The formation advanced down the hallway in absolute silence. Allisson dictated the pace at the vanguard, his short, calculated steps cushioned by the rubber soles of his shoes. The Twin-Blade Spear cut through the air at waist height, ready to react. Directly behind him, Pierre and Abner kept Jade secured in the center of the block, while Paulo covered the rear, continuously scanning their path with his iron bar.
"Maintain stride spacing," Allisson whispered without turning his head, his voice imperceptible beyond six feet. "The volume of predators in this sector has dropped drastically. Paulo and I cleared most of the immediate threats, but we cannot rule out an ambush."
Abner adjusted his glasses, keeping his eyes glued to the open classroom doorways. Pierre, still visibly drained from Mana exhaustion, kept his open hand resting on Jade’s shoulder to guide her forward.
As the group passed the doorway of Class 8-A, the interior scene was laid bare. The pools of fresh blood on the floor tiles, the shattered desks, and the iron metallic stench suspended in the air struck the group all at once.
Jade froze in her tracks. Her breathing accelerated into a high-pitched rasp. Her eyes widened as they locked onto the dark stain on the floor and the deep claw gouges carved into the masonry.
"My God... the children... they were slaughtered... all of them..." she began to mutter, her voice rising in pitch as her chest heaved in rapid spasms. She took two uncoordinated steps out of alignment, threatening to break the formation entirely.
Allisson turned his head slightly, his icy gaze fixing firmly on the teacher.
"Absolute silence, Jade. Step back into line and focus on the floor directly ahead of you. Now."
Before Jade could respond, a sharp snap echoed from the lower floor—the dry crunch of a wooden door being ripped off its hinges, followed by a muffled human scream that reverberated through the building's support columns.
The distant sound acted like a shock to Jade's unraveling nervous system. In an uncontrolled reflex of pure panic, the teacher opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream that shattered the silence of the corridor.
"NO!"
"Jade, don't!" Paulo lunged forward to restrain her, but it was already too late.
The high-pitched noise reverberated through the air. Seconds later, a heavy, frantic buzzing emerged from one of the gaps in the drywall ceiling. A Mana Ladybug—a mutated insect the size of a tactical helmet, with a hard reddish carapace and translucent wings vibrating at high frequencies—dropped from the ceiling, plunging like a kinetic missile directly toward the teacher's face.
"AAAAAAH!" Jade descended into absolute hysteria. Instinctively, she thrust both hands up to shield her face and squeezed her eyes shut.
The residual Mana within her body reacted to the extreme surge of adrenaline.
FLASH!
A blinding burst of white light exploded from the palms of her hands. The sudden glare illuminated the dark corridor like a flashbang, obliterating every shadow for a fraction of a second.
The Mana Ladybug, struck head-on in mid-air by the intense beam of light at less than two feet away, had its ocular structures instantly seared. Blinded and disoriented, the insect lost wing control, spiraled wildly out of mid-air, and slammed violently against the wall before crashing to the floor in convulsions.
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[SKILL ACTIVATED: Blinding Light - Lv. 1]
Effect: Projects a high-intensity light beam. Causes temporary blindness and spatial disorientation to targets.
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The flash extinguished as quickly as it had erupted, leaving everyone in the hallway with purple spots dancing across their vision.
Allisson blinked rapidly, working to clear his line of sight using his 17.5 Perception. In his mind, the post-mortem analysis of the tactical failure was instantaneous and painful.
Fatal error, he reprimanded himself. I calculated our survival chances purely based on water and food metrics. I completely failed to audit whether she possessed an active skill. I treated her as a harmless civilian and ignored the risk of her becoming a beacon for every monster in the building.
The damage was done. A scream followed by a light flash in a dark corridor was the ultimate beacon for predators.
The quiet that followed lasted less than three seconds.
From the end of the hallway near the central staircase, the sound of claws scraping against the tile floor began to multiply rapidly. From the opposite direction, deep growls and raspy barks echoed from the laboratory doors.
The remaining packs on the floor had awoken and were closing in on them from both ends.
Allisson planted his right foot, locking his grip onto the spear shaft.
We can't fight here. The spatial clearance is too tight for this volume of hostiles, he analyzed in a fraction of a second, urgency surging through his mind. Standing our ground is certain death. We must breach out of this hallway immediately.
"Defensive posture!" Allisson's command sliced through the noise. "Paulo, hold the rear! Abner, Pierre, secure Jade! Do not stop—we move now!"