The elevator did not go any farther down.
Baku stood there, staring at the open doors and the dark shaft beyond them.
The floor indicator above the frame was still lit, frozen between two numbers, as if the system itself had never decided which floor it had died on.
Baku placed one hand on his hip.
"Well. Stairs."
He looked at the emergency map beside the elevator.
Three more levels.
"My natural enemy."
No one answered.
For the moment, he still found that funny.
He adjusted his mask, tightened his grip on the short pickaxe, and went through the service door.
He had already descended a long way since Kana had sent him underground.
At first, the sounds of headquarters still reached him: alarms, announcements, hurried footsteps, orders carrying through the corridors. Even the impacts from battles on the upper floors sometimes traveled through the structure.
The farther down he went, the less remained.
Alarms still worked in some areas, though more faintly.
Emergency lighting had replaced most of the normal lights.
The walls changed too.
Fewer administrative doors.
More concrete.
Thick pipes.
Ventilation ducts.
Electrical rooms.
Old storage areas most of the students probably did not even know existed.
Baku went down the first flight of stairs without seeing anyone.
There was blood on the second landing.
Not much.
A trail of drops leading to the next level.
He crouched.
Touched one with two fingers.
Still wet.
"Really helps the atmosphere."
He kept going.
The communicator on his belt crackled.
Baku pulled it out.
"Baku to command."
Static.
"What a productive conversation."
He tapped the communicator against his palm.
"Baku to command. Moving into the lower technical sector. If anyone can hear me, I'd appreciate a reply before I retire."
Nothing.
He put it away.
That was not unexpected.
They had warned him that the signal became unreliable in the deeper sections.
Kana had also told him not to wander too far without reporting in.
As far as Baku was concerned, he had technically tried.
That was good enough.
He reached the bottom of the stairs.
The door was open.
And bent.
Baku stopped.
The metal had been crushed inward.
Not cut.
Not torn off.
Hit.
There was a large impact mark in the center of the door and several fractures along the frame.
Baku studied it for a few seconds.
Then rested the pickaxe against his shoulder.
"Well."
He went in.
The corridor on the other side was almost three meters wide.
No windows.
Only pipes, ducts, and white lights spaced along the ceiling.
Two flickered.
The third was broken.
Something moved at the far end.
Baku kept walking.
He did not speed up.
A figure emerged from a side entrance.
A remnant.
Tall, with legs that were too long and a torso that looked divided into overlapping plates.
Another appeared behind it.
Then a third.
Baku tilted his head.
"Three?"
A fourth crawled across the ceiling and dropped to the floor.
Baku looked up.
"Ah. Much better."
The first one attacked.
It crossed the distance with a speed that did not match its size and swung an arm toward Baku's head.
Baku lowered himself.
The limb passed over him.
The pickaxe came up.
Not like a blade.
Like a hammer.
The side of the metal struck the remnant in the abdomen.
At the same moment, Baku released mana.
A short impact.
Compressed.
There was no large explosion.
The air around them barely distorted.
But the remnant's torso caved inward.
The creature flew several meters and slammed into a pipe.
The second was already on him.
Baku pivoted on one foot.
He blocked a claw with the handle of the pickaxe.
The impact would have pushed most hunters backward.
Baku barely moved.
"That was rude."
The remnant tried to pull its arm back.
Baku pulled first.
Dragged the creature closer.
And headbutted it.
His mask struck its distorted face.
Before it could recover, Baku drove the pickaxe upward.
Another burst of mana.
The remnant lifted off the floor and slammed into the ceiling.
The third came from the side.
Baku could not fully turn in time.
The creature rammed into him.
This time, it moved him.
His boots slid almost a meter.
The fourth dropped from above.
Baku drove the pickaxe into the seam between two floor tiles.
Mana.
The floor cracked around the tip.
His body stopped.
The next impact came from above.
Baku absorbed it through his legs.
He did not fall.
He looked up.
"No."
He ripped the pickaxe free and smashed it into the creature's knee.
The joint gave way.
Baku stepped in before it finished falling.
One strike to the chest.
Then another.
The third creature attacked again.
Baku turned and took the impact on his shoulder.
His body tilted.
The remnant opened its mouth.
Baku jammed the handle of the pickaxe between its jaws.
"Not that either."
Mana surged through the weapon.
The creature's head jerked violently.
It dropped.
The last remnant tried to retreat.
Baku watched it.
The creature took two steps back.
Then charged him again.
Baku sighed.
"Well, I respect the consistency."
He let it come closer.
When the remnant raised both arms, Baku took one short step forward.
Too close.
The creature could not complete the motion.
The pickaxe struck the center of its torso.
This time, Baku did not send it flying.
He concentrated the entire discharge into the point of contact.
The body folded inward.
Its legs gave out.
Baku pulled the weapon free.
The remnant dropped to its knees.
Then face-first onto the floor.
The corridor became silent again.
Baku looked around.
Four bodies.
None of them moving.
He lifted the pickaxe and checked the edge.
"And here I thought I'd get bored."
He kept walking.
The next stretch had no enemies.
Baku liked that less.
First he found a security door torn completely from the wall.
Then a broken flare gun.
Farther ahead, a long weapon snapped in half.
There was blood on the floor.
Much more of it.
The tracks no longer formed a single line.
They crossed each other.
Stains marked the walls.
A handprint remained on the metal of a door.
Baku slowed down.
He reached an intersection.
A body lay to the right.
A hunter.
Baku approached.
He did not need to check for a pulse.
The man was face down, with an open wound across his back.
His weapon lay several meters away.
Baku stared for a few seconds.
Then continued.
Another body.
This one against a wall.
A woman.
Both hands were still closed around a short sword.
Farther ahead lay a dead remnant.
Then another hunter.
And another.
The corridor widened several meters ahead, just before a pair of double doors leading to another technical section.
That was where the main fight had happened.
A metal barricade had been bent inward.
Several ceiling panels had fallen.
The walls were covered in marks.
The hunters had fought.
That much was obvious.
They had killed too.
Baku counted three remnant corpses among the humans.
A fourth was partially embedded in a side door.
He kept looking.
Five dead hunters.
Maybe six.
A leg was visible beneath a collapsed structure.
Baku opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He closed it again.
He rested the pickaxe against his shoulder and walked between the bodies.
His pace had slowed.
He was not only watching where he stepped.
He looked at faces.
Uniforms.
Weapons.
Searching for movement.
A sound came from the right.
Very faint.
Baku stopped.
Waited.
Again.
A small knock.
Not from the corridor.
From underneath.
He turned toward a collapsed metal structure near the wall.
An arm protruded from beneath it.
Baku moved quickly.
"Hey."
No response.
He crouched.
Slipped his fingers under the edge.
"If you're alive, do me a favor and stay that way."
A faint sound.
Breathing.
Baku set the pickaxe down.
Grabbed the structure with both hands.
It was heavy.
Too heavy to lift comfortably with physical strength alone.
Mana gathered around his arms.
Baku strained.
The metal rose a few centimeters.
There was a young hunter underneath, probably just over twenty.
One leg was trapped.
Blood covered his forehead.
Baku adjusted his grip.
Lifted higher.
"Get it out."
The man barely reacted.
"Your leg. Move it."
That worked.
The hunter dragged himself.
His boot was caught.
Baku lifted a little more.
The structure creaked.
The leg came free.
"Good."
Baku shoved the metal aside.
It hit the floor with a crash.
The hunter tried to sit up.
Baku supported him by the shoulder.
"Slow."
"The others…"
Baku looked around.
He did not lie.
"Later."
The man followed his gaze.
He understood.
Baku checked the leg.
It did not look broken, but there was a deep cut.
He pulled an emergency bandage from the small compartment on his back.
"This is going to be tight."
"Do it."
Baku wrapped it around the wound.
The hunter clenched his teeth.
"What happened here?"
The man breathed several times before answering.
"They came through the south corridor."
"How many?"
"I don't know. Seven… eight."
"All of them did this?"
The hunter shook his head.
"No."
Baku looked up.
"No?"
"There was one that was different."
The man swallowed.
"The others fought normally."
Baku tightened the bandage.
"That sounds reassuring."
No answer.
Baku looked at him.
The hunter was staring at the wall.
"What was different?"
"The hits."
Baku frowned.
"What about them?"
The hunter closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"They came back."
Baku stopped moving.
"Explain."
"We hit him."
The man breathed with difficulty.
"Him. The walls. The floor. Then…"
He looked down the corridor.
"It came back."
"What did?"
"The impact."
Baku looked at the walls.
The marks.
The fractures.
Some were too far from where bodies lay.
Others were at strange angles.
"From where?"
"Anywhere."
Baku stayed silent.
The hunter continued.
"One of us hit a pillar, and then the wall behind us hit back."
"The wall hit you?"
"Yes."
"That's a very rude wall."
The hunter did not react.
Baku did not smile either.
"That remnant still down here?"
The man opened his eyes.
"Yes."
"You saw it leave?"
"No."
Baku looked toward the double doors.
"Then we don't know."
The hunter grabbed his arm.
"Don't go alone."
Baku looked down at the hand.
"I'm not alone."
He pointed at the wounded man.
"I've got you here telling me not to go."
The hunter tightened his grip.
"I'm serious."
The humor disappeared from Baku's voice.
"So am I."
He gently removed the hand.
"First I'm getting you out."
It took almost a full minute for the communicator to find a signal.
Baku moved slowly, with the wounded hunter's arm across his shoulders.
Every few meters, he looked back.
The corridor remained empty.
"Baku to command. Lower technical sector. I have one survivor. Repeat, one survivor."
Static.
They took a few more steps.
The device crackled.
An incomprehensible voice.
Baku stopped.
"Repeat."
Noise.
Then one word.
"…position…"
"Lower level, technical sector. South route compromised. I need medical support at Evacuation Junction Three."
More static.
"…received…"
Baku looked at the communicator.
"A miracle."
He put it away.
The injured hunter exhaled.
"Did they hear us?"
"Someone made a noise that sounded like 'received.'"
"That doesn't answer me."
"Now you know why I never work communications."
They kept moving.
At an intersection, they found two hunters.
One had a bandage around his head.
The other carried an unconscious woman on his back.
Both raised their weapons when they heard movement.
"Easy."
Baku stepped out first.
They lowered their weapons.
"Shishido."
"Nice welcome."
The bandaged man looked at the wounded hunter.
"Where did he come from?"
"Lower down."
Both expressions changed.
Baku transferred the survivor's arm to the first hunter.
"Take him up."
"And you?"
Baku picked up the pickaxe.
"I'm going back."
"Alone?"
Baku looked toward the dark corridor.
For a moment, it looked like he might say something.
The hunter waited.
No joke came.
"There's one down there."
The man understood he was not talking about a survivor.
"We can go with you."
Baku shook his head.
"You've got a wounded man. So does he."
He pointed at the unconscious woman.
"If you find medics, send them to the combat area too. There are bodies that need recovering."
The hunter lowered his gaze.
"How many?"
Baku took a second.
"Too many."
He turned away.
The survivor called after him.
"Shishido."
Baku looked over his shoulder.
"Don't hit the walls."
Baku stared at him.
"Good advice."
Then he went back underground.
The way back felt longer.
It was not.
Baku knew the distances.
He had counted them without realizing it.
Seventeen steps from the security door to the first intersection.
Twenty-four to the corridor with the broken weapon.
Thirty-one to the combat site.
Everything was the same.
Except for one thing.
Baku stopped before entering.
One of the bodies had shifted.
Only slightly.
One victim's hand was now closer to the wall.
It could have moved when Baku lifted the structure.
It could have shifted under its own weight.
Baku trusted neither explanation.
He raised the pickaxe.
Entered.
Nothing.
The emergency lighting flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Baku walked between the bodies.
He was no longer talking.
He reached the double doors.
They were closed.
They had not been before.
Baku looked at the mechanism.
No power.
Someone had pushed them shut manually.
He approached.
Did not touch them yet.
A metallic sound echoed from his left.
Baku turned.
Nothing.
Again.
This time from the right.
Clang.
A pipe.
Baku followed the sound with his eyes.
Silence.
Then a hit behind him.
He turned.
One of the metal floor plates was vibrating.
Baku lowered his center of gravity.
"I know you're there."
Nothing.
He waited.
His grip tightened.
A voice came from the other side of the doors.
"I know."
Baku did not answer.
The doors opened slowly.
Not by any mechanism.
Someone was pushing them from the other side.
A figure appeared.
Humanoid.
Thin.
Taller than Baku.
Its skin looked gray beneath the emergency lights.
Circular markings spread across its neck, arms, and part of its face in irregular layers, like ripples frozen onto skin.
It carried no weapon.
It did not seem to need one.
Baku watched it step out.
The remnant studied him too.
Its gaze dropped to the pickaxe.
Then moved across the bodies.
Baku followed its eyes.
"You do this?"
The remnant tilted its head slightly.
"They hit first."
Baku looked at the destroyed wall.
Then the bodies.
Then back at the remnant.
"That's a shitty answer."
The other did not react.
Baku took one step forward.
"You got a name?"
"Hibiki."
Baku spun the pickaxe once between his fingers.
"Baku."
"I know."
That caught his attention.
"Huh."
Hibiki raised one hand.
"You talk a lot."
Baku tightened his grip.
"Usually people tell me that after getting to know me."
The distance between them vanished.
Baku attacked.
Hibiki raised his forearm.
A mistake.
The pickaxe struck.
Mana followed.
Hibiki's arm buckled.
His body flew backward and slammed into the wall.
Concrete cracked.
Baku did not stop.
He advanced.
Hibiki barely avoided the second strike.
The pickaxe hit the wall.
A fracture opened in the concrete.
Hibiki tried to answer with a kick.
Baku blocked it.
Grabbed the leg.
Pulled.
Hibiki lost his balance.
Baku drove his shoulder into him.
Threw him to the floor.
The remnant rolled.
Baku raised the pickaxe.
Hibiki jumped backward before it came down.
Metal struck tile.
Mana.
The floor sank.
Hibiki landed several meters away.
Baku straightened.
"Expected more."
The wall behind him exploded.
Baku barely managed to turn.
An invisible impact hit his back.
His body flew forward.
He landed on one shoulder.
Rolled.
Got up almost immediately.
The pickaxe scraped against the floor.
Baku looked behind him.
The wall.
No one there.
Then back at Hibiki.
The remnant had not moved.
"That was new."
Hibiki did not answer.
Baku changed his grip.
Attacked again.
Faster this time.
Hibiki retreated.
Baku swung sideways.
Hibiki dodged.
The pickaxe struck a column.
Concrete shattered.
Baku used the momentum to turn.
His elbow struck Hibiki across the face.
Hibiki stepped back.
Baku advanced.
A punch.
Blocked.
A knee.
Hibiki managed to deflect it.
Baku smiled beneath the mask.
"There you are."
The column to his left vibrated.
Baku turned his head.
Too late.
The impact burst from the concrete.
Not as a visible wave.
As if the structure itself had suddenly returned the force it had absorbed.
Baku raised his arm.
The blow pushed him several meters.
This time he stayed on his feet.
Hibiki attacked.
Baku saw the fist coming.
Blocked it with the handle.
The second strike landed against his side.
Baku answered with a headbutt.
Hibiki backed away.
Baku drove the pickaxe into the floor.
Hibiki frowned.
Baku pulled on it.
Nothing.
The weapon stayed fixed.
Anchored through mana.
The wall behind him vibrated.
Another impact.
It hit Baku.
His body bent forward.
But he did not go flying.
His hand remained around the pickaxe.
His boots moved only a few centimeters.
Baku looked up.
Hibiki was watching him.
"Interesting."
Baku ripped the pickaxe free.
"Thanks."
He attacked again.
Hibiki moved toward a wall.
Baku stopped before striking it.
The remnant tilted its head.
Baku changed the motion at the last instant.
The tip of the pickaxe passed close to Hibiki's face without touching the wall.
Hibiki stepped back.
Baku did not follow.
He looked at the column he had hit earlier.
Then the wall.
Then the damaged floor.
For the first time since the fight began, he chose to stop.
Hibiki noticed.
"You figured it out."
Baku did not answer.
"Not all of it."
Silence.
Hibiki extended one hand to the side.
He touched nothing.
He did not need to.
A pipe vibrated.
Baku looked at it.
Then another farther away.
An impact came from the wall on his right.
Baku blocked.
Another came from below.
It lifted him off the floor.
He landed on one knee.
Before he could recover, a metal plate behind him released a third impact.
Baku turned.
It struck his shoulder.
His body hit a column.
Hibiki had still not come closer.
Baku breathed.
Slowly.
He looked around.
Right wall.
Floor.
Metal plate.
None of those places had been hit during the last few seconds.
But they had been hit before.
During the earlier battle.
Baku remembered the bodies.
The marks.
The survivor.
We hit it… and then it came back.
Hibiki spoke.
"This place keeps a lot of things."
Baku raised his head.
"You talk a lot too. Trying to make me feel comfortable?"
Hibiki watched him.
"Only when necessary."
Baku pushed himself away from the column.
His shoulder hurt.
Nothing broken.
Not yet.
Hibiki raised one hand.
One of the walls vibrated again.
"Keep going."
Baku did not move.
"The harder you hit…"
A second vibration traveled through the floor.
Then a third.
The lights trembled.
"…the harder this place answers."
Baku looked at the pickaxe.
Small pieces of concrete still clung to the metal.
He looked at the wall where he had thrown Hibiki at the beginning.
The column.
The floor.
Every surface he had struck himself.
And every one the other hunters had attacked before they died.
The entire underground level began to look different.
It was no longer a corridor.
It was a loaded weapon.
Hibiki took one step.
"Your strength is useful."
Baku slowly raised his gaze.
"For you?"
"Also."
Baku said nothing.
Hibiki seemed to wait for some kind of remark.
None came.
Baku straightened.
Until then, he had fought with relaxed shoulders.
The pickaxe turning between his fingers.
His body loose.
As if combat was something he could handle while continuing a conversation.
That disappeared.
He tightened his grip.
Once.
His eyes moved across the floor.
The walls.
The pipes.
The fractures.
Then returned to Hibiki.
He was not smiling.
Hibiki noticed.
"What's wrong?"
Baku remained silent.
The wall behind him vibrated.
The next impact carried enough force to throw a man several meters.
Baku lowered the pickaxe.
The tip struck the floor.
Mana flowed into it.
Concrete cracked around the metal.
The impact hit him.
His coat snapped in the force.
His legs absorbed the blow.
The muscles in his arm tightened around the handle.
The pickaxe did not move.
Neither did Baku.
The vibration ended.
For a moment, the only sound left in the corridor was water dripping from a pipe somewhere nearby.
Baku ripped the weapon free from the floor.
Raised his head.
And walked forward.
Without saying a single word.