The junction had become a slaughterhouse.
The smell of blood—thick, metallic, and hot—filled Reiji's nose, drowning out the damp scent of the cave.
"Mei!" Toru screamed, his hands glowing with panicked, sputtering fire.
Mei Tachibana was slumped against the wall, unconscious. Her spear lay broken in two pieces at her feet. Above her, three Shadow Hyenas were circling, snapping their jaws, waiting for an opening to tear her throat out.
And the adults were gone.
Reiji watched Vance's back disappear down the East Tunnel. The Lieutenant didn't look back. He didn't hesitate. He just ran, abandoning four teenagers to a monster he was paid to kill.
Something inside Reiji cracked.
It wasn't his shield. It was his worldview.
All his life, Reiji believed in the system. Teachers protected students. Knights protected citizens. The strong protected the weak. That was the contract of society.
But Vance had just torn that contract up and thrown it in the dirt.
"Hinata!" Reiji roared, his voice cutting through the cacophony of howls.
Hinata materialized from the shadows near Toru, his daggers dripping black ichor. The Assassin looked terrified.
"Grab Mei!" Reiji ordered, slamming his kite shield into a hyena that tried to lunge at him. CRUNCH. Bone shattered. "Take Toru and get out of here!"
"Where?!" Hinata yelled back, hoisting Mei's limp body onto his shoulder. "The East Tunnel is full of them! The Warlord is blocking the path to Ren! We're trapped!"
Reiji looked around wildly.
The Gnoll Warlord stood in the center of the junction, laughing. It wasn't attacking yet. It was watching its pack hunt, enjoying the sport.
The East was blocked by the overflow of the pack chasing Vance. The North (Ren's path) was cut off by the Warlord.
Reiji looked at the West Tunnel—the dark maw the monsters had come from.
"Go West!" Reiji commanded.
"West?!" Toru gagged. "That's where they live!"
"The pack emptied out to attack us!" Reiji reasoned, desperation sharpening his mind. "The tunnel is empty! Run deep, find a hiding spot, and barricade yourselves!"
"What about you?" Hinata asked, his eyes widening.
Reiji turned his back to them. He tightened his grip on his sword. His hand was trembling, but he forced it to stop.
"I'm the Tank," Reiji said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I hold the aggro."
"Reiji, no!" Toru started to step forward.
"GO!" Reiji screamed, turning his head. His eyes were burning with tears of frustration. "THAT IS AN ORDER! DON'T MAKE MEI'S INJURY BE FOR NOTHING!"
Hinata gritted his teeth. He looked at Reiji one last time—a look of apology and respect—and then grabbed Toru's collar.
"Move, Toru!"
They sprinted. Not toward safety, but into the darkness of the West Tunnel.
The Warlord saw them running. Its yellow eyes narrowed. It raised a claw, and five Shadow Hyenas broke away from the main pack, chattering and yipping as they chased after the retreating students.
"Oh no you don't," Reiji whispered.
He took a deep breath. He pulled every ounce of mana he had left into his lungs.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: GRAND PROVOCATION]
"HEY!"
Reiji slammed his sword against his shield. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
A ripple of golden light exploded from his body. It wasn't a defensive barrier. It was a beacon. It washed over the hyenas, over the Warlord, over every monster in the room.
"YOU UGLY BASTARDS!" Reiji screamed, stepping into the center of the junction. "EYES ON ME!"
The five hyenas chasing Hinata stopped. They twitched. The magical compulsion seized their brains. They turned around, lips curling back to reveal rows of jagged teeth.
The Warlord turned too. It looked at the small, lone human standing in the light. It stopped laughing.
Reiji Narukami stood alone.
He wasn't fighting for a grade anymore. He wasn't fighting to be the Class Rep. He was fighting for time.
Vance ran, Reiji thought bitterly as the first wave of hyenas charged him. He ran because he saw us as numbers. As dead weight.
A hyena lunged for his throat.
Reiji didn't block. He stepped into the attack, bashing the edge of his shield into the beast's nose. CRACK.
I will not be like him.
Two more attacked from the sides. Reiji dropped to one knee, sweeping his sword low. He cut the tendons of one, but the other bit deep into his greave, denting the metal.
"Ghh!" Reiji grunted, kicking the beast off.
I will not run.
He stood up, panting. Sweat stung his eyes. There were too many. They were circling him, biting at his ankles, snapping at his shield arm. He was a lion being taken down by ants.
Slash. Block. Bash.
His movements were sloppy. His stamina bar was blinking red.
"Is that all you got?!" Reiji yelled, spitting blood onto the floor. "Come on!"
The hyenas backed away.
Reiji blinked, confused. Why were they retreating?
Then, a shadow fell over him. A shadow that blocked out the torchlight.
Reiji looked up.
The Gnoll Warlord was standing right in front of him. Up close, the monster smelled like old iron and rot. It towered over Reiji, its massive chest rising and falling with jagged breaths.
It looked down at the boy with a mix of annoyance and pity.
"Brave..." the Warlord growled, its voice like gravel. "Meat."
Reiji tried to raise his shield. [Skill: Iron Will].
But he was too slow. And he was too weak.
The Warlord didn't use its cleaver. It just used its fist.
It swung a backhand blow that carried the weight of a sledgehammer.
WHAM.
The impact was deafening.
Reiji's kite shield didn't just bend; it folded. The force traveled through the metal, into his arm, and into his ribs.
Reiji was lifted off his feet. He flew backward, smashing into the stone wall ten feet away. He slid down, leaving a smear of red on the rocks.
"Guh..."
Reiji tried to inhale, but his lungs wouldn't expand. His vision swam. The UI in his eyes was screaming red warnings.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED.] [LEFT ARM: FRACTURED.] [RIBS: FRACTURED.]
The Warlord walked over to him slowly. It raised its massive, rusted cleaver high above its head. It was going to split him in two.
Reiji looked at the blade. He couldn't move.
So this is it, Reiji thought, his mind going strangely quiet. I saved them, right? Hinata... Mei... surely they made it.
He closed his eyes.
I'm sorry, Mom. I guess I wasn't the main character after all.
The Warlord grunted, swinging the cleaver down.
WHOOSH.
THWACK.
The sound wasn't the wet slice of a blade hitting flesh. It was the meaty, heavy sound of a fist hitting bone.
Reiji waited for the pain. But it didn't come.
He opened his eyes.
The Warlord was stumbling backward. The massive monster was clutching its snout, confused.
Standing in front of Reiji was a mountain of a man. He wore heavy mercenary armor and a fur cloak. He was shaking out his right hand, a cigar still clenched between his teeth.
"You got a hard head, dog-face," Grog grunted.
The Guild Master spat on the floor. He didn't look at Reiji. He kept his eyes locked on the Warlord.
"G-Grog?" Reiji wheezed. "You came back?"
"Don't get weepy, kid," Grog said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm not here for you. I just hate it when the wildlife touches my property."
The Warlord roared, shaking its head to clear the dizziness. It snarled at Grog, raising its cleaver again. Behind it, the pack of twenty hyenas bristled, ready to swarm this new threat.
"He's... a strong ass Mutant," Reiji warned weakly. "He wiped out... the other guards."
"Yeah?" Grog grinned. It wasn't a nice grin. It was the grin of a predator meeting a challenger. "Good. I was getting bored."
The Warlord took a step forward.
But then, footsteps echoed from the tunnel behind Grog.
"Daigo, shield wall! Left flank!"
"On it!"
"Itsuki, suppress the pack!"
"Wind Cutter!"
Figures emerged from the shadows, stepping up beside the Guild Master. They were battered. They were covered in spider silk and blue slime. But they were armed.
Ren Takashi stepped forward, his sword drawn. His eyes were cold, glowing with a faint golden light. Next to him, Daigo raised his dented—but functional—shield. Itsuki stood back, staff glowing green. Rika faded into the shadows, daggers ready.
Ren looked down at Reiji.
"You held the line, Reiji," Ren said softly. "Good job."
Ren looked up at the Warlord. He pointed his sword at the monster's throat.
"Now," Ren said, his voice hard. "We'll take it from here."
The Warlord roared. Grog laughed. Ren charged.