The moment felt like eternity suspended in ice. Tsukina and Stephen had collapsed in unison, their bodies limp on the cold floor, white-eyed and unmoving. Ryuu’s breath caught in his throat. Jayce didn’t move at first—he couldn’t. His heart had stopped in a silent second, the kind of stillness that only comes with sheer horror. Then—

“No… no, no, no—!” Jayce fell to his knees, shaking Stephen's shoulders. “Come on, Red! wake up*!*” His voice cracked as panic clawed up his spine. But there was no response. Just that unblinking, ghost-white stare.

“Stephen?!” Ryuu yelled, stepping beside Jayce, his hands trembling as he reached for Tsukina instead. “Tsu? Tsukina?!”

Her body was weightless—too still. Her skin was cold. And her eyes… those eyes were wrong.

Jayce’s body jerked upward at the sound, his hands slick with Stephen’s blood. “What the hell is going on?!”

The hallway filled with shrill shrieks and panicked shouting as students and staff rushed in confusion. Outdoor lights flickered, then stuttered out. Only leaving the arena lights

From the security team’s corner, a radio hissed with static.

“Can anyone— bzzt –we need reinforcements, they’re—”

A breath. Then—

“THEY’RE ALL DEAD—OH GOD—” KZZZZZT

And silence.

Rose froze mid-step. The blood in her veins iced over. That voice—that scream—echoed in her skull. Her throat tightened.

They’re all dead.

She turned sharply, eyes burning with fury. Her fists clenched at her sides. “We have a literal god on our side. What could possibly go wrong?” The words mocked her now, rattling in her mind like a cursed mantra.

Her eyes scanned the room—the frightened students, the fallen allies, the blood already seeping into the floor—and she knew. This was no attack.

This was extermination.

She turned to the remaining elite in the room. “Everyone, battle mode. Now! We don’t get to hesitate!”

But then… a sharp hiss.

Like something escaping a pressurized vault.

Gas.