Chapter 203: Who Could Ever Refuse a Fluffy Little Fox?
Soft pink hair gently draped over fragrant shoulders, a striking blue kimono, and that "charming asset" proudly on display—all appeared on the livestream screen.
The tense and explosive scene sent shockwaves through every viewer watching the stream.
["Fox-eared girl!!!!!!!"]
["It's Tamamo, that's Tamamo!!!"]
["She's here! Fuwa fuwa time!!!"]
["Hehehe… I wanna hug Tama-chan's tail so bad~~~"]
["True, imagine using that tail as a body pillow at night, that'd be amazing."]
["Why did Tamamo become Shinji's Servant? Shouldn't it have been Captain Drake?"]
["Rin's Servant isn't Cu Chulainn either! I thought we'd see Doggo Bro again…"]
…
"Awoooo————————!!!"
A large swarm of malicious programs began flooding the entire schoolyard.
The pack of black hounds snarled and charged in like a storm, surrounding the group in the center of the field.
"Haahh!!!"
Mash used her shield to knock away several black hounds that were lunging in. The battle aura radiating from her made them hesitate to approach recklessly.
"Ahhh, why the hell is it turning out like this!!!"
Tohsaka Rin's eyes were beginning to panic, her mind in chaos.
She immediately dropped to the ground, pushing at the collapsed Elizabeth, whose eyes were still spinning from dizziness.
"Hey, Lancer, wake up already!!!"
"Hehehe… I'm now the Queen of MoonCell… Thanks for coming to my concert, my dear little piggies… Those who don't behave will be tossed into Charybdis…"
Elizabeth kept her eyes closed, muttering deliriously in a spoiled tone.
"Quit dreaming already!!! Wake up for me!!"
At Rin's urgent shouting, Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes.
"What's going on… Rin? Where's my grand concert? Has the performance that shook the whole moon happened yet?"
"Stop dreaming for god's sake!! Uwaa!!!"
Suddenly, a black hound roared from the front and lunged forward!!!
"BANG——————!!!"
A shield flew out and slammed the charging black hound away.
"Careful, they're going to attack again any second!"
Mash stood protectively with her shield raised, stunning Elizabeth.
"Eh?! Wasn't I just fighting you?!"
"That was ages ago, Lancer!"
Tohsaka Rin pointed straight ahead, to where the fox-eared Caster girl was controlling the malicious programs and launching constant attacks.
"Our enemy now is that fox!"
"Huh?"
Elizabeth still hadn't grasped the situation, but the moment she laid eyes on Tamamo-no-Mae, her gaze instantly lit up again.
"So that's it, that damn fox is up to tricks again? No problem, Master, I've fully grasped the situation now!"
"That's what you call 'grasping the situation'?!!"
Tohsaka Rin was stunned.
"Swoooosh————————!!"
A spear pierced through a charging black hound.
Elizabeth stood up once more.
"In short, we just need to wipe them all out, right?"
"…Ehm, it feels kinda off, but for now just help defeat Matou Shinji first!"
"Of course, leave that fox to me."
Elizabeth flung away the black hound impaled on her spear, casually knocking aside a whole bunch of them in the process.
"Matou Shinji, do you even realize what you're doing?!"
Seeing Elizabeth had regained her senses, Tohsaka Rin shouted at the blue-haired boy.
"You forced your Servant to bring malicious programs into the academy. That woman in the black cloak will never forgive you!"
"So what!!!"
Matou Shinji now seemed completely unhinged.
"Don't think you can keep winning forever! The way I felt walking into this place—you people could never understand! Even if I have to resort to dirty tricks, I will achieve my goal!!!"
His eyes glared fiercely ahead, hands clenched tightly as he shouted:
"My only wish is this: 'To leave behind an achievement that astonishes the world!' For that, I absolutely cannot stay stagnant! Tohsaka! I've had enough of that arrogant face of yours looking down on everyone! Today, get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness!!!"
"Who the hell would kneel and beg someone like you!!!"
Tohsaka Rin placed her hands on her hips and snapped:
"Lancer, show him that a loser should quietly return to the loser's place! The one who should've been Queen of MoonCell is me!!!"
"Rin, you're always bossing people around... Do you seriously want to be queen that badly?"
Elizabeth muttered while sweeping away the black hounds around her.
"Of course. Being a princess is nice and all, but a princess doesn't get free access to the treasury. Only a queen can spend the taxpayers' money however she wants~~~"
Tohsaka Rin said with a totally matter-of-fact tone.
Ethan, standing nearby, heard everything loud and clear, and couldn't help but sigh.
No matter what form this woman takes… her bizarre obsession with money never changes.
"Alright, spotlight on me!!!"
Elizabeth flung a black hound away with her dragon tail, then planted her spear into the ground, her whole body beginning to radiate a powerful surge of magical energy.
"You guys definitely want to hear my singing voice, don't you?!"
"Hey, Lancer, don't tell me you're planning to use that here?!"
Tohsaka Rin suddenly panicked.
"Of course. Facing monsters like these, if I don't let loose and sing, my throat will get all itchy."
The ground suddenly began to tremble. A black structure started to slowly rise from beneath the earth!
"Hey, you two over there!!!"
Tohsaka Rin immediately shouted toward Ethan and Mash.
"Cover your ears now!!!"
She yelled while curling into a defensive position, even squeezing her eyes tightly shut.
"Senpai, I think Tohsaka-san's warning implies something dangerous is coming!"
Mash still wasn't sure what was about to happen, so she turned to Ethan for instructions.
"Mash, raise your shield and block in front of us!"
"Yes, Senpai!"
Mash immediately planted her shield into the ground, taking a solid defensive stance.
Ethan didn't hesitate either, pressing his back against the shield and using both hands to cover his ears.
"I'm going to let you hear the biggest hit in the Servant world!"
"Let's get pumped up! Cry like pathetic little kittens!"
"Báthory Erzsébet!!!!"
Elizabeth spread the wings behind her and soared into the sky.
She locked her gaze on the malicious programs below and took in a deep breath.
"Laaaaa——————!!"
A violent soundwave shook the very air itself. From the prison structure Charybdis rising out of the ground, a surge of magical sonic energy blasted in every direction!!!
The black hounds, touched even slightly by the soundwave, instantly crumbled into black dust and vanished.
As the sonic magic attack surged toward Matou Shinji and Tamamo-no-Mae, Tamamo immediately cast several charms, raising a shield barrier using her mirror!
"Sorcery Art—Tamamo's Loving Shield!!!"
"BOOOOOM————————!!"
The intense shockwave forced Matou Shinji to clamp his eyes shut, a piercing pain stabbing at his ears.
"Aaaa aaaa aaaa!!"
Matou Shinji dropped to the ground, clutching his head and screaming in agony.
Moments later, as he endured the ringing in his ears and tried to get up, he was horrified to find that a massive deep crater had appeared around him.
The swarm of black malicious programs had completely vanished.
"What the hell is this, Caster!!"
Matou Shinji yelled, his face filled with disbelief.
"Didn't you say this would definitely be enough to defeat Tohsaka's Lancer?!"
"Eh~? Did I say that?"
Tamamo-no-Mae put on an innocent look, resting her chin on her hand and blinking her large round eyes.
"I only said it was 'possible', that's all. I mean, we were cheating, so cheating~ But who would've thought that lizard girl could go this far."
"Don't act like this has nothing to do with you! If Rider hadn't gotten lost in the labyrinth, I wouldn't have had to make a contract with a weak Servant like you!!!"
Realizing he had failed, Matou Shinji became increasingly flustered and frustrated, venting his anger on the pink-haired fox girl in front of him.
"Form a contract? When did that happen???"
The fox girl smiled sweetly.
"I just reluctantly borrowed a bit of your mana to help out. Technically, it wasn't even a temporary contract yet. At best, you could say it was like a friendly convenience store clerk lending a hand to a customer~"
"What the hell did you just say!!!"
Matou Shinji shouted furiously:
"You tricked me into losing two Command Spells, and you didn't even make a contract with me?!!!"
"Well, I did save your life back then, didn't I? You were practically at death's door, and I exchanged your life for just two command seals. Isn't that a steal? A deal so good it should've counted as a service scene~~~"
Tamamo-no-Mae smiled sweetly, speaking as if she were showing great compassion.
"Damn it, you filthy fox! I never should've trusted you from the beginning!!"
Matou Shinji stomped furiously, shouting in bitter frustration.
"Don't even think about escaping! There's no way out for you now!!!"
Elizabeth, now gripping her spear, had already stepped right up in front of the two.
"I've lost count of how many times we've fought now. Still haven't learned your lesson, Matou Shinji?"
Tohsaka Rin crossed her arms, standing squarely in front of him.
"Damn it, it's all because of that damn fox tricking me!!!"
Matou Shinji screamed angrily.
"Unbelievable—less than a day and you two are already secretly teaming up! This is all because you both drew broken-ass Servant cards!!!"
His face twisted into a completely distorted expression.
"Oi oi, losing and then blaming your Servant for being weak—what are you, an elementary schooler?"
Looking at Matou Shinji's state, even Tohsaka Rin—his rival—couldn't help but scold him.
At that moment, Ethan and Mash also arrived at the scene.
Elizabeth's Noble Phantasm just now hadn't only blown up the schoolyard—it seemed to have shattered all the windows on the school building too.
...Wasn't this way too much? BB might really show up at this rate.
"Hand over the key!"
Tohsaka Rin stomped her black heel hard into the ground, exuding the aura of a victor.
"Damn it, even after going this far… I still couldn't win?!!"
Though filled with unwillingness, Matou Shinji ultimately pulled a blue key from his pocket and tossed it to Tohsaka Rin.
That act took Ethan by surprise.
Noticing Ethan's gaze, Matou Shinji clenched his teeth and grumbled irritably:
"What are you looking at?! Don't think I'm just giving up easily. I'll have you know, even though I used underhanded tricks, a loss is still a loss."
"I see. It seems I've underestimated you until now."
Ethan looked at Matou Shinji with a hint of respect in his eyes.
"Don't act all noble. You guys could never understand the bitterness of defeat… In the end, it's that damn Caster who tricked me…!!"
Matou Shinji once again turned to blame Tamamo-no-Mae beside him.
Just then, a blur of blue suddenly dashed straight toward Ethan.
"Uuuu... I didn't have a choice either…"
Before anyone could react, Tamamo-no-Mae had already leapt into Ethan's arms, crying as if she were the one who'd been wronged.
"————————?!"
Mash, standing nearby, froze in shock.
"Controlling those malicious programs… he forced me to do that, it really had nothing to do with me…"
Tamamo-no-Mae's voice was completely tearful.
"That girl over there knows too—I hate fighting! I only acted because I was forced to!"
"You… you filthy fox, what are you even talking about?! That fire charm you threw just now nearly roasted my tail, and now you're playing innocent?!"
Elizabeth clearly wasn't having it.
"That was purely for self-defense! Besides, I've never once beaten you, you know?"
"That's just because you're weak!"
"Both of you, back off!!!"
Mash rushed in, physically pulling Tamamo-no-Mae and Ethan apart.
"Mikon!!!"
"If you ever try something like that with Senpai again, I won't go easy on you!!!"
With her shield forcibly pressed between them, Mash turned to Ethan and said:
"Senpai, leave this to me."
"…Umu. I'll leave it to you then."
Ethan nodded.
For some reason, today Mash was giving off a vague but distinctly dangerous aura.
"Don't be so rough! I'm still useful to everyone! Please don't punish me!!!"
Tamamo-no-Mae desperately tried to prove her worth.
"That's right! If you want to enter the 'Labyrinth', I know all about what's inside!"
As if just remembering something, Tamamo-no-Mae quickly spoke to Ethan and Mash.
"Oh? You know?"
Ethan and Mash looked at each other.
"Of course! I was inside the 'Labyrinth' right from the moment I was summoned. If I had to say, I know the ins and outs better than anyone—thanks to these super sensitive ears of mine!!"
As she spoke, Tamamo-no-Mae's fluffy fox ears twitched.
"Also, if you'd be so kind, how about letting me join your party? Hey hey, you kinda cool-looking boy over there—wanna become my Master~~~?"