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"Everyone, take your positions and prepare yourselves!"
The referee stepped forward, positioning herself squarely between the two combatants, issuing instructions to both simultaneously.
She was a strikingly handsome woman with her black hair tied up neatly, dressed in a sharp suit that exuded efficiency and strength.
"Is the Director herself acting as the referee?"
Whispers of surprise rippled through the crowd.
Shinguuji Kurono shrugged nonchalantly.
She hadn't planned to attend, but she couldn't refuse a personal request from a close friend. Thus, she took on the role of referee for this match.
She understood Saikyou Nene's intention perfectly— it was to use her time-stopping ability to intervene swiftly if Ryoji found himself in a desperate situation, something an ordinary teacher couldn't manage as effectively.
In the arena, Ryoji and Totokubara Kanata stood about twenty meters apart.
Under Shinguuji Kurono's direction, Ryoji silently extended his hand. In a flash of light, the shimmering silver blade materialized in his grasp.
"Follow me, Francesca." Totokubara Kanata parted her cherry lips softly, chanting an incantation.
Amidst a surge of magical energy, like twinkling stars, a rapier appeared out of thin air. Its blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, light and translucent, resembling a delicate glass sculpture.
This was Totokubara Kanata's inherent Device, 〈Francesca〉, a quintessential Western-style rapier.
She held the sword in her right hand, leveling it horizontally in front of her chest.
Then, she extended her left hand to rest on the blade— and slowly pressed it inward.
But the rapier's blade was too fragile; before it could pierce Kanata's palm, it shattered into countless starlike fragments, dispersing into the surrounding air, flickering uncertainly.
This was the combat stance of 〈Scharlach Frau〉.
Shinguuji Kurono watched as Totokubara Kanata shattered the rapier, her eyes narrowing in alertness. Detecting no foul play, she remained silent and raised her hand.
Then, she swung it down sharply—
"——Begin the match!"
At that moment.
Ryoji stepped forward abruptly, leveling Vrring in his hand, his entire being focused into a single point. His dark eyes burned with a heroic determination to face death head-on.
"Lightning Flint? Using it right at the start?"
Shinguuji Kurono retreated to the edge of the arena, her gaze fixed on the two combatants, her surprise evident.
She had personally experienced this move before.
The sudden burst of divine speed was nearly impossible to guard against, making it a formidable opening strike. Without prior knowledge of his ability, one could easily be defeated in a single blow.
The only counter was to evade immediately upon seeing him assume the stance before he could activate his ability, to avoid being targeted.
Back then, having failed to discern his special ability, she had attempted to confront it head-on and ended up squarely defeated— a rather embarrassing memory.
"Because he knows the opponent's ability counters his own, he plans to start with a quick attack, but—"
Shinguuji Kurono shook her head subtly.
This move wouldn't work.
This distance would do!
As Ryoji set up his stance, his intuition signaled to him.
People's reaction abilities varied, and Ryoji relied on his intuition to judge the optimal distance for Lightning Flint.
In his battle with Shinguuji Kurono, he had determined that he needed to release the move within five meters. But against Totokubara Kanata, he felt that even twenty meters would suffice.
Totokubara Kanata wasn't a physical-type knight; her strength lay overwhelmingly in her Blazer ability, and her reaction speed wasn't honed to the same degree as Shinguuji Kurono's.
Just as Ryoji had anticipated, when he assumed the Lightning Flint stance, Kanata hadn't even reacted to the match's start.
This single strike could decide the match!
Ryoji gathered all his power, letting his magical energy surge from within, intending to end the match with Lightning Flint right from the start.
But just as he was about to unleash the move—
"Buzzz——!"
His intuition suddenly issued a fierce warning!
He would die!
He would definitely die!
If he charged forward like this, there was absolutely no way he could survive!
His step came to an abrupt halt, as if he had slammed on the brakes, and the raised sword froze mid-air, unable to advance further.
Ryoji instinctively sensed the looming threat of death and forcibly halted Lightning Flint, freezing in place with his sword raised.
"A wise decision."
Shinguuji Kurono secretly breathed a sigh of relief and dismissed her Device, Propator.
If Ryoji had unleashed Lightning Flint, the best outcome would have been mutual destruction.
Totokubara Kanata would have been obliterated by the supersonic strike, but Ryoji would also have been reduced to a bloody mist, leaving no trace behind.
Had he gone through with it, Shinguuji Kurono would have had to intervene prematurely to end the match.
What a troublesome kid.
"...You looked like you were about to do something. Why didn't you continue?" Totokubara Kanata only reacted now.
Though she was a beat late, there wasn't a trace of panic in her expression. Instead, she remained eerily calm, her tone now much more stern, a stark contrast to her usual elegance.
She had already entered a combat stance; her experience in direct confrontations with terrorists made her reactions in a match far superior to those of a typical Student Knight.
"If you're not planning to act, then I'll make the first move."
She spoke with composure.
But after saying this, she did nothing.
She neither reformed her rapier, Francesca, nor assumed an attacking stance. She simply stood there with her parasol still in hand, exuding elegance.
But suddenly.
"Tap!"
Ryoji felt a chill run down his spine.
As if a life-threatening specter loomed before him, his instincts screamed at him to react. He leaped back violently, driven by sheer survival instinct.
Only after putting more than thirty meters between them did the sense of crisis slowly dissipate, allowing him to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
But his mental state grew even more tense.
"...You're quite sharp."
Totokubara Kanata paused briefly, somewhat surprised that Ryoji had dodged her previous attack.
"If you hadn't dodged in time just now, you should have already lost."
It was imperceptible.
Completely untraceable.
Even Ryoji's eyes couldn't capture the trajectory of her attack; he had relied solely on his intuition to narrowly avoid defeat.
"However, even if you dodged the first strike, your situation hasn't improved in the slightest."
Totokubara Kanata stepped forward gracefully, moving toward the center of the arena.
"Haven't you said it before? That you would never compromise with fate without a fight. So, let me see—whether you can escape the grasp of my fate."
She likened herself to fate, treating Ryoji as a puppet in her palm as if she could manipulate him at will.
At that moment.
Ryoji seemed to see a vast sea of blood emanating from Totokubara Kanata's body, carrying an overwhelming scent of blood, rushing toward him.
This was the aura Totokubara Kanata had trained as a knight, mixed with an unconscious killing intent, as if her hands were already stained with countless lives.
This was Blazer Knight Totokubara Kanata.
This was precisely——〈Scharlach Frau〉!
(End of Chapter)