Zeto

Cold Yuichi arrives in the Kurichi Highschool hallway as students surge toward both exits. Lockers rattle, shoes skid, and panic spreads faster than any explanation.

At the far end, Friken, a young adult man with fair skin, neatly styled blond hair, and clear blue eyes, backs toward the stairwell. His hidden power flickers around him.

A Pinno fills the corridor behind him, a towering, heavy-bodied monster draped in shadow-black mass. Its enormous silhouette bends the fluorescent light around it.

Friken turns sharply toward the science wing, trying to pull the threat away. A toppled cart blocks one side, while frightened students jam the other passage.

Cold Yuichi appears at the corridor’s far end and breaks into a sprint, drawing the Pinno away from the trapped students. Its massive shape follows.

He cuts through the grounds, vaults the fence, and reaches the dark tree line. Behind him, the school’s panic fades beneath pounding footsteps and snapping branches.

Among the trees, the Pinno corners him against a broad trunk. His body gives out beneath the pressure, and the monster’s shadow covers him.

A young adult Blanko woman steps from the brush, black hair framing a sharp face and silver eyes. Her white rapier catches the thin daylight.

Janet, a compact young woman in a fitted black-and-white uniform and sturdy boots, with a small pale scar at her jaw raises the rapier. Frost races across the ground between her and the Pinno, forcing its attention away from Cold Yuichi as the forest falls silent.