A supporting character in a romance anime? I became a god using a rat talisman.

Faced with Yui's question, Yukino remained calm and introduced the sword, saying, "This sword is called Darkweave Cloth, and it is the exclusive sword of the Dark Demon Armor."

Hikigaya stood aside, completely unable to comprehend the scene before him.

In this real physical world without rainbow space, how did the other party directly materialize the monster's exclusive weapon?

This is completely contrary to the common sense he had gained from previous battles.

"I can now directly borrow the abilities of some monsters," Yukino explained calmly, noticing his confusion.

These words immediately shocked Yui and made her a little jealous. She couldn't help but complain under her breath, "How cunning... Why can't I use Xiao Lei's signature superhuman strength? Otherwise, moving things would be so much easier."

While Yui was still focused on the question of who the strange superpower belonged to, the astute Hachiman Hikigaya noticed a fatal blind spot in this seemingly casual conversation.

"Wait, Yukinoshita. We agreed that we were just taking out the cards for inventory, what are you doing drawing your weapon?"

Yui had barely reacted, and before she could even turn around to echo Hachiman's question, the scene before her suddenly blurred.

However, Yukino, who was prepared, suddenly sharpened her eyes and dropped all her pretense.

She gave the two men no time to react or prepare, stepping sideways and swinging the heavy hilt of the dark-patterned sword.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two muffled thuds.

With lightning speed, Yukino slammed the hilt of her sword into the sides of their necks with precision and decisiveness. Caught completely off guard, Hachiman and Yui didn't even have time to utter a sound before collapsing limply onto the wooden floor of the activity room, instantly losing consciousness.

The activity room fell silent again.

Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her eyes, looked at the two people who had fainted on the ground, and expressionlessly picked up the cards scattered all over the ground.

The last card was safely put into the school uniform pocket.

Yukino stood up and gently patted off non-existent dust from her skirt.

She gripped the Mefilas alien card tightly and took a deep breath.

Now, she has mastered all the cards.

Next, we will face that—the Dark Ruler.

Chapter 281 The Black Hand?!

Yukino stood in front of the long table, gathered all the monster cards and Clow Cards she had looted from the two of them into a pile, and neatly stacked them on the table.

She lowered her gaze, looking at the culprits who had triggered one life-or-death battle after another, and secretly pondered her next plan.

All cardholder information has been obtained, and the cards have been collected.

But what happens next? Where exactly is the "Dark Ruler" who has been operating behind the scenes?

How can she possibly see it? Yukino still has no idea.

"crunch-"

Just as Yukino was pondering

The door to the activity room was pushed open without warning.

Yukino quickly turned around.

Kazama Chiba walked in, wearing the most ordinary Sakigawa High School uniform.

His gaze fell on Hachiman Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama, who were lying haphazardly on the floor, and he paused for a moment.

"What happened? Did I miss something amazing?"

"It's nothing." Yukino said expressionlessly, her tone indifferent. "We were just having a high-intensity club performance practice. Those two were too weak and passed out from exhaustion."

This is a flawed and utterly terrible excuse.

Normally, Hachiman would have gotten up and started ranting and raving.

But Qianyu simply responded with an "oh," showing no intention of delving deeper.

"I see. It looks like your Service Club is going to win the grand prize at this year's school festival."

He didn't go over to check the two people's breathing, nor did he show even the slightest hint of suspicion, as if the presence of two unconscious classmates lying on the activity room floor was just a normal part of campus life.

The more unsuspecting he appeared, the more wary Yukino became.

She looked at Qianyu, her voice somewhat cold and hard:

"It's club time now, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, I just left something on the table and came back to get it."

Qianyu made up an excuse on the spot, and walked straight toward the long table as she spoke.

As he walked to the table, his gaze was naturally drawn to the neatly stacked pile of monster cards and Clow Cards.

"What is this? Is it a new card game similar to Yu-Gi-Oh!? It looks quite exquisite."

"They're just some rehearsal props," Yukino replied, going along with the conversation.

"Speaking of which, there's a character card of yours in this set of props. It's the one at the very bottom, would you like to take a look?"

"Oh? And my card? Then I'll have to take a good look at it." Chiyu seemed to be really interested, and with a slight smile, she leaned down, completely exposing her back to Yukino without any defenses.

Just as Chiba bent down, Yukino behind her flipped her wrist, and the dark patterned cloth was instantly raised high.

She aimed at Qianyu's unsuspecting nape, attempting to use the same trick to knock him unconscious with one blow.

The heavy whistling sound of wind breaking echoed in the cramped activity room.

However, just a second before the dark patterned cloth was about to fall, Qianyu let out a soft laugh.

He didn't even turn around or make any move to dodge; he just kept leaning over to look at the cards and spoke in a playful tone.

"Actually, I don't need to see it at all."

"Because I didn't print my own selfie on these cards when they were made, there's no way I could be in them."

These teasing words exploded in Yukino's ears like a bolt from the blue.

Yukino, who was holding up the dark patterned cloth, froze on the spot. Her brain felt like it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer, and she was completely unable to process the information-packed statement.

To manufacture these cards?

What does he mean?

Before she could even figure out the logic behind it, Qianyu had already turned around leisurely.

"And you, Yukinoshita, actually dare to use my power to attack me?"

As Chiba finished speaking, Yukino suddenly felt the weight in her palm disappear.

The dark-patterned cloth instantly transformed into countless particles of light before her eyes, completely dissipating into the air as if it had never existed.

Yukino stared blankly at her empty hands.

A tremendous, almost drowning fear and disbelief instantly overwhelmed her.

She took half a step back, her back hitting the edge of the blackboard.

Yukino finally realized what she was facing.

No further explanation is needed; that instantaneous act of stripping the weapon of its control already revealed a despairing truth.

The person in front of me who had always acted like an outsider was actually the legendary Dark Ruler who hid in the shadows and controlled everything!

Chiba ignored Yukino's pale face.

He casually tossed the cards onto the table, and the Clow Cards, which had been lying quietly, immediately seemed to be summoned by some powerful force, transforming into streams of light that flew straight into his hand.

Qianyu skillfully shuffled the cards into a stack, clarifying:

"I have never given myself any such ridiculously melodramatic title as 'Dark Ruler.' That's just a nickname that the Mefilas alien, that drama queen with a brain full of mush, made up himself. It has absolutely nothing to do with me."

But at this moment, Yukino didn't care about such details and entanglements regarding titles.

Intense regret gnawed at her heart like a venomous snake. She stared at Qianyu's calm and gentle face, the guilt almost tearing her apart.

She should have realized it sooner!

She recalled the strange powers that Qianyu had previously displayed, and his unusual actions that defied all reason.

Despite having so many clues, he ignored them all and even naively believed that he could protect this ordinary world by stealing everyone's cards.

Driven by despair, Yukino's voice rose in anger.

"Why……"

"Why did you do this?! Why did you orchestrate this... brutal battle that will destroy the world?!"

Qianyu stopped shuffling the cards.

"Don't make me sound like some kind of world-destroying demon king, Yukino."

"There aren't that many complicated reasons. I went through all this trouble and made things like this, just to collect these cards."

This answer completely devastated Yukino.

To collect all the cards?

Just for such an absurd reason?!

"Are you crazy?!" Yukino could no longer maintain her composure, she shouted almost in despair, "Just for a bunch of cards... you're going to drag the whole world down with you?!"

"Excuse me."

Qianyu raised a finger, correcting her statement:

"I admit that I started the fighting game industry. But I absolutely refuse to take the blame for destroying the world."

"I'm just a referee who follows the rules of the game. Don't pin all sorts of random accusations on me."

Upon hearing this, Yukino pressed on relentlessly, her anger nearly overwhelming her reason.

"If it wasn't you, then who could it be! If you hadn't spread these monsters, how could the world have become such a wretched place? And who is pushing this world toward destruction!"

"Does it really matter who did it?" Qianyu retorted.

"How can it not matter!" Yukino's voice trembled slightly as she revealed the immense fear hidden deep within her heart.

“If the world is destroyed, everyone will die! Everything I cherish... everything I know, those everyday moments, and everyone... will all vanish!”