Kira, Nanase and Akane placed their tiles against the panel to the right side of the door to Sub-arena 5 while the boys’ leader did the same on the left. After rotating their tiles, the girls’ panel showed three large ‘80%’ texts above where their tiles touched and the door opened.

Kira and the boys were familiar with the Arena and walked up to opposing positions on the platform while Nanase and Akane were looking about curiously. Kira beckoned them over and noticed Nanase was trembling slightly despite her determined face while Akane was nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“Nanase, there’s no need to be afraid. You’re stronger than you think. Your strength will really show when you work with others. Think of what you can do to help us. And Akane,”

Kira had spent time during Inscription class thinking about Nanase's techniques and came to the conclusion that they were far stronger in group battles than if she was fighting alone. Kira then turned to Akane and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“They have no expectations of you. Be like a shadow and strike when they least expect it. Nanase and I will try to create opportunities for you.”

Kira looked at them both seriously. What Kira had learned from Akane was that she was a single dagger-user with a few Skills that were more effective when used as sneak attacks. However, Kira had no clue as to how good her execution of her Skills were nor her level of battle sense.

“They’ll try to surround us and defeat us with their greater numbers. That’s the one thing we have to avoid at all costs. If we can take two of them out of the fight early, we’ll be on even ground. Just follow me.”

The pair nodded understandingly, their nervousness eased by the confidence in Kira’s voice. As she spoke, Kira consciously dropped her formality. In times like these, speaking directly was more important.

Meanwhile, the stands were beginning to fill up with not just the students from their Inscription class, but with first-years from their respective homerooms also. The lively crowd bustled cheerfully, some even calling out their names. By then, everyone had heard the story behind this duel of lopsided numbers, of the noble girl who stood up against other nobles for the sake of a commoner and of the commoner who saved her from serious injury. Duels happened every day in the Arena, but the only ones that could attract a crowd like this were those with a story behind them, such as this one.

“Are both sides ready and aware of the rules?”

A loud voice resounded through the small arena that came from the only other figure on the platform. As per the regulations, the red-clothed senior student on duty for that sub-arena would be the referee for the match. These students had to be of a certain calibre as they had the important job of deeming whether any attack is lethal or crippling and removing the competitor before the attack hit.

“Yes, senior.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Let’s stop wasting time already.”

“…”

“Right, then begin!”

Kira had to applaud her opponents. In the short space of time since they agreed to the rematch, the boys’ leader had already organised a formation and possibly some simple tactics. With him wielding his large sword as their vanguard, the two longer-ranged weapon users, the rapier- and spear user, at his sides and the two mobile dual-weapon wielders on the far edges ready to flank once their frontliners engaged. Their line formation was simple but solid as they charged forwards, spread out in order to try and encircle Kira's trio.

‘While his attitude is bad, his skills as a leader may become formidable one day.’

Kira praised inwardly while gesturing with her hands. Together, the three of them sprinted off to the side, attempting to flank their opponents. Seeing this, the boys’ leader tried to re-orientate their formation but they were simply too unfamiliar with each other to do it smoothly or effectively.

‘Too slow. Fine, I’ll stop them myself.’

He thought. Meanwhile, Kira’s trio had already arrived in front of the rapier- and dual sword pair. Kira singled them out because a rapier’s reach wasn’t as good as a spear and dual swords were noticeably slower than dual daggers.

Kira approached the rapier-user with her sword sheathed, her Takanashi Principle of Masking in full effect. He saw Kira approaching but she didn’t give off any presence, as if she was a phantom. Cautiously, he blocked when Kira attacked but her sword went right through his and her image faded away.

“What in the…”

In his moment of surprise, a blur of blue flashed towards him, but the timing was a bit off, giving him a chance to quickly retract his wrists, avoiding the attempt at snaring them, when a voice sounded behind him.

“It’s okay. Try again.”

‘Do you think this is a training exercise?’

He thought, indignantly, whirling around to face the source of the voice when a sharp clang of metal made him relax. The dual sword-user had arrived to block Kira’s attack and the pair were now back-to-back, facing their two assailants.

‘Wait, two?’

Although their individual skill was respectable for their age, having been admitted into the Bladeworks Academy, they were both used to fighting alone in one-on-one duels. Having to account for multiple people wasn’t something that had become a habit yet. By the time they noticed Akane above them, it was already too late. With a flicker of red and a flash of steel, the dual sword-user suddenly found himself landing hard on the ground outside the platform.

When the rapier-user had turned his head away from Nanase earlier, Akane, who was hiding behind her, had jumped up and, using Nanase’s shoulders as a springboard, soared high into the air, her physical strength showing off her level of Life Energy cultivation, before using her Weapon Skill.

The rapier-user was quick to react. Realising that he wasn’t the target, he withdrew his rapier to himself, ready to parry a possible follow-up attack before stabbing forwards, his pupils flashing gold as he released his Skill.

“Watch out!”

Akane’s eyes flickered to the side and saw the impending attack. Her eyes, which had narrowed, opened wide.

‘There’s…no time.’

A sharp yank on her waist interrupted her thoughts and she saw the piercing energy of the rapier Skill as it passed just next to her. She found herself standing beside Nanase, her royal-blue sash tied around her waist.

“Thanks…Bis Sis Nanase.”

“No need. My body, it just moved on its own.”

Nanase said hesitantly but with an eventual smile. However, their happiness was short-lived as they avoided a large sword that came crashing down between them. Akane retreated behind Nanase, taking up her same position as before. Facing them was the boys’ leader with his two other followers running to catch up.

“This doesn’t appear favourable.”

Nanase gulped but held her ground as the leader moved in for his next attack.

Meanwhile, when Nanase pulled Akane out of the way of the rapier-user’s attack, it had continued past where she was standing and headed straight for Kira, white light streaking through the air. Kira was fairly certain it was an energy-based attack but she didn’t take any chances, slipping to the side as it sped past her. Soon, the white light vanished, leaving behind the glint of metal. Kira stared at the unbelievably long sword next to her which was quickly beginning to retract. Not hesitating any further, she ran forward, cycling her Twin Energies for a Skill she hadn’t used in a long time.

As the distance between Kira and himself rapidly closed, the rapier-user realised that he wouldn’t be able to fully retract his weapon fast enough and jumped backward while clumsily swinging the elongated weapon towards Kira.

Kira ducked under the blade and, just as the rapier-user raised his now-normal-sized weapon to block, Kira spun her body 360 degrees and slashed upwards, releasing her Skill.

‘Rising Air Current.’

Unlike years ago, when she’d used the wind generated by the Skill alone to get through her cousin’s block, now she used it in combination with the upward slash against the rapier-user's guard to increase the force of her attack as well as use the wind to make it difficult for him to return his arms to a suitable defending position. Sliding back quickly, Kira readied her Quintessence once again before stabbing forward, a slight chill filling the air as a ghostly apparition of her katana extended from the blade's tip towards the rapier-user’s heart.

‘Phantom Pierce.’

The apparition hit nothing as the referee timeously removed the rapier-user from the battlefield. Kira didn’t waste time and quickly turned to check on her comrades.

Facing the leader again, Nanase couldn’t help but tremble. This was the first and only person she’d ever felt powerless against.

“Big Sis…we can do this…Fight back.”

Akane whispered into her ear. Normally shy, Akane had started believing in herself and her friends after managing to take out the dual sword-user. Her attempts at motivating Nanase weren't for simple encouragement. After dodging the first attack, Nanase had been completely on the defensive, not even daring to try binding him, her memory of her ineffective attempt the previous day still fresh in her mind and clouding her judgment.

Her current thoughts went along the lines of,

‘As long as I can stall long enough, Classmate Kira will come save us.’

If Kira had to hear these thoughts, she would have been frustrated. After all, her goal, apart from winning, was to re-establish Nanase’s confidence.

“If Big Sis Nanase won’t do anything…then I will.”

“Wait!”

But it was too late to stop her and Nanase could only stare helplessly as Akane ran towards their leader.

“Oh, is the street rat ready to get stepped on?”

He mocked, secretly relieved that they’d stopped running. Now his remaining allies would have the chance to catch up and surround them.

‘That sword…is actually really big.’

Akane thought as she realised how exposed she was. Her body trembled. She shook her head to clear it as her gaze hardened.

‘No, I…I have to do this…for Big Sis Nanase’s sake.’

Unfortunately, the leader took her head shake as a reply to his question.

“Oh? Then I’m going to crush you anyway!”

He yelled as his sword glowed a dull yellow while crashing down. Akane sidestepped the attack but what she didn’t expect was that it was a Skill. When the large sword hit the ground, it shook, causing her to lose her balance. The leader, however, didn’t seem to be affected by the tremors and neither did the floor as it simply let out an expanding ripple of blue light. With a growl, he swung his sword with great force, clearly intending to sweep the off-balance Akane off of the platform in one blow.

“Yaaaa!”

As his sword swept across, she disappeared from in front of him with an almost imperceptible flicker of blue.

“Haha, one rat down, one rat and one traitor to go.”

He was certain that his attack would have been considered serious to a girl of her size so he didn’t question her sudden disappearance, that is, until he felt something tighten around his neck and he looked up to see Nanase flying towards him, her expression as cold as death and her sky-blue eyes radiating killing intent. He tried to swing his weapon at her but she was at an awkward angle as she landed behind him and pulled hard on the sash, clearly intending to either break his neck, choke him, or flip him while trying.

Suddenly, the royal-blue material was sliced into two pieces. The spear-user standing a few metres away lowered his extended weapon, a wisp of steam rising from the tip, while the dual dagger-user rushed towards Nanase. As the leader was removing the scraps of material from around his neck and calming his breathing, he took up a position behind Nanase, facing her and cutting off that side as a path of escape. Finally, they had the advantage they’d been looking for!

The referee was astonished. He remembered things being fairly heated between some groups in his first year, but he’d never seen kids go at each other with such bloodlust. Even as a Bladeworks Academy student with much higher strength, he found that aspect of them frightening.

Kira, meanwhile, was concerned about Nanase’s situation. She’d warned them specifically about avoiding it but it still turned out this way. Soon, she was joined by another figure which hid behind her, maintaining a similar pace.

“I’m sorry…It’s my fault…that Big Sis Nanase is in such a bad spot.”

That’s right, Akane wasn’t disqualified yet. Nanase, sensing danger, had leapt into the air and pulled Akane out of the way of the leader’s attack before drawing all of his attention, allowing Akane to slip away.

“It’s fine. It’s a three versus three now, assuming we can get to Nanase in time.”

“Big Sis Kira I…have an idea…”

Akane whispered into Kira’s ear as they ran to Nanase’s aid. Kira eyes widened and then she nodded before focusing ahead.

Somewhat differently to before, all three of the remaining boys were trying to get in powerful blows at Nanase as they were aware that Kira would be arriving soon. Nanase was doing her best to avoid damage that would have her removed from the platform but every glancing blow made it harder to avoid the next one. Her weakness of having no Weapon Skills to overturn the situation was rearing its head at this point when she heard a familiar voice, one that heralded hope.

“To break an encirclement, you have to become part of it.”

Although she was tired, Nanase fixed these words in her mind. Of course, the boys also heard this and began to attack more desperately, realising that reinforcements were on the way. However, instead of moving reactively, Nanase was now actively going after the one person that she may be able to handle on her own, the spear-user. But, her choice also held another motive, to get closer to Kira’s voice.

While the spear user would have liked to retreat, he was keenly aware that Kira was somewhere behind him and decided to hold his ground instead. Nanase whipped out her sash, trying to catch his spear but, having seen her technique so many times, he nimbly moved back out of her range, before stabbing forward again, his pupils flashing gold as he twisted the spear.

An orange helix of energy enveloped the spear as he stabbed towards her which shot out before expanding to form a spiral wall between them, blocking her advance. Swinging his spear around him a few times, he moved to slam its haft into the centre of the spiral wall when…

A foot landed squarely at the back of his head sending him crashing headfirst into the energy wall and dispersing it. A figure with a head of orange hair and twintails landed softly on her feet.

“Big Sis…we’re here.”

Nanase ran to join up with Akane while the spear user rubbed his throbbing head, the feeling not helped by the wild cheers of the audience at Akane’s save. His two allies moved to group up with him while, on Nanase’s side, Kira did the same, her pink, glistening skin fading back to its normal colour as she breathed out a mouthful of steam.

Having reached the Muscle Tempering rank of Life Energy cultivation, Overdrive was also available to her as it had been to her brother when he’d faced the Oda Clan’s youths in the bamboo forest that day. While she’d made a point to learn it during her years of training, this was the first time she’d used it in battle. The feeling of physical power was exhilarating but the drain of using it was equally large. A few more seconds and she would have been completely exhausted.

With the boost to her strength, she’d used her arm as a springboard and physically thrown the light Akane, who’d also kicked off her arm, at the spear-user, preventing him from using the follow-up to his Skill.

Now that she’d arrived, Kira took up her position at the front of their trio while the boys’ leader did the same, glaring at them with hatred. Just when he thought they had an absolute lead, it had been ruined by a pair of commoners.

Not wasting any more time on words, Kira moved forward, Akane sticking close behind her this time while Nanase stayed a bit further back. On the boys’ side, the leader rushed forward to meet Kira, his skin beginning to turn rosy. The spear-user followed behind and to the side of him while the dual dagger wielder dashed off to the other side to try and flank Nanase. Their leader was too frustrated and focused on Kira to worry about his allies at this point.

As the two vanguards drew close to each other, Kira was already prepared and swung out her sheathed katana with her left hand, releasing her original Skill, while the boys’ leader gripped his sword tightly with two hands. A dull red glow covered the sword while steam rose from the surface of his body, revealing the he was using a Skill while in Overdrive.

“Careful!”

Nanase cried out right before the two sides clashed. To the boys’, Nanase’s and Akane’s astonishment, Kira didn’t appear to be losing out to his Skill in the slightest. Instead, as weapon and sheath collided, the boys' leader seemed to freeze for a moment while Kira drew her katana with her free hand and, with a quick body rotation, slashed towards his inner thigh. However, Kira’s One Leaf Splits the Wind wasn’t executed at the right time to interrupt his Skill, meaning that its stun duration was greatly reduced and he managed to move back in time while parrying her blade.

‘It seems that Overdrive isn’t something to be taken lightly.’

While Kira’s fight with the enemy leader intensified, the spear user wasn’t remaining idle. He took the chance while Kira was busy to flank her and look for an opportunity to catch her off-guard with a ranged Skill or, better yet, block off her escape with his Spiral Barrier as he’d done against Nanase earlier.

‘Right…now!’

As he drew back his spear in preparation, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and quickly turned and blocked the metal dagger that was flying towards his face. It soared into the air before being deftly caught by a small girl with orange hair.

“Leave…Big Sis Kira…alone.”

She mumbled before sprinting forward, dagger in hand, towards the spear-user at a speed much faster than he expected. Hopping backwards, he spun his spun his spear once to each side of him before stabbing it into the ground with both hands. A surge of blue energy rose around him just as Akane reached him, knocking her backwards, but she quickly recovered and flicked her dagger into a backhand grip before leaping up and spinning through the air, a red haze from her eyes tracing lines where she moved. The spear-user quickly prepared his barrier Skill again, spinning his weapon in preparation.

When he released the Skill and the cylindrical blue energy burst out of the ground to envelop him once more, he felt safe for mere second before a dagger cloaked in bloody light sliced through the barrier as if it were wet paper and a pair of emotionless, glowing red eyes on an innocent-looking face were the last things he saw before landing heavily outside the platform, shaken.

‘Was that…really the same girl we tried to bully yesterday?’

Similar to the spear user, the dual dagger-user took this chance while the other two girls were busy to go after Nanase. If his leader had been actively managing his group then he would’ve known that he should be avoiding Nanase at all costs. The dual dagger-user may be fast, but against someone with controlling abilities like Nanase, if he got caught, he didn’t have the physical strength to escape.

Nanase saw him approaching and widened her stance, preparing for battle. As the platform was rather open, the dual dagger-user didn’t have any element of surprise and could only rely on his speed. He zigzagged as he approached Nanase, trying to confuse her and make her miss any attempt to catch him. Nanase, meanwhile, remained calm. A one-on-one fight against someone without strengthening abilities was something she was familiar with. She gently spun her sash around her body as if taunting the dual dagger-user with an elegant dance. However, he was also used to these one-on-one scenarios and immediately became cautious, releasing a Skill.

‘Illusory Clones.’

His body appeared to split into three as he flipped backwards, each one mimicking the movements of the other two. Nanase’s focused look deepened into a frown. This was where her real challenge began. She knew that she couldn’t guess randomly as going for the wrong enemy would definitely be punished. Continuing to spin her sash around her, she obscured as much of her body from view as possible while taking special care to keep her hands hidden.

Although she knew that allowing him to get too close was dangerous, she didn’t have any Weapon Skills to assist her from range and could only use this method. When he was almost upon her, she whipped her sash in an arc, trying to disperse the clones while trapping the real one. However, all three images leapt upwards, thinking to avoid the sash that was sweeping past below them, but they had already fallen into Nanase’s trap.

With a secret flick of her wrist, she sent pulse along the sash, causing a raised wave to ride along it, passing through the clones and making contact with the real dual dagger-user.

“Found you.”

Realising his ruse had been seen through, but unable to alter his trajectory, the dual dagger-user instead tried to turn his proximity to his advantage as he circulated his energies and released another Skill.

‘Twin Basilisk Fangs!’

He stabbed downward with both hands, the blades of his daggers becoming exceptionally long, like the fangs of an enormous snake that glowed with a sickly green light.

Twin Basilisk Fangs – an Advanced-rank twin-dagger Skill which strikes from above like the two fangs of a snake. If it hits, it numbs those areas of the body to the point where they can’t move for several seconds, nor can Twin Energies be passed through them.

Now that Nanase had found her target and knew where he was going, there was no way that she wasn’t going to capitalise on the opportunity. While her overall battle sense was still lacking, when certain conditions were fixed, then to her, it was no different from her hours of image training.

Instead of retreating, she stepped in towards him before suddenly leaning far back, avoiding the overly-long daggers, and planted her foot against his stomach, her legs doing a vertical split. Ignoring his shocked face, she whipped her ripped sash around his back and back down towards her, securing her foot in place while completing her rotation by pushing off the ground with her free foot. The pair rotated like a wheel in mid-air before she kicked his attached body towards the ground and landed on him with her full weight. She wasn’t particularly spiteful and simply pulled his head up with her just-freed sash and made to stamp on his face when she was prevented from doing so by the referee removing him from the platform.

The boys’ leader was too preoccupied by Kira to noticed that he was the only remaining person from his group as he deftly blocked one of her attacks with his large sword. Kira, on the other hand, had been secretly keeping tabs on her teammates in case she needed to intervene but smiled when she saw that they’d both successfully defeated their opponents.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was simply admiring your physique. With that much muscle, I expected you to be stronger.”

“You bitch, now you’ve done it. Graaaah!”

Despite his budding leadership qualities, his mental state was still very much that of a child’s and Kira’s provocation pushed him over the edge. His muscles bulged and his pink skin let off a wave of steam as he entered Overdrive: Stage Two. He raised his sword above his head, clearly intending to finish the fight in one blow. His sword began to glow red, a red that expanded to cover it in a layer of energy that flickered with a menacing aura.

Kira had been waiting for this moment and leapt up towards him, her sword returning to its sheath. She swung it out towards his arms, letting her momentum carry her as she released her Skill.

‘Takanashi-style: One Leaf Splits the Wind.’

The moment her sheath made contact with his sword, the red aura shattered and his eyes bulged with fright as he found himself unable to move. During this time, a flash of blue wrapped around his wrists while a foot pressed against his back. Once the stun from Kira’s Skill wore off, he found that, even with his strength, he couldn’t retract his arms which were stretched out and pulled backwards by Nanase who was settled against his back and pulling hard on her sash.

“Akane!”

“...Here.”

The soft voice was the only warning before a head of orange hair appeared in the leader’s vision and a flash of steel raced towards his heart.

He landed on the ground next to his other four group members and simply stared in shock, his Overdrive state ending, the drain of using it causing his consciousness to flicker and his vision to darken.

‘Impossible. We…lost?’

“Match over! The winners are Team Kira!”

The referee declared loudly to the loud applause of everyone seated in the stands. Kira looked at her group, no, her team, members’ elated faces with a strange sense of pride. Although she hadn’t been able to more actively assist in restoring Nanase’s confidence, it seemed that she managed to find it on her own. Meanwhile Akane looked as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened.

The deafening cheers brought Kira back to herself and she wasn’t sure how to react. She’d always fought to protect something, whether it was her life or people she cared about. This was the first time a fight of hers was appreciated as a spectacle and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Meanwhile, in the stands, there weren’t only first-years who’d come to watch the match.

“Suzuki and Kousen, huh? They seem like they could be interesting.”

“Oh, you’re actually impressed by juniors? Is there something wrong with your head?”

“Haha! Don’t make fun of him. He said the same about you in your first year.”

“You…”

“To tell you the truth, I’m more curious about the orange-haired kid…”

The three figures turned and left the Arena, continuing their banter as they walked.