Chapter 899: What You Think Is the Limit Is Not Her Limit
Hagun Academy.
The massive dueling arena pulsed with a deafening roar of excitement today. Banners fluttered under the bright stadium lights, and the air was thick with the scent of ozone and anticipation.
After all, this was the annual in-school selection tournament.
This was the crucible that determined the absolute strongest within Hagun Academy's walls. The stakes were simple: glory, prestige, and the chance to represent the school. Who wouldn't bleed for the title of the strongest?
Students from every grade and class poured into the stands, transforming the oval-shaped arena into a sea of uniforms. The ascending rows of seats were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, a chaotic wave of cheering teenagers. The enthusiasm was electric, almost suffocating in its intensity.
Naturally, Ren was sitting right in the middle of the audience.
He leaned back in his seat, completely relaxed. Despite the fact that he wasn't wearing the standard Hagun Academy uniform, his presence was somehow perfectly camouflaged. A subtle manipulation of perception ensured that not a single passing student or faculty member noticed anything amiss about the casually dressed young man lounging in their midst.
High above the arena floor, the massive central screen flickered to life, displaying the combatants for the upcoming match in glowing letters.
[Stella Vermillion VS Ikki Kurogane]
Down below, the heavy blast doors slid open. Stella stepped onto the pristine dueling floor. Her crimson hair caught the stadium lights like spun fire, her ruby eyes sweeping across the massive crowd. She wasn't looking at her opponent yet. She was searching the stands, her gaze darting from row to row, looking for a specific face.
Inside the Doomsday Chat Group interface, messages began to scroll.
Stella: "Ren, where are you?"
Shinobu Kocho: "Ara? Hasn't our dear administrator arrived yet?"
Ren: "I'm already here. Look straight ahead, fourth row from the bottom."
Stella shifted her gaze exactly as instructed.
It didn't take long to spot him. Amidst the rigid sea of formal academy blazers, Ren's casual attire stuck out to her like a sore thumb, even if the surrounding students were completely oblivious to his existence. The sheer contrast of his laid-back posture against the tense, cheering crowd looked utterly ridiculous.
A soft, amused snort escaped her lips.
Stella: "Why are you sitting all the way over there? You look completely out of place, you know?"
Ren: "Heh. Look to my left and right."
Stella: "Hmm?"
She narrowed her eyes, focusing her enhanced vision on the seats directly adjacent to him.
To his left... and to his right...
The moment the image registered in her mind, the faint smile vanished from her lips. Her crimson eyes twitched, and a dark, ominous shadow seemed to fall over her face.
Stella: "You really are the absolute worst kind of pervert!"
March 7th: "Eh? What's wrong? Stella's vibe suddenly got super angry through the screen."
Stella: "Just look for yourselves!"
Stella: [Image Uploaded]
The photo popped up in the chat. It perfectly framed Ren lounging comfortably in his seat, flanked by two exceptionally beautiful girls.
On his left sat a petite girl with striking, short silver-white hair, her expression intense as she watched the arena. On his right sat a mature, full-figured beauty with long, flowing hair and elegant side-swept bangs, her ample chest pressing slightly against the armrest. Ren was sandwiched right in the middle, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Kiana: "That seating arrangement... I have no words."
Mikoto Misaka: "Ugh, Ren, did you really have to go out of your way to pick exactly that spot?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Oh my, I am quite certain our dear Ren has a perfectly valid reason for choosing those seats."
Aqua: "What reason?"
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Perhaps... he has simply taken a liking to them~"
Aqua: "???"
Aqua: "How is that any different from just being a massive pervert?!"
Ren: "Alright, alright, calm down. Stella, you might want to look at your opponent. The poor guy is going to wet himself if you keep grinding your teeth like a demon."
[Ding! Doomsday Chat Group Administrator Ren has started a live broadcast!]
Down on the arena floor, directly opposite Stella.
The black-haired young man, Ikki Kurogane, stood with his feet planted, but his body betrayed him. He was trembling uncontrollably. His knees knocked together, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead, entirely suppressed by the suffocating aura Stella was unintentionally leaking into the air.
'So strong.'
Just the sheer, raw pressure of her magical energy radiating outward was enough to trigger a primal sense of terror in his mind. The air around her felt heavy, scorching hot, like standing before an erupting volcano. Ikki had never encountered anyone in the entire academy with this kind of monstrous presence.
"Ready!"
The referee's sharp voice cut through the heavy atmosphere, echoing across the stadium speakers.
Ikki's dark eyes snapped into focus. The trembling in his limbs hadn't stopped, so he clamped his jaw shut and bit down hard on his own tongue. The sharp, metallic taste of copper flooded his mouth. The sudden spike of pain shocked his nervous system, forcing his muscles to obey his will.
His trembling ceased. He exhaled a slow, measured breath, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his Device, a simple, unadorned katana. He lowered his center of gravity, shifting into a flawless, practiced fighting stance.
It didn't matter how overwhelmingly powerful the girl standing across from him was. He would fight with every ounce of strength in his bones.
Because he had to win. He had to shatter the chains of his own fate.
Up in the stands, the murmurs of the crowd swelled into a dismissive chorus.
"Ugh, an A-Rank versus an F-Rank? What a joke. There's nothing to even watch here."
"Tsk, it'll be over in ten seconds. Let's just look forward to the next match."
"The Crimson Princess is guaranteed to sweep this. I just hope that loser doesn't get put in the hospital too badly."
The disparity between the two combatants sparked a wave of mocking chatter across the arena. The consensus was absolute, an unshakeable belief that Stella would crush him without breaking a sweat.
Not a single soul in the massive stadium held even a shred of hope for Ikki Kurogane.
And honestly, their dismissal was entirely logical.
Ikki Kurogane was an F-Rank Blazer, the absolute bottom of the barrel. Meanwhile, the transfer student, Stella Vermillion, was already a certified A-Rank Blazer.
Blazers.
They were a rare breed of special humans capable of materializing their very souls into physical weapons, their inherent Devices, and manipulating them through the flow of magic. It was a miraculous existence, a genetic lottery won by only one in a thousand people.
They wielded a brand of supernatural power that modern technology and traditional martial arts simply could not rival. Because of this overwhelming superiority, Blazers held the most critical and prestigious positions in global law enforcement, military operations, and international warfare.
In ancient times, the ignorant masses had called them magicians or witches.
In the modern era, a Blazer's worth was ruthlessly quantified by their rank. The system was divided into six distinct tiers, scaling from F-Rank, E-Rank, all the way up to the pinnacle of A-Rank.
F-Rank was the absolute weakest. A-Rank was the undisputed strongest.
Ikki Kurogane held the humiliating distinction of being the one and only F-Rank Blazer in all of Hagun Academy. The reason was tragically simple: he was born with a pathetically low, almost nonexistent pool of magical power.
As the sole occupant of the lowest possible tier, Ikki was naturally quite famous within the academy walls, though entirely for the wrong reasons. He was the school's resident laughingstock.
So, of course, no one believed he stood a chance.
But amidst the sea of mockery, there was exactly one exception.
"My brother is the strongest! He will definitely win!"
The fierce, unwavering declaration came from the petite, silver-haired girl sitting directly to Ren's left.
Ren tilted his head, his dark eyes sliding over to observe her.
She had both of her small hands balled into tight fists, resting on her knees. Her knuckles were white from the strain, and her eyes glared down at the arena floor with a mixture of intense indignation and fierce loyalty, completely ignoring the sneers of the students around her.
With just a single, sweeping glance, the system interface in Ren's mind provided him with everything he needed to know.
Shizuku Kurogane.
Ikki Kurogane's younger sister.
She was a major supporting character in the original timeline of Chivalry of a Failed Knight. However, Ren quickly noted a significant divergence from the established lore he remembered.
In the original story, Shizuku harbored deep, romantic feelings for Ikki, driven by complex family dynamics. But in this altered reality, the system confirmed she was his biological sister, and her intense devotion was rooted purely in fierce, protective familial affection. There was no twisted romance here, just a sister who fiercely believed in her brother when the rest of the world spat on him.
"Interesting," Ren murmured softly, a faint, amused smirk playing on his lips.
It was barely a whisper, a sound meant only for himself, but amidst the roaring crowd, Shizuku's sharp ears caught it.
She snapped her head to the right, her brow furrowing in irritation, fully prepared to glare at whoever was mocking her brother. Her eyes locked directly onto Ren's.
The moment their gazes met, the angry retort died in her throat. She froze, her breath hitching slightly.
'This person... he's incredibly handsome...'
For a split second, Shizuku was entirely derailed by the sheer aesthetic impact of the man sitting beside her. His features were flawlessly sculpted, radiating a lazy, confident magnetism that felt entirely alien to the high-strung atmosphere of the academy. But her shock quickly gave way to sharp suspicion as she processed the rest of his appearance. He was a complete stranger, and more glaringly, he wasn't wearing the Hagun Academy blazer.
Her eyes narrowed, the protective hostility returning in full force.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice low and sharp. "Did you just say 'interesting'? What exactly is so interesting to you?"
She fired off the three questions in rapid succession, her posture tense and defensive.
Ren let out a low, rich chuckle, entirely unbothered by her hostility. He shifted his weight, turning slightly to face her, deciding to indulge the fiercely loyal sister.
"Ren. That's my name," he replied, his tone smooth and casually polite.
He gestured lazily toward the arena below. "As for what's interesting... well, there are quite a few things. Including the young man you were just cheering for. Ikki Kurogane, your brother." He paused, his dark eyes locking onto hers. "He cannot win this match."
The moment the words left his mouth, the faint flush on Shizuku's cheeks vanished, replaced by an ashen, stony glare.
'So, this guy is exactly the same as the rest of them...'
The involuntary spike of attraction she had felt toward his striking appearance evaporated in an instant, plummeting into absolute zero. Her jaw tightened. She assumed Ren was just another arrogant elitist, blindly looking down on her brother simply because of his pathetic F-Rank status.
Before she could unleash a scathing retort, Ren smoothly cut her off, shifting the trajectory of the conversation.
"Don't misunderstand me," Ren said, his voice dropping to a calm, measured cadence. "The reason I say your brother will lose has absolutely nothing to do with his F-Rank status. It's because I understand Stella Vermillion incredibly well."
Shizuku blinked, the sudden pivot catching her completely off guard. The angry words died on her tongue.
"You... you understand Stella Vermillion?" she asked, her tone laced with deep skepticism.
"That's right," Ren nodded, a knowing glint in his eye.
Ren turned his gaze away from her, looking straight ahead at the crimson-haired girl standing on the arena floor. The corners of his mouth curled into a faint, almost proud smile.
"You all look at her and see an A-Rank Blazer," Ren said softly, his voice carrying a weight that made Shizuku lean in involuntarily. "But that's only because A-Rank is the absolute limit of the measurement system you people comprehend. It's the ceiling of your world."
He rested his chin on his knuckles, his eyes reflecting the harsh stadium lights. "In reality, her true power has already shattered that ceiling. She has far surpassed the concept of A-Rank, reaching a world of strength that you can't even begin to imagine."
"What?!"
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