I Will Challenge You by Name

With the Ranked First's designated challenge over, this Official Ranking Battle had officially come to an end.

One spectator after another streamed out of the Comprehensive Arena, their conversations still revolving around the results of the Official Ranking Battle.

As far as the results went, although several rankings had shifted in this Official Ranking Battle, with some people successfully rising and others successfully defending their positions, there were really only two matters worth talking about.

One was Ranked First successfully defending her position.

Her duel told many people that, even though she had only enrolled two months ago and was merely a thirteen-year-old student from the Middle School Department, her strength was genuine. She was absolutely qualified to hold the position of Seidoukan Academy's strongest, rather than being a fleeting flash in the pan.

This topic would surely become a hot subject throughout the Six Academies in no time, making everyone realize what kind of genius Seidoukan Academy had produced.

The other was Azer successfully taking Rank Thirteen and defeating Yakutdi Van Ken.

A previously unknown student from outside the rankings had not only displayed considerable strength, but had also freely wielded a Pure Star Radiant Armament of the Four-Colored Magic Swords' caliber. He had easily defeated the strongest person below Page One's Twelve, undoubtedly telling many people that he could continue climbing higher.

Thus, many people were already looking forward to it.

They were looking forward to next month's Official Ranking Battle, wondering whether Azer would challenge Page One's Twelve.

Having become Rank Thirteen, he was now in the second tier of the designated challenge system and qualified to designate a challenge against Page One's Twelve, who occupied the first tier.

When the time came, whom would he challenge, and at what rank would he finally stop?

That would also become a hot topic.

Under such circumstances, Azer's name had clearly become one of the most frequently mentioned words in Seidoukan Academy, second only to Ranked First, who had successfully defended her position—Toudou Kirin.

Naturally, Toudou Kirin knew nothing about any of this.

At that moment, the girl who had reached the pinnacle of Seidoukan Academy not long after enrolling was hurrying down one of the arena's corridors.

Though she had successfully held her position and further proven her strength, there was not much joy on Toudou Kirin's face. There was not even a trace of a smile.

As though burdened by heavy worries, the girl hurried along with her head lowered, her footsteps unusually heavy.

Suddenly—

"Be careful."

A voice sounded ahead of the girl.

"If you keep walking with your head down like that, you might run into someone at any moment."

The sudden voice startled Toudou Kirin. She quickly stopped in her tracks.

Fortunately, she did not crash headlong into the person who had suddenly appeared before her, stopping just a few centimeters away from him.

"S-sorry!"

Because they were standing so close, Toudou Kirin could only see the area slightly above the man's abdomen. She hurriedly backed away and bowed in apology.

Then, she heard a light laugh.

"You don't need to apologize. You didn't actually hit me, did you?" he said with a smile. "I was at fault too for suddenly appearing in front of you. But you really should be careful, or next time you might run into some newly transferred special-admissions student and begin an encounter that expands someone's harem."

...What kind of Japanese light-novel development was that?

And why could he be so specific about the person involved?

Toudou Kirin looked somewhat confused before finally getting a clear look at the person standing before her.

"Ah..."

The next second, Toudou Kirin's expression turned surprised.

"Y-you're Senior Azer, who just defeated Rank Thirteen?"

Hearing Toudou Kirin's words, Azer was somewhat surprised.

"You know me?"

Azer made no effort to conceal the surprise in his voice.

"Y-yes." Toudou Kirin nodded repeatedly. Seeming both timid and nervous, she said softly, "Although I wasn't in the stands, I watched the ranking battle livestream while I was in the competitors' area."

"Is that so?" Azer said in realization, then smiled. "It really is an honor to have someone Ranked First remember my name."

"N-no, that's not it!" Toudou Kirin still sounded rather nervous. "Senior is very strong, especially your swordsmanship. It was truly astonishing!"

As she said this, a faint light appeared in Toudou Kirin's timid eyes.

Clearly, it had left an extremely deep impression on her.

"My swordsmanship?"

Azer himself did not particularly feel that way.

"Yes!" Toudou Kirin nodded forcefully. The light in her eyes seemed to grow stronger, and like a child who had seen a new toy, she said with inexplicable delight, "I've never seen swordsmanship like that before. It didn't seem to belong to any school I know, so it made my eyes light up. It was especially amazing!"

"It's just..."

Toudou Kirin suddenly began to hesitate.

"Just what?"

Seeing this, Azer grew curious about what she wanted to say.

Toudou Kirin hesitated for a moment, then finally gathered her courage. "It just felt like that swordsmanship wasn't used to bring out all of your own strength. It felt more like a technique performed to bring out the full potential of the weapon in your hand."

At those words, a strange gleam immediately appeared in Azer's eyes.

This girl's discernment really was no joke. She had seen through his true nature at a glance.

Azer had never learned the swordsmanship of any school. The reason he could display such techniques was entirely because of his Authority.

He did not need to learn combat techniques, nor did he need to train his technical skills or combat awareness. As long as he held a weapon, his Authority would tell him how to bring out one hundred percent of its power and use it in battle.

So, it had to be said that Toudou Kirin was absolutely right.

"As expected of you. You saw through me right away," Azer said approvingly. "But when it comes to swordsmanship, aren't you actually the strongest one?"

As he spoke, Azer could not help recalling Toudou Kirin's battle from the livestream.

At the time, Toudou Kirin had not displayed any particularly powerful physical abilities. She had not even drawn on her Star Power. She had simply gripped the sword hanging at her waist and attacked her opponent.

Yet that one attack unleashed a dazzling storm of blades!

The member of Page One's Twelve who was also a student of the Middle School Department had barely shown any ability to fight back before Toudou Kirin's seemingly endless barrage drove her into a desperate corner!

One slash followed another, then yet another, as if it would never end and would never cease, flowing on without interruption!

Sharp!

Fluid!

That was Toudou Kirin's blade!

"N-no, it wasn't like that..."

Toudou Kirin seemed unable to take praise well. At Azer's compliment, her entire youthful face turned red.

Her lovely, blushing appearance even made Azer's heart stir. Once he realized it, he immediately cursed himself inwardly.

What am I thinking?

She's only thirteen!

Thirteen!

However, the moment he thought of the phrase "thirteen years old," Azer could not help glancing at her strikingly mature figure. He nearly lost it on the spot.

What kind of good kid looked like that at thirteen?

What a sin! (Shen Teng roaring.jpg)

"Beep!"

At that moment, a Spatial Window opened in front of Toudou Kirin without any warning.

"What are you dawdling for, Kirin?!"

An utterly unceremonious reprimand immediately came from it.

"S-sorry!"

It was as though Toudou Kirin had only just remembered something. Her face instantly turned somewhat pale.

"Get over here, now!"

The reprimanding voice remained just as rude, then hung up on its own, causing the window before Toudou Kirin to close automatically.

"..."

The atmosphere immediately became somewhat heavy.

"...Sorry, Senior." Toudou Kirin bowed to Azer, lowering her head so that her expression could not be seen. "Please excuse me first."

With that, Toudou Kirin brushed past Azer and prepared to leave.

Azer did not turn around to watch her go.

However, his voice still rang out unhurriedly and reached Toudou Kirin's ears.

"In next month's Official Ranking Battle, I will challenge you by name."

Please add the new book to your collection! Please invest!

(crying)