"To think Burn would actually be defeated... He proved even more useless than I imagined."
In the midst of the swirling chaos of the battlefield, Dogma grumbled to herself as she oversaw her forces. Even though Marcos's victory had bolstered the morale of Hugo’s side and put her own troops on the defensive, she remained perfectly composed.
"Sigh... it can't be helped, I suppose. I’m not particularly fond of the idea, but shall we proceed with killing the hostages?"
She sighed softly, deciding to initiate a massacre with the same casualness one might use when mentioning a quick trip to the grocery store. However, magic spells and arrows streaked past her the moment the words left her lips.
"Like we'd let you! Neither you nor Hypno are going anywhere!"
"You can't issue a suicide command to all those hypnotized students while you're standing right here! Am I right!?"
Both Dogma and Hypno were present on the front lines. Based on their prior deductions, Jinba and the others believed that Hypno would need the assistance of a specific magic item to issue orders to such a large number of students simultaneously.
They were certain that as long as they kept the two of them pinned down here, Dogma wouldn't be able to carry out her threat. As they stood their ground, Dogma began to clap her hands slowly.
"Yes, quite right. Indeed, to issue a command to such a massive crowd, a specialized magic item is required. It is impossible to do so from this position... However—"
While affirming Jinba’s logic, she added one final, chilling remark. Wearing a profound and wicked smile, Dogma posed a question to the enemies glaring at her.
"I wonder... what makes you so certain the man standing beside me is actually Hypno?"
"What!?"
As if her words were a signal, the form of the man standing next to her shifted. Everyone watched in shock as the figure they believed to be Hypno transformed into someone else—an ordinary student of Luminous Academy.
"They tricked us...! Hypno was never here to begin with! That was just another person using a magic item to pose as him!"
"Precisely. Now you understand why I haven't lost my composure, don't you?"
Now that they thought about it, the person beside Dogma hadn't uttered a single word from the moment they had first crossed paths. He had never been here at all; he had positioned himself elsewhere so that he could take the lives of the hypnotized students at a moment's notice upon Dogma’s instruction. Realizing this, Jinba’s face drained of all color.
"Where is he!? Where is the real Hypno!?"
"As if I would tell you. Since Burn suffered such a fate earlier because he underestimated his opponents, I intend to carry out this operation without further distraction."
Dogma grinned, clearly savoring the sight of Jinba’s frantic expression. He was likely somewhere within the academy grounds, but the group had neither the means to pinpoint his coordinates nor the time to search. As their anxiety reached its peak, Dogma heartlessly issued her order to the distant Hypno.
"Hypno, an order. Issue the suicide instruction to those under your spell. Let us make Hugo Clay and the others realize that no matter how much they struggle, there are no lives that can be saved. Let us wake them from their sweet dreams."
"Damn it...! Everyone, do whatever it takes to restrain the students! Don't let them kill themselves!"
Desperation etched on his face, Jinba ordered his companions to physically incapacitate the students. Marcos also poured magic power into his Grace Lance, attempting to prevent the suicides by freezing his comrades and putting them into a state of apparent death. Yet, it was impossible to immobilize every single person. There were countless students out of reach, or whom they simply couldn't handle in time.
Yugo was also frantically holding down several students, trying to keep them from moving, when he suddenly looked around and noticed something odd.
"Wait... No one's doing anything."
Considerable time had passed since Dogma gave the order, yet not a single student showed any sign of trying to end their own life. Yugo’s doubt was justified; even Dogma was beginning to feel a flicker of irritation at the lack of movement.
"Hypno? What are you doing? Issue the command immediately."
"I am aware, Dogma... Please, wait a moment."
"What is the meaning of this? Has something happened?"
Hypno was not the type of man to fumble such a simple task. For him to ask her to wait meant that some kind of unforeseen accident had occurred. To Dogma’s questioning look, Hypno’s voice crackled through the communication line.
"It is nothing of consequence. A single mouse has simply managed to sneak in."