Episode 5 — The Lesson Written in Blood
Amagi Soma and Himuro Kei were on the brink of death, cornered by a Maled Spirit.
At the last moment, they were saved by two reinforcements —
Kamishiro Toka and Monma Kanosuke.
Thanks to them, Soma barely survived.
Soma thanked Toka and Kanosuke,
but Kei, still sulking, walked away to handle treatment and cleanup.
Toka and Kanosuke laughed it off,
but Soma was left completely in the dark.
Kei refused to explain anything.
If he wanted answers, now was the only chance.
Soma finally asked:
> “What… exactly are Maled Spirits?
And what is the Kadan Squad? I don’t understand any of this…”
Without answering, Toka grabbed Soma by the arm and dragged him away.
---
“Alright. This place will do.”
The place Toka led them to was a classroom.
> “I didn’t even know there were rooms like this.”
> “It’s a school, after all.
When disasters happen, people take shelter in schools.
This situation is a kind of disaster too.
That’s why we’re here.
By the way, the place you and that chuuni guy fought in earlier?
That was the gym.”
Kanosuke suddenly shouted:
> “Wait, that was the gym!?
Then let’s play dodgeball later!”
> “Idiot! It’s an evacuation center right now!
What if you hit a civilian!?”
Toka opened the classroom door.
> “Excuse us—”
The moment the door cracked open, a foul stench hit all three of them.
> “Ugh… what is this smell!?”
> “What the hell!? Did someone fart!?”
> “No… that’s not it…
You’ll see when we open it.”
Toka opened the door fully.
The classroom was dyed red.
And inside were students —
their futures stolen without reason.
> “Yeah… I figured. That smell gave it away.”
> “This is… awful…”
The sight dragged Soma back to that night.
> “Guh—! …ugh…!”
He vomited again.
---
“Are you okay, Soma!?”
> “Y-Yeah… I’m fine… sorry…”
At the sink, Soma rinsed his mouth.
> I can’t…
Seeing corpses… seeing Maled Spirits…
It brings everything back…
I freeze up. I throw up. I can’t fight…
> I’m weak…
At this rate, I’ll just drag Kei, Toka, and Kanosuke down…
He slammed his fist against the wall.
---
Meanwhile, Toka and Kanosuke were handling the bodies.
> “This place was already attacked…”
> “So this was a Maled Spirit too…?”
> “Yeah…”
> “This is a high school, right?”
> “Yeah…”
> “Then… they were like sixteen… eighteen…”
Toka fell silent.
Kanosuke trembled as tears streamed down his face.
> “This is messed up…
They were supposed to live…
Join clubs… hang out with friends… go to college…
Get jobs… have families…
They had futures!”
> “What did they ever do to deserve this!?”
> “Kanosuke… stop…”
They cleaned the blood, wrapped the bodies in cloth, and placed them in the gym storage.
> “It’s dark… cold…
Isn’t this cruel?”
> “We don’t have another choice…”
Toka gently covered the faces.
> “You must’ve had regrets…
You wanted to live longer…
But rest easy.
We’ll hunt them down.
I promise.”
---
“Soma… are you alright?”
> “Yes… I am.”
Soma spoke quietly.
> “My family was killed by Maled Spirits… right in front of me.
I lost my right eye… everything.
Kei saved my life… but whenever I see Maled Spirits or corpses…
I freeze… I can’t move… I vomit…”
> “But… I still want to fight.”
> “You don’t have to,” Toka said softly.
“If you can’t fight, you don’t fight.”
> “Yeah,” Kanosuke nodded.
“None of us want you to die.”
> “You rush in unprepared, you’ll die for sure.
We’ll protect you as much as we can — that’s a promise.
But these Maled Spirits are insanely strong.
Don’t throw your life away. Please.”
Soma clenched his fists.
> “…I understand.”
---
The Lesson Begins
> “Alright. Since we’re done cleaning up,
let me explain this world to you.”
Soma sat down.
> “Maled Spirits are born from the traces of human misery.
Accidents, hatred, despair — they leave marks behind.
Those marks become Maled Spirits.”
> “The Kadan Squad hunts them.
Think of us as exorcists.”
Kanosuke raised his hand.
> “Why can we use powers anyway!?”
> “You didn’t know!?”
> “My bat just started shooting lightning!”
> “Unbelievable…”
Toka explained:
> “Our power source is Gō — negative energy.
It flows through an innate system called a Formula.
No Gō, no abilities.
Managing it is everything.”
> “Users are called Gō-Users, or simply Sorcerers.
The whole system is called the Gō World.”
Kanosuke scratched his head.
> “Still complicated…”
Soma nodded.
> “So… Gō is like electricity,
and Formulas are like appliances?”
Toka threw a piece of chalk at him.
> “Perfect! You’re smart! Unlike him!”
---
Threat Incoming
A window shattered.
> “Another one.”
> “Let’s go.”
A Maled Spirit stood there, drenched in blood.
> “Humans… hungry…”
> “We’ll take it down before civilians get hurt.”
> “I’ll fight too!”
> “No,” Toka stopped him.
“If you can’t fight, don’t force it.
Go tell that chuuni guy downstairs we found his favorite prey.”
> “…Okay!”
Soma ran.
Behind him—
> “You killed students from this school…”
Kanosuke snapped.
> “You stole their futures!
I’ll kill you!”
And with that,
two warriors charged into battle.
