BOOM!
The impact was absolute. Rin's fist didn't just strike the Spider Orphnoch; it detonated against its chest with the weight of a collapsing star. The creature had no time to scream, no time to brace, no time to even perceive the motion.
A high-pitched screech of agony tore through the hallway as the monster was launched backward like a projectile. Its body smashed through the reinforced concrete wall of the classroom, leaving a jagged, gaping maw in the building's facade before tumbling into the open air of the school courtyard.
But this was no common predator. As it plummeted toward the asphalt, the Spider Orphnoch's biological instincts flared. With a wet, whip-like crack, it fired a massive, reinforced web from its abdomen, anchoring itself to the building's frame. The silk expanded into a sprawling safety net, absorbing the kinetic energy of the fall and preventing its chitinous shell from shattering upon impact.
Back in the hallway, Zi-O stepped toward the threshold of the newly made crater. He didn't look at the destruction, but turned his helm slightly toward Utaha.
"Take your club members and evacuate. Now," he commanded, his voice a distorted, regal vibration. "Leave the rest to me."
Without waiting for a reply, Zi-O stepped into the void, plummeting after his prey.
"Wait! You—!" Utaha reached out, the word 'careful' dying in her throat as he vanished from sight. She bit her lip, her heart racing with a terrifying mixture of adrenaline and awe. She wasn't one to play the damsel, but she knew an order from a King when she heard one. She whirled around, her black stockings vanishing into the gloom as she ran to lead the others to safety.
In the courtyard below, the ground groaned.
CRASH.
Zi-O didn't bother with a soft landing. He descended like a falling guillotine, slamming into the concrete with zero deceleration. The impact carved a massive, web-like crater into the pavement, cracks radiating outward for meters as dust and grit choked the air.
Slowly, the silver-clad Sovereign stood up, the golden clock-hands on his chest catching the dying light of the sunset.
Across the crater, the Spider Orphnoch disentangled itself from its webbing. It stood on trembling legs, its predatory bravado flickering. For the first time, its instincts—honed by a lifetime of hunting—were screaming a single word: Run.
Zi-O began a slow, measured walk toward the beast. "The disappearances lately... you've been quite busy, haven't you? It seems your kind has a pathetic obsession with hunting the 'weak.'"
His pace didn't falter. "Disgusting."
Rin's silhouette blurred. He accelerated with the same terrifying speed as before, a silver streak cutting through the courtyard. The Orphnoch, panicked, fired a thick, multi-layered shroud of webbing to block his path.
In the face of the King, however, even the strongest silk was merely gossamer.
In a flash of chronal energy, the Zikan Girade appeared in Zi-O's grip. He didn't break his stride. With one clean, horizontal arc, the blade's edge—sharpened by the friction of time itself—sheared through the "unbreakable" shield as if it were smoke.
"Impossible!" the Orphnoch hissed, its multifaceted eyes widening. Only the "White Demon" of its own legends had ever displayed such casual, overwhelming power. It had hoped the web would buy it seconds; it didn't even buy it a heartbeat.
"Hah!"
Zi-O didn't give it a second chance. He followed the swing with a brutal, overhead cleave. No finishing move was required. No grand spectacle. Just the raw, tectonic strength of the King's basic form.
The Zikan Girade bit deep into the Orphnoch's shoulder, carving through chitin, muscle, and core in one continuous motion. The monster froze, a single line of silver light tracing down its center. A moment later, its body split in two, dissolving into a cloud of gray ash that scattered in the evening breeze.
"Task complete."
Rin casually dismissed the Zikan Girade, the weapon vanishing back into the void. He patted the dust from his shoulder plating, a gesture of mundane boredom that contrasted sharply with the carnage he had just ended. He reached for the Ridewatch, twisting it out of the Driver.
The armor dissolved in a ripple of golden light, leaving Rin Kuga standing in the center of the ruined courtyard in his school uniform.
He didn't notice the eyes watching from the darkened corner of the gymnasium—sharp, analytical eyes that had recorded every second of the fight.
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