Kikunojou Tendo stared at Haruto.

He had already asked Seitenshi about Haruto's background, but the only thing he got in return was silence.

And from that, Kikunojou understood certain things.

What he didn't expect was that Haruto would do something so terrifying—To make every single non-Initiator Cursed Child vanish from the Tokyo Area.

And just as Haruto had said—

Including Kikunojou himself—

They had completely overlooked the presence of the Cursed Children.

Even when they were on guard, they only feared organized forces utilizing them.

They called the Cursed Children "monsters" over and over, yet in their arrogance, they thought of them as beings that could be abused at will—not worthy of notice.

And now, reality had come back to slap them across the face.

Hard.

So hard that if they didn't act fast to fix things—Everyone in the Tokyo Area would be dead.

And because they'd witnessed what Haruto was capable of—

No one dared to make a reckless move.

But then, in that thick silence and despair—

Haruto said something that shocked everyone present:

"If you all sincerely beg, those kids might come back to help you survive this crisis. What do you think?"

The moment he said it—Everyone looked at Haruto like they were seeing some never-before-seen creature.

This was the same man who had just condemned them—and all of humanity.

And now, he was saying he'd help them?

The sudden shift was so strange it was impossible to comprehend.

"Madman!"

That thought popped up in many minds.

At the same time, excitement surged in their hearts.

Right! He must be just like those lunatics from the New Human Creation Project. And if he was a madman—Then he couldn't be reasoned with using normal logic.

So...

"We beg for those children's help!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

And more voices quickly joined in.

That chorus of pleas echoed through the room. All eyes turned toward Haruto, full of anticipation.

Seitenshi looked sorrowful.

She understood that this might be humanity's last chance. A miracle had descended from heaven—Yet humanity had pushed it away without even realizing.

Kikunojou remained silent.

Though he couldn't see through it clearly—

His years of experience in high office whispered to him:

"Every gift comes with a hidden price tag."

And often, what seems free is actually the most expensive. Accepting it rashly… would come with unimaginable costs.

But even so—

It didn't matter.

They had no choice.

Under the weight of everyone's hopeful stares—

Haruto smiled and nodded.

"Alright."

Then, he operated the computer.

The previously deactivated drone feed lit up again and flew toward the collapsed Monolith.

As the image zoomed in—

Everyone in the room saw it:

A flood of Gastrea, pouring in from outside the Tokyo Area, surging toward the broken Monolith.

The sight made everyone's faces go pale.

But then—

A few small figures shot into that wave of Gastrea like arrows released from a bow.

The screen zoomed in—

They were just a few young girls, no older than nine or ten.

The only thing they had in common—

Was a pair of crimson eyes.

And then—

Where they landed…

It was as if the Gastrea tide had been thrown into a meat grinder.

Gastrea exploded one after another, blood and flesh flying high into the air—some blasts even reaching hundreds of meters.

Everyone in the control room gasped.

It was unbelievable.

Were these Cursed Children all in the top 100 rankings?

No—

Maybe even top 50 Initiators?

But the footage that followed dispelled that notion.

More figures leapt into the battlefield.

And the results were exactly the same.

That sheer force was enough to destroy the Tokyo Area ten times over.

The crowd stared at the screen in a daze—

Their minds could only process two thoughts:

"Just who is Haruto… and how does he control such overwhelming power?"

"Thank god this man's a lunatic—Tokyo Area might actually be saved."

What they had feared most—Was that Haruto's offer of help was nothing but a joke. That he would mock them, but never actually deploy the Cursed Children.

And to be fair—

That seemed highly likely.

But now, the Cursed Children had truly entered the fight. And their power was beyond anything anyone had imagined.

The terrifying Gastrea were now stopped outside Tokyo Area—

Some were even being pushed back.

It was a reversal too good to be true.

In their euphoric relief—

No one cared anymore why Haruto had done this.

Or what would come after.

Haruto waved casually at Seitenshi—

Then pulled Kisara Tendo along and turned to leave.

Seitenshi watched Haruto's back as he walked away, her expression infinitely complex.

Kikunojou quickly approached her.

"Saintess-sama, who exactly is he?"

She simply shook her head.

Even though hope was almost lost before—If the game rules were broken, everything would have ended instantly.

Seeing her shake her head, Kikunojou fell silent too.

And outside the meeting room—

Haruto passed by Rentaro Satomi, who had just arrived.

Rentaro, seeing Haruto and Kisara, especially Kisara, instinctively stopped in his tracks.

"Kisara… Mr. Haruto… where are you going?"

He looked at Kisara, trying to read her expression.

But she turned her eyes away.

By right, she had no place to feel disappointed in Rentaro.

But she couldn't help it.

He wasn't white. He wasn't black. He was something in between—too contradictory to look at.

Anyone who saw through Rentaro's nature would feel this way.

"We're leaving this place, Rentaro Satomi."

Haruto replied calmly.

Rentaro froze.

His face changed several times—

Until finally, it settled into quiet resignation.

"Alright. With your strength, Mr. Haruto, you can probably make it to another Area. Please protect Kisara."

Haruto nodded—

Then asked:

"You're not coming? At your current strength, you probably can't influence the battle anymore, right?"

Rentaro hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"No… I'm not leaving."

Haruto showed no reaction.

But for Kisara, it felt like something inside her heart had quietly resolved.

They passed each other—

Then went in opposite directions.

Because the Cursed Children joined the battle—

The pressure on Tokyo Area was greatly relieved. It could even be said they were now liberated from despair.

Though the Gastrea still posed a threat—

Tokyo was now able to resume full-speed restoration of the collapsed Monolith.

And they had some manpower to spare for investigations.

What were they investigating?

The Monolith itself.

It was made from Varanium alloy—

A metal reinforced with Varanium, tougher and more resilient than any other alloy or metal.

Under normal circumstances, not even a Stage Five Gastrea could smash it just by losing a single tentacle.

And the results?

This 450-series Monolith was a scam.

The Varanium used in its construction was completely substandard.

Worse yet—

The Monolith was hollow inside.

This discovery shocked humanity.

No one had imagined that someone would dare tamper with the very pillars of civilization's survival. That they'd reach their greedy hands into humanity's last hope.

Following that—

As rebuilding began, all Monoliths were ordered to be reinspected.

The findings were alarming.

Nineteen Monoliths had problems.

If not for this crisis—

It was projected that within 70 years, those Monoliths would begin failing one after another.

If 20 Monoliths collapsed at once—

Tokyo Area would vanish.

In that sense, the Tokyo Area had a blessing in disguise. At least, that's what the current Tokyo upper brass thought.

While reconstruction was underway—

The Cursed Children continued to fight fiercely.

Haruto never intervened, nor did he break the game's rules. He truly let the Cursed Children save those who had once hated them.

But since Haruto had upheld the game's rules—The people of Tokyo Area now had to do the same.

Seitenshi understood this deeply.

She poured every effort into spreading the word of what the Cursed Children had done—Spending enormous sums to build massive screens all across the city.

Screens that would broadcast live footage of the battlefield at the broken Monolith.

Again and again, she spoke in praise of the Cursed Children.

But...

Would it really work?