Tatsuki flew directly over the schoolyard, where a dense mass of corpses crowded below.
"Hold on tight," he warned.
Without further ado, Tatsuki's body plummeted rapidly toward the ground.
Boom!!!
The earth quaked violently.
Dust erupted into the air as the impact shook the entire school.
Tatsuki landed gracefully, channeling all the force of the descent into the ground using his Vector Manipulation.
The ground shattered beneath him, sending shockwaves outward.
All the surrounding corpses were crushed instantly.
When the dust cleared, Tatsuki and Exusiai stood unharmed in the center of the destruction.
"What… was that?"
Many in the school noticed the commotion on the field.
Saeko Busujima, who was leading a small group of survivors while evading corpses, also heard the impact.
She gripped a bloodstained katana, its blade sharp and deadly.
Four others followed her, each wielding makeshift weapons.
"What happened on the field? An earthquake?" questioned Saya Takagi, a pink-haired girl adjusting her glasses.
Shizuka Marikawa, a well-endowed, blonde school nurse with a perpetually dazed expression, tilted her head and tapped her chin.
"If it were an earthquake, wouldn't it last longer?"
Rei Miyamoto, an orange-haired girl at the back, appeared distracted, her mental state unstable.
While the group speculated about the cause of the disturbance, a loud voice boomed from the direction of the field.
"Saeko Busujima! Exusiai and I are waiting for you on the field!"
"Huh?!"
All three turned to Saeko, seeking an explanation.
Someone was calling for her?
And with such an earth-shaking entrance?
"Aren't they worried about attracting more corpses with all that noise? Are they insane?" Saya muttered.
Yet Saeko's crimson-tinted eyes gleamed, and a beautiful smile graced her lips.
"I'm going to the field," she declared.
With that, she swiftly dispatched a nearby corpse with a single slash and altered her path toward the field.
The remaining three exchanged nervous glances.
Whoever caused that commotion was bound to draw a horde of corpses.
Wasn't heading there suicide?
After some hesitation, Saya bit her lip and clenched her fists.
"To hell with it! Without Saeko-senpai, I'd be dead already. I'm going too!"
Her determination spurred the other two into action, and they quickly followed.
…
"Why did you yell so loud? My ears are ringing!"
Still in Tatsuki's arms, Exusiai rubbed her ears with a pouty expression.
"Haha, didn't I warn you? Come on, hop down."
Tatsuki chuckled.
It was just a simple use of Vector Manipulation to amplify his voice.
After lowering Exusiai gently to the ground, he looked toward the direction Saeko was expected to arrive.
The area was quickly surrounded by a new wave of corpses.
"Heh, corpses, huh? Let me show you my power! Exusiai in action!"
Exusiai pulled out her dual hand cannons and unleashed a barrage of bullets.
Each shot was precise.
Every bullet hit its mark.
Headshots, one after another, killing the zombies instantly.
Seeing she could handle one side on her own, Tatsuki focused on clearing the other.
"Palm Lightning!"
He unleashed black lightning from his palm, obliterating an entire group of corpses with a single blast.
Watching this, Exusiai pouted.
"Not only can you manipulate vectors, but you can also shoot lightning? That's so unfair!"
"Stay focused," Tatsuki reminded her.
He raised his hand, creating a powerful gust of wind that blew away a corpse sneaking up on Exusiai.
"Oh! Yeah, I shouldn't let my guard down. Overload mode! Barrage incoming!"
…
"These damn corpses!"
Saya Takagi and the others followed Saeko Busujima, fighting their way through the swarm of undead.
They ran with all their might, getting closer to the field with every step.
But Saya was starting to regret it—the noise had drawn even more corpses toward their destination.
Any further forward, and they'd lose the chance to retreat.
Suddenly, Saeko halted.
She stood frozen, staring ahead.
"What's wrong?"
The others hurried up to her, only to stop in their tracks as well.
The scene on the field left them speechless.
A massive, fractured ring had been carved into the ground, surrounded by piles of mangled corpses.
At the center of the ring, a man and a woman were engaged in a deadly dance of destruction.
The way they killed was vastly different.
The red-haired woman, her halo glowing above her head and radiant wings extended behind her, floated amidst a swarm of hovering firearms, firing waves of energy bullets that mowed down the corpses.
The black-haired man stood firm, black lightning constantly erupting from his palm, annihilating the undead in waves.
"Are they angels?" Shizuka Marikawa gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
"They look more like superpowered individuals," Saya analyzed after overcoming her initial surprise.
She turned to Saeko. "Saeko-senpai, are they your friends?"
"Friends… yes, they are," Saeko replied with a calm but impressed tone.
Although she was also amazed by Tatsuki and Exusiai's powers, her composure remained intact.
Saeko shouted loudly, "Tatsuki-kun, Exusiai, I'm here!"
Hearing her voice, the pair glanced in her direction.
"Got it. We're coming to you. Exusiai, stick with me," Tatsuki instructed.
"Northern Abyss Pool!"
Tatsuki activated the Lightning Dharma Domain, unleashing a field of black liquid that spread across the ground.
It indiscriminately attacked any corpses that came near, combining black lightning and life force absorption in a deadly combination.
Without slowing, Tatsuki and Exusiai charged through the horde of corpses, reaching Saeko's side effortlessly.