"Sasaki-san!" Hisako cried over one shoulder. "Cover me?"
"Whatever!"
Hisako took that as a "yes" and burst into a mad dash towards the other scissor blade.
Before she could reach it, she found herself tumbling in a blur, body screaming and world spinning. She'd caught a flash of gold and a glint of silver. It took her brain a second to put what had happened together as she pushed herself to her feet again.
The wolf-creature knight had attacked her, and Sasaki had shielded her, but the shield had broken. She quickly checked herself for injury before she threw herself into another dash.
The attack must've broken through the shield, but the shockwave from its shattering had pushed her clear of any real injuries.
She hazarded a glance back and saw Rao and a clone holding off the knight. Stinger and bolts flew, stabbing at bared fur. Sasaki looked frazzled but was throwing up quick shields to protect Rao. Hisako saw that his other clone, the one the tall knight had thrown, was recovering slowly.
Hisako reached the blade.
She picked it up; a small part of her was satisfied that it was far lighter than her own blade. She twisted it in her hands, familiarizing herself with its feel.
A gentle whistle rang out as the blade cut the grave air.
The creature's eyes snapped to her. It burst past Rao, tossing the clone aside and throwing Rao to the ground. He only barely avoided being trampled by its massive paws.
She threw the blade up, preemptively blocking a rattling attack that threatened to knock her back. The blades screamed against each other as the walker shoved forward, and then a gauntlet grabbed her wrist.
Her eyes met theirs. The muzzle split again, flesh humming with a growl that made Hisako's heart thunder in her ears.
The wolf leaned in for a bite, and Hisako ducked before jumping up to deliver a headbutt. The knight's head snapped up, jaw clicking shut painfully. In the same moment, Hisako shoved the knight out of biting distance, pushing against the blade locked in their blocks, and called upon her ability.
She willed her sword's "down" to be in her direction, sending it flying towards her, with the knight in the way.
The knight must've sensed it, because they tried to disengage, but Hisako locked their blades. They growled. Hot, wet breath billowed in her face, and they struggled one last time, using their powerful haunches to try and force themself free.
They broke away from the lock at the last moment. The sword flew from Hisako's hands, and the knight lurched away, but not fast enough.
Hisako's sword slashed through their side as it spun into Hisako's hand. It left a wicked, bleeding tear in the knight's armor.
Toraichi would be the blade's name, she decided as she swung again, a diagonal slash meant to cleave from shoulder to hip.
The knight threw their blade up, managing to save themself from a body wound but sacrificing their off hand to a long slash down the forearm.
The knight snarled and dashed for the scissor blade Hisako had been separated from. Hisako leveled a diagonal slash, meaning to at least force a block, but the knight dove again, deeper than before in their human form.
The knight slid under Toraichi and grasped the other blade in their jaws before scrabbling away on all fours.
"Regroup!" Rao cried.
Hisako jumped back in a defensive stance, using her power to pull herself back into their formation.
Rao had both his katars, but he looked far worse for wear than Hisako had last seen. She realized, with a sinking feeling, that he absorbed the damage from his clones when they returned to him.
Sasaki and Yasuda looked tired but generally uninjured, as did Serizawa, who appeared remarkably calm, though he did have a severe look to his face.
The knight rose onto their feet, pulling the scissor blades together. They linked at twin notches in the metal. Finally complete, they sang sweetly when the knight tested them in a frightening snap.
Hisako had no doubt the blades would cleave limb from torso, but she had trouble believing such a thing would be allowed in what was arguably an entrance exam.
The knight was sluggishly bleeding from numerous wounds, and their chest heaved with exertion, but they did not look done.
Their burning eyes flicked between the examinees, thinking.
"Close in!" Hisako cried. "They're hunting."
This wasn't an MMORPG; the walker would act logically, not just jump on whoever had aggro. Hisako would go for some weak if she were the walker. She tensed, ready to spin on her heel.
The knight blew forward. They felt faster, but Hisako knew she was the one who'd changed speed. She'd slowed. They all slowed.
Too slow.
The knight was past Hisako by the time she could twist to attack. She couldn't swing Toraichi–they'd closed in too much, it wasn't safe.
The scissors were pulled wide, Sasaki's neck between the blades. Her eyes were wide.
It wasn't slow-motion. It was frames. Laggy frames.
Hisako thought her heart would burst out of her chest. Toraichi was falling. She was rising, made lighter by her ability.
The scissors were closing. Sasaki's arms were rising, a small golden ball beginning to form at her neck.
In her mind, Hisako saw Nanae and her double-handed hammer fist. Her hands came together, and her power flipped.
The scissors snapped shut, the shield strained, the knight snarled. Hisako exploded down with the full might of her ability.
Her hands hit the knight over their broad wolf-head. They both went down like a meteor, the knight slamming down, then Hisako atop them. She felt flesh tear under the force of the blow, and staggered back, lightheaded from her ability's strain.
Inky blood dripped from her hands, intermingled with her own. She stared at the knight. Their fingers were limp around the blade handles.
Serizawa had his hands out in an instant. The others jumped the knight. Sasaki backed out of formation to give herself more space.
Hisako watched numbly as her hands, torn like the knight's head, pulled themselves back together. The glow of Serizawa's power was nice, like a lukewarm bath.
When he was done, she picked Toraichi back up.
"Watch out!"
She jumped back mindlessly, pulling Serizawa back with her, and raising Toraichi as a shield.
The knight whipped past. Hisako startled, pushing Serizawa back the other way. She hadn't seen the knight in full–just a blur.
Rao ran to her side, stopping against her back. He had Yasuda in tow.
Sasaki was alone.
The wolf-knight was still sprinting about in a random pattern, back and forth. The walker was just terrorizing them.
Sasaki bubbled herself one moment, and then was knocked to her knees the next, bubble faltering.
"Sasaki-san!" Yasuda cried. Her crossbow snapped about, but she was unable to get a bead on the knight.
Hisako glanced at Rao. He was too injured to help Sasaki.
"Sasaki-san!" Serizawa shouted. "Catch!"
He threw Stinger. The kunai sailed and landed at Sasaki's hands. She gripped it tight and stood, rings glowing. The chain lay slack.
"Go," Serizawa told Hisako.
Hisako broke into a run toward Sasaki. She locked eyes with the woman. She saw the moment Sasaki moved to shield her, before the gold reached Hisako.
Next to her, Stinger's chain began to twist and rise. Hisako jumped into the sky, gold starting to envelop her.
Stinger jerked, and the bubble stopped as Serizawa and Sasaki were thrown to the ground. Below her, the knight had been ensnared by their own momentum.
The chain had clotheslined them at the neck. Serizawa whipped the chain from the ground, and it looped around their neck. They struggled, only managing to get themselves more tangled and squeezed.
Hisako came down like a whirlwind, Toraichi swinging. She spun, repeatedly striking as she touched down. With each slash, it became easier. The struggling slowed.
She jumped back, preparing another strike, and crossbow bolts bloomed where she'd slashed. Golden light pierced the knight, pinning them alongside Stinger.
Serizawa and Rao loosened their grips on Stinger as the Doorwalker began to fade to ash.
"I didn't think it'd die," Hisako breathed.
"I didn't think you thought so negatively," Sasaki panted.
Hisako snorted, amused. "Is everyone okay?"
"Rao-san is injured," Serizawa said. He raised his hands to the injuries. "I-I can't heal some of these."
"That's okay," Rao said. He sounded pained.
Serizawa's power flickered out on a few patches, but he managed to heal a large bruise forming on Rao's torso, the scrapes from getting thrown around, and a line of gauntlet slashes on his arm.
Rao shouldered his shirt back on but tossed aside the jacket, which looked more tattered than the knight's cloaks had been. Hisako shed hers as well and rolled up her shirt sleeves. Even in the bone-piercing chill of the door, her body felt too warm.
"I saw something on the gate," Hisako said, pointing weakly.
"Finally, a clue," Yasuda breathed, running to the gate.
Hisako felt her breath catch in her throat. They were out of formation. If they got attacked again, they'd be on the back foot. Would they even be ready so soon to–
"It's a note!" Yasuda exclaimed.
They hurried over as fast as they could, forging a brutal line through the white flowers.
Yasuda's excitement had fallen to dismay as she read the note. She looked at them, crestfallen.
"It's from the father. He went into the cathedral to stop the mother. She went to beg the-the god to give the town mercy."
"There's a god in the cathedral?" Serizawa croaked.
"It'd be a Doorwalker, but…" Hisako chewed on her lip.
"Who cares what they call the Doorwalker in the silly Halloween world?" Sasaki sighed.
Hisako nodded. "Sasaki-san is right. If it bleeds it can die. We can do it. The exam is possible for people of our level."
"Yeah," Rao breathed. "We'll get through this. We're doing well. I'm the only one injured, and we're only tired, not done."
Serizawa was peering between the gaps in the bars and flowers. "We should come up with a plan. The cemetery will have the strongest enemies yet, and if they're harder than the two knights, we shouldn't burn ourselves out on them."
"Then let's ignore them and just finish the quest," Sasaki said. "It's a straight shot from here to the cathedral."
She pointed along a somewhat winding path. Against the moon, they could see dark shapes jumping between mausoleum and obelisks. Even the delicate stone visages of angels and comforting women moved ever so slightly, as if breathing.
If the rest of the enemies were as fast as the knights, they wouldn't make it–not all of them.
"How about we make a break for it, and if one of us gets caught up in something, we phalanx and disengage until we can run again," Hisako suggested.
Rao nodded. "Nobody gets left behind. If you need help, call out."
"Stay close," Yasuda agreed. She readied her crossbow.
Serizawa nodded, Stinger held tightly in his grip. "We've got this."
"Ready?" Sasaki asked, hands on the gate.
They nodded together. The gates pushed open, showering them with the loose white petals.
The ground went from hard stone to rough dirt below their boots. The close quarters of the city became a wide space with scattered structures.
They sprinted as fast as they could, separating a bit as they did. Yasuda and Rao were the fastest. Hisako could use her power to keep up, but Serizawa was falling back, and Sasaki was struggling to stay ahead of him.
Hisako was reminded of those documentaries where animals hunted the weakest members of a herd. The injured or sick. The old. The young. The ones that couldn't run or fight.
She also remembered the herds would just let those members die. They wouldn't be like that. This wouldn't be like that, no matter what the scared part of Hisako's brain thought.
A massive bat shape swung overhead. She flinched and ducked, then she began to laugh. The sound bounced through the graveyard like a firework.
"You're crazy," Sasaki panted.
Serizawa chuckled with her, wheezing as he ran.
Alongside them, behind a row of mausoleums, a mutant-looking snake as big as a horse sidewinded after them, but was too wide to slip through the marble tombs.
It only made them laugh harder.
"Is this better than working in an office?" Hisako laughed.
Serizawa was turning red with his breathless laughter. "Honestly, it feels the same!"