Teacher Xia Lai is also teaching in Kivotos today

What's more, faced with this situation where they have no choice but to surrender, they are not without a chance of turning the situation around.

After making up her mind, Saori's hand reached inconspicuously for her waist bag which contained the special props given to them by her ladyship, which were originally intended to be used on Kirito Nagisa.

“Eh… hehehe… it looks like we’re all doomed… there’s nothing we can do in this situation, right? Ah… life is so painful, I didn’t expect it to end so sadly…”

Not only Mika and the others, but even her companion Hiyori didn't notice Saori's little movements at all.

"call……"

After letting out a light breath, Misaki, who was standing next to Saori, pulled the mask on her face.

"Saori, orders. At this point it doesn't matter what orders you give us, the results will probably be the same. It's just... no matter what the order is, I will follow it - just like usual."

Although Atsuko didn't say anything, the hood she turned towards Saori already showed her attitude.

"Princess……"

As Saori murmured this, she had already formed a bold, even crazy plan in her heart.

"Princess, please surrender."

Facing Azusa who spoke out to persuade them to surrender for probably the last time, Saori just glanced at her and then looked away.

"Since this strategy is no longer effective... then we will break through head-on. Even if our enemies are unmatched, as long as we can buy them two or three seconds, we can break through their encirclement with our familiarity with this area. Hiyori, Misaki, you protect the princess and retreat. I will create a brief opportunity for you."

"Hey, you're not going to give up? It looks like we'll have to continue living this painful life..."

Although he said some pessimistic words, Hiyori had already tightened the rope tied to the box behind him.

"……learn."

Without further words, Misaki nodded slightly, just like Atsuko who was speechless.

"Saori...are you still not going to give up?"

Hearing Azusa's words, which might be an ultimatum, Saori, who had finished her deployment in a low voice, looked up at her.

"【Everything is meaningless】, Zi, this is what we have been taught all along. But at this moment... my hatred for your betrayal has turned into boundless rage!"

Before she finished her words, Saori finally pulled out her hand that had just reached into her waist bag.

At this moment, a device that looked somewhat mysterious but made people feel vaguely dangerous suddenly appeared in her hand.

Although even the engineering department who were monitoring the battlefield with drones could not determine what it was for a moment, Zi, who had come into contact with it and almost became one of its users, suddenly widened his eyes.

"Everyone be careful! That's the 'Halo Buster Bomb'! Saori! Do you want to die together with me? No... No, you can't do that, but..."

When Azusa subconsciously raised the rifle in his hand and pointed it at Saori, the others were already prepared.

However, when almost everyone's attention was attracted by the bomb in Saori's hand, Saori's other hand had already reached behind her and made a gesture to Misaki and Hiyori who were behind her.

The next moment, several cylindrical projectiles that Misaki and Hiyori had been holding tightly in their hands flew out.

"Oh!"

"呲-"

What the two of them threw were just the smoke bombs and flash bombs that were everywhere in Kivotos.

But it is precisely such a simple and effective thing that even powerful beings like Mika or Nero will lose their vision for a few seconds. In other words, they will lose the ability to pursue in these few seconds.

"Whoa?!"

Amid Mika's exclamation, Misaki and Hiyori threw smoke bombs and flash bombs and immediately pulled Atsuko to escape towards another nearby underground passage. The remaining Arius students also scattered in an instant, fleeing towards the passages they knew.

But Saori did not take this opportunity to run away with them.

Not only did she run in the opposite direction of Atsuko and the others, she also pulled the trigger in the direction of Azusa and the others.

Saori knew in her heart that she couldn't retreat with them.

Because now someone must stay here to cover their retreat, so as to buy them time to escape.

As for the selection...what is there to hesitate about?

"Boom boom boom!"

Even though they had cooperated with each other many times, Saori, who had sneaked into the nearby building, was still sincerely happy for Hiyori and the others who threw grenades near her position to attract the attention of Azusa and the others.

She understood that she had to create a big enough noise like this to trick Azusa and Mika into thinking that she, Atsuko and the others had hidden in this building.

But now is not the time to express my feelings.

"Tsk! A hiding guy!"

"Ah... I guess you won't give up so easily."

Hearing these two voices, which were somewhat irritable and helpless and were approaching her rapidly, Saori took a deep breath.

Her own war has begun.

--------

"Now that we're here, we should be able to... take a break for a while..."

After turning who knows how many corners, Hiyori, with sweat on her forehead, turned around to look at the empty passage behind them.

"……Um."

Misaki responded by slowing down her pace as did Atsuko beside her.

"Captain, will she be okay?"

Hearing what Hiyori said, Misaki sighed helplessly.

"It's easy to deal with the others, but... it might be hard for Saori to escape from the hands of those two powerful guys."

"That's true... I'm afraid the captain will be taken back by them and handed over to teacher Xia Lai, who will punish her personally? Wuwu... In other words... the captain will probably be locked up in Xia Lai's basement, where the sobbing of children who rebel against Xia Lai can be heard every night... Wuwu..."

Looking at Hiyori who seemed to recall something she had read from some strange place, Misaki couldn't help but sigh again.

Just then, she suddenly felt someone gently pulling her sleeve.

"……Princess?"

Misaki couldn't help but frown slightly when Atsuko made a gesture towards her.

"Grenade and EMP bomb? No, I didn't throw anything like that just now... Besides, there shouldn't be any EMP bombs in the equipment we carried for this operation. After all, those are very difficult to obtain..."

"Um, well... I don't have it either..."

When Hiyori, with tears still on her face, raised her hand and said this to them, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

In this somewhat silent atmosphere, a familiar murmur that even she herself could hardly detect came from under Atsuko's mask as she turned her head and looked back at the passage they came from.

"Is it... really you?"

Chapter 88: What about you, Saori?

"Da da da da da-"

Amid a brief and intense exchange of gunfire, Azusa and Mika immediately noticed that Saori had retreated into the building next door, and without paying any attention to the other Arius students who were fleeing, they rushed into the front door of the building at the same time.

Although his vision was temporarily obscured by the smoke bombs thrown by Hiyori and others, Nero, who was able to determine the direction by hearing alone, broke into the building from the back without hesitation.

"Eh eh eh?!"

Unlike the three who reacted quickly, Hifumi, who had never seen such a scene before, panicked. She raised and lowered the gun in her hand, not knowing whether to shoot at the fleeing Arius students or follow Azusa and the others.

Perhaps because she often encountered such things at work, Koharu calmly found a shelter, raised her rifle and aimed at the building that Azusa and the others had broken into, ready to provide cover for them at all times.

When Fumie turned to Hanako with a slightly expectant look that day, hoping that she could give some advice, she found that Hanako frowned slightly with a serious look for some reason, as if she was thinking about something.

"Um..."

Just as Hifumi hesitated to speak out in distress, she caught a glimpse of Alice next to her, who was tapping the wireless communication headset she was wearing for some reason with a puzzled look on her face.

"Alice, what happened?"

Hearing Hifumi's question, Alice nodded seriously at her.

"Well, Alice was just talking to the seniors in the engineering department who were monitoring this place via drone, but since a while ago, I don't know why I can't contact them all of a sudden."

At this point, Alice seemed to have remembered something and spoke to Hifumi.

"Yeah! It's just like what happened when Alice and Momoi and the others sneaked into the hospital to look for the teacher!"

"……Eh?"

Just as Hifumi was stunned by Alice's incoherent words, a series of explosions suddenly sounded not far away, instantly bringing her thoughts back to reality.

"Hifumi-chan, stop daydreaming."

Hifumi instinctively looked in the direction of the sound and discovered that the place where the explosion and fire came from was the building that Azusa and the others had broken into. Hanako, who had been "in a daze" just now, had already raised her gun and spoke to her seriously.

"A new enemy will be here soon."

“Eh…eh?”

--------

Although less than ten seconds had passed from the time Saori opened fire on Azusa and the others and rushed into the building to the time Azusa, Mika, and Nero broke into the building, in those less than ten seconds, Saori had already placed dozens of trigger-type bombs and mines at the door and in the passage, waiting for them to rush in.

However, these things might be very useful to other people, but Nero and Mika, who were at the front, were hit by seven or eight bombs and mines in a row, but they still managed to break into the first floor unscathed as if nothing had happened.

Although she had made some mental preparations in advance, Saori, who had already retreated to the second floor, couldn't help but feel her heart sinking when she heard the footsteps that did not stop at all after the series of explosions.

Knowing that she was fighting a desperate battle, Saori did not hesitate at all and quickly used the halo-destroying bomb in her hand to set a new trap near the stairs. As long as Mika and the others rushed up, they would definitely be hurt by the explosion.

At the same time, Nero, Mika, and Azusa who followed behind them also confirmed that there were no other entrances and exits on the first floor.

But just as they were about to head to the second floor, and Saori was waiting for them to step into her trap, a slightly childish but extremely firm voice sounded from outside the building.

"Light!"

"Boom!"

Under Hanako's command, a fully charged beam of light shot out from the sword of light in Alice's hand, directly punching a large hole in the outer wall of the second floor and a large piece of floor.

When the smoke cleared, Saori, who had barely avoided a direct hit from the beam of light and climbed up from the dusty ground, clearly saw Mika and the others who were on the first floor looking up at her.

Ignoring the feeling of oppression when facing them, Saori reacted immediately. Now they didn't need to go through the stairs at all. They could go directly to the second floor through this gap - which was in front of her.

In other words, the aura-destroying bomb trap that he had set up earlier had completely lost its effect.

This, or the fact that the enemy actually possessed such a powerful weapon, was something Saori had never expected.

Logically speaking, Saori should have immediately escaped from the building through the second-floor window at this time. Otherwise, there would not even be a need for Mika and others to attack her. She would only need the "cannon" outside to fire at her, and she would be buried by the collapsed building.

But the moment she showed her head in front of the window, Xiaochun's rifle bullet hit her.

If Saori hadn't reacted extremely quickly and Koharu hadn't missed the target due to nervousness, this would have been enough to make Saori dizzy for a moment.

"Is it really too much to fight with so many people?"

Just as Saori was muttering to herself, Nero and others jumped to the second floor through the hole in the floor and looked at her.

"Huh? Why are you the only one here? Oh... I see. Tsk, I didn't expect you to trick me."

After looking around, Nero first clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, but then looked at Saori as if he had thought of something.

"But given the current situation, I guess it would be the same if we captured four people and only captured you. And from the way you were talking just now... you seem to be their captain, right? That's worth it."

Facing Nero who was unabashedly releasing his hostility towards her, Saori couldn't help but bite her lip.

"Qiannian actually interfered in the affairs of Holy Trinity... Is it because of Xia Lai's teacher?"

"Well, I don't deny it. So, I advise you to give up resistance."

After Nero answered this, Mika beside her also spoke to Saori.

"Saori...it has come to this. If you surrender honestly, we will not make things difficult for you."

Hearing what Mika said, Saori did not answer, but looked at Azusa who was standing silently beside her.

"Azusa... Have you forgotten? [All of this will eventually return to nothingness]... What is the point of your resistance?"

However, after hearing Saori's question, Azusa looked into her eyes seriously.

"If that's really the case... then Saori, why did you use yourself as bait to let the princess escape?"