On University Avenue, the group of civilians led by Tahiko walked hopefully, as the military bases were only a few kilometers away. However, Tahiko was agitated, irritated, and he showed it openly.
"Where are they? Where are they?" His anger was due to the absence of Gyakus near the avenue; Tahiko really wanted to beat a creature to a pulp.
To his unfortunate surprise, what caught his attention was not the presence of a Gyaku but a notification of a message from Saik on his communication headset.
Primm!
"What is it, Saik? What happened?"
"What? You're not feeling this?" Saik was surprised. He was walking down the destroyed Central Avenue but felt something that Tahiko apparently did not.
At that moment, Tahiko's attention was inexplicably drawn to something invisible that seemed to be flying.
"Tahiko? Are you listening to me?"
"I know what you want to say," Tahiko replied, with a nervous look and an expression of shock.
"Tahiko, I'm sure this isn't normal. I'm feeling a massive energy, but it's extremely contained."
On high alert, Tahiko gestured for the people to stop walking and began to survey the area. He looked at the buildings, alleys, and vehicles on the avenue.
"There's another carrier in the area, and apparently, they're not just anyone," Tahiko stated, looking around the highway.
On Central Avenue, Saik looked at his left hand and tried to release internal energy but noticed that it was being suppressed. What was causing this?
A carrier above Saik and Tahiko was in the same region, and this was concerning.
Suddenly, Tahiko heard a child's scream on University Avenue. Following the sound of the boy's voice, he found the child inside an abandoned, dirty, wheel-less car.
"Calm down, calm down. I found you," Tahiko said, placing his hands on the passenger window, trying to calm the desperate, tearful boy. It was strange to see Tahiko behaving this way.
The third carrier in this evacuation plan was advancing on Port Avenue and seemed undisturbed; Koji did not want to delay and moved quickly with his group.
"Are we close?" asked a pregnant woman, holding a rosary near her mouth, her anxious expression evident.
"We are," a firm response was enough to keep the confidence high. Koji kept his eyes forward and occasionally checked the interiors of establishments for survivors.
"It seems like the evacuation worked to some extent. There's no one in the houses."
Next to Koji, Spherea looked at the woman and, with a suppressed laugh, whispered to him, "Don't you find this funny? They seem so desperate they'd even struggle to die."
"If at least they were crazy and smiling, maybe it would be funny."
Things were too calm, strange...
A sudden tremor scared the people, and the shaking of the buildings was noticeable. Koji quickly signaled, shouting to everyone, "Get close! Gather! Quickly!"
He yelled for the group to come together, trying to maintain order, instructing everyone to stay calm.
"Stay calm! Calm down!"
Less than a minute passed before the ground started shaking violently again, with frightening cracks appearing on the avenue. The source of this emerged twenty meters from Koji—a giant, dark-colored lizard, 15 meters long, appeared, its intimidating appearance heightening the civilians' fear.
"Stay behind me! Don't run!" Koji shouted firmly, with an angry look and a masked confidence.
But the young carrier did not know that not everything was under his control, much less the individual decisions of others. Two people, in a panic, ran towards nearby houses, a terrible choice.
"No! No! No!" Koji shouted, but it was useless.
The lizard attacked brutally, devouring the bodies as if it had not eaten in months and tearing them apart with its claws. Koji, struggling to suppress his apathy in this scene, tried to react quickly.
With a shout of determination and rage on his face, he ran towards the Gyaku. However, before he could reach it, the monster let out a high-pitched roar directly at Koji. The wind force created by the roar pushed Koji back, preventing his advance.
"You really thought that would work?" Spherea commented, who caught Koji and stopped him from being pushed further.
Suddenly, Spherea disappeared, diverting Koji's attention. The agile and precise lizard revealed its four poisonous tongues, which extended rapidly like serpents hunting their prey.
The tongues wrapped around Koji, trapping him tightly.
"Damn. If I can't win, I can try to distract it. That's all I can do," Koji thought, moving uncomfortably to free himself from the tongues.
Koji was also angry with Spherea. "That traitorous bastard. Disappearing at a time like this."
The monster lifted Koji and hurled him with force into the fourth floor of a six-story commercial building.
Aaaah! Aaaah!
Koji was thrown by the Gyaku against the fourth floor of the building, crashing through the wall. Luckily, the spheres appeared at the exact moment to cushion the impact. With the shock softened inside the building, the spheres absorbed all the force of the impact, allowing Koji to come out unscathed.
Meanwhile, the creature was rampaging, crushing, biting, and slashing several civilians trying to run into alleys or houses. Koji stood up slowly, the spheres floating around him.
Koji touched his left ear and noticed his communication headset was gone. "It must have come off in the impact."
He approached the hole in the building caused by his body's impact and observed a chaotic scene on the avenue, but he noticed something peculiar.
"That's strange..."
Curiously, Koji realized that the spheres caused significant discomfort to the lizard. The Gyaku stopped killing people and began to have a desperate reaction, shaking its head back and forth and letting out agonizing roars.
"This reaction is repulsive. The spheres bother it, perhaps provoking a sensitivity weakness," Koji was immensely surprised; this had never crossed his mind before, and his eyes shone at this moment.
With this new discovery, Koji saw a unique opportunity. The Gyaku was completely disoriented, its movements uncoordinated, and its fury directed solely at the discomfort caused by the spheres.
Now was the time to act. He jumped from the building with the spheres moving under his feet, creating a platform that kept him in the air. With this excellent base, Koji flew towards the creature, which was shaking its head madly.
Koji felt ready to finish off the lizard.