Riko didn't even think. His body just surged forward. The Rift Giant towered over him, like some messed up, digital skyscraper. Its joints twisted and glitched like broken computer code. As Riko jumped, his fist glowed for a split second, and he swung everything he had at the giant's knee.
The hit echoed through the wrecked gym, sounding like a cannon going off. Dust exploded around his fist. The floor cracked beneath Riko's feet from just the force of the impact.
But the giant's leg didn't even move.
It didn't flinch, didn't stumble. Nothing.
It was like punching solid rock that didn't care you were there.
Riko's heart sank. "Are you kidding me?" He stumbled backward, shaking his stinging hand as the giant's knee flickered. It rippled like a glitched-out video. No damage. Not even a scratch.
Then a huge shadow fell over him, as the giant lowered its head a bit, seeming almost… disappointed.
Kaze landed next to Riko with a quiet step. "That wasn't going to do anything."
"Thanks," Riko snapped, clutching his hand. "Perfect time for the play-by-play."
Kaze didn't answer. He just shot forward, moving too fast for Riko to follow, and showed up right under the giant's leg. Kaze pulled his arm back, his fingers tensed into a knife shape.
Without stopping, he slashed downward.
The strike sliced right through the giant's glitching surface. For a second, its leg split apart into a spray of pixel static, like a hologram cut by light.
Riko's eyes went wide. "Whoa—Kaze! You actually did—"
But before he could finish talking, the wound healed.
Instantly.
It was like the damage never happened.
The split pixels snapped back together, putting the leg back like it was, smooth and solid. The Rift Giant was standing tall, like nothing had happened.
Riko's mouth dropped open. "No way. Nope. No way this is real."
Kaze narrowed his eyes. He even looked shooked. "It healed faster than I thought."
"Faster than— IT HEALED BEFORE I BLINKED!"
Kaze didn't argue. He just got back into his fighting stance, watching the monster like he was trying to solve a really hard puzzle, instead of facing something that could crush a building.
The giant twitched. It turned its big, glitching head down again, its eyes flashing like messed up warning signs. The gym shook under their feet as the monster leaned forward, and one huge arm twisted into a jagged blade before turning back into a hand.
Riko gulped. "It's mad…"
"No," Kaze said. "It's figuring us out."
"That's even worse!"
The Rift Giant raised its foot. Each glitching movement bent the air, like gravity was all messed up. It stomped down where they were standing.
The shockwave blasted out, throwing Riko backward. He went tumbling over fallen bleachers, which snapped like toothpicks under him. His ears rang, and he couldn't see straight because of the dust.
Kaze slid back a few feet but stayed standing, dragging his feet across the cracked floor. Some sort of power glowed in his gloves.
Riko coughed, pulling himself up. "This thing is insane!"
Kaze agreed. "Its data is unstable. That's the only thing keeping this building from collapsing."
"So are you saying if it gets stable, we're toast?"
"More than toast."
"Great! Just great!"
The Rift Giant started shifting again, its body bending like origami made of broken computer code. Its arm stretched out and split into three overlapping shapes, each one flashing like it was trying to decide what to be. One became a blade. One became a spiked club. One became a massive hand.
Then, they all glitched together into one arm, which swiped forward.
Riko jumped out of the way just in time. The attack tore through the floor where he'd been standing, leaving a jagged line filled with red static.
Kaze showed up behind the giant in a burst of speed, hitting the back of its knee. His hand went through the monster's body, scattering pixels.
And again, the wound healed right away.
Kaze clicked his tongue, annoyed. "It's healing even faster now."
Riko scrambled to his feet, breathing hard. "So… what do we do?"
"We live."
"That's not a plan!"
"It is when you can't win."
The Rift Giant turned its head all the way around without moving its body, like a puppet with messed up strings. Its face squished, then stretched into a long mask before turning back into a blocky, skull-like shape. The shifting eyes burned even hotter and angrier.
And then it spoke.
"TAR–GET… PRI–OR–I–TI–ZED…"
Its voice made every cell in Riko's body shake, like he was a tuning fork filled with fear.
Riko stumbled back. "Why does it only talk about me?!"
"Because it's locked on you," Kaze said, sounding bored.
"Stop saying that!"
The giant raised both arms. Its whole body flickered with weird images, like it was trying to decide what to kill them with. Broken code swirled around its hands as the gym shook.
Kaze stepped between Riko and the monster.
Riko blinked. "Wait… you're saving me?"
"I'm saving you from dying for a dumb reason."
"That's the SAME THING!"
"No. One is smart."
Riko groaned. "I don't like you."
The Rift Giant suddenly went into a stable form. Its arms stretched out, and the air around them turned into pixels. A wave of energy shot out from it, turning the remains of the gym into floating pieces.
Kaze squinted. "It's setting up a big attack."
"How do you know?!"
"I've seen weaker ones."
"WEAKER—?!"
A rumble shook the place. Dust fell from the ceiling, and more cracks spread through the walls. Students were screaming somewhere in the distance. Stuff floated into the air, twisted, and fell apart into broken bits.
Kaze stepped forward, getting ready.
Riko forced himself to move closer to him, swallowing hard. "Okay… I know you don't like me—"
"I didn't say that."
"Oh? Okay."
"Just don't get comfortable," Kaze said, still facing the monster. "We might die."
"Why are you so calm about that?!"
"Panicking won't help."
Riko gripped his fists, looking up at the crazy giant in front of them. "Okay. Then… no panicking."
Kaze glanced sideways. "Good. You're learning."
The Rift Giant's eyes flashed white this time, not red.
The Level Screen on Riko's arm went crazy, symbols flashing all over.
The letters unscrambled until one message showed up:
The system warns: "DANGER: ENTITY CLASS UNKNOWN."