EPISODE 03: Operation Dawn Bringer 09 (Patreon)

Sadie stopped fighting it. Overcome by a sense of peace, she relaxed her body just as Ichika violently pulled back on her neck once more. Caught off guard by the lack of resistance however, her center of gravity suddenly shifted, forcing her to lift herself off her prey to retain her balance - long enough for Sadie to throw her hips backward.

Then it happened. As guilt turned into truth and truth turned into wrath, wrath became raw power. A rush of adrenaline. Sadie twisted herself free from under Ichika. Retracting her left leg fully before swinging it hard, out and across in a wide arc, striking her tormentor directly in the face.

Ichika was sent flying sideways. But the fall never came as this single point in time was stretched into infinity. 

[“What’s happening?” asked a disembodied voice. It sounded like Yui, but older.]

[“She just kicked me!” replied another voice. It sounded like Ichika, but older.]

[“Hold her.” commanded Yui, voice laced with concern.]

But Sadie wouldn’t allow it. She was done being held back. Being slowed down. Being confined, categorized or conformed. They poked and prodded at the monster. Now they would have to deal with her.

At first her body refused to answer her call, like the rest of the scene, she was frozen in time. Her leg extended over Ichika’s gravity defying body mid-fall. Surrounded by Yui and her entourage who were perpetually stuck with pathetic expressions of shock and disbelief on the faces.

Sadie let out a primal roar. Channeling all of her despair and hope from the bottom of her heart, she screamed as loud as she could. Willing herself to move. To react. To strike! Her mind focusing on a single point once more: Ichika’s face.

Meanwhile, the entire scene began to tremble and quake. The classroom tables, chairs and windows to the courtyard. The walls, the ceiling, fluorescent lights and even the writing on the blackboard. Collapsing, as this mental prison was no longer able to contain her sheer force of will.

Then came a thunderclap and as the backdrop completely shattered, her outstretched leg regained all of its momentum in a single instant. Coming down on Ichika’s head like a sledgehammer and driving it directly into the corner of a desk.

And like so… the monster had awakened.

(To be continued.)