The Multiverse, Becoming the Mastermind from *The Fruit of Evolution* Chapter 15

"Something's not right!"

Kamuro Masumi, who had been keeping her head down to study the Black Gun's positioning map because she didn't want to deal with Sakayanagi Arisu, suddenly exclaimed.

She held up the screen in her hand:

"Look at this!"

"The red dot on Ryuen's side... there's an extra one all of a sudden!"

Where there should have been only one red dot left, a massive crimson light spot had appeared right beside it.

Furthermore, that light spot was closing in on the green dot representing Ryuen and his group at an incredible speed!

"Isn't it obvious? A hidden monster has spawned!" Sakayanagi said, sounding annoyed.

"A hidden monster?!"

Worried about losing points, Horikita Suzune took off almost instantly, sprinting in that direction.

"Hey! Horikita!"

Kamuro Masumi tried to call out to her, but Horikita didn't listen at all, running even faster.

"Sigh..."

Su Wei let out a sigh and started to follow:

"I'll go take a look; you guys take your time. Don't run too fast, watch your step."

Watching the two of them outrun each other, Kamuro Masumi clicked her tongue:

"These two... they really don't fear death."

"Even though they were almost scared to tears just a moment ago..."

"By the way, aren't you in a hurry?"

She turned her head to look at Sakayanagi Arisu, who was still standing in place, unhurried.

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head:

"What is there to be in a hurry about?"

"Don't underestimate this trial."

"Since it's the grand finale, it's absolutely impossible for it to be as simple as these small fries."

"Sometimes..."

She watched Su Wei's retreating back, unable to hide a hint of anticipation:

"Running too fast isn't necessarily a good thing."

Just as Sakayanagi Arisu had thought, the situation on Ryuen Kakeru's side was indeed not looking good.

It could even be described as... absolutely terrible.

Rewinding the time to two minutes ago.

Upon encountering this final Evil Spirit at the end of the corridor, Ryuen Kakeru hadn't rushed to kill it. Instead, he decisively used the Y-GUN he had traded from Shiina Hiyori, firing a capture net to bind it firmly in place.

"As long as we keep this thing alive, the exam won't end."

"Use this time to find that hidden boss. If we can beat it, we make a huge profit; if we can't, we just kill this Evil Spirit and call it a day."

Advance to attack, retreat to defend.

This plan was well-calculated, and the logic was impeccable.

Yet, just as the Laser Rope tightened and the Evil Spirit was still sizzling with smoke, it happened.

"Clack, clack, clack."

The abrupt sound of leather shoes echoed through the silent corridor of the Old School Building.

Everyone looked toward the sound.

From the shadows of a nearby corner, a middle-aged man in a cheap suit with an unremarkable face walked out as if he were taking a stroll.

He glanced at the bound Evil Spirit, then at the students holding strange weapons, a flicker of confusion crossing his murky eyes.

"Strange..."

The man stood still, expressionless, and muttered to himself:

"This time, there isn't that invisible wall blocking the way."

"Is it because of you?"

As he spoke, the man looked up.

With those dead, lusterless fish-eyes, he stared straight at the group:

"Hey, can you explain this to me?"

"Where, exactly, is this place?"

Looking at the middle-aged man before them, who looked for all the world like an ordinary corporate drone.

Shiranami Chihiro and Shiina Hiyori, experiencing all of this for the first time, froze in shock and suspicion.

Is this exam... dragging unrelated bystanders into the mix?

Is he a teacher? Or a school janitor who wandered in by mistake?

Naturally, they did not voice these thoughts.

Because the auras of the key figures beside them had completely shifted.

Katsuragi Kohei gripped his Black Gun instantly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Ichinose Honami and Ryuen Kakeru exchanged a glance, reading the same answer in each other's eyes.

That strange, eerie calmness.

That inhuman gaze, looking at humans as if they were nothing more than bread.

It was no different from the monster they had encountered at the convenience store during the last exam!

"Heh, found you."

Without hesitation, and without the need for communication.

Ryuen Kakeru instantly raised the Y-GUN he hadn't yet lowered, locked the muzzle onto the man's torso, and pulled the trigger without a second thought!

"Go to hell, monster!"

His logic was clear:

The attack speed of the Parasite's tentacles was indeed ridiculously fast; close-quarters combat meant certain death.

But as long as he used the Laser Rope to pin it in place, even for just a few seconds, the X-GUNs in the hands of Ichinose and Katsuragi would be enough to blast this monster into smithereens!

"Watch out! It's not human!"

Ichinose shouted a warning, her Black Gun beginning to charge in sync with Katsuragi's.

Every reaction was perfect.

But accidents always occur in the smallest of oversights.

"Hum--"

The Y-GUN in Ryuen Kakeru's hand did not fire the second light net as intended.

Instead, several barcode-like scanning beams instantly enveloped the Evil Spirit that had been restrained to the side.

Like a scan-and-print retraction.

The Evil Spirit was teleported away from top to bottom.

Was this a hidden mechanism of the Y-GUN?

Ryuen Kakeru's pupils shrank.

The others were equally caught off guard.

Although Shiina Hiyori and Shiranami Chihiro had hurriedly raised their guns upon hearing Ichinose's warning, and Ichinose and Katsuragi had already begun charging their weapons.

That one or two-second gap, which might be a mere blink of an eye to an ordinary person.

For a biological weapon whose instinct was slaughter...

It was more than enough.

"Though I don't know what this is."

The middle-aged man's facial muscles suddenly twitched in a grotesque manner.

"Since there is hostility..."

"Then I shall clear it away."

Under the terrified gazes of the newcomers.

The man's head bloomed like an opening flower bud, and both his arms split open horizontally, transforming into several tentacles as sharp as blades!

"Swish!"

The shrill whistle of air being torn apart exploded.

"Dodge!!"

Ryuen Kakeru, the quickest to react, let out a roar, and almost in sync with Katsuragi Kohei, instinctively leaped backward.

Yet even though the two of them had made the ultimate reaction, the lightning-fast bone blades still carved deep, bone-revealing wounds into their arms and thighs.

They were already the lucky ones.

"Ah--!!"

Standing in the back row, Shiranami Chihiro and Shiina Hiyori, who had absolutely no combat experience, didn't even have time to fully let out their screams.

Even though their vigilance was at its peak, and even though they held weapons in their hands.

Two tentacles instantly pierced through their chests and abdomens.

There was no overly bloody scene, as the Black Sphere's protection mechanism had triggered the moment they reached the brink of death.

A flash of blue light swept by, and the two girls vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a shocking pool of blood as proof that they had once existed.

"Chihiro!!!"

Watching her close friend die right before her eyes, Ichinose Honami let out a mournful cry.

She had been fortunate enough to dodge the fatal blow, but she was injured nonetheless.

A large portion of her shoulder had been sliced away by a sharp blade, and blood instantly dyed half of her body crimson.

This little angel of Class B displayed astonishing resilience at this moment.

She did not shrink back, nor did she wail.

Within those eyes that were usually as gentle as water, a raging fire began to burn!

"Go to hell!!!"

She aimed directly at the Parasite's head.

Katsuragi, who had been steadying himself against the wall, also completed his charge at this moment.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" *2

Six Gravity Wave Bullets detonated within the narrow corridor.

There were no surprises.

The Parasite, still in the process of retracting its tentacles, had no time to evade.

The immense impact force shattered its skull directly, and the violent energy blasted its entire left side into a pulp of flesh!

A rain of blood showered the sky.