The administrator got up.

Slower than before — not two seconds, four.

The blue points of light flickered at an irregular rhythm.

"That," it said, "was not in any database."

Kai didn’t respond.

He was still on the ceiling — Qi Step keeping his feet adhered, assessing the angle of the next move.

"Are you going to speak?" the administrator said.

Nothing.

"Silence is a valid combat tactic, I understand." The administrator raised its arms — blue energy on both, more concentrated than in the previous columns. "But it can also be counterproductive. Communication during combat helps process the situation."

Kai jumped from the ceiling.

Not toward the administrator — toward the six-armed creatures still active on Serah and Lira’s side.

---

[System — update]

[Field Priority active — multiple threat assessment]

[Primary threat identified: creatures in Serah and Lira’s sector]

[Serah: markings at 8% — combat capacity critical]

[Lira: magic at 0% — right shoulder and left arm damaged]

[The system confirms target change]

[Locked abilities remaining: 13]

The six-armed creatures attacking Serah numbered four — those remaining after Serah had used the last resources of structural ice to immobilize the others.

Four. With six arms each. Against Serah at eight percent.

Kai reached the first from behind.

Elbow to the base of the skull — the forbidden strike the administrator had dodged before.

The creature didn’t dodge.

All six arms stopped responding simultaneously. The creature’s nervous system interrupted at the point where all signals converge.

It fell.

The second turned — all six arms in response position, the creature having learned from previous exchanges.

Kai went to the ground under the arms.

Heel to the tendon of the rear left leg.

The creature lost balance.

Kai rose with his knee to the underbelly — the point between scales Serah had identified in the labyrinth as thinner.

The creature went backward.

The third and fourth arrived together.

Kai used the second — still off-balance, its arms seeking support — as a stepping surface. Two steps atop the second creature’s arms, using the resistance of its own limbs as a platform.

He landed atop the third.

Knee to the spine from above. Same principle as with the administrator. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The third to the ground.

The fourth had all six arms aimed at Kai.

Kai took the upper right arm with both hands — judo grip, full rotation using the creature’s weight against itself.

The fourth struck the ground by the arm Kai had used as a lever.

Four seconds. Four creatures.

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ FOUR CREATURES IN FOUR SECONDS ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Dr_Snow: went for the creatures first. Serah at 8%. Field Priority correctly applied.]

[Drakeking: forbidden strike to the base of the skull. tendon. knee to the belly. judo with the arm as a lever. four different techniques on four creatures.]

[Jack_Moore: Serah’s markings pulsed when Kai arrived. we saw them from here.]

[Brandon_Haddan: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ FOR SERAH ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Jesse_Williams: Kai didn’t speak to the admin. went directly to protect Serah. the admin is watching him.]

---

The tentacle creatures in Lira’s sector numbered six.

Kai reached the first from the flank — Flank Evasion active, the angle where the two-meter tentacles had no useful extension angle because the distance between the creature’s body and Kai’s arrival point was less than the tentacles’ minimum extension length.

Elbow to the side. Penetrating Strike.

The upgraded version’s triple layer wasn’t tentacles — it was dense skin. Penetrating Strike pierced it.

The creature fell.

The second extended three tentacles simultaneously from different angles — the same coverage tactic that made Lira’s dodge difficult.

Kai didn’t dodge.

He grabbed the central tentacle with his right hand before it completed its extension — at the midpoint, where extension force was greatest but the creature’s control over the end was least.

He pulled.

The creature came by the tentacle — same as Lira had done before, but with Qi in the grip multiplying the pull force.

The creature struck the two behind it.

Three neutralized in one move.

The three remaining adjusted — tentacles retracting, repositioning for the next cycle.

Lira reached the first of the three from the flank.

No magic. Just the SS lateral step and a closed fist to the belly point Kai had marked with the first strike.

The creature gave way.

Kai reached the second.

Lira the third.

All six creatures in Lira’s sector in twelve seconds between the two.

Lira looked at Kai.

Kai was already turning toward the administrator.

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI AND LIRA COORDINATED WITHOUT SAYING A WORD ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Dr_Snow: Kai marked the belly point on the first. Lira used it on the next ones. no verbal coordination.]

[Drakeking: Flank Evasion Level 2 on the tentacles. the angle where extension has no useful range.]

[Jack_Moore: six creatures in twelve seconds between the two. the admin watching all of this.]

[Brandon_Haddan: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Jesse_Williams: the admin has the :D but the light points flickering at an irregular rhythm. it’s processing something it didn’t expect.]

---

Kai turned toward the administrator.

The administrator was watching him.

It hadn’t launched any attack while Kai handled the creatures — it had observed. With the permanent :D and the blue points of light flickering and its arms still covered in energy.

"That was efficient," it said.

Kai didn’t respond.

"The creatures first. The most urgent ones. Different techniques for each type according to specific vulnerability." A pause. "And coordination with the vampire without verbal communication." Another pause. "That’s also not in any database."

Kai advanced toward it.

The administrator launched five simultaneous columns — wider than the previous ones, the width of a person, covering all the space between them without leaving an angle to pass.

Kai struck the first with his right fist — Penetrating Strike, the vector changing.

The first went toward the left wall.

Left fist to the second — the shoulder that had taken the previous column protested with the movement but responded.

The second went toward the ceiling.

Right elbow to the third — using the left fist’s momentum to pivot his body and bring the elbow from the other angle.

The third went toward the floor.

The fourth and fifth arrived together from the flanks.

Kai ducked.

The two columns passed over him and met behind — the impact between the two created an explosion of blue energy that lit the entire chamber for a second.

Kai was already up and running.

Five steps. His feet deliberately activating traps — pressure for momentum, gravity for the pivot, the sequence he’d learned to read in the first exchanges of the combat.

He reached the administrator.

Right fist straight to the chest — not to the side, not to the neck. To the center. To the point of the oldest distortion.

Penetrating Strike active.

Qi concentrated in the knuckles.

The distortion expanded.

The core flickered.

The administrator went a meter back.