Saigou Ryouta and Sugiyama Edao of Anti-Skill were lucky.
They had carelessly been asleep while most of the city's law enforcement was taken out, so they had not suffered the same comatose state the other members had. When no one had responded to their in-car radio, they had assumed it was nothing more than mechanical trouble. For better or for worse, they had been left out of the loop.
And they were lucky once more.
Saigou had left the driver's seat and Sugiyama had left the passenger seat and walked over to help the bloody man climbing the fence.
What they heard first was a great roar.
It was a bestial roar coming from a human being.
The second wave arrived before Saigou and Sugiyama could determine what was causing that roar of rage.
The second wave took the form of a thick metal door.
The metal door flew at horrific speed while rotating vertically. It came so close that it almost grazed across Saigou and Sugiyama's skin and then slammed into the center of the parked Anti-Skill patrol vehicle like a gigantic circular saw.
Sparks flew and the vehicle was bent into an L-shape.
It was as if that completely normal vehicle had suddenly been struck from the side by an artillery shell. The back half of the vehicle stayed the same while the front half was smashed up and bent directly to the side. The vehicle did not even slide to the side. The blow contained such force that the area struck by the "shell" opened up like a blooming flower of destroyed metal. The metal door that destroyed the vehicle had enough momentum to continue on. Only after smashing the asphalt to pieces did it finally come to a stop. The gasoline pipe that had been torn apart touched an electric cable that had been disconnected. A small spark formed.
And that was all it took.
After that single blow from the side, the vehicle exploded. Flames and smoke were scattered around the area.
"Wh-what the hell!?" shouted Saigou with his vision completely cut off by the smoke.
The metal door had flown at such high speed that Saigou was not sure what had caused the vehicle to explode. However, the fact that he had not seen anything happen only furthered his panic.
He could not see his colleague who was supposedly right next to him.
And then…
"Gyaahhh!? S-stop!!" shouted an unfamiliar male voice.
And before Saigou could realize it belonged to the man in black he had tried to help…
"Wait! Please wait, Accelerator! No, no! This isn't right!! Anti-Skill! Wh-wh-where are you!? Help! Hel-byah! Byah gwaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!?"
Saigou heard a sound reminiscent of a tough wiener being bitten into. Sensing danger, Saigou grabbed his handgun from his waist, but he could not move any further. The smoke was so bad he could not see anything around him. Shooting blindly posed a risk of hitting his colleague Sugiyama or the man he was supposed to protect. He could not tell what was happening beyond the smoke or if it was being caused by a human or a wild beast. He could not imagine where he should aim or what he should shoot at to resolve the situation.
"F-freeze! Don't move! Get away from him!!"
Despite not being able to see anything, Saigou aimed his gun randomly and shouted out.
He thought he heard a laugh come from very close by.
It was not a loud laugh. It sounded more like something that had slipped out while the person had their mouth covered.
Several dull noises continued afterwards.
After about 10 seconds, the screams died out.
In the end, Saigou had been unable to move.
There were some things one was better off not seeing.
He could instinctually tell he had been lucky to have the smoke cutting off his vision.
The pouring rain put out the fire of the exploded vehicle. Once that happened, the smoke finally dissipated.
Saigou's colleague Sugiyama had fallen to a sitting position on the ground.
His mouth was flapping open and closed, but no words escaped his lips.
His face was horribly pale and he was pointing a trembling finger at the ground.
Saigou looked where he was pointing.
The man they had been trying to help was not there. No matter where he looked, the man could not be found.
But in the spot Sugiyama was pointing to…
Saigou saw a small bloodstain and two big toes that had been torn from human feet.