By the time I paid attention to Yukina's fight against Satou, she was already on turn 3, so I had no context on what happened before then. Thankfully, one of the features you get as a Commander is the ability to look through the footage taken during the war and play it back.

This feature was probably used for analysing or examination purposes mid-war, but for me, it was the perfect tool to watch what's happened thus far. Another feature was you could choose what speed to play the footage at, so I chose to play it back at double the speed, so I could catch up quickly and watch it live.

Chabashira-sensei glanced at me fiddling with the controls, trying to get it to work. She intervened, gently pushing my hands out of the way using hers, before sliding around a separate screen with her fingertips and playing the footage I had chosen using the library of cuts from the video reel.

"Oh... um, thanks, sensei."

"Next time, before the war starts, ask for a tutorial on how to use the Commander's functions. Seeing you struggle to use such a simple feature in such a critical time for such a mundane reason... it hurts to watch."

"I can ask for a tutorial?"

"Why couldn't you?"

"...good point."

"Even if you're in E Class, the role of a Commander is universal across all classes. There's no reason for us to hide it's features from you. If you need help, just ask for it."

"Knowing this school, asking for any sort of help would cost me a small fortune..."

"You're still not over 3,000,000 to open a communication line in the middle of a fight, huh?"

"Don't remind me."

I started watching the replay of the fight. Chabashira-sensei continued our light conversation.

"You're replaying Kazuraba-san's fight?"

"Yeah. I missed most of it because I was watching Katsumi-san's and Taiga-san's fights."

"Shouldn't you be spreading out your focus to everyone all at once? Kazuraba-san, Nora-san, Jomko-san, Kawaguchi-san, and Rinbayashi-san are all still fighting right now."

The situation on the top floor wasn't great. Tanaka died, but Rinbayashi was still alive. That aside, I noticed that Chabashira-sensei only mentioned people from the Takanori group who were fighting right now to me. It was like she knew I wasn't interested in the people from the Matsushita group who were also fighting right now as well.

"I would, but it's harder than I expected... besides, I'm watching this at double speed, it shouldn't take me any longer than a minute."

"If you say so."

I can't help but feel like Chabashira-sensei was trying to probe me for something. If she was, what was she trying to get from me? Perhaps this was part of our evaluation during war time? Maybe she was trying to decide whether or not I was a good Commander for doing something like that. Regardless, I couldn't think deeply about her intentions right now, as I had to focus on the fight replay.

At the start of the fight, Satou groaned with a hunched back while Yukina kept silent with a sharpened look in her eyes.

"Stand up, Vanguard!(...)"

"Undying Departed, Grenache!"

"Dragon Egg..."

Satou's dead looking eyes widened slightly when he saw Yukina's starter.

"And here I thought you played Brandt... guess I am really going home after all..."

Pessimistically, Satou thought he had no chance against Yukina now because her deck had switched from Brandt to Nightrose. Unfortunately for him, this was likely true.

"Surprised?"

Yukina simply smiled. Satou grimaced with a sigh.

"I think my facial expression says it all, Kazuraba-san..."

"It's kind of hard to see it when half your face is hidden beneath your hair."

"I get that a lot, surprisingly..."

Yukina laughed awkwardly. I imagine that Satou's anti-social and depressing personality made it hard to talk to him.

"You remind me a little bit of Yuu, Satou-san."

"Yuu...? Oh, you mean Takanori-san... ah, well, I guess we're a bit similar..."

Admittedly, I was just as quiet and anti-social as Satou was. So, Yukina wasn't exactly wrong with that comparison, but I'd still like to think there were a few differences between us.

"You're both not very confident people."

Yikes, was that the impression I gave to Yukina?

"I wonder what could've given that away..."

"And you both like to answer with sarcastic or dry responses."

"You tend to sort of develop that trait when you try to have personality but have none..."

This was painfully true.

"And you both don't really stick out that much."

Satou gave a deadpan look to Yukina.

"Ah, sorry if that sounded rude, I didn't mean it that way!"

Yukina panicked and apologised.

"No, you're fine... it's just, well, I'd disagree on that... personally."

"Well, I guess you would."

"I mean... you know what my role in D Class is... right?"

When faced with that question, Yukina looked away. Satou sighed.

"I'm Zyriot's right-hand man. The Adviser, Satou Ishigami."

"Eh? You're Zyriot-san's right-hand?"

"Surprised?"

Cheekily, Satou flipped the question Yukina asked him earlier on her. Yukina laughed a little.

"I think my facial expression says it all, Satou-san."

Matching his pace, Yukina mimicked Satou's response to that question. The corners of Satou's lips turned up, ever so slightly.

"You're also Takanori-san's right-hand, aren't you?"

"Um... now that you mention it..."

Yukina scratched her cheek.

"Huh, I guess I kind of am Yuu's right-hand..."

"Then this is a battle between assistants, huh?"

"Hm, in that case, I guess we'll find out which class has the better right-hand with this fight, won't we?"

"Please don't put that kind of pressure on me... I just want to go home..."

"Let's get this fight rolling then, Satou-san!"

"First Turn: Kazuraba Yukina."

"Of course I go second... today's gonna be a long day..." Satou muttered with a sigh.

"Stand and draw! I ride Damian the Ghostie from my Ride Deck! Damian's skill, when placed, I search my deck for Jessie the Ghostie and put him into my drop zone! Grenache's skill, I draw!"

It seems Yukina is using the hybrid version that combines Nightrose with the Ghostie engine.

"I call Skeleton Sea Navigator and Witch Doctor of the Powdered Bone, Negrobone to rear-guard! Navigator's skill, I rest him and Negrobone to mill five! Turn end."

Yukina:
Hand: 4
Damage: 0
Drop: 6
OXO
XXO

Satou:
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw... I ride Savage Shooter..."

Like Taiga, Satou didn't announce he was riding from the Ride Deck. Though for a person as lethargic as him, it was probably out of some sort of laziness more than anything else.

"Egg's skill, draw and get a useless ticket... Shooter's skill, soulblast, draw, and call Turbo Smilodon with an equip gauge... Smilodon's skill, when called, he gets an equip gauge... I call Illuminating Dragon, Parasalamp... Parasalamp's skill, when called, I rest him to give him three equip gauge... uh, Shooter attacks, I guess... (8000)"

Satou, who was mumbling through his plays, had managed to gather an impressive five equip gauge on the board on his first turn.

"No guard!"

"Drive check... (Savage Raider)"

"Damage check! (Skeleton Sea Navigator)"

"Smilodon attacks... (9000) when he swings, he gives Parasalamp an equip gauge..."

"Greed Shade guards! (13000)"

"Turn end..."

Somehow, Satou's gone through more of his deck than Yukina on his first turn. At the rate they're going, this fight is going to be won by whoever decks out first...

Yukina:
Hand: 3
Damage: 1
Drop: 7
OXO
XXO

Satou:
Hand: 7
Damage: 0
XXO
OXO

"Stand and draw! I ride Pirate Swordsman, Colombard from my Ride Deck! Colombard's skill, I counterblast, mill Skull Dragon from my deck, and call Greed Shade from my drop zone! Greed's skill, I discard a card and mill two to return Damian to my hand! I call Damian to rear-guard and mill Chappie from my deck! Navigator's skill, I rest Damian and Negrobone to mill five! Jessie's skill in drop zone, I retire Damian and Negrobone to call him to rear-guard! Greed gets 5k since I have ten or more cards in drop! (9000 > 14000) Boosted by Navigator, Colombard attacks! (9000 > 16000)"

"No guard..."

"Drive check! (Pirate Swordsman, Colombard)"

"Damage check... (Light Blade Dragon, Zandilopho)"

"Greed attacks! (14000)"

"Zandilopho... (18000)"

"Jessie attacks! (9000) His skill, he gets +5k! (9000 > 14000)"

"Roarbaryo... (18000)"

"Jessie retires and I countercharge. Turn end."

Yukina:
Hand: 3
Damage: 1
Drop: 17
OXX
OXO

Satou:
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
XXO
OXO

"Stand and draw... I ride Turbo Smilodon... his skill, give an equip gauge to Parasalamp... I call Savage Raider and Zandilopho... Raider's skill, give an equip gauge to Parasalamp... Zandilopho's skill, rest and give an equip gauge to Parasalamp... uh, Boosted by Parasalamp, Smilodon attacks... (9000 > 17000) When he swings, give an equip gauge to Parasalamp..."

It was getting kind of concerning that Satou was giving all his equip gauges to Parasalamp. One would imagine he'd call down a Sweepacrocanto then use Zandilopho's skill to move all the gauge he's gathered last turn onto it, but instead, he kept stacking it on Parasalamp.

"No guard!"

"Drive check... (Angry Roar Dragon, Roarbaryo)"

"Damage check! (Greed Shade)"

"Smilodon attacks... (9000) when he swings, give an equip gauge to Parasalamp..."

"No guard! (Knight Spirit) Critical, all to vanguard! (9000 > 19000)"

Satou pulled a "really?" face before looking over his cards with a heavy sigh.

"You have got to be kidding me... eh... well, I'll attack with Raider anyways to use his skill... when he swings, I move all equip gauges on Smilodon to Parasalamp... turn end..."

Satou ended his turn with an eleven gauge Parasalamp. Seriously, what was he planning?

Yukina:
Hand: 3
Damage: 3
Drop: 17
OXX
OXO

Satou:
Hand: 4
Damage: 1
XXX
XXO

By this point, the replay had finished. I turned my attention back to the live fight.

"Stand and draw! Attracted by the shimmering wisps of crimson on the surface, the butterflies dance innocently under the new moonlight that shines on the blue lagoon! Taint the waters with blood, my avatar! I ride Vampire Princess of Night Fog, Nightrose from my Ride Deck!"

"Imaginary Gift: Protect I! Negrobone's skill in drop zone, I discard a card and put him to the bottom of my deck to call a grade 1 card from my drop zone. However, since I have ten or more cards in drop, I can call any grade instead. I call, Stormride Ghost Ship! Then, I'll call Colombard! Colombard's skill, I counterblast, mill Cyrille from my deck, and call Ripple Banshee from my drop zone! Ripple's skill, I soulblast to draw a card and give her +4k! (8000 > 12000) Navigator's skill, I rest him and Colombard to mill five!"

Yukina's deck was getting dangerously thin. I don't think she should use Navigator's skill anymore...

"Nightrose's skill! Whenever my unit attacks or boosts, they get +5k, but at the end of the battle they retire! Ship attacks! (9000 > 14000) His skill, he gets +15k! (14000 > 29000)"

"No guard... (Turbo Smilodon)"

"Ship's skill, he retires and I draw a card! Boosted by Ripple, Greed attacks! (14000 > 26000 > 36000)"

"These attacks are way too big... no guard... (Savage Shaman) Heal... well, damn."

Satou had some seriously bad luck. That was his first trigger in this entire game and it couldn't even proc.

"I can't heal... so... power to vanguard... (9000 > 19000)"

"Ripple and Greed both retire. Nightrose attacks! (12000) Nightrose's skill, I counterblast and call two cards from my drop zone to a column! I call Stormride Ghost Ship and Ghostie Leader, Beatrice from my drop zone! Beatrice's skill, I soulblast to call another Stormride Ghost Ship from my drop zone!"

"You've milled ten triggers... so I think my chances are safe... probably... so, no guard. One to pass..."

"Twin Drive!! (Witch Doctor of Powdered Bone, Negrobone, Rampage Shade) Critical, all to vanguard! (12000 > 22000/1 > 2) Cut through the mist of lies, First Ancestor's Butterfly Fangs— Dracula's Phantasmagoria!!"

"Me and my big mouth... damage checks... (Illuminating Dragon, Parasalamp, Savage Raider) Ouch, five damage..."

"Ship attacks! (9000 > 14000) His skill, he gets +15k! (14000 > 29000)"

"Maybe I should take the damage so I can go home..."

Satou looked at his damage zone with dreary eyes. Just as he was about to reach for his deck, a loud and rowdy voice stopped him.

"It'd be pathetic if ya lost at grade 2, Ishigami! Yer gonna be a laughin' stock if ya let that bitch kill ya now!"

Looking over his shoulder, Satou saw Mikitaka encouraging him, even though he was in the middle of his own fight. While it was probably hard for Satou to hear him over the white noise the visor puts into your ears during cardfights (to prevent outsider interference), he must've understood the gist of his shouting.

"Mikitaka, I... I just wanna go home man... I don't wanna do this war..."

"What the hell are ya saying? Didja already forget the hell everybody went thru, trainin' for this war? Where'd yer fightin' spirit go, huh?! All this talk 'bout goin' home... all yer doin' is pussyin' out cuz yer scared of dyin'! That's the truth, ain't it, Ishigami?! Look at ya, scared of death, yet yer walkin' straight into it! That makes me sick, ya damn hypocrite!"

Widening his eyes, Satou slowly retracted his hand from his deck and lowered his head.

"Ya get it yet, Ishigami?! Grow a spine and stick to yer ideals like ya usually do! No more of this weak ass wimp act ya love to put on! Yer one of us! One of the real men of D Class! So start actin' like it, or else I'll never forgive ya!"

Satou raised his head with an ugly but sincere smile.

"Heh... thanks, Mikitaka... I nearly lost myself... I'm Zyriot's right-hand man... I've gotta set an example for the rest of them, don't I?"

Satou slammed his fist onto the holographic table, his once tired face looking wide awake now. Opening his hand and showing his palm to Yukina, blood dripped from where his nails dug so hard into his hand, his skin had ripped open.

"You wanna dye the ocean with blood...? Then I'll do you one better and dye the whole entire damn world with my own blood! I guard with Babytops! (34000)"

"Ship retires and I draw. My other Ship attacks! Same skills! (29000)"

"Go to hell, dumb ship! I guard with Savage Aggressor! (34000)"

"Ship retires and I draw. Skill, activate!"

Yukina's visor started glowing rose pink with shades of blood red.

"Parting Treasure! When my rear-guard is retired by my card's ability, I countercharge 1! Turn end!"

"Cute skill, I hope you deck yourself out to death!"

In the midst of his burst of fervour, Satou mixed a sarcastic compliment with a joking insult and tacked it on the end to try and wind up the unusually calm Yukina. She simply laughed awkwardly seeing Satou suddenly fired up in this cardfight.

"Yea man, that's the spirit! Go talk mad shite 'bout her some more, ya ha ha!"

Of course, Mikitaka encouraged this trash talk, as expected.

Yukina:
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
Drop: 25
OXO
XXO

Satou:
Hand: 2
Damage: 5
XXX
XXO

OST: in the shadows

"Ah... it's finally my turn... and my only chance left at beating you... if I don't win here, next turn you'll either Quad Skull or Beatrice Combo me... do I want to give you that kind of satisfaction...?"

"If you're having doubts, then let me pose you a question. Can you beat me this turn? If not, then this game is decided. You're going home, like you always wanted."

Yukina's provocative words pissed Satou off.

"I'm going home? You're mistaken, Kazuraba-san. You are going home. Final Turn."

Without any fear, Satou declared this was his final gambit against Yukina.

"Bring it."

"Stand and draw! I might not have Sweep and I might not have Blader, but I do have something even better than those two combined! Who the hell said an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? As far as I'm concerned, they're still right here— in my heart! Shake up the world that abandoned you with the devastating beat of your swaggering roar! I ride my avatar, Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex!"

"Imaginary Gift: Accel II! Draw a card! Cleave through the age before extinction, mighty brave of the savages! I call my true avatar, Savage King! (12000 > 17000) Zandilopho's skill, rest and move all the equip gauges on Parasalamp to King! Then, counterblast to give King +5k! (17000 > 22000)"

In one fell swoop, Satou manipulated all eleven his stockpiled gauges and put them onto Savage King. What was he planning?

"I call a fresh Parasalamp and rest him to get three equip gauges! Now, here's my secret tech. I play the order, Clear Frame "Whirling Wash of Curse Cleansing"! I stand Zandilopho and draw a card! Zandilopho's skill isn't a once per turn, so rest and move all the equip gauges on Parasalamp to King! Then, counterblast to give King +5k! (22000 > 27000) Skill, activate!"

Satou's visor started glowing dirt brown, like the crust of the earth.

"Weapon Production! I give an equip gauge to one of my units. I give it to King! Now, you're probably wondering, why am I concentrating all my gauges on King now? Let me show you. Savage King's skill! He gets +5k for every equip gauge on him! He has 15, so add +75k! (27000 > 102000) And to make matters worse for you... I've been saving a very special card for this turn. I call, Angry Roar Dragon, Roarbaryo! Roarbaryo's skill, soulblast and give King an equip gauge! Then, that unit gets +5k for every equip gauge it has! King now has 16, so +80k! Plus another +5k from his own skill! (102000 > 107000 > 187000)"

That number was ridiculous... it somehow managed to beat John's Dailiner in terms of raw power. Roarbaryo had essentially doubled Savage King's power with a single soulblast. In fact, Savage King had so many gauges, the card was standing taller than Satou's vanguard.

"However... all this power is pointless with that Protect in your hand. I know that. That's why I'll make this a turn where you have to guard everything I have! Gigarex's skill! I discard five equip gauges! (187000 > 162000) Three of my front row units get +5k! (162000 > 167000) (9000 > 14000) (9000 > 14000) And since you have four or less damage, I burn your vanguard! Make her go extinct, Mammoth Meteor!"

"D-damage check! (Pirate Swordsman, Colombard)"

Yukina's eyes widened as her vanguard was pinged for a damage, bringing her to four.

"Ah, this is why I love old cards... combined with new support, you can exploit things such as lacking a once per turn symbol, because getting five equip gauges was actually difficult when the card was first released, a ha ha!"

"What are you trying to say, exactly...?"

"Gigarex's burn skill isn't once per turn."

Yukina's face went pale.

"I discard five equip gauges! (167000 > 142000) Three of my front row units get +5k! (142000 > 147000) (14000 > 19000) (14000 > 19000) And since you have four or less damage, I burn your vanguard! Make her go extinct, Mammoth Meteor!"

"Damage check! (Vampire Princess of Night Fog, Nightrose)"

Yukina had been pushed to five, not through battle, but by card effects. She now had to guard all four of Satou's attack to win, or else she'd lose. Satou really was ready to commit to this Final Turn...

"Kazuraba-san, it's time for you to tell your Leader Takanori that you're going home. Eat Dino DNA, bitch. Gigarex attacks! (12000) Gigarex's skill, he gives all my rear-guards an equip gauge! (147000 > 152000) Then, he gets +5k for each of my rear-guards! I have a full board, so +30k! (12000 > 42000) Excavate the land, Rhythmic Sound Cannon!"

"Rampage Shade and Rick the Ghostie guards! (12000 > 42000 > 62000) Two to pass!"

"I think more than half my triggers are under King, so... surprise me, deck. Twin Drive!! (Angry Roar Dragon, Roarbaryo, Small Horn Dragon, Babytops) The one time fronts would be good... critical trigger, all to King! (152000 > 162000/1 > 2) Smilodon attacks! (19000) When he swings, I give King an equip gauge! (162000 > 167000/2)"

"Negrobone guards! (22000)"

"Boosted by Roarbaryo, Raider attacks! (19000 > 27000) When he swings, I move all gauges from Smilodon to King! (167000 > 172000/2)"

"Rough Seas Banshee and Greed Shade guard! (12000 > 27000 > 32000)"

A strong gust of wind breezed past them, blowing the hair covering Satou's eye out of the way. For the first time, for both me and Yukina, we got to see what was underneath Satou's long hair. It was his right eye, identical to his left one, but covered in a burn scar.

"Savage King attacks! (172000/2) When he swings, he can move all gauges from Raider to himself! (172000 > 177000/2) Fossilise her, Primordial Bulldozer!"

Even though he had to discard ten equip gauges this turn, Savage King was still nearly as big as when Satou first started. If he didn't need to discard those ten equip gauges, Savage King would've been 227k— breaking the 200k threshold.

"Protect I, perfect guard!"

However, all of Satou's hard work was for nothing. That absurd power meant nothing if the attack was nullified. Yukina had managed to survive Satou's meteoric assault with just one card in hand remaining.

"...as expected."

Satou, who had lost all his bravado as his final attack didn't hit, put his hands into his pockets and lowered his head, his hair covering his burnt eye once more.

"Leader Zyriot, I'm going home. Turn end."

With that announcement, a pop-up appeared on my visor.

"Satou Ishigami is Dead."

Because he declared Final Turn and couldn't win, Satou lost as punishment. As such, he was killed, not by Yukina's hands, but his own.

Satou fell to the floor, spread out on his back like a snow angel, as his visor turned off. He breathed a deep sigh.

"At least I went out... on my own terms."

He stared at the bleeding palm of his hand indifferently.

As I was about to shift focus to Nora, and tell Yukina to run away while she still could, a pop-up appeared on my visor.

"Jomko Akari is Dead."

A sense of dread filled my gut. I checked footage of the bottom floor, where Kawaguchi was still fighting his opponent, Horie, valiantly. However, next to him was Akari, who was hunched over the board with cold sweat dripping from her face.

My eyes widened at the sight of who had killed her. Akari slowly fell to the floor, unable to comprehend how she lost to her opponent— Shimizu Hoshimi.

I couldn't believe it either when I saw. Akari, one of our strongest, fell to her? The shy and sweet D Class cinnamon roll? There was no way... right?

Shimizu calmly focused her attention towards Tadokoro, who was standing behind Kawaguchi. Unfortunately, since there were no other E Class or D Class students around, they had no other choice but to fight each other. Their visors locked on—

Interrupting my thoughts were four simultaneous pop-ups on my visor.

"Misogi Kikyou is Dead."

"Hono Ria is Dead."

"Sakigamiya Alice is Dead."

"Matsushita Isogai is Dead."

Four people died at once... but how?

"What the hell is going on...?"

I uttered out of shock, confusion, or fear. Maybe it was even a mixture of all three.

"This is why you pay attention to everyone as a Commander. Look."

Chabashira-sensei chided me before showing what had happened.

On the top floor, Zyriot was surrounded by the fallen bodies of Matsushita, Sakigamiya, Hono, and Misogi. He looked over his shoulder at Rinbayashi, the sole survivor of Taiga's platoon.

"You're next."

"Okay."

Zyriot and Rinbayashi's visors locked onto each other. Meanwhile, Tadokoro and Shimizu were starting their fight. At the same time, both Kawaguchi and Nora were still engaged in battle with Horie and Mikitaka respectively.

With so many fights going on, where do I even begin to focus...? What do I even do...?

War Time... is way more hectic than I gave it credit for.