But as I move my gaze even farther right, my eyes flare open in shock as I recognize the other male, now fully shifted into his fox form too. He's running at full speed toward Ze, readying himself for attack just as the red fox opens his mouth to release his energy blast.

"Ze, watch out," I call out to him, running to his side. In the moment, all my coherent thoughts vanish. It never even crosses my mind that I'm powerless and I could never possibly help him. There's only this unnatural impetus to save him as I push my battered body forward. I only cover a short distance before it becomes clear that the fox isn't running toward Ze.

He's running at me.

Ze's head whips to me, something flaring in his gaze. He moves with frightening alacrity, his sword up in the air to absorb the blast of energy. One leg slips backward as the power of the blast strains his equilibrium. He holds on to his sword as the wave of energy washes through him, his body bent forward. His entire body shakes as currents of electricity travel from the sword through him, his expression pained. Still, his attention is fully on me. Yet the distance between us is a wide gulf that he can't possibly cross in time.

I come to a complete halt, my eyes wide, my heartbeat erratic. There's no time to retreat. Not with how unresponsive my body suddenly is and certainly not with how fast the fox is moving toward me.

Everything happens in slow motion as I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing myself for the impact.

But it never comes.

A loud bang erupts in the air, sowing panic in my chest. I crack my eyes open to find myself staring at Ze's back. He's breathing hard as he holds his ground, keeping the fox away from me. His fingers are wrapped around his opponent's throat, squeezing the life out of him. His hold tightens until a snap permeates the air, the neck of the fox bending at an awkward angle. His beady eyes are wide open, unblinking, his mouth parted—in regret or shock, who knows. Ze releases him and the unmoving body drops to the ground, morphing back into its humanoid form.

"Ze..." I whisper, reaching out to touch his sleeve.

It's the first time I see him kill someone. Before, when he'd dispatched that demon, I hadn't once had second thoughts about it because it was evil, no? He was saving the souls. But this... I'm not sure how I feel about it even though the fox was going to attack me. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead, or at the very least gravely injured. It's quite obvious that the foursome had started the conflict as a way to show off and take care of a weaker contestant. The flimsy pretext they had used to attack me had been a mere front.