Chapter 8 — Trial by Ruin
The wind howled across the empty schoolyard.
The football field was cracked, torn apart by claw marks and dried bloodstains that refused to fade. Goalposts leaned slightly, rust creeping up their frames.
In the middle of the field stood something that should not exist.
It was massive.
At least eight feet tall.
Two torsos fused together, ribs overlapping like broken armor. One shoulder bulged unnaturally large, the other twisted and elongated. Its spine protruded outward in jagged ridges, and its arms dragged slightly against the ground when it moved.
Its face—
No.
Faces.
Two skulls merged into one mass of torn flesh. Four cloudy eyes opened and closed independently. When it breathed, it sounded like something was choking inside its chest.
Chains wrapped around its torso and wrists, thick steel embedded into the ground with metal stakes.
The creature lifted its head.
And roared.
The sound echoed across the entire campus.
Tokita stood about twenty meters away, hands in his pockets.
Behind him, Kaito, Natsuki, Nezuko, and the blue-haired girl watched from the steps of the building.
Natsuki crossed his arms.
“That’s your trial.”
The creature jerked violently against its chains.
Metal snapped.
One.
Two.
The last chain shattered like glass.
It landed heavily onto the field.
The ground trembled.
Tokita tilted his head slightly.
“So this is what you’ve been keeping under the school, huh?”
Kaito’s voice carried calmly from behind.
“It detects incoming hordes. Its roars change frequency depending on the size of the swarm.”
The creature’s four eyes locked onto Tokita.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Too fast for something that size.
In one explosive burst, it tore across the field, chunks of grass and dirt exploding behind it.
Nezuko gasped.
The creature swung its massive arm.
Tokita didn’t move.
The fist slammed into the ground—
BOOM.
The field cracked.
A shockwave tore through the grass.
Dust and debris exploded upward.
Silence.
The dust slowly cleared.
Tokita was standing on top of the creature’s forearm.
Unharmed.
He looked down at it.
“…You’re kind of slow.”
The creature roared again and jerked its arm upward violently.
Tokita flipped backward mid-air and landed lightly.
The monster charged again, this time grabbing a chunk of broken concrete from the field and hurling it like a cannonball.
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Tokita sidestepped casually.
The concrete exploded against the school wall.
Natsuki scoffed.
“He’s not even trying.”
The monster closed distance again, this time swinging both arms in a crushing embrace meant to pulverize him.
Tokita vanished.
The creature froze.
A split second later—
CRACK.
Its head snapped sideways.
Tokita had appeared at its jaw.
He hadn’t even taken a stance.
Just a casual backhand.
The creature staggered but didn’t fall.
It roared again, this time angrier.
It slammed both fists into the ground repeatedly, ripping up chunks of earth and flinging them everywhere like artillery.
Tokita weaved through the debris effortlessly.
He sighed.
“Okay… I get it.”
The monster lunged.
Tokita stepped forward instead of back.
The moment the creature’s fist descended—
Tokita’s eyes sharpened.
He planted his feet.
And punched.
The impact was not loud.
It was compressed.
Focused.
The air itself seemed to fold inward.
Then—
BOOOOOOM.
The creature’s entire upper body imploded inward before exploding backward.
Its fused torsos separated violently from the force.
The massive body tore across the field like a missile, carving a trench through grass and dirt before slamming into the far goalpost.
The metal goal bent in half.
Silence.
Dust drifted slowly in the wind.
Tokita lowered his fist.
“…You guys keep this thing as a radar?”
Behind him—
No one spoke.
The monster twitched once.
Then went still.
Kaito stared.
The blue-haired girl narrowed her eyes.
Natsuki’s jaw tightened.
Nezuko’s eyes sparkled slightly.
Tokita turned halfway toward them, hands sliding back into his pockets.
“So… that it?”
The wind brushed through his red hair.
Kaito stepped forward slowly.
His expression was no longer amused.
“It wasn’t supposed to end that fast.”
Tokita smirked.
“You said trial.”
Natsuki clicked his tongue.
“…Tch.”
But he wasn’t mocking this time.
He was measuring him.
Kaito’s eyes sharpened.
“Congratulations. You passed.”
Tokita tilted his head.
“That’s it?”
Kaito’s smile returned — but it wasn’t light anymore.
“Oh no.”
He turned slightly toward the school building.
“That was just to measure your physical output.”
The air shifted.
Even Natsuki went quiet.
Kaito’s tone dropped.
“Now we test something else.”
Tokita’s smirk faded slightly.
“…What else?”
Kaito’s eyes gleamed.
“Control.”