"Hey, look, could that sussy baka be him?"
A male student pointed at the opposite corridor, where Mr. A was walking alone. Everyone else was evacuating in a rush, but he moved at a slow, casual pace. It made him stand out like hell.
"He's trying to find Shinichi… no, he's trying to find me. The crowd is interfering, so he can't pinpoint my exact location."
"What happens if he finds us?" Shinichi asked Migi under his breath.
Migi didn't hesitate. "He came with the intent to kill. He will attack you."
"Then what do we do?"
"Blend into the crowd. When the time comes, he will attack everyone indiscriminately. The moment he does, I will pierce his heart. It's simple, but the success rate is higher."
Migi laid out the most efficient plan without a shred of hesitation.
Shinichi couldn't accept it.
There was no way he could win by sacrificing innocent people.
"So to you, all my classmates are just meat shields." Shinichi clenched his right hand, disappointment clear on his face. "I almost forgot what you really are."
Without another word, he shoved his way through the crowd and sprinted toward a quieter area.
At the same time, Ivan noticed Shinichi's strange behavior. Watching him run off, Ivan smirked.
"Trying to play bait and lure the parasite away? Fuck, what a nice guy. Fine… for the sake of that shape-shifting trick of yours, I'll help you out a bit."
Ivan slipped after him without a sound.
...
On the way, Shinichi ran into Satomi Murano. But there was no time. He kept heading upstairs.
She grabbed his arm, thinking he'd forgotten something. "Did you leave something behind? I'll go with you."
Shinichi yanked his arm free and snapped, "Don't come near me. Stay away from me!"
Satomi froze on the spot.
A second later, Shinichi realized how bad that sounded. He forced out a stiff smile. "S-sorry. Just… get out of here, okay?"
He rushed off again, leaving her standing there, confused and worried.
Ivan showed up behind her, grinning. "He didn't mean it. He's got a bit of trouble right now. You should get out of here. I'll go check on him."
It was almost ridiculous how far Shinichi pushed himself. He made it all the way to the rooftop in one go before finally stopping, gasping for air.
Migi couldn't understand it. "What's wrong, Shinichi? Are you dissatisfied with my plan?"
"No shit I am. How many people do you want to see die?"
"But if it's to preserve your own life, sacrificing others is the logical choice for an animal, isn't it? Ah, right, I almost forgot. Humans are a species that commits suicide. So tell me, Shinichi, are you attempting that right now?"
Shinichi was completely done with Migi. "Your Japanese is pretty good. Next time, don't speak."
He walked into a nearby classroom and started dragging desks around, planning to block off both ends of the corridor. He wanted to create a choke point, something like being surrounded by a crowd without actually using people as shields.
"Need a hand?"
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Shinichi turned and saw Ivan.
"What are you doing here?"
Ivan shoved a desk into place while answering casually, "Saw some idiot trying to take everything on alone, so I followed him. Figured I'd watch the show."
"Thank you, Ivan." Shinichi's voice turned serious.
Migi popped out from Shinichi's hand, clearly puzzled. "You intend to help Shinichi, yet you claim you are here merely to watch. Humans are truly strange creatures."
"But this improves our chances. Three against one now."
Migi sliced off a chair leg and shoved it into Shinichi's left hand. "We'll fight together."
"A is three meters away."
"Three meters?" Shinichi looked down the corridor. Nothing.
"Below."
Shinichi and Ivan both looked at the floor.
Suddenly!
Boom!
Two tentacles shot up from below, smashing through the window and hooking onto the frame. Using the momentum, Mr. A launched himself straight into the corridor, landing right in front of them.
The sudden move shattered Shinichi's setup instantly.
"Trying to block my path? Looks like you just trapped yourselves instead."
Mr. A's head split open along both sides. From the cracks, tentacles twisted and writhed, reshaping as they moved. His mouth stretched wide, packed with sharp teeth.
"And I'm curious about your taste."
His gaze locked onto Ivan.
Ivan let out a cold laugh. "You sure I'm not one of you?"
"A defective kind like you has no reason to exist."
The tips of Mr. A's tentacles sharpened into blades and slashed forward in an instant.
Splatter.
Blood sprayed across the corridor.
Pain hit Ivan's chest, and he instinctively looked down. His intact school uniform had been shredded into pieces. Blood poured out of multiple cuts, running down his body.
"Fast!"
Both Ivan and Shinichi said it at the same time.
Ivan hadn't even seen the attack coming before he was already hit. Still, injuries like this weren't fatal for him.
"Guess you're weaker than I thought. Just pretending before, huh? You even fooled Ryoko Tamiya. Pathetic."
Mr. A's voice was cold.
"Ivan, are you okay?" Shinichi looked at him, worry written all over his face.
"I'm fine. Not dying just yet… but yeah, this bastard's strong."
Ivan's face had gone pale from blood loss, his expression darkening. He took a few deep breaths, forcing his mind to steady.
Then he spoke, trying to bait something out of him.
"You know, another parasite managed to hurt me before. Wanna guess how that turned out?"
Ivan raised a hand and wiped across his wounds. The cuts began sealing up at a visible speed, flesh knitting back together right in front of them.
"In the end, I chopped his head off, poured gasoline over him, and boom. Burned the corpse to ash."
With a flick of his wrist, the black cloth wrapped around the blade fell away.
"Now die."
Mr. A didn't waste time responding. He attacked again immediately.
This time, only two tentacles split from his head, but their speed was insane. At least five times faster than the other parasites, maybe more.
"I'll hold him off. You two attack."
At that speed, only Migi could barely keep up. And there were two of them.
Clang!
Ivan raised his sword to block in front of his chest. The strike was stopped, but the blade snapped clean in half at the same time.
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69