Playing the Hero for a Young Hostage

[The Devil System is currently idle]

[Waiting for conditions to fully activate...]

[Calculating...]

[...]

[Progress Towards Activation: 54%]

...

Room 521.

I pressed my ear against the door and tried to hear what was going on inside. There was some casual chatter. However, there was a very slight sound of resistance. It was enough evidence for me to go inside.

I cut off the doorknob and kicked open the door. It swung open with a bang, and I looked around at the situation as fast as I could.

Two men standing in the middle of the room.

One man was standing beside a girl who had her arms and legs tied up.

There wasn't enough time for me to make any further observations. I instantly rushed toward the man beside the girl and kicked him away. I didn't want to kill him just in case there was something happening here that I wasn't aware of. He was sent crashing into the ground, knocking over various pieces of furniture.

The other two men were frozen in shock at the chaos that had just unfolded. However, it didn't take them too long before they took out their Disrupters.

Sadly, Disrupters weren't going to do anything to me.

Thinking they had disabled my abilities, the two men ran toward me. One of them threw a punch that I easily dodged. I kicked his ankle and tripped him onto the ground. The other one tried to hit me with a wide kick, but it was also easy to dodge. I ducked under his leg and hooked his other leg.

All of them were now on the ground as I tried to get a better view of the situation. I could hear the faint pleas from the girl as she shuffled toward me. I cut off the ropes which tied up her limbs, and she quickly grabbed onto me. I could feel her chest pressing against my back as she clung to me with all her strength.

"M-my... ankle... hurts..." she mumbled.

I noticed that the men were slowly getting up, but the sight of my sharp, silver blade was enough to deter them.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm here for Aiko."

"The boss didn't tell us about you!"

I couldn't be bothered listening to their villain spiel—then again, I wasn't really the nicest person either. Aiko was likely in one of the other rooms, so I'd need to get out. I nudged the girl off of me, and she fell to the ground with a thump.

"...hwha?"

Sorry, I need to deal with these guys first.

I made my way toward the men on the ground and raised my sword. I dropped the tip of my blade into one of the men's legs. I could feel the fibres in his thigh being torn as my sword dug itself into his flesh.

"Aghh! What the hell!?" he screamed in pain.

I pulled my sword back out, pouring blood all over the ground as the red liquid leaked out of his leg. He suddenly clutched his injured thigh and rolled around the floor.

The others began desperately crawling backwards in an attempt to get away from me. As they tried to get away, I kicked one of them in the face causing a loud bang. Saliva to splashed out of his mouth as their head slammed into the wall. A large dent was formed in the plaster.

"No... please... I'll listen to whatever you say!" the last one looked up at me in pure terror.

It would be annoying if one of them came back at a later point.

I wanted to incapacitate them first.

I picked him up by the collar and rammed my knee into his stomach. He coughed out in pain as he curled up into a ball on the ground. While he was gasping for air, I slammed my heel onto his ankle. A loud crackling sound filled the room as I felt the bone in his foot snap.

He shouted in pain, but it was drowned out by the cries of the others.

Well, that's the trash dealt with.

I turned around and looked at the girl on the ground. She gazed up at me with wide, glistening hazelnut eyes. Her caramel hair was a little messy, covering some of the wounds on her face. However, it was still crudely held in a ponytail.

"You said your ankle hurt, right?"

"Y-yeah... my left foot."

I crouched down and took off her left shoe. Putting one hand on her soft skin, I pulled off the velvety white sock, exposing her pale skin.

"Eh!?" she seemed to have been surprised by my gesture, lightly tugging her leg away.

I grabbed a cloth and tied it around her ankle. It should provide a little bit of pressure and support.

"T-thank you."

"It's fine."

I put my arms under her body and lifted her up.

"Ah!"

"Don't move too much."

I held her in my arms like a princess. It was the most convenient way of holding her at the moment, so I just went with it. She was honestly lighter than I expected, like holding a big pillow in my arms. Her face suddenly went bright red, and she looked away.

"W-w-what are you doing..."

"You can't walk, right?"

"I-I guess..."

I made my way out of the room and looked around.

Now that the hostage was secured, the rest of this shouldn't be that much of an issue. I wanted to find Aiko since she was the last thing that they had.

I felt a gentle tug on my shirt.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"N-no... just... thank you for saving me..."

"Don't worry about it."

I could still hear the pain coming from the room I had just left. At least I knew that they weren't going to be running at me front behind any time soon. I couldn't think of another way to find Aiko, so I decided to just walk around, listening in if there was any noise coming from the rooms.