The silence was deafening.
They stood there, weapons drawn, braced for an ambush. But this wasn't a battlefield.
It was a massacre.
Bodies lay strewn across the abandoned camp in grotesque stillness. Thirty students, lifeless and cold, their uniforms soaked in dry rust-brown. No torn limbs. No scorch marks from magical discharge. Just clean slashes. Surgical. Deliberate.
Not the work of a Hollow.
Zeke's jaw tensed. His fingers curled into fists. Around him, the others were slowly fanning out checking the bodies for any clue or sign to help them figure out who did this.
Darius looked up from the tent he walked into and in a voice too hollow for someone his size.
"Some were killed in their sleep."
Kaito was pale, his breathing shallow. Rian turned his face away, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth. Even the ones used to bloodshed and battles had nothing to say.
The worst part was that they had no idea who did it.
Minutes passed as they searched nearby for anything. Signs of struggle. Splashes of blood. But nothing was found, everyone died without getting to fight back.
Liana, the girl who is good with archery was perked up on a tree watching the surroundings when she saw something.
"Yo Zeke, theres a trail of blood here leading off into the distance."
Zeke jumps to his feet eyes full of hope " Quick lets go, if they are bleeding then they might still need our help."
He ran off before anyone could object. Not that they would anyways.
After running for more than 5 minutes the group slowed down and silence fell.
They found two more students.
One girl lay on her back, her eyes wide open. A single slit ran down her neck through to her back , straight as a ruler. The boy beside her looked like he tried to fight. His sword was raised, still gripped tight. But his chest was pierced, blood still flowing.
Zeke crouched beside them, eyes scanning, mind racing. He exhaled slowly.
"Come on... give me something. Anything..."
Nothing.
"Shit, if we were a little faster we would've made it, look the blood is still falling"
Only the cold, thick scent of blood and old trees.
The mood fell like a shadow. Every step deeper into the forest seemed to bury them in dread. No one spoke unless they had to. Even Rian had grown quiet, his usual sarcasm hollow.
Until he finally muttered, voice low, directed at Zeke.
"You think it's one of ours? Someone from the Academy?"
Zeke didn't answer immediately. He was crouched, running two fingers through the dirt beside another faint blood trail. His eyes were cold.
"It has to be a student, that crazy, weird looking guy put a barrier up so outsiders can't come in."
Darius spoke next. "But why? These people are supposed to be class mates. These deaths were... intentional. Quick. Clean."
"To send a message?" Rian asked, then scoffed bitterly. "Hell of a way to do it."
"It could be a test," Zeke said quietly.
They all looked at him.
"A test?"
"Or a purge. Someone didn't want them making it to the next trial. Or wanted to thin the competition."
Kaito's hand clenched. He hadn't spoken for nearly twenty minutes. He was pacing now. Back and forth. Back and forth. A twitch in his eye. His blade was still strapped to the stub of his broken arm. Bandages had bled through. He hadn't let anyone change them.
He finally broke.
"This is fucked up," Kaito muttered, walking faster. "This is all wrong. Tala... Tala should've been found by now."
Zeke watched him out of the corner of his eye.
"Kaito."
"She said she'd always be with me. I told her the day we left out home, I would protect her. There was hope, I really wanted to believe she was out there. That was before we found... before all this."
He stopped, looking around wildly.
"She's out there. Alone. Maybe hurt. Maybe worse."
Zeke stepped forward. "Kaito. Calm down."
"Calm down?!" Kaito turned slowly. His face was pale but flushed at the cheeks. His breath came in sharp bursts. "My sister is missing in a forest full of monsters! And now we have a killer on the loose too?!"
His voice cracked. He took a step closer.
"You don't know what it's like. You don't know what I've lost. My home? Gone. My city? Gone. My friends? Dead. All I have left is her."
Another step. His voice was rising.
"ZEKE, TELL ME. Tell me she's going to be okay!"
He shouted the words, spitting them out like curses. His entire body was trembling. His shoulders shook, teeth clenched. Tears welled but didn't fall.
"TELL ME, ZEKE! DO YOU DARE?!"
Rian stepped forward instinctively.
"Zeke—"
But Zeke raised a hand without turning his head.
"Don't."
The group was dead silent. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Zeke walked toward Kaito. Gaze Measured. Calm.
He looked into his eyes. Not with pity. Not with sympathy.
"You've been wanting to fight me for a while now."
Kaito blinked, confused. Still heaving.
Zeke tilted his head.
"What's stopping you? Your hand?"
He stepped back and raised his left arm.
"Fine. I'll only use one too. Come at me."
The group gasped quietly. Even Rian took half a step forward.
Darius frowned. "Zeke—"
"Stay out of it."
Zeke didn't move. Didn't shift his weight.
He stared at Kaito with that strange calm. Not mocking. Not challenging. Just present.
"Come on, Kaito. Tala's not here to hold you back this time."
Kaito stood frozen. His breaths came quicker. Shallow. Ribs rising and falling. His mouth parted as if to speak, but no words came. Then...
BOOOOOOM.
Kaito's battle intent exploded outward in a violent burst. White-hot, jagged with pain, fury. Sharp. Leaves scattered. Dust whipped through the air.
Zeke didn't flinch. But his eyes lit up in surprise.
Then he grinned.
"There it is."
A clash of mana lit up the surrounding forest as Kaito's battle intent tried to supress Zeke's, the nearby trees exploding in on themselves as if being compressed by two unstoppable forces.
"Hmm. Zeke is not using his full power" A professor observed high above.
The other students backed up. Weapons half-raised. Unsure what this was.
Zeke stepped into his stance, one arm behind his back.
Then-
Kaito moved, fast, reckless and broken.
—And Zeke, moved to meet him, calm and deadly