How To Survive A Cute Ghost Yandere
Chapter 32: Ah, right... I want to rest too

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Ah, right... I want to rest too

Rumble—!! Rumble—!! Rumble—!!

"Ghrgh...!!"

Godon’s body swelled, especially the muscles that writhed beneath his skin. Parts of his body hardened, and stones began flying around him.

Godon had been placed in the mixed class for a reason. It was because his stigmata was a power that let him keep adapting. The environment here, full of hard materials, made his body harden, and at the same time, he had a small measure of control that let him manipulate the stones around him.

Whoosh—!!

Dozens of large stones, charged with soul essence, shot forward like bullets. They slammed into the pathway ahead, and he ignored the panicked, terrified screams of the students behind him.

After some damage had been done to the stone wall, Godon raised his fist and...

Boom—!!

The stone wall was shattered, revealing a hole leading to another corridor.

"This way!" he shouted, then quickly led the way for the students who scrambled to save themselves.

Far behind.

Alen shot forward with his dark blue sword. Stars scattered across his entire body, but his face carried a deep, heavy frown.

The slashes from his sword looked strong and steady, followed by tears left behind by trailing stars.

Valkas himself seemed to be doing fine. The student had extraordinary speed and agility, able to lighten his own weight while adding weight to his own strikes.

Boom—!!

Boom—!!

Each of his strikes shattered the air.

Elsewhere, Lovia moved from place to place. Unlike the others who held the front line, she stayed behind, dealing with every black slime that slipped through.

Some students who got caught were quickly saved, thanks to her agility.

Then, Eiros.

Creak—!!

Slash—!!

’Damn it, what’s going on?’

The black slime never seemed to run out. That wasn’t what surprised him—what surprised him was that he was certain the black slime had stopped functioning earlier.

They had looked dead, only to rise again. Then, strangely, the slimes began moving as though they wanted more attacks landed on them.

It was strange. Especially the way Alen’s face had gone pale. Had something happened again?

Why wouldn’t it end? When would this be over?

"Damn it!"

He flinched, seeing Alen stumble, his face deathly pale. Without a moment’s hesitation, Eiros shot forward and thrust his sword.

Slash—!!

The slime burst, spraying out like thick jelly. Then Eiros used that brief moment to turn and look at Alen.

"Hey, what happened? Why did you suddenly—"

"Vlergh...!"

"....!"

Suddenly, Alen coughed up blood. On her chest, a large gaping wound appeared. It was the mark of a shallow slash, thin like a thread.

"H-hey?!? What happened?! Stay where you are!"

He heard Valkas’s voice as Eiros’s body jerked and turned to look.

"Ugh...!"

Alen also got back up quickly, holding back the pain, and began fighting again, his face covered in cold sweat.

Slash—!! Slash—!!

Leaping here and there, swinging his sword without stopping, Eiros glanced at Alen, who was slowly losing her momentum.

"Go on ahead! Switch with Lovia."

Alen, panting, was about to say something when Lovia appeared, grabbing the back collar of his academy uniform.

"Fall back, idiot."

Then she flung her backward.

The battle raged on once more.

Eiros didn’t know for certain, but he was sure they were getting close to the exit. Still, at the same time, the more exhausted and cornered he became, the harder it was to think clearly about what might happen next.

Could they hold out?

Grit—!!

He bit down on his lip.

Erness was still nowhere to be seen.

Even if Erness would arrive soon, could he really just leave everyone here behind and go?

His breathing grew ragged.

In the middle of a battle like this, he shouldn’t be thinking about so much.

"Hey! Damn it! What’s wrong with you?!"

And then, finally, Eiros heard Valkas’s voice ring out sharply. He turned and found a slime lunging at him.

’Ah.’

Smack—!!

"Khh?!"

Strangely, the thing didn’t grab hold of him. Instead, it slammed into him, sending him flying into a wall with a low, booming crash.

Eiros winced, trying to get up. It wasn’t too bad, so he stood right back up—when, suddenly.

"Ah?"

His side split open with a gaping wound, blood seeping out.

The wound had simply appeared, with no warning and no clear cause. Eiros’s gaze locked onto the black slime, feeling an overwhelming exhaustion wash over him.

Then...

"H-hey! Don’t let that slime touch you, no matter what!"

He shouted with great effort, feeling blood keep spilling from his mouth. He forced himself back up, but it hurt far too much.

And that pain was hard to get used to.

Cold sweat slowly crept across his face.

"A-aaah!!!! P-please, n-no! Someone help me!"

The scream snapped him back to his senses—a student crying out for help. In Eiros’s current state, moving was difficult, but since he had no choice but to keep fighting, he pushed himself up and shot forward, weak as he was.

The slime was almost on the student.

But luckily, he made it in time.

Slash—!!

"Huff..."

Eiros let out a ragged breath at the same moment.

The battle went on like that. Fortunately, some of the students began to adapt, choosing not to simply flee but to help fight back, until the slime monsters’ attacks could finally be slowed. Still, quite a few students ended up injured.

What had started as a fight to escape had turned into a desperate struggle.

"Attack them! We can do this! We can do this!"

"Help! Anyone who can heal, someone’s hurt over here!"

Whoosh—!! Whoosh—!!

Boom—!!

The students turned and began fighting back. Slowly but surely, even the most fearful among them started finding their courage.

They could no longer even remember how much time had passed. Only the tremors, the smell of blood, the screams, and the desperation blurred together into one, forming a rhythm of destruction in the background.

Eiros bit his lip. His wound had already closed, thanks to a supporter whose stigmata was tied to healing.

Through it all, they attacked, fell back, and attacked again, helping each other through the desperation.

Slowly, they drew closer to the exit.

Eiros drew his sword.

He carried out a slash that left behind a trail of red lightning, flickering with a faint, gentle glow.

And just then...

"Found you."

Erness appeared behind him. As always, embracing his body with deep longing.

Eiros flinched—in the middle of the chaos, with his adrenaline spiking so hard, he nearly swung his blade backward. It was close.

His breathing was ragged, his body covered in dust and soot. His exhausted expression was etched with fatigue.

"....."

Erness looked at him in silence.

Then Eiros looked far behind him, where the students were shouting.

"The exit! Over there! The exit’s over there! We can make it!"

Seeing that, he bit his lip.

If he left now, he could rest. But there would be consequences for walking away without fulfilling what was his responsibility.

"Haaah..."

It was pathetic.

He wanted to curse.

"We could just leave."

Then came Erness’s soft voice, whispering in his ear, carrying that familiar scent of winter.

"...You’re exhausted. You can’t do all of this alone, so don’t push yourself."

’True... I could leave... Besides, what more could I even do with a body this worn out?’

"See? No one’s going to try as hard as you. So, just this once, give up, and let’s try harder another day. Once you’re stronger, you’ll be able to do it better."

’Ah, right... I want to rest too. This world... if it’s really headed toward ruin anyway... why does it have to be decided by my hands?’

"Close your eyes, my dear, and... leave the rest to me."

Eiros closed his eyes.

’Yes.’

***