"Boom!"
A light shield appeared beneath Damian's feet, only to shatter instantly as he landed. Both his legs went numb, but at least he could still stand.
He lowered Aria, looking at her with worry: "Aria, are you alright?"
Aria shook her head, her wide eyes fixed on Damian. He couldn't even begin to guess what was running through her mind.
By now, the others had also rushed toward the schoolyard—everyone except Thomas and his group, who were nowhere to be seen.
Bella carried Luis on her back, which was not much different from Damian carrying Aria.
She set Luis down on the ground like one might place a statue, then quickly asked: "What should we do next?!"
But the moment her words fell, the monsters broke through the walls.
They all shared the same horrifying form.
A giant bird beak, jagged and bony, jutted outward—over three meters long, stripped of flesh and any covering.
Their bodies were draped in feathers like real birds. A small head with two empty eye sockets and a pair of sharp, hooked bird legs below it—yet their feet never touched the ground.
What touched the ground instead were their wings.
The wings stretched out from where arms should have been, spanning twice the length of their bodies, making them more than six meters tall. At the tips of those wings were two massive gray human arms, nothing but dry bones wrapped in gray skin.
Under the black-and-red sky, their forms looked even more ghastly.
They filled the schoolyard, gaping their maws wide and shrieking, the echoes resounding so violently that even the withered trees trembled.
At that moment, Mr. C—the man in charge of the school—was being chased to the point of pissing himself. The staff that had always been his symbol of authority was now nothing more than a stick, utterly useless against the monsters.
One of the creatures drove its beak straight through his body, lifting him high into the air. Blood streamed along its beak and into its gaping mouth.
The monster let out a delighted screech.
Its legs suddenly curled, snaring Mr. C, and then it began slicing off chunks of his flesh bit by bit, dragging screams of hopeless agony from him.
His body convulsed from the pain, his expression twisted into something no longer human. But the monsters seemed to revel in it. They swarmed around him, carving his flesh apart. To others, they would have taken a single bite and swallowed, yet with Mr. C, it was as though they relished his meat, wanting to savor it in the slowest, most excruciating way possible.
In the end, Mr. C's cries of agony completely vanished—he was devoured until not even a single bone remained.
Elsewhere, Alat and his group had fallen into dire straits as well.
They had always been powerful bullies, capable of handling Thomas's group without breaking a sweat, yet now, all of their so-called superiority seemed to have evaporated.
They were no different from ordinary students, screaming and running in panic.
Alat's fat body couldn't carry him very far. He stumbled and fell.
At once, a monster's massive arms pinned him down, the weight crushing his chest in an instant. Blood gushed from his mouth in torrents.
The creatures shrieked with glee, swarming over him to drink his blood and tear at his flesh—if anything, treating him even worse than they had Mr. C.
While fleeing with the others, Luis shouted to Damian: "What about Mr. Smith?!"
Damian quickly replied: "The moment everything changed, he suddenly disappeared into thin air!"
Luis adjusted his glasses: "Then it's very likely he wasn't pulled into this place like the rest of us."
No one could escape the encirclement of countless mirrors…
Just then, Bella suddenly yanked Luis to the side. He nearly stumbled and was almost dragged off his feet by the sheer difference in their speed.
A monster plummeted from above where Luis had just been standing, its massive arms clawing the ground as it advanced with terrifyingly long strides. Its gaunt body bent forward, beak thrust toward the humans. And it wasn't alone—monsters surged in from all directions, sealing off every escape route!
"Keep running!" Bella roared, hurling Luis straight toward Damian. Then she spun around and leapt high into the air. The staff in her hand blazed with light, streams of radiant color unfurling around them before surging outward.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions erupted, and in front of them, colors burst forth with a sugary scent like candy. The swirling hues clung to their bodies, making them look like unreal two-dimensional cartoons.
Susan coughed softly, unable to adapt to the haze of colors.
Her voice had partially returned, and she whispered: "Head for the dance studio."
With that, she took the lead, as though she already knew where the room was.
When the dazzling colors finally faded, the four monsters hemmed them in were now glowing in brilliant hues—pink and streaks of other shades scattering across their bodies. Their appearance was no longer as terrifying as before.
They turned around, facing their own kind still charging forward relentlessly.
Bella raised her hand high and shouted: "Alright, my candy warriors, show these ugly monsters your sweetness!"
The warriors' cries didn't grow weaker—they grew even louder, before they lunged forward, throwing themselves into a chaotic brawl against their own kind.
Bella moved with quick, agile steps. She caught Aria's gaze and didn't forget to give her a playful wink.
Aria's eyes widened, her face flushing red.
Standing off to the side, Damian couldn't help but give a wry smile: "Even when she's using her powers, she still has to recite her lines..."
While running alongside him, Luis adjusted his glasses: "It doesn't affect the overall situation. Besides, it's rather cute. You shouldn't complain."
Facing Luis's cold lenses, Damian raised his voice: "I wasn't complaining, I was just making an observation. I think it's cute too!"
Then it struck him—Luis was also part of Team 2, once under Cocona's lead like Bella. Their bond really was quite close.
The group struggled through countless dangers until they reached Building B, only to find the staircase to the second floor completely jammed with monsters.
Everyone froze in shock. Damian muttered, "What the hell, is there some treasure up there? What are these monsters even doing here?"
But the moment his words fell, the monsters turned, their hollow eye sockets like bottomless abysses ready to swallow anyone whole.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
At the same time, the walls around them shattered—the monsters weren't just crowding the staircase, they were also lurking inside the classrooms! Their beaks were smeared with blood as they roared and surged forward to confront the intruders.
They had thought the monsters were all outside hunting down the others, but to their shock, Building B—though seemingly quiet—actually held even more monsters than the outside!
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Leonard had just been dragged into this place.
He looked around—no Tom, no Nerio.
Thinking back, when Nerio pushed the door open just a crack, the Mirror World was triggered. Leonard didn't need to think twice—he knew Nerio had done it on purpose.
Leonard had wanted to ask why, but that didn't seem very sensible. Nerio was the kind of person who could do anything without any reason at all. Lowering his eyes toward the blood-soaked chaos of the schoolyard below, Leonard could only think—Nerio was probably somewhere out there, calmly enjoying the scene.