"Noah! Are you planning to kill Alice?!"
Seeing the friend he had always trusted spit up fresh blood, almost coughing up his internal organs, Ikki still grew tense despite the betrayal.
Hearing his tone, Noah frowned and looked at him.
"You're not planning to plead for him, are you? Don't be ridiculous. Even if we finish him off, our side will still be at a disadvantage. In a moment, you deal with that trap. I'll help you hold back the others, and..."
Swish!
Noah's words were cut short as he stared at the blade of Intetsu pointed at him.
His expression darkened.
"Kurogane." He pointed at the blade, tapping his finger twice in the air.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Ikki gritted his teeth, a conflicted look on his face.
The enemies were also taken aback. One of them even shrugged and spread his hands, looking exasperated.
"Infighting? I don't know whether to be happy or angry. Are these guys looking down on us?" Yui griped, holding a saw-toothed blade.
That was his Device, Predatory Centipede.
Compared to his petite frame, the saw-toothed blade was nearly the length of his torso.
"Sorry, but I can't let you kill Alice. Not for his sake, and not for yours!"
At these words, Shizuku instantly shifted her guard, now targeting Noah.
The Yagure sisters were completely stunned to see their own people turn on each other.
From start to finish, the two of them looked as if they couldn't grasp the situation.
Between the enemy attack on Hagun, the Student Council being defeated, a comrade's betrayal, and Ikki pointing his sword at an ally, their brains seemed to have crashed!
Utakata suddenly appeared behind Ikki.
His usual gentle expression was gone, replaced by a grim terrifying look.
"Kurogane-kun, point your Device at the enemy. I will only warn you once. Tohka is in danger, and I'm in no mood to joke around with you."
Ikki hadn't sensed how the man had gotten behind him.
But he knew this warning was genuine.
"Brother!"
"Don't do it, Shizuku!"
"Ugh."
Shizuku halted the magic she was secretly preparing, looking at her brother with worry.
Noah explained, "The academy is under attack. Regardless of their identity, since they are our enemies, we treat them as terrorists. I've made it clear, you shouldn be able to grasp the situation."
"..."
Clap!
With the Clown defeated, Amene stepped forward somewhat reluctantly.
"My, my, everyone, please calm down. Although I doubt it will do any good, allow me to explain what Hiraga couldn't say before he died. Let's just say I'm fulfilling a dead man's wish, shall we?"
"He's not dead! That was just a puppet."
"Ah, that's right."
Amene smiled, then continued, "First, let's answer the question Raikiri wanted to ask. Who are we, and why are we attacking Hagun?"
He spread his arms as if presenting a grand reveal.
"Hello everyone, we are from Japan's National Akatsuki Academy. Hmm, you've probably never heard of our school's name, but you should understand when you hear 'National,' right? National."
"And for the second question, why are we attacking you? The reason is simple. We also want to participate in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, but we aren't one of the seven academies recognized by the League. So, each of us infiltrated a different academy to obtain a participation slot. But that alone isn't enough. If our identities as Akatsuki students were exposed, we would be disqualified. Therefore, we must use powerful evidence to prove that the Festival cannot go on without us."
Noah's premonition had come true.
The National Akatsuki Academy.
Why emphasize "National"? Because the country of Japan itself did not have the authority to train knights.
Although the Seven Star Academies were located in Japan, their actual controller was the Mage-Knight League.
The precious fighting force that protected the country was not cultivated by the nation itself but by a foreign organization.
This was a humiliation for the Japanese government.
Logically, the citizens shouldn't have accepted this reality either.
But the existence of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival had changed the public's perception.
After witnessing how powerful the contestants were, the public had accepted entrusting the nation's security to the League.
It had taken over half a century of effort to finally gain this recognition.
The country had stabilized. But Japan's politicians had no intention of letting it go.
They had to reclaim their country's rights.
So they had to destroy the stage of the Festival and have Akatsuki Academy prove that the League's education was garbage.
This country was at odds with the League!
To achieve this goal, they first needed to replace one of the Seven Star Academies and obtain the right to participate.
And this sacrifice had long been decided.
It was Hagun Academy.
As for whether doing so would break the law? What did "National" imply?
The state was not on the side of the Seven Star Academies, but was the backer of Akatsuki Academy.
If they succeeded, the matter would likely be dropped and forgotten.
"Don't be ridiculous..."
'Hm?'
The voice came from behind the Akatsuki students.
Tohka forced herself to stand up.
Taking the full force of her own ultimate technique had caused her to lose consciousness for a moment.
But with her keen insight, she had concentrated her magic to defend herself at the first instant.
As expected, however, she couldn't block it completely.
Relying on her stubborn willpower, she had heard the entire conversation while on the ground.
That being the case, as the Student Council President, she had to stand.
She had to protect everyone here and this school!
Seeing that she could still get up, Yui sneered. "Haha, you're not that great after all. The so-called strongest in close quarters can't even take herself down with her own move."
"Cough."
Tohka summoned her Device again, took a deep breath, and used martial arts breathing techniques to regulate her body's condition.
Although they weren't looking at each other, Noah could feel that the President was sending him a message.
Besides him, the only other person on the scene was Shizuku, a water mage.
The problem was, her behavior was unpredictable.
That being the case, the only one Tohka could rely on was him.
He had to find the right moment to heal her and restore her fighting ability to increase their chances of winning.
"Stop, Big Brother!" Ikki shouted at Ouma.
However, this time Ouma couldn't even be bothered to utter a cold word, directly summoning his Device—Dragon's Claw.
It was a long odachi.
Ouma rushed toward Ikki, raising his hand and slashing down.
Ikki felt an extremely strong sense of pressure from this strike, so he pointed his blade down, turning it to deflect his brother's slash.
But the moment the blades clashed, Ikki's face instantly changed.
Clang!
He let out a cry of surprise as his entire body was forced down onto one knee.
His face contorted as he gripped Intetsu, desperately resisting the slash that was as heavy as a mountain.
Redirecting the kinetic force was useless.
The physical power of this strike was simply far too heavy!
He braced the back of his blade with his shoulder, holding on for dear life, but felt as if his shoulder blade was about to shatter.
"...Brother!"
Seeing her brother nearly defeated in a single blow, Shizuku quickly threw a Water Prison Orb at Ouma.
"Hmph."
Ouma snorted coldly, and the water prison dissipated before it could reach him.
"Kurogane-kun, we'll help you!"
The Yagure sisters summoned their Devices and charged forward together.
Seeing this, Ouma kicked Ikki in the chest, sending him flying several meters and making it difficult for him to breathe for a moment.
Then, he swung his arm.
The odachi swept out a gust of wind.
This was the most common attack method for a wind mage: a Vacuum Blade.
As the only A-Rank student knight in Japan, Ouma's ability was natural interference with wind.
Kikyo and Botan simultaneously raised their magical defenses.
But it was useless.
In an instant, both of their defenses were shattered by the Vacuum Blade, and they were sent flying backward, falling to the ground unconscious.
Facing three or four Blazers with the strength to participate in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, he handled them with great ease, effortlessly dispatching half of his enemies.
His every move could inflict immense physical damage.
This was Ouma Kurogane the Sword Emperor of Wind.
Witnessing all this, Shizuku broke out in a cold sweat.
Although they were siblings, she didn't know this older brother at all. Now that she had truly seen his power, she could only be frozen in awe.
"So he is the Sword Emperor of Wind... He's too strong."
But Ouma looked completely uninterested.
He turned his gaze to Noah. "Where is the Crimson Princess? Did she run away with her tail between her legs?"
"You have business with Stella?"
"I came for her. I'm not interested in anything else."
Ouma's face was indifferent, but a fighting spirit was faintly brewing in his eyes.
Among student knights, the number of opponents who could fight him was countable on one hand.
Even the people by his side right now were all weaklings in his eyes.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, these elites from the underworld were extraordinarily powerful, but having seen what a true strength is, he knew that all of them were nothing more than frogs in a well.
True power was not on this level at all.