Zero took a step into the room with the students, only for something to slam against his temple. Zero fell to the ground as all thoughts eluded his mind. Zero's body curled in on itself due to instincts, however his brain was still completely blank. Zero's mind suddenly came to as pain ripped throughout his spine.
Zero's mind came back to him and he willed his fingers to shoot the beam out of his fingers, only for the beating to continue and for him to not hear anything happening. 'Window, assess my wounds.' Zero was a bit worried as he could feel the pain register, but he couldn't seem to move move his body.
-Notice-
Host's skeletal structure has been damaged. Host's body has been disconnected from the Host's mind.
'Paralyses?' Zero didn't know how much time had passed, but he was still impressed that they had done that much damage in the amount of time they were given. Something slammed into Zero's head just as he heard what he thought was Tyler's voice, his vision going black.
Zero opened his eyes wide, finding he was looking up at Tyler, who was staring down at him from above. "You owe me 1,000 souls." Zero looked at Tyler for a moment, before a smile appeared on both of their faces. Zero sat up and quickly looked around the area, finding he was sitting in the room he had entered before. The first thing he noticed was that three large men were creating a wall between Zero and the large group of students.
"They nearly beat you to death, even severing your spine. If Jacobi hadn't arrived in time to break them up, they would have killed you for sure. You know, for a Host with an offensive attack, you nearly died to Ants." Zero looked at Tyler. "Ants?" Tyler reached out his hand and helped Zero to his feet as he spoke. "Its what we call humans that are not Hosts." Zero kept his silence even though on one hand he found the name to be conceited, while on the other hand he could understand the term as he thought of them as simple souls.
Zero looked at the 'Ants' before turning towards Tyler and speaking. "What are you going to do to them?" Tyler looked at Zero with confusion before speaking. "They attacked you, and there for they are yours to do with." Zero couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, before walking past the three large figures and looking at the group of frighted students, his focus being drawn to the angered looking Jackson.
"I will kill 12 of you. That is a quarter of all of you. Know that I will first target those that beat me moments before. If you wish to have a higher chance of survival, then I suggest you give me those that attacked me." There was a moment of shock, before someone from the crowd shoved Jessica out of the group. As she gained her footing, she turned back towards the group with a face that promised pain. "Whoever did that is as good as de-" Zero's hand whipped out, a Mana Whip slashing Jessica into two before disappearing.
"11 left. Who is next." One by one, people were shoved forward and Zero killed each of them. As his whips became duller and duller, he started experimenting, finding he could wrap the whip around something before pulling back and crushing it. "One remaining. This last one will be special. If one of the ones that shoved the others out steps forwards and offers themself to me, I will spare all others. However if they don't step forward of there own volition, then I will repeat the process."
Zero watched as multiple people continued to stair at the 11 who had shoved the others. After another minute had gone by, Zero sighed. "Very well, then we will start again. 12 must die before this ends." Zero watched as no-one pushed anyone out for a full two minutes. Zero sighed before speaking. "If no-one is either pushed, or steps forwards to die, then I will kill all of you one by one."
After only a second this time, someone was shoved forward once more. Once more Zero killed 11 before asking the question from before. Once more no-one offered themselves up, before someone from the back let out a sigh and stepped out. Zero instantly recognized the man as his home room teacher. Zero narrowed his eyes as the older man stepped forward. "Zero, I know this isn't you. I don't know what Tyler has done to you, but I know you can find it in your heart to still your hand."
Zero's mind was pulled back to every time the homeroom teacher had seen Jackson and his goons beating him up, only for him to ignore them. Zero willed the emotions to die down, as they would only complicate things. "Are you offering yourself as the 12th?" The man flinched back before trying to take a step back into the group of people, only to find that everyone behind him was blocking his retreat.
Zero walked forward, grabbing a pencil that was laying on the ground as he did. When he arrived within five feet of the teacher, he lunged forward. The teacher only had enough time to turn around as Zero rammed the pencil into his left eye socket. The teacher fell backwards due to the momentum of Zero, Zero felling onto of him. Zero shoved his hands forward, the pencil sliding deeper into his skull before his body went motionless.
Zero got to his feet, grabbing the singular dark soul that floated in the air as he looked at the group of people who were looking at him with horror. Zero turned and walked back towards his position from before. "Now that that is taken care of. If one of the people that shoved the 22 out doesn't offer themselves up, the whole process will start again." The group took a second to register his words, before someone in the middle shouted.
"You killed your 12th!" Zero laughed as he shook his head. "He wasn't one of the people that shoved others though, I killed him because he interrupted what was happening, sort of similar to what you are currently doing."