Chapter 14: The Second Prophecy

Kazumi darted through the hallway, eyes fixed on the blinking tracker in his hand. Every few steps echoed with tension as he passed a closed door; behind it, the unmistakable sound of a girl screaming.

He reached for the doorknob instinctively… but froze.

“Wait… what if they’re changing?”

The hesitation stung. Shaking the thought from his mind, Kazumi forced the door open, only to see the tail end of a girl’s arm vanish into the wall. His heart sank. He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration.

A ripple bubbled beneath his knuckles.

Kazumi jumped back as a swarm of tiny, slime-covered, dinosaur-like creatures burst out, at least thirty of them. They hissed and scrambled toward him with unsettling speed.

He summoned his glove into the form of a gun and fired. The bullet sizzled uselessly, melting inside their gooey forms.

“Just like Viera said… can’t kill them like this.”

Kazumi turned on his heel and bolted, knowing the real fight was elsewhere. Behind him, over a hundred of the creatures gave chase in a cartoonishly absurd stampede, if only it weren’t deadly.

Checking his tracker mid-run, he realized something.

“I’m right on top of it… But it’s not in the walls. It’s beneath me.”

He formed a clone to stall the creatures and sprinted toward the boiler room deep below the dorm.

Inside the boiler room, the heat was stifling. But what Kazumi saw chilled him: the Shivos core pulsed inside the boiler itself. Around it, several unconscious girls were suspended in hardened sludge, their Shinen visibly siphoned through glowing threads.

“They’re still alive… but barely. If the core keeps draining them…”

He summoned a katana and rushed the core. Just as he was about to strike, a sharp blow hit his stomach; one of the tiny creatures had landed a sneak attack.

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Winded, he looked up.

The main creature loomed at the doorway, flanked by its offspring. It stared him down in silence.

Kazumi steadied his breath.

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

Raising his blade, he took a stance.

“Come at me.”

Meanwhile, upstairs, Sumato and Viera herded the remaining girls toward safety. One girl, pale and trembling, backed away from Sumato and suddenly ripped off his disguise.

“Why is a boy in here?!”

He tried to explain, but Viera stepped between them.

“We don’t have time for this.”

The girl bolted, spreading word of Sumato’s presence, and panic rippled through the dorm.

Before he could process it, a small Shivos leapt from the shadows, spraying acid slime across Sumato’s arm. His skin sizzled, part of his shirt disintegrating.

With a snarl, Sumato retaliated, slicing it cleanly and trapping it in a glowing energy barrier.

Viera raised her hand, summoning a floating blue crystal that cracked open and encased several more creatures like traps snapping shut.

Sumato blinked. “What… are those?”

“Oh, nothing fancy,” Viera smirked. “Just Home Wreckers.”

Sumato laughed. “Alright, I’ll give you that one.”

She flexed her fingers, and thousands of the crystals appeared, raining down like glassy hail. Each one snapped shut over a creature on impact.

“It’s a blend of earth and water,” Viera explained casually. “Takes proper training to pull off.”

Sumato nodded, quietly impressed.

“Princess or not… she’s the real deal.”

Viera broke his thoughts. “Are all the girls out?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. Let’s check.”

The two dashed through the halls, finding three girls huddled in a corner. Sumato approached gently.

“You’re safe now,” he said.

The girls turned, smiling nervously. But as they stood, Sumato noticed something: a slug slithered from one of their sleeves.

“What… is that?” he asked.

The girl smiled wider. “Nothing.”

Suddenly, sludge spewed from all three of their mouths. Their eyes turned hollow as they lunged at Sumato.

Elsewhere, outside in the frozen rain, Netsuka stared in disbelief. The falling droplets had stopped mid-air, frozen in time. A black, humanoid entity formed from one of the raindrops.

“Where?”

Its voice was quiet, unnatural.

Netsuka, startled, summoned an earth spike and launched it, piercing through the figure’s chest. But the spike didn’t exit its chest. The creature barely reacted.

“I’m not here to harm,” it said calmly. “I’m here to progress your story.”

“Story…?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

It smiled eerily. “One of the people you hold dear… will die soon.”

Her breath hitched. “Who?”

The entity pondered theatrically. “I don’t normally do this, but…”

A coffin rose from the ground, creaking open slowly. Inside, Sumato’s lifeless body lay motionless.

Netsuka gasped, stumbling back.

“How? When? Who…?”

The entity’s grin widened.

“Finally. A way to make this story interesting.”

It raised a hand and pointed toward the higher-ups’ lounge.

“His name is Mizokushi Sarokuta.”