Chapter 716 Trapped School VI

Olivia ran from Alex and Evan. A blooming fire flower grew on the floor in front of her. Olivia began to slide to a stop as one of the arms flew out and extinguished it. Olivia continued onwards, ignoring the growing flames around her as Lee Seng's Dark Matter arms continued to hit the flowers.

"What're we doing?" Olivia asked, looking up at Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned towards her. He had grown a sizable amount of cosmic energy mixed with the gray Dark Matter. He lowered the ball towards her, motioning for her to take it. "W-what's gonna happen with that?"

"I don't really know how this is going to work, okay? This is technically my first time doing it, but I'm going to amplify your power enough to dispel the spells!" Lee Seng floated down as his body rocked back and forth. Olivia could see Lee Seng's skin paling. He was betting everything on her dismantling power.

"What if it—"

"It will work!" Lee Seng shouted. "Take it! Please! You're the only one who can—"

"But what if I dismantle us? What if—"

"I believe in you! You can do it!" Lee Seng shouted with all his might. "Go, Evan! Go before I… I… Ack!" Blood flew out of Lee Seng's mouth as his limbs grew heavy. His legs immediately buckled and hit the ground with a loud crash. The gymnasium wood splintered as Lee Seng struggled to hold the concentrated orb up. "Please…!"

"Olivia, no!" Alex began to run towards her. Evan swiped for Alex, but missed him as he watched a blooming fire flower grow beneath Alex's feet. Olivia's eyes turned to look at Alex. Her expression grew wide as she shouted his name.

"Alex!"

Everything happened too fast. A burst of energy surged within Olivia. A strange feeling grew in her head as she screamed Alex's name. Olivia's hands plunged into the orb as she tried to turn. Lee Seng's entire body crashed into the ground as his twelve arms abruptly stopped. The flowers bloomed, glowing bright white as Olivia reached for Alex.

"Nooo!"

--

There was an endless horde of flaming purple skulls. Manny huffed as he stumbled backwards. He had managed to kill over twenty of them, but they continued to play the game of back and forth. Manny would attack and sap them but they would sap him back. The skulls had the number on him and Manny was starting to think it was a bad idea to split up.

'Why can't I talk to anyone?' Manny thought. He ran for his life as the purple skulls rushed after him. They had successfully blocked him from descending the stairs multiple times. Each time Manny would try to do it, he would only meet another skull waiting to sap him!

Manny cursed as he rounded the corner for the nth time. Another flaming skull was there waiting for him, but something was different now. The flaming skulls had gone from a purple color to a bright red-orange color.

"What's happening?" Manny asked.

"SKRAWWW!" A skull flew at Manny, exploding and sending him backwards. Manny slammed against the wall as the windows shattered. Skulls began to glow red-orange and scream the same scream as the others.

'Dammit they—'

A bright white light rippled all around him as the skulls swarmed him. The skulls cracked, breaking into dust as they fell. Flames turned to air and the building began to shake. The walls, ceilings and lockers were all starting to rip away.

'What is that?' Manny asked.

"What the hell is that energy?" A strange voice asked. Manny clutched his wound, pouring some energy into him. A small group of high school students rounded the corner, noticing Manny. "Who's that?" The uniforms immediately made Manny push himself off the wall and stumble over to the students.

"Hey! He's bleeding!" A female student pointed out.

"Are you okay?" Male student 1 asked. Manny winced in pain. He had drained too much energy and now felt bloodthirsty. The students looked at him as the white lights disappeared.

'Need… Energy.' Manny thought. He stumbled towards the first student, reaching for them. 'I need…' A bolt of lightning flew out, hitting Manny in the back and knocking him over. The students screeched as Liz flew down the hall. The purple psionic energy dissipated as she landed next to Manny.

"You overdid it again." Liz shook her head. She looked up at the high schoolers, noticing how scared they were. Some of the students managed to gather their courage and ready themselves to fight her. She lifted her hands. "I'm not here to hurt you."

'Oh my god! Olivia!' Evan's voice shouted in Liz's head. She shook past it. 'What do we do? S-she and Lee Seng have passed out!'

'I can hear you guys, again!' Ritsuka shouted with glee. 'There's a whole bunch of people roaming the school. Did something happen to the spell?'

"What's wrong?" Liz asked. "Did something happen to Olivia and Lee Seng?"

'No time to explain! Get out before we're trapped again!' Evan shouted.

"We don't know what's going on." Male student 2 spoke up. He drew Liz's attention. He bravely stepped forward, shielding the others from her. "W-who are you? What do you want with us? Do you want to take one of us?"

"What? No!" Liz shook her head. "Get out while you can! The spell's been lifted."

"The spell?" The students mumbled between each other.

"Hurry!" Liz motioned. She moved to kneel beside Manny and muttered how much this sucked as students began to shout and flee. Liz began to pick him up as a teacher rounded the corner.

"W-what's going on?" The teacher rushed to help her. The two of them hoisted Manny up and looked at each other.

"The spell's been broken. We can leave." Liz told the teacher.

"L-let's go!"

Students, teachers and random people began to explode out of the school building. A strange mystical energy began to flicker as the building began to crumble. Ritsuka landed on the first floor and noticed a teacher looking around frantically.

"what's going on?" Emory asked.

"Get out before the place crumbles!" Ritsuka told her. Three kids hid behind the woman. They looked at him in fear as a large piece of the ceiling flew down at them. Void energy burst forth, turning the ceiling to dust as the kids began to cry. "C'mon, I can get us out safely!" A black void grew on the floor. Ritsuka moved over to the teacher and motioned.

"Is-is it safe? W-who are you?" Emory asked.

"I'm an adventurer. I'm here to help you guys." The building shook as another large chunk flew at them. The kids screamed as Ritsuka looked upwards. Obsidian Glass formed in his hand as the large void opening flew above them and pushed downwards on them. Ritsuka, Emory and the three kids were now in the Void. The kids cried as three purple marks grew on Ritsuka's face.

"Where are we?" Emory asked.

"In a safe place. I made this place. I know I should take you out first but there's more people I need to save. You'll be safe here. I need to go above and find Lee Seng and the others."

"Lee Seng? Are you his friend?" Emory asked. Ritsuka nodded. "Good! T-there was a note, uh…" She patted herself for it and found it in her burnt cardigan sweater. She handed it over to Ritsuka.

"Don't worry, ma'am." Ritsuka smiled. "Our job is to make sure whoever did this pays for it. But for now, you need to console the children, okay? It may be void down here but you're safer here than out there. I'm going to find my friends and other people and send them down here. I hate to leave you, but this is the best I can do for all of us."

Ritsuka looked up and started to disappear. Emory screamed for him, trying to grab him. Ritsuka, her only hope, had disappeared, leaving her and the children in a void-filled room. The kids cried louder, pulling her attention. Emory steeled herself. She would have to believe the adventurer. She would have to brave the darkness all around them and protect the kids. Protect them until they are outside!

Ritsuka appeared further than he anticipated. Void walking was much easier but navigating in a place with snaking halls was difficult.