When everyone was looking at each other, not knowing what to do, the tremor came again, and it was noticeably more violent than before.
"Let's go see what's going on first!" A strange sense of panic rose inside Shu, but he forced himself to calm down and walked towards the exit of the cafeteria.
Most people in the cafeteria were confused and at a loss due to the tremor and the sudden announcement. However, because there were so few people, even if some were shouting, the cafeteria did not descend into chaos.
But just as Shu and the others left the cafeteria, someone came running past them in panic.
"Run!!" Seeing the crowd at the entrance of the cafeteria, the person didn't stop, but shouted in a panicked voice.
"A monster is charging towards us!!"
"Monster?" Kiana said, puzzled, watching the person running away. "What monster? Those zombies?"
Bronya and Mei were also confused.
Only Shu's mind exploded in an instant.
Monster? What monster? What could be here?
According to Kiana, the apocalypse started a month ago. Most of the people here were refugees, so they had to have seen zombies along the way. It was impossible for them to be so shaken by a single zombie.
Combined with the ground shaking and Theresa's urgent broadcast… the real answer is obvious.
It's a Honkai Beast from the direction of the train station!!
Damn it, they are like a persistent ghost!!
Shu cursed internally and then looked at the others, saying, "Let's gather at the back gate! Theresa should have a solution!"
"Huh?" The others were still clueless, but they followed after Shu, who was running first.
"What's going on?" Kiana caught up with Shu.
"It's a Honkai beast," Shu said instinctively, then remembered that the Kiana by his side was different. He wanted to explain but didn't know how, so he could only generalize. "It's just a big, strong monster that likes killing people."
Everyone looked puzzled, but Kiana, after a moment of thought, seemed to remember something.
"A Honkai beast... that's the Honkai you mentioned when we first met?" Kiana asked.
"Yes…" Shu was surprised. He'd almost forgotten that he'd talked to Kiana about that.
Faced with Shu's agreement, Kiana stopped for a moment, then her expression changed into terror. "Ah?! A titan descended?!!"
Shu, whose heart was tense before, suddenly relaxed.
Shu stumbled, rolled his eyes, and gave up on trying to explain to Kiana. But after that, Shu actually calmed down and found some room for his thoughts.
He remembered that there were at least two Honkai beasts at the train station. Based on what he knew from the past few days, they were no match for them. Theresa's panicked announcement proved that she also didn't have the power of an S-Rank Valkyrie. Otto might have some black magic or other means, but it was also not sure if he was even here.
This meant that they could immediately eliminate the possibility of "direct combat".
What did Otto say that morning? Why was the meeting point at the back gate, at the edge of the school? Why was Theresa's reaction both panicked and orderly, like she was prepared for it?
Shu quickly picked out the information that he thought was useful.
The clues were like pearls, and his mind was the thin thread that quickly connected them together, and he got an answer that he didn't know how to describe.
"Meet at the back gate" and all actions that Theresa was about to give was a failsafe left by Otto! And Otto was no longer in the academy!
Good news, there's a failsafe; Bad news, there's only a failsafe.
Otto, I hope you are strong enough!
"Auntie! Is a big monster coming?!" The group arrived at the back gate. Kiana looked anxiously for Theresa. "What do we do now?... Auntie?"
Shu looked at Theresa. He noticed her eyes were red, and her eyes were filled with tears.
"Headmaster, what's wrong?" Mei asked worriedly. Theresa wiped her tears and put on a determined face.
"Is everyone here? Why are there so few of us?" Theresa looked around. "Where's Fu Hua? And Himeko? Have the others not arrived yet?"
"Class monitor is still at the wall…" Mei replied, while looking behind her anxiously. "There are so many people still there… everyone is still there!"
The direction Mei was looking was the farthest from the back gate.
"I'm going to find class monitor!" Kiana was about to run back when Shu stopped her.
"Headmaster Theresa, what's our plan? What are our next steps once everyone is gathered?" Shu stopped Kiana and looked at Theresa with a serious gaze.
"The back gate leads straight to a road. If we follow the road, we can go straight to the Nagazora City bridge. That's the only way to leave Nagazora City."
"Leave Nagazora City?!" Shu was shocked and looked around. "We're going to cross Nagazora City with such a huge group?!"
Is this plan really something Otto would…?
Shu paused and then looked at the others. Then he looked at the people who had already arrived.
He understood… So, this was the last tragic act of an ant migration? This was so something Otto would do... Otto probably just ordered them to escape from the back gate.
Another tremor broke the silence, and at the same time, heavy booms came from the distance. Shu even heard a few gunshots in the chaos.
"It's Himeko!" Theresa said, shocked. Then, her expression changed to worry. "Himeko… is on the front lines…"
Front lines? Does that mean Himeko has already encountered the Honkai beast head-on?
Shu was still stunned. In the blink of an eye, Kiana was gone. Then, he looked to his side, and Theresa was about to run out.
Shu quickly grabbed Theresa. "Headmaster! You can't leave these people here without telling them what to do!"
At least say something before you leave!
"Let go of me!" Theresa shook off Shu, who nearly flew away. "Grandpa won't come back! I can't lose Himeko too!"
"What?!" Shu, who was already unsteady, fell down when Theresa said that. But he couldn't care about his current state, "Who did you say wouldn't be coming back?!?"