CH. 113 - An Attack at the Camp

Later, while the class is still split to do their own things and well after the sun has set and the night has taken over, Shiori, Hikigaya, Chizuru, Touma and Alice hangout in the mess hall playing a board game.

“What do you think the others are doing right now?” Hikigaya asks as Touma shrugs.

“Hopefully nothing too exciting. I want to be a part of all the action.” Alice says, obviously quite bored with this game they’re playing.

“You gotta learn how to value the slow times in life. Especially if you plan on being our sidekick..” Shiori says softly with a smirk as Alice lights up. She then sits up straight and happily.

“Right! Enjoying the boring things in life starts now!” She says proudly. Chizuru sweats at her words.

“She said slow, not boring.. I like this game..” Chizuru mumbles when suddenly the lights shut off in the mess hall. Chizuru and Alice yelp in fear, grabbing onto Touma and Hikigaya, as the others look around, confused.

“What the..?” Hikigaya says.

“Y-you think this happens often?.” Touma asks.

“If it did, the chef lady probably would’ve come out and gathered us by now.. but they’re not even in the building anymore..” Shiori says with a sharp gaze as she examines the rest of the hall with heat sensing eyes, looking through the wall but finding no human heat signatures near them. Touma sweats as Chizuru holds his arm tightly and Alice does the same to Hikigaya.

“W-w-what should we do?” Alice asks fearfully. Hikigaya stays focused when he notices a glow coming through the windows from outside.

“Look. Something’s glowing brightly over there.” He points out. They all look over and see the same orange glow.

“Should we check it out?.” Chizuru asks softly.

“Beats staying in here.” Shiori says as they get up and leave the mess hall through the front door. The five of them stick together as they step outside into the chilled air. They see small candles forming a path down and around a bend, leading to the orange glow. They look at each other before nodding and deciding to follow. As they walk down the path a bit, they notice another candlelit path coming from the cabin. 

“Look.” Touma points out.

“Thank Cos.. It’s the others.” Chizuru says in relief as they see some of the others approaching them.

“What’s up, guys?” Lucy says casually.

“What do you think’s going on?” Hisana asks, a bit nervous.

“No idea, but at least we’re together, right?” Alice says, feeling a bit more confident now that there’s more of them, trying to put on a bold face.

“Where are the others?” Hikigaya asks as Kitaro shrugs.

“Oh no! The monster ate them!” Alice shouts as she puts her hands on her head.

“Monster!?” Airi asks in fear before Hikigaya smacks Alice on the back of the head angrily.

“Stop spouting nonsense just to scare people!” he shouts before huffing. “No. There is no monster. Let’s just follow this path and see where it leads us.” He says while walking away slightly irritated as Alice smiles with a tear in her eye and a bump on her head. The group follows the dimly lit path leading to the glow, and as they get closer, they notice the glow’s source is a large fire burning. They stop by what seems to be an entranceway leading to a campfire site. Kitaro looks over and notices figures standing by the campfire. Due to the darkness around them and the bright fire burning, no one can make out anything about the dark figures.

“Check it out.” Kitaro says, nodding towards the figures. The others look with sharp eyes. Chizuru slowly steps out from behind Touma and squints a little.

“Is that..?” she says softly. Alice crosses her arms and nods confidently.

“Yep. It’s definitely the monster.” She says. Hikigaya grits his teeth.

“There is no monster!” He shouts. His loud voice seems to catch the figure's attention as one looks over. It then turns their way and starts running at them. Some of the others get a little nervous as Hikigaya steps forward.

“You all stay here. I’ll handle this.” he says confidently as she steps towards the charging figure with a clenched fist. “Here we go..” he says under his breath. Hikigaya stomps forward with a firm pace as the figure runs right at him, but as it does, the tall figure lifts up its arms.

“Hiki~!” he shouts happily. Hikigaya suddenly stops with a shocked look, only for Haru to jump up and latch himself onto Hikigaya’s face while laughing. “You’ve never come to give me a hug before! I love you too, man!” Haru says happily, hugging onto Hikigaya tightly as he tries to remove him. The group instantly calms down as Sugawara makes his way to them from the campfire.

“Haru? Sugawara? Is this all your doing?” Shiori asks.

“Huh? You mean the paths? No way. It’s theirs.” Sugawara says while turning around to point at the three staff members now standing before the campfire.

“Nice of you to finally join us! Now we can get started with our ‘Scary Tales from Around the Campfire’ tradition!” The staff member says excitedly as the whole group sweatdrops.

“That’s it??” they shout together.

“What was with the weird path??” Airi asks.

“And what’s with all the lights going out??” Chizuru shouts too. The other staff member smirks at them.

“We had to set the mood. Now get over here and get comfortable!” She says.

“We got blankets and marshmallows if you would like some, and once you’re ready, get over here and tell us your best stories!” They say with an excited look as the entire class gathers around the fire, some of them covering themselves in blankets and others chowing down on their roasted marshmallows. 

“Alright everyone, let’s get started with these stories. Dig deep into your imagination for the scariest campfire story you can conjure up. Or retell one from your childhood! Any volunteers?” The class sits silently for a moment until Suiyoubi raises her hand from one of the log seats.

“How about I tell a story?” She offers.

“Wonderful! Surely you’ve got some great stories to tell!” he says happily. Suiyoubi nods before she stands up and faces the class in front of the fire. The staff take a seat next to each other on a separate log bench. Suiyoubi takes a deep breath before smiling at her friends.

“Okay.. Long ago in a deep, dark forest just like this one, resided a small village…” she begins. As she speaks, we look up at the sky. It is clear, save for a few clouds floating far between. The moon shines brightly in the sky as it’s almost full, casting a crisp blue light over the entire forest.

In the nature hall, one of the staff members who welcomed the students into the camp, turns off the lights to the building, leaving only one outside light on.

As he does, out of the tree line behind him steps a man. A large man in a prison jumpsuit with a black bandana covering his eyes and the top of his head. He chews something as blood drips from the corner of his mouth. In his hand, he holds the head of a deer by its one remaining antler. He looks over and sees the staff locking the back door to the building before he drops the deer head and steps towards the building. The staff member locks the door with a subtle whistle before turning around, but stops when he sees the towering man standing over him.

“Oh, h-hi. What are you doing here?” He asks, a little startled when he sees the large prisoner standing in front of him. Before he can say or even think anything else, the prisoner smashes the staff’s head against the wall, splattering it everywhere. The prisoner then turns and looks over to see the rest of the camp. He stares for a moment before stomping his way towards it.

In the mess hall, the chef lady cleans up along with a couple other kitchen staff when Samuel steps through the door, the lights now back on. The chef looks over with a smile.

“Cold night, huh?” She asks.

“Yeah, colder than I was expecting.” Samuel responds with a smile as she rubs her hands together.

“Well, get in here. What can I get ya?” the chef asks.

“Oh no, you don’t have to get me anything. I’m just waiting for when my class comes back.” Samuel says with a smile.

“Nonsense! Here, let me at least get you a cup of my famous hot coco.” The chef says, turning away from the window and preparing a cup as Samuel smiles and sighs. She sits down at the main table and looks over by the fireplace where many photos are framed on the wall around it. One catches her eye as she gets up to look at it. She stares for a moment before calling to another staff member mopping the floor beside her. 

“Hey, when did you guys frame this?” Samuel asks, still looking at the picture. The staff member looks up with a smile.

“Oh, we try to get them up as soon as possible after we take them. Pretty neat, right?” He says softly. Samuel looks back with a soft smile at the picture of her class all together in front of the camp sign the night they got in. “We like to remember all the classes that come up here and spend time with us.” The staff says. Samuel smiles warmly as she stares at her class, all happy and excited for the trip ahead.

“Could I.. get a copy of this?” Samuel asks. The staff member smiles.

“Of course. I’ll go get one right now.” He says as he steps away through a back door. Samuel looks at the picture with a caring expression for a moment more but is suddenly shocked when there is a loud crashing noise from the front of the mess hall. Samuel rushes around the corner but immediately stops when the upper half of a staff member’s torso is tossed in front of her. She gasps with wide eyes before covering her mouth and quickly looking away. She slowly looks up to see the prisoner standing before her. He takes one step towards Samuel before someone shouts.

“Hey!” the large chef shouts before slamming a metal pan against the side of his head. He slowly looks at her when one of the kitchen staff points a rifle at him and fires immediately. Samuel covers her ears from the bang echoing in the building as the bullet hits the prisoner in the face but only slightly scrapes and bruises his cheek.

“Run, girl, run!” The chef shouts as Samuel snaps back to focus and turns to run away. The prisoner looks at her and steps to follow her, ignoring the chef and staff member with a gun. “Get back here, you bastard!” She shouts as she draws a large hunter’s knife from her ankle. “I’m gonna gut you and serve you on a shit stained platter!” She shouts. The staff member fires another round at the back of his head, causing him to turn around. As soon as he does, the chef thrusts her knife at his face, but he leans back a bit, the knife cutting his other cheek just a little. As soon as it does, he throws a heavy punch directly into the stomach of the chef. The sound of crunching bones and crushing flesh can be heard, causing her to keel over and cough out a lot of blood. 

“Gale!” the staff shouts before quickly pointing the rifle at the prisoner and firing again and again, each bullet leaving only minor grazes upon him. He steps towards the staff member before crushing the barrel of the rifle, causing the gun to backfire and explode in the staff member’s hand. He shouts in pain when the prisoner’s large hand reaches through the smoke and grabs onto the staff member’s neck. Only a moment passes as the staff member grunts before a crunching sound is heard, the staff’s body going limp.

The prisoner turns and steps in front of the chef, who is on her knees, holding her stomach in pain. She sweats as she looks up to see the prisoner lifting his fist above her head. He swings it down heavily in an attempt to crush her, but swiftly, she thrusts the knife into the prisoner’s body, stopping his swing. Her eyes grow wide when she realizes the knife stops just a few centimeters into his body.

“What are you?.. Made of steel or something?..” she asks with a pained voice. The prisoner then grabs her wrists with both of his hands and lifts her up effortlessly. She drops the knife as it hits the ground with a metal clank.

“I have no respect for the strong. Only the bodies.” He says before pulling her arms apart, her scream echoing through the woods as the sound of spilling blood follows.

By the campfire, the class watches Suiyoubi closely, a few even spooked by her story, as she continues. 

“And once they got inside, they hid. The darkness surrounding them like a deep mist as they only listen to the thumping of the-” she says before being startled by the gunshots ringing out. Everyone jumps a little before looking around in shock.

“What was that?” Airi asks.

“Sounds like…” Sugawara starts as Shiori and Hikigaya look at each other.

“Gunshots.” Shiori says softly. The staff stand up and start to collect the class when a voice calls out to them.

“Kids! Run! Run away!” Samuel shouts as she runs towards them. Fear lines her eyes and desperation sounds in her voice. The class’s eyes widen as they look at her when a booming thud is heard right behind her. The prisoner lands from the air behind her as the ground beneath him crushes. Samuel stumbles as she runs for her class, screaming for them to run, and the prisoner pulls his arm back, preparing to swing it at her. Every student watches with terror in their eyes, wanting to move, to do something, but it all feels like it’s happening in slow motion. No one is fast enough to save her.

Except two.

As Samuel runs towards the class, suddenly Shiori and Hikigaya rush to both sides of her, pulling back and preparing a combo attack. The prisoner’s eyes widen a bit as they both launch heavy punches into his body. He grunts for a moment before being launched back, smashing into multiple trees behind him. Samuel stops with a surprised look and looks back at them. The group looks worried and concerned as the others all watch them in shock. 

“You feel it?” Hikigaya asks with intense eyes.

“Yeah..” Shiori responds as she sweats and stares intensely in the prisoner’s direction. “He’s stronger than Spark..!” Out of the smoke and dust, the prisoner steps forth, almost completely unphased by their attack. Shiori sweats as she turns to face the class. “Everybody, get out of here! Run!” she shouts. Samuel quickly grabs her wrist and tries to pull them along.

“Let’s go!” She says before Shiori pulls away from her grasp.

“No, you need to protect the others. Go! We’ll hold him off-” she says when suddenly, as her face is turned, a rail spike shoots right at her head with immense speed. Before it can hit her, Hikigaya catches it as Shiori turns to face him. The prisoner lifts his head a little in surprise as Hikigaya lifts the spike in front of him with an enraged look, crushing the rail spike in his grasp. Shiori waves off Samuel before focusing her attention on the prisoner. Samuel looks upset but collects the class and rushes away with them and the staff.

“So tell us, what’s your name? You working for the Devil’s Syndicate? Trying to get revenge or something?” Shiori asks, stalling for time while also searching for reason within the sudden attack.

“I don’t tell corpses my name.” The prisoner responds. Hikigaya and Shiori both grit their teeth and sweat a bit at his response. 

“At least tell us why you’re attacking us!” Hikigaya shouts, again stalling for time.

“Life has no value. Only death matters.” He lowers his head a bit without releasing his gaze from them. “I have no respect for the strong.” He says before quickly forging two rail spikes in his hands and charging them.

Hikigaya bolts forward as Shiori lifts her hands above her head. With a shout and a crack of thunder, she swings her arms down as a bolt of lightning surges from the sky. The prisoner thrusts one of the rail spikes above his head as the lightning collides with it, deflecting the attack. With the other fist, he collides with Hikigaya’s fist, causing a large shockwave from the impact. Hikigaya’s arm cracks a bit before spurting blood out, causing him to shout in pain.

Before he can fully shout, the prisoner grabs his face and slams it into the ground with intense force. He then lunges off of him and charges past him and in Shiori’s direction. She forges her sword in her hands and swings it down, but with the spike in hand, he blocks the blade in his palm before countering with a strong punch across her face. She stumbles back but quickly spins around, preparing for more fight, but her eyes grow wide when she realizes the prisoner isn’t in front of her anymore. She quickly turns and sees him bolting away from her and in the direction the class just went.

Shiori quickly forms two glowing titanium colored whips around her hands and snaps them at the prisoner, wrapping around his neck and wrist, stopping him. She struggles to pull him back as she slides across the ground, digging into the dirt as he continues to pull in that direction.

“What are.. You doing.!? The fight is here..!” Shiori groans as she holds him back.

“This fight.. taking too long.. The weak are that way.. Easier bodies to stack.” He chokes out as the whip around his neck tightens.

Suddenly, he slams his foot down and twists powerfully, causing Shiori to go flying towards him. He twists back with intense speed as he slams his arm into her face, clotheslining her. As soon as he completely spins, Hikigaya delivers a devastating uppercut to his chin, causing him to lift into the air and rattling him a bit. Before he can hit the ground again, Hikigaya grabs his orange jumpsuit and slams him overhead into the ground headfirst.

Slamming right on his neck, the prisoner bleeds a bit from his mouth. He collapses onto the ground before getting back up to one knee. He looks up only to be met by a pair of boots blasting his way before colliding with his face. Hikigaya dropkicks the man hard, causing him to go flying back. Hikigaya flips back up and stares angrily at the prisoner. 

“We are not letting you hurt them!” He shouts intensely as the prisoner sits up with a bloody nose. 

“You’re going to have to hit harder than that.” He says with a plain expression.

Suddenly, he jumps high into the air as the same liquid metal he uses to form his spikes begins to pool in both of his hands. He lifts them above his head as a huge rail spike begins to form, one about three times the size of the giant man. Hikigaya grits his teeth as he stares at it. The prisoner then launches the massive spike directly at Hikigaya with alarming speed. 

“Hikigaya! Move!” Shiori shouts as Hikigaya growls, his back and arms getting bigger and more muscular as he covers his arms with a bone exoskeleton. He shouts as he slams his hands into the rail spike before smashing into the ground along with Hikigaya, causing a massive burst under the ground, rattling the surrounding area. The class hides by the main office building of the camp as they stumble from the force of the impact. Samuel immediately pulls out her phone and begins calling for emergency services, shaking a bit but trying to stay focused. 

“Ms. Samuel! We have to go back and help them!” Alice shouts with a desperate look.

“We can’t leave them there to fight that thing alone!” Sugawara shouts too. Samuel looks at them with a sharp, scared look.

“And what do you expect us to do?? I don’t know how they have powers or why they’re as strong as they are, but I refuse to let any more of you put yourselves in danger! You are my students and I am your teacher! I protect you!” She shouts in a combination of fear, anxiety, and stress as the EMS answers the phone. Samuel turns away from them a bit to talk to the EMS responder as the class looks terrified and worried.

“What should we do?” Alice asks with a panicked look, rubbing her hair with her hands.

“You know she’s right! What would we do to him? We’re not like them! We’d just get in the way!” Haru says with a worried look on his face as Alice gets a conflicted one. “Look, I get it. I don’t want my friends to get hurt either, but we are weak. We can’t help them. The best we can do is stay as far away as possible.” He says with an upset look as the rest of the class understands.

“So they’re like superheroes or something?” Daiki asks, trying to distract from their current situation.

“They have power, a lot of it. They’ll definitely be okay, I know it!” Chizuru says, trying to lift their spirits. Alice’s face brightens just a bit.

“Yeah, you’re right. If anyone can beat this guy it’s Fullsky and Watchdog!” Alice shouts when suddenly, a few spikes of varying sizes stab into the building around them, one of them shooting straight through the head of a staff member with them and another cutting across Samuel’s cheek badly, destroying her phone. The class screams in fear as they cover their heads from the debris and awful sight. They look over to see the prisoner making his way towards them. He grunts a bit as he stomps towards them, dragging the ball and chain behind him. Despite her bleeding, Samuel quickly pushes the class behind her without shifting her gaze from him or acknowledging the wound on her face. 

“You die later. Bring me the weak one first.” The prisoner says, looking right at her. Samuel grits her teeth as she trembles, but her look of determination doesn’t falter.

“I won’t abandon them! Protecting these kids is my one duty! I won’t let you hurt them!” She shouts as they continue to back up. 

“Prolonging their lives won’t bring value to yours. Nothing will.” The prisoner says coldly when suddenly, Shiori kicks out his knee from behind, causing him to fall to one knee. She then quickly uppercuts him before striking him across the face, left then immediately right in quick succession. Without removing his gaze from the class, or specifically one person in the class, he speaks.

“Bring me-” he says before Shiori strikes him across the face a couple more times, but he snaps his attention back to the class after each punch. “The weak one.” He says as the class stares with worried looks. Chizuru gets a frightened look as if realizing something, while Shiori grits her teeth in anger. She pulls back her fist as it glows a pink hue.

“Sakura Bulb!” she shouts before driving her fist deep into the prisoner’s stomach, delivering a massive force with the burst of energy. The prisoner pukes up a pool of blood as Shiori stumbles back. She winces as her arm makes cracking sounds. Her eyes widen as the prisoner backhands her with intense strength, sending her tumbling across the ground. The prisoner takes one step, but as soon as he does, Hikigaya stomps the back of his head into the dirt with intense speed.

The prisoner lifts his head with a grunt, but the moment he does, Hikigaya follows up with a heavy punch directly in the center of his face. The prisoner flies back for a moment but catches himself with his leg before forming a long rail spike in his hand and swinging it at Hikigaya with blistering speed. It strikes him across the face with a metallic bang. Blood flies from Hikigaya’s face as he stumbles over. The prisoner quickly follows up with a heavy punch across his face in the opposite direction before swiftly punching him in the stomach. Hikigaya coughs out blood as the prisoner lifts his arms above his head. Chizuru shuts her eyes and covers her head with her hands, with a terrified but conflicted look on her face. Hikigaya is stunned and unable to defend himself as the prisoner swings his big arms upon Hikigaya’s body, slamming him into the ground, crushing it beneath him and exploding a cloud of dirt and dust.

The class covers themselves from the debris with Samuel stepping in front of them, trying her best to shield them too. Her eyes widen as the prisoner comes bolting from the dust cloud directly at them. She doesn’t falter, however. She stands in front of the class, arms outstretched in an attempt to offer herself first before the class when suddenly, Chizuru runs out from the group and in another direction. The prisoner’s eyes immediately follow her as he turns and runs towards her. Samuel turns her head to them with a shocked look.

“Chizuru, no!” she screams as the prisoner lifts his arm above his head with a spike in hand. Chizuru’s eyes grow wide as she looks back. The prisoner swings down with tremendous force, but before he can hit her, Alice grabs Chizuru and jumps out of the way, the prisoner’s fist slamming into the ground behind them. They tumble on the ground a bit as the prisoner looks up, surprised. Suddenly, a black tail wraps around his wrist before yanking him into the air. Shiori swings him around and slams him directly into a large tree. He grunts as he begins to fall, but then a fist flies at him, punching his face back into the tree. Then another and another. Shiori begins a barrage of punches against the prisoner’s body in the air, her arms extending like Hikigaya’s do for each punch. As she assaults the prisoner, Alice looks at Chizuru with a confused and upset look.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Why did you do that?!” Alice shouts.

“It’s me! He wants me!” Chizuru shouts with tears in her eyes and fear across her face. Alice’s face suddenly shifts to one of surprise yet understanding. She gets a determined look.

“Then let’s play keep away.” Alice says with a fearful smirk. Chizuru nods with her scared but determined look. They quickly get up and begin running as Touma notices. With no hesitation, he bolts after them. Haru watches them for a moment before grabbing the dirt, clenching his fists tightly.

“not this time..” He says under his breath before chasing after them too. Sugawara gets a shocked look before trying to get up and chase after him.

“Haru, don’t!” He shouts. Before he can chase, Samuel wraps her arms around him.

“No! You are not leaving! Come on, everyone run!” She commands as the rest of the class runs in another direction.