The Abyss of Despair: The Blunting of the Blade of Intelligence

Dawn had barely broken, and damp mist still hung among the trees.

At Class C's camp, Ryuen Kakeru leaned against a large tree, a confident sneer curling his lips.

Before him, Ishizaki, Albert, and several burly Class C boys stood ready to move.

"Did you all hear me clearly?" Ryuen Kakeru's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable pressure. "That idiot leader of Class D set up their main camp in the southern valley. Most of them are out gathering supplies now. Their defenses are at their weakest."

"We'll rush in, take over their base, and cripple that sissy leader named Hirata for good!"

"Yes, Ryuen-san!" Ishizaki and the others answered excitedly.

The information had come from someone inside Class D. It was absolutely reliable.

Just imagining himself trampling that pretentious Natsume Yu and the ever-expressionless Ayanokoji beneath his feet filled Ryuen with pleasure.

The game was over.

Yet when Ryuen Kakeru's men arrived at the southern valley in high spirits, they were not greeted by the panicked faces of Class D, but by an utterly empty camp.

No, it was not entirely empty.

In the center of the camp, branches had been arranged into a conspicuous word: IDIOT.

"What the hell is this?" Ishizaki kicked apart the word made of branches.

Just then, the supervising teacher appeared expressionlessly, terminal in hand.

"Class C, occupying Class D's pre-registered base without permission: minus 30 points. In addition, destroying another class's camp facilities: minus 5 points."

"What?!" Ishizaki was dumbfounded. "There isn't even anyone here!"

The teacher merely gave him a cold glance. "Rules are rules. Class D registered this place as a temporary base. The ground you are standing on belongs to them."

The Class C students were completely stunned.

They had come aggressively, yet without even seeing the shadow of a single Class D student, they had lost 35 exam points for nothing.

It was an utter humiliation!

When the news reached Ryuen Kakeru, the smile on his face froze instantly, then slowly twisted into something savage.

"The information... was fake?"

He slammed a fist into the tree trunk behind him, sending leaves rustling down.

"We've been played!"

A violent fury surged from his chest.

It was not because of the lost points, but because of the feeling of being made a fool of!

Ryuen Kakeru had actually been treated like a monkey by those Class D trash!

"That woman..." Ryuen Kakeru ground his teeth, his gaze fierce enough to devour someone. "Find me the woman who gave us that information!"

Meanwhile, Class D's camp remained calm and peaceful.

Kushida Kikyo was restless with anxiety.

She waited and waited, but the chaos and panic she had expected never came.

Hirata was still assigning tasks in an orderly fashion, while everyone else carried out their own duties. Everything was no different from yesterday.

What was going on?

Had Ryuen's side failed?

Or had her information... been a trap from the very beginning?

A terrifying thought sent an icy chill through her body.

She instinctively looked toward Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. He sat quietly in a corner, as though nothing had happened.

But Kushida Kikyo's heart slowly sank.

Fear, like cold vines, wrapped around her throat once more, nearly suffocating her.

"Kushida-san, could you come out for a moment? Someone wants to see you."

A Class C boy stood outside Class D's camp, his expression hostile.

Kushida Kikyo's heart jolted.

It was here.

She forced herself to remain calm as she left the camp and followed the boy into a secluded stretch of woods.

Ishizaki and several Class C students were waiting there, each with an ill-intentioned sneer on his face.

"Well, if it isn't our great benefactor?" Ishizaki walked forward with a fake smile. "Your 'information' really did Class C a huge favor."

Kushida Kikyo's face went pale, her lips trembling. "I... I don't know what you're talking about..."

"You don't know?" Ishizaki's expression darkened instantly. "You dare play Ryuen-san? Do you know how the word 'death' is written?"

"I didn't! The information I gave you was real!" Kushida made one last attempt to defend herself.

"It was real?" Ishizaki looked as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Real enough to make us lose 35 points for nothing? Do you take us for idiots?"

He grabbed Kushida Kikyo by the collar and slammed her against a tree.

"Tell me! Did you collude with Natsume Yu and the others to set us up on purpose?"

"N-No..."

Despair instantly swallowed Kushida Kikyo.

She had thought she had grasped a lifeline, only to leap into an even deeper pit of fire.

Not only had she failed to escape Ayanokoji, she had now offended Ryuen Kakeru, the tyrant of Class C!

Caught between two sides, she had nowhere left to run!

Just as she was about to break down, a calm voice came from nearby.

"Let her go."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had appeared at some point, his expression as calm as ever.

When Ishizaki saw Ayanokoji, he paused for a moment before snarling, "This has nothing to do with you. Get lost!"

Ayanokoji ignored him. He merely looked at Kushida Kikyo, whose face had gone deathly pale, with something almost like pity in his eyes.

"Natsume-kun asked me to tell you something."

His voice was soft, yet it reached Kushida's ears with perfect clarity.

"Every act of resistance, every step of your plan, was within his calculations. The struggle you believed in was merely helping him complete the final step of his script."

Those words became the final straw.

Kushida Kikyo's body went limp, and the light in her eyes was completely extinguished.

So... everything had just been a joke.

Her self-righteous counterattack had been nothing but a piece on someone else's chessboard from beginning to end.

All her hope, all her struggling, seemed so pitiful and laughable.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka no longer looked at her. He turned to Ishizaki. "Go back and tell Ryuen that this was only a small warning. If he wants to play, then Class D will accompany him to the end."

With that, he turned and left, leaving behind a completely broken Kushida Kikyo and the Class C students, whose faces were filled with uncertainty.

Not far away, Horikita Suzune had witnessed the entire scene.

She could not hear exactly what Ayanokoji had said to Kushida.

But she had clearly seen it: Kushida Kikyo, the Class D girl who always wore an angelic smile, had displayed unprecedented fear and despair when facing Ayanokoji.

And Ayanokoji, the ordinary classmate she had always believed had no presence at all, now radiated a suffocating sense of oppression.

What kind of place... was Class D?

Among these people, who was the real leader?

At that moment, Horikita Suzune felt her understanding of the class completely overturned.

Sakura Airi saw from afar as Kushida Kikyo returned to camp in a daze, curling up alone in a corner with her shoulders trembling slightly.

Though she did not know what had happened, seeing Kushida-san, who was always so cheerful, reduced to this state made Sakura's heart ache.

She felt that Kushida-san must have been bullied.

Just like she had been before.

She instinctively looked toward Natsume Yu in the distance.

He was calmly directing something, his profile appearing especially resolute beneath the morning light.

Sakura Airi clenched her fists.

Natsume-kun was fighting for the class. She could not remain as weak as she used to be.

She wanted to become stronger too, strong enough to protect Natsume-kun and ensure that no one could ever bully him!

Under the catalyst of worry and heartache, her love became even deeper and more unwavering.

By evening, when the temporary results of the Uninhabited Island exam were announced, the Class D students burst into delighted cheers.

Not only had their points not decreased, but they had unexpectedly gained 15 points because of Class C's violation!

"That's great! We actually gained points!"

"Natsume-kun is incredible!"

Amid the celebration, Natsume Yu walked over to Sakura Airi, whose mood was still low.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly.

"N-Nothing..." Sakura Airi lowered her head in a panic.

Natsume Yu looked at her reddened eyes. He did not press her further, merely reaching out to gently take her cold hand in his.

"Don't worry. I'm here."

Warmth spread from his palm, instantly driving away all the unease and fear in Sakura Airi's heart.

She raised her head and looked into Natsume Yu's gentle eyes, feeling as if her entire world had been illuminated.

At that moment, her heart completely surrendered.

She was willing to do anything for him.

She was already his possession.

Late that night, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka found Kushida Kikyo sitting alone in her tent.

He placed a new phone in front of her.

"This is Natsume-kun's final ultimatum."

There was no fluctuation in Ayanokoji's voice.

"Option one: obey my instructions completely and become the Blade of Intelligence in Natsume-kun's hand. You will gather intelligence, and I will deliver instructions. Your past will be sealed away forever."

"Option two: refuse. Tomorrow morning, the secret of your two-faced nature, along with all the evidence of you betraying Class D to Class C, will appear on the school forum."

"You have no third option."

On the final night of the Uninhabited Island, the sea breeze carried a salty dampness.

Kushida Kikyo sat alone on a seaside reef, her hollow eyes fixed on the pitch-black ocean.

She knew that she had nowhere left to retreat.

Her only choice was submission.

In the distance, Natsume Yu stood in the shadows, watching that figure who seemed especially frail beneath the night sky. A playful curve rose at the corner of his lips.

"My Blade of Intelligence is finally about to be honed into shape."