Chapter 87 | My First Kill, Their First Grudge

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You’re our weakest member. The Crawlers will target you within a minute of contact."

"And I’m supposed to just stand here and let that happen?"

"No. You’re supposed to not die while we kill them." Misato created a clone. It flickered into existence beside her, identical in every way. "I’ll have one clone on you at all times. If things get bad, it pulls you out. The rest of us handle damage."

"I can fight."

Belle spoke up from the rear. "What’s my job?"

"Stay alive and call out flanking positions. Your detection range is what, fifteen meters?"

"Yep, just fifteen." Belle said flatly.

"Good," Misato said after a beat. "Use it. Jordan, you’re on crowd control. Pin them when they cluster. Naomi, you’re primary damage. Hit them hard when they group up."

Jordan raised his hand. "Quick question. How do we know when they spawn?"

A howl echoed through the rainforest.

Long. High-pitched. Hungry.

"That’s how," Misato said.

The undergrowth exploded.

Something launched itself at me from the left. Low to the ground. Fast. Covered in grey-brown fur with a maw full of teeth that looked designed specifically for ripping throats.

Hollow Crawler. Size of a golden retriever. Red eyes glowing in the dim light.

I threw myself backward. The creature sailed past me. Its claws gouged the ground where I’d been standing.

Misato’s clone materialized in front of me. It kicked the Crawler mid-air, sending it crashing into a tree trunk.

"Stay behind me!" the clone barked.

More howls. Coming from every direction.

My HUD lit up with red markers. Eight. No, ten. Twelve.

Fifteen total.

They were surrounding us.

"Cluster formation!" Misato shouted. The real Misato, not the clone. "Monroe in the middle! Everyone else on perimeter!"

I moved. Naomi shifted left. Jordan right. Belle backed up until her shoulders were almost touching mine.

The Crawlers circled us. Their movements were eerily synchronized. They didn’t charge blindly. They watched. Waited. Analyzed.

Looking for weakness.

One of them broke formation. Darted forward. Testing.

Jordan’s shadows lashed out. They wrapped around the Crawler’s legs and yanked it flat. The monster yelped. Scrambled. Couldn’t escape.

"Got one," Jordan said. His voice was strained. "Can’t hold more than two at this intensity."

"Good enough." Misato created another clone. Three total now including the one guarding me. "Naomi, you’re up."

Naomi stepped forward. She planted her staff in the ground and raised her free hand. Blue-white energy coalesced around her palm. It spun faster. Tighter. Building into that familiar spiral.

She fired.

The Wave Motion blast shot across the clearing. It slammed into the pinned Crawler with enough force to lift the creature off the ground and send it tumbling backward through the undergrowth.

The creature didn’t get up.

HOLLOW CRAWLER ELIMINATED

SQUAD TOTAL: 1/15

Fourteen left.

The remaining Crawlers stopped circling. They all turned to face Naomi.

"Shit," Belle breathed. "They know she’s the threat now."

"Good." Misato grinned. "Let them come."

They came.

All fourteen launched themselves forward in perfect synchronization. A wave of fur and teeth and claws that moved like a single organism.

Misato met them head-on. Her clones spread out, each one engaging multiple targets. She fought with brutal efficiency. Kicks. Punches. Throws. Every movement compact and devastating.

Jordan’s shadows erupted from the ground. They grabbed two Crawlers mid-leap and slammed them together. The monsters crashed and tumbled.

Naomi fired again. And again. Each blast took down a Crawler or sent one flying.

Belle called out positions. "Three on your left! Two flanking right! One behind you, Monroe!"

I spun.

A Crawler was three feet away. Claws extended. Jaws open.

Coming right for my throat.

Time slowed.

Wave Motion was still equipped. I could feel it humming under my skin. Copper rank. Weak as hell. But it was something.

I raised my palm.

Golden-white energy sparked to life. It spun into existence. The spiral formed.

The Crawler’s eyes widened. It tried to change direction mid-leap.

Too late.

I fired.

The blast caught it center mass. The monster flew backward. Crashed through a fern bush. Didn’t move.

HOLLOW CRAWLER ELIMINATED

SQUAD TOTAL: 8/15

My legs wobbled. The stamina drain hit immediately. Wave Motion didn’t use mana. It used physical energy. And I’d just burned through a chunk of mine.

"Monroe!" Misato’s clone grabbed my shoulder. "You good?"

"Fine. Just winded."

The fight continued around us. Misato and her clones tore through the remaining Crawlers like a meat grinder. Jordan pinned them when they clustered. Naomi blasted them when they grouped up.

Belle stayed back. Called positions. Kept us from getting blindsided.

It was working.

We were winning.

The last Crawler went down under Misato’s boot. She stomped its skull against the forest floor. The creature dissolved into pixels.

ALL HOLLOW CRAWLERS ELIMINATED

SIMULATION COMPLETE

TIME: 4 MINUTES 22 SECONDS

SQUAD PERFORMANCE: B-RANK

The rainforest flickered. The trees vanished. The humidity disappeared. We were back in the concrete dome, standing under bright overhead lights.

Sato’s voice came through the speakers. "Not bad, Foxes. You worked together. No deaths. Solid coordination. But your formation broke down twice when Monroe got targeted."

I looked at Misato. "You made me bait on purpose."

"Obviously." She dismissed her clones. "The real test wasn’t whether you could survive. It was whether the team could protect you when the monsters went for the weakest link."

"And?"

"We passed. Barely."

Naomi hadn’t said a word the entire fight. She stood off to the side now, her staff leaning against her shoulder. Her face was carefully neutral.

Belle was staring at the ground.

Jordan looked ready to pass out.

"Again," Misato said. "We’re running it again. This time, D-rank scenario. Twice as many Crawlers. Half the time."

Jordan groaned. "You’re trying to kill us."

"I’m trying to save us." Misato walked toward the center of the dome. "Positions, everyone. We’ve got twenty minutes left before this time slot expires. Let’s not waste it."

I moved back to my position between Naomi and Belle.

The silence was deafening.

"For what it’s worth," I said quietly. Just loud enough for them to hear. "I’m sorry."

Naomi’s jaw tightened.

Belle’s glare could have melted steel.

Neither of them responded.

Yeah.

I definitely fucked up.