Chapter 204: Escape from the Academy
"What did you just say?!"
Ethan was stunned.
"You mean… you want to join my side?"
"Because you seem strong, and I've already lost, so now I can only let you do whatever you want with me… U…u…"
Tamamo no Mae acted as if she had completely given up resisting, her fox ears and fluffy tail both drooping.
She looked at Ethan with incredibly pitiful eyes, a cuteness in her gaze that softened anyone's heart.
"..."
It seemed that some things… truly couldn't be entirely blamed on the Emperors of ancient times, those who had been bewitched by this fluffy fox woman.
Just as Ethan was about to speak, Mash and Tohsaka Rin stood in front of him.
"Senpai, a Servant with such unclear origins—there's no way we can accept her!!!"
"That's right, I've fought her countless times already. She really is a cunning fox through and through. There's absolutely no way we can trust her!!!"
At some point, Tohsaka Rin and Mash had formed an alliance, standing together to block Tamamo no Mae.
"How could… this be…"
Tamamo no Mae let out a sobbing "uuu."
"This is bullying, this is violence! I protest violence!!!"
"A vixen like you dares to say that? You clearly cheated by using a malicious program to attack us first, and now you're saying we're the problem?!"
At this moment, Tohsaka Rin had entered "queen mode," her tongue showing no mercy.
"Hahahaha, that filthy fox tricked me so badly—don't even think about escaping this hell!!!"
Matou Shinji, who had already lost, burst into loud laughter.
"Can't form a contract with a Master? Then you might as well stay here forever!"
"…Tsk, what a clingy man—lost and still sticking around like a damn leech. So annoying, even the fur on my tail feels as uncomfortable as a rainy day."
Tamamo no Mae grumbled in frustration.
"That's right, naughty children don't get to run away from here ~~~"
Suddenly, a voice came from above.
"————————?!"
Ethan immediately looked up in the direction of the sound, only to see a pair of long legs in black leather shoes, clad in black fishnet stockings, peeking out right above his head.
Wait a second… long legs?!
Right after, a girl with long, light purple hair bent down slightly, smiling teasingly as she looked down at Ethan.
"My, my, you really are… peeking under a girl's skirt like this~~~"
Though her mouth said that, she made no attempt to cover herself, letting the white sukumizu under her black cloak show entirely before Ethan's eyes.
BB???
So they really did lure her out after all?!
"Ah, she's here again—that black woman!!!"
As soon as Tohsaka Rin saw BB, she shouted loudly.
"Black woman?"
A trace of displeasure appeared on BB's face.
"Though I said you all could call me whatever you want, BeBe or BiBi or whatever, but why such a tasteless nickname like 'black woman'?"
"Well, it's because you're inherently ridiculous! Just saying your name makes me want to throw up!!!"
Tohsaka Rin clearly had a significant grudge against BB.
"Rin, don't waste words on her anymore—lock her up in my Charybdis. There's still an empty cell in the special prison. I'm sure she'll get to enjoy the most perfect torture experience, won't she?"
Elizabeth gripped her spear tightly, always ready for battle.
"You're all truly arrogant. Just because you possess the qualifications for Spiritron Transfer, you act recklessly here—just getting a Command Spell and already so smug."
BB's gaze toward Tohsaka Rin and Matou Shinji gradually turned icy.
"Humans truly are an irredeemable bunch."
"BB, what exactly are you trying to do?"
From below, Ethan looked up, questioning the purple-haired girl positioned above.
Whether it was a twisted Singularity, MoonCell being infiltrated, or Tsukumihara Academy located in London…
Perhaps BB wasn't the true mastermind, but she very likely knew the truth behind it all.
Even though Ethan knew BB wouldn't easily spill everything, it was still worth a try.
When BB's gaze locked onto Ethan, she immediately shifted into a gentle smile.
"Since this is our first meeting, talking about such heavy things isn't very nice, is it? You made it all the way here through that thick fog—it must have been quite the ordeal, right? I'm really interested in you… and in that organization called Chaldea, too."
"——————————?!"
BB casually spoke as if she knew all about Chaldea, which caught Ethan off guard.
But he quickly regained his composure—after all, the opponent was BB, an illegal AI.
For her to retrieve Chaldea's data from MoonCell was by no means difficult.
"To save the future of your human world, you've had to fight all alone… the final Master of humanity!"
As she said those words, BB's eyes shimmered with curiosity.
"Clearly, you could have just given up, laid down this burden, lived a pleasant, carefree life full of Love and comedy, and quietly awaited the extinction of mankind. Honestly, I'm more curious about you right now than I am about the actual cause of your world's apocalypse."
Though BB said these things while smiling, for some reason it brought with it a strange sense of pressure.
It wasn't the usual tension of facing a powerful enemy—but more like the surrounding space itself was being compressed.
"Can I call you Senpai? After all, in terms of courage alone, not even I—Ruler of the Moon—can compare to you ~~~"
Of course it was that familiar way of addressing him…
Enough already, Kouhai!
"What exactly are you trying to do? Lock everyone inside this virtual space?!"
Mash was starting to lose her composure. She raised her shield and stepped in front of BB, confronting her directly.
"Sorry, but right now, none of you have the right to ask that. Even though I did say 'Welcome to BB Channel,' unfortunately…"
BB's face suddenly took on a look of regret.
"At first I thought you'd fight fair and square. But since cheating has occurred, this academy will have to be scrapped."
Then, BB brought a hand to her lips and made a cute little blowing gesture, sending a puff of wind toward everyone.
"Fuuu~~~"
Suddenly, the sky began to darken, and the ground—already cracked from the battle—started to tremble?!
"RUMBLE————————!!!"
The first sound came from the lecture hall in the distance.
Before everyone's eyes, the massive lecture hall collapsed with a thunderous crash like a pile of toy blocks!!!
Only then did Ethan realize where that strange sense of oppression had been coming from.
The ground was caving in, seemingly falling endlessly into a pitch-black void—and that collapse was hurtling straight toward them at breakneck speed!!!
"Hey—don't tell me you're planning to destroy this entire place?!"
Tohsaka Rin looked utterly stunned.
"As an illegal Advanced AI ruling over the dark side of the Moon, the true Queen of the Moon—what I'm doing is simply cleaning up garbage data that has no further value."
BB pretended like none of this concerned her, wearing a wicked smile.
"This place was originally designed as a disposable arena for selecting temporary Masters. Doing this is perfectly reasonable, don't you think?"
The space behind her had already turned into a pitch-black void.
"Queen of the Moon, my ass! Hey, don't just stand there—run!!"
Tohsaka Rin quickly regained her senses. She grabbed Ethan's hand and bolted full-speed in the opposite direction.
Mash and Elizabeth immediately followed.
"Wait, don't leave me behind~~~!"
Tamamo no Mae also panicked and scrambled after them.
"This place is starting to collapse—we need to find a way out of here!"
Ethan had barely taken two steps when he suddenly realized something and turned right back around.
"Hey, are you insane?!"
"Just a moment!"
Ethan immediately ran back and reached out his hand toward Matou Shinji, who was frozen in place.
"Run!"
"Stop worrying about me!"
Matou Shinji clenched his teeth, looking at Ethan with pain in his eyes.
"For a loser like me, even if I survive, I'm destined to be cast aside. Just let it end here."
"If you've still got the energy to mope like that, then use it to think about what you're gonna do next!!!"
Ethan didn't want to waste time arguing. He just reached out, grabbed Matou Shinji's arm, and yanked him back.
"————————?!"
Matou Shinji struggled and shouted:
"Didn't you hear what I said?! I don't want to fight anymore! My game's over—Game Over, you hear me!!!"
"Aren't you the one who was at the top of the Asian rankings?! Even if this is a shitty game beyond saving, as long as it's not over yet, the only choice is to keep fighting!"
"————————!!!"
Why had he even joined this game in the first place?
Wasn't it to defeat that useless idiot sitting at the top—and become the true number one in the world?!
"So I… still want to win… still want to beat that bastard…"
Ethan's words seemed to awaken something in Matou Shinji.
"Damn it! After what you just said—why the hell do I suddenly feel so unwilling to lose like this!!!"
Matou Shinji shouted and ran with all his might.
"This is all your fault, you damn transfer student!!!"
Seeing that Matou Shinji had regained his will to survive, Ethan finally let out a small sigh of relief.
It wasn't like he suddenly had a heroic urge to save someone.
Though Matou Shinji was weak as a Master, in the field of hacking, he was an undisputed genius.
If they wanted to delve deeper into this place, then aside from real-combat experts like Tohsaka Rin, technical types like him were absolutely indispensable.
"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE————————!!!"
Behind them, buildings and the ground continued to collapse relentlessly!
He'd only been enrolled at this school with Mash for half a day, and now it was all disappearing into nothingness.
"Senpai! Where do we go now?!"
Mash shouted as she ran.
Ethan tried to keep his breathing steady, thought for a moment, then turned to Tohsaka Rin beside him:
"Tohsaka Rin, didn't you say you know where the infirmary is?!"
"It's in the old school building! But are you nuts?! That place looks like it's about to go down too!!!"
Tohsaka Rin frowned as she looked toward the old school building not far off.
"Stop overthinking it! If we want to survive, we have to head there first!"
Ethan immediately veered off, running toward the old school building on the right.
"Senpai, let me lead the way!!!"
Mash picked up speed, running ahead to check the path's safety.
"Ahhh, seriously!!!"
Tohsaka Rin saw what Ethan was doing and grit her teeth as she gave chase.
"If I die because of this, I'll hate you for the rest of my life! Even if I become a digital ghost, I'll haunt you every single day just to curse you, got it!!!"
"Rin, for some people… that might actually be a reward, you know?"
Elizabeth chimed in teasingly from the side.
"Huh?! Are there seriously people like that in the world?! You've gotta be kidding me, right?!"
While the two were still exchanging nonsense, the old school building came into view.
"This way, hurry!!!"
Mash confirmed it was safe and immediately waved everyone inside.
The hallway of the old school building was pitch dark, surrounded by wooden walls with peeling, blotchy panels.
But before long, a fork appeared ahead in the hallway.
"Turn left!!!"
Tohsaka Rin took only a few seconds to get her bearings in the darkness.
"That way should definitely have a staircase leading to the second floor… Damn it, where the hell is it!!!"
Everyone kept running behind Tohsaka Rin, but even after quite a distance, the staircase she mentioned was nowhere in sight.
"RUMBLE——————!!!"
Suddenly, the floor behind them began collapsing in rapid succession!
Had the destruction already reached this area?!
"Tohsaka Rin, hurry up!!!"
Ethan anxiously urged Tohsaka Rin, but yet another intersection appeared ahead.
"Why the hell did they design the old school building with such a complicated layout?! Were the architects just bored and had nothing better to do?!"
From the sound of her shouting behind, Tohsaka Rin seemed on the verge of tears.
"Ugh! It's really been too long—I can't remember anymore!!!"
"Turn right!!!"
Suddenly, a calm voice rang out from the back.
Matou Shinji immediately looked toward the right-hand path.
"If I remember correctly, I once looked at the layout of this place just in case—on the left is only a storage room, but on the right, there should be a staircase leading upstairs!"
After hearing Matou Shinji's words, everyone's eyes turned to Ethan.
"Senpai…"
Mash waited anxiously for Ethan's command.
Ethan thought for a few seconds, then made his decision.
At this point, the only option was to trust Matou Shinji's memory as a top-ranked player.
"Turn right!"
"Got it!!!"
Mash immediately led the way to the right, and before long, a joyful shout echoed.
"There's a staircase over here!!!"
Everyone rushed upward. From below, the sounds of the collapsing ground rumbled fiercely.
"This way!!!"
Tohsaka Rin quickly scanned the classroom hallway on the second floor and swiftly found a room with a sign reading Infirmary.
But the door was locked tight, no matter what they did—it wouldn't budge.
"RUMBLE————————!!!"
The ground began shaking violently, and the encroaching black space could already be seen steadily reaching this area.
"Senpai, there's no time left!!!"
Seeing the void draw closer and closer, Ethan quickly took the red ribbon Matou Sakura had given him from his pocket and placed it against the door.
Please!!!
Ethan frantically prayed in his heart.
"Click!"
Suddenly, a familiar sensation pulsed through him—and the tightly shut door in front of them creaked open.