Bang! Bang! The sound of gunfire echoed over the sea, making everyone’s ears spin.

Thanks to Hina’s performance, Gehenna took the upper hand and fiercely pressured Trinity, holding onto their lead like it was their last slice of pizza.

Saori and Azusa were giving it their all, but it was clear they were outmatched when facing Hina.

Saori’s strengths were evident in close combat after brutal training, but against physical monsters like Tsurugi and me, those strengths diminished. The distance favored Hina in this case, making it impossible for her to shine.

Azusa’s strengths showed best when she could set the terrain in her favor, but this battlefield wasn’t exactly a playground for her skills.

If you asked me if the two could take down the strongest of Gehenna with just their capabilities, my answer would unfortunately be a “nope.”

Boom! A fierce exchange erupted between the snipers of both sides, and the distance between the two factions shrank significantly! It seems tactical infiltration might become possible soon, but will the balance of the battlefield hold until then?

It’s a tough nut to crack. As long as Hina’s ammunition doesn’t run dry, I doubt the balance will be maintained, especially since this area practically guarantees infinite supplies, making any hopes of a lucky break utterly impossible.

Moreover, in this unbalanced situation, it seemed like a daunting distance of over 100 meters still loomed ahead. Depending solely on a single chain to cross over to the enemy’s side? That’s just plain crazy!

With Gehenna’s power preserved much better, Tsurugi had to tackle an excessively sturdy defense. If you asked whether any other student could breach it, I’d confidently say no way. Maybe if you’re lucky, Minene might have a chance.

We couldn’t just curl up in a ball because things looked grim. If we didn’t want to be taken out one by one by the enemy sniper, we had to lift our heads up. That way we could protect our sniper too.

Trinity needed a breakthrough, something that could turn the tables.

And, of course, there was only one person in Trinity capable of pulling that off right now.

The person whose presence could lift Trinity from despair was none other than the peerless Kenzaki Tsurugi.

And finally, Tsurugi made her decision.

Aah! Is Trinity finally making a move to invade Gehenna’s territory? But the distance between the two vessels is still quite a stretch! Meanwhile, the newly appointed head of Trinity’s Justice Realization Department is bravely approaching the chain… and she just leaped onto it!

The dice Tsurugi cast held potential for saving Trinity, but it also carried the risk of sinking with that hope. However, since Tsurugi had never let me down before, I decided to trust her for now.

Hina’s machine gun turned toward Tsurugi. The fully armed Gehenna students also aimed their guns at her, but thankfully, after removing one of Gehenna’s snipers and balancing the numbers, at least they couldn’t disrupt Tsurugi’s path.

Wait a second. Why the heck is Iori suddenly jumping out from the tower? There aren’t any rules forbidding snipers from changing positions mid-match, but still…!

With whoosh! Hina’s machine gun unleashed hell. Gehenna students’ concentrated fire followed in tow. The rain of bullets was aimed solely at one target.

And Tsurugi received it all. With her arms raised to shield her face, she continued charging across the chain like a runaway freight train. She might waver, but she wouldn’t fall. As the audience gasped at the horrifying spectacle, the sound of a single shot halted Tsurugi’s charge.

It was Haruna’s sniper shot.

It felt less like Hiyori was put in her place and more like Iori seized the opportunity while Hiyori left for a moment.

Just as Tsurugi seemed to be around 5 meters from Gehenna’s vessel, swaying from the sniper shot, I could almost see the grim future unfolding ahead. The moment she lost her balance on that chain, the outcome of this match felt all but decided…

Wow!!! Amazing! Just when it seemed like everything was over for the head of the Justice Realization Department, she valiantly overcame the crisis and stepped into Gehenna’s realm!

…Or so I thought.

But just because that happened didn’t mean the tides would turn much. Now Tsurugi found herself isolated atop Gehenna’s vessel, and with the toll of damage stacking against Trinity, support seemed almost impossible. The only one preserving their power seems to be Minene.

With a creepy smile on her face, Tsurugi started to let out a chilling sound, ignoring Hina, and was about to charge at the other students on the vessel when Iori gracefully landed in front of her from the mast and kindly served a bullet straight into Tsurugi’s gut.

“…”

From the shot, Tsurugi flinched for a moment, lowering her head on the livestream.

Just when I was nervously gulping down, wondering if the unthinkable was happening, Tsurugi’s face twisted into something grotesque…

“Kuhuhuhuh! Dieeee——!!!”

Moments later, Iori crumpled to the deck like a squished tin can. Honestly, it felt a little bit too pitiful.

Iori had just tried her best… and as always, it was a shame, because she just had bad luck today.

As Tsurugi’s rampage began and drew the attention of Gehenna’s students, Azusa and Saori made a move to push into Gehenna’s ranks. The kids from Arius clamored to overwhelm Gehenna’s vessel.

Trinity, believing they could win by inducing chaos, had no choice but to charge desperately, reading Hina’s intention to stop the impending turmoil.

Oh no! After their first attempt miraculously succeeded, Trinity has officially begun their infiltration! Meanwhile, Gehenna’s student council president is doing her utmost to counter them, but it seems she also can’t ignore her own allies being pushed back by the head of the Justice Realization Department!

Hina struggled to hold them back, but Azusa and Saori were formidable opponents in their own right, even if they couldn’t quite match her. The moment one slipped, Saori managed to grab the chain and hold on long enough to get through first, with Azusa following her.

However, the subsequent rush from the Arius students felt like they were being incredibly swept up in the momentum. Tsurugi had the resilience to break through Gehenna’s full-on assault, and while Saori and Azusa were precariously poised, against just Hina, they might have had just enough ability to breach that defense.

Once Saori and Azusa engaged in combat with Hina, most of the overt skirmishing nearly vanished. Yet, each time Hina took a shot at the Arius students, they would get swept away and off to have a word with the fishes in the sea.

…If you’re going to try something, you might as well support from the back; I really couldn’t understand why they had to risk instead. Minene was still firmly holding the line with her shield up.

It was a relief they didn’t keep repeating the same mistakes, but the lost troops wouldn’t come back. My insides only simmered with frustration.

Despite the chaotic situation below, it seems that the snipers have reached a conclusion of sorts!

Before I knew it, one of the snipers, Makoto, lay sprawled out, her hat knocked off, messily on the tower.

It was nearly unfathomable to think Hasumi could lose in a direct clash with Makoto. Not that we could dismiss her odds from that sniper showdown entirely, though.

The showdown between Haruna and Hiyori was still ongoing, but with Hasumi having been stripped of her advantage, it made me wonder if Haruna could indeed assert dominance over the two. I remained decidedly skeptical.

While the situation remained skewed in Gehenna’s favor, the sniper conflict seemed half-settled for Trinity.

As the match continued, the distance between the two vessels shrank to under 30 meters. From this point, the kids from Arius began charging into the enemy territory, successfully reaching their opponent’s ship without heavy losses. Minene also dashed across the chains and landed powerfully on Gehenna’s deck, showcasing her presence.

At this point, one might think that Trinity would take this win, but, alas, the situation wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

First and foremost, Saori and Azusa were utterly struggling against Hina. While Saori had her advantages in a brawl, Hina could hold her own, especially against Tsurugi.

Yet, it was still lacking.

The blunt reality was Hina was simply too strong.

Where did that toughness come from in such a small frame? Each move left me in awe as she swung her machine gun like a club, pushing Saori back and smoothly transitioning to shoot Azusa out of the fight. Alone, Saori tried her utmost, but the results were painfully predictable.

In fact, I’d wager Hina is definitely stronger than I was back when I faced the Arius Squad. Saori and Azusa had improved since then, but against Hina, for the two of them, it was now an insurmountable wall.

The baton passed to Minene, who had crossed over the chains, but after unleashing an uninterrupted offensive on Gehenna, Hina had more than enough energy to take her on. Part of that was due to Haruna’s incredible defense against Hiyori’s sniper shots.

Tsurugi, who was expected to hold the line against Hina, was systematically reducing Gehenna’s numbers. She seemed cold enough in her strategy to leave the strongest to deal with Hina while maximizing the hurting of the opposing forces she’d already knocked out.

Boom! Bang!!

As the gap narrowed, grenades and flashbangs started whirling over the ships, plunging the battlefield deeper into confusion.

Thanks to Tsurugi’s exploits, many from Gehenna were rendered unable to fight, but considering the number of students Hina had taken out by now, the toll was thinning to near equality.

As the end of the match drew near, fewer and fewer stood on either side. Hiyori and Hasumi were desperately trying to take out another one while Haruna, having securely suppressed hers, suddenly challenged Minene from the back, squeezing the balance completely.

Wow, it really looks like it could go either way! Gehenna started off strong, but now it seems Trinity has pushed a counterattack that floated the rhetoric of potentially shifting tides!

While the commentator flailed excitedly, I quickly checked our remaining forces on the deck. I could see our kids starting to pull themselves together, and if there had just been a few more minutes, our victory would have been a sure thing…

And there you have it! The match has come to an end! Survival counts will decide the winner! The final victors of this summer festival’s naval mock battle are—

…Regrettably, time was not on our side.