The Opponent of His First Duel

At this moment, the defensive barrier around the stage had already been activated, leaving only two openings—the left and right passageways leading onto the stage.

Leaving the contestants' area and following those passageways would take one onto the stage.

By now, the Official Ranking Battle had been underway for quite some time. Several duels had already taken place, immersing the spectators in the atmosphere as they discussed them with great enthusiasm.

Under such circumstances, Azer and the opponent he had challenged by name entered the arena together, drawing a round of cheers.

A closer look would reveal that the cheers this time were even more fervent than they had been for the previous duels.

That was only natural.

"Ranked thirteenth, Yakutdi Van Ken, is taking the stage!"

"The strongest person beneath Page One's Twelve!"

"Finally, someone with a bit of weight has come out!"

The spectators were visibly excited.

Ranked thirteenth—he was already the strongest person below Page One's Twelve, ranked first on the second page of the Inscribed Sacrifice Book, only one step away from Page One's Twelve on the first page.

Although some ranked students had appeared in the previous duels, no one at the level of Page One's Twelve had taken the stage yet.

Rather, figures at the level of Page One's Twelve stood at the very pinnacle of the academy. Even during the Official Ranking Battle, there would not be many challenges directed at Page One's Twelve, and there might even be none at all.

In today's Official Ranking Battle, there were only two duels involving Page One's Twelve. Only one involved a ranked student challenging the twelfth-ranked member of Page One's Twelve, while the other was an internal battle among Page One's Twelve—the tenth-ranked member challenging Ranked First.

Other than those two duels, this was the most valuable matchup among the remaining battles. The strongest person below Page One's Twelve, ranked thirteenth, was taking the stage, so it could barely be considered one of the highlights of this Official Ranking Battle.

It was only natural, then, that the audience felt excited.

Only...

"His opponent seems to be some nobody, doesn't he?"

"Let me see... Huh? He's unranked? He didn't even make the Inscribed Sacrifice Book?"

"No way. An unranked student is challenging the strongest person below Page One's Twelve right from the start?"

"It's over. Looks like there's no suspense in this duel."

Quite a few spectators opened their windows and checked the information on Ranked Thirteenth's opponent, only to be greatly disappointed.

An unranked student who had not even made the Inscribed Sacrifice Book, someone in the third tier of the named challenge system, was challenging the strongest person in the second tier right away?

Wasn't that ridiculous?

However, just as many people were disappointed and felt that this duel would not be worth watching, someone cried out in surprise.

"That's not right! He's a user of a Pure Star Radiant Armament!"

Pure Star Radiant Armament!

The moment those words were spoken, everyone present felt their hearts jolt slightly and hurriedly continued reading through his information.

Only then did they discover in astonishment that he was actually the eighth user of a Pure Star Radiant Armament in Seidoukan Academy!

"The Black Furnace Magic Sword?"

"I've heard of it. Isn't it really famous?"

"Of course it's famous! It's one of the legendary Four-Colored Magic Swords!"

"He's a user of one of the Four-Colored Magic Swords?"

"No wonder he dared to challenge Ranked Thirteenth right away!"

The spectators were half amazed and half delighted.

Pure Star Radiant Armaments were not something commonplace.

Before this, Seidoukan Academy had only seven users of Pure Star Radiant Armaments in total, and four of those seven were members of Page One's Twelve.

In other words, more than half of Seidoukan Academy's Pure Star Radiant Armament users had entered the ranks of Page One's Twelve.

That alone showed just how much of an improvement a Pure Star Radiant Armament could bring to its user.

It could be said that no one capable of wielding a Pure Star Radiant Armament was particularly weak, much less someone who wielded one of the famous Four-Colored Magic Swords.

Perhaps this was another future member of Page One's Twelve?

With that thought, the audience's interest in the upcoming duel rose sharply.

In contrast, some ranked students, including those near the top of the rankings, wore rather grave expressions as they watched Azer slowly walk onto the stage.

To them, the appearance of a Pure Star Radiant Armament user was already enough to potentially threaten their positions.

If he really was a top student on the level of Page One's Twelve, then he would undoubtedly be a formidable rival!

With such thoughts in mind, even Yulis, seated in the guest section, could not help showing a somewhat serious expression.

Claudia, on the other hand, still wore that smiling expression as she remarked,

"Finally, it's his turn to take the stage."

The moment Yulis heard that, she understood.

"He's the one you've been watching?"

Yulis looked toward Claudia.

Claudia no longer tried to hide it.

"I was the one who handled his application to borrow the Pure Star Radiant Armament." Claudia smiled sweetly. "I wonder how much of the Black Furnace Magic Sword's power he can bring out. Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it."

Yulis immediately turned back toward the arena, her eyes fixed intently on Azer as he slowly stepped onto the stage.

Even she had heard of the Four-Colored Magic Swords.

She had heard that they were Pure Star Radiant Armaments famous for being difficult to wield. There were four of them in total, and they apparently had all been born from the same laboratory.

Among the Four-Colored Magic Swords, the Black Furnace Magic Sword was one of the most well-known. There were exaggerated rumors that it could burn through all things, and that once plunged into the earth, the ground itself would turn into a furnace.

She also wanted to know just how powerful such a top-tier Pure Star Radiant Armament truly was.

That seemed to be the thought shared by most people present, causing the cheers to become even more fervent than before.

Amid such an atmosphere, Azer and Arctite finally completed their entrances and faced each other from a distance.

Azer briefly observed his opponent.

Yakutdi Van Ken, a second-year student in the University Department, twenty years old this year, currently ranked thirteenth at Seidoukan Academy.

He had participated in the Phoenix Star Martial Festival during his second year of Senior High. At the time, he had been ranked eleventh among Page One's Twelve at Seidoukan Academy, while his partner had been ranked eighth and was likewise one of Page One's Twelve. Together, they had reached the Top Sixteen in that year's Phoenix Star Martial Festival.

Although he had now fallen to thirteenth and dropped out of the ranks of Page One's Twelve, he had once been a member of Page One's Twelve, so there was no doubt that he was strong.

"He's qualified enough to be my opponent for my first duel."

That was what Azer thought.

Arctite Vanken, on the other hand, looked as though he were facing a formidable enemy.

As the person Azer had challenged by name, Arctite naturally could not have been like those spectators, only beginning to look into his opponent after entering the arena.

He had investigated Azer the moment he received the named challenge, so he had long known that his opponent was a Pure Star Radiant Armament user and absolutely not some unranked student to be casually underestimated.

But...

"You only obtained your Pure Star Radiant Armament recently, yet you're already impatient to challenge Ranked Thirteenth. Junior, you're being a little too hasty."

Arctite suddenly spoke to Azer.

"Even among Pure Star Radiant Armament users, there are people who cannot make the first page of the Inscribed Sacrifice Book and become members of Page One's Twelve. Doesn't that already prove that merely possessing a Pure Star Radiant Armament does not make someone a top-ranked student?"

That was true. Among Seidoukan Academy's seven Pure Star Radiant Armament users, three had not become members of Page One's Twelve.

After all, Pure Star Radiant Armaments varied in strength, and so did their users. Even if someone acquired a powerful Pure Star Radiant Armament, if they could not bring out much of its power, it would not be enough to overturn a large gap in strength.

In Arctite's view, even if Azer had a high Suitability Rate with his Pure Star Radiant Armament, he had only possessed it for such a short time. How much power could he possibly bring out?

Therefore, although Arctite was somewhat wary of Azer's Black Furnace Magic Sword, he did not believe Azer could threaten him.

As someone who had participated in the Phoenix Star Martial Festival, it was not as though he had never faced a Pure Star Radiant Armament before.

Thus, he did not believe Azer could use him as a stepping stone to rise through the ranks.

Unfortunately, he did not know that the person standing before him could not be judged by ordinary standards.

"Are you worried about me, Senior?"

As though he had not noticed the implication behind Arctite's words at all, Azer smiled.

"Then please let me witness the strength of a top-ranked student."

As he spoke, Azer drew out a pitch-black Activation Device.

"Clang!"

Crimson radiance blossomed from the Omni-Response Crystal, illuminating the entire stage.

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