[21.8] Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT-

I ran back to the group and watched as students and teachers gathered together to fight off the shadow creatures. I frowned as I scanned the crowd.

Why is there an attack here of all places?

This can't be a coincidence.

Zephyr suddenly pulled on my sleeve and threw my body to the side.

*BOOOM*

A loud crack echoed through the air, nearly breaking my eardrums. I looked at the sudden hole at my feet with a pale expression.

Around the crater, the rest of the students were on the ground staring at the large hole that nearly killed them.

Caldwell and Cyrus were closest to me, but Hazel and Felix were completely separated from us and by themselves.

Great. The two weak links are the ones completely isolated.

Suddenly, rocks raised up in the air on their own and formed into a large creature.

I nearly fainted at the sight of the huge beast towering over me, "W-What the F*CK is THAT!?"

Zephyr shouted at me, "IDIOT! Don't just stay there!!"

Zephyr grabbed my hand and started to run. The beast swung it's fist down, nearly hitting us. The impact to the earth created strong quakes, sending us flying. After recovering from the toss, I coughed up dirt and looked up to see the rock giant suddenly turn its attention to Cyrus and Caldwell who had gotten farther away from us.

My eyes shrunk back, "It's targeting Goldilocks!"

I went to run back, but Zephyr pulled on me, "That thing is a rock giant fueled by corruption!! We can't fight it! We can only run!!"

I pulled out my wand and grinned, "We can fight it, no problem. I just need to blow it out of existence!!"

Zephyr shrieked, "YOU IDIOT! STOP-"

Caldwell heard his shriek and looked over to see my attack stance. He quickly whisked Cyrus into his arms and started sprinting at a speed I didn't think he was capable of.

I pointed my wand at the rock giant, "Burn b*tch!"

Flames burst out of my wand with a tremendous force.

I had to grab the wand with both hands to avoid flying around.

Oh sh*t!!! It's like a firefighter's water hose! It's too strong!!

Oops… I think I just caught a few trees on fire…

Zephyr grabbed hold of my feet to keep me stable, "STOP ALREADY!! YOU'RE MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE!"

"I can't stop!!!"

"Just stop imagining fire!!"

"How can I stop imagining it when you're telling me not to imagine it!?"

He groaned, "Think of waterfalls you IDIOT!"

Ah! Hah!

Duh.

I suddenly imagined waterfalls and the fire abruptly stopped just like he said.

However, instead of fire, water burst out with an even stronger force.

It was so strong, that it sent both Zephyr and me flying.

I landed far away on the ground with a thud.

As I lay on the ground groaning, the water finally stopped pouring out.

Zephyr groaned next to me, "Way to go, idiot. You somehow managed to avoid using the water on the trees that are on fire because of you."

I shrugged as I sat up painfully, "Eh. At least I took care of that rock monster."

He shook his head and pointed, "Think again."

I looked to where he was pointing to see the rock monster reforming.

My mouth dropped, "How the fuc-"

Zephyr pulled me up and started running, "You idiot! Don't gawk! It's coming after us!!!"

We sprinted as the rock monster started to throw giant boulders at us and swing his hand down to smash us.

I cried out, "Why is it chasing US!?!"

Zephyr barked back at me, "Because YOU managed to piss it off!!"

"How can we stop it!?"

Zephyr shouted, "It's demonic magic! There's nothing we can do!"

"If it's demonic magic, then use your own magic to stop it!"

He spat out furiously, "Stupid girl! I am only capable of magic concerning the conscious mind!!! I can't stop corruption!! There's only one person who could stop it and it was my brother, but he's DEAD!"

I glanced at him with a stiff face, "Ah… Sorry…"

"It's whatever." He grimaced, "But It's weird. Only he was ever capable of using corruption… Could someone else have learned it?"

Before he could figure it out, the rock creature swung his hand down and created a tremor in the ground. The Earth at my feet crumbled, sending me rolling. I landed with a thud and groaned.

"F*ck it all! What could possibly defeat rock!?!"

I suddenly sat up with a brilliant idea.

I snapped my fingers, "Paper!"

I grabbed my wand and pointed it at the rock creature. In my mind, I imagined a large sheet of paper big enough to cover the rock monster. Above its head, a sheet of paper started to form, made out of pure magic.

It slowly drifted down and landed on the rock monster's face.

The rock monster: "???"

He casually tossed off the paper which then disappeared.

"WHAT!?" I stared at it in disbelief. I smacked the ground with my fist, "My childhood is a lie!!! They said paper beats rock!!!"

Before I could do anything else, the creature attacked.

Zephyr screamed out, "Reika!!! MOVE!"

My eyes widened, reflecting the giant fist coming towards me.

I…

I can't move…

I can't think of anything to do!

I forced my eyes shut and held out my hands in a sad attempt to protect myself.

F*ck! If only that d*mned thing would go away!!

Now it's going to kill me!

I'm going to-

Wait…

Why isn't it killing me?

I felt a strange sensation come across my body.

Ah…

What is this?

When I opened my eyes, the rock giant was frozen.

It was as if my hands had actually stopped his…

…But that isn't what happened.

A terrifying red and black smoke poured out from the rock monster and shot toward me.

It collided with my forehead, disappearing as it poured inside of my head.

Unimaginable pain exploded across my forehead, causing me to grit my teeth as I forcefully endured the rush of power.

The rock monster crumbled and fell apart into pieces of immovable rocks.

As the creature turned to rubble, the migraine was replaced by the sensation of someone placing an icepack on it.

I leaned forward and held my forehead, "WHAT WHAT WHAT!?!"

As soon as my fingers touched my skin, I could feel something sticking out of my forehead. It was smooth and hard….

And definitely shouldn't be there.

I screamed out in a panic, "ACNE!?"

Zephyr ran over to me and pointed furiously, "It's that d*mned stone!!! The one that sealed me for years!!! It came out to seal the rock giant!!"

I scratched at my forehead, "EHH!?! EH!? What's it doing on my forehead!?! GET IT OFF!!!"

As I struggled to rip it out, it sunk back into my skin and disappeared.

Zephyr leaned forward and tapped his chin, "How weird… It just disappeared like it was never there…"

First, I find out that I have a ghost lady in my head and now I have a mystery rock!?!

I cried out and grabbed onto him, "Where did it gooooo!?! I don't want it in my head! My brain is too large to share the space!!"

Zephyr chuckled, "Nah, I think there's plenty of space for it."

I glared at him, "Oi."

A shrill scream interrupted us, "HEEELP!"

Eh? Isn't that the voice of Hazel?

I didn't think she was capable of screaming so loud…