Amid the citizens' screams, the enormous Shadow Fiend wreaked havoc throughout the city.
The Shadow Fiend possessed immense strength. Every swipe of its claws could easily destroy a building.
It crumpled the cars on the ground like lumps of modeling clay and hurled them in every direction.
Explosions caused by collapsing buildings rang out all around.
Flames soon soared above the streets, the ground cracked, and rubble and steel bars kept tumbling down. The area of destruction was still rapidly spreading.
Those who happened to be near the Shadow Fiend screamed and fled, getting away from the area. The crowds drained from the bustling streets like an ebbing tide, leaving ruins in their wake.
But as the crowds dispersed, they exposed a child's figure beside the street.
It was a little girl wearing a kimono, its vivid colors particularly conspicuous against the entire gray street.
The little girl seemed to have been knocked down by someone. She looked dazed, as though she had lost her soul, and only sluggishly climbed to her feet long after falling.
Yet after getting up, the girl did not immediately flee. Instead, her eyes vacant, she slowly walked toward the towering ghostly figure ahead, step by step.
The Shadow Fiend had noticed her too. As the only living creature in sight, she was even approaching it of her own accord. To it, this behavior was no different from a provocation.
The Shadow Fiend roared in fury, immediately abandoned the building it was destroying, and turned to lunge at the girl.
It moved incredibly fast, crossing dozens of meters in an instant.
But just as it raised its claws and was about to strike the girl, its movements abruptly halted. Some force seemed to have bound it in place. Its raised claws trembled with effort, yet