Boom—!
The violent commotion caused by the Rinne attacking Sakai Yuuji instantly drew the attention of all the dolls active inside the school building.
Within the school, the place with the greatest concentration of humans was undoubtedly the classroom building itself.
Each classroom held numerous students; compared to the scattered humans randomly roaming the streets, it was far easier to harvest vast amounts of Power of Existence in a short period here.
Facing these completely powerless humans, the dolls showed no restraint, one after another absorbing the students' Power of Existence to the very last drop.
Although there were simpler ways—directly killing the humans would also yield their Power of Existence—in the absence of Flame Hazes, causing less environmental damage was preferable.
After all, if the news suddenly reported massive destruction in a certain location, wandering Flame Hazes would immediately deduce that entities devouring human Power of Existence were active nearby.
They would hurry over at once to eliminate such threats to humanity.
Thus, in most cases, less destruction meant saving more Power of Existence.
Of course, once Flame Hazes appeared and spotted them, who would bother with these trivialities anymore? They weren't running a charity.
Creak—! Creak—! Creak—!
The continuous sound of friction echoed through the silent corridors of the school building. Sakai Yuuji, fleeing in panic, suddenly halted his steps, desperately trying to silence his own footsteps.
He had never imagined such terrifying dolls wouldn't be alone inside the school.
Not that Sakai Yuuji had entirely overlooked this possibility—it's just that, in the desperate situation earlier, he hadn't had the time or opportunity to think further about the current scenario.
All his mental capacity was consumed entirely by the act of running away, not calmly analyzing his current predicament.
Sakai Yuuji was nothing more than an ordinary high school student, who had never faced anything genuinely life-threatening before.
Had he encountered legendary kidnappers, his first thought wouldn't be to swiftly eliminate the criminals and rescue the hostages like Emiya Shirou would have done.
Instead, he would first think of how to survive at the hands of those kidnappers. Perhaps, confronted by unspeakable cruelty, he would eventually step forward—but such bravery wouldn't be immediate. It would come only after careful consideration, a decision born from following his heart.
Perhaps that was exactly where human greatness lay.
What should I do?! What should I do?! What should I do?!
Fear and anxiety filled Sakai Yuuji's heart. Having seen that doll easily punch a hole through the floor, he knew clearly that there was no way he could directly face those dolls.
If they discovered him again, someone as weak and defenseless as he would surely die a miserable death.
Yet, as he tiptoed down the hallway—
Creak—!
In the corridor ahead, a doll with mottled features suddenly stepped out from a classroom.
Attempting to conceal one's presence by minimizing the sound of footsteps was something any normal person would instinctively try first.
After all, sound traveled far and wide, quickly attracting an enemy's attention.
However, as beings who devoured Power of Existence, apart from basic sight and hearing, these dolls possessed an innate ability to sense that very power.
For someone moving freely within a Fūzetsu, such obvious Power of Existence could never escape their detection—no matter how softly Sakai Yuuji placed his feet.
Earlier, in the classroom, all dolls had been occupied with collecting Power of Existence, and Yuuji's movements were minimal. Had the noise not drawn a doll's attention, perhaps he wouldn't have been discovered.
The dolls might not even have targeted Sakai Yuuji at all.
After all, he himself was already established as a Torch. Once the dolls consumed a human, they'd have to replace them with another Torch.
That was precisely why the doll had pushed open the classroom door earlier, ignored Yuuji lying helplessly on the ground, and instead attacked other students.
After all, Sakai Yuuji simply wasn't worth the dolls' effort. Consuming a Torch and then replacing it with another Torch—what kind of strange game was that?
Power of Existence wouldn't appear from thin air. Apart from endlessly nesting dolls within dolls, there was no meaning whatsoever.
Thus, it wasn't that Sakai Yuuji had hidden himself exceptionally well before—it was simply that the doll originally had no intention of attacking him.
However, once he began moving freely in this crimson space, even dolls with minimal intelligence would instantly mark him as a target.
After all, anyone who moved freely here was almost certainly an enemy. Had it been an ally, the man who loved dolls would have noticed immediately, removing any need for independent judgment from these puppets.
Even if that man hadn't shown himself, the dolls wouldn't pose any threat to their own kind. If there truly were an entity of their kind weak enough to be destroyed by these dolls, that man wouldn't have cared either. After all, competition among their kind was fierce—such a fragile being had no right to survival. Better to turn them into Power of Existence to nourish themselves.
"Not good—!"
Seeing the doll suddenly appear in front of him, Sakai Yuuji didn't even consider resisting, immediately turning around and fleeing in the opposite direction.
As a feeble human, he had absolutely no way to fight them.
Moreover, Sakai Yuuji had realized this point long ago. Without the slightest hesitation, he poured all his strength into running—
But——
Creak—!
From the other end of the corridor, the doll whose arm had previously been stuck appeared once again, standing directly in Sakai Yuuji's path.
"How can this be—!"
Sakai Yuuji let out a cry of despair.
Now, whether forward or backward, Sakai Yuuji was completely surrounded.
As a powerless high school student, Sakai Yuuji couldn't possibly imagine any way of escaping their grasp.
No—there was still one way—
Panicking desperately, Yuuji stared at the dolls on both sides, retreating step by step.
Boom—!
Almost simultaneously, both dolls stomped down fiercely. The entire crimson space seemed to tremble, stirred into a whirlwind.
At a speed unattainable by humans, they surged towards Sakai Yuuji.
These dolls weren't like the slow-moving figures of horror films, which, though creating tremendous psychological pressure, still gave humans a chance to escape.
Their purpose had never been to pressure humans psychologically. In this scarlet world, no human could even see them clearly—why bother creating fear?
It was enough just to possess absolute strength to crush humanity.
"I don't care anymore! Aaaah! AAAAAH——!!"
Sakai Yuuji had no time to hesitate. With such speed, even if he wanted to run, it was probably impossible.
Behind him was an open window.
In order to survive, Sakai Yuuji had no other choice.
Gritting his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, he flung his body backward.
He feared that hesitation from the dread of heights would stop him.
But under these circumstances, hesitation had only one outcome.
Jumping down might not guarantee survival—but staying here certainly meant death.
Boom———!
A deafening crash echoed behind him as the two dolls violently collided with each other.
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