Time passed quickly.
The dinner Sayuri had prepared sat untouched on the table, long since gone cold.
But Eriri still hadn't returned.
It was well past the time school should have ended.
Sayuri, looking uneasy, picked up her phone and dialed Eriri's number.
"Eh… how come?" she murmured in disbelief after listening to the response.
"What's wrong, Aunt Sayuri?" Utaha asked, tilting her head slightly.
Yami Tsukishiro's brows had already furrowed. His sharp hearing had caught the faint notification tone from Sayuri's call.
"I tried calling Eriri," Sayuri said, her voice worried. "But the operator said her number isn't in the service area…"
"That's impossible…" Utaha whispered, confusion written all over her face.
Yet Yami knew better. The shadow soldier he had stationed in Eriri's shadow still pulsed faintly with life. He could clearly sense its location—still somewhere near the school.
And then—
[Ding! Negative energy in the world detected! Rampage Node: Third Activation!]
"..."
A runaway node at this exact time?
Yami's eyes narrowed. There was no way this was just a coincidence.
Even before he could move, the protective order he had embedded into Eriri's shadow had already activated. The shadow soldier broke free on its own, moving to shield her from danger.
Through the connection of shadows, Yami instantly perceived the situation surrounding Eriri.
"I… I can't get out of the school gate. What's going on!?"
It was supposed to be an ordinary afternoon. Yet, the moment the last bell rang, something went horribly wrong.
Students found they couldn't leave the campus. The gates that normally swung open refused to budge. The entire school grounds were swallowed in a strange, suffocating chill.
The air itself had turned unnaturally cold, carrying with it an aura of dread.
Blood-red streaks marred some of the walls and floors. The once familiar academy now resembled a haunted school straight out of a ghost story.
And at the center of it all—Eriri stood frozen, realizing she had stepped straight into a nightmare.
Inside the gymnasium, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Shinomiya Kaguya, standing at the center as the temporary leader, raised her voice to calm the frightened students.
"Everyone—stay calm! We'll figure this out. Can anyone still make contact with the outside world?"
No one answered. Nearly a thousand students had gathered, filling the stands and the floor in a sea of pale faces. Fear spread like wildfire.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"
Everyone's heads snapped toward the main doors. The heavy wood shook violently, each impact louder than the last. From outside came the sound of wails and distorted howling—neither fully human nor animal.
"K-Kaguya-chan… is this… a supernatural incident!?" A pink-haired girl clung desperately to her arm, trembling like a child.
Kaguya's eyebrow twitched. "First of all, could you please let go of my hand?" She gave her the sharp glare reserved for Chika Fujiwara when she got too clingy.
But before anyone could react—
CRASH!
The deafening shatter of glass exploded overhead. Shards rained down like deadly rain.
"KYAAAA!!!"
Screams erupted across the gymnasium as everyone instinctively ducked.
"What… what the hell is that!?" one of the boys shouted, pointing upward in horror.
From the massive window above, something was crawling through.
A figure—long hair matted with blood, limbs twisted at impossible angles—pressed against the wall, climbing down like a grotesque insect.
And he wasn't alone.
One. Two. Three… More of them followed, dragging their mangled bodies inside, each movement accompanied by the sickening sound of bone scraping against glass.
"AHHHH!!"
The gymnasium erupted into chaos. Students scrambled away, shoving and tripping over each other in blind panic.
"Quaaack… quaaack…!"
The intruders opened their mouths wide, unleashing shrieks that no human throat could ever produce.
And now, in the dim light of the gym, their faces could be seen clearly.
No—not faces.
Their skin had peeled back, exposing grotesque rows of human-like teeth stretching across their jaws. The things had the shape of humans, but everything about their proportions and movements was distorted, wrong.
Like broken dolls stitched together with malice.
"Run! They're coming this way!!"
The first of the monsters leapt down into the panicked crowd, slamming into a cluster of students. The screams grew louder, hands clawing, pushing—everyone desperate not to be the next victim.
Nobody wanted to be the one caught under those jaws.
Eriri was caught in the crowd.
She didn't want to be shoved down like the others.
In the moment of panic, light burst from her back—delicate wings spread wide, lifting her straight into the air.
At the same time, a shadow soldier tore free from the ground beneath her, catching the student who almost crashed into her and pulling him aside. More shadows emerged in rapid succession, their inky bodies surrounding the space in an instant.
Dozens of shadow soldiers formed a barrier, slamming into the twisted monsters as they leapt forward.
Boom—!
In the blink of an eye, six of the humanoid abominations were hurled across the gym floor, pinned and crushed beneath the weight of darkness.
"Quack… quack…!!"
They let out ear-piercing shrieks, their limbs writhing violently, but they couldn't move an inch under the shadows' grip.
Silence fell over the entire gymnasium.
Hovering above with her light wings, Eriri's silhouette stood out against the chaos. The shadows, guarding her from every side, isolated a safe space in the storm of panic.
All eyes turned toward her, wide with shock.
Everyone could tell—those creatures of darkness had come from her shadow.
Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes sharpened, a flash of recognition crossing them.
As the chaos eased, Eriri slowly drew in her wings and descended. Luckily, she was in her sportswear—otherwise the scene might have been even more embarrassing. But in that moment, clothing was the last thing on her mind.
Her heart whispered one truth.
Yami-kun is protecting me.
As if answering her thoughts, one of the shadows shifted and traded places. From within the darkness, Yami Tsukishiro stepped forward.
He walked to Eriri's side, his presence calm, steady, like the eye of a storm. His voice was low and gentle:
"Eriri… are you hurt?"
The tension in her chest dissolved instantly. Happiness welled up in her eyes as she shook her head like an obedient child.
"Yami-kun, I'm not hurt."
A faint smile touched his lips. "As long as you're safe. I'll explain later. For now—" his gaze turned ice-cold, sweeping toward the bound monsters, "—we kill them first."
His chilling words echoed through the gymnasium.
The shadows stirred at his command.
In perfect unison, they raised their weapons—blades formed of darkness itself—and brought them down.
Slash!
The monsters' heads rolled free in an instant.
Silence.
Then, like smoke snuffed out by the wind, the bodies disintegrated into black mist, vanishing without a trace.
"Clean up all the evil spirits in the school."
Yami's voice was calm, yet his words carried a chilling weight.
From every corner of the gymnasium, shadows stretched and swirled, converging into kneeling figures. Dozens of shadow soldiers emerged, lowering themselves on one knee in silent obedience.
The next moment
Hiss—!
Their forms twisted, unraveling into countless black serpents that slithered into the cracks of the floor, vanishing from sight as they spread through the school.
"..."
The students stood frozen, mouths agape. The scene was beyond anything they had ever witnessed.
Shinomiya Kaguya's sharp eyes never left Yami. If those shadows were truly his doing… then everything suddenly makes sense.
Yami's gaze swept over the trembling crowd. His words, calm and absolute, silenced even the faintest whisper:
"You can leave the school now. Don't concern yourselves with what happens in between."
Before anyone could react, he wrapped Eriri gently in his shadow. The two of them sank into the darkness—disappearing as if they had never been there.
...
The gymnasium remained utterly quiet. The silence of disbelief pressed down on every student.
Finally, someone whispered in awe, "Just now… was that… Yami?"
Those who had been his classmates exchanged stunned looks. Recognition spread.
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes widened ever so slightly.
"..."
So this… is what Mother meant by special…
She had read the reports. But seeing it unfold before her own eyes was something else entirely.
Shinomiya Kaguya forced herself to calm, pushing her shock aside. As president of the student council, she quickly raised her voice, regaining control of the chaos:
"Everyone, stay calm! Leave the gymnasium in an orderly manner—now!"
Herded by her commanding presence, the frightened students began to file out.
But what awaited them outside… was no salvation.
The school had changed.
The corridors, once familiar, now stretched under a veil of dread. The gardens were crawling with grotesque monsters.
The students flinched, ready to retreat—
—but before panic could explode again, the shadows struck.
Ten mighty shadow soldiers manifested from the darkness, each armed with weapons of night. In flawless formation, they cut down every monster that dared appear.
One strike. One kill.
Not a single creature survived.
Kaguya wasted no time. "Don't panic! Head straight for the school gate!"
With a leader's voice giving them direction, the massive group moved as one, running through the haunted campus toward the front gate.
More twisted monsters appeared along the way, shrieking and lunging—but every time, they were cut down instantly, erased by the Ten Shadows.
At last, they reached the gate. Other teachers and students who had escaped their classrooms converged there as well.
"W-we can't open it!!" someone cried.
Dozens rushed forward, pounding on the heavy iron doors.
Through the bars, they could see people walking along the street outside—students heading home, townsfolk chatting, cars passing by.
But no matter how much they screamed, no one outside turned their head.
It was as if an invisible barrier had sealed them in.
The inside and outside of the school… had become two completely different worlds.
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