Out in the suburbs.
Silver Wolf and Kafka appeared before Raiden Ei.
"Shing!"
Without a word, Ei drew her blade.
At this point, only two teams remained.
There was no need for conversation.
The only thing that mattered was unleashing their full strength and defeating the opponent.
"My dear, stay back. And watch out for Yae Miko."
"Got it."
Silver Wolf nodded and retreated to the side.
"Come on. The reward is mine."
"We'll see about that."
The two Servants moved at the same instant.
Blade and weapon collided, and the resulting shockwave blasted away all the surrounding grass.
"True Name Release."
"True Name Release."
Neither side held back.
At this stage, there was no point conserving strength.
Only total victory mattered.
Boom!
Two beams of light collided head-on.
The terrifying explosion gouged a massive crater into the ground.
[Valerius: Damn… both of them are beam cannons.]
[Ruan Mei: How does a sword even fire a laser?]
[Herta: I want to pull one next time and study it.]
[Dr. Ratio: Is it simply magical energy being concentrated into the weapon and discharged through the blade?]
[Ruan Mei: I don't think so.]
Ruan Mei shook her head.
If that were all there was to it, Noble Phantasms would just be glorified magical amplifiers.
That would be far too mundane.
As the two Noble Phantasms clashed, Silver Wolf decided that her position was no longer safe.
She retreated even farther.
"Yip yip…"
Suddenly, her foot stepped on something soft.
"Hm?"
She looked down.
"A fox?"
Confused, she crouched and gently nudged it.
"You should get out of here before—"
Her eyes widened.
"Wait… you're Yae Miko!"
The alarm bells in her head instantly went off.
Yae Miko was literally a fox.
"That's right."
Yae Miko bit down on Silver Wolf's wrist, then darted away at incredible speed before resuming her human form.
"You… do you have any shame at all?"
Silver Wolf was both amused and exasperated.
What kind of move was biting someone?
"Hehe. You'll find out soon enough."
It didn't take long.
Silver Wolf's vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed.
"You… you poisoned me!"
"Of course."
Silver Wolf was speechless.
"Since when are foxes venomous?"
"Could it be rabies?"
"Y-you… you're the one with rabies!"
Yae Miko nearly exploded with anger.
Calling her elegant fox magic "rabies" was unforgivable.
Silver Wolf's head grew heavier and heavier.
This was bad.
"Command Seal: Bring Kafka to my side."
She had been caught off guard.
This fight was no longer worth risking.
She needed to retreat and regroup.
"My dear, what happened?"
"I've been poisoned. Get me out of here."
"Understood."
Seeing Silver Wolf's condition, Kafka wasted no time.
She scooped Silver Wolf up under one arm and prepared to flee.
"Oh no, you're not leaving."
Yae Miko raised a hand.
A magical barrier materialized around them.
"This kind of spell won't stop us."
"It only needs to delay you."
Yae Miko never intended to trap them permanently.
She only needed a few seconds.
And those few seconds were enough.
Ei arrived.
Her blade slashed directly at Silver Wolf.
Clang!
Kafka had anticipated this and barely managed to block the strike.
"Command Seal: Reinforce Kafka."
Silver Wolf gritted her teeth.
She had been thoroughly outplayed.
Left with no choice, she spent another Command Seal.
Empowered by the reinforcement, Kafka swept her weapon sideways, forcing Ei back, then lunged straight at Yae Miko.
"Hehe, too slow."
At the critical moment, Yae Miko ducked low, transformed into her fox form, and darted away.
Kafka wanted to scream.
Everyone else was human.
Why was Yae Miko allowed to shape-shift into a fox?
Silver Wolf's consciousness was fading.
Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
"Command Seal: Reinforce Kafka."
With the last remnants of her strength, she used one final Command Seal.
Then she blacked out.
"True Name Release."
Kafka didn't hesitate.
She unleashed her Noble Phantasm once more.
The sudden attack caught both opponents by surprise.
"Miko!"
At the crucial moment, Ei stepped in front of Yae Miko and activated her own Noble Phantasm.
Another cataclysmic collision erupted.
When the smoke cleared, Silver Wolf and Kafka were gone.
"Are you all right?"
Yae Miko brushed herself off and shook her head.
"And you? Can you overpower her in a direct Noble Phantasm clash?"
Ei frowned.
"No. In pure output, I'm at a disadvantage."
"Then we'll have to proceed with Plan B."
Since Ei couldn't gain the upper hand through brute force, Yae Miko was forced to resort to her backup plan.
"Are you sure your plan will work?"
"Probably. But I won't be able to hold her for long."
Even Yae Miko wasn't entirely certain.
But it was worth the gamble.
"Let's go to the church. They're certain to head there."
"All right."
Ei nodded, then added seriously:
"This time, we are winning."
"I know, I know. Let's move."
Outside the church.
Kafka carried Silver Wolf through the front door.
Without even glancing at the gamers inside, she marched straight to Valerius.
"I want to buy Command Seals."
"How many?"
"All of them."
The entire church fell silent.
Everyone stared at her in shock.
"Uh… all of your points?"
"Yes."
Kafka's eyes blazed with fury.
Yae Miko had tricked them.
Tonight, she was going to settle the score.
At this point, she held no advantage.
If she lost, every remaining point would be worthless.
But if she turned those points into Command Seals, she could overwhelm her opponent.
As for the final reward?
She didn't care anymore.
"This… this is too much!"
"That's outrageous!"
The Teyvat spectators panicked.
If Kafka acquired that many Command Seals, Yae Miko would be in serious danger.
Kafka ignored all protests.
Tonight, she was going to teach that fox a lesson.
"All right," Valerius said. "Once Silver Wolf wakes up, the transaction can be completed."
"You can't give them directly to me?"
"Only Masters are allowed to receive Command Seals."
Kafka clicked her tongue.
That was troublesome.
Yae Miko and Ei were almost certainly already on their way.
"I'll stall them outside."
In the end, Kafka chose not to leave.
She would hold the enemy back herself.
As long as Silver Wolf woke up in time, they could still turn the tables.
Standing outside the church, Kafka fixed her gaze on the darkness ahead.
Before long, Yae Miko and Raiden Ei appeared exactly as expected.
"Come."
Tonight, she would stop them here.
She no longer cared that this was a populated area.
Once the game ended, she'd be gone anyway.
Whatever happened after that was someone else's problem.
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