“Die.”

He unleashed his power at the two of them. He didn’t especially want to kill them, but the experiments had to continue.

Nothing happened.

“Ha, haha! Looks like it failed!”

“Now’s our chance!!”

The two of them immediately broke into a run, fleeing from the alley.

“Wait, what? Are we really letting them go?!” Tomochika may not have been particularly happy about the way Yogiri had been dealing with things, but even she recognized the danger it presented if their would-be abductors escaped.

“I didn’t let them go...”

But even as he said that, the two thugs were running full tilt into the depths of the city, disappearing into the night.

Mireiyu ran with everything she had. Leaning forward, she dropped to her hands and feet, soaring down the stone road on all fours.

“Hey! Don’t leave me behind!” Whatever her former leader was saying, Mireiyu ignored him. There was no way she was slowing down for him.

Taking one turn after another onto numerous side streets, she eventually bounded up the wall of a building, coming to a stop only when she had decided she was far enough away to be safe. Crouching low on the roof of the building, she could feel her heart pounding from the exertion of her escape.

“What was that...that monster...?”

She didn’t understand at all. With only one or two words from Yogiri, her companions had all collapsed. It was like some sort of elaborate practical joke. There was no impression of reality to it at all. But its lack of realism only served to strengthen her conviction that an equally irrational death had been waiting for her as well.

They were supposed to be worthless. Powerless. Those with no abilities were less than slaves in this world. And otherworlders with no powers were extraordinarily rare. When she had seen them at the weapons shop, she had felt incredibly lucky. After an easy kidnapping, she could sell them to some noble for a great price. That should have been the end of it. So how had it ended up this way? She simply couldn’t accept it.

But none of that mattered now. She had escaped. That in and of itself was worthy of celebration. For the moment, she just had to focus on calming down.

As these thoughts ran through her mind, Mireiyu realized how unnaturally quiet it had become. There wasn’t a single sound around her. And when she finally understood what it meant, it was like a rod of ice stabbing her in the back.

Her heart had been racing up until that point, yet she realized she could no longer feel it now.

Mireiyu gave one last groan. She couldn’t breathe.

Her heart had stopped.

Her vision was rapidly growing dark.

Desperately, she extended her claws, trying to dig into the roof below her, but at this point it was meaningless. The strength left her limbs, and her consciousness began to fail.

I should never have gotten involved with them...

And then, Mireiyu slipped away into darkness.

-Volume 1 page 79-81