He looked across the field, searching for the only chance of victory.
But no matter how he calculated it, one link was always missing.
He raised his head and swept his gaze across the school building, only to suddenly spot a familiar figure crouching on top.
Wearing a school uniform... an NPC?
Wait.
He narrowed his eyes. Why did that feel like... Hikigaya?
Kazuma Satou quickly opened the small group chat:
Kazuma Satou: "@Hachiman Hikigaya, are you on top of the school building?"
Hachiman Hikigaya: "That's me."
Kazuma Satou: "Bro, when did you get here?"
Hachiman Hikigaya: "I got here around the time you guys started making a mess in the school building."
Kazuma Satou: "Then why didn't you join us?"
Hachiman Hikigaya: "We... aren't on the same team right now. We can hurt each other. Even if I trust you, bro, I don't know the other two that well..."
Hachiman Hikigaya: "I've been following behind you, picking up your leftovers. Little rat sneaking food.jpg."
Kurisu Makise: "Haha, you were planning to watch Kazuma make a fool of himself, weren't you?"
Hachiman Hikigaya: "N-No..."
Kazuma Satou: "What fooling around?"
Marcille: "No... she meant watching your team make fools of yourselves."
Hachiman Hikigaya: "Uh, right, right."
Kazuma Satou: "That's just mean, Hikigaya!"
Kazuma Satou: "Forget it. Can you help me out? I have a plan. If it works, you can have the loot from both bosses."
Hachiman Hikigaya: "No need for that. Of course I can help. We'll talk about the loot after the fight."
Kazuma Satou: "Good brother. Listen up, then. I'll make an opening for you however I can. Find the right moment and kill them in one hit."
Hachiman Hikigaya: "OK."
Kurisu Makise: "Good luck. If it works, we might even get to watch you all meet up."
The school courtyard.
"Souichirou, I'll leave it to you."
"Medea" reinforced "Souichirou Kuzuki" once more.
"Mm."
"Souichirou Kuzuki" removed his glasses and took off his coat. He was getting serious too.
Shiori Itsuka smiled, revealing her little canine teeth.
"Your magecraft is completely useless, Miss Witch."
"Then what about enchanted fists?"
"Medea" continued suppressing them with firepower as "Souichirou Kuzuki" closed in.
Time was running out.
Kazuma Satou used the second Concealment Command Spell and quietly arrived before Mahiro Oyama's corpse. He stretched out his hand and used the Dao Tian Command Spell.
"By the name of the Dao Tian Command Spell, revive, my teammate!"
Mahiro Oyama's ruptured heart and lost flesh rapidly healed beneath the ancient orange glow radiating from the Dao Tian Command Spell.
When "Medea" had killed her, she had not heavily damaged her body, so she was practically revived without injury.
Her ability to move had not been impaired.
The first thing Mahiro Oyama did upon waking up was prepare to use her Craft Essence and restore the Noble Phantasm's charm control.
Embarrassing things no longer mattered.
What mattered was this:
She could not die of embarrassment in real life.
That was her final bottom line.
"Eh?"
Mahiro Oyama used her Craft Essence, but this notification appeared:
Your connection circuit with the Craft Essence "Alluring Warden Uniform" has been severed by Servant "Medea" using "Rule Breaker." The circuit will require 4 hours to self-heal. Your connection circuit with the Noble Phantasm "My Beloved Honey Wine" has been severed by Servant "Medea" using "Rule Breaker." The circuit will require 4 hours to self-heal.
Four hours?
The corpse could rot twice over by then!
Mahiro Oyama panicked and anxiously stood on tiptoe. Her Noble Phantasm was the key part of the plan.
"Kazuma, what do we do? My connection circuits to my Craft Essence and Noble Phantasm have been severed. I can't use them now!"
Kazuma Satou's expression shifted several times. Finally, after struggling with himself, he made up his mind and stretched out his hand.
"Let me try!"
"Here!"
Kazuma Satou gave it a try, and pain shot through both his body and mind.
His compatibility with the Craft Essence and Noble Phantasm allocated to Mao-chan was far too low.
He might barely be able to wear the Craft Essence.
But there was no point in wearing some sexy school swimsuit. He simply could not use the crucial Noble Phantasm.
The situation instantly fell into a stalemate again.
Not far away.
"It's over, little knight."
"Medea" walked over to the captured Shiori Itsuka and reached out to stroke her pretty face. "What a cute girl. I'd really like to turn you into a specimen."
"Damn it! Let go of me!"
Shiori Itsuka's wrist was tightly gripped by "Souichirou Kuzuki."
Since Mahiro Oyama's hatred had vanished,
"Medea" was in a slightly calmer mood. Holding her Noble Phantasm, "Rule Breaker," she gently tapped Shiori Itsuka's blue-and-white knight outfit.
The next moment,
The knight outfit modeled after "Astolfo" dispersed.
What appeared was no longer Shiori Itsuka in a school uniform.
Instead... it was Shido Itsuka, restored to his male body!
Denji: "?"
A-Xiu: "?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Huh? Another gender scam?!"
Nanao Nanazai: "We're screwed, the False Witch effect was removed!"
Kotori Itsuka: "It's over."
Rudy: "Wait, this one's a man too?!!"
Shinji Matou: "???"
A-Xiu: "Stay alert for trap girls online. Be careful not to get scammed."
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
"I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, I want to die!"
"Guh, just kill me!"
Shido Itsuka rolled his eyes to the side, then finally let his head droop weakly, looking utterly dead inside.
Not far away,
Kazuma Satou watched Shiori Itsuka turn into a boy, witnessing a living person transform before his eyes.
He looked so horrified that all color drained from his face. Thinking back to what had happened earlier, his soul practically flew out of his body in fright.
"..."
Mahiro Oyama watched the scene and felt that it was over.
Damn it, another person had lost her will to fight, just like she had before.
Kazuma Satou, the only person on the team with even a little mobility and combat power, had also fallen into a daze after being "scammed by a beautiful girl's body."
They were completely finished now!!!
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Kazuma Satou pulled his startled soul back into his body. He would think about being deceived by a trap girl later.
They were in the middle of a battle.
But Shido Itsuka and Mahiro Oyama... had completely lost their fighting ability and usefulness.
Was there really still a chance to win?
Kazuma Satou slapped his own face to calm himself down, then surveyed the battlefield. His gaze settled on the "Rule Breaker" in Medea's hand.
That Noble Phantasm had severed their connections with their respective Craft Essences.
Wait?
Severed... their respective connections?
Kazuma Satou caught the fleeting spark of inspiration in his mind.
If things were really as he thought, then perhaps there was still a chance.
He could only gamble on it!
But he needed those two to cooperate.
Kazuma Satou shouted at Shido Itsuka:
"Itsuka! Don't give up, you bastard! I still have to beat you up later!"
Shido Itsuka weakly replied when he heard that:
"I'll atone with my death right now, so don't rush me."
Mahiro Oyama also tried to persuade Shido Itsuka:
"If you die now, you'll be completely exposed! But if we get out alive, we can receive the big shots' incredibly strong privacy protection! They can impose cognitive impairment on people who know us!"
Shido Itsuka suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining as though flames were burning within them!
"Really?! Hurry and save me, please! I'll do anything!"
"Medea" turned her head toward Kazuma Satou.
"Hmph... In this situation, you think you can still turn things around? Especially that child who has a bad habit of constantly firing sneak attacks?"
She noticed the revived Mahiro Oyama nearby, blinked several times, and looked slightly surprised as she confirmed that the voice she had just heard had not been an illusion.
"Oh? You actually hid healing Grand Magecraft that can practically bring the dead back to life?"
"Not practically. It truly brings the dead back to life."
"How is that possible? Don't make me laugh, child."
Before you continue