The red light stayed on.
For several seconds, no one moved.
The message on the panel had not changed.
SECURITY STATUS: UNCONFIRMED
CENTRAL CONTROL: UNAVAILABLE
SECTOR: ISOLATED
Yūta had read those three lines so many times he no longer needed to look at them.
And yet he kept doing it.
Behind them, the wounded hunter breathed on the mat. Hina stayed nearby in case blood started seeping through the bandage again. Mei held a closed fan in each hand. Sota stood beside the bench where they had gathered the water, flashlights, and first-aid kit.
Ishida was still in front of the panel.
He had not said a word since the light turned red.
That was what Yūta was watching.
He did not look frozen.
He did not look indecisive either.
He was reading.
One screen.
Then another.
Back to the local map.
Checking the accesses.
Opening the status of the main lock.
Going back again.
As if he were trying to force an answer out of the machine even though he knew it was not there.
Mei was the first to lose patience.
"Find anything?"
Ishida did not turn around.
"No."
"Then?"
"I'm checking."
"You've been checking the same thing for a while."
"Because it keeps changing."
That made Yūta lift his head.
Mei too.
"What changed?"
Ishida opened the details for the secondary exit.
The line that had previously remained fixed in green was no longer steady.
Green.
Gray.
Green again.
A new warning had appeared beneath it.
LOCAL RESPONSE: INTERMITTENT
Hina stepped closer.
"Was that there before?"
"No."
Ishida pressed the message.
The screen took a moment to respond.
Technical information appeared that none of them fully understood.
Power.
Lock.
Sensor.
Actuator.
Most of the lines were still active.
Two were blinking.
One was marked yellow.
The wounded hunter spoke from the mat.
"Which exit?"
"The secondary one," Ishida answered.
The man turned his head slightly.
"What error?"
Ishida read it.
"Intermittent local actuator response."
The hunter closed his eyes for a moment.
"I don't like that."
Mei let out a breath.
"That sentence is getting a lot of work today."
Ishida turned toward him.
"What can happen?"
"Could be nothing."
Mei pointed one of her fans at him.
"Don't start like that."
The hunter breathed carefully.
"It could also mean the lock is losing power or communication with local control."
"Can it still open?" Yūta asked.
"Right now, yes."
"And later?"
The man took a moment.
"Depends on what fails."
Ishida looked at the screen again.
"If we wait and it stops responding…"
"It could stay shut."
Sota looked up.
"From the inside too?"
The hunter did not answer immediately.
That was enough.
"There's a mechanical release," he added, "but it isn't designed for five students to use while headquarters is under attack."
Mei looked at the door.
"Then that settles it."
Ishida did not answer.
"We open it and leave."
"I didn't say that."
"But you're thinking it."
"I'm thinking."
"That's almost the same thing."
"No."
Mei was about to answer, but Hina raised one hand.
"Wait."
Everyone fell silent.
Something had sounded outside.
Not an impact.
A hum.
Very low.
Then a metallic click.
Yūta turned toward the main door.
Nothing.
The panel gave another tone.
Ishida immediately turned back.
The secondary exit had changed.
AVAILABLE
One second.
Then:
NO RESPONSE
And again:
AVAILABLE
Sota took a step closer to the group.
"That doesn't look normal."
"No," Ishida said.
This time no one argued.
Yūta tried contacting command again.
"Training sector to command."
Static.
"Do you copy?"
Nothing.
He changed frequencies.
"Kato."
Silence.
"Yuna."
Nothing.
He tried a third.
"Any team near the training district, respond."
The communicator crackled once.
Then nothing.
Yūta lowered it.
Mei was looking at Ishida.
"How much longer do you want to wait?"
Ishida did not answer.
Hina sat beside the wounded hunter.
"Is there somewhere safe we can reach from the secondary exit?"
The man opened his eyes.
"Does the map load?"
"Only part of it," Ishida said.
"Show me."
Ishida turned the screen enough for him to see.
The hunter raised his head slightly.
Pain crossed his face.
Yūta stepped closer to help him.
"Don't move too much."
"If you're leaving, you'd better know where you're going."
He adjusted himself and studied the fragment of map.
The secondary exit connected to Training Block Two. After that, there were two corridors.
One led toward the inner areas.
The other led toward a smaller section marked with a symbol none of them had paid attention to before.
The man raised a finger.
"There."
Ishida zoomed in.
A name appeared.
AUXILIARY SHELTER B-2
Mei read it.
"Is that an actual shelter, or another 'safe place' that stops being safe twenty minutes later?"
The hunter did not seem offended.
"Smaller. Independent lock. No direct connection to the central system."
"Is that a good thing now?" Hina asked.
"Right now, it might be."
Ishida studied the route.
"What's it for?"
"Contingencies. Fires. Structural failures. Partial evacuations."
"Exits?"
"Two, if they still work."
Mei looked at Ishida.
"Two sounds better than one."
"It's also closer to the internal areas."
"Guards?"
"Normally, no."
Sota frowned.
"Then why would it be safer?"
The man looked at him.
"Because no one has a reason to go there."
Yūta understood.
The training sector had been safe because it was protected.
That shelter might be safe for a different reason.
Because it did not matter.
It held no relics.
It did not control major routes.
It did not serve as a command point.
There was nothing the remnants needed to look for there.
At least, that was what they had to hope.
Ishida memorized the route.
"How far?"
"From the secondary exit... five minutes if nothing goes wrong."
Mei let out a dry laugh.
"So twenty."
The hunter almost smiled.
"Probably."
Hina looked at his wound.
"Can you make it?"
The man looked down at the bandage.
"With help."
"You shouldn't be walking," Sota said.
The hunter looked at him.
"I shouldn't be here either."
Sota had no answer.
Ishida returned to the panel.
The secondary exit was still blinking.
Available.
No response.
Available.
The failures were becoming more frequent.
Yūta stood.
"We have somewhere to go."
Ishida did not turn around.
"Yes."
"And an exit that still opens."
"Yes."
"Then…"
"Wait."
Yūta closed his mouth.
Ishida stared at the panel for several seconds.
Then checked the main door.
Red.
No central control.
South access lost.
Technical access unconfirmed.
Secondary exit intermittent.
Five students.
One of them with almost no real combat experience.
One wounded hunter.
No communication.
No guards.
Yūta could imagine each fact moving through Ishida's head.
Ishida had always been like that.
He was not the fastest to speak.
But when he finally decided something, he had usually already spent too long thinking about it.
Mei crossed her arms.
"Kato told us to stay here."
Ishida looked at her.
She raised an eyebrow.
"What? I'm saving you the trouble."
"I don't need the reminder."
"Looks like you do."
Ishida ignored the comment.
He looked at all of them.
"Kato told us to stay because this sector was protected."
No one spoke.
"There were guards. Three accesses. Communication with command. Central control."
He pointed at the screen.
"We don't have any of that anymore."
Sota opened his mouth.
Ishida continued before he could speak.
"We still have one exit that works."
He looked at the blinking status.
"And it's starting to fail."
Hina understood where he was going.
Mei did too.
Yūta waited.
Ishida slowly lowered his hand.
"If we wait until it stops working before deciding whether this place is still safe, then we won't be able to decide anything anymore."
Silence.
The wounded hunter watched him from the mat.
Ishida breathed in.
"We're leaving."
For a moment, no one said anything.
Mei spoke first.
"Finally."
But she did not smile.
Some of the tension left Hina's shoulders.
Yūta looked toward the secondary exit shown on the map.
Sota remained still.
The sentence had answered one question.
Not all of them.
"I'm coming too."
Sota said it a few seconds later.
Ishida looked at him.
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Sota blinked.
"What?"
"You're not coming with us to look for remnants."
"I didn't say—"
"You were going to."
Sota pressed his lips together.
Mei looked at Ishida.
"Maybe let him finish."
"The answer doesn't change."
Sota stepped forward.
"I trained."
"I know."
"For a month."
"I know that too."
"Kana taught me how to use mana."
"Yes."
"Then I can help."
Ishida did not raise his voice.
"You can."
Sota looked confused.
He had not expected that answer.
"Then…"
"Helping doesn't mean coming with us and throwing yourself into a fight."
Sota's jaw tightened.
"They always leave me behind."
Yūta felt the weight of the sentence.
It was not only about that day.
Misato.
The training.
The tournament.
Everyone else going out while he stayed behind.
Yūta understood that feeling too well.
He had spent much of his life seeing things no one else could see and being unable to do anything about them.
And ever since meeting Kato, there was nothing he hated more than feeling useless.
Sota looked at Yūta.
"You understand."
That made answering harder.
Yūta took a moment.
"Yeah."
Sota took another step.
"Then tell them."
Yūta looked at Ishida.
Then Hina.
Mei.
And finally the boy.
"I understand why you want to come."
Sota waited.
"But Ishida's right."
Sota's expression fell.
"You too."
"It doesn't mean you're useless."
"Everyone says that right before telling me to stay behind."
Yūta did not have an immediate answer.
Mei did.
"Because you aren't useless."
Sota turned toward her.
"A little while ago you said I'm the one who knows the least about using mana."
Mei grimaced.
"Yes. And I already apologized for how I said it."
"But it was true."
"Yes."
Again, she did not soften it.
"And it's still true."
Sota looked down.
Mei continued.
"That doesn't mean you can't do anything. It means pretending you're at the same level as us when you're not yet would be stupid."
Hina spoke more gently.
"We're not at the adults' level either."
Sota looked at her.
"But you're going out."
"Because we don't have many options either."
"Neither do I."
Ishida spoke.
"You do."
Sota turned.
"What?"
Ishida pointed to the map.
"Get to the shelter."
Sota frowned.
"That's just hiding again."
"No."
"Yes, it is."
"Not if we're taking someone wounded with us."
Everyone looked at the hunter.
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Nice to hear what my role is."
Ishida continued.
"He can't go alone."
Sota looked at the wounded man.
"Then we all help him."
"Until the shelter, yes."
"And after that?"
Ishida did not answer immediately.
There was the second part of the decision.
Yūta saw it.
Mei did too.
Ishida opened the local map.
He pointed to the shelter.
Then to the corridor continuing toward the internal areas.
"After that, not all of us go to the same place."
Sota looked at him again.
"What does that mean?"
"We need to find out what's happening. If communication stays down, someone has to move forward until they find a route, a team, or command."
Yūta nodded.
"I can go."
"Me too," Hina said.
Mei opened one of her fans.
"Me too."
Ishida shook his head.
"No."
Mei turned toward him.
"Again?"
"Someone has to take Sota and the wounded hunter to the shelter."
"And you decided that's me."
"I decided it's us."
Mei went still.
"Us?"
Ishida nodded.
"You and me."
Yūta looked at him.
That was not what he had expected.
"Why?"
Ishida pointed at Yūta first.
"Your invisible mana is better suited to moving ahead without being detected."
Then Hina.
"And she has more direct power if something blocks the route."
Hina looked at her axe.
Ishida continued.
"Mei can cover a corridor without getting too close. I can close routes with chains."
Mei began to understand.
"Protection."
"Yes."
"You, me, Sota, and him."
She pointed at the wounded hunter.
"Yes."
Yūta studied the map.
He and Hina would move forward.
Ishida and Mei would take Sota and the hunter somewhere safer.
They would not separate right there.
First they had to leave the sector.
Cross Training Block Two.
Confirm the route still existed.
But once they reached the junction…
Two paths.
Sota shook his head.
"No."
Ishida looked at him.
"Sota."
"No."
His voice came out stronger.
"I can go with Yūta too."
"No."
"Why can they?!"
Ishida still did not raise his voice.
"They have more experience."
"I trained."
"You already said that."
"Then let me prove it!"
The wounded hunter opened his eyes.
"No."
Sota turned toward him.
The man breathed with difficulty.
"Don't do that."
"What?"
"Go looking for a fight just to prove something."
Sota clenched his fists.
"I'm not looking for a fight."
"Then don't talk about proving yourself."
That stopped him.
The hunter watched him.
"Today you helped keep me conscious. You brought the first-aid kit. You knew what to look for. You froze for a second when you saw the blood, and then you still moved."
Sota said nothing.
"That already counts as doing something."
"It's not the same."
"Of course it isn't."
The man did not try to convince him otherwise.
"And that's better."
Sota frowned.
"Better?"
"If everyone does the same thing, someone is unnecessary."
The boy looked at the others.
The hunter continued.
"You don't need to kill a remnant to justify being here."
Yūta watched Sota slowly loosen his fists.
He was not satisfied.
But he was listening.
Ishida spoke again.
"Besides, I'm not leaving you alone."
Sota looked at him.
"Mei and I are going with you."
"To the shelter."
"Yes."
"And after that, you'll both leave."
Ishida took a moment.
"We don't know."
It was true.
They might find hunters there.
Communication might return.
The route might already be gone.
They might be forced to stay.
The plan could not go any farther than the information they had.
Ishida pointed to the panel.
"First, we get out of here."
That was the only thing he could guarantee.
Getting ready did not take long.
They did not have much.
Two bottles of water.
The first-aid kit.
Two flashlights.
Batteries.
Their weapons.
And little else.
Mei put some of the medical supplies into a small bag.
Hina carried the rest.
Yūta took one bottle of water.
Ishida checked the secondary exit one more time.
The response was still failing.
Each recovery took longer than the last.
Sota moved toward the wounded hunter.
"Can you stand?"
"With help."
Sota positioned himself beside him.
"I'll help you."
The man looked at him.
He made no comment.
He simply put one arm over Sota's shoulders.
Sota had to adjust his stance.
The hunter was heavier than he expected.
Mei moved to the other side.
"You weren't planning to carry him by yourself, were you?"
"I can."
"I didn't say you couldn't."
She took the other arm.
"I said you're not doing it alone."
Together, they helped him stand.
The hunter breathed out from the pain.
Hina checked the bandage.
"Will it hold?"
"It has to."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"Then yes."
Hina did not look convinced.
Yūta positioned himself in front of the secondary exit.
It was different from the main door.
Narrower.
No camera.
Only a small security window, covered on the other side by a metal shutter.
They could not see anything.
Ishida moved to the control.
"Once it opens, no one rushes out."
Mei held the wounded hunter.
"Shame."
Ishida ignored the comment.
"Yūta checks first."
"Yeah."
"Hina covers."
She expanded the axe to combat size.
"Ready."
"I close behind us."
He looked at Mei.
"You and Sota don't move until we say so."
"Yes, Dad."
Ishida looked at her.
Mei sighed.
"Understood."
Sota said nothing.
His attention was fixed on the corridor they still could not see.
Ishida placed a finger on the control.
The panel took its time.
Everyone waited.
Nothing.
Ishida pressed it again.
An electrical sound came from the mechanism.
The screen changed.
RESPONSE ERROR
Mei looked up.
"No."
Ishida pressed again.
"Come on."
The screen loaded.
ACTIVATING LOCAL LOCK
A metallic impact sounded inside the wall.
The door did not move.
Yūta felt his shoulders tense.
Ishida kept his hand on the panel.
"Come on."
Another impact.
Then a deeper mechanical sound.
The mechanism began to move.
Very slowly.
The door separated from the frame by a few centimeters.
A current of air entered from the other side.
Cold.
Smelling of dust.
And something else.
Metal.
Yūta stepped forward.
"Wait."
The opening widened.
Twenty centimeters.
Thirty.
Hina raised the axe.
Yūta leaned just far enough to look.
Darkness.
The lighting in Training Block Two was almost completely out.
Only one emergency light worked farther ahead.
Red.
Blinking.
No one there.
Yūta searched for mana.
Nothing clear nearby.
A distant residue.
Too faint.
"I don't feel anything close."
Ishida did not relax.
"You sure?"
"No."
Mei let out a short breath.
"Lovely."
Yūta looked again.
A corridor.
A closed door on the right.
A turn farther ahead.
Nothing else.
"But I don't feel a remnant right here."
"That's enough," Ishida said.
The door finished opening.
Everyone remained still for a second.
It was the first time since Kato had left them in the training sector that the way outside stood open.
Yūta crossed first.
One foot.
Then the other.
Hina followed.
Axe ready.
Ishida stayed by the door.
Mei and Sota began moving the wounded hunter.
Slowly.
Every step required coordination.
Yūta advanced to the first intersection.
Looked both ways.
Empty.
He signaled Hina.
She covered the opposite side.
Ishida watched from the doorway.
"Good?"
Yūta nodded.
"For now."
Those words again.
For now.
Mei and Sota crossed with the wounded hunter.
Ishida was last.
Before leaving, he turned toward the room.
The red light still burned above the main door.
The benches.
The mats.
The remnants of the tournament.
The place where Kato had told them to wait.
For hours, it had been their shelter.
Ishida looked at the panel one last time.
SECTOR: ISOLATED
Then he crossed.
The door began closing behind him.
Sota watched it.
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something.
He did not.
The metal met the frame.
The lock engaged.
None of them knew whether they would be able to open it again.
Ishida turned toward the others.
Ahead, the corridor split farther down.
One path led toward the auxiliary shelter.
The other gradually returned toward the interior of headquarters.
They were still together.
For a few more minutes.
Nothing more.
Yūta held the communicator in one hand.
Hina rested the axe on her shoulder.
Mei adjusted the wounded hunter's weight.
Sota looked at both paths.
Ishida was the first to move.
They had spent too long waiting for an order that could no longer reach them.
From now on, they would have to decide with what they had.