The air grew tense as Ami lifted the fuel can, tilting it over Miyu with a twisted smile. But just before the liquid could drench her, a sharp crack rang out.
CRACK!
Something shot out of the darkness and struck Ami's hands with force. The can fell to the ground, rolling a few meters before stopping. It was Zeke's rope, which he had whipped out with surgical precision.
—Miyu, are you okay? —Mochi's voice cut through the tension as she ran toward her, eyes wide with panic.
—Sempai! —Miyu replied with relief, panting—. I'm fine… now that you're here.
Mochi knelt beside her, ignoring Ami completely. Her hands trembled as she struggled with the knots binding Miyu, until she finally loosened them. That's when she saw it: the reddish marks encircling Miyu's neck, still fresh.
Mochi's heart ignited with rage. She felt her blood boil in her veins, her jaw tightening hard. I'll make you pay for this… I swear it.
Meanwhile, Zeke took a firm step forward, positioning himself between Ami and the girls.
—The game's over —he growled.
But Ami let out a dry, almost animalistic laugh. With a sudden movement, she picked up the fallen can, lifted it over herself, and poured it without hesitation. The pungent stench of fuel filled the air as the mixture soaked her from head to toe.
—She's insane! —Miyu whispered in horror.
Ami raised her head and, still smiling, pulled a match from her pocket. With a simple flick, she lit it and let it fall onto her own body.
The flames devoured her instantly. But there were no screams of pain. On the contrary, Ami spread her arms as if receiving a warm embrace. The fire wrapped around her violently, illuminating the rooftop.
Before their stunned eyes, her body began to deform. Her skin cracked and blackened like glowing coal, her muscles tore and swelled grotesquely. Her bones crunched with a sickening sound as her height grew to nearly double that of an average person.
When the fire finally took shape, there was no trace of Ami left. Before them towered a colossal creature, with a broad torso and arms like tree trunks, engulfed in flames. Her skin burned like embers, fractured and glowing, with incandescent cracks pulsing like veins of magma.
An anomaly had been born.
The monster stared at them with burning eyes, and the voice that emerged from its throat was a roar that made the ground tremble.
—BURN WITH ME!!
Mochi had just managed to undo the last knot on Miyu when a roar thundered from the front.
The anomaly, wrapped in blazing fire, hurled a massive ball of flames straight at them with a swing of its arm.
—Watch out! —Zeke shouted, stepping forward.
His rope whistled through the air, slicing the fire in two with precise whip-like motion. The sphere exploded in a burst of sparks that scattered into the air.
—You think those little flames are gonna scare anyone? —Zeke laughed with a mocking grin.
The anomaly growled and threw another fireball, even larger this time. But the result was the same: the rope burst it like a balloon of fire.
—Tsk! Insolent! —the monster roared.
This time it wasn't content with ranged attacks. With a roar, it lunged at Zeke with a punch wrapped in blue fire.
Zeke spun with agility, dodging the blow.
—That was it? You didn't even—
He didn't get to finish the sentence. The fist exploded in a surge of blue flames, expanding like a bomb of heat.
—Shit! —Zeke was forced to leap back. Though he avoided the direct blast, the wave of searing heat wrung a dry cough out of his lungs.
—Khh… that really burns…
The monster grinned with malice, savoring the suffering. It stomped the ground with such force that the tiles cracked, then dragged its leg back. Each movement fed the flames around its limb until they formed a blazing whirlwind.
—BURN! —it roared, unleashing a brutal kick.
From its leg surged a wave of fire, spreading like a blazing tsunami toward Zeke.
—What the hell…!? —Mochi stared in horror from the distance.
Zeke, still catching his breath, saw the wave of fire rushing toward him. There was no way to dodge by jumping again.
And yet, he smiled.
—Heh… nice trick. Now watch mine.
His rope whistled, extending like a living snake until it hooked onto the rooftop railing. With a tug, Zeke launched himself like a projectile, soaring through the air in an impossible leap just as the wave engulfed the spot where he had been.
—Too slow, walking bonfire! —he mocked as he landed gracefully on another section of the rooftop.
But he had no time to savor his feat. Behind him, he heard uneven footsteps and guttural growls.
—Tch… what the hell?
Four figures were rushing toward him, covered in scars and burned flesh, the stench of charred meat filling the air. They were the students the anomaly had forced to commit suicide moments earlier, now turned into thralls obeying its will—humans consumed by its fire.
Zeke spun on his heel and snapped his rope with speed.
—Out of my sight, cheap zombies!
The first strike smashed the head of the closest one, sending him crashing to the ground. The second cracked against the chest of the next. With a third and fourth snap, he swept the last two off their legs, making them roll across the floor like rag dolls.
—And they didn't even make me break a sweat! —he laughed, shaking his rope with arrogance.
The anomaly roared in fury, the flames around it burning ever more violently.
—You will burn with me, insolent insect!
Zeke had barely finished knocking down the four thralls when a loud crack shook the rooftop.
The anomaly stomped its foot into the ground with such force that the tiles shattered like glass. As a result, fissures spread across the rooftop floor, and from them seeped a glowing red light, incandescent, as if a river of lava flowed beneath their feet.
—Oh, no… —Zeke frowned, stepping back.
—BURN WITH ME! —the monster roared.
A second later, a pillar of fire erupted from the cracks, engulfing Zeke completely in a blazing whirlwind.
—Zeke! —Mochi shouted, desperate, while she still struggled with Miyu's knots.
The fire devoured the air for several seconds that felt eternal. When it finally cleared, the roof was charred and cracked, with intense steam rising from the blackened tiles.
But in the center… Zeke was still standing.
Around him, a perfect circle marked by his rope glowed faintly, and from it extended a semi-transparent wall, like opaque glass crackling with residual energy. The shield lasted barely a blink longer before shattering into thousands of particles that dissolved into the air.
Zeke bent forward slightly, gasping.
—Khh… damn it… I'm not good at defense… —he pressed a hand to his chest, catching his breath.
—If I keep burning energy like that I'll be in trouble.
The growl of the minions snapped him out of his thoughts. Those four charred bodies, staggering and without will, rose again. Their empty eyes burned with a reddish glow as they lunged at him like rabid dogs.
—You again? —Zeke spun the rope, ready to counterattack—. I'm getting tired of…
—No, leave them to us! —Mochi's voice cut in.
Zeke turned his head and saw Mochi and Miyu leap forward, placing themselves between him and the horrors. Mochi's hands were wrapped in knuckles red as blood. Miyu held her wagasa umbrella in front of her, steady and determined.
Mochi smiled at him with that stubbornness of hers.
—Take care of the big bonfire, leave the little ones to us.
Miyu nodded, opening her umbrella like a wall.
—Zeke-san, trust us. Let us cover you.
For the first time in the whole fight, Zeke fell silent for a few seconds, glancing at them from the corner of his eye. Then he let out a hoarse laugh.
—Don't you dare die —he said—, that would make me look like a bad teacher.
The four thralls roared and charged at them.
—Go, Miyu! —Mochi shouted, springing forward, her fists glowing.
—Understood, sempai! —Miyu replied with determination, raising her umbrella to block the first blow.
Zeke, behind them, straightened up, twirled the rope between his hands, and turned his gaze to the flaming anomaly, which awaited him with a sadistic smile.
—So… you and I, face to face —he murmured, tilting his head with a confident smile—. Let's see who's left standing at the end.