An Uneasy Heart

"Come," Haru said, aiming the flaming sword at the Beast.

As the alcohol burned on the sword, its temperature continued to rise up, making the sword look terrifying and deadly. However, the rising temperature also caused burns to surface on Haru's hand.

But he ignored the pain and stayed focused on the beast.

Haru knew this would happen if he ignited the sword but he had to do this because he noticed something peculiar about the beast from what all he had seen.

"Grrr...." As Haru expected, the Beast warily looked at the burning sword, not immediately lunging at him.

'As I expected, it is wary of the fire!!' Haru thought, his uneasy heart brimming with hope. Seeing the Beast's wariness of the fire, he seized the opportunity and dashed toward it.

"Oi! Haru! What are you doing!?" Kuga Yoshida shouted, bewildered by Haru's sudden and reckless action.

"Its scared of fire! Just support me!" Haru shouted as he continued forward.

"Damn it!" Not fully understanding Haru's plan, Kuga Yoshida cursed under his breath but still followed closely behind to provide support.

Given their situation, Haru couldn't properly explain it to them, but his speculation wasn't baseless.

From what he had observed, the Beast had initially ignored him and Yoshida, who had burning torches, and had instead gone toward the specific two students who, in a panic, had dropped their torches.

Secondly, and most importantly, the Beast had somehow always avoided the burning Molotov.

Haru had thrown one from its blind spot earlier, yet it somehow managed to detect it. However, it did not detect the bolt which Aki had shot at it earlier, pointing out only two things – either it was sensitive to fire or the fire was its weakness.

But seeing the wariness within its eyes, Haru understood that it was the latter.

"Take this!!!" As Haru closed in on the Beast, he used a feint with the burning torch, thrusting it toward the creature.

"Grr!!!!" The Beast growled in anger as it sensed the threat and flinched back, dodging the incoming torch.

"AHHH!!" Haru then, at that exact moment, pulled back the torch while the beast's eyes were focused on its flame and swung his burning sword at its face.

But it wasn't as simple as he thought it would be. The Beast used its extraordinary agility to swiftly dodge the burning sword and quickly put some distance between them.

"GROWLLL!!!!!" The Beast then let out a thunderous roar at Haru as it dashed toward him with terrifying speed.

Unperturbed, Haru raised his burning log, attempting to stop its advance, but the Beast had other plans. Gaining enough momentum, it took a massive leap into the air, bypassing Haru.

"EVERYONE LOOK OUT-!!!" Haru quickly tried to warn the others, thinking the Beast was once again targeting Aki and the rest, but the situation was different than he expected.

"GRRR!!!" The beast did not go after the others. Instead, it swiftly crept behind Haru, launching its dangerous paw at his unprotected back.

'Shit!!!' Haru's body stiffened as he felt the presence of the dangerous paw moving toward his back at a frightening speed.

'MOVE!!!!' Knowing that the impact would likely break a bone or two, he quickly jumped forward to increase the distance between them. But the beast was faster.

"GET AWAY YOU BEAST!!!" Luckily, Kuga Yoshida arrived just in time, swinging his metallic rod at the Beast's paw and deflecting it away from Haru's back.

Bang!

"Grrr!!!"

"Oh... shit." Although Kuga Yoshida had successfully intervened to save Haru, the impact had caused his metallic rod to bend and become useless. Now, the beast's eyes were solely fixed on him, leaving him visibly terrified.

Swoosh!

"GRRRRR!!!!!"

Suddenly, a bolt landed with impeccable timing, striking the beast in its left eye while it was occupied. The creature let out a sharp roar at the precise moment the arrow hit its yellow eye.

"NICE ONE, AKI!"

Immediately, Haru swung his burning sword at the Beast, not giving it a moment's rest as he found the perfect opportunity to strike.

Slash! The sword cleanly cut through the other remaining eye, leaving a horrifying wound. But because of its sturdy skin, he couldn't penetrate deep enough.

"GGRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" With one eye impaled with an arrow and the other badly burned, the beast trembled in agony, emitting a terrifyingly loud roar.

'Though the wound may not be critical enough, it's blinded now! We can take it down!' Haru thought.

He then looked back toward Orimura and asked, "Sensei!! How many Molotov cocktails are remaining?"

"We still have four! Do you want us to throw them at the Beast?" Orimura asked after she counted the remaining explosives.

"Yes!! Quickly!! This is our chance to finish it off!! Throw them all at its face but don't light them on fire!!"

"Eh? But won't that-"

"Just trust me and hurry up!! We don't have much time!!!"

Orimura was dubious of what Haru was planning, but she trusted him and immediately without wasting a second, together with Aki, threw all the Molotov cocktails they had onto the Beast's face.

Splash! Splash!

Splash! Splash!

Since the Molotov cocktails weren't lit, the Beast, as Haru had expected, didn't notice as they hit and broke on its face, drenching it with highly concentrated alcohol.

Seeing everything was ready, Haru threw his burning log aside and walked toward the beast with his heart pounding a little.

He then raised his sword, the flames on it extinguished, and pointed it toward the beast as he said, "Come at me. I know you can hear me, right!?"

"Haru!? W-What are you doing!?" Aki panicked as she saw him walking close to the Beast.

"GROWLLLL!!!!!" Enraged as it heard or smelled Haru, the Beast darted right toward him, its deadly intent clear to everyone watching.

Seeing it charging at him, Haru didn't show an ounce of fear. He was determined to face it head-on and end the threat it posed.

"Grrrrr!!!!!" The Beast opened its jaws wide, prepared to strike Haru down in one fell swoop. But Haru stood his ground.

Just as the Beast was merely a meter away from him, Haru swiftly pulled something from his pocket and threw it directly at the Beast.

It was his custom lighter, and a small flame was burning brightly at the top.

The Beast sensed the approaching source of fire, but because the flame was so much smaller than the torches it had sensed the danger from before, it didn't attempt to dodge. Instead, it continued its trajectory straight toward Haru in rage.

However, even the smallest spark had the potential to ignite flammable materials, let alone the concentrated alcohol drenching the Beast's face. In an instant, as the lighter touched its face, the alcohol caught fire, engulfing the Beast's face in flames.

"GROWLLL!!!!!!!!"

"DIE!!!!" Witnessing the flaming head hurtling towards him, Haru made no attempt to evade the heat. Instead, he swiftly thrust his sword at the Beast's burning head.

Thud! The sword found its mark with precision.

With fire as its weakness, the Beast's face quickly melted, and its bones became too brittle for Haru's sword, which easily pierced through its skull.

With one decisive blow from Haru, the Beast collapsed to the ground, and few yellowish orbs emerged from its body. The largest portion swiftly flew into Haru, while the smaller part went to the others involved in the battle.

[You have killed an Awakened Level 5 Beast, Black Dog! 50 EXP gained!!]

"Ha Ha Ha..." Haru let out heavy breaths as the rush of adrenaline subsided, leaving him exhausted after slaying the beast.

"Is... Is it really over?" Orimura questioned, her voice filled with disbelief after the terrifying encounter.

"Haha... It's dead... you really scared us there..." Yoshida chimed in, as he and the others collapsed on the ground, a mix of exhaustion and relief washing over them.

'It is finally dead... but... why do I still have this uneasy feeling in my heart?' As his heart continued to beat loudly in an anxious rhythm, Haru couldn't shake off the lingering sense of unease.

It was at that moment a cry caught his attention from his left, where Orimura and Aki were located.

"AKI!!!! WATCH OUT!!!!!" Orimura's desperate voice pierced the air, prompting Haru to swiftly turn in their direction.

"!!!" His eyes widened in shock as he witnessed something he never wanted to see.

"H-Haru..." Aki stood there in disbelief beside a window with a hand on her neck which seemed to be bleeding a little from a visible bite mark.