The group's level of difficulty in fighting their battles dropped significantly with their new “guest” around, escorting them back to the academy. From where the log was, they ran into a few battles, but even inside the battles, Izoki was able to launch a Jigoku Raijin towards them, wiping every last one of them out. Spiders, Scorpions, Flies, Plants. Nothing seemed to stand in his way. It was like they'd just gotten some amazingly-strong ally, out of nowhere. In many battles, the three of them didn't even get a chance to Power-Up and launch an attack.

With their power-house ally nearby to help them out, the time it took to get out of the log and reach the back gates of the academy was incredibly quick. At least, quick compared to how long it had taken them to get from the Shrine to the Log. They were going through a lot of tall grass, and things were moving slowly, but it felt like they were constantly moving, as if they weren't even stopping to fight all of the insects and animals they were coming across. They were fighting them, but the pace was absolutely incredible. Before they knew what happened, they saw a long stretch of towering, metal pillars above them. They were at the academy gates.

As they walked inside, they realized the low-cut grass of the place. The grass was so well-cut on campus, that it barely came up to their waists, much different than the jungle of grass they'd been trying to tread through on their trip, thus far. They saw the campus grounds, and it looked like they were inside some immense city. They couldn't even begin to imagine just how far the place stretched, for them. Dozens of miles, perhaps? They could tell their situation, right away, seeing the “Digging” area in front of them. The pile of dirt that was there, normally a few feet in height, now looked like a huge mountain from a local Garbage Disposal area. They were about to be in the territory of their school, seeing everything on a much bigger scale.

Getting past the gate and heading around the Digging area, not wishing to fall into an abyss-like hole, Izoku began to direct them to where they were headed. He had taken all of their classmates and professors somewhere safe, somewhere he thought where there wouldn't be hardly any danger. Pointing towards the southeast edge of the academy, he spoke of this place. “The destination for us is the ceremonial stage to the south. I'll assume that you already know how to get over there. It's just southeast of the academy entrance.”

Being students from the academy, of course they knew where it was. It was just east of where they'd seen and spoken with Hiromi earlier that very day. The stage was there for special events of the school, and had a stone figure on the top of it. What they wondered, however, was why they were going to a Ceremonial Stage, of all places. They figured they'd be headed someplace a little, well...safer. That place was cleaned often, so being on top of it wouldn't be the safest place in the world. “The stage?” asked Hitoshi. “What is so important down there?”

Izoku let off a soft smile past his tough-looking face. “That you will see when you get there. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.” He then looked around, specifically up into the air, where the sun was shining down on them. “...but let's be quick about it. Class will be over soon, and that tends to fill this, specific area with huge, trodding feet.” That very idea was a little too nervous to make it comfortable. They remembered how hard it was to get away from Masako's boot. They weren't even going to consider getting into a situation where they'd be trying to dodge dozens upon dozens of gigantic feet. Tarou spoke up, agreeing with Izoku's idea. “Then I would consider hurrying a prudent idea.”

They began their long journey across the campus grounds. The lower grass definitely helped them move around faster, but it didn't stop them from running into insects to brawl with. From the very start of their journey east, hugging the walls of the mountain-sized campus building, they ran into a lot things they'd seen before. The campus grounds were full of spiders and flies, along with a new foe for them, Beetles. Izoku was able to dispatch most of these creatures with ease. However, when they got into a fight with a Beetle, a single Jigoku Raijin just wasn't enough to take them out. As they encountered them, Hitoshi aided Izoku by finishing off each beetle with a Double-Cut.

They wanted the shortest trip around this place as humanly possible, so they hugged against the wall of the school building. It was kept clean, so there wasn;t a lot of grass or weeds for spiders and insects to hide in. Aside from the occasional fight, they were pretty safe there. It would also be safer, in case the other students came out before they reached the stage. Hugging against the walls would keep them a lot safer from boots, shoes, and feet. However, they hoped they would be able to make it to wherever Izoku was taking them before that threat would show itself.

Luckily, they were fortunate enough to tread through quickly enough to make it to the stage before class let out. As Izoku dealt with the last few insects, they came around to the front of the stage, seeing it's building-sized depth. Right next to one of the sets of steps that led up to the stage, itself, there was a hold busted through the wall. It wasn't a very big hole, just enough for them to pass through, as if it were a doorway. Leading the way, Izoku passed through the doorway and they came into some new sort of structure.

Inside were dirt walls and a dirt floor. However, like the log, it almost looked like it was man-made, the walls flat and the ground perfectly stable for walking. Waiting for them inside, were two students from the academy, whom immediately came forward to speak with them. A man with dark-blue hair and a helmet around his head spoke, standing right in front of them. “Izoku-san! You actually found them!”

Izoku acknowledged to the blue-haired man and then turned towards Hitoshi, Tarou, and Sei, preparing to speak about where they were. “Welcome, you three, to your home away from home. This place can be a bit claustrophobic at times, but it is delightfully free of giant shoes.” Sei was the first to realize just what this place was. He saw a huge ant crawling around one of the walls, and a shiver went down his spine. Why would they be here, of all places? “Wait...you brought everyone around campus...to an ant hole?!”

The ant moving around immediately reacted to what Sei was doing, as if it had heard every word they'd said. It marched right up to him and started shaking it's head around, the hard-shelled antenna waving around, hitting his shirt. “Hole? HOLE?!” said the ant, shockingly. The three of them immediately stopped, thinking they were about to have a heart attack from the fact that an ant just spoke to them....in ENGLISH.