What the hell is this?

Duanmu Huai was also a battle-hardened veteran with rich experience. Facing the sudden attack, he raised his hands directly in front of him, then felt like a thick whip struck his arm and bounced off. Frantically, Duanmu Huai reached out to grab... but caught nothing.

"Ahahaha!"

At the same time, Mianmu Zuoniao seemed to be under attack too, but, fittingly for a sword player, she smirked, dodging to the side, seemingly evading the attack effortlessly. Then she swiftly drew out a sword blade and hacked to the side!

"Splat—!"

A sound like cutting something resounded, yet nothing still appeared.

"Ahahahaha, incredible, it feels like something's there!"

At this moment, Mianmu Zuoniao seemed not to feel fear but rather the excitement of a child who has found a new toy... Well, it's not surprising, really.

But the problem is, where is that thing?

Duanmu Huai was certain they were under attack, yet he couldn't see the opponent at all, even using Thousand Eyes. This meant the thing was invisible across all dimensional levels?

Thankfully, at least the system was helpful, as Duanmu Huai could see words like [???'s Tentacles] floating in the air—at least he could use these markers to roughly gauge the opponent's position.

What the hell is this thing?

"Whoosh—!"

The invisible force lunged at Duanmu Huai again. But this time, Duanmu Huai merely posed in readiness, holding his ground. Quickly, he felt a tentacle thick as an elephant's trunk wrap around his body.

Good, now's the time!

As he was entwined, Duanmu Huai's hands shot forward, clutching the tentacle tightly like a tug-of-war, then fiercely tugging it towards him!

"Bang Crash!!"

The tables, chairs, and miscellany scattered before him flew as if hit by something, while Duanmu Huai clenched his fist tight again and swung hard forward!

"Boom!!!"

This time, Duanmu Huai felt his fist land solidly on something with a texture like a robust, heavy tire. However, this was of no concern to Duanmu Huai. His fist ripped through it like tearing tissue paper, penetrating within, and the intense shockwave erupted, shattering the invisible monster in an instant.

But it wasn't over yet, as Duanmu Huai sensed more wind moving around him!

"Ahahaha, ahahahaha, ahahahahahaha!!"

Simultaneously, Mianmu Zuoniao was dodging attacks left and right, waving her sword seemingly at random around her.

"Really can't see it, how intriguing! Here? Here? Or here?"

As she said this, she leaped up and tumbled to the side, narrowly evading the attack. However, Duanmu Huai saw several markers for [???'s Tentacles] now appearing around Mianmu Zuoniao from all directions!

Sure enough, as Mianmu Zuoniao swung the sharp blade down again, her sword-wielding right hand was suddenly lifted high—as if it was caught and raised by something.

"Oh my?"

Mianmu Zuoniao curiously tilted her head, staring at her lifted hand as if she couldn't understand why it was raised. Then suddenly, her body flinched, her shoulder ripped open, blood spurting—it vanished into the air.

At that moment, Duanmu Huai finally took action.

"Hah—!"

Duanmu Huai clenched his fist, roared, and punched the ground. With a powerful airwave, a violent shockwave surged forward, flinging tables, chairs, and debris ahead. The debris flew out like cannonballs, hitting the seemingly empty air with a "bing bang" sound, prompting the opponents to let go, dropping Mianmu Zuoniao, and then... Duanmu Huai only felt a breeze pass by, accompanied by an eerie snicker, as some—possibly a group of—things rushed out the door, disappearing without a trace.

Although Duanmu Huai quickly attempted to summon tentacles to enclose the area, he couldn't see, and thus couldn't accurately pinpoint the target. All he could perceive was the tentacles seeming to brush against them, yet unable to capture them—they vanished like fishes slipping through a net.

"Tch, what the hell is this?"

Duanmu Huai furrowed his brows in annoyance. He wasn't unprepared mentally, but this thing came too suddenly, with strange characteristics. Even with Thousand Eyes, he couldn't see its form in any dimension. Was it invisible across all dimensions?

Forget it, set it aside for now.

Duanmu Huai cleared his head and approached Mianmu Zuoniao.

"Are you alright?"

"......…"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Mianmu Zuoniao raised her hand while lying on the ground, then flipped up like a hawk.

"Ahahaha! So much fun~~~ it was awesome!"

Then, the girl before him cheered like she'd just ridden a roller coaster.

"Didn't expect there'd be something so fun in the world, Zuoniao wants to hack it to death... or maybe stab it? Hmm? Which do you think is better, sensei?"

As she spoke, Mianmu Zuoniao stared unblinkingly at Duanmu Huai. Seeing her like this, Duanmu Huai realized why the petite girl would say she didn't seem human; she hardly blinked at all. Her eyes were wide open all the time, yet it didn't seem like she was looking at anything. Just like now, she was clearly staring at Duanmu Huai while speaking, but it felt as if she was spacing out and looking elsewhere.

"You can do whatever you want, by the way, is your wound okay?"

"It's fine, a small bite, uh... is it time to get a rabies shot?"

Mianmu Zuoniao shrugged her shoulders, still looking nonchalant.

"Anyway, let's bandage it first."

Duanmu Huai threw another appraisal at Mianmu Zuoniao to be sure there were no signs of poisoning or infection, then retracted his thoughts. Mianmu Zuoniao extended her hand, took out a handkerchief from her bosom, and handed it over.

"Help me bandage it."

"?"

Seeing Mianmu Zuoniao hand him the handkerchief, Duanmu Huai was taken aback for a moment. However, before he could speak, she took the handkerchief back and started bandaging herself.

"???"

Watching the girl hum a song, twirl in circles, and simultaneously bandage her wound, Duanmu Huai was utterly confused.

Well, he had already thought she wasn't a normal person.

So Duanmu Huai stopped paying attention to Mianmu Zuoniao, who was bandaging herself while spinning, and continued to check the air-raid shelter.

Based on previous observations, those two girls were clearly in grave danger, likely eaten with nothing left.

But this raised a question for Duanmu Huai.

Why now?

If these monsters had been here all along, then surely someone at the school would have gone missing, and didn't that Literary Girl find an old photo capturing a monster? This implies the monster has been at the school for a long time. But Duanmu Huai had asked Shajuye and learned there hadn't been any similar disappearances at this school in over a decade — since this school is integrated from middle to high school, many students have been here from middle school to graduation, so they couldn't possibly have been unaware if such incidents kept happening.

Coincidence? Chance?

Another question remained.

Where did the book that Literary Girl cherished so much go?

Duanmu Huai remembered clearly that during the retrospection in the dormitory, he saw the Literary Girl holding a precious book that didn't resemble a textbook or a storybook, more like a magic book.

Though it's unlikely to be the Book of the Dead...

Duanmu Huai recalled that during the retrospection through the desk, he saw the Literary Girl come in holding that book; then she took photos, finished taking photos... blackout, and... then it was all pitch-black.

Just like now.

About this position.

Duanmu Huai walked to roughly where he and the Literary Girl had stood, holding his phone and checking around, and at this time, Mianmu Zuoniao, who had finished bandaging, also came over.

"What's up? Teacher? What are you looking for?"

"Looking for what they left behind. Those two might have been attacked by that thing too, so they should have left something here."

At least their phones should still be around, but Yuko Shionji's phone wasn't found in the police investigation files, meaning they didn't find the phones dropped by the girls in the air-raid shelter.

Or maybe they didn't search carefully... huh?

Just as Duanmu Huai was aimlessly flashing his phone's light, he suddenly noticed a glint of inorganic light amidst the rubble. He reached out, moved aside the heap of debris, and found underneath it a pink, girlish-looking phone.

Recall that earlier this was where the hurdle was placed.

Due to the fight between Duanmu Huai and the invisible monster, this place was a mess, with things scattered all over. Because of this, Duanmu Huai had discovered it — it turned out the phone was kicked into the corner gap of the hurdle when it fell, so it hadn't been found.

"Is this that child's phone?"

Seeing the phone Duanmu Huai picked up, Mianmu Zuoniao came over and asked.

"Should be."

Duanmu Huai glanced at the phone, then put it away, and once again randomly turned around, then looked up at the ceiling — and his expression slightly changed.

"Found it."

Staring at the ceiling, Duanmu Huai said in a cold voice.

On the ceiling, under the phone's light, a strange, worn magical circle was clearly visible. In the center of this magic circle was placed a bizarre, black-covered thick book. Although it was hung on the ceiling, it seemed to stick there tightly, motionless.

It seemed like this is the magic book that the Literary Girl had been holding on to.

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