"...Fee? Is something wrong?"
Fee wasn't looking at him.
Despite the chaos surrounding them—despite the fact that his brother was being interrogated and physically accosted—Fee paid it no mind. He was staring intensely at the distant sky.
Yugo felt a prickle of unease. He took a step toward his brother, but before he could speak again, Fee whispered in a small, trembling voice.
"It’s coming."
"What...? Coming? What’s coming?"
"I don't know. I don't know, but something is coming!"
A chill ran down Yugo's spine at Fee's words. He followed his brother’s gaze, scanning the area.
In that same instant, a scream tore through the air from the direction of the school building.
"What was that? Did something happen?"
"Hey, this is weird! The noise is getting louder!"
"Fee, stay close to me," Yugo commanded. "Don't leave my side for a second."
"Right...!"
By now, even Yugo realized that something had gone horribly wrong.
He pulled Fee close, focusing his mind so he could activate Blaster at a moment’s notice. His eyes darted toward the source of the commotion. Sensing a presence rapidly approaching, he clenched his fists.
A frantic rustling came from the nearby bushes. Then, the sound stopped abruptly, replaced by a sudden, heavy silence.
The next second, a black blur lunged out of the foliage, slamming into the male student who had been grabbing Yugo's collar just moments before.
"Whoa! Aaaah!?"
"What is this!? What the hell is going on!?"
As the student’s screams echoed, more black shapes began leaping from the shadows, swarming Rush's followers.
Yugo swatted away one of the creatures that lunged at them, then sent it skidding across the grass with a heavy kick. When he saw the attacker clearly, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Damn it, not more crabs! Why do I have such rotten luck with these things!?"
He groaned in irritation as he looked down at the small creatures covered in jet-black shells.
First Marcos, then the man from the woods, and now this. He wondered why crustacean-like monsters kept crossing his path. He didn't hesitate, however, unleashing a heavy Stomping attack aimed at the soft abdomen—the classic weakness of any crab.
"Calm down! Don't panic!" Yugo shouted to the students, who were losing their heads in terror. "There are a lot of them, but they aren't that strong! If you stay calm, you can take them even without weapons!"
Yugo moved through the fray, finishing off the black crabs one by one.
He focused on clearing the area and protecting the others, managing to eliminate the threat without even needing to Transform into Blaster. Once the immediate danger was suppressed, Fee looked up at him, his face pale with fright.
"Brother, what is this? Why are monsters like this inside the academy?"
"I don't know. Is this the work of a Magic Armor Beast? Did that guy actually infiltrate the school...?"
Naturally, the crabs reminded him of the Kaijin who had escaped him the other day. But this was a massive institution dedicated to training Magic Knights; the Security Force was supposed to be top-tier.
Could that man really have slipped past the guards and successfully infiltrated Luminous Academy? Furthermore, when they had fought previously, the man hadn't shown any ability to summon minions like these.
Judging by the screams coming from the school building, the Black Crabs were likely running rampant across the entire campus.
Fortunately, they weren't particularly powerful. If the students could regain their composure, they should be more than capable of handling them.
"Their color is different, and they have this summoning ability... Don't tell me he's actually growing?"
Perhaps after losing to Yugo and Marcos, that man had found a way to empower himself.
Maybe he used that newfound power to sneak into Luminous Academy for revenge... Just as that thought crossed Yugo's mind, Fee shouted and pointed toward the path.
"B-Brother! Look!"
Yugo turned his head. A young man was staggering toward them, his steps heavy and uneven.
His dull, ash-gray hair was matted. He managed two or three more faltering steps before his strength failed him, and he collapsed onto the grass. Yugo sprinted to his side immediately.
"Hey! Stay with me! Zenon! What happened to you!?"
"Au... guh... uaaah...! Guh, uuu...!"
"...He’s hurt badly. How could the man who beat you in a Duel end up like this...?" Fee whispered, staring in disbelief.
Zenon’s uniform was shredded to ribbons, and his body was covered in deep gashes and bruises. Fee was stunned to see one of the strongest students in the academy in such a wretched state, but Yugo didn't waste time. He hoisted the unconscious boy onto his shoulders.
"We have to get him to the Infirmary! If we leave him here, he'll just be food for the crabs!"
"Right!"
Fee ran after his brother as Yugo took off.
As they sprinted through the panicked campus of Luminous Academy, Yugo glanced down at Zenon's limp form and muttered under his breath.
"What happened to you, 'Hero'? Weren't you supposed to be stronger than me? Just who the hell could have done this to you...?"