The wolf and centipede tore into each other like forces of nature. Claws raked through armored plates, mandibles snapped down on fur, and the forest floor cracked beneath their weight.
It was working. For now.
But Miss Clarissa's voice drifted faintly through the mist, calm and merciless:
"Do not rely on luck. Adapt. The test has only begun."
As if on cue, the violet mist thickened, and shapes slithered within it smaller spirits drawn to the chaos.
"Uh… Hira-kun," Sakura whispered, pressing closer to me. "Why does it feel like the universe hates us specifically?"
"Because it does," I muttered.
The first of the new arrivals emerged: shadow-wolves, smaller copies of the berserk beast we'd enraged. They prowled in a circle, red eyes glowing.
Mikio scribbled fiery letters in the air: Pack hunters.
I gritted my teeth. "So we deal with the minions, while the bosses kill each other. Simple enough."
"Simple, he says," Sakura groaned. "Do you see how many teeth they have?"
The wolves lunged all at once.
I met the first head-on, aura blade flashing across its muzzle. The cut wasn't deep.It dissolved into mist instead of blood but it was enough to make it vanish. One down.
Mikio stomped, sending a shockwave through the ground. Two wolves staggered, ears flat against their skulls, before he clapped again.BOOM.snuffing them out in a single wave.
Sakura shrieked as one leapt straight for her face. "Nope nope nope nope nope!" She ducked, only to trip over a root and land flat on her back. The wolf pounced.
And smacked into one of her illusions, exploding in smoke.
Sakura blinked. "…Huh. Totally intentional. You saw that, right?"
I ignored her, slicing through another. "Stay focused!"
We worked in rhythm.....sort of. My strikes cut down the close ones, Mikio's blasts thinned the crowd, and Sakura's foxfire scattered the stragglers. But every time we cleared three, five more prowled out of the mist.
It was endless.
Meanwhile, the wolf and centipede's brawl wasn't going in our favor anymore. The centipede had the advantage of sheer resilience.Its shell cracked but held. The wolf, bleeding shadow-fire, began limping, slower and sloppier with each strike.
"Crap," I hissed. "If the bug wins, we're in trouble."
Mikio underlined words in the air: Focus fire?
Before I could answer, Sakura chimed in: "Or, crazy idea...what if we run away instead? Like normal people with survival instincts?"
"We're surrounded," I pointed out.
"…I hate logic."
The centipede slammed its body down, the shockwave nearly knocking us off our feet. One of the wolves vanished under its bulk. Then its mandibles clamped into the bigger wolf's shoulder, venom burning through fur.
The beast howled one last time before collapsing into smoke.
"Welp," Sakura said weakly. "Guess it's just us and Bugzilla now."
The centipede's many eyes swiveled toward us. The forest went silent except for its chittering hiss.
My stomach dropped. "Perfect."
The centipede surged, tearing up earth as it barreled forward.
I slashed across its face, sparks flying as blade met armor. The strike barely scratched it.
Mikio blasted its side with a sound-wave. CRACK.making the shell fracture slightly, but the effort sent him staggering, clutching his head.
Sakura threw foxfire like fireworks, pelting its many eyes. Some of them burned away, leaving smoking craters, but it only made the thing thrash harder.
We scattered in three directions as it slammed its body down, snapping trees like twigs.
"This isn't working!" Sakura cried. "It's like fighting a tank with spoons!"
She wasn't wrong. Our attacks weren't breaking through fast enough.
But then I noticed something. Where Mikio's sonic blast had fractured its armor, my blade's energy strike had actually cut deeper than before.
A weak spot.
"Hit where Mikio cracked it!" I shouted.
He blinked, then nodded, readying another blast.
Mikio clapped, the shockwave slamming into the centipede's flank again, widening the fracture. I dashed in, aura blade glowing darker than before, and drove it into the crack. Sparks erupted as shell shattered under the strike.
The centipede screeched, writhing violently. Its tail whipped around, catching me across the ribs. Pain exploded through my side as I flew into a tree, bark cracking under my weight.
"Hira-kun!" Sakura screamed.
I slid down, coughing, vision blurred. My body felt like it had been split in half. But when I forced my eyes open, I saw the centipede looming over me, mandibles dripping poison.
My hands twitched uselessly.
This is it?
Then foxfire blazed across the centipede's face, forcing it back.
Sakura planted herself between me and the monster, fists clenched, hair flying wildly around her.
"You're not eating him, you creepy bug!" she shouted. "That's my Hira-kun to torment!"
"…That's not reassuring," I muttered weakly.
But her illusionary doubles rushed forward, surrounding the centipede in a dizzying storm of copies. It snapped and lunged, striking nothing but smoke.
Mikio appeared at my side, crouching. He tapped his chest, then mine, writing Up. Fight.
I coughed. forcing myself to my feet. "Yeah, yeah… I'm not done yet."
Together, we advanced.
While Sakura distracted it, Mikio hammered its cracked armor again and again with short bursts of sound. Each hit widened the fracture. I funneled every shred of aura into my blade, the glow almost searing against my hand.
"Hira-kun!" Sakura yelled. "Do the cool finisher thing now!"
"I don't have a 'cool finisher thing!'"
"You do now!"
The centipede reeled back, exposing its weakened flank. I charged, teeth gritted, aura roaring in my veins. One final strike.
I slashed, blade cleaving into the fracture. The centipede screeched as its body split apart, dissolving into smoke.
Silence fell.
For a moment, none of us moved.
Then Sakura collapsed backward, arms spread wide. "Victory! Squad Zero rules!"
Mikio slumped against a tree, exhausted.
I leaned on my knees, panting. My ribs throbbed like fire. But somehow… we'd done it.
The mist around us shifted, revealing the other squads still locked in their own battles. The test wasn't over.
But for Squad Zero… this was only the beginning.