Kana lowered her cane.
"Fifth match. Begin."
Harada disappeared.
This time, he spoke first.
"Left."
Mei did not ask where he would appear.
She opened one of her fans and cut to the right.
Hina saw it.
She did not wait.
The axe expanded as she advanced, the blade growing with a flash of mana before descending into the space Mei had just left open.
Kaito entered with her.
Not in front.
Beside her.
The collision came almost at the same time.
Mei had to pull back the fan before completing the cut.
Kaito punched the air where Harada appeared.
Harada disappeared again an instant before the hit landed.
"Behind."
Mei turned.
This time, she knew what it meant.
A second line of cutting mana left her fan just as Harada appeared behind Kaito.
Kaito ducked.
The blade of mana passed over his shoulder.
Hina turned the axe handle.
"Down."
Kaito lowered himself.
Hina's axe passed over him and forced Harada to disappear again.
Mei stepped back half a step.
Hina did the same.
For several seconds, no one attacked.
Yūta blinked.
"That was…"
Chiho finished for him.
"Much better."
"Yeah."
Yūta looked at Mei.
Then at Harada.
"They didn't argue."
Mei heard him from the field.
"I can hear you!"
"That confirms my observation."
"Amane."
"I'll be quiet."
Hina let out a small smile.
Mei saw it.
"Don't laugh."
"I'm not laughing."
"Your face is."
"That's strange. Shoulders and faces are talking a lot today."
Mei looked at her for a second.
Hina held the gaze.
Something shifted between them.
Not much.
But enough.
For an instant, the tournament disappeared.
Hisayama.
Mio.
The forest.
The Tsukino house.
Things neither of them needed to say because both of them had been there.
Harada appeared beside Mei.
"You're distracted."
"I know."
"Then don't be."
Mei turned toward him.
"Sometimes I forget how unbearable you are."
"I don't."
"Worse."
Hina raised the axe.
"Are you done?"
Mei opened both fans.
"In a hurry?"
"A little."
"Perfect."
This time, Mei moved first.
The fans drew two different lines.
One high.
One low.
Hina did not try to stop both.
She deflected the first with the axe handle and let the second pass beside her leg.
Harada appeared to her right.
Kaito was already there.
His reinforced fist crossed the space.
Harada tilted his body and disappeared half an instant before impact.
He reappeared behind Mei.
"Didn't get through."
"I saw."
"Not everything."
Mei clicked her tongue.
"Don't start copying Hana."
Kaito advanced.
Mei expected him to come at her.
He did not.
He stopped halfway.
Hina came from his side.
The axe fell.
Mei crossed the fans.
Mana collided with mana in a short, dry crack.
Mei stepped back.
Hina did too.
But Kaito did not move.
He remained exactly where he needed to be.
Harada reappeared behind Hina.
Kaito did not turn.
Mei noticed.
So did Harada.
"He's not going to cover her," Harada said.
Mei narrowed her eyes.
"No."
Hina heard him.
"He doesn't need to."
Kaito shifted one shoulder slightly.
"I didn't say that either."
Hina glanced at him.
"Good."
Mei smiled.
"How sweet."
Hina changed her grip on the axe.
"Shut up."
"That sounded personal."
"It was."
Mei entered.
Harada disappeared.
Hina advanced.
Kaito did not stand in front.
For one second, all four of them did exactly what they had spent days trying to learn.
Mei did not attack alone.
Harada did not disappear without warning.
Hina did not wait too long.
Kaito did not become a wall.
It looked simple.
It was not.
From outside the field, Kato stopped drinking his coffee.
Yuna noticed.
"Now."
Kato nodded.
"Now they're fighting as pairs."
Baku had his hands in his pockets.
"Disgusting."
Kanzaki looked at him.
"What?"
"Actual progress. Makes me emotional."
"You don't look emotional."
"Inside, I'm crying uncontrollably."
Kasumi did not take her eyes off Mei.
"She's warning before she cuts."
Baku turned toward her.
"Family pride?"
Kasumi smiled.
"Don't exaggerate."
"That means yes."
"It means that if you keep talking, I'm going to test my niece's fans on you."
Baku put a hand on his mask.
"Violence between instructors. Beautiful example for the youth."
A few steps away, Kagami watched the field with his arms crossed.
"Shishido."
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
Baku looked at Kanzaki.
"He's had less character development than you."
"And functions better."
On the field, Mei sent a cut toward Hina.
Hina did not block it.
She moved inward.
Harada appeared at the same time.
"Right."
Mei cut left.
Kaito realized what they were doing a moment too late.
Harada was not trying to hit him.
He was forcing him to turn.
Mei was not trying to reach Hina either.
She was cutting off the space Hina would want to enter once Kaito turned.
For the first time, Hina and Kaito were separated by a full step.
Mei smiled.
"There."
Harada disappeared.
Hina raised the axe.
"Kaito."
"I know."
Kaito did not run back toward her.
Even Hina was surprised.
Instead of restoring the distance, he advanced toward Mei.
Mei's smile disappeared.
"Ah."
Kaito forced her back.
Hina understood.
She did not need Kaito to return to her side.
She needed to use the space he had just opened.
She turned.
The axe extended.
Harada appeared behind her.
"Now."
Mei raised the fan.
Hina lowered the axe.
And then someone arrived beside Tatsu.
Not running.
Almost.
The young hunter stopped only a few inches away from him and had to catch his breath before he could speak.
Tatsu looked at him.
The man leaned toward his ear.
Said something.
Nothing changed on the field.
Harada disappeared.
Mei advanced.
Kaito deflected one of the cuts.
Hina spun on one foot.
But Tatsu stopped watching.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
The hunter nodded.
Tatsu looked toward the main building of the branch.
Then toward Kana.
Something in his expression had changed.
Not fear.
Tatsu was too disciplined for that.
But urgency.
An urgency that did not belong in a tournament.
He walked toward Kana.
"Mizushima-sama."
Kana was still watching the match.
"Later, Tatsu."
Mei had forced Hina backward.
Harada appeared behind her.
Kaito entered from the side.
Kana narrowed her eyes.
"I want to see this."
Tatsu did not leave.
"Mizushima-sama."
Kana raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Tatsu."
"Please."
That made her look at him.
Tatsu rarely needed to repeat himself.
Even less often did he ask like that.
Kana lowered the cane a few inches.
"What happened?"
Tatsu glanced briefly at the students.
Then back at her.
"I need you to hear this."
Kana studied his face.
"Why are you so agitated?"
Tatsu took a second.
"They're here."
Kana frowned.
"Who?"
Tatsu lowered his voice.
"The remnants."
The sounds of the match continued behind them.
Kana did not answer.
Tatsu continued.
"There are remnants inside the branch."
Now Kana stopped watching the field.
"Inside?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Central sector. East corridor confirmed. We also have reports near the lower storage areas."
Kana tightened her grip on the cane.
"How many?"
"We don't know."
"How did they get in?"
"We don't know that either."
Kana stared at him.
Tatsu added:
"They're attacking the hunters."
One second.
Nothing more.
But it was enough for Kana's entire expression to change.
"Injured?"
Tatsu did not answer immediately.
Kana understood.
"Dead?"
"Yes."
Kana's cane touched the ground.
This time, it was not a signal.
Only weight.
"This is serious."
The east corridor no longer looked like part of a hunter branch.
One door had disappeared.
It was not open.
It was gone.
Part of the frame was still embedded in the wall, while the rest lay scattered across the floor among chunks of stone, blood, and black traces of mana.
A hunter backed away while raising an improvised barrier.
A remnant lunged at it.
It had no name.
No words.
Only a jaw that was far too large and arms long enough to almost drag along the floor.
It struck the barrier.
Once.
Twice.
The third hit shattered it.
The hunter raised his weapon.
He never got to use it.
A green thread wrapped around his wrist.
Then another.
And another.
The man was ripped off his feet and thrown against the wall.
Mukuro descended from the ceiling.
His feet touched the floor without a sound.
The threads still extended from his fingers.
"Mukuro."
He turned his head.
Shizuku walked between two fallen bodies.
"Don't waste time."
Mukuro looked at the hunter he had just taken down.
He was still breathing.
"He could get up."
"Then let him try."
Mukuro released the threads.
The hunter fell to his knees.
He did not try to get up.
Shizuku kept walking.
A few meters away, a dark circle appeared over a wall with no door.
The darkness opened.
Akuryō stepped through.
Two lesser remnants passed through the portal behind him.
One moved on four limbs.
The other dragged part of its body along the floor.
Neither spoke.
Akuryō looked down the corridor.
"The eastern access is open."
Zanshō rattled one of the chains wrapped around his arms.
"Was that all?"
His rough voice echoed off the walls.
Shizuku looked at him.
"No."
Zanshō tilted his chin toward the fallen hunters.
"Looked like it."
"The strong hunters weren't in this sector."
Akuryō looked toward a staircase at the end of the hall.
"They're gathered elsewhere."
Zanshō let out a short laugh.
"Then this will be easy."
Shizuku walked past him.
"Don't confuse ease with victory."
"Do you have to turn everything into a lesson?"
"Someone has to."
Mukuro looked toward Akuryō.
"And the boss?"
Akuryō shook his head once.
"Not here yet."
Zanshō spun a chain.
Mana metal struck the floor.
"Good."
Shizuku looked at him.
"Good?"
"We can get something done before he arrives."
Akuryō did not answer.
An explosion sounded several corridors away.
One of the lesser remnants immediately turned toward it.
Another began walking in that direction.
Akuryō raised one hand.
Both stopped.
"No."
The creatures looked at him.
They did not seem to understand the word.
But they understood the order.
Akuryō pointed downward.
"Storage."
The remnants changed direction.
Shizuku watched them move.
"They still haven't found anything."
"No," Akuryō said.
Zanshō exhaled.
"Humans build hallways like hiding things is a religion."
Mukuro tilted his head.
"I can ask."
Zanshō looked at him.
"So can I."
A few meters away, someone coughed.
All four turned.
A hunter was trying to drag himself toward a door.
One leg was bent at the wrong angle and one hand was pressed against his abdomen.
Zanshō walked toward him.
The hunter heard the chains.
He tried to move faster.
He did not get far.
Zanshō grabbed him by the back of his uniform and lifted him.
The man tried to punch him.
His fist bounced off the remnant's chest.
Zanshō carried him to a wall.
Pressed him against it.
Not violently.
Not yet.
"I have a question."
The hunter breathed with difficulty.
Zanshō brought his masked face closer.
"The relics."
The man said nothing.
"Where are they?"
The hunter looked at him through the pain.
Then smiled.
"Go to hell."
Zanshō stayed still.
Mukuro tilted his head slightly.
Shizuku watched from behind.
Akuryō did not even change his posture.
Zanshō brought his face a little closer.
"I didn't ask where you wanted me to go."
"And I'm not telling you anything."
Zanshō raised one hand.
Placed it beside the hunter's head.
His fingers were too long.
"Think about it."
The hunter spat blood onto the floor.
"Doesn't matter how many of you got in."
Zanshō said nothing.
"The great hunters are here."
The man let out a short laugh.
"When they come…"
He breathed.
It hurt.
He finished anyway.
"They're going to kill every last one of you."
Zanshō remained still.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly.
Not for long.
That made it worse.
"The great hunters?"
His hand began to close.
The hunter grabbed Zanshō's wrist with both hands.
He could not move it.
"Zanshō," Shizuku said.
He glanced at her.
"I'm done."
The fingers closed.
There was a dry sound.
The hunter's hands stopped resisting.
Zanshō held him for another second.
Then released him.
The body dropped to the floor.
Mukuro looked down at it.
"He didn't answer."
Zanshō turned toward him.
"Sharp observation."
Shizuku walked past the body without looking at it.
"Then we search."
Akuryō opened another portal.
"Lower storage."
Zanshō rattled his chains.
"And if we find another one—"
Shizuku kept walking.
"Ask better."
Mei cut.
Hina blocked.
Fan and axe handle collided.
Harada appeared.
Kaito turned.
"Now!" Hina said.
Kaito advanced.
"It's over."
No one reacted.
Not because they had not heard.
Because the words did not belong to the fight.
Mei stopped first.
The fan remained open in front of her.
Hina kept the axe raised.
Harada reappeared several meters away.
Kaito looked toward the edge of the field.
Kana was standing.
The expression she had worn during the previous matches was gone.
She gave Tatsu a signal.
Tatsu stepped forward.
"The tournament is canceled."
Silence.
Kenta was the first to react.
"What?"
Tatsu did not change his tone.
"All matches end now."
Mei slowly lowered the fan.
"Why?"
Tatsu did not answer.
Yūta looked at Kato.
Kato was no longer watching the field.
He was watching Kana.
So was Yuna.
Kasumi closed her fan.
Kagami straightened.
Kanzaki stopped watching the students and started watching the exits.
Baku said nothing.
That was what made Sota feel cold.
Kato walked toward Kana.
"What happened?"
Yuna followed.
Kasumi, Kagami, Baku, and Kanzaki approached as well.
The students started talking among themselves.
Kana raised one hand.
The murmuring faded.
Kato asked again.
"Kana."
She looked at him.
"Remnants got in."
Kato did not move.
Yuna did.
Barely.
But Kato saw it.
"Where?"
"Inside the branch."
Now no one spoke.
Kana continued.
"They're attacking the central sector. We have reports from the east corridor and near the lower storage areas."
Kagami frowned.
"How did they get in?"
"We don't know."
Kanzaki asked:
"Numbers?"
"We don't know that either."
"Casualties?"
Tatsu answered this time.
"Confirmed."
The silence changed.
Baku had stopped moving.
Kato looked toward the students.
"What about the kids?"
"The kids stay," Baku said.
Kato turned toward him.
Baku held his gaze.
There was no humor behind the mask.
Then he raised one finger.
"Well. Don't literally forget them. That would be terrible educational policy."
No one laughed.
Baku lowered his hand.
"But they stay."
Kana nodded.
"We still don't know what entered or how powerful it is."
Kato looked toward the central building.
"Then we need people."
"We'll have them."
Kana indicated the group.
"The second-years are coming."
Several students raised their heads.
Yūta too.
Kana continued before anyone could speak.
"As support. Evacuation, containment, protection of the injured. No one pursues remnants alone. No one separates from an adult."
Kanzaki nodded.
"Correct."
"The first-years stay in this sector," Kana continued. "Tatsu, before we leave, activate the training locks and the outer barriers."
Tatsu bowed his head.
"Yes."
"Sota stays too."
Sota clenched his hands.
He did not argue.
Kato did.
"The first-years could help."
Yuna looked at him.
Not surprised.
As if she had been waiting for those exact words.
Kana had too.
"I know."
"Then—"
"No."
Kato's jaw tightened.
Kana stepped closer.
"We don't know how many there are."
"That's exactly why—"
"We don't know how strong they are."
Kato fell silent.
Kana lowered her voice slightly.
"Ginjiro."
He looked at her.
"This time, listen to me."
The courtyard seemed much larger when Kana spoke like that.
"The first-years stay until we know what we're fighting."
Kato looked at Yūta.
Then Ishida.
Hina.
Mei.
Sota.
Back to Kana.
"They can defend themselves."
"I didn't say they couldn't."
"Then they could—"
"And they could also walk straight into something neither you nor I can measure yet."
That stopped him.
Kana held his gaze.
"Tell them to stay."
Kato did not answer.
"You're coming."
One second.
Then another.
Kato let air out through his nose.
"Fine."
Yuna said nothing.
She only looked at him.
He avoided holding her gaze for too long.
Kana turned toward the others.
"Kasumi. Kagami. Baku. Kanzaki."
The four answered almost at once.
"Yes."
"Tatsu, with us."
"Of course."
Kana looked once more at Kato and Yuna.
"Organize the students and catch up."
Kato nodded.
"Go."
Kana started walking.
Tatsu moved beside her.
Kagami followed.
Kasumi opened her fan once before closing it again.
Kanzaki checked the access points as he moved.
Baku passed beside the students.
"Don't do anything heroic while I'm gone."
Yūta looked at him.
"That sounds weird coming from you."
"I know. Makes me feel dirty."
He kept walking.
Then stopped.
Turned his head slightly.
"Seriously."
No one answered.
Baku continued.
Sota watched until he disappeared through the exit.
The mask was the same.
The clothes were the same.
The short pickaxe was still hanging from his belt.
But something was missing.
It took Sota a second to understand what.
Baku was not smiling.
The doors closed behind the adults.
The courtyard felt strange.
Too quiet.
As if the tournament had happened hours ago instead of less than a minute earlier.
Kato walked to the center.
Yuna stood beside him.
"Listen."
He did not need to raise his voice.
The students gathered.
Mei still held one of the fans.
Hina had not fully reduced the axe.
Kaito was still standing inside the field.
Harada was several meters away, motionless.
Kenta had his hands open.
Yui watched the exits.
Hana watched Kato.
Chiho had dismissed her bow, but her fingers were still positioned around a string that no longer existed.
Ishida held his book against his body.
Yūta spoke first.
"What's happening?"
Kato looked at him.
He did not look for a gentle way to say it.
"There are remnants inside the branch."
No one spoke.
Yūta frowned.
"Here?"
"Central sector."
Mei stepped forward.
"How?"
"We don't know."
Ishida asked:
"How many?"
"We don't know."
Hina tightened her grip on the axe.
"Are they attacking?"
Kato answered too quickly.
"Yes."
That was enough.
Yūta stepped forward.
"Then we're going."
"No."
Kato's answer came before he finished the step.
Yūta stopped.
"Kato—"
"No."
"But they're attacking the hunters."
"I know."
"Then we can help."
"I know."
Yūta fell silent for a second.
That answer disarmed him more than a refusal would have.
"Then I don't understand."
Kato stepped closer.
"Because we don't know what's in there."
"They're remnants."
"That's the only thing we know."
"We've fought remnants before."
Kato looked directly at him.
"And I've fought things we took too long to understand."
His tone changed.
It was not loud.
It did not need to be.
Yūta remembered, without knowing all the details, that Kato was talking about a time none of them had lived through.
Kato continued.
"It's not because I think you can't help."
He looked at Ishida, Hina, and Mei as well.
"You can."
Mei pressed her lips together.
"Then—"
"But I'm not taking you somewhere when I don't even know what can kill you."
Mei did not answer.
Yuna took over.
"The second-years are coming because they have more field experience. Even then, they are not entering as an assault force."
Kenta raised his head.
"Then what do we do?"
"What you're told."
Yuna looked over the group.
"Evacuate. Protect the injured. Maintain routes. If an adult tells you to retreat, you retreat."
Harada asked:
"No pursuit?"
"No pursuit."
"Even if there's an opening?"
"Especially if you think there's an opening."
Harada nodded.
"Understood."
Kaito finally lowered his arms.
Chiho looked at Yūta.
Then at Yuna.
"What if they get here?"
Kato pointed toward the access points.
"This sector will be sealed. The outer barriers should already be activating."
As if responding to his words, a low sound moved through the building.
Something heavy closed in the distance.
Then another.
Lines of mana appeared across the side doors of the courtyard.
Yūta looked at them.
He did not like how they felt.
Not like protection.
Like being left behind.
Sota was looking at the barriers too.
But his expression was different.
He already knew that feeling.
Too well.
Yūta turned back to Kato.
"I can't stay here while all of you go."
Kato sighed.
"Yes, you can."
"I don't want to."
"I didn't ask if you wanted to."
Yūta's expression hardened.
"That isn't fair."
"No."
The answer came without defense.
Yūta blinked.
Kato continued.
"It isn't fair."
He looked toward the doors.
"Neither is what's happening in there."
Then he looked back at Yūta.
"But an order doesn't become wrong because it hurts."
Yūta clenched his fists.
"What if you need help?"
"We'll ask."
"What if you can't?"
Kato did not answer immediately.
Yuna looked at him.
Kato lowered his voice.
"Then I need to know that at least you did what I asked."
Yūta stopped talking.
Not because he agreed.
Because he understood.
That was worse.
Hina slowly lowered the axe.
Mei closed her fan.
Ishida looked at the floor.
Sota kept staring at the doors.
Yuna turned toward the second-years.
"Get ready."
Kenta took a deep breath.
A flame appeared in his hand for an instant.
Small.
He extinguished it.
Harada adjusted the bandages around his wrists.
Yui checked her hands.
Hana closed her eyes for a second and opened them again.
Chiho formed a string of mana between her fingers and let it disappear.
Kaito walked toward them.
Hina saw him pass.
"Kaito."
He stopped.
Hina hesitated.
She did not seem to know what to say.
In the end, she lifted the axe slightly.
"Don't stand in front."
Kaito looked at her.
Then smiled.
"Beside you."
Hina nodded.
"Beside me."
Mei looked at Harada.
"Don't disappear without warning."
Harada answered:
"Don't cut without warning."
Mei frowned.
"Don't ruin the moment."
"I didn't know there was one."
"Go away."
Harada started walking.
"That's what I was doing."
Mei closed her eyes.
"I hate him."
Hina smiled faintly.
"Not that much."
Mei pointed the fan at her.
"Don't you start too."
For the first time since the cancellation, something resembling normality tried to return to the courtyard.
It did not last long.
Kato looked at Yuna.
"Let's go."
Yuna nodded.
The second-years began heading toward the exit.
Yūta remained where he was.
He did not take his eyes off them.
Kaito passed nearby.
Then stopped.
"Don't make that face."
Yūta looked at him.
"What face?"
"That one."
"That explains nothing."
"The face you make when you're about to do exactly what they told you not to do."
Yūta did not answer.
Kaito smiled a little more.
He gave him a light tap on the shoulder.
"Don't worry."
He pulled his hand away.
"We'll crush the remnants quickly and come back."