How To Survive A Cute Ghost Yandere
Chapter 27: They would survive

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: They would survive

Shine—!

Alen shot forward, a thin, sharp sword with a dark blue blade resembling the night sky gripped in his hand.

Scattered stars along a single tearing black line ran across that striking blade. As Alen surged forward, his trail left behind a beautiful streak of flickering stars, accompanied by a pleasant whistling wind.

His hair whipped wildly as he charged toward the ugly-faced monster. Unlike before, the creature’s face was now riddled with gaping wounds, especially in the spot where Valkas had struck earlier.

Watching the monster raise its stubby arm to crush Valkas, still buried beneath the rubble, Alen quickened his pace, drew his sword back, then—

Slash—!!

Unlike Valkas, who could reinforce his attacks, or Lovia, who relied on sheer speed, or Godon, who wielded raw destructive power.

Alen was a little different.

His slash left behind a trail of flickering stars embedded within the wound itself. Before long, those stars narrowed, collapsing into a thin, slanted line that tore the wound open even further.

Rip—!!!

Spray—!!

Blood sprayed out from the gash. Not as much as with Valkas’s attack, but enough to make the monster shriek and stumble back several steps.

Alen landed atop the rubble burying Valkas. There, he found Valkas struggling hard to dig himself out.

"Ah... damn it, damn it, damn it, my back hurts so bad... Ugh..."

Alen blinked.

"You don’t look hurt at all."

"Of course not, who do you think I am?"

Chuckling, Valkas pulled himself up out of the rock pile. His entire body was covered in dried blood, mixed with dirt and dust that made him wince.

"Damn it, I’m gonna need a ten-hour shower after this. My perfect looks are completely ruined."

Once he’d confirmed Valkas seemed fine, Alen turned his focus back to the ugly-faced monster, and this time he noticed its face scrunching up dramatically inward.

Its massive mouth slowly closed, while its entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

"Huh?"

Twitch—!! Twitch—!!

Its face twitched several more times, then, the next instant, its entire face vanished from where it had been. Its arms and legs sank inward as well, and every part of its body hardened into stone, leaving behind the exact same giant boulder Alen and his friends had used to hide behind earlier.

"....This.... Is it giving up?"

Curious, Alen approached, swinging his sword down hard. His Soul Essence surged, sending the stars scattered across his body spinning wildly.

Explosion—!!

"Ugh...?!"

Alen’s sword simply bounced off, leaving nothing but a shallow, meaningless scratch on the stone.

"What the hell? This thing’s rock solid!"

He stumbled back a few steps.

At that moment, he also saw Valkas testing his own strike. With his pale silver spear, and the air around it shifting, growing heavier and heavier around the blade.

Explosion—!!

"Ah! Damn it!"

The spear shuddered violently, leaving behind nothing but the exact same mark, sending a tremor through Valkas’s whole body, his face twisted in shock and dismay.

"What’s with this defense?! We’re never gonna break through this."

From behind them, Eiros, watching all of this unfold, scratched the back of his head.

"Shouldn’t we just leave now? While the monster’s given up, or... do you two have some habit of feeling excited whenever you’re chased by something like that?"

Eiros’s face shuddered slightly, recalling that chase. It genuinely felt far more terrifying than any horror game he’d ever played—which made sense, of course, given this was reality.

Just as the others finally agreed with Eiros that they should leave right away, the tunnel shook violently once more, this time on a scale far larger than before.

The rocks overhead looked increasingly fragile, and every now and then, chunks of stone, some sizable, came crashing down.

Then, at the same moment, an overpoweringly foul stench shifted the atmosphere around them into something deathly silent and suffocating.

Eiros could see Valkas’s face turning grim, and Alen’s growing considerably paler as well.

"D-damn it...! What now?!"

Off to the side, Lovia spoke up, clutching her stomach, her face hollow. Meanwhile, Godon stared off into the depths of the tunnel, his whole body trembling, though a smile still hung on his face.

"Um... Can I ask something?"

Every gaze turned to Godon, who raised a finger, pointing toward a particular direction, a forced smile plastered on his face, cold sweat pouring down his skin.

"So, what exactly is that thing, moving toward us so fast?"

At first, what Godon had pointed out looked faint, unclear. But the tremors growing stronger, and the stench growing more overpowering by the second, slowly made it click for everyone.

Far off in the distance, a mass of black slime moved like a tentacle. It filled the entire tunnel, destroying anything in its path.

Everyone’s face drained of color almost instantly at the sight.

"W-what do we do?"

Godon’s voice rang out again, and he turned to look at his friends, only to find they’d already run far off in the distance.

His face darkened, disbelieving.

"...What kind of betrayal is this?!!!!"

Then, without a shred of hesitation, without a single curse or complaint, Godon took off running after the rest of them.

His face looked dark and grim.

Godon would remember this as a betrayal he could never forgive. From that day forward, something in him had shifted.

***

"Damn it!"

Several professors, alerted that an emergency had broken out during the first-year evaluation, rushed in to provide backup. But the moment they reached the laboratory entrance, their path was blocked by an endless wall of black slime.

No matter how much they killed, no matter how much they destroyed, the thing simply couldn’t be eliminated at all.

Slash—!!! Explosion—!!! Explosion—!!

Their attacks stretched far into the tunnel, obliterating the slime. For a moment, a path opened up for them to enter, but they couldn’t push through so easily, given the sheer size of the tunnel—they could only carve a hole through its center, while the slime at the edges remained a solid barrier.

In the end, the hole they’d carved sealed itself back up almost as fast as it opened, the slime closing off their entry point once again.

"What in the hell is this thing?!"

It was deeply concerning, given that nearly every first-year student was still trapped inside, with no way out. If this kept up, all of them might end up dead.

Thinking about how devastating that outcome would be only deepened their despair. Enough that a few of the professors started attacking blindly, desperate for any way to force a path through.

Meanwhile, high above, in the sky far past the forest behind the academy, Estiel had managed to push the red-haired girl back, forcing considerable distance between them and that area.

As a result, the place where they’d been fighting had been reduced to ruins. Forests burned to ash, several areas soaked through with a red-colored fluid.

At the same time, a massive whirlwind had formed into a full-blown tornado, dragging every tree in its path along with it.

That was yet another natural disaster summoned by Estiel. A tornado saturated entirely with Soul Essence.

"Hihi~"

Before him, the small red-haired girl spun through the sky, weaving her way around the tornado’s vortex, dodging its relentless pursuit. Her face looked thoroughly entertained as she kept giggling with delight.

"So? What are you going to do now? Hihihi, this is so much fun, hahaha. Those students you’re supposed to be protecting? You can’t save them anymore. Some Tower Keeper of Wisdom you are?! Aren’t you nothing more than a fool who couldn’t save a single one of your students? What a shameeee, hahahaha."

But contrary to whatever the red-haired girl might have expected, Estiel’s face showed not a trace of panic or unease.

"Well, what’s there to be afraid of?"

Estiel smiled, the corners of his mouth curling upward, and for the first time in this entire fight, his smile widened, genuinely amused.

"You know? There’s a reason this generation is so heavily protected by us, just as much as it’s being targeted by all of you."

Within the countless glimpses of the world he’d already seen, among all the possible outcomes, Estiel held complete conviction.

They would survive.

Of course, achieving it without a single casualty would be an incredibly steep hurdle to clear.

***

"H-help...! I don’t want to die, please, I’m begging you! Aerrghhh!!"

A student screamed in panic as the black slime slowly dragged him deeper into the tunnel.

It wasn’t just him—there were so many others. One first-year student after another, having desperately tried to survive, now faced a threat that far exceeded their level of ability.

A handful of capable students might manage to hold out, but how long before they, too, got caught?

Screams of terror rang out through every corridor. Then, once they were dragged deep enough, nothing remained but silence.

A few Radiant-tier professors did everything within their power to protect the students still with them.

But even a professor had their limits.

Then, deep within, in the very heart of that laboratory.

Cray sat there, his body now fully fused with the black slime. His face was the only thing left visible, though barely recognizable anymore. His pupils had turned pitch black, his entire body—no, every part of him had become fully absorbed into that mass of black slime.

A dangerous, nauseating glint flickered in his eyes.

"Hehe... Finally... We’re all here, all of us, together, becoming one, never to be separated again. Just wait a little longer, I’ll bring... our friends... the others... hehehe....!"

His voice rang out thick with madness, twisted and off-key.

***