[Chapter Header]
ARC: Back Attack Land
The signal was given, and the action began instantly. Both teams charged toward the water pump like hungry beasts.
Jin was sprinting with the bottle in his hand, but Luno was already on him, trying to snatch it away with force as they ran side-by-side. Suddenly, Riko lunged from the left, certain he would steal the victory.
But with a lightning-fast reflex, Jin pulled the bottle away. Riko and Luno were left stunned by his sheer speed.
The bottle was passed to Naoto. But before he could take even two steps, Cairo blocked his path with a sneering grin.
"Give me the bottle, like a good boy," Cairo said contemptuously.
Naoto looked around desperately; he was surrounded. His only hope was Akos. With a powerful pass, he hurled the bottle toward him.
"How stupid can you be?" Cairo laughed, certain they would catch Akos in time.
Akos caught the bottle mid-air. His eyes scanned the field instantly. He saw Oz and Bliss forming a human wall, blocking Ronika and the others from passing.
Akos sprinted between them—Oz and Bliss flashed him a smile as they cleared his path—and within seconds, he filled the bottle at the pump.
Now came the hard part. Akos raced toward the finish line with Cairo, Luno, and Riko chasing him in a frenzy.
Suddenly, Akos stopped dead in his tracks. The three pursuers, carried by their own momentum, overshot him before skidding to a halt and turning back to look at him, utterly confused.
"Why did you stop?!" Cairo screamed.
Akos looked him in the eyes, his face expressionless. "You should ask that question to yourself, not me," he replied coldly.
Before they could grasp what he meant, the voices of Jin, Oz, Bliss, and Naoto drowned out everything else: "WE WON! YES!"
Riko froze. He looked at the finish line and then back at Akos. "How... how did you do that?" he whispered.
[Flashback - A few seconds ago] The moment Akos had stopped and the others were staring at him, in a fraction of a second, he had already tossed the bottle to Jin, who was positioned near Mocka.
"Run!" Akos had signaled with his eyes. Jin caught it and completed the task before the opponents even realized the bottle had changed hands.
Up on the rooftop, Reino watched the scene with deep interest.
"Those two are going to be a very fierce duo. They are very smart," he commented.
"I liked the move he made," Keal added. "You rarely see people who, while under threat, can think so quickly to find a way to escape."
Keal's voice boomed across the courtyard: "Team One has lost! The winner is Team Two!"
Luno, losing his mind with rage, kicked a stone with all his might. The stone flew and struck Cairo.
"What are you looking at, huh?" Luno snapped when Cairo gave him a dark look. Cairo turned his head away, trying to keep his cool to avoid further trouble.
Jin approached Akos, smiling as he glanced at the defeated Luno.
"That was a great idea, Jin!" Naoto shouted.
Jin laughed. "It wasn't my idea. It was Akos's."
Oz and Bliss looked at Akos with newfound respect and smiled. Jin reached out his hand to Akos for a handshake.
"Good plan, my friend."
Akos took his hand and answered simply: "I did what I had to do."
Keal stood before the winners of the first trial. Naoto Arin, Jin Tori, Oz Zephyr, Bliss Noir, and Akos Tasaku looked at him with intense anticipation.
"Now, the second game begins," Keal announced with a serious tone. "The only thing I can tell you is simple: whoever is faster, wins."
Around the school, the scene had changed. Students from different classes were stationed everywhere, holding basketballs and water bottles, ready to become obstacles for the runners.
Zen Kurosu stepped in front of the five players, holding a whistle to his lips.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Beep!
The five of them bolted forward. Akos and Jin sprinted with incredible speed, leaving the others behind. The students in the stands began to whisper in awe.
"Look! That red-haired kid and the one with the white hair are terrifyingly fast!" one shouted.
"Who is the red-haired one? It's my first time seeing him. I only know Jin," another wondered.
"Jin Tori..." a third added. "The kid who single-handedly took down dozens of gangs in the east of SINISH. A place where the law of the jungle prevails and there is no leader."
While rumors spread, Naoto tried to maintain his pace. Suddenly, a basketball flew in from the right with great force and struck him squarely in the face.
Naoto collapsed to the ground. In a fraction of a second, other students grabbed him and pulled him off the track. Naoto was disqualified.
Further back, Oz and Bliss, instead of focusing, began to argue over who was faster.
"You're too slow!" Oz laughed. "Hahaha!"
As he ran, however, Bliss tripped him. Oz fell face-first.
"Hahaha! You lost!" Bliss shouted, shaking his head mockingly.
But his joy didn't last long. A ball came flying toward him. Someone kicked it hard, and it landed right on Bliss's nose, knocking him down. Oz and Bliss were out of the game.
Only Jin and Akos remained. They had already completed two laps, and neither showed signs of fatigue. They locked eyes while running side-by-side.
As they approached the end, Akos accelerated, but Jin stayed right with him.
"I told you Jin would win! Give me my 50 Yein now!" shouted a student who had placed a bet.
Jin prepared to cross the finish line, certain of his victory. But suddenly, Akos unleashed an otherworldly burst of speed. He passed Jin like a shadow, crossing the line first.
Everyone froze. Silence fell over the school. Jin stood staring into space, unable to believe what had happened.
"How did he do that?" the students whispered.
Zen Kurosu approached Akos and extended his hand.
"Well done. You are officially the leader of Class 5. It's a bit strange... some fight for months or years to become leaders, and you managed it in one day. Very strange."
Jin approached Akos with a sincere smile on his face.
"You really are fast," he said, offering his hand. Akos shook it, acknowledging his rival's respect.
As Akos stood there as the new leader, the atmosphere around him shifted.
Ronika and Cairo exchanged a meaningful look. Without saying a single word, they turned their backs and began to walk away, their silence feeling more dangerous than any threat.
But Luno couldn't swallow his pride. He approached Akos, his face flushed with rage.
"Don't think that just because you became leader, you're actually someone important," he said, his voice trembling with anger. "You're still nothing to me."
He turned abruptly and left, kicking whatever was in his way.
Immediately, the others surrounded Akos. Naoto, Sora, Riko, Solon, and Jin all started talking at once, clearly impressed.
"Man, where were you hiding that kind of speed?" Naoto shouted excitedly.
"It wasn't just the speed," Sora added. "It was how you read the game. That was a very smart move."
Jin just nodded, smiling. "I admit it, Akos, you caught me off guard."
Jin checked his watch and took a step back. "Well, I'm heading out for now. I've got some business to take care of," he said, waving goodbye to the group.
In the midst of the chatter, Solon remained pensive, looking at Akos with a strange expression.
"Tasaku..." Solon whispered.
"What is it, Solon?" Riko asked.
"That surname... Tasaku. I'm sure it's famous somewhere. I've heard it before, I'm certain," Solon said, his brow furrowing. "I feel like I know it well, but I can't remember exactly where I heard it. It's like trying to catch a shadow."
Akos didn't answer.
Then, Reino approached him, coming down from the rooftop, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Well done, Akos. Honestly, how you managed to become leader in just one day..." Reino said, breaking into a loud laugh. "Hahaha! I feel like what we're living through today is a script being written in real-time. Incredible!"
Later that night, Keal, Reino, and Vane were walking through the quiet streets. Keal looked troubled.
"We need to be careful with this Akos guy," Keal said in a low voice. "We need to find out what he's hiding, who he really is, and what he's planning. He's not just some ordinary student."
Reino burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Come on, Keal. Akos is a good guy; he's trustworthy," he said with confidence.
Keal stopped and gave him a strange look. "You're talking as if you've known him for a long time, Reino."
"I have known him for a long time," Reino replied instantly.
"What do you mean?" Keal asked, confused.
Reino grabbed his head as if a sudden pain had struck him.
"I don't know... I woke up today with a splitting headache. The thing is... I found a photo on my desk. It was me, Akos, and two other people together."
"What?!" Keal exclaimed, shocked.
"And that's not all," Reino continued with a vacant stare. "The police came to my place because the neighbors saw me burning something in the yard. But I... I don't remember burning anything. I don't know what's going on with my head."
Keal let out a heavy sigh. "Ugh, I don't even know what to tell you..."
He then noticed Vane walking beside them, absorbed as always in a book. "What are you reading every single day anyway?"
He snatched the book from Vane's hands to check the title: "HOJA OF WIZARD".
" 'Hoja of Wizard'? What kind of fairy tale is this? What nonsense are you reading... Oh my God!" Keal shouted, handing the book back, while Vane remained silent, eyes fixed back on the pages.
Back at home, Akos was trying to wind down from the day's intensity by taking a hot shower.
As he washed his hair, the shampoo bottle slipped and fell onto the floor. Akos, his eyes full of foam, didn't see it. He took a step, stepped right on it, and lost his balance.
Thud!
His head hit the edge of the tub with force. Akos lost consciousness instantly. The hot water continued to run, pouring over his back, but he could no longer feel a thing.
Suddenly, the world around him vanished. Everything turned into absolute, deep darkness.
Akos felt his body falling into a bottomless pit. His eyes were wide open as he plunged into the infinite void.
As he fell, he turned his head to the right and saw something incredible: a solitary flower floating in the darkness. The flower had seven colors that glowed eerily: red, blue, white, yellow, black, orange, and pink.
Akos closed his eyes, feeling gravity pull him deeper and deeper. Suddenly, from the walls of the dark pit, hundreds of hands lunged out. They grabbed Akos from every side, pinning him down.
Out of the darkness, a terrifying grin formed, and a voice whispered:
"I am your end..."