Kazumi and Kiyoshi stood frozen as the recent events replayed in their minds.
Just moments ago, Lisa had suddenly attacked Kiyoshi, and Chace declared coldly:
"Dead or alive… you're coming with us."
Kiyoshi gritted his teeth while grabbing his frozen right arm. The thick ice covering it slowly cracked apart.
CRACK… CRACK…
"GAHHH—!!"
He screamed in pain as pieces of ice shattered off his skin, revealing frost burns underneath.
Kazumi immediately rushed toward him.
"Kiyoshi!"
But before she could reach him—
The world suddenly returned to normal.
The destroyed hallway was gone.
The black sky disappeared.
Students could once again be heard faintly outside as if nothing had happened.
Kazumi looked around in confusion.
"…What?"
Chace clicked his tongue.
"Tch. Looks like the barrier collapsed."
"If people see us fighting here, it'll become troublesome," Lisa added calmly.
Chace then pulled out a strange paper talisman from his pocket and slammed it onto the wall.
The paper immediately glowed.
FWOOOM—
Darkness swallowed the surroundings once more.
The hallway stretched infinitely into darkness, almost like reality itself had been distorted.
Kiyoshi looked around cautiously.
"…Okay. The heck was that!?"
His expression darkened.
Then suddenly—
Two blades materialized into his hands.
One glowing red.
One glowing blue.
At the same time, his right eye glowed crimson red while his left eye glowed deep blue.
Lisa's eyes widened.
"…So it's true," she whispered.
"You really possess the God Gems."
Kiyoshi blinked.
"The what now?"
"The God Gems," Lisa repeated seriously.
"And we'll be taking them from you."
Kiyoshi stared at her for a few seconds.
Then pointed at himself.
"You think I have that? If I actually have that thing, I'll give it to you myself…"
Lisa and Chace paused.
"…Eh?"
"Yeah," Kiyoshi answered casually. "I mean, if you just explained things normally maybe I would've handed them over."
The two siblings looked at each other in complete confusion.
"…Seriously?" Chace asked.
"Yeah."
Lisa looked genuinely stunned.
"You… would willingly give us the God Gems?"
Kiyoshi scratched his head.
"Well first of all, I don't even know what those are."
Lisa blinked.
"…The God Gems are what gave you your abilities."
Kiyoshi suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
He slowly looked at them.
"You mean the admin candies?"
"…The WHAT?" Chace asked.
"The admin candies," Kiyoshi repeated. "That weird mysterious dude gave me two glowing candies and said something like 'candidate stuff' before disappearing."
Lisa and Chace stared at him in absolute disbelief.
"…Admin… candies?" Lisa repeated slowly.
Kazumi stood at the side watching them.
Just a few moments ago these people looked ready to murder each other.
Now they were casually talking like nothing happened.
After calming down slightly, Lisa explained everything.
According to an ancient prophecy, the universe was approaching its end. The God Gems were said to possess enough power to stop the coming catastrophe.
Their family—the Laurent family—had been searching for them for generations.
Kiyoshi crossed his arms.
"…That's weird. The guy who gave me those things didn't mention anything like that though…"
Kazumi was still standing there completely confused.
Lisa then looked at Kiyoshi seriously.
"Now that you know everything… will you come with us willingly?"
Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes.
"…What exactly are you planning to do to me?"
Lisa answered casually.
"We'll need to extract the God Gems from your body."
"…And how exactly do you do that?"
Lisa remained silent.
Kiyoshi slowly backed away.
"…You know what? I suddenly don't feel very cooperative anymore."
Lisa lowered her head sadly.
For a moment, she looked genuinely disappointed.
Then she looked back up and smiled gently.
"Well then…"
"…We go back to Plan A."
SHIIIIING!!!
An ice shard instantly fired toward Kiyoshi's head.
"WOAH—!"
He barely dodged in time.
Kazumi stepped forward desperately.
"STOP THIS!"
But Lisa immediately froze Kazumi's legs in place with ice.
"Kazumi, please don't interfere," Lisa said sadly. "We really don't want to hurt you."
At that exact moment—
BOOM!!!
Chace rushed toward Kiyoshi with flaming fists.
The battle exploded instantly.
Kiyoshi barely avoided Chace's punches as flames and shockwaves destroyed the endless hallway around them.
Meanwhile Lisa continuously fired ice attacks from the distance.
One ice spear accidentally hit Chace's shoulder.
"OW— HEY!" Chace shouted. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING!"
Lisa blinked innocently.
"…Oops."
"THAT WASN'T AN OOPS!"
Kiyoshi used the distraction.
He grabbed Chace and slammed him violently into the ground.
BOOM!!!
The floor shattered beneath them.
Kiyoshi climbed on top of him and started punching him repeatedly.
"YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE!"
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Chace's face quickly became bloody.
But suddenly Chace grabbed Kiyoshi's collar and punched him directly into a wall.
CRAAASH!!!
Kiyoshi coughed blood as he fell.
Before he could recover—
Chace body-slammed him into the wall again.
Kazumi screamed helplessly.
"KIYOSHI!!"
Kiyoshi slowly tried standing again.
His entire body was covered in blood and bruises.
Yet he still forced himself up.
"…Damn… that actually hurt…"
Chace prepared another attack—
But suddenly—
SHINK!!!
An ice shard flew past Kiyoshi's face.
It sliced across his cheek.
Several strands of his hair slowly drifted to the floor.
Silence.
Everything became silent.
Kiyoshi froze completely.
Kazumi immediately noticed something strange.
The atmosphere around him changed.
"…Kiyoshi?"
A dark aura slowly surrounded him.
The red and blue blades in his hands began glowing violently.
His eyes shined brighter with the same colors.
Red.
Blue.
Then—
Two ghostly figures slowly emerged beside him from the glowing blades.
One was a woman covered in crimson light with long flowing hair and a terrifying smile.
The other was a tall man glowing deep blue with cold emotionless eyes.
Both figures floated beside Kiyoshi like spirits from another world.
Chace's confident expression immediately disappeared.
"…What the hell are those things?"
The red female entity slowly leaned near Kiyoshi's ear.
"Kill them."
Her voice sounded distorted and unnatural.
"They hurt you."
Then the blue male figure spoke calmly.
"You already know they won't stop."
"Don't hold back anymore."
Kazumi felt chills run down her spine.
Even Lisa looked visibly shaken now.
The two ghostly figures slowly faded into particles of red and blue light before vanishing completely.
Silence filled the hallway again.
Then—
Kiyoshi slowly raised his head.
His expression was no longer the same.
The glowing red and blue eyes stared at them without emotion.
Without hesitation—
Chace attacked first.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!"
BOOOOM!!!
His flaming fist rushed straight toward Kiyoshi—
—but Kiyoshi disappeared.
Chace's eyes widened.
"Wha—"
CRAAAAASH!!!
Kiyoshi suddenly appeared in front of him and slammed him directly into the floor with monstrous force.
The entire hallway cracked apart beneath them.
Before Chace could even scream—
BAM!!!
Another strike smashed him deeper into the ground.
The speed was terrifying.
Chace coughed blood before instantly losing consciousness.
Kazumi's jaw dropped.
"…That was WAY too fast."
Kiyoshi slowly turned toward Lisa.
Lisa instinctively stepped backward.
For the first time—
She looked genuinely afraid.
Kiyoshi pointed one glowing blade toward her.
"…You're next."
Lisa panicked and unleashed countless ice attacks.
Ice spears flooded the hallway from every direction.
But Kiyoshi avoided every single one effortlessly.
Left.
Right.
Forward.
Not one attack touched him.
"WHY WON'T YOU STAY STILL?!" Lisa shouted desperately.
In an instant—
Kiyoshi appeared directly in front of her.
Lisa quickly created an ice barrier.
SLASH!!!
The barrier shattered instantly.
The impact sent Lisa flying violently into the wall.
CRAAASH!!!
She collapsed onto the floor painfully.
Her breathing became uneven as she desperately tried crawling away.
Kiyoshi slowly walked toward her.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Every step echoed through the endless hallway.
Lisa's body trembled.
"K-Keep away from me…"
Kiyoshi grabbed her by the collar and pulled her upward.
Then he slowly raised his glowing blade near her face.
Lisa's eyes widened in horror as she struggled to fight to try to escape from him but it no use.
At that moment she knew There's no more she can do to escape.
"I-I'M SORRY!!" she cried out desperately. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!"
Kazumi watched in horror.
Kiyoshi's face was filled with bloodlust and anger.
He slowly raised his blade higher.
"Kiyoshi STOP!!" Kazumi screamed.
SLASH!!!
Kazumi tightly shut her eyes.
Everything turned to black.
A few seconds passed.
Silence.
Slowly—
Kazumi opened her eyes again.
Then blinked in confusion.
"…Huh?"
Lisa sat frozen in place.
Several inches of her hair slowly drifted to the floor.
Kiyoshi had only cut her hair.
Lisa slowly touched her head.
"…What?"
Her expression became completely confused.
She looked at Kiyoshi in disbelief.
Kiyoshi stared at her coldly.
"There."
"Now you understand how it feels when someone just cut something you work and maintained on for a long time."
Kazumi stared at him with complete disbelief.
Her eye twitched looking at him.
Meanwhile Lisa was still sitting there completely stunned and confused.
Kiyoshi suddenly started swaying weakly.
The glow from his blades began fading.
"…Ah…"
His body finally gave out.
THUD.
He collapsed face-first onto the floor.
The red and blue blades vanished instantly.
Silence filled the endless hallway.
Kazumi slowly looked toward Lisa.
Lisa slowly looked back at Kazumi.
The two girls stared at each other for several seconds.
Then both spoke at the exact same time.
"…What the hell just happened?"