While Hiroshi dug at the earth with his bloodied pipe, Miyako stared up at him a little stunned. She couldn’t believe that she was hearing those words e from their leader. Retreat was always an option to them. Running away to aown or just further away from the neighborhood. Despite Takako mercilessly expanding and killing, she didn’t seem to push on the opposite side that they couldn’t protebsp; It was a very real solution that escape would have saved them all from their current fate. Ohat they all likely sidered.

  Yet, it was aken. Eve was thought of, it was never an option. It was silently denied before even being brought up. To retreat from their base, their home. It should never have happened.

  More stunned was that she was willing to accept it. She wasn’t firmly against it. Such a realization sank into her deeply. The corrupting feeling wasn’t wele.

  Hiroshi freed part of her. Even while he worked, she fought with any part of her body that was free to keep them babsp; The pain didn’t matter to her. Blood dripped along her body, her wounds reopened. But she was finally free. Her full strength returned allowio pick up one of the students and fling him around over her head before king him into the crowd.

  Miyako gnced over at Hiroshi to see his dition. He had endured repeated attacks just to save her. “Are you sure? Code bck?”

  Nodding with a little reluce, he looked forward at the crowd of enemy soldiers. “Yeah, there’s no other option. Give the signal.”

  Chapter 299 – Bck Signal

  Further away in the rge hollowed out ground, Haruo stared off with Fumiko. His animals provided cover for him, but little in the way of any offense. He analyzed her patterns and attacks. Their time in Atntis gave him little insight in her powers, as they weren’t together most of the time. ‘I was uhe impression from what I saw that she could only cast her magic through her hands, but I’m not seeing that happening. She’s creating magic circles in the air around her. Did her power evolve after the st fight against Glykeria?’ He never learned much from the fight.

  Naturally, Fumiko became more of a recluse in their month-long stay after the fighting ended. He rarely saw her atitude made it clear she had little iion of being friendly with the rest of them. It made him curious to know why she ged so dramatically between when he first met her and after the fighting.

  It meant that he didn’t learn anything about her. And Glykeria was even more mysterious and fusing to uand. He failed on several occasions to try to figure the girl out. It left him with no useful knowledge, not that he expected to have to fight against her ter. If he ever had to fight with her ter on, he wao pn around her powers.

  He summoned several more wolves as fmes ed more of them. Their size diminished greatly from the standard ones he used. However, he just o keep her busy. ‘I practiced summoning these animals often, this much doesn’t seem to have an effee anymore. It’s not like with Teris. However, I’m still no closer to uanding why their size varies so mubsp; I ’t find any sistency.’

  Their battle dragged on with little progress made by either. But it started to be somethiiced. ‘I’m barely holding her back, but I know she’s not limited by this. I’ve heard Seiji tell enough stories to know this is not her limit. Why isn’t she making a more pressing offensive?’ Haruo looked around the area w if his answer y elsewhere, such a hidden attack.

  Nothing stood out to him. She didn’t seem to be up to anything. All around students in biforms, mixed with outsiders, had bee almost a wave of death. They swept through many of the defenders with ruthless effibsp; They had coorditacks and teamwork. ‘I don’t recall them ag like this the first time I saw them fight. What’s ged?’

  “Stand still you coward!” yelled Saki, as she kept trying to ect with Tatsuya. Every fist she threw missed him. Her face twisted with ahe more that she failed.

  Dodging again with fwless precision, Tatsuya smirked a little. “Giverength of those punches I don’t think that’s mutive to let you hit me.” He had to dodge again before she ected. Her speed was nothing to scoff at, despite his casual attitude. “I’m not a fan of sleeping when I’m not tired.”

  “Tatsuya! I’m going to kill you when I get my hands on you!”

  “Still not a reason to stop!”

  Yori still didn’t uand it. Everything he saw in the way they moved should have had Tatsuya eating dirt. His movements weren’t faster than Saki, but she still missed him with every attempt. ‘What is it that he’s doing to stay oep ahead of her the whole time? What is his secret? This is his power isn’t it?’

  Catg her test punch, Tatsuya grinned and delivered a swift ter to her fabsp; It didn’t seem to make her budge at all. “Guess I’m going to have to be more serious. I ’t half-ass it with you, huh? Such a pain.” He wound up several more purying to move her but it was as if she was a wall. The st hit Saki caught with her free hand.

  Barely even marked up on her cheek from the barrage, Saki’s eyes slid over to look at Tatsuya. “You hit like a girl.” Nothing he did made any affe her.

  Fighting a losing battle of strength, Tatsuya only had bravado to hold himself up. “And I thought I had at least graduated to womanhood,” he mocked. His legs pio him along with his back to st to keep up with Saki.

  “You’re nothing like Rheia!” “Who?”

  “A real woman!” Saki suddenly broke free from the power struggle. She disappeared from Tatsuya’s sight and appeared in twin form striking him from two pletely different dires.

  Blood coughed up from his mouth as he flew babsp; “Damn!” His body smmed into the earthen wall of the ruined base. Smoke coughed up around his body.

  “Tatsuya!” Yori yelled in surprise. Everything flipped in an instant. He never saw it happen. Not even a blur of Saki. Only at the end, he saw a shimmering around her body almost as though he was crossed-eyed and she was slightly out of focus.

  While he turo try to assist Tatsuya, Saki appeared behind him. “I’d be more ed about yourself, Yori.” She spun around, throwing Yori into the air with a wide kibsp; Followed up in an instant, she appeared above him spinning her leg down with her heel digging deeply into his stomabsp; Blood sprayed up from his lips dotting Saki’s face.

  Yori crashed into the earth with a crater formed from his impabsp; His body screamed at him from the sheer force of the collision. He tried to move his body, but the earth seemed to take a hold of him. ‘Damn…she’s just too much for either of us…’

  Saki came to a ndio him. Her fingers pressed together f a wedge as she thrust down for his heart. Blood sprayed up across her fabsp; The cold look from her light blue eyes held ion at that moment. However, it quickly ged when she looked closer. ‘Damn, his barrier protected him at the st moment and deflected my hand enough to miss his heart.’ She withdrew her hand from his chest leaving a bleeding hole in his lung. “Don’t think that’ll be enough!” Saki pulled back for atempt.

  A sb of earth flew at Saki knog her off Yori before she could finish. “Don’t fet you’re fighting me,” coughed Tatsuya, appearing out of the smoke. He wiped away the blood from his and walked bato the fight.

  Pulverizing the k on top of her, Saki didn’t look much worse for wear other than a slightly dirtied uniform, though the bck made it difficult to see. “Your turn is after I finish Yori off.”

  “Get used to disappoihen.” He worked up a grin to keep his fiden dispy despite his feelings oter. ‘Damn Saki, since when were you so powerful?’

  Interrupting the fight, a siren bred with all of its might despite being damaged and barely produg the intended sound. However, Tatsuya immediately gnced around. He khe signal. ‘Bbsp; Really, it’s gotten that bad?’

  He didn’t get much time to react as Saki closed in with both of them. Tatsuya intercepted Saki and flipped her to use her speed against her. Reag behind him, he retrieved a strange looking on with a wide barrel. A yellow beam burst out of it the moment he pulled the trigger. The ceiling all around Saki came raining down even heavier than the rock he tossed at her. It pletely buried her. “That should slow her down…” Tatsuya lifted up Yn his wound and rushed out of the area.

  “What…are you…doing?” asked Yori, trying to stay awake.

  “Code Bck has been given. We o get out of here! Hiroshi’s putting ao this battle!”

  Hiroshi and Miyako fought back to back trying to keep the mob babsp; Nearly all of their men had fallen or retreated, by his order. They were the st oanding. “Get the hell out of here, Miyako!”

  “I’ll be damned if I’m letting you do this!” she shouted over pung with her good arm a cled kid. Her foe went flying into the mob. They slowed them down both a lot with all of their powers, but they struggled on together.

  He spun around evading a stoad proteg Miyako. “I’m in charge, dammit! Obey my orders!”

  “To hell with your orders! There’s no way I’m leaving you behind!”

  “Dammit, Miyako! I don’t have time for this!”

  Knog through some of the m to make it to the exit, Tatsuya stumbled across Hiroshi and Miyakuing as much as they were fighting the enemy. “What the hell are you two doing?!”

  Miyako gnced over at the voice to find Tatsuya. “Tatsuya! Good timing!” She pushed Hiroshi down to protect him from an attack that ate into her ribs. Blood quickly pooled up around the wound. O was over, she lifted Hiroshi up with one arm. “Catch!” She tossed Hiroshi through the opening into Tatsuya ign the fact that he already carried someone.

  The ining human ade Tatsuya dud forced Hiroshi to eat dirt. “What the hell, Miyako?!”

  “Take him a out of here! I’ll hahe order!”

  “You ’t!”

  “Someone o stay behind to keep them busy! Now go!”

  Hiroshi recovered quickly, but the mob already started to close the gap and turn towards him. He tried to push through and fight off the crazed mob. “Miyako! Damn you!” Nothing would get him through and their lethality did not ge just because he wanted baside.

  Four shadows suddenly appeared behind Hiroshi. As he looked back, afraid he was surrounded, he saw Miyako’s team, those closest to her. The meook everywhere with her. They were all badly injured and looked like they could barely stand.

  Junichi pushed Hiroshi aside and used his size to break down the wall between them and their boss. C him, Jiro took aim with his finger firing off several quick bursts of purple-red light that struck down two students in the head. Shigeru sshed outward with his arms drawing blood as he fiheir path to their boss.

  Yasuo forced Tatsuya and Hiroshi back towards the exit. “We’ve got this. We’ll look after the boss.”

  Fighting against Tatsuya, Hiroshi tried to go after them. “Let me go, Tatsuya! I’ve got to be the one!”

  Throwing a wake up punch at Hiroshi, Tatsuya floored him in surprise. “You’re the leader, Hiroshi! You have to live and keep hope alive for all of these people! That is the responsibility you’ve taken! I won’t have you abandoning it just because it’s gotten a little hard for you!”

  “Tatsuya…” Hiroshi wiped his mouth a little, surprised to be lectured by Tatsuya.

  Ihe group, Miyako was a seeing her men around her. “Jiro, Junichi, Shigeru, Yasuo…what do you think you’re doing?! I told you to get out of here!”

  They all stood back to back around Miyako. “Sorry, ’t do that boss!”

  Junichi turned around to Miyako. “Sorry boss.”

  “What are you—“ He suddenly picked her up far above the heights of all the swarm around them. Junichi threw her over the crowd as she tried to turn around to grab after them. Her eyes filled with stunned shock to see the determined looks on her men. She knew what they pnned. It was the same thing that she pnned. “You ’t!”

  “ander Hiroshi!” yelled Jiro, “Get the boss out of here! We’ll be the bait!”

  “Jiro! Stop it! Junichi! Shigeru! Yasuo! Guys!”

  “Let us do this, boss. For you, who saved our lives. It’s time we paid back our debt!”

  “NO! You ’t!”

  Tatsuya helped a relut, but finally accepting Hiroshi drag Miyako away. Ohey were ihe escape tunnel, another quake ripped through the whole base. Explosioed everywhere raining down stone and debris upon everyone. The further they went into the tuhe more the ground rocked until a single massive bst ripped through the gigantic hole burning everything.