1: “Those brats...so THEY actually defeated 4? I’m impressed. If I wasn’t wary of their backgrounds, and well, ordered to kill them both...I would have liked to recruit them.

...What a pity.”

He grabbed the head in hand just as he noticed one of them walking towards his defeated partner, and threw it like a veteran baseball pitch. It certainly had the effect he desired – to freeze the inexperienced runts in their tracks.

Without bothering to look at them anymore, he began to use his trusty throw - away phone.

1: “Hello? 6? Yeah. I’ve collected one--”

Rise: “...Found ya!!”

Rise charged at 1 with enough force to topple a 2 ton truck head on!

And was sent flying backwards by a kick that held slightly greater force within it.

1: “As I was saying. I’ve eliminated 1, no… 2 of the children.”

…

His fingers cracked while simultaneously picking out a cloth from his pocket to wipe off the latest victim’s blood.

His hands then retracted back into the pocket, seemingly putting the cloth away, until 3 sharp objects came flying out of the pocket itself!

Rise was still disoriented. He left his crater position and wobbled towards Noel. Neither was in the mood to joke around after what they both just heard.

Because of this, Noel didn’t make fun of his fail...yet.

Rise: “*Cough* *Cough*

Damn, that guy hits like a truck! I couldn’t see an opening either!”

Noel: “Hey. That guy you beat up is still alive.”

Rise: “Obviously, genius.”

Noel: "Didn’t the big guy just now ask somebody named ‘6’ to heal ‘4’? How long do you think we have?”

Rise: “*Sniff* ...I dunno, not long. but if we assume that a prerequisite to their ‘healing 4’ is by keeping him alive, then that means…

.

.

That action he took by throwing Leos’s head at us makes sense now: it was to STOP me from taking any further action until he got close.”

Noel: “...Yeah. And it worked.”

Rise: "...Still. What we’ve gotta do next ain’t that hard to figure out!

If we kill that ‘4’ guy, this ‘6’ person can’t use their ability, right?”

Noel: “...Obviously. If you kill anyone, then they can’t be healed. That would be called ‘reviving’ Rise.”

Rise: “...Grr. Let’s get to it then! Unless you plan on quivering like a little leaf? Heheh.”

*Shudder!*

Before either of the two could react, an overpowering golden light overshadowed the clearing they were currently residing, overwhelming the space completely and causing it to shake. Inside of the light, visibility was dim. Of course, all three of these beings had methods to attack without depending on light. Noel closed his eyes and ‘felt’ for the energy of those around him. He could rely on the man’s murderous intent to locate Leos’s killer, since Noel HIMSELF is now a target, but that doesn’t make that MAN, Noel’s target. You can’t locate somebody’s bloodlust without them first directing it towards you.

In order to target somebody within a place of low visibility, Noel learned of two techniques: one was from his family, and is the technique on how to sense presences. And the second…

The second one is a useful energy-sensing skill that he unknowingly picked up out of analytical habit during his spar sessions with Lisa Rowe.

Noel: “I sense…That gathering of light energy! It’s so massive!! is that REALLY all for healing one man?!

…

Speaking of which – I sense...I sense a very weakened energy..! It can only be him!”

*Shhwing!*

With no more unnecessary thoughts hindering him, Noel flung a needle directly at their weakened apponent..!

…

But it grazed against Rise’s cheek first.

Rise: “Yow! Watch it, you fool!”

Noel: “Sorry...wait, rise?! Wha- how come I can’t sense you?!”

Rise: “Heheh~ You can’t, right?? Does that mean that you’re depending on an energy sensing skill

That’s the worst match-up for me! I can make my energy signature exactly like my surroundings. They’ll never know that I’m comin’!!”

1: “...You know...I can hear you. You aren’t exactly soft with your tone of voice."

Noel: “…”

Rise: “Gahahahah! Knowing my plan doesn’t help you at all – just TRY to find me in all of this bright light!!”

1: “...Okay. But first, let me return this to you, short one.”

*Sshwing!*

Rise: “Hm? Hey I think he's gonna-- Woah! HEY BE-”

Flung with matchless momentum by their opponent, Noel’s needle came full force towards his left eye!!

But with a swift turn of his body, Noel effortlessly speared the projectile with his left hand: catching it and slipping it underneath his wrist where its holder lay.

Noel: “...I was wondering why I didn’t ‘see’ a change in that man’s energy level. Thank you for returning it.”

1: “…This little brat…”

{His reflexes are stupidly good. Either that, or...he has an ability I’ve never heard of. I came to school...to find a different answer. I wanted to discover what OTHER paths exist for me to choose. What do people here think about killing? I have yet to find my answer.

The entire setting here feels strange, too. If I don’t aim to kill, they can potentially heal each other with this mysterious 6 person – but… That man has the power and skill necessary to stall us… possibly even beat us if we’re not careful. I can’t…

...See a way to fake my way out of this one. Most likely, I’ll have to get serious for a bit… Can Rise keep a secret though?}

Noel: “...Hey, Rise. Can you keep a secret?”

4: “GWAAAAAH!! I feel so amazing~! This is always the absolute BEST feeling! THANK YOU SIX!! Your sacrifice is MUCH appreciated over here!!”

{Sacrifice?}

1: “Welcome back.”

Rise: “Haha! Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing!”

1: “4, share with me one piece of information.

Which of these children gave you the most trouble?”

Both sides faced the other, while regrouping temporarily with their partner – each pair readjusting their own final team plan before going in for the kill. At this point, the shining light had already disappeared completely.

A mere glance triggered heavy and thick bloodlust to permeate the air - it was palpable, but neither side moved right away. A sense of caution hastily filled their lungs after ‘4’ revived.

Not only was Rise capable ofdoing serious damage to 4 if given the opportunity, but the same could be said about 4 – thanks to his extremely versatile usage of metal and large reserves of ammunition to work with.

After all, spikes and scalpels weren’t ALL he could make through metal manipulation.

Nothing much has to be said about ‘1’. He completely stopped Rise in his tracks after the showy charge that surpassed even Nathan’s speed record: THEN proceeded to, again, halt both Rise AND Noel by taking advantage of the latter’s thrown needle and returning it with greater force!!

Such a feat WAS impressive, only Noel caught that very same forcefully thrown needle with absolute ease.

Neither side could gauge the other group’s absolute limit, and THAT standoff was the reason they all had a short reprieve for minimal conversations...so long as no one took their eyes off of their enemy.

4: “...To be honest, they’re both weird. The shortie we have to watch out for, because he did something crazy to about 200 or so of my quickly-made spikes. But, even counting that…

The wild haired kid wearing a scar under his left cheek – he is the most troublesome. I PRIDE myself on my speed and quick reflexes, but even when compared to me – that kid is scary. The way he motions his body to stick to your tail relentlessly and without pause, his reflexive actions seem to allow the guy to react even to split-second strikes.

And then there’s that smelling…”

1: “Smelling?”

4: “Whenever he smells, he says weird things. After I was teetering on the verge of losing consciousness, I saw him ‘smell’ the air before charging at you. I remember spreading our special gas mixture to mask your smell and presence, so it was strange to watch him flying at you.”

1: “...I see. Then, would you like to fight together...or separate?”

4: “Seperate would be fine, I think, but let’s support each other first. Y’know, set the field for an easy win.”

1: “I have a STRONG feeling this fight won’t be easy. If my assumption is correct – the quiet, shortie is a lot more dangerous than what he’s shown so far. How he got rid of your spikes also worries me. I’ll handle him. You go after the wild child – but be alert to both battlefields and ready to switch opponents at any moment – understood?”

4: “...I got it.”

1: “Good, then let’s set the stage…”

Noel: “Rise, I’m very serious. If you tell anybody what you’re about to see – I will kill you.”

...As Noel took a single step forward, his once quiet movement now left a resounding *THOOM!* But these sounds were entirely overshadowed by Rise’s body suddenly expanding out of his shirt, with body hair completely transforming into a thick coat of fur. It was the same dark brown at first, but quickly faded into a dark greyish shade. His height reached the middle stages of 6 feet from 5 foot 9, allowing him to barely share an uncanny height resemblance with Ophelia. Curved, retracted fingernails regrew just like when he attempted to stop the weird golden light from reviving 4 – except they didn’t stop growing.

Soon, they each became a long and thin blade. 36 inches is the approximate length of the world’s longest dagger: this is, appropriately, the human made equivalent of Rise’s fingernails which dragged along the forest floor - while sharp, pointed ears and a drool-dripping muzzle finely took shape in order to replace each respective human feature that served the same function. The only parts not ripped were his baggy pants, miraculously stretched to hold this new form of his, and his word-out shoes that had been hastily kicked off beforehand.

He quite remarkably fit the word ‘monster’ from an ordinary human’s standpoint. His appearance felt like a terrifying mixture between a sanguinary werewolf and a massive, horrendous Buck.

Rise: “GRRAAAHH...hehe, you sure love to copy my thoughts today. I was going to mention the exact. Same. Sentence – word for word...to you…

If you tell anyone what you’ve witnessed today: you’ll die before your brain’s capable of processing ‘how’, or ‘why’….”

---