I grabbed Boss’ wrist.

“W-What? K-Kim Hajin? Why are you grabbing my h-hand—”

Boss seemed flustered, but I didn’t care. We needed to escape now.

I jumped to a nearby roof with her.

“Kim Hajin!”

Boss shook my hand off after our flawless landing. She looked more shy than angry.

“You should at least explain.”

“Boss, transform.”

“What?”

We didn’t have much time left. I urged her to use her Yaksha transformation.

“Hurry!”

The difference before and after her transformation was huge. Her physical strength doubled at least and her magic power more than tripled. Not even Kurukuru could take Boss out with a single attack in her transformed state.

“…”

Boss tilted her head, but complied nonetheless. Her eyes turned red and the shadow armor around her thickened. Only a minute had passed.

Rumble…

However, I suddenly felt a huge vibration from the ground. Soon, bullet time activated again. Did aether’s transcendent senses somehow feel how the flow of time had changed? It happened much earlier than before and I seemed to have underestimated Kurukuru.

Kwaaaa!

Something shot up from beneath the building and pierced through the center as it leaped up. It severed the steel frames, destroyed the stairwells, passed through dozens of floors, and instantly reached the rooftop.

Debris flew in the air, but floated without scattering. Only...