed her eyes.

  Eventually, the octopus leg slowly toppled sideways.

  "Nooo! We're going to die!"

  "Hold onto me tight!"

  The octopus leg fell sideways into the parking lot, crushing the parked cars with a tremendous sound.