A Bloodstained Weekend! The Rebel Army's Vicious Fangs!

Students' daily routines were more or less the same in any world.

Even though Hagun Academy was a combat school that trained Mage Knights, its students still got weekends off to rest.

Kashu had spent several days selecting the main roster. With this rare weekend break, he planned to visit the mall for some fun.

Well... fine, he admitted it.

Compared to having fun, Kashu preferred losing himself in a sea of books.

But Fou had long since run out of patience. Early that morning, it had leaped onto his face and bounced around wildly, making it clear that if he did not go out, it would torment him to death.

Left with no choice, Kashu greeted Ikki Kurogane, changed back into his Chaldea formalwear, and prepared to head out.

However, Ikki Kurogane was currently blocking the front door in a textbook dogeza pose, pleading loudly.

"Please take me with you, sir!"

Kashu was stunned by the sudden move, then rubbed his forehead with a sigh.

"Though I already have a feeling this will be troublesome, you did kneel and beg. Go on, what is it?"

Ikki Kurogane raised his head, his face carrying a helpless, aggrieved look as he awkwardly explained.

"I absolutely cannot stay in the dorm alone. Otherwise, Shizuku will definitely barge in, and then..."

Ikki Kurogane did not finish, but Kashu already understood. He let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"Looks like I really should call the police on you, you scumbag!"

Ikki Kurogane hurriedly protested, "I'm being forced!"

With his arms crossed, Kashu looked down at him, the sneer still on his face.

"That's not for certain. You can never truly know what's in someone's heart."

What went around came around!

The words Ikki Kurogane had once used to tease Kashu were now being returned to him unchanged.

But unlike the clear-conscienced Kashu, Ikki Kurogane clearly both loved and feared his little sister.

Having made up his mind to shamelessly cling to Kashu, Ikki Kurogane planned to leave the academy with him.

Yet when the two had finished getting ready and opened the door—

They found a peculiar combination waiting outside: Stella, Shizuku Kurogane, and a delicate, beautiful young man.

Stella said excitedly, "I heard you're going out to have fun? Count me in!"

Shizuku Kurogane looked as though she were about to cry. "Brother, are you planning to abandon me?"

The beautiful young man gave a sweet smile. "Nice to meet you. Please be sure to call me Alice."

Kashu: (laughing hysterically)

Ikki Kurogane: (crying)

And so, the group of five, each with wildly different styles, arrived at a department store near Hagun Academy.

Having never gone shopping at a mall before, Stella was bursting with enthusiasm. She was curious about every store and insisted on going inside to take a look.

But whenever she wandered into a menswear store and saw the underwear on the mannequins, she would cover her face, blush furiously, and run back out. The princess was truly hard to understand.

Kashu tried his best to ignore the inseparable Kurogane siblings at the back of the group, clinging to each other in an embrace.

He discreetly observed "Alice" to his left, recalling the enrollment report he had read several days ago.

Name: Nagi Arisuin

Class: Hagun Academy, Year One Class Four

Age: 18

Blazer Rank: D

Attack Power: E

Defense: D

Mana: D

Mana Control: C

Physical Ability: C

Luck: D

Device: Dark Hermit

How should he put it? It was a thoroughly ordinary set of test results.

He was neither as dazzling as Kashu and Stella, nor was he ridiculed by his classmates like Ikki Kurogane.

If Kashu had not mastered the Transparent World and could see through everything around him completely, he might have been deceived by the harmless facade as well.

Nagi Arisuin vaguely sensed something in Kashu's gaze. He gracefully raised an arm to cover his mouth and laughed softly.

"What is it, Animusphere? Even an A-Rank Knight can't resist my charm?"

Kashu calmly shook his head and answered with an ambiguous smile.

"You're quite the joker, Arisuin. Speaking of how strong an A-Rank Knight is, aren't you more familiar with that than I am?"

Nagi Arisuin still wore a gentle smile, but his pace gradually slowed as he lowered his head to discuss a private matter with Shizuku Kurogane.

Shopping was the perfect way for girls to pass the time, but for boys, it was no different from high-intensity field training!

So, while Stella and Shizuku Kurogane remained full of energy and ran all over the place, the three boys used the restroom as an excuse to slip away for a mid-session break.

Bang!

A burly masked man in full gear suddenly kicked open the restroom door from outside and wildly sprayed bullets at every stall. Only after confirming that none had been missed did he turn and leave.

Then, a pitch-black crack spread across the wall and expanded into an oval shape. It was unmistakably a highly concealed Blazer technique.

Kashu and the other two emerged from the crack, faintly hearing crying, shouting, and gunfire outside.

Ikki Kurogane lowered his voice. "Who the hell are those people? Are they actually robbing a department store?"

Nagi Arisuin folded his arms and sighed softly. "At the very least, they don't look like good people."

Kashu curled his lip and remarked, "If it were just a robbery, things would be much simpler."

"This place is so close to Hagun Academy. What kind of desperadoes would come here looking to die?"

Ikki Kurogane's pupils suddenly contracted as he cried out in a low voice, "The Rebel Army!?"

At the mention of someone daring to provoke an Alliance academy, those suicidal madmen were naturally the first people Ikki Kurogane thought of.

The Rebel Army was a group of criminals who had always operated in the shadows of the world.

They believed Blazers were humans chosen by God, while ordinary people without talent were an inferior race.

They were committed to spreading this ideology across the globe, dreaming of building a new world where Blazers ruled over the inferior race.

At that thought, Ikki Kurogane pulled out his mobile terminal and immediately prepared to call the police.

Kashu and Nagi Arisuin acted at the same time, stopping him.

"Calm down. It's the weekend, when the mall has the most people."

"Animusphere is right. Acting rashly will only make the situation worse."

Ikki Kurogane, who had been panicking, calmed down again and asked instead.

"Then what do we do? Just wait here?"

Kashu shook his head and quietly moved to the restroom entrance to observe the situation outside.

The armed terrorists were sweeping through the floors one by one, roughly shoving the panicked shoppers and gathering them all in the first-floor lobby under guard.

Kashu even spotted Stella and Shizuku Kurogane among the hostages.

He turned around and spread his hands toward Ikki Kurogane and Nagi Arisuin.

"The good news is that the princess and Shizuku are both staying calm. No one has alerted the enemy yet."

"The bad news is that these rebels seem completely confident. They aren't afraid of Hagun Academy sending reinforcements at all."

Ikki Kurogane also looked toward the lobby, frowning as he guessed.

"They're confident because they have so many hostages, right?"

Hearing such an innocent statement, both Nagi Arisuin and Kashu could not help shaking their heads with quiet laughs.

"We can think about that later. Ikki, you contact the academy and explain the situation."

"Arisuin, could you come scout behind enemy lines with me?"

Kashu smiled as he stared at Nagi Arisuin. Nagi summoned a saber-like Device and sliced a crack open beside him.

"Of course. I'd be happy to help."