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Chapter 3 - Reinforcements

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The calm had returned... or so it seemed.

In a simple room with rough stone walls, lit by the flickering light of an oil lamp, Hiro was wiping the blood from his arm. Sitting on an old wooden bench, he watched Kohaku pacing back and forth, arms crossed, brows furrowed.

— "Did you see that thing we fought?" she blurted. "A horror like that—I bet it came straight from Tartarus..."

— "It wasn't human," Hiro replied, lifting his head. "And not Greek either. Did you feel it?"

— "Yeah. Something else... like... like that thing was made to kill."

She stopped, stared at the floor for a moment, then closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed.

— "We don't have time to wait for orders."

— "Kohaku? What are you—"

Before he could finish, the air folded in front of her. Like a sheet of paper being twisted, space collapsed in on itself, forming a swirling, violet-edged portal.

— "We're going back. Now. And you're coming with me."

— "Tch… I would've preferred a shower," Hiro muttered as he stood up.

They stepped through the portal.They landed on the scorched remains of what had once been the courtyard.

Flames danced on the walls, corpses still smoked, and the screams of survivors mingled with the roars of three monstrous colossi still unleashing their carnage.

Kohaku took a step back, stunned.

— "What the hell..."

Then she saw him. Amid the chaos, surrounded by blood and rubble, stood Kubira.He clutched his wounded thigh but was still fighting, repelling the monsters with electric arcs lashing from his arms like whips.

— "KUBIRA?!" Kohaku screamed. "The school's guardian?! YOU?!"

Hiro joined her, just as stunned.

— "He always said he couldn't train with us because he had 'things to do'..."

— "Liar!" Kohaku exploded. "He was out saving a school and didn't say a word?!"

Kubira turned briefly. A tired smile flickered across his lips.

— "Good to see you…"

But there was no time for scolding. One of the monsters spotted the newcomers, roared, and charged.

— "WE'RE COMING!" Kohaku shouted.

She instantly opened a portal in the air and vanished.She reappeared right in front of the creature, blade in hand, and struck in a clean arc. The blow split open the giant's black flesh, forcing it back with a howl.

Hiro leapt too, reaching a small group of terrified students—the last survivors.

— "How many left?!" he shouted to one of them.

— "Thirty!" a boy yelled. "Not counting the girl and the guy the teacher is protecting!"

— "Alright. I'll handle this."

Hiro stood in front of them, arms out, ready to shield them. He was now the wall between the survivors and hell.But even with three fighters, the battle was unbalanced.The monsters were faster than before. More aggressive. And for every one they slowed, another came charging in.

In the next few minutes, five students fell. One crushed. Two impaled. Another caught and ripped apart.Keita, still in the back, watched, frozen. Every scream, every death, every explosion rang in his head like a hammer strike.And still, Kael stood firm.

He punched. He blocked. He crushed.But he never took his eyes off Keita.Whenever a tentacle neared him, Kael intercepted. Whenever a monster turned toward him, Kael attacked.Even Yuna began to notice. He was protecting Keita more than anyone else.Why? She didn't know. But it was no longer coincidence.

The ground shook with every giant's step. Entire sections of the outer wall crumbled. The surviving students huddled around Hiro, their faces pale, eyes wide with horror.

— "We won't make it like this," Hiro growled.

Kubira, knees bent, arms crackling with unstable lightning, glanced at Kohaku.

— "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

She nodded, grim.

— "No other choice."

Hiro sighed.

— "You serious? We said we'd only try that as a last resort."

— "It's now or never," Kubira replied.

They got into position. Kohaku opened a wide portal to the left of one of the giants. Kubira ran straight at the enemy, arms fully charged. He leapt through the portal, reappeared behind the creature's neck... and drove both arms in like stakes, unleashing a torrent of electricity straight into its spine.

The monster screamed.

Hiro rushed in. Kohaku opened another portal mid-air near the giant's back, and Hiro came out flying, fist clenched.

A direct blow to the back of the skull.

The impact was brutal. The electricity inside the giant detonated.

Its head burst with a muffled explosion. It wavered... and collapsed.

Dead.

But the three fighters collapsed too.

Kubira was out of energy. Hiro had fractured his wrist. Kohaku, on her knees, bled from her nose after too many portal jumps in a row.

— "That was our only shot," she whispered.

But the two remaining giants roared in answer.And this time, they attacked together.One targeted Kael. The other charged straight at Hiro and Yuna.

Keita watched, unmoving. Heart pounding. Kael's arm flew off.A monstrous crunch, a shoulder slam, the sound of breaking bone. The teacher was hurled backward, his left arm torn off, but not a single drop of blood spilled.He rolled to the ground… then rose. Slowly. As if nothing had happened.

Keita, stunned, stepped back.

— "He... he's not bleeding..."

Kael ignored the injury. He stood once again between Keita and the giant.Meanwhile, Hiro tried to protect Yuna, but the monster was too fast. It swept a group of students aside with one kick.

Two were crushed against a wall.Another was flung into debris... and impaled on a metal rod.Yuna screamed.

A fourth, while running, tripped and was trampled without the giant even noticing.Five more dead.

— "Fall back!" Hiro yelled. "Stay together!"

But a sixth student tried to run alone. The giant caught him in one hand, stared for a moment... then slammed him into the ground. A dull thud, then nothing.

A seventh, wounded in the leg, was left behind. He screamed for help. No one returned.The monster walked over slowly… and crushed him like a bug.

Kael was breathing heavily. He didn't move. He stared at the two remaining monsters.

Hiro, gasping, stood by his side.

— "We're not gonna make it..." he said.

Kael slowly turned to him. His face was expressionless. But his voice, deep, cut through the chaos.

— "I'll tell you why I protect Keita... once this is over."

Then he stared back at the giants, still standing.

The fight wasn't over. But hope already seemed out of reach.

The monsters roared.Their fists destroyed, their steps crushed.The survivors were just shadows of what they had once been.

Hiro panted, holding Yuna with one arm, shielding three terrified students with the other. Keita remained frozen beside Kael, whose missing arm still hadn't bled. His body was slower now. Weaker.

Suddenly, the sky opened.

Or rather, something broke through the clouds like a comet.

A figure tore through the air and slammed into the ground with such speed that even the giants backed off.

He stood up slowly.

— "You held out longer than I expected," he said calmly.

It was a tall man, with slicked-back black hair, wearing a long white coat split down the sides. His eyes glowed electric blue. No visible weapons at his belt. He didn't need any.

His name was Oren.The fastest. And the strongest of them all.Behind him, three others arrived through portals:

— Narek, shadowy, blurred figure, able to slip through darkness and bend it at will.

— Solan, flaming red eyes, firing destructive lasers from his pupils.

— Drav, a mass of muscle and flame, whose very breath scorched the air.

— "Reinforcements are here!" Narek grinned at Kubira.

— "Too late," Kohaku replied. "But not useless."

Oren teleported onto a giant's arm.One blow.The arm exploded.He vanished, reappeared near the skull.Second strike.The giant screamed, staggered, but didn't fall.

Meanwhile, Solan fired a laser straight into another giant's chest. It reeled back, scorched, but crushed a student as it fell.

Drav launched a sweeping wave of fire, forcing two monsters back. He saved a group of students… except one girl who didn't follow.

She burned alive.Narek slipped into a giant's shadow, tried to immobilize its legs...But the beast spun around and crushed him with a knee.

Blood spurted. Narek was torn in half.Drav, too close, was hit by an entire hand.He crashed down, ribs shattered, then was smashed into the ground again and again until he stopped moving.Solan, trying to protect Hiro, stepped in front of him and fired continuously.

One giant fell to its knees... but another stabbed him through with a finger like a spear.The lasers dimmed from his eyes.

A student tried to flee through the ruins — swatted.Another, panicked, ran into a blaze.

Three were crushed while Kael struggled to rise.A boy screamed, "I want to go home!" before being crushed to pieces.A girl hiding under a bus was found... and eaten.

Hiro was counting them. One by one.

He whispered, broken:

— "...fourteen... fifteen... sixteen... eighteen..."

He clenched his fists. His eyes were red. He was done.Oren, panting, was still standing. He had forced one monster to flee, wounded. The other was retreating.

But Kael… fell to his knees.

— "Professor!" Yuna screamed.

He raised one hand… toward Hiro.

— "Hiro... It's time."

— "Time for what?"

Kael looked at Keita.

— "You need to understand... why I've been protecting him."

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