A bewitching and sadistic smile emerged on Chabashira-sensei's lips.

"You've finally crumbled under the pressure, huh?"

Taunting me, Chabashira-sensei snapped me out of my panic.

"...for a moment, maybe."

I took a deep breath, calming myself. If I let this much get to me, there was zero chance I'd be able to lead the class in the future. I had to keep a levelled head in order to make critical and informed decisions.

Even though I was overwhelmed by everything that was happening at once, if I broke it down into small chunks, I could easily work my way through them and solve each problem in order of priority. As such, my first order of business was to open a communication line to Akihiro, who was still waiting in the kitchen of Yuzu Cafe.

"Akihiro-san, we've found Zyriot-san. He's on the top floor, near the karaoke parlour, fighting Rinbayashi-san right now. Please hurry there quickly."

"Roger that, I'm on my way now!"

I could see on the cameras Akihiro dashing towards the elevators.

"Be careful, on the bottom floor, there might be some D Class students roaming around. Akari-san was killed by one moments earlier."

"Yeah, I saw. Which route should I take then?"

"To avoid any, your safest bet is sticking to the right hand side of the building and making a zigzag for the elevators at the turning point."

"Gotcha, I'll be there in a flash!"

With a confident smirk, Akihiro sped up his pace and sprinted down the ground floor. I turned my attention to Zyriot and his mysterious quadruple kill on the Matsushita platoon.

"Chabashira-sensei, what did Zyriot-san do to kill four people at once?"

"Take a look for yourself."

Chabashira-sensei opened a replay tab showing me the fight Zyriot had been involved in. To my surprise, it was a 4 vs 1, with Zyriot fighting Matsushita, Sakigamiya, Hono, and Misogi, all at the same time.

"What the...? You can fight multiple opponents at once in the war?"

"That's right."

"How does it even work?"

"It's quite simple. When a single player, in this case Zyriot-san, is fighting multiple people, referred to as the group, the system will create a separate board for them, one for each person in the group."

In Zyriot's case, he had four boards in front of him, since he was fighting four enemies. That meant that, instead of all of them fighting one Zyriot, like I had originally imagined, they were instead dealing with one Zyriot each, essentially.

"The single player will fight the group simultaneously in a rotation, so that each fight is fairly distributed time wise. It is the single player's responsibility to respond to each fighter in the group and to memorise or keep up with each different game state going on at the time. By winning in this style of fight, the single player receives additional bonuses and rewards at the end of the war."

"What happens if one person from the group beats the single player though?"

"If the single player gets beaten, all other fights cease, and the single player is dead. However, if the single player kills someone from the group, only that fight against them ends. The single player must continue to fight the rest and kill all of them before the fight can end."

"That sounds like a hassle... but also an impressive feat."

With the two biggest issues out of the way, I wanted to focus on my primary concern, that is, what was occurring on the middle floor. I opened a communication line to Yukina.

"Get out of there as fast as you can."

"Where should I go?"

"Head to the top floor, but stay away from the karaoke parlour, that's where Zyriot-san is. Hide in the opposite end and take cover until further instructions."

"Yes sir!"

However, just as Yukina was about to run away, Albert grabbed her shoulder, and pulled her to the ground roughly.

"Where does you mans think your doing in dese ends, bruv? Skra pap pap."

Making gun fingers with a straight face, John and Albert towered over Yukina, locking visors with her simultaneously. They were forcing her into a 2 vs 1.

"Yukina...! Damn it, I should've seen that coming..." I muttered to myself in frustration.

I couldn't do anything about it, so I just hoped Yukina could beat the two of them at once. The other fight occurring was Nora vs Mikitaka, which had a strangely slow start compared to the rest of them.

Since I was paying attention to the other fights, I had to watch a replay of their confrontation at double speed to catch myself up on what had happened so far.

"My best friend, I'm so glad you got to join us!"

"M-Mikitaka-san..."

"Don't gimme that half-arsed, scared look. Ya came all the way here cuz ya wanted to fight me, ye?"

"W-well... y-yes, but..."

"Quit yer stammerin' and mutterin'! I can't hear a damn thing yer saying, runt!"

"Um... yes, I want to fight you...!"

Just as Mikitaka was about to reply rowdily, Nora continued.

"B-but...! N-not for the reason you think it is! I-I'm fighting you... for my own selfish reason!"

That selfish reason wasn't selfish at all, in my opinion. Nora simply wanted to take advantage of this chance to beat his bullies in a way that was sanctioned by the school. He wanted to fight back and get revenge.

Mikitaka wasn't just his "main bully" in this moment. To Nora, Mikitaka represented all of his bullies, both present and past. By killing Mikitaka, not only would it be mentally liberating for Nora, but he was also metaphorically killing the trauma that haunted him since he was young.

The pressure to defeat Mikitaka mounted high for Nora, but the chance to be able to get back at him more than made up for it. However, if he lost this fight, there was a chance that his mind would slip away and wander to a place that he couldn't return from.

"Ho? It looks like ya grew a backbone, my best friend. I'm proud of ya!"

"D-don't... call me that."

"Ha?"

"Don't call me your best friend... when I..."

For the first time in their confrontation, Nora looked up from his feet and at Mikitaka directly.

"When I... h-hate you!"

Mikitaka actually looked surprised by Nora's declaration, before smirking.

"Interestin'. Ya kinda lookin' like a man right now, my best friend."

Even though Nora made his feelings loud and clear, Mikitaka still called him that anyways to taunt him. Nora bit his bottom lip and looked down at his feet again, slinking away.

Nora had made the difficult decision of making his private feelings abundantly clear to his bully, yet it was ignored and tossed to the wayside by Mikitaka. It must have been soul crushing.

"Come! If ya can kill me, then me and the homies'll stop harassin' ya. Whaddya say to that offer? But if I kill ya, we're best friends for life, whether ya like it or not. Ya agree to that deal?"

In order to reignite the spark of fire Mikitaka had glimpsed at inside of Nora momentarily, he made an irresistible offer that Nora couldn't refuse.

Nora slowly looked up, his eyes reluctant. However, he swallowed his fears and looked straight ahead timidly.

"O-okay... I-I agree to those conditions."

"Ya ha ha, things just got a lil' mo' exctin' round here! Let's fight our hearts out like real men, Nora!"

Even though he didn't respond, the look on Nora's face read something along the lines of "I will win.". It wasn't a vicious intent to kill like I've seen before with others. It was just a genuine and honest hope for victory.

Their visors locked onto each other, starting the fight.

"Stand up, Vanguard!"

"Running Sniper!"

"Starting Legend, Ambrosius!"

"First Turn: Nora Takayuki."

Lucking out in this match-up, not only was Nora allowed to go first, but he was also facing a Spike Brothers deck, which he practiced extensively against with Katsumi, as they were housemates. The chance of him winning this fight had swung heavily in his favour.

"Stand and draw! I ride Charging Jewel Knight, Morvidus from my Ride Deck! Ambrosius' skill, draw! Turn end."

Nora:
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Mikitaka:
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Stand n' draw! I ride Gyro Slinger from the Ride Deck! Slinger's skill, I put a card from my hand into soul and look at cards from the top of my deck equal to my vanguard's grade, which is one, and either call it or put it on the bottom! I call Dudley William, and he gets +5k! (8000 > 13000) Sniper, draw and get a Quick Shield! Battle! Slinger! (8000)"

"No guard!"

"Drive check! (Ambush Dexter)"

"Damage check! (Filled Feather Dragon)"

Losing a grade 3 this early was bad. Hengist's skill needed to soulblast two grade 3s, so part of Nora's game plan was to try and soulcharge as much as possible early to randomly hit the two grade 3 in soul as soon as possible. He ran thirteen total, but with two out of his deck already (one was in his Ride Deck), the RNG was starting to not look in his favour anymore.

"William! (13000)"

"Edith guards! (18000)"

"Turn end."

Nora:
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Mikitaka:
Hand: 8
Damage: 0
Soul: 2
XXO
OOO

"Stand and draw! I ride High Dog Breeder, Akane from my Ride Deck! Morvidus' skill, when a unit is placed on her circle, I draw a card! Akane's skill, I counterblast and superior call Pongal! Pongal's skill, since I have another unit in the same column as him, I soulcharge!"

It wasn't a grade 3, but it wasn't a trigger either, so Pongal didn't get +5k.

"Boosted by Pongal, Akane attacks! (10000 > 18000) Her skill, when boosted by a High Beast, she gets +3k! (18000 > 21000)"

"No guard!"

"Drive check! (Flash Shield, Iseult) Draw trigger! All to vanguard and draw! (21000 > 31000)"

"Damage check! (Big Blow Ted)"

"Turn end."

Nora:
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
OXO
OXO

Mikitaka:
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
Soul: 2
XXO
OOO

"Stand n' draw! I ride Powerback Renaldo from the Ride Deck! Renaldo's skill, I counterblast and put a card from hand to soul to look at cards from the top of my deck equal to my vanguard's grade, which is two, and call up to three of 'em to rear-guard! I'll call both, Dudley Davie and Highspeed, Brakki! Brakki's skill, he gets +10k! (10000 > 20000) Davie and William switch places. Battle! Renaldo! (10000)"

"Elaine guards! (30000) No pass!"

"Drive check! (Flareblast Coyote) Boosted by William, Davie! (10000 > 18000)"

"Morvidus guards! (20000)"

"Brakki! (20000)"

"No guard! (Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes)"

"Turn end."

When Mikitaka ended his turn, he shouted his words of encouragement to Satou, which is where the replay ended. I turned my attention back to the live fight, as it was now Nora's turn after that delay.

Nora:
Hand: 6
Damage: 2
OXO
OXO

Mikitaka:
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
Soul: 4
XXX
XOO

"Umm... are you done...?"

"Eh, yea. Get on wiz it."

"O-okay.... stand and draw...!"

Nora reservedly picked up the next card in his Ride Deck and took a deep breath. The gift his oldest brother gave him would finally be revealed to the world, right here and now.

"The arrow of light shatters the iceberg of wavering doubt! A winter of arching determination begins here and now! I ride my avatar, Decorous Knight, Hengist, from my Ride Deck!"

"Imaginary Gift: Force II! To my right rear-guard circle! I call, Filled Feather Dragon! Filled Feather's skill, I counterblast one and soulblast three to draw cards equal to my open rear-guard circles, which is three, then call the same number of cards to rear-guard! I call, Flourishing Knight, Edith, Explode Jewel Knight, Laile (10000/1 > 2), and Pongal! Pongal's skill, soulcharge!"

Unfortunately, this time, he soulcharged a critical trigger.

"Pongal gets +5k! (8000 > 13000) Boosted by Pongal, Hengist attacks! (13000 > 21000) Stray White-out!"

"No guard! Come and crit me, my best friend!"

"Twin Drive!! (High Dog Breeder, Akane, Bringer of Good Luck, Epona) Critical trigger! Power to Filled Feather, critical to vanguard! (13000 > 23000) (21000/1 > 2)"

As if asking for it, Nora had pulled a critical trigger on Mikitaka, who seemed pleased about the result. Did he need the extra counterblast for something?

"Ya ha ha! Damage checks! (Breach Spurt, Dudley William)"

"Boosted by Edith, Filled Feather attacks! (23000 > 31000)"

"Liar Lips! (40000)"

For some reason, Mikitaka used his sentinel on the rear-guard instead of Nora's vanguard. Even in this fight, Mikitaka was still messing with Nora in his own way.

"Edith's skill, at the end of the battle she boosted a grade 3 rear-guard, I put Filled Feather into soul, and bounce her to hand!"

With Edith's second skill, Nora secured the first grade 3 in soul. Now, he just had to either soulcharge a grade 3 off Laile or reride next turn to fulfil Hengist's cost.

"Boosted by Pongal, Laile attacks! (10000 > 23000/2) Laile's skill, when she attacks, I put two normal units from my drop zone to the bottom of my deck to soulcharge and give her +5k! (23000 > 28000/2)"

Unfortunately, Laile didn't soulcharge a grade 3. Nora would have to re-ride next turn in order to win.

"Tiara! (30000)"

"Turn end..."

Nora:
Hand: 8
Damage: 2
OXX
OXX

Mikitaka:
Hand: 6
Damage: 3
Soul: 4
XXX
XOO

"Stand n' draw! Ya gotta break the scarecrows! Bump, bump, bump, then intercept! High voltage, dangerous red zone! We gotta get the glory! I ride General Seifried from the Ride Deck!"

"Imaginary Gift: Force I on Davie! (10000 > 20000) Davie's skill, when a Force is put on his circle, I soulcharge! Brakki's skill, he goes into soul and call another copy of himself! When called, +10k! (10000 > 20000) I call Ambush Dexter and use his skill to counterblast and shove Davie into soul to call Breach Spurt (10000 > 20000) and Flareblast Coyote!"

Strangely, Mikitaka called Coyote behind his vanguard.

"Battle! Boosted by William, Spurt! (20000 > 28000) Spurt's skill, I botdeck a normal unit, and you have to intercept this attack!"

"Laile intercepts! (18000) Add Epona to guard! (33000)"

"Spurt goes into soul and draw! William's skill, he goes into soul and I move the Force to Seifried! (13000 > 23000) Seifried attacks! (23000) I only need one-play to crush you! First Down, General's Bomber Pass!!"

"Iseult perfect guards!"

"Twin Drive!! (Big Blow Ted, Silence Joker) Aight, a crit! All to Brakki! (20000 > 30000/1 > 2) Boosted by Dexter, Brakki! (30000 > 38000/2) Brakkify 'em!"

"No guard! (Flogal) Critical trigger, all to vanguard! (13000 > 23000) (Flourishing Knight, Edith)"

"Turn end!"

Nora:
Hand: 5
Damage: 4
OXO
OXX

Mikitaka:
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
Soul: 10
OXX
OXX

"Stand and draw! The asterisk of restraint melts away, unshackling your snow white wings! Tightly pull back the string of fate and shoot the arrow of light that bursts open a smiling future! I persona ride my avatar, Decorous Knight, Hengist!"

With this, he had two grade 3s in soul. It was time for Nora to spread open his wings and shine.

"Imaginary Gift: Force II! To my other rear-guard circle! I call Filled Feather Dragon (13000/1 > 2) and use his skill to counterblast one and soulblast three to draw two cards and call two! I call, Explode Jewel Knight, Laile (10000/1 > 2) and Charging Jewel Knight, Morvidus! Boosted by Morvidus, Filled Feather attacks! (13000 > 21000/2)"

"Silence Joker! (28000)"

"Boosted by Pongal, Laile attacks! (10000 > 18000/2) Laile's skill, I put two normal units from my drop zone to the bottom of my deck to soulcharge and give her +5k! (18000 > 23000/2)"

"Sonic Breaker! (28000)"

"Boosted by Pongal, Hengist attacks! (13000 > 21000) Hengist's skill! I soulblast two grade 3s and call any number of cards from my hand to rear-guard, and they all get +10k until end of turn! I call, Holy Disaster Dragon, Flourishing Knight, Edith, High Dog Breeder, Akane, and Pongal! (13000 > 23000/2) (8000 > 18000) (10000 > 20000/2) (8000 > 18000) Pongal's skill, soulcharge! When Morvidus is called over, I draw a card! When Laile is called over, that unit gets +10k! (20000 > 30000/2) Skill, activate!"

Nora's visor began glowing snow blue.

"Armoured Blessing! When I call over a rear-guard, that unit gets +5k! To Holy Disaster! (23000 > 28000/2) Hengist's skill, continued! Since I called three or more units, when you would guard, you need to call two or more cards at the same time! Fire an avalanche of arrows, Stray White-out!"

Hengist leapt in the air, grabbed a handful of arrows from his quiver, drew back his bow, and took aim at his target. As the wind swirled around the tips of the arrowheads, the temperature dropped, summoning forth a sleet of snow and freezing over the arrows with a coat of ice.

"Ya ha ha ha! That's it! This is the fiery spirit I've been lookin' for in this fight! Show me more of yer fightin' spirit, Nora! Let loose and run like wild on this pitch! Liar Lips and Brakki! (48000) No pass!"

Letting go of those arrows, they fired sporadically in all directions, but the lineman Liar Lips and running back Brakki shielded Seifried from the frosty scattershot.

"Twin Drive!! (Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes, Flogal) Critical trigger! All to Akane! (30000 > 40000/2 > 3) Boosted by Edith, Holy Disaster attacks! (28000 > 36000/2) Holy Disaster's skill, I put a card from hand to soul and he gets +10k! (36000 > 46000/2)"

Nora put a Palamedes into soul. Edith's skill would put Holy Disaster into soul, so he would've already fulfilled the two grade 3 condition for next turn. This would force Mikitaka to end things next turn or else Nora would hit him with the same combo again.

"No guard! (Sonic Breaker) Crit, all to vanguard! (13000 > 23000) (Ambush Dexter)"

"Edith's skill, I put Holy Disaster into my soul and bounce her to hand! Boosted by Pongal, Akane attacks! (40000 > 58000/3) When she's boosted by a High Beast, she gets +3k! (58000 > 61000/3) Diamond Whip!"

"Too bad for you, Liar Lips and Tiara! (23000 > 53000 > 73000)"

"H-huh?!"

"Didn'tcha know? I've got an IQ of over 530,000! Havin' a second sentinel ready was always a part of my plan, ya ha ha! From the very beginnin', I anticipated yer moves and prepared the perfect countermeasures for it! As usual, my predictions are right on the money!"

Mikitaka may have been using hyperbole, but his logic wasn't wrong. It was the same strategy Zyriot used against Mitsuba. Both of them dug for sentinels in advance. For Mikitaka, this was probably much easier due to Nora's big play being on turn 4 and the deck thinning he had done using Brakki and Dexter.

Seeing his big play fail, Nora reluctantly withdrew himself. His defence was severely lacking after committing so many cards to the board for Hengist's skill. Mikitaka could easily take advantage of this vulnerability and end the game next turn.

"T-turn end..."

Nora:
Hand: 3
Damage: 4
OXX
OXX

Mikitaka:
Hand: 2
Damage: 5
Soul: 10
OXX
OXX

"Stand n' draw! A great villain never apologises for what he does when the ref's not lookin'! Bump, bump, bump, immediately intercept! Watch out, watch out, cuz I'm about a touchdown! We gonna get the win! Persona Ride, General Seifried!!"

"Imaginary Gift: Force I! Brakki's skill, he goes into soul and calls another copy of himself! When called, +10k! (10000 > 20000) Seifried's skill, I counterblast and shove Coyote into soul! This game is easy, cuz we got the tech! Comin' off the bench is the trickster that defies the red zone! The howlin' and laughin' blood rocket blasts off! I call from deck a copy of my avatar, the one n' only, the wild n' mighty, the strongest running back, Flareblast Coyote!!! (8000 > 18000)"

"They both get +10k! (18000 > 28000) (23000 > 33000) I call Dudley William and Big Blow Ted! Seifried's skill once more, I counterblast and shove Ted into soul to call another copy of him from deck! They both get +10k! (8000 > 18000) (33000 > 43000) Ted's skill, I botdeck a grade 2 or greater card in my drop zone to give him +10k! (18000 > 28000)"

Mikitaka had gone jazz hands.

"Battle! Boosted by William, Seifried! (43000 > 51000) I only need one-play to crush you! Second Down, General's Bomber Pass!!"

Nora looked over the cards in his hand, then the number of cards in his damage zone. Gritting his teeth, Nora braced himself.

"I know this is risky... b-but no guard!"

What Nora did was objectively the best play. Obviously, with only three cards in hand and no sentinel, he had to be picky with which attacks he could guard. Currently, not accounting for any other skills to be activated, Seifried's column is swinging for 51k, Brakki's column would swing for 28k, and Coyote's column would swing for 56k.

While it would have been sensible to guard Seifried and Brakki since they were the smallest columns, the issue came from the fact both Seifried and Coyote broke the 50k mark. Nora simply didn't have that sort of shield in hand to stop two of those massive attacks, meaning he had to take whichever large attack came first (in this case, Seifried) to gamble for a damage trigger to make guarding the other one easier.

If he failed to get the damage trigger, then Nora would have to bet everything on a sixth damage heal. I knew that he would consider that option because I personally taught him about deck statistics and using percentages to your advantage, since Nora understood math better than anyone else in the Takanori group. As such, his decision to no guard here was also mathematically sound.

"Ya sure 'bout that?"

"Y-yes... this is my only chance to survive... I have to take the vanguard attack!"

"No takesies backsies, aight?"

A malicious smirk spread on Mikitaka's face.

OST: The Man Aoi Todo

"Skill, activate."

Mikitaka's visor began glowing dark magenta. He clapped his hands.

"Quarterback Sack! I switch the position of a trigger in my deck with the top card of my deck!"

However, something neither of us could see coming had hit the field. All the colour in Nora's face had been drained as Mikitaka, chest puffed out and head thrown back, cackled evilly at him.

Like an explosive pass out of nowhere, Mikitaka had guaranteed himself a touchdown with his Skill that allowed him to stack a trigger on top of the deck. Judging from his deck composition, he ran twelve critical, meaning what he stacked on top was most likely a crit to end the game.

As a side note, I found the name of his Skill very interesting. In American football, a Quarterback Sack is a type of play where all players on the team push forward to break past the enemy line and tackle the quarterback, hence "sacking" them, before they can make a play. It's a high risk, high reward play, as it completely shuts down the opponent's attack, but it leaves your back wide open if they do successfully pass or throw the ball before the sack.

However, in Vanguard, a "sack" is when you pull a trigger at a crucial moment that usually wins you the game. Mikitaka's avatar, General Seifried, can be inferred as a quarterback because of his title (the quarterback is the "general" of attack) and skill (the quarterback is responsible for ordering where players go for offensive plays), so in this case, Quarterback Sack means Seifried is sacking a trigger to win the game. Very clever wordplay.

"Prepare yerself! Twin Drive!!"

However, Nora had no reaction. He stood there, rigid, with an emotionless face and hollow eyes. Even though he made the right decisions, the pressure from Mikitaka's Skill had finally squeezed the last drops of determination out of him. Buckling under the weight of his imminent loss, Nora dropped all the cards in his hands and began sinking to his knees mindlessly.

"First check! (Liar Lips) Crit, all to Coyote! (28000 > 38000/1 > 2)"

However, Mikitaka's nonsensical placement of the critical trigger snapped Nora out of his daze. He stayed up, eyes widening and brimming with tears, unable to understand why Mikitaka was suddenly showing him mercy.

"Second check! (Silence Joker) Crit, all to Coyote again! (38000 > 48000/2 > 3)"

Even though he had pulled a double critical, he placed everything on Coyote, meaning Nora would only be taking one damage from Seifried's skill. However, I doubted Mikitaka would give up a chance to win this easily unless he had a back-up plan. At the very least, Nora was still in this for now.

"D-damage check... (Flash Shield, Iseult) D-draw trigger! I draw and give all to Hengist! (13000 > 23000)"

Another lifeline had been extended to Nora. Not only did he manage to hit the damage trigger, but he also got the most ideal type for this situation. Thanks to this chance, a spark of hope lit up in Nora's eyes.

"William's skill, he goes into soul and I move all Force markers to Coyote! (48000 > 58000/3) Keep on attackin', we gotta break the scarecrows! Boosted by Dexter, Brakki! (20000 > 28000) Third Down, Brakkify 'em!"

"Edith guards! (33000)"

"My best friend! Like how you gave everythin' yer all last turn, I'll do the same here in this final strike! Is everyone at home watchin' closely?! Cuz this is The Delinquent of Delinquents Takenaka Mikitaka's ultimate play!! Wiz a boost from Ted, Coyote attacks!! (58000 > 86000/3) Coyote's skill! I soulblast nine to give Coyote +30k and sentinel restrict!!! (86000 > 116000/3)"

"I guard with everything I have! Elaine, Flogal, and Morvidus! (23000 > 43000 > 58000 > 68000)"

It was nowhere near enough. The attack would hit.

Seifried passed the ball to Coyote, who began running down the field and zipping past the linemen with ease. However, Flogal, Elaine, and Morvidus, all came charging towards him to try and tackle him. Coyote smirked. Flames from his feet from running so fast channeled through his body and siphoned into the ball he was holding.

"Awooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooga!"

Coyote howled, his whole body burning up in a tornado of fire. Leaping into the air, he opened his body wide, like he was wearing a parachute, and began spinning, like a screw, using the ball's fiery thrust to propel him into the air. Coyote had become a rocket that leapt over the mismatched defence and was now spinning rapidly towards the only thing left between him and a touchdown: Hengist.

Hengist drew his bow back, one arrow, frosted tip and ice cold, pointed straight at the live fireball coming towards him. Despite facing against his elemental weakness of fire, Hengist kept calm, releasing the arrow with the precision of a sniper. The arrow blasted forward, travelling through the air like a rocket; like Coyote, who continued to bravely dive towards the end zone.

"My best friend! If yer the harsh winter storm, then I'm the sweltering hot summer that'll melt it away! Blaze down a path on the field and disorientate the linebackers! Ignite, running back number 21, Flareblast Coyote! FOURTH DOWN, MOUNTEBANK FULMINATION!!!"

Hengist's arrow hit bullseye. Coyote exploded. However, the ball — the "Flareblast" — made contact.

In a blaze of explosions and glory, a half-dead Coyote tackled a half-dead Hengist onto the floor, sending them both into the end zone, and inadvertently scoring the winning touchdown with less than two seconds remaining on the clock.

"No guard... (Decorous Knight, Hengist)"

A long silence followed.

Even Mikitaka, who seemed like he'd brag about his win and taunt his opponent after the fight, didn't say a word. He didn't even smile or look cocky. He simply stood there, hands in pockets, modestly basking in his kill.

Meanwhile, Nora looked up to the ceiling, at the florescent lights, to distract himself from the loss that was staring right in front of him. This gave the cameras a perfect look at his face of grief and torment.

A pop-up appeared on my visor.

"Nora Takayuki is Dead."

Being killed by his bully was the last thing Nora wanted, especially because this was an even more humiliating experience than usual as everyone was watching. Whatever defence mechanisms Nora had for these situations failed to work. His poker face had been completely shattered by Mikitaka. Nora's fragility was being exposed.

The camera zoomed in closer as Nora reached his emotional brink, wanting to capture his mental breakdown for all to see. Just as Nora was about to collapse and cry his heart out, Mikitaka snatched the camera hovering above Nora and forced it to focus on him.

"Yare yare, stop focusin' on the loser, start focusin' on the winner of the fight, ya bastard camera! Oi everyone, didja see that?! How the great villain and delinquent of delinquents Takenaka Mikitaka absolutely trashed that E Class schmuck?! Especially Mikazuchi-sama, that's a warnin' to ya! Ya ha ha ha ha! The rest of yous E Class schmucks better watch yer back, cuz I'm gonna keep wreckin' the rest of ya goons until D Class wins this war! If ya wanna stop my rampage, get Mikazuchi-sama to fight me! He's the only one worthy enough to stand up to me, ya ha ha ha ha ha!"

Mikitaka used his villainous personality in a way to protect Nora from being embarrassed live, as well as spin it into another call out to Kaido, his hero, to fight him. I didn't really understand him, or his obsession, but this small act of kindness for Nora made me realise that Mikitaka genuinely saw him as a friend.

It was baffling how this change of heart happened, but I'm guessing it had to do with Nora's answer to Mikitaka's question. Well, it didn't matter now, since Nora was now his best friend, regardless of whatever the case or reason, because Mikitaka won the fight and could (or rather, would) rightfully reap the rewards of the deal they made beforehand.

Though, I wanted to try something. Mikitaka had mentioned stopping his rampage if Kaido would fight him. I took out my phone and searched for Kaido's account on the school app. I sent him a simple message.

"I need a favour from you."

Chabashira-sensei looked at me over my shoulder with a face that read, "What are you doing?". Unfortunately, she wasn't able to infer my masterplan that was about to take place. All I needed was Kaido's reply before this war ended—

He got back to me in seconds.

"What?"

What a Kaido-like response. Blunt and to the point.

"Can we call?"

"Fine."

Kaido had calls disabled on his school account, so I needed him to turn the permission on or to whitelist me before I could call him. He rang me, so I picked up.

"What is it? Don't waste my time, I'm enjoying seeing your class getting dumpster'd by D Class."

I could hear Kaido munching on popcorn in the background. He sure seems like he's thoroughly enjoying himself...

"I see you're watching the war... in that case, context won't be necessary. Mikitaka-san, he wants to fight you."

"And?"

"Will you fight him?"

"Who knows."

"I'll pay."

"Excuse me?"

"I said—"

"Did you just say you'll pay to the richest man on this island? I have one billion in the bank, I don't need your chump change, Yuuto."

"No... not pay you."

"Who are you intending to pay then?"

"The school. I want to pay for you to join our war and kill Mikitaka-san to stop his rampage."

Kaido suddenly bursted into demeaning laughter.

"You actually took his words seriously, huh? I knew you were dense, but this is on a whole another level."

"Is it... not a valid strategy?"

"Go ask your teacher how much it'll be."

I lifted the phone from my ear and turned to Chabashira-sensei.

"How much would it cost to bring Kaido-senpai into the war, on our side obviously, just to fight Mikitaka-san?"

"If it's Mikazuchi-san, then twenty eight million."

How oddly specific... I put my phone back to my ear. Kaido was sniggering as he overheard that price tag.

"...why are you worth so much?"

"I'm a legend at this school. You could probably get a cheaper price with a worse student."

"But I need you specifically..."

"Tough. Even if you had the points ready, I wouldn't come save your class either way. There's no reason for me to get involved in 1st Year politics."

"I see... well, sorry for wasting your time, senpai."

Just as I was about to end the call, Kaido continued to speak.

"Hold your horses. As a consolation prize for having the balls to even call me, in the middle of the war even, I'll fulfil that Takenaka's wish and fight him, but only after the war's ended. That sound good?"

"I don't really see the benefit in this for me...?"

"Trust me, you'll thank me later. Ciao."

Kaido abruptly ended the call. I sighed. He probably wanted to end the call on his terms.

What a troublesome senpai.