Chapter 48: Sealing Without the Sealing Staff
After Yukino left, Kazama held the Sealing Staff and prepared to seal The Change card.
"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before me. Under our contract, I, Kazama, command you—release!"
Kazama recited that cringeworthy incantation as usual.
However, the air remained quiet.
Really quiet.
Aside from a few cicada chirps from outside the window, no magical effects occurred.
The key in his hand was still just an ordinary key—it didn't glow, didn't grow larger, and didn't even bother giving him a flash effect.
"Uh... maybe the pose is wrong?"
Kazama tried a different pose, even imitating Sakura from the anime by spinning in a circle.
Of course, he regretted it immediately because the feeling of his skirt lifting made him feel like a pervert.
"Reveal your true power—transform!"
Still no reaction.
This staff was now like a phone without internet—completely useless scrap metal.
"What's going on?"
Kazama finally gave up on these embarrassing attempts and turned to look at Kerberos, who had been floating in the air as an audience member.
"Is this thing out of battery?"
"Well..."
Kerberos, who had been floating nearby hesitating to speak, finally opened its mouth. That fluffy face showed a complex expression mixing embarrassment and guilt.
"Kazama, there's something I... might have forgotten to mention earlier."
"What?"
"That Sealing Staff has biometric recognition."
Kerberos shrank back, trying to maintain a safe distance.
"It's an exclusive magical tool created by Clow Reed. When you were initially set as the master, it was bound to the biological entity 'Kazama Chiba.' Now, although your soul is Kazama's, this body belongs to Yukinoshita Yukino, so you can't use it."
Kazama's mouth twitched.
"Why didn't you mention this critical detail earlier? You didn't say anything when Yukino was here, and now that she's gone you tell me? Are you deliberately causing trouble?"
"I forgot too! Besides, the scene was so chaotic just now—I didn't react in time!"
Kerberos defended itself righteously.
"And who knew you'd create this soul-swap bug! Normal magic users might not encounter this situation once in centuries!"
"Fine. Then tell me—now that this thing doesn't work, how am I supposed to seal this card?"
Kazama weighed that useless staff in his hand, his eyes already assessing the stuffed lion's resistance to blunt force.
Kerberos immediately remedied the situation, afraid that being even a second slow would result in physical transcendence.
"It's not completely hopeless! You just need to find your real body—that is, the current Miss Yukinoshita—then hold her hand! You can activate the sealing technique that way."
"Like hell I believe you."
Kazama almost threw the key in his hand at the stupid lion's face.
These things could have been said when Yukino was here—it would have been easy to explain then.
Now she's already walked two miles away, and you're telling me this thing needs biometric unlocking?
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Kazama approached Kerberos step by step, that originally cool and elegant face now written all over with "I want to strangle you."
"You think that because I've turned into a girl, hitting people won't hurt anymore?"
"Calm down! Calm down, Kazama!"
Kerberos fled frantically through the hallway, trying to cover its guilt with a louder voice while escaping.
"There's nothing I can do about it! We've never encountered this situation before! Besides, I just remembered an even more serious problem!"
There's more?!
Kazama watched as Kerberos suddenly stopped and raised its stubby paw with a serious expression.
"Since the body changed, theoretically those Clow Cards in your pocket shouldn't work either! Because they also recognize their master!"
"Wha... what?"
Kazama froze.
If that was true, this was a big problem.
The Sealing Staff not working was one thing, but if the cards couldn't be used either, his current combat ability was basically zero.
If he encountered any emergencies, would he have to rely on Yukino's frame to play women's self-defense?
He skeptically pulled out a few cards from his pocket.
Wind, Shadow, Thunder.
"Windy!"
Kazama called out tentatively.
Whoosh—
A gentle breeze instantly swept through the hallway, blowing Yukino's black hair. Though weaker than usual, that familiar responsive feeling was genuine.
He tried Thunder card next.
Although he didn't summon it fully, the tingling electrical current in his palm proved that the temperamental tiger still obeyed him.
"They work fine."
Kazama raised an eyebrow, looking at Kerberos like it was an idiot.
"Your intelligence isn't very reliable either. Aren't they very obedient?"
"Huh?! That's impossible!"
Kerberos flew over like it had seen a ghost and snatched the cards from Kazama's hand, examining them repeatedly.
"The magic source clearly changed—why can they still be activated? This isn't scientific... wait, hold on!"
Its gaze finally fixed on the bottom of the cards.
There was a blank area originally meant for signing the master's name.
Now, that area was still completely blank—so clean it didn't even have an ink dot.
"Ah! I understand!"
Kerberos slapped its thigh hard.
"These cards don't have names written on them at all!"
Kerberos raised its head and looked at Kazama in shock.
"You've subdued so many cards and haven't signed a single name?! According to the rules, unsigned cards are 'unclaimed property'! Like unlocked shared bicycles on the street—theoretically they belong to Clow Reed, but practically whoever scans the code can ride!"
"..."
Kazama felt his blood pressure rising.
"When did you ever tell me I needed to write my name?"
He grabbed Kerberos by the wing and held it up to his face, those pretty eyes full of murderous intent.
"You didn't say anything the first time with Windy card. You didn't say anything when capturing Shadow card. You didn't say anything yesterday when fighting the Thunder beast either. So you waited until now to remember there's a 'real-name authentication' process?"
"I... I might have forgotten..."
Kerberos scratched its head awkwardly, eyes wandering.
"The situation was urgent then, and I wasn't thinking that much. Besides, you can still sign now!"
Kerberos quickly produced a pen and handed it over.
"Quick! Sign now while you can! Otherwise this unclaimed state is very dangerous!"
"Screw off."
Kazama snatched the cards back and decisively rejected the proposal.
"Sign what! If I sign now, won't I be unable to use them?"
Thinking of this, Kazama's anger subsided somewhat.
Although this toy was unreliable, at least the result was good.
The unsigned Clow Cards were actually beneficial for him now.
Precisely because they weren't bound to him, even though he'd changed bodies, he could still use them. A blessing in disguise.
Kazama stuffed the cards back in his pocket.
Seeing his anger had diminished, Kerberos cautiously continued:
"You need to be careful using Clow Cards recently, because there's still a hidden danger. Since they're unsigned, these cards are actually in a state where they can leave whenever they want, just like at the beginning."
Kazama was puzzled. "Then why didn't they run after I captured them before?"
Kerberos explained: "They didn't run before because you defeated them fair and square, so they acknowledged Kazama Chiba as their master in their hearts."
"But now you've become Yukino, and your intimidation factor has greatly decreased. These cards might rebel and run away—especially temperamental ones like 'Thunder.'"
"..."
Kazama looked at his fist.
Pink, slender, without calluses.
Indeed, not very persuasive for keeping Clow Cards around.
"Fine. Bunch of bullies who fear the strong and prey on the weak."
He sighed and accepted this terrible setting.
"So the priority is to solve this trouble on the ground first. I need to find Yukino, then seal The Change card."
Just as Kazama and Kerberos were discussing, the lizard that had been playing dead suddenly moved.
Kerberos's sharp eyes immediately screamed: "No good! The Change card is waking up!"
Kazama looked down.
The blue lizard lying there was now slowly stirring.
Kerberos panicked slightly.
"What do we do, Kazama! You don't have the Sealing Staff now—you can't catch it!"
At this distance, in this narrow hallway, once this lizard with extreme speed mobility started running, even Usain Bolt couldn't catch it.
And once it escaped, Kazama and Yukino would truly be stuck in the wrong bodies forever.
However, Kazama remained unusually calm.
"Why panic?"
His gaze swept across the corner of the hallway where miscellaneous items were piled.
There were a few broken chairs and some uncleaned mops.
And a broken mop handle.
Probably left there by a janitor who thought it was too old—it still had some dust on it, was about as thick as a wrist, the right length, and felt solid.
Kazama walked over and weighed it in his hand.
Although this body's strength was inferior to the original, the stick's material was very sturdy. Combined with leverage, it still had destructive power.
"What are you doing?"
Kerberos looked at the girl in a short skirt holding a wooden stick and swallowed.
"Can that thing seal The Change card?"
"Isn't this the same as using the Sealing Staff to seal it?"
The corner of Kazama's mouth curved into a smile.
"Just watch."
Before the words finished—just as The Change card woke up and opened its eyes—it saw a large yellow rod coming at it with a whistling wind.
"CRACK!"
A teeth-grinding dull thud.
From an outsider's perspective, that mop handle solidly smashed into the lizard's skull, sending wood chips flying.
This lizard was indeed tough though.
Taking two hits without even grunting, its limbs spread out and its eyes rolled back white.
The whole beast fainted again—motionless and completely peaceful.
Actually, The Change card had already fainted from the first hit, but out of cautious follow-up habits, Kazama added another hit just to be safe.
"Done."
Kazama performed a fancy stick-twirl and shouldered the mop handle.
Although this action performed by Yukino was jarringly incongruous, the coolness was genuine.
"See?"
Only after confirming that this unfortunate magical creature had completely fainted—even its tongue was sticking out—did Kazama toss the stick, dust off his hands, and look calmly at the dumbfounded Kerberos.
"Although the result is a bit different, the process is similar. As long as it can't move, it's sealed."
"..."
Kerberos floated in the air with its mouth wide open—that expression could probably become a meme passed down for generations.
It looked at the poor magical creature on the ground with a huge bump on its head, then at the "girl" who struck harder than the yakuza.
"Too... too brutal..."
Kerberos held it in for a long time and only managed to spit out those words.
Was this really the successor chosen by Clow Reed?
Are you sure it's not some Street Fighter reincarnation?
If Clow Reed knew his cards were being treated this way, he'd probably get so angry he'd come back to life from his coffin.
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