I created a foundation

An invisible aura was suddenly released from Eriri's seemingly petite body.

It is not a spiritual pressure targeting the soul, nor is it pure murderous intent, but a purer and more domineering will.

【Heroic Haki】.

Although he had only mastered it in its initial stages and had only revealed a tiny bit, for an ordinary person who had never been exposed to the extraordinary world, this was already as terrifying as the collapse of the sky.

The sophistry and panic on Iwasaki Maika's face froze in an instant.

She felt as if the air around her was sucked out in an instant, becoming sticky and heavy, pressing on her body and squeezing her lungs like mercury.

An invisible giant beast from ancient times seemed to open its blood-red pupils in front of her.

The absolute suppression from the life level made her brain go blank and her thinking completely stagnated.

Difficulty breathing.

Heart beating wildly.

My legs felt like they were filled with lead, shaking violently and uncontrollably, barely able to support the weight of my body.

Cold sweat instantly soaked her back.

She looked at the blonde girl in front of her in horror.

The afterglow of the setting sun outlined the other person's silhouette. That face, as delicate as a doll, was more terrifying in Iwasaki Maika's eyes than the evil spirits in the deepest part of hell.

This... what is this?

monster.

The person in front of me is definitely not human!

"Watch your mouth."

Eriri looked down at her condescendingly, and every word she said was like an icicle, piercing deep into Iwasaki Maika's soul.

In those emerald eyes, there was no anger or contempt, only a pure indifference as if looking down at an ant.

"Otherwise, next time, it won't be as simple as a verbal warning."

As soon as the words fell, the terrifying pressure that was enough to suffocate people receded like the tide.

Iwasaki Maika's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath like a fish out of water.

When she looked up again, the corridor was empty.

Eriri had already left, leaving behind only the afterglow of the sunset and a cold fear on the ground.

Eriri walked down the stairs with steady steps, and the setting sun stretched her shadow very long.

She pulled out the special mobile phone issued by the Foundation from her pocket, tapped the screen rapidly with her fingertips, and called up an internal personnel database.

She entered the name "Iwasaki Maika".

The other person's detailed information immediately popped up on the screen, including photos, classes, home addresses, social relations... everything was available.

Eriri's gaze lingered on the information for a moment, and then she lightly clicked on a column marked "Risk Level" below Iwasaki Maika's personal profile.

A drop-down menu pops up.

She skipped over the red and orange options that represented high threats, her finger finally resting on a gray label.

[D-level (low-risk) abnormal behavior observation list]

She pressed the confirm button.

After doing all this, she put away her phone and walked towards the parking lot at the school gate.

Eriri's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

The terrifying pressure that was as heavy as a mountain and enough to crush one's soul also disappeared.

“Hu…ha…haah…”

Iwasaki Maika collapsed on the ground, like a fish thrown ashore, her lungs burning as she desperately tried to absorb the air she had lost.

The swirling golden spots in the field of vision gradually faded, and the cold sweat had already soaked through the school uniform shirt, sticking tightly to the back, sticky and cold.

Every muscle in his body was still shaking violently and uncontrollably, the aftereffect of life's most instinctive fear of the absolute superior.

At that moment, she really thought she was going to die.

It was not a beating, nor a threat, but a purer kind of annihilation from the level of life.

It was as if he was just a humble ant, and the other party was a god who looked down at the earth indifferently and could crush him into dust with just one foot.

fear.

Pure, unadulterated fear.

However, after this extreme fear subsided, what grew from the ruins of the soul was not the gratitude for surviving the disaster, nor was it retreat and fear.

She held onto the cold wall, trembling, and struggling to support her almost falling apart body bit by bit.

That face, pale and distorted by fear, began to undergo a strange change in expression in the last rays of the setting sun.

Her breathing went from rapid panting to steady and long, with an ominous rhythm.

The pair of pupils, which were wide open with fear, slowly shrank and condensed, and finally turned into needle-like, resentful black spots.

A wisp of black mist, seemingly tangible, quietly spread from the depths of her eyes.

"Kasumigaoka... Utaha..."

She squeezed out the name from between her teeth in a voice only she could hear, each syllable filled with deep resentment.

"Spencer Sawamura Eriri..."

Her voice became hoarse, as if her vocal cords were being polished with sandpaper, and was full of chilling distortion.

"Why...why do you geniuses who are under the spotlight..."

"Why do you...have everything..."

"Is it because you are the chosen ones?"

She stared intently at the direction where Eriri left. On her still young face, there appeared a murderous intent and hatred so deep that it was almost crazy and completely inconsistent with her age and her current situation.

That's not the look an ordinary high school girl should have.

That was the look of something inhuman.

……

On the other side, at the end of the corridor of the teaching building.

Eriri, who was about to go downstairs, stopped without warning.

Her golden twin ponytails drew a slight arc in the air, and her whole body seemed to be paused, standing still.

Just now, the relief and satisfaction of successfully defending the dignity of my best friend and inflicting a small punishment on the rumormonger still lingered in my mind...

But in the next second.

A cold, sticky feeling filled with substantial malice, like a tentacle emerging from the abyss, wrapped around her back without warning.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to her.

Although it is different from the murderous intent of parasites, it is also different from the bloodthirsty desire of ghouls.

But the intensity and concentration of that pure, undisguised malice directed at a specific target was no less than any other containment she had ever faced.

Ying Lili's brows were instantly furrowed tightly.

Not right.

The source of this feeling... is from the direction behind me.

Is it Maika Iwasaki?

impossible.

In Eriri's mind, the foundation's training courses and practical experience flashed through her mind like a stream of data.

What she just released was [Heroic Haki].

Although it was only a preliminary mastery, revealing only a hint of pressure, its core was the deterrent effect that directly acted on the mental and soul levels.

An ordinary, untrained human being, after enduring such a direct impact, would probably temporarily fall into a state of near collapse, dominated by fear.

Even if they don't faint on the spot, they will definitely lose all ability to think and will to resist, leaving only the most primitive trembling and begging instinct.

This is how normal people should react.

However, this malicious force coming from behind...

Not only is it not at all scattered, but it is more cohesive, purer, and more... powerful than before.

This is not the kind of resentment that an ordinary person whose spirit is frightened can have.

This resentment has far exceeded the scope of "jealousy".

It is an older, more fundamental evil.

In Eriri's emerald eyes, the last trace of the tsundere and innocence of an everyday girl completely faded away, replaced by the absolute calmness and vigilance of a Foundation investigator.

She didn't turn around immediately.

Without being sure whether the other party has the ability to counter-reconnaissance, any rash action may alert the enemy.

She took a step forward, as if she hadn't noticed anything, and continued walking forward.

The figure naturally disappeared from Iwasaki Maika's sight when passing a corner of the corridor.

However, the moment she entered the shadow of the corner, Eriri's movements became as light and silent as a raccoon cat.

She didn't come downstairs.

Instead, he stuck to the wall, dodged, and quietly hid behind the door of an empty classroom next door, only looking through the crack in the door to the other end of the corridor.

Through the dual confirmation of [Observation Haki] and vision, she "saw" it clearly.

He saw Iwasaki Maika, who was still slumped on the ground, staring at the place where he was just now with an extremely resentful look.

I saw the inhuman distortion on her face that was completely different from human emotions.

Confirmation completed.