The apartment was a warzone, the air thick with the acrid stench of dead Calamity Creatures and the dust of shattered drywall.
My boots crunched on debris as I knelt beside my Mom, her trembling hands clutching my arm. Her eyes, wide with terror, darted between me and the splintered remains of the front door, where the last of the creatures had fallen. Her breaths came in short, ragged gasps, and I could feel her pulse racing through her grip.
"Reno… what… when, are those?" Her voice was barely a whisper, cracking under the weight of fear.
I forced a calm I didn't feel, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Calamity Creatures, Mom. But they're gone now. I've got you." My words were steady, but my mind was anything but.
Bakuzan.
His name burned in my thoughts, a venom that fueled every beat of my heart. Sending those creatures after my mom.
My Mom—was a line he'd crossed that I'd make him regret.
She shook her head, her blonde hair falling loose from its bun.
