Teacher Xia Lai is also teaching in Kivotos today

"Wait... there's also the team over there, Seizono Mika."

As Misaki muttered to herself, Saori finally remembered something and picked up the radio.

"E Squad, E Squad, please reply, please reply."

But after waiting for more than ten seconds, there was no response from the other end of the radio as Saori expected.

Faced with the silent radio, Saori once again felt a bad premonition in her heart.

Not only that, she finally connected the series of things that she had previously sensed were wrong.

Team E, the team they were assigned to lead by Mika Seizono, had not been heard from since they broke into the building. At the time, Saori was busy dealing with Nero with Team A, so she didn't think too much about why Team E didn't respond.

You know, even Team F, who were originally scheduled to meet up with Azusa, responded to their radio calls at the time - although they may have been caught by Azusa who betrayed them.

Could it be that... even Seizono Mika has betrayed me?

When this conclusion was reached, even Saori, who had made many arrangements in advance, was a little confused.

But the next moment, she realized that now was not the time for her to think deeply.

[At any time, you must be prepared to lose everything. Therefore, you must prepare a way out for yourself. 】

The moment this sentence popped up in Saori's mind, she couldn't help but pause.

This was what the adult who was applying medicine to them told her when she saw them being ambushed and wounded and fleeing back to the safe house for the first time. Although she showed extreme impatience at the time, she kept this sentence in mind.

No, now is not the time to reminisce about the past.

What she had to do now was to prepare for the worst—that was to assume that Shengyuan Weihua had also betrayed her.

In other words...

Without any further thought, Saori picked up the radio again.

"Call all remaining teams. Teams that receive the call should change their plans immediately! The original evacuation location is no longer safe! Evacuate to other backup locations immediately! At the same time, all locations known to Shengyuan Weihua are considered unsafe! Repeat..."

After giving the order, Saori let out a long sigh and lowered her hands, but she involuntarily tightened the radio in her hand.

Before this, she had never imagined that she would be plotted against to this extent.

Not only did Azusa and Seizono Mika betray Arius together, but even the Millennium Institute of Technology got involved in the matter.

Could it be... that Xia Lai's teacher?

This is the only thing Saori can think of now, and it is probably the most reasonable possibility.

Among all the variables in the entire plan, the one most likely to accomplish this is probably the teacher.

"If our teacher were still here..."

Just when Saori was about to crush the radio in her hand, Hiyori, who received a call from another team, turned around and looked over.

"Um... Team A seems to have been caught up by that terrifying maid..."

"…That is an enemy we are completely unable to defeat."

After nodding in agreement with Misaki's assessment, Saori continued.

"In this operation, the enemy is superior to us in terms of planning, familiarity with the terrain, and combat capability. We are still unclear about the location of our main target... The only thing we can do now is to minimize the losses."

Speaking of this, Saori's expression under the mask couldn't help but become a little "grit-toothed".

"Damn those Seisono Mika and Azusa...what on earth are they thinking?"

However, while the rest of the Arius team had different expressions, Atsuko lowered her head slightly. The slightly long hood and half-face mask covered her entire face, so no one could see or guess what she was thinking.

However, Saori was somewhat relieved that according to the reports from the teams that could be contacted, her immediate deployment allowed Arius' assault force to avoid the worst situation in this ambush.

Although this decapitation operation turned into a retreat, the losses were still kept within a barely acceptable range.

After gathering all the team members who could still be contacted, Saori, who was in charge of leading the operation, took them and her special team to the retreat location that they only knew about.

However, perhaps because she was overwhelmed by the unexpected betrayal of Azusa and Mika, although Saori had made the correct command and deployment at the first time, she did not take into account, or forgot some things -

For example, the thousand years of technology that she once cared about.

For example... someone who knows them.

--------

"Wow--"

Just as Nero was chasing Saori's remaining troops, Lynn got out of the bed and opened the curtains of the ward.

Perhaps because of some changes in his body, in just two days, Lin En's physical condition has returned to normal.

Listening to the sound of gunfire coming from afar, Lin En took out the Shiting Box.

"Alona, ​​you should have sent the commission information to the convenience house on time, right?"

“Of course! Teacher Lin En, please don’t treat me as a passive person!”

Although Alona on the screen retorted in dissatisfaction, she then looked at Lin En with a slightly worried expression.

“But… Teacher Lin En, is it really okay for you to do this? What if… what if…”

"Don't worry."

After answering Alona with a chuckle, Lynn adjusted his bowler hat in front of the glass and reached out to open the window.

When the night wind blowing into the ward lifted the cloak behind him, Lin En also put the Box of Shiting back into his chest.

"Tonight, I'm just an ordinary teacher passing by."

Chapter 86 Arius's Despair

"Da da da da da-"

A somewhat chaotic sound of footsteps clearly echoed in the originally quiet night.

This is an abandoned building complex. The houses and buildings still retain their original appearance, but it is obvious that they have been abandoned for a long time. Not only are the walls in tatters, but there are also many collapsed buildings.

In other words, sooner or later this place will be completely reduced to ruins and disappear into the history.

In such an environment, Saori led the special team and other students of Arius and moved forward quickly.

However, their appearance was more like they were running away in a panic than marching.

Not long after, another collapsed church appeared in front of them.

Unlike the ruins of the previous church, this one has a passage underground where the saints stayed.

In fact, there are secret passages under many churches in Holy Trinity. These passages lead to an underground tomb that seems to have existed since ancient times. The length and space inside are very large, and there are hundreds of exits alone.

Not only that, these channels also undergo periodic changes, making people feel lost in them.

But with the disappearance or change of the Congregation of the Saints, the successor Sisters lost control of it.

In order to prevent students from accidentally entering, the nuns closed all the entrances and exits under their control.

But what they don't know is that the Arius branch, which has long disappeared in history, controls the direction of these passages. Saori and her friends rely on these unknown passages to enter and exit the branch, hiding in the dark side of the Holy Trinity, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Now, Saori and her subordinates are preparing to evacuate from the passage at the bottom of the church.

But when they arrived at the square in front of the church, they were surprised to find that the church door slowly opened towards them.

At the same time, a familiar figure slowly walked out of the door, looking quietly at Saori in front of him as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"Ta...tat..."

As Saori stopped, the other students also stopped, and the echoing footsteps slowly dissipated.

After a moment's silence, Azusa, who was standing in front of the church gate and stopping Saori and others, finally spoke.

"Saori...surrender."

The moment the words fell, Saori spoke as if she had figured something out and as if she had let go of something.

"...I should have known that you would betray me and the princess. Azusa...were you waiting here to ambush us from the beginning?"

"Betrayal...huh..."

Hearing Saori's words, Azusa couldn't help but bite her lip slightly.

"Yes, this is indeed a betrayal."

"I see... So that Xia Lai's teacher did something to you, Azusa?!"

“…Is there any need to say this now, Saori?”

Facing Saori who was roaring at him, Azusa lowered his head slightly and pulled the rifle in his hand.

"Now I have found my place."

"So, you betrayed us without mercy, and even lied to me and the princess! Azusa! Everything will eventually come to nothing! What's the point of all this you said?!"

When Saori raised the rifle in her hand and pointed it at Azusa while roaring like this, three people walked out of the shadows behind Azusa.

"So for Azusa...all she can do is protect the places she wants to protect?"

Although Hanako was smiling as she said this, there was no trace of smile in her eyes.

"As for whether it is nothingness or not... that is not something you can decide, Saori Joumae."

Unlike Azusa and Hanako who are full of determination, Hifumi is a little flustered, like an ordinary high school girl who accidentally entered the battlefield.

"Um... please surrender! I've heard that Azusa and you guys are... good friends... right? So... um..."

Surprisingly, although Xiaochun was a little timid as it was her first time facing such a situation, she still pretended to be calm and spoke.

"Your attack has completely failed... Azusa doesn't want to hurt you, so if you surrender..."

In response to the words of the other three people in the cram school, Saori did not respond, but looked at Azusa again.

"Zi... do you really think that you alone can stop us from retreating from here?"

"Indeed, I can't do it alone, and everyone in the cram school can't do it either."

To Saori's surprise, Azusa simply nodded in acknowledgement of her words.

"In fact, even if I think I know you, I can't be sure that you will choose to retreat from this place without the help of drones sent by our predecessors who have been there for thousands of years. What's more... we are not the only ones here."

"..."

It was not until this moment that Saori finally realized how uncalm and shaken she was.

If she were in normal times, she would definitely be able to realize that there were more than just these four people lying in ambush here.

Is it because of Azusa and Mika’s betrayal?

Or is it because they are worried about the consequences of the failure of this operation?

Or was it something that Xia Lai's teacher did that made him become what he is now?

Saori calmed down her thoughts and was about to speak out to give orders, but she found that two more people appeared behind the cram school.

"Alice, I didn't expect it to be exactly as the teacher planned! However, choosing to persuade the enemy to surrender instead of fighting is the way to do it in strategy games, right? In other words, the next stage of the mission is to try to persuade those Arius students to rebel?"

Compared to the powerful weapon in Alice's hand, which obviously seemed to be the result of thousands of years of unknown technology, the person who appeared with Alice made Saori's heart sink to the bottom.

"To be honest... Even though you lied to me, I don't want to embarrass you, Saori. And the other three who I once met, are you going to surrender with Saori?"

Having said this, Mika smiled as if she remembered something.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you that Nagisa's artillery unit is ready to open fire and can support here at any time. And the members of the Justice Realization Committee who were pretended to be transferred should rush here as soon as they complete the suppression. So... Saori, are you really not going to surrender? Azusa-chan is actually very reluctant to be hostile to you, right?"

At the same time, not far behind Arius's team, a spirited voice rang out.

"Hey, Arius, you guys are only this level, right? We have prepared a lot of plans in advance to deal with unexpected situations that may arise, but I didn't expect that you Arius guys are only this capable?"

Chapter 87 Is it... really you?

When Saori heard the voice that she had desperately wanted to escape from not long ago coming from behind them, she understood.

No matter what kind of resistance they put up next, it would probably be nothing more than a fight of trapped beasts.

But that person once told her half-jokingly:

【Never sit and wait for something to happen】