Who Says They Aren't a Herrscher?

After saying that, Ouma turned and left.

"Wait!" Luo Mio called out to him.

Ouma turned his head slightly and said coldly, "What is it?"

Luo Mio stared at Ouma's body, frowning.

"Come here."

Upon hearing Luo Mio's command, Ouma's brow twitched slightly.

"If you have something to say, say it."

Ouma's cold tone made Luo Mio smack his lips. He then walked over to stand in front of Ouma.

"...What are you doing?"

Staring at Ouma's body, Luo Mio said something startling. "Let me see your body."

"..."

"..."

Ouma's eyes twitched slightly.

Ikki also looked at the two of them with an awkward expression.

His best friend was asking his older brother to show him his body.

This...

Feeling their strange stares, Luo Mio recalled what he had just said and spat in annoyance.

"That's not what I meant. Hold out your hand."

Though Ouma did not understand, he still extended his hand.

Luo Mio stared at Ouma's hand.

Just as expected...

Through Mana Vision, Luo Mio saw faint traces of Honkai Energy on Ouma's arm. He then discovered an extremely weak remnant of Honkai Energy lingering within Ouma's body.

Luo Mio grasped Ouma's arm.

Ouma looked at him with a slightly astonished expression.

The strange energy within his body was slowly flowing through his arm and into Luo Mio's hand.

After Luo Mio let go, he examined Ouma's body.

"Mm, there shouldn't be a problem now."

Ouma stared fixedly at Luo Mio.

"Toudo... you..."

Luo Mio smiled, raised his hand slightly, and patted his shoulder. "Everyone has their own secrets."

After hearing Luo Mio's words, Ouma left. Before departing, he said to Luo Mio, "We'll meet again at the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival."

Luo Mio watched the self-disciplined man and smiled.

Then he said to Ikki, "Let's go. Back to the room."

Girl

"The match is over! The winner of this match is Toudo Miohua!"

The announcer declared loudly.

After hearing the announcement that the match was over, Luo Mio recalled Hati and Skoll before leaving the combat area.

A week had already passed since his match with Ouma. Most of the participating students had already fought three or four selection matches.

Outside the venue, the committee had specially designated several streets that barred ordinary people and gossip reporters from entering, allowing the contestants to focus on their matches.

At that moment, three figures walked along one of those roads.

"Miohua, congratulations." Ikki stood beside him and offered his congratulations.

Ever since his battle with the "Hunter," Kirimura Seiya, Ikki's fame and strength had drawn the world's attention. Although some doubts remained, his subsequent two effortless victories over his opponents completely silenced those doubts. The former "Failed Knight" was now known as the "Uncrowned Sword King (Another One)"!

Arisugawa also stood nearby, speaking gently to Luo Mio like an older sister.

"Miohua, that makes four straight wins for you now. Just seven more victories, and you'll earn the right to compete in the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival."

"What about everyone else?" Luo Mio looked at Ikki and asked about the others.

Arisugawa answered.

"Stella is also on four consecutive wins, just like Miohua. And she's crushed her opponents with ease in every match!"

"Shizuku is currently fighting her fourth match. Her opponent is a second-year student from Jumen. Shizuku should be able to win easily."

Luo Mio looked at Arisugawa and asked, "What about Alice?"

Ikki also turned to look at Arisugawa.

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've attended any of Alice's matches."

"That's too much!" Arisugawa looked at the two of them resentfully and said unhappily, "I'm the same as Ikki right now, you know. Three consecutive wins."

"And your opponents' strength was...?"

"Hehe... easily defeated."

Luo Mio looked at Ikki and remarked, "Ikki, wasn't that obvious? With Alice's strength, anyone below the national level shouldn't even think of defeating him."

Though he had not displayed the dazzling performance of Luo Mio, Ikki, and the others, Alice had also relied on his own strength to defeat his enemies with ease. His handsome appearance and elegance in battle had even earned him the title "Black Sonia," drawing the attention of some people. Of course, those people were wealthy married women and young wives lusting after Alice's body.

After all, Arisugawa had once been the disciple of the One-armed Swordsman and the assassin known throughout the underworld as the "Shadow Killer."

"Is that so? Everyone's been winning quite easily." Ikki said in relief.

Then Ikki looked at Luo Mio.

"What about Touka?"

Hearing Ikki ask about Touka, Luo Mio replied casually, "My sister has already secured four straight wins."

"Likewise, Kanata has four consecutive wins as well."

Touka and Kuden'en Kanata were both true combat-oriented knights whose strength required no questioning. Not to mention that Touka, his older sister, was a top student knight capable of contending for the title of Seven Stars Sword King. Ordinary student contestants in the selection matches were like children playing house to her.

"Come to think of it." Arisugawa looked at the two of them with a slightly grave expression. "Gagami told me that Seven Stars Sword King Morohoshi Yudai, the Heavenly Eye Jonoshiraki Byakuya, and Asagi Momiji, the 'Will-o'-the-Wisp' and Junior Toudo's apprentice sister, have all successfully secured four straight wins."

"Should we say it was only expected of the top knights who took the top three places at the previous Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival?"

"And that's not all." Arisugawa's expression grew serious.

"The top knights from every school, including Kurashiki Kurato, the Sword Eater of Tanlang Academy, and those student knights who achieved outstanding results at the previous Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival, have all secured four consecutive wins as well. They defeated their opponents with incredible ease."

"There's also an exceptionally strong third-year contestant at Lianzhen Academy, Yakushi Kiriko, the White Knight."

Complex emotions flickered in Arisugawa's eyes.

"Of Akatsuki Academy's six representatives, aside from Ouma, who lost one match to Miohua, the rest have all comfortably attained four straight victories. Ouma also easily won his following two matches."

"..." Ikki's expression became grave upon hearing that.

Luo Mio also listened attentively to Arisugawa's words.

"Mm?"

At that moment, Luo Mio suddenly turned around and looked down the street behind them.

"Miohua?" Noticing Luo Mio's unusual behavior, Ikki followed his gaze and looked behind them. "Did something happen?"

"Miohua?"

Luo Mio frowned.

An illusion?... No... that fluctuation...

He then turned back and said, "Nothing. I merely sensed some stares."

Arisugawa looked puzzled.

"Could they be reporters? But this street is off-limits to everyone except contestants."

Walking ahead, Luo Mio shrugged and smiled. "Who knows?"

"I'm telling you, don't underestimate reporters! Just think about Gagami."

"Uh... that's true..."

Not long after Luo Mio and the others had walked away.

A figure flickered into existence on the road where ordinary people were forbidden to enter.

"You idiot! Weren't you almost exposed?" A sweet, pleasant female voice rang out, sounding distinctly pouty.

"Don't worry." A clear and elegant voice replied as the figure gradually revealed herself.

Her striking snow-white hair framed her proper features, while beautiful silver-gray eyes gazed in the direction Luo Mio had left.

She wore simple white casual clothes, with both sleeves rolled up to her elbows to reveal fair jade-like arms. One shoulder was exposed, displaying a delicate and alluring collarbone, where a black strap that could leave men dry-mouthed rested. Her tight jeans clung closely to her graceful, slender legs.

This beautiful white-haired woman was none other than Edelweiss, one half of Twin Wings!

"However..."

Edelweiss's beautiful silver-gray eyes remained fixed on the direction where Luo Mio and the others had departed. Her cherry-like lips parted as her clear, captivating voice slowly spoke.

"I didn't expect that child you mentioned to have such sharp senses."

"Hehehe~, of course! Who do you think he is!" A sweet, innocent girl's voice came from the faint spatial fluctuations beside Edelweiss.

Hearing the girl's voice, Edelweiss laughed brightly and teased, "I remember Void mentioning that you were born from within that child's body, right?"

"...What about it?"

Edelweiss rolled her lovely eyes, then placed her slender thumb beneath her chin.

"Then theoretically speaking, wouldn't Void count as that child's daughter?"

"Guh..." Void fell silent for a moment. Then, in a sweet and childish voice like a puffed-up pufferfish, she shouted, "I-I-I'm not his daughter!"

Then, seemingly embarrassed, she whispered, "At most... at most, I'm his little sister..."

"Oh?"

After hearing Edelweiss's teasing tone, Void shouted at her in embarrassment and anger, "Idiot, idiot, idiot! Edelweiss, you big idiot! I'm not talking to you anymore!"

The space beside them fluctuated and rippled irregularly alongside Void's embarrassed fury.

Sensing Void's silence after her outburst, Edelweiss smiled with the graceful elegance of a mountain flower.

Then she shifted her gaze toward the direction Luo Mio and the others had gone, her thoughts returning to the moment before Luo Mio left.

"It wasn't only him. That child beside him too..."

Beneath his black hair, eyes like demon-revealing mirrors had looked at the place where she stood in confusion.

Recalling the black-haired boy's appearance and name, Edelweiss shook her head.

"Only F-rank... should we say it was to be expected of Teacher Ryoma's descendant...?"

"Hey... Edelweiss." The still, silent space rippled faintly as Void's subdued voice gradually emerged.

"Mm?"

Hearing Void's unusually low tone, Edelweiss lowered her gaze gently and asked warmly, "What is it?"

Within that space, a purple-haired, golden-eyed girl with an angelic face stared blankly in the direction Luo Mio had left. Remembering the laughter and cheerful conversation between Luo Mio, Ikki, and Arisugawa just now, she then looked at the purple energy particles surrounding her.

"Tell me... if... I-I'm only saying if."

Hearing the slightly lost voice of the little girl who had been with her for so long, Edelweiss nodded gently and warmly.

"Mm."

"If I appeared before Brother... before him... do you think he would accept me?" Like a child who had done something wrong, the little girl spoke to Edelweiss in a low voice, lost, afraid, and timid.