Akira and Kana raced through the third-floor corridor, aiming for the stairs to the rooftop. Behind them, the sounds of collapse rumbled on, the school's framework creaking with an eerie, bone-deep groan.
Kana's breath came in labored gasps, her legs leaden, but Akira's hand steadied her. His left arm hung limp, useless, yet his right blade gleamed sharply, his movements undeterred.
They reached the staircase and scrambled up.
The rooftop door loomed ahead, but a new presence surged from below—a rustling, countless skittering sounds.
Glancing back, they saw the beetle-like creatures flooding the stairs, their numbers swollen, a black tide clawing toward them.
"To the rooftop, now. I'll hold them off," Akira said, urging Kana forward as he swung his blade, mowing through the swarm.
He crushed one, then another, but the horde showed no sign of thinning.
Kana flung open the rooftop door and shouted, "Akira, hurry!"
He stole a glance, confirming her safety, then bolted up the stairs. The insects snapped at his heels as he dove through the door, slamming it shut.
Akira jammed a nearby iron rod into the handle, forming a makeshift barricade. The door rattled as the beetles slammed against it, but for now, it held.
The rooftop stretched before them, swallowed by endless dark. No stars, no moon—just a swirling black mist cloaking the sky.
Peering over the edge, Kana saw the schoolyard and sports field below, warped and crawling with the shadows of emerging creatures.
She gasped, standing close to Akira. "Is this… still our school? What's happening?"
"Spatial anomalies intensifying. Cause unknown. External connections are completely severed," Akira said, his sensors sweeping the area, yielding no clear answers. "Reformulating survival strategy. We rest briefly here, then determine our next move."
Kana nodded and sank onto the rooftop's edge. The cold concrete chilled her, but exhaustion threatened to crush her more than the cold ever could.
Akira remained standing, ever vigilant, scanning their surroundings.
Then, a low hum broke the silence, a guttural drone from the distant sky.
"New hostile detected. Approaching from above," Akira said, his gaze snapping upward.
From the mist emerged a colossal fly-like creature, its compound eyes glowing red. Its wings whipped up gusts, and green ichor dripped from its maw, sizzling as it burned the concrete below.
"Kana, move!" Akira barked, pulling her to her feet and diving behind the water tower.
The fly swooped, its razor-sharp legs gouging the rooftop.
Akira readied his blade, tracking its movements. Seizing a fleeting chance, he leaped, slicing through one wing.
The creature crashed, writhing.
But its abdomen pulsed, and a swarm of smaller flies erupted from within.
"Multiplying variant confirmed. Neutralizing immediately," Akira said, his blade flashing as he cut through the tiny horrors.
Their numbers were relentless. One broke through, lunging at Kana and raking her arm with its claws.
She screamed. Akira severed it in an instant.
"Check for injury. Possible venom," he said, grasping her arm.
Blood seeped from a shallow scratch, but it wasn't deep.
Kana nodded, trembling. "It's okay… just stings."
"Understood. First aid deferred. Mobility takes priority. The rooftop is unsafe—we return to the building."
He urged her toward the door, but the barricade groaned. The beetles were pressing harder, bending the iron rod.
"Alternate route required. We'll move to the gymnasium roof," Akira said, stepping to the rooftop's edge and gauging the distance—about five meters.
He scooped Kana into his arms, took a running start, and leaped.
They landed on the gymnasium roof, tumbling to a stop.
Behind them, the rooftop door burst open, beetles spilling out.
Their safety was fleeting. From below, glass shattered, and growls echoed up through the gym.
Akira pointed to a ventilation hatch. "We enter here, pass through the gymnasium, and move to the next point."
They pried open the hatch and dropped inside.
In the darkened basketball court, a massive shadow loomed—a praying mantis-like creature. Its scythe-like forelegs gleamed in the faint moonlight, its eyes locked on Akira and Kana.
The night refused to relent, and they plunged back into the fray.