The engine never slowed.
It tore through the road like something behind them was hungry.
Streetlights flashed across the windows.
The city blurred.
The tires screamed at every turn.
Inside the car—
silence.
Not peace.
Pressure.
Every second felt expensive.
Every breath felt late.
Lila's voice cut through the dark.
"…update."
No one looked at her.
They didn't need to.
"Five more collapsed."
The words hit harder than the speed.
Bimo swallowed.
"…we're not catching up…"
Arga sat motionless.
Eyes forward.
Jaw locked.
"…we're done chasing."
The car skidded to a stop.
Before it fully settled—
they were already out.
The school stood ahead.
Broken.
Students crying in the yard.
Teachers dragging bodies.
Glass scattered everywhere.
Smoke leaking from shattered windows.
Too much damage.
Too quickly.
"…damn it…" Sinta whispered.
Arga kept walking.
No hesitation.
No pause.
"Split."
One word.
Everyone moved.
Bimo vanished toward the left wing.
Dika charged right.
Tono leapt for the rooftop.
Sinta and Rani advanced beside Arga.
Then Arga stopped.
The center of the courtyard.
Something felt wrong.
Too clean.
Too arranged.
Too controlled beneath the chaos.
This wasn't panic.
It was design.
"…this is staged."
Lila's voice exploded through the comms.
"WAIT—!"
Too late.
BOOM!
The ground beneath them erupted.
Concrete blasted upward.
A shockwave tore through the corridor.
Windows detonated into shards.
Students screamed.
Smoke swallowed everything.
Arga turned slowly.
"…ambush."
Shapes emerged from the dust.
Not carriers.
Not recruits.
Hunters.
Five in front.
More behind them.
Still silhouettes.
Waiting.
Dika grinned automatically—
then the grin died.
"…yeah… no."
The first attacker moved.
Too fast to follow.
Bimo dashed to intercept—
WHAM!
He was hit mid-step and launched into a wall hard enough to crack it.
"—AKH!"
"BIMO!" Sinta shouted.
Arga moved instantly—
and met the next strike head-on.
BOOM!
The impact drove him backward.
His feet carved trenches through the concrete.
Heavy.
Dense.
Refined.
Different.
He looked up.
"…they improved."
No—
worse.
They evolved.
Behind them—
three students collapsed at once.
Their bodies arched violently.
Energy burst from them like broken power lines.
Wild.
Violent.
Unstable.
Rani ran.
"I'll stabilize them!"
"WAIT!" Arga shouted.
Too late.
One student's body convulsed—
then ruptured.
Not flesh.
Energy.
CRACK—!
A blast wave slammed into Rani point-blank.
She flew across the yard.
THUD!
Her body hit the ground and rolled twice before stopping.
Still.
Everything froze.
Just for one second.
Sinta's voice broke.
"…Rani?"
Bimo dragged himself upright.
Blood at the corner of his mouth.
"…no…"
Arga stared.
Rani lay motionless.
Breathing—
barely.
Her lunch box had rolled beside her.
The light inside flickered weakly.
Like it might die next.
Something inside Arga changed.
Not rage.
Not panic.
Something colder.
Something sharper.
Something that no longer cared about fairness.
"…everyone fall back."
His voice was different.
Lower.
Heavier.
Final.
"Bimo."
He didn't look away from the enemy.
"Take her."
"…I've got her."
For once—
Bimo didn't joke.
Didn't complain.
He ran straight to her.
Dika stepped in front of the others.
Blocking hit after hit.
Barely holding.
"…MOVE!"
Sinta fought like a storm.
But even she was being pushed back.
"They're stronger!"
Lila's voice came fast and shaking.
"THEY'RE READING OUR MOVEMENTS!"
Arga's eyes narrowed.
"…they studied us."
One breath.
"…and built counters."
That truth hit harder than the attacks.
This wasn't random violence.
This was preparation.
Pak Rahmat crashed into the battlefield like a falling wall.
BOOOOM!
Three attackers were blown backward instantly.
The ground cracked beneath him.
"ENOUGH!"
For the first time—
the enemy line paused.
"Withdraw!" he shouted.
Nobody argued.
This wasn't defeat.
This was survival.
They moved.
Fast.
Clean.
Bleeding.
Outside the school gate—
everything slowed.
Smoke drifted behind them.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Reality returned all at once.
Bimo lowered Rani carefully to the ground.
"…hey."
No answer.
He shook harder.
"Hey!"
Nothing.
Sinta dropped beside her and checked her breathing.
Her face went pale.
"…she's alive."
A pause.
"…barely."
No one spoke.
Not Dika.
Not Tono.
Not even Lila.
Because everyone understood.
This wasn't just losing.
This was being outplayed.
Arga stood apart from them.
Still.
Silent.
Hands trembling slightly.
Not from fear.
From restraint.
Pak Rahmat stopped beside him.
"You encountered something new."
"That wasn't failure."
Arga shook his head.
Slowly.
"…it doesn't matter."
His eyes stayed on Rani.
"…she still fell."
Silence.
He opened his lunch box.
Light spilled into the dark.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Eight grains.
Brighter than ever.
Stronger than ever.
But heavier than ever.
This wasn't growth.
It was cost.
He closed the lid.
Softly.
Then looked back at the ruined school.
No anger.
No doubt.
No hesitation.
Only clarity.
Cold.
Merciless.
"…next time…"
The wind died.
Even the others looked at him.
A pause.
His voice came low.
Sharp enough to cut.
"…we don't retreat."
It wasn't determination anymore.
It wasn't courage.
It was a threat.
Far away—
inside a dark control room—
the man in the hat watched the footage of Rani falling.
He replayed it once.
Then smiled.
"…good."
He pressed another button.
Across the city—
new red signals began to appear.
One.
Five.
Ten.
More.
"…now break him completely."
Back at the roadside—
Arga looked at the night sky.
And for the first time—
the person staring back from inside him
felt dangerous.