Organism X

Botan charged in while Hikaru had pumped muscle into his tentacles which was now triple its original size. Hikaru whipped at Botan who deflected with his enhanced arm. If Botan didn't block it with that arm, anywhere the tentacle hit would have been pulverised. Pain shot through his left arm. He could not take another hit or his arm would shatter.

Hikaru curled his tentacle into a shield which cushioned Botan's charge. Still, he flew back against the wall and laid flat on the ground. The makeshift shield had absorbed most of the impact with its spongy like softness but he was still hurt.

Botan stopped just outside of Hikaru's range. He had approximated Hikaru's tentacles to be around 3 metres in length. Yet, he felt something grab his right leg. Botan looked down and saw Hikaru's tentacle arm had stretched to his leg.

Hikaru looked up and smirked victoriously. Hikaru had grown his tentacles longer during the time he was in the air and on the floor. He had adopted Botan's trick and made it his own.

Hikaru stood up and Botan was flung onto the wall. Hikaru pulled his tentacle and smashed Botan onto the floor where he was standing earlier. Hikaru whipped him up into the air again and crushed him on the floor.

He repeated this but Botan grabbed on the tentacle with the enhanced arm and threw him towards himself. He pulled back his fist ready to punch Hikaru.

Hikaru pulled on his tentacle that was still held on by Botan's hand, mid-way through the flight and dodged a punch that flew at him. He then spun and kicked Botan in the face. Botan fell over. Hikaru retrieved his now 5-metre tentacle and immediately strengthened it. The longer the tentacle was, the longer it took to add in more muscles evenly along the tentacle. However, longer tentacles had more weight and power overall.

Botan stood up and his left arm had been further enhanced, revealing its true form. It had fully transformed into a giant raw skin-coloured fist. Hikaru's tentacle was now quadrable its original size, as wide as his own body.

"Enough!!" Daichi shouted when he thought that someone would die.

"The Battle Royale has ended."

Daichi looked at Hikaru's arm and was impressed that he was a match for Botan. He was uncertain who would win the match if it continued.

Most of the participants had been laying on the floor due to the pain but were now up. A few were still unconscious including Kazumi.

Ikuyo was feeling the pulse of one and looked toward Daichi. After Daichi gave her eye contact, she said: "He's dead."

Everyone looked toward a guy with his face bashed in. Daichi glanced at Junpei and then to Botan behind him.

"Aghh! I'm sorry!" Wailed Junpei.

Botan had grasped Junpei with his giant fist.

"The one rule. I said not to kill but you disobeyed." Daichi ruthlessly spoke.

Botan squeezed. Junpei's face scrunched up from the pain.

"PLEASE! Don't kill me! I'm begging you!" Junpei mourned.

"What a waste," Hikaru casually said.

It sounded like a throw-away comment. Botan wondered if he meant that the dead guy was a waste or if Junpei's death will be a waste. However, it struck Daichi that Hikaru had spoken and so he snapped out of his anger.

"There have been enough casualties for today," Daichi said.

With that, Botan released his grip.

"I will have you make up for it."

"Anything!" Junpei coughed.

Hikaru made a neutral statement to hide his true intentions. However, he must have known Daichi would have caught on and was rational enough to calm himself down. Hikaru had saved Junpei in a way that wasn't suspicious nor did he draw ire from others. This was only possible because Hikaru and Daichi read each other well.

Daichi wondered, did Hikaru save him for their sake or was it for his reasons?

Hikaru walked towards the dead body.

"Can I have it?" He called out.

"Go ahead."

Receiving Daichi's permission, Hikaru wrapped it with his tentacle. Daichi dismissed everyone but stayed behind with Botan and Ikuyo to watch Hikaru's consummation.

Everything had a limit as the law of the minimum suggested. Even the parasites could only grow to reach their full potential as predestined by their genes.

Daichi watched with awe but with a tinge of unease. What was Hikaru's limit? It could be that Hikaru could grow stronger indefinitely or perhaps this was just how he eats, through the skin rather than the mouth.

The 'Architects' - is what Daichi called them as opposed to Hikaru's sarcastic benefactors - must have placed limits. They must have a contingency plan in case he went out of control.

Botan sneaked a peek at Daichi and saw that he was awestricken by Hikaru's dining habits. He was upset that he didn't beat Hikaru before Daichi had called it. It was Hikaru who should have been on the ground by now next to Kazumi.

Botan found the strong infected to be a threat as they didn't seem as devoted to the cause and Daichi's leadership. They probably did whatever they liked outside of Daichi's sight.

Botan glared at Hikaru. He vowed to grow so strong that he would eclipse them all.

Hikaru took this chance to ask Daichi what he had been meaning to.

"Daichi, do you happen to know what I am?"

"Not exactly... There was only mention about organism X."

"..."

"Organism X?" Botan muttered.

"Yes... It is said that organism X is an experimental parasite and will be deployed on the field. That's all I know."

"If it follows the English alphabet, does that mean there are 26 different parasites in total?" Hikaru asked.

"How many characters are there in Kanji?"

Over 50,000. However, only 2000 Kanji characters are considered to be literate. The alien knowledge is translated as best as possible during parasite-host bonding. Even then, there would be a different set of vocabularies used by different parasites.

"Although X might be the 24th letter in the Architects' language." Hikaru conjectured.

Daichi agreed and Botan was visibly frustrated by this exchange. Daichi ordered the unconscious to be transported to the basement until they wake up. Ikuyo stood over Kazumi.

"Leave him," Daichi called out before leaving the gym door.

Ikuyo looked at Kazumi and then walked off.