Academy of Arcane - Courtyard

  Scourge began walking toward the two trapped cyborgs with mechanical precision, each step deliberate and purposeful. The air around him crackled with visible mana, purple energy dancing across his enhanced frame like lightning made manifest.

  "This is bad," Sama gasped, his analytical mind racing as he observed the approaching threat. "His mana signature is swirling around him and the pressure is almost too consuming to even breathe!"

  Sama reached desperately into the Otherworld, his consciousness stretching across dimensional barriers as he sought another creature powerful enough to challenge this mechanical nightmare.

  Josuke began walking backward slowly, his heart hammering against his ribs as the reality of their situation crashed down on him. All the senior heroes—the ones who were supposed to be invincible—had been knocked out in a flash. He looked over at Shinjuu, who was still struggling to retain his physical form, his steel body boiling and unstable from Scourge's overwhelming heat. Across the courtyard, he could barely make out where Hanako had landed after being swung across the battlefield by Scourge's devastating blow. And Yoshito... Yoshito lay motionless with a gaping wound in his chest, more than likely dead.

  We're all going to die, Josuke thought, terror clawing at his mind.

  The two trapped cyborgs slowly lowered themselves to their knees as Scourge approached, their mechanical heads bowing in recognition of their superior.

  "Brothers," Scourge said calmly, his voice carrying an almost religious reverence. "I will advance to reach the perfection I was destined for."

  Without hesitation, he drove his arms through both cyborgs' heads simultaneously, his limbs transforming into spear-like appendages that pierced their central processing units. The air around Scourge became ghastly as all their data and concept encryption flowed into his systems, streams of digital information visible as glowing threads of light that wrapped around his frame.

  Katashi had built these cyborgs from extensive human testing, creating cyborg counterparts of human bodies to push the limits of individual concepts to their breaking point. The mad inventor had figured it was more efficient to have multiple specialized cyborgs develop their individual concepts to perfection, then have another cyborg with suitable brain capacity absorb the others' CPUs. Thus, Katashi had created his own version of a "Vessel"—a being capable of housing multiple abilities without breaking under the strain.

  As Scourge's mana continued to rise, reaching levels that made the air itself seem thick and oppressive, Sama finished his summoning. A Third Tier Nephilim materialized beside him—a towering creature with hardened skin like polished stone and eyes that burned with otherworldly intelligence.

  "Josuke, run toward me!" Sama yelled over the crackling energy.

  Josuke sprinted across the debris-strewn courtyard as the Nephilim charged at Scourge, its massive fists slamming into the enhanced cyborg with enough force to crater the ground. But Scourge absorbed the impact with his hardened body, his feet sliding back only inches before he began his counterattack.

  "Your body is tougher than these punks!" Scourge laughed, trading devastating blows with the Nephilim. "But it's no match for perfection!"

  Scourge heated his fist to molten temperatures and drove it toward the Nephilim's chest, ready to deliver what should have been a killing blow. But before his attack could connect, another of Sama's summons—a Cockatrice with serpentine features and razor-sharp talons—spat a stream of petrifying saliva onto Scourge's attacking arm. The limb immediately began turning to stone, the transformation spreading up toward his shoulder.

  That wooden woman isn't the only nuisance, Scourge thought, his optical sensors analyzing the new threat. That summoning brat's otherworld creatures are giving me issues.

  The Nephilim seized the opportunity, grabbing Scourge's head with both massive hands.

  "Let's try this again," the creature rumbled, then shot concentrated acid from its mouth directly onto Scourge's face.

  Sama and Josuke continued running through the courtyard, desperately attempting to reach and shelter the defeated heroes scattered across the battlefield.

  "Right now, I'm at my maximum summons," Sama explained to Josuke as they moved. "Hopefully this buys us enough time to protect these heroes."

  Josuke was amazed at how composed Sama remained during these incredibly stressful times. Despite the chaos around them, the older student maintained his analytical calm, constantly calculating their best moves.

  "Tell me what you need me to do and I will," Josuke said with genuine determination.

  Before Sama could respond, a robotic arm shot out with blinding speed, wrapping around his throat and suspending him in the air. Josuke whipped around to see the Nephilim slowly disintegrating, its form dissolving into otherworldly mist, while the Cockatrice collapsed with a gaping hole in its chest—presumably from another of Scourge's lightning swords.

  Josuke's eyes tracked to Scourge's arm, noting the clean cut where the cyborg had severed his own limb before the petrification could spread. He cut it off before the stone could spread, Josuke realized with growing horror.

  Scourge continued choking Sama with increasing pressure, his other hand—the one he had amputated—already beginning to repair itself. Wire strands shot from the incision like metallic veins, weaving together new components with mechanical precision.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "You know what's amazing about adapting?" Scourge said, his voice filled with sadistic enthusiasm. "No matter what comes at me, I only learn and become stronger! That beast you summoned with the acid? Ha! It gave me exactly what I needed to learn, and I returned another acid attack right back! Now summon something else so that I may reach my perfection, boy!"

  Scourge's laughter sent chills down both younger heroes' spines. The pride of Katashi made flesh stood before them, a mechanical being that craved growth through combat, viewing every attack as a lesson to be absorbed and improved upon.

  Josuke lunged forward desperately, grabbing at Scourge's ankles.

  "Contact boil, molten!" he screamed, trying to overheat the cyborg's lower extremities with every ounce of power he possessed.

  Scourge casually blew a gust of superheated air around himself, sending Josuke flying backward across the courtyard.

  "You idiot," Scourge said dismissively. "You're not worth my time."

  He redoubled his effort choking Sama, who was on the verge of passing out, his face turning purple from lack of oxygen.

  "Summon more, boy, or I'll kill you now!" Scourge demanded.

  That was when a growing mass of thorns erupted from the ground, impaling Scourge from behind with razor-sharp wooden spikes.

  To Scourge's surprise, Hanako was back on her feet, blood dripping from multiple wounds on her face but her eyes burning with determined fury. She released Sama, who immediately ran toward Josuke to check if he was okay.

  Scourge laughed as the wooden thorns continued to grow and rise, lifting him higher into the air. With casual efficiency, he generated a blade of energy and cut through the entire construct, freeing himself.

  "Haha! You're still alive?!" he exclaimed as he fell toward the ground. "You're the one who killed my brothers! Teach me, wood lady—teach me how I can grow stronger, and I'll give you the same treatment you gave my brothers!"

  Scourge landed gracefully on his feet, immediately focusing his attention on the veteran hero.

  "Sama... Josuke, leave now!" Hanako commanded, her voice carrying the authority of a 5-star hero.

  Sama looked at Hanako and saw the determination etched into her bloodied features. "What should we do? That cyborg is different from the rest—he's an animal."

  "Hold off the other cyborgs," Hanako responded in a firm voice. "If we can stop his growth, I can hold him off until help arrives."

  Sama and Josuke reluctantly ran off to find what other heroes were still alive, hoping to subdue the remaining mechanical threats before they could interfere.

  As they departed, Scourge began walking slowly toward Hanako, his enhanced form crackling with absorbed power from multiple sources.

  "Hold me off until others arrive, huh?" Scourge's voice became grim and serious. "That mentality is the weakness I expect from a loser. You should never expect help—you should have the fighting spirit to defeat me yourself."

  "That's rich coming from someone who's been using others for your own strength," Hanako replied, wooden constructs beginning to sprout from the ground around her.

  Scourge laughed and threw his hands up sarcastically. "Well, prove to me that my way is wrong, why don't you?"

  Academy of Arcane - Upper Floors

  Regis continued walking through the Academy halls, his expensive shoes clicking against polished floors as he ascended the main staircase. The upper levels were eerily abandoned, exactly as he'd expected—the heroes were either consumed throughout Japan dealing with other crises or downstairs fighting the cyborgs. The silence was almost oppressive after the chaos of the courtyard battle.

  As he walked through the administrative corridors, he faintly sensed two mana signatures emanating from behind one of the office doors. He stopped immediately, taking a step back, knowing that if he could sense them, they could more than likely sense him as well.

  Regis touched the small earpiece hidden beneath his perfectly styled hair.

  "Katashi," he said quietly, "your great creation went rogue and almost tried to kill me. Can you send me more backup... preferably ones that fucking listen?"

  Katashi's laughter echoed through the communication device from his underground command center.

  "Scourge represents the pinnacle of my engineering genius, doesn’t he? Every calculation, every design choice validated in real combat. He is-"

  Regis snapped back immediately, cutting Katashi off. "I don't have time for your games, kid. There are potentially two people up here, and I'm outnumbered. I don't get my hands dirty fighting—let's get these files so I can rest."

  Katashi glanced at his tactical display, noting the remaining operational units. "I'll send you three cyborgs. Is that enough to keep your precious hands clean, Mister Money?"

  "Just send them and I'll be on my way," Regis said before cutting the communication.

  No amount of payment from Akuma is worth the stress of what I'm doing right now, he thought bitterly, adjusting his diamond-encrusted cufflinks with practiced ease.

  Administrative Office

  Inside the office, Shoto held up a hand, signaling Kenji to remain perfectly still.

  "Whatever that is, it stopped," Shoto said in a low, growling voice.

  "It must have sensed us and paused to avoid making us move," Kenji replied quietly.

  Shoto began using his esper abilities, his eyes taking on a faint magenta glow as he tried to predict their next course of action through psychic analysis.

  "Those damn Fujiwara sure are taking their sweet time getting here," Shoto stated with barely contained panic. "I haven't seen an update from Miyamoto about their mission either."

  With growing urgency, he pulled out his phone and dialed Miyamoto's number. After a grueling twenty seconds that felt like an eternity, Miyamoto finally answered, his breathing extremely labored.

  "Miyamoto? Is everything okay? Give me a status update!" Shoto demanded.

  "Boss," Miyamoto said between gasping breaths, "I only have bad news to report. We found Valen in the warehouse, but he was expecting us. Yukiko is dead."

  Shoto's jaw dropped. Yukiko had been a promising hero whose weather manipulation abilities could cause natural calamities if she chose to use them destructively. Her loss was devastating both tactically and personally.

  "Where is Valen? Are you under distress?" Shoto asked, fighting his body's reaction to vomit at the news of another hero's death.

  "Valen ran away. I'm not sure where, but they're gone," Miyamoto reported through obvious pain.

  "Return to the Academy immediately. We're having our own issues now. This is urgent—stay alive," Shoto responded, his voice cracking slightly.

  "Understood," Miyamoto said before the line went dead.

  Under his breath, Shoto uttered, "This is unforgivable. We are truly dealing with monsters."

  Kenji saw Shoto's body shaking and could only assume the worst from the one-sided conversation he'd witnessed.

  "Get on your feet," Kenji stated grimly. "We have company."

  Through the glass door, they could see Regis approaching with three cyborgs flanking him in perfect formation. The wealthy man's expression was one of complete exhaustion and annoyance.

  "Let's not make this difficult," Regis said in the most unenthusiastic voice imaginable. "Where are the Haikito files so we can leave?"

  He was fed up with this entire operation and wanted to end it as quickly as possible, while Shoto and Kenji took defensive stances against the four intruders approaching their position.