"I can sense him," the monster growled, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light.
"Who are you guys?" A man landed with a thud atop the glass dome. He was a teacher, his presence commanding immediate attention. Many others followed suit, descending from the sky and surrounding the monstrous entity.
"We are the Quons. This is our Master," Kyousuke announced, "He is here to find our son, Kazami Quon."
The principal, a tall man with a stern expression, let out a mocking laugh. "Really? Wrecking the school, threatening innocent lives, and causing chaos all for your son Kazami? Mr. Jona, get the injured kids out and evacuate the rest."
"Alright." Mr. Jona focused intently, drawing water from the surroundings and the trees. He formed a powerful wave and rode it swiftly towards the forest, the water swirling around him like a protective shield.
However, the beast had other plans. It stomped its massive hoove, sending shockwaves through the ground. The earth began to tremble uncontrollably, and large rock slabs rose, creating barriers. More slabs pushed in from between, forming segmented areas that trapped anyone trying to escape.
"Kinetic Fortress," the monster declared, its voice echoing menacingly.
The ground rumbled violently, and the air was thick with dust and debris. The barriers loomed high, casting long shadows over the terrified students and teachers. The principal glared at the monster, his fists clenched. "You're not going to get away with this," he spat, his voice filled with defiance.
. . .
"EMERGENCY MOVE-OUT REPORT! SIR!" The urgent shout pierced through the din of blaring alarms.
"Proceed", Tendo's voice was steady and confident.
"Yes, sir. Everyone has been notified and is on standby, ready for deployment at your command."
"Good. Sortie immediately." He smirked
. . .
'Wha…' I muttered as a massive wall suddenly loomed before us, blocking our path. We turned frantically to the side, but another wall mirrored our movements, crashing through the ceilings with utter disregard for the structures around it. Panic surged as we realized we were completely shut in.
DOMPH A dull, resonant sound followed by a violent shake suggested we were moving.
"What is happening?" I demanded, my voice trembling with fear.
"Haha… HAHAH… IT'S OVER!… I'm dead…" Kazami's laughter was manic, his eyes wild with despair.
'Huh? Why?' I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. Kazami's reaction filled me with dread.
"This is all my fault… all of it!" Kazami smacked his palm against his forehead with a resounding slap, his face contorted in anguish.
"It's fine; no one is blaming you. Just tell us what's going on," Yatagarasu said, his voice steady yet laced with urgency. As your captain, I have the right to know, hehe." His attempt at humour fell flat, and tension suffocated the room.
"Ha… this is the kinetic fortress… The Quon's final Territorial Move." Kazami's words hung heavy in the air, laden with ominous significance.
"Then what is that beast?" Jin asked, his voice barely a whisper as fear clawed at his throat.
"That… I must begin from long ago," Kazami began, his voice trembling, a stark contrast to his stoic nature not too long ago.
(Ten Years Ago)
"Is this how we'll get an even stronger beast we can control?!?" The scientist's voice dripped with manic excitement.
"Haha, of course… run a few more simulations!" came the gleeful reply.
The scene shifted to a younger Kazami, his eyes filled with innocent concern as he approached a strange creature no taller than a flower. It had the body of a deer but was the size of a small dog, its brown fur matted with dirt, drugs, and blood from countless experiments.
"Are you okay?" Young Kazami asked softly, his heart aching at the sight. The creature turned its human face towards him, but only garbled sounds escaped its mouth, unable to form coherent speech. Kazami's breath hitched—he recognized his brother's face.
His brother had been a prodigy, possessing the talent and mana pool to rule over the Quon family. But cancer had cut his life short. Their father, desperate to save him, had attempted to fuse the dying boy with a mana creature.
"It's okay! I'll always be here for you!" Kazami promised, trying to be the supportive brother he had always wanted to be. The human face twisted into a grotesque semblance of a smile, but Kazami knew his positivity couldn't erase the creature's suffering. His brother's soul was no longer there; the beast was a new, tormented entity.
"UAGHHH!" The creature's agonized cry echoed in the sterile lab.
"I understand!… I'll… I'll try breaking you out!" Kazami vowed, determination hardening his voice as he glanced around furtively. "Tonight!" But their escape attempt failed. They were caught, and the experiments grew more brutal. The father's obsession with replicating his late son's monstrous mana pool and affection drove him to madness, mirroring the creature's descent into insanity from years of relentless pain.
. . .
"Until not too long ago… it snapped."
"What?"
Kazami's voice was tense. "My father succeeded. That was the problem. He created a creature with an inexhaustible mana pool… but underestimated its power. It didn't just grow stronger—it took over their minds."
'That makes no sense,' I thought, my confusion giving way to dread.
"I know… it sounds insane," Kazami continued a haunted look in his eyes. "But I think it's using the earthen mana within them to control them completely. It's not just influencing their thoughts—it's commandeering their every movement. With its perfect control, built over countless years… it's enacting its revenge. I came here, hoping to escape death, but now… he's here to take me too before he finishes off everyone else."
'…' We all sat in tense silence. The only sounds were the occasional faint screams of the beast and the distant, ominous rumbling of the earth shifting and crashing against itself.
"So it's here for you?" Yatagarasu muttered.
"Yes," Kazami replied, leaning back against the rough wall. His silhouette was barely visible in the dim light. I decided we needed more illumination and snapped my fingers, sending a ball of flame to the ceiling and casting a flickering glow over the room.
"Thanks," Jin said, his voice a bit steadier now.
BOOM
The room shuddered violently. We grabbed onto the walls or braced ourselves on the ground, trying to stay upright. One of the walls began to lift, revealing a shadowy figure standing just beyond.
"There you are, Kazami…"
Kazami stepped forward, his face a mix of fear and defiance. "Cousin Jihyo, you don't have to do this!"
Jihyo remained silent, his eyes cold and unyielding.
"Yonu, light up the area," Yatagarasu ordered, stepping forward.
Honestly, I doubted I could do anything at this rate. The side effects from my last use of the mana orb had left me utterly exhausted. I chuckled weakly. "I'm pretty much spent..."
Gathering what little strength I had left, I created a ball of fire and shot it up to the ceiling, where it cast a dim light over the room. I slumped against the back wall, focusing on collecting the residual mana into a new orb.
From my vantage point, I watched as the three strongest people in the school prepared to face an adult from the Big Four. The tension in the air was palpable, the impending battle promising to be fierce and unforgiving.
"Oi, Jin... I'm running low on mana. I can't bring out my territory," Yatagarasu whispered, his voice tight with strain. The mid-twenties woman approaching them seemed oblivious to the imminent confrontation.
"No problem... Territory," Jin replied, his voice steady.
Just then, the woman's foot came down with a forceful step. Instantly, spikes erupted from all sides of the room, their razor-sharp points glinting menacingly in the dim light.
"NOPE!" Kazami roared, stomping his foot and anchoring himself like an unmovable pillar. The spikes froze mid-extension, quivering but held at bay.
"Vacuum of the void." The woman's voice was cold as she clasped her fists together. The air in the room vanished, leaving a suffocating void. But Jin's territory had already enveloped them, an impenetrable barrier where mana swirled in an eternal loop, sealing them from any external forces.
The woman gasped, her eyes widening in panic as she struggled for breath. Her desperation fueled a reckless charge towards them, fists swinging with deadly intent. Yatagarasu met her head-on, her movements a blur of precision and skill. Each punch was deftly parried, and each kick deflected with calculated efficiency.
Despite her fury, the woman's strength waned with every failed strike, her movements growing sluggish. Yatagarasu's final blow sent her sprawling, her body hitting the ground with a heavy thud. She lay there, gasping for the air that would never come, until her struggles ceased, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.
The territory subsides, drawing us closer to the girl. She isn't conventionally beautiful, but her average-thickness lips and small face give her an intriguing allure. Her muscles are impressive, perhaps even larger than mine, with prominently visible veins—she must be under the beast's control. As we continued to observe her, the wall separating the two rooms began to rise again.
We exchanged glances of urgency and bolted towards the room, leaving the collapsed girl behind. Kazami glanced back, a fleeting expression of regret crossing his face, wishing he could have saved her—but clearly, now is not the time.
The wall was sealed with a resounding thud, followed by a loud CRANK that jolted us, almost causing us to lose our balance. We realized we were moving again.
"I can't do that again," Jin muttered, sinking to the ground and leaning against the wall. "My mana pool won't make it."
"Let's recuperate for now... and hope the next one doesn't come soon…" Jin sighed, his exhaustion evident.
As he spoke, the scene zoomed out, revealing the bigger picture. Dozens—no, hundreds—of rooms of similar size were scattered across the vast area that was once the school. Busted walls and broken furniture now littered the landscape, transforming it into a chaotic maze. The rooms spanned the school's width, depth, and height, with countless rooms in motion at any given moment.
At the heart of this labyrinth, the mastermind—the beast himself—waited. Its eyes gleamed with anticipation as the family members scoured the maze, searching for the person he had eagerly awaited.
. . .
"Are you guys okay?" Kana asked as she approached Yunosuke and Fuji, who were trapped with her.
Yunosuke smiled weakly. "No problem. I think Fuji's fine, too." As he slowly got up.
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm Fuji Kama, by the way," Fuji said, extending his hand for a handshake.
"I'm Hino Kana," she replied, shaking his hand in the dimly lit room, illuminated only by the fire flickering on the ceiling. Everyone's mana reserves were depleted, preventing them from performing even the simplest tasks. While Fuji had an orb of mana, Yunosuke lacked the control to bring an orb with him, so he had none.
An awkward silence set in as the three of them lay down against the cold, hard floor, closing their eyes and succumbing to the mana exhaustion that had overtaken them.
"How is Yonu?" Kana suddenly asked, breaking the silence. "How did he improve so much over that short period when he went against me? Well, not improve per se, considering he was already much better than me in control…"
"Haha... well," Yunosuke began, "he compressed his excess daily mana into an orb he carries around. The orb he had was supercharged with so much fire mana that it started flaming."
"Ah, that's how he solved the mana problem. But the—"
"He ate the orb. Haha!" Fuji interjected. "My man legitimately ate a flaming mana orb. It probably caused mana overload, but even better… due to the properties of the fire mana orb, it caused his blood vessels to expand and his muscles to heat up and expand, resulting in stronger reactions. It's a fire manacian thing, haha. If I ate that orb, I'd probably get air pockets in my blood vessels and die." He shrugged with a smirk.
"Mana orb… damn, he is a genius—" Kana started, but suddenly the room stopped moving. They all sat up, exchanging uneasy glances and looking around the dimly lit space.
"What's happening?" Yunosuke asked, his voice tense.
"I have no clue," Fuji replied, scanning the room.
Suddenly, a wall began to descend, revealing another room beyond. As the wall lowered further, they saw a body flying towards them.
"ARGH!" Kana groaned as the body slammed into her, pinning her against the wall. She pushed the body aside with a grunt, rubbing her head from the impact.
As she gradually opened her eyes, she turned to see a figure in the dim light. The man stood back up, revealing his face.
"Mr. Jona!" she exclaimed.
"Don't talk. We need to defeat this person first," Mr. Jona said, his tone urgent.
"Interesting," Fuji murmured, closing his eyes. He raised his fingers slightly, summoning the orb before him. He grabbed it and began to absorb its energy.
But a powerful force sent him flying into the wall before he could react.
"Fuji!" Yunosuke yelled, rushing over to help. He supported Fuji and guided him to a corner, both bracing for the next move.
The tension in the room was palpable, the dim light casting long shadows as they prepared for the next assault.
###
Sir Hoaqin Tendo --- Minister of Beast Subjugation (MOBS), Earth Manacian
Mr Jonai Shota --- School Doctor , Water Manacian