Broken

With the match now in Japan's column, all eyes turned towards Mimoko's match. Leading up to Iori's and Azenira's victories, Hannelore had moved her pawn to b4, throwing Mimoko for a loop as she tried to make sense of it. She eventually settled on moving her pawn to a4, but Hannelore shocked her yet again, this time by moving her pawn to b4.

"What is she trying to do? Sure this is playable, but what does she see that I don't?" Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to b5.

Hannelore responded by moving her knight to a6, prompting Mimoko to draw first blood in the game by capturing the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn. Hannelore responded in kind by capturing said pawn with her knight, but it was then that Mimoko made a slight misstep and moved her queen to e2 instead of moving her knight to f3. Now Hannelore had a chance, and based on the fact that she had gone into seemingly a deep think, it looked as though she wouldn't be making a split-second blunder like back at Lagoon pathways.

And that was where things stood as of the moment. The other Prussian women were all too shellshocked by their own losses to pay heed, but even if they did, it would only worsen their stress levels. Though none of the nearby spectators were more stressed at the situation than Kuon.

"Why... WHY THE HELL IS SHE PLAYING HER!?" I told them not to... I TOLD THEM NOT TO! Draw the match... DRAW THE MATCH, DAMMIT!" she frantically thought as Hannelore finally extended her hand to move her bishop to e6.

Now came the moment Mimoko moved her knight to f3, but whether it was too late or not, remained to be seen. Hannelore sat motionless once more. The blank stare in her eyes offering no indication of whether she was truly thinking or just staring mindlessly off into space. A few minutes later, her hand moved, and she moved her queen to f5.

"Yes! She's got her queen out in the foray! Why was I worried!? She's gonna beat that punk! That no-good twintailed PUNK!" Kuon thought as a demented smile spread across her face.

Mimoko was taken aback by what she had just witnessed. She stared at the board, blinked multiple times, and even got up to view the board from another angle just to make sure she was seeing things right before sitting back down and moving her pawn to g3. Hannelore didn't wait long this time, and moved her queen to e4 within a minute.

Now with a queen trade on the table, Mimoko accepted it and captured the queen at e4 with her queen, while Hannelore captured said queen with her knight. Mimoko then moved her knight to e5, as Hannelore decided to instigate another trade by moving her pawn to c3. Mimoko accepted this one as well, capturing the pawn at c3 with her b-pawn. Hannelore hit back by capturing said pawn with her b-pawn, leaving Mimoko speechless.

"Shousen-chan... My apologies, I'm not like Tanabe-kun. I can't read people, so I don't know exactly how you're thinking, if you are at all. All I can read and understand is the chessboard. If this is your cry for help, than I'll help you," she thought as she moved her bishop to d3.

Kuon struggled to control her breathing as she watched Hannelore move her knight to d6. "Material's even, control looks even too... She just can't lose. Win, draw, just don't lose! Only I can beat you. I'M your rival, your other, NONE MAY DARE INTRUDE BETWEEN OUR WAR!" she thought as she shot Mimoko a deranged deathglare while she castled king's side.

Mimoko turned and stared at Kuon as Hannelore moved her pawn to f6. Despite the monstrosity of bloodlust and fury on Kuon's face, Mimoko felt no terror from the sight, nor did she subconsciously tremble. Sadness and guilt was all she could feel.

"Nanya-chan... I'm sorry. You've wanted to be on this team with Shousen-chan, yet here we all are on three different teams. You used to look so pretty, now you've ruined your look with that hideous haircut and scowl. Maybe you knew about Shousen-chan's circumstances, which is why you were so desperate to make the team. My apologies for depriving you of your dream once more, but I'll be the one to save Shousen-chan," she thought as she captured the knight at d6 with her knight. "Check! Shousen-chan, I'm going to save you."

Hannelore showed no reaction as she captured the knight at d6 with her e-pawn.

"I see. Then I'll bring us closer to your salvation. Check," Mimoko stated as she moved her bishop to b5.

Once more, Hannelore showed no reaction or hint of emotion as she moved her king to d8.

"You're like a machine. Machines are good at chess, or rather they can be. Shousen-chan, Nanya-chan is furious just looking at what you've become. I don't know what happened to you, but once this is over, I hope you can return to how you once were. Check," Mimoko nodded as she clenched her fist and moved her knight to c6.

Hannelore continued to show no emotion as she moved her king to c7. Kuon on the other hand only got more agitated.

"Huh? Excuse me, but could you play back what she just spewed!? I'M furious at what Hagemi's become!? I'M FURIOUS AT WHAT YOU'VE BECOME, YOU VILE HEATHEN! And what was with those corny lines!? You're not hero! You're not going to..."

Kuon's thoughts trailed off as she watched Mimoko move her rook to a3. Time suddenly began to slow as a revelation suddenly hit her. Her eyes began to bulge, her breathing intensified, her jaw slowly began to drop, and a cold sweat began brewing on her skin. Hannelore Schroeder was going to lose.

"No... Hagemi, you're better than this... YOU'RE MY RIVAL! I didn't have your chess prowess dumbed down in the slightest, so why? WHY ARE YOU LOSING!? Force a draw, FORCE A DRAW!" she frantically thought as Hannelore moved her knight to b8.

After moving her knight to a5, Mimoko glanced over at Kuon and was mystified by her sudden change in attitude. However, she could deal with that later as Hannelore was picking up the pace and had already moved her king to b6.

"Check," she said as she moved her knight to c4.

This time, Hannelore twitched her head a bit from side to side, but still remained silent as she moved her king to b7.

"NO! Hagemi, what are you doing!?" Kuon frantically thought as Mimoko captured the pawn at c3 with her rook.

Her anxiety worsened as Hannelore moved her pawn to a6, allowing Mimoko to check her once more by moving her knight to a5. Hannelore now only had two possible moves, with one leading to a forced mate. She did manage to choose the correct move of king b6 to keep the game going, but Mimoko continued to apply pressure by moving her bishop to c4.

Hannelore moved her bishop to d7, but after Mimoko checked her again by moving her rook to b1, she finally cracked and captured the knight at a5 with her king, blundering into mate in 5.

Kuon's face went whiter than a ghost's as Mimoko saw it too and moved her bishop to d2. "HAGEMI! NO! THOSE FUCKING PRUSSIANS! THEY RUINED THIS! THEY RUINED THIS!" she thought as Hannelore moved her knight to c6, hastening her demise.

"Shousen-chan... You played decently, but far below what you're capable of. But clearly, you aren't yourself, so maybe, this is your way of trying to fight back. Don't worry, it won't be long now, and when you're back to normal, let's play a proper match between us. Check," Mimoko somberly nodded as she moved her rook to a3, forcing Hannelore to move her knight to b4.

Everyone stared in shock and silence as Mimoko captured the knight at b4 with her rook. The only one present showing no emotion at all was Hannelore, or rather Hagemi, herself. Even internally, she had no free will, nor lingering traces of her old personality. She truly was just a husk of her former self. She still retained her playstyle and prowess, but without her old personality and thought process, she would always be considered inferior to her base self. She was nothing more than a flesh and blood robot programmed to mimic her old playstyle, and as such, no emotions or reactions were shown when she made her final move of pawn to h5.

"SHousen-chan, good game. Checkmate," Mimoko sighed as she moved her rook to b5, winning the game.

Japan had now swept the German Empire of Prussia 4-0, extending their perfect win streak to 8 matches. However, celebration would be the last thing on everyone's minds after what was about to happen.

"Nya! I found Kuon-sama!" Nyoan happily thought as she skipped up to Kuon.

But her timing couldn't be worse. For as soon as Mimoko mated Hannelore, Hannelore shot up from her chair. This time, her eyes began to sink as the muscles on her face twitched.

"What's happening!? Is the spell broken!? The one who beat her said she'd return to normal once beaten, but it should only be if I beat her!" Kuon thought.

Then Hannelore began moving about sporadically in place as an elongated smile appeared on her face. "I... I... I, I, O, I, A, U, Y, Y, I EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ugh."

And to everyone's horror, blood burst forth from every pore on Hannelore's face as her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground twitching. No one knew it at the time, but thanks to Skaberghast erasing Yuusuke from existence, Hannelore, or rather Hagemi, had malfunctioned and was now in a permanently broken physical and mental state.

Kuon's heart thumped rapidly as she stared at Hagemi.

"Kuon-sama! I've been searching for you, nya-"

SMASH!

Everyone's eyes instantly shifted over to Kuon as she slugged Nyoan, who was currently disguised as Minoo, on the face, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"You bitch... YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU BROKE MY HAGEMI!" Kuon furiously shouted directly at Mimoko.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2809) Black: Hannelore Schroeder (Hagemi Shousen) (2808)

1. d4 d5

2. Bf4 Nf6

3. e3 c5

4. Nc3 c4

5. e4 b5

6. a4 b4

7. Nb5 Na6

8. exd5 Qxd5

9. Qe2 Be6

10. Nf3 Qf5

11. g3 Qe4

12. Qxe4 Nxe4

13. Ne5 c3

14. bxc3 bxc3

15. Bd3 Nd6

16. O-O f6

17. Nxd6+ exd6

18. Bb5+ Kd8

19. Nc6+ Kc7

20. Ra3 Nb8

21. Na5 Kb6

22. Nc4+ Kb7

23. Rxc3 a6

24. Na5+ Kb6

25. Bc4 Bd7

26. Rb1+ Kxa5

27. Bd2 Nc6

28. Ra3+ Nb4

29. Rxb4 h5

30. Rb5#

Match score:

Japan: 4 German Empire of Prussia: 0

Japan wins 4-0