"Everyone, look over there! Could that suspicious guy be the one?" A male student shouted as he noticed Mr. A walking in the opposite corridor. Amid the chaos of the emergency evacuation, he stood out for moving slowly, which made him look extremely out of place.
"He's trying to find Shinichi—no, he's trying to find me. Because of the crowd, he can't pinpoint my exact location."
"What if he finds us?" Shinichi asked Migi.
Migi replied without hesitation, "The enemy has murderous intent. If he finds you, he will attack without question."
"Then what should we do?"
"Hide in the crowd. When the time comes, he'll strike at random. And at that moment, I'll pierce his heart. It's simple, but the success rate will be much higher." Migi calmly laid out the most viable plan.
However, Shinichi couldn't accept it.
He simply couldn't bring himself to sacrifice the lives of others just to win.
"So in your eyes, my classmates are just human shields. I almost forgot what you really are." Clenching his right fist in frustration, Shinichi resolutely pushed through the crowd and ran toward a more secluded area.
At the same time, Silvain noticed Shinichi's strange behavior. Watching his figure disappear into the distance, Silvain smiled and muttered, "Trying to use yourself as bait to draw away the parasite? What a kind guy. Fine, I'll lend a hand, if only because of your potential."
Silvain quietly followed him.
On the way, Shinichi happened to run into Murano Satomi. But the situation was urgent. He didn't stop and continued running upstairs. Satomi grabbed his arm, thinking he'd forgotten something.
"Did you forget something? I'll go with you to get it."
Unexpectedly, Shinichi yanked his arm away and shouted, "Don't come near me! Stay away from me!"
Satomi froze.
Realizing his outburst, Shinichi forced a smile and said, "Sorry. Just get out of here. Hurry."
As she watched him run off, Satomi's eyes filled with confusion and worry. At that moment, Silvain appeared behind her and said with a smile, "Shinichi didn't mean it. He's just caught up in something right now. You should get going. I'll follow him."
It was hard to believe, but Shinichi had run all the way to the top floor without stopping, only halting when he was completely out of breath.
Seeing his actions, Migi asked, puzzled, "What's wrong, Shinichi? Are you dissatisfied with my plan?"
"Of course. How many people would die because of it?"
"But to preserve your own life, isn't sacrificing others the natural choice? That's what animals do. Oh right, I almost forgot—humans are the species that commits suicide. So tell me, Shinichi, are you doing that right now?"
Shinichi had no words for Migi's logic. All he could say was, "Your Japanese is great. Just… don't say stuff like that again."
With that, he entered a nearby classroom and began moving desks, attempting to barricade the front and back corridors to trap the enemy.
"Need help?"
A familiar voice called out. Shinichi turned around and saw Silvain.
"Why are you here?"
Silvain started moving desks as he replied, "I saw some idiot trying to take on everything himself, so I figured I'd come watch the show."
"Arigato, Silvain-kun." Shinichi thanked him sincerely.
Migi emerged from Shinichi's hand and tilted his head. "He clearly wants to help Shinichi, but says he's just watching. Humans are such strange creatures."
"But this increases our odds. Next, it's a three-on-one." Migi cut the leg off a chair and handed it to Shinichi. "We'll fight together."
"He's three meters away."
"Three meters?" Shinichi couldn't see Mr. A anywhere in the corridor.
"Below."
Both Shinichi and Silvain looked down simultaneously.
Suddenly, two tentacles shot up from below, smashing through the glass window and hooking onto the edge. Using them, Mr. A launched himself up and landed in front of them. The sudden move instantly shattered all of Shinichi's preparations.
"Trying to block me? All you've done is block yourselves." The sides of Mr. A's head split open. Tentacles twisted wildly as his mouth, filled with sharp teeth, opened.
"Also, I'm curious what you taste like." Mr. A looked at Silvain.
Silvain smirked. "Are you sure I'm not a parasite?"
"Special companions don't need to exist."
The tips of Mr. A's tentacles turned into sharp blades and slashed at Silvain. With a spray of blood, the pain in his chest made Silvain instinctively look down. His once intact uniform was now shredded, blood flowing freely from the wound.
"So fast!" Both Silvain and Shinichi exclaimed at once.
Silvain hadn't even seen the attack before he was hit. If it had been a real strike instead of a test, he'd already be minced meat.
"Looks like you're weaker than I thought. You fooled Tamiya Ryoko, but that was just a disguise. How pathetic," Mr. A said coldly.
"Silvain-kun, are you okay?" Shinichi looked at the blood-soaked Silvain, clearly worried.
"I'll live. Doesn't look like I'm dying yet. But this guy's seriously strong." Even pale from blood loss, Silvain kept a faint smile. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything, and in the face of death, he stayed calm. He used his words to try and expose a weakness.
"You know, a parasite injured me before. Want to know what happened?"
He raised his hand and wiped the blood. The wound healed right before their eyes.
"I chopped off his head, then doused him in gasoline. Boom. Burned to ash in the flames."
He flicked his wrist, letting the black cloth wrapped around his blade fall away.
"Die!"
Mr. A immediately lunged again. Though he only had two tentacles, their speed was five times faster than a regular parasite—maybe even more.
"I'll block him. You guys attack."
Only Migi could barely keep up with Mr. A's speed. The rest couldn't.
Clang! Silvain raised his sword and blocked the slash directly in front of his chest.
(To be continued.)