The monster's roar shook the academy's foundations as its skeletal frame surged forward, chains snapping like brittle twigs. Shards of bone rained down with each step, gouging the tiled floor, sending sparks from shattered wires.
"Adam! Now!" Garrison barked, firing another blast into the creature's chest. The impact staggered it, but didn't slow its advance.
Adam's constructs whirred, glowing as the jagged devices fused into a pulsing core. He slammed it against the floor, wires snaking outward like living roots. Circuits crawled up the Gashadokuro's legs, wrapping it in a lattice of green light. The monster shrieked as its movements grew sluggish, its energy unraveling against the artificial prison.
"Containment matrix holding at sixty percent!" Adam shouted, sweat beading at his brow. "I can't—keep—it stable—"
Angelina lifted her hands, eyes burning with focus. The air warped as lockers, desks, and even sections of broken wall ripped free, slamming into the Gashadokuro's torso. Each impact drove it backward, pinning it closer to the crackling containment field. Her body trembled under the strain, but she didn't falter.
Chino roared, unleashing a concentrated blast of energy straight at the creature's skull. The beam tore through bone, shattering half its jaw in an explosion of fragments. Pain twisted across his face, but his eyes shone with defiance. "That's for pinning my legs!".
The Gashadokuro reeled, its strength collapsing against Adam's circuits and Angelina's telekinetic barrage. For the first time, the towering monster faltered.
"Now!" Garrison roared, pouring every ounce of his power into the rifle. The weapon surged, the chamber overloading until it burned against his palms. A blinding lance of energy erupted, piercing straight through the Gashadokuro's chest.
The monster froze. Its bones cracked, glowing fissures spreading like spiderwebs across its form. Then, with a final scream that rattled every window left unbroken, it collapsed inward, shattering into ash and fragments.
Silence followed. The only sound was the ragged breathing of the survivors.
Adam fell to one knee, his constructs clattering uselessly to the ground as the glow faded from his body. Angelina dropped her hands, tears streaking her cheeks as exhaustion took her. Chino slumped back, panting, but his spirit burning just as bright.
Garrison lowered his rifle, smoke curling from its overheated barrel. His chest heaved, his eyes fixed on the space where the Gashadokuro had stood.
But victory brought him no relief.
His brother was still gone.
Leventis… wherever you are, hold on.
Garrison clenched his jaw, turning back to the battered students. "We survived. But this was only the beginning."