She knew she couldn't defeat the principal on her own, but she could call for reinforcements. There was no way she would share a dorm with a man.
Seeing that Stella recognized Rei Ao, Kurono Shinguuji's expression grew serious.
"Why have you appeared at Hagun Academy without making a sound?" she asked.
"It's obvious. I'm here for Stella," Rei Ao replied, spreading his hands.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Stella, realizing how that might be misunderstood, hurriedly clarified, "What he meant was that he's here to help me seek justice!"
"Yes, exactly as Stella said," Rei Ao agreed. "Since she doesn't want to share a dorm room with a man, given her gender and status, that's entirely reasonable."
Kurono Shinguuji stood up and crossed her arms, fixing Rei Ao with a stern look. "This is a rule of Hagun Academy. You have no right to interfere."
"A rule?" Rei Ao scoffed. "Are you sure it's not because you're fond of that guy, Ikki Kurogane, and are trying to match them up in some twisted way?"
Hearing this, Stella's face darkened. She immediately questioned the principal, "Principal, do you know Ikki Kurogane?"
"..."
Kurono Shinguuji remained silent.
Because Rei Ao was right.
This made Stella even more furious.
"What right do you have to meddle in my relationships?"
"Even my father and mother can't control me like this. Who do you think you are?!"
Just as Stella was about to summon her Inherent Device, Rei Ao stopped her.
"I'm here to help Stella seek justice, not to break your academy's rules," he said.
"How about we resolve this the Hagun waywith a duel?"
"A duel..."
Kurono Shinguuji's eyes flickered.
It had been a long time since she had dueled, ever since she left the KOK alliance. Looking at Rei Ao's calm, youthful face, she asked, "What's your name, and how old are you?"
"Rei Ao, 18 years old. Why do you ask?"
"Eighteen?!"
Kurono Shinguuji was astonished.
For someone so young to have such a commanding presence was surprising. After a moment of thought, she proposed a suggestion.
"A duel is fine, but what will you wager?"
"A wager?" Rei Ao grinned. He had been thinking the same thing.
"If we're going to bet, let's make it big."
"The duel continues until one side surrenders. The loser must obey the winner. Do you dare?"
"..."
Kurono Shinguuji hadn't expected the young man to propose such high stakes.
She had only been interested in his potential, hoping to recruit him into Hagun Academy.
"Wait!" Stella exclaimed, startled. "Rei Ao, there's no need to go that far for me."
Loser obeys the winner? That would mean almost giving herself over completely if she lost!
She had only asked Rei Ao to back her up and maybe intimidate the principal into agreeing to her request. She never intended for him to risk becoming someone's slave.
Not knowing how much stronger Rei Ao had become, Stella instinctively believed he couldn't defeat the principal.
But Rei Ao insisted, "It's fine. If she dares to bet, I'll duel her."
In reality, he was provoking her on purpose.
Kurono Shinguuji clearly had her own agenda, but so did Rei Ao.
He was interested in her abilitycausality manipulation involving time.
"..."
After a few moments of silence, Kurono Shinguuji's eyes blazed as she stared at him.
"Fine. As long as the terms don't disrupt Hagun Academy, I accept."
Hearing her agreement, Rei Ao smiled, satisfied.
"Great. I'm more interested in you than Hagun Academy anyway."
...
Hagun Academy had a battle arena with a diameter of about 100 meters.
Surrounding the arena were tiered stands, resembling a grinding wheel, filled with spectators.
Today, students from all grades had gatheredthe largest crowd outside of major festivals.
After all, everyone had heard that the principal was going to duel.
"Tsk, tsk, this is the first time I've fought with so many people watching," Rei Ao remarked as he calmly surveyed the excited crowd in the arena.
Kurono Shinguuji rolled up her sleeves and loosened her tie, seemingly unfazed by the attention.
"Rei Ao, do you need time to warm up?"
"No need," Rei Ao replied, raising his hand.
Cold air swirled, forming a sword of ice in his grip that gleamed under the lights.
"Ice?"
Kurono Shinguuji's eyes narrowed.
She searched her memory for famous swordsmen with ice-related abilities but couldn't match any of them to Rei Ao's young face.
With a wave of his ice sword, Rei Ao's gaze sharpened. "If you need to warm up, do it quickly."
"I don't need it either," Kurono Shinguuji shook her head.
"Then let's begin."
The duel countdown started.
~~~
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50 Advance Chapters!
Chapter 40: World Crisis, Time-Space Collapse
The two were about to duel.
In the audience, Stella was growing anxious.
Stella: "What should I do? Rei Ao is going to fight the principal!"
Akame: "A fight?"
Frieren: "Wasn't the trade supposed to resolve things through negotiation? Why did it turn into a fight?"
Stella: "I'm confused too."
Stella: "Rei Ao made a wager with the principal because of me."
Megumi Kato: "What kind of wager?"
Stella: "It's... a slave-like wager."
Mai Sakurajima: "A slave? Stella, are you sure?!"
Stella: "Yes!"
Stella: "They agreed that the loser must completely obey the commands of the winner. What should I do now?"
Mai Sakurajima: "How could Rei Ao agree to such a wager?"
Mai, who had been taking a bath, suddenly stood up from the tub.
Her alluring body was exposed to the air, water droplets trickling down her curves and eventually sliding off.
But Mai didn't care about that.
She was extremely worried about such a risky bet.
"..."
At home, Megumi Kato narrowed her eyes as well.
She believed Rei Ao must have had some compelling reason for his decision.
But she also noticed the shift in how Mai was addressing him, sensing that things might not be simple. It seemed she should take a more active role moving forward.
Saeko Busujima: "Stella, don't worry too much. I believe Rei Ao must be confident if he made such a wager."
Ayame Yomogawa: "I also trust in Rei Ao-sama."
Frieren: "@Stella, instead of talking about it, why not start a live stream?"
Akame: "I'd love to witness a battle between strong opponents."
Stella: "Oh, good idea!"
[Ding! Stella has started a live stream!]
Frieren: "The fight has already started?"
On the screen, the two had already begun.
Kurono Shinguuji was wielding two strange handgunsher Inherent Devices, weapons that were the materialized form of a Blazer's soul. In the past, they were known as "holy swords," "demon bows," "cursed tools," or "noble phantasms." Nowadays, they were referred to as Inherent Devices, tools used to channel a Blazer's magic and execute their techniques.
Bang!
A light bullet shot out from the gun's muzzle. Under Rei Ao's watchful gaze, he noticed that the bullet violated the laws of physics, suddenly accelerating several times over in midair.
Clang!
But Rei Ao was still able to easily track the bullet's path. With a swing of his sword, he released a blade of energy that precisely sliced the bullet in half.
"Was that just normal swordsmanship?"
Kurono Shinguuji was astonished.
That wasn't an ability or a Blazer's secret technique. It was simply a sword swing.
How was he doing this?
It wasn't just Kurono who was puzzled. Ikki Kurogane, a master of swordsmanship in the audience, was even more shocked.
No matter how many times Kurono Shinguuji changed her shooting positions, Rei Ao casually deflected her shots with his sword aura.
Even though he knew this was just her warm-up, Rei Ao was getting annoyed.
"Hey, your time-accelerated bullets don't work on me. Isn't it time to wrap up your warm-up?"
This time, as Rei Ao swung his sword, the cold air formed an icy mist in the wake of his strikes. Blades of ice flew through the air, covering the ground with a layer of frost as they rushed toward Kurono Shinguuji.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
She immediately manipulated time, causing the space around her to distort and twist under the influence of her temporal interference.
The dozens of ice blades approaching her were suddenly shattered into fragments, breaking into several pieces mid-air.
But when Kurono Shinguuji tried to locate Rei Ao again, he had vanished.
Most of the spectators in the arena were equally confused.
"Who's the principal fighting?"
"I don't know. It looks like no one showed up."
Kurono Shinguuji heard these remarks and noticed that Rei Ao's presence in her mind was growing increasingly faint.
"What kind of ability is this?!"
She was certain that some ability was affecting her, but Rei Ao was nowhere to be seen within the arena. Even her memories were becoming blurred.
The eerie situation made her body tense up completely.
"You better use your best techniques, or this is going to end too easily for me."
"!!!"
A cold, bored voice came from behind her, sending chills down her spine.
She spun around quickly.
Rei Ao had somehow appeared behind her without her noticing.
Even he was surprised at how effective his "cognitive disappearance" ability was. After all, Kurono Shinguuji was a formidable level 23 opponent.
"Why not show me your forbidden technique?" Rei Ao said with a smirk.
"..."
Kurono Shinguuji realized she had completely underestimated Rei Ao.
He possessed ice abilities, formidable swordsmanship, and this strange power that allowed him to disappear and blur her memory.
It was unsettling.
"You know about my forbidden technique?"
Her voice was hoarse and low as she spoke.
"Who are you, really?"
"Tsk, so many questions. Once this duel is over and you belong to me, I'll tell you everything."
Rei Ao said impatiently, "Let's not waste any more time. Use your forbidden technique."
"..."
Kurono Shinguuji's eyes grew serious.
"You're confident. Very well, as you wish."
"My forbidden technique is one that even I cannot fully control. Don't die in there."
She stepped back, took a deep breath, and raised her dual handguns, firing two bullets. But strangely, the bullets collided in midair before reaching Rei Ao.
Crack!
At that moment, time began to intertwine and interfere.
Rei Ao glanced around.
The space around them began to fracture, like glass breaking.
This was her forbidden technique, "World Crisis."
'World Crisis: Time-Space Collapse' distorted the fabric of time and space, breaking everything within the target area. Even after the space was destroyed, it couldn't be restored.
Now, with the shattered space surrounding him, Rei Ao's situation appeared precarious.
~~~
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50 Advance Chapters!
Chapter 41: Freeze
"Now's your chancesurrender," Kurono Shinguuji said, looking coldly at Rei Ao.
Even she couldn't control the power if this continued.
"Surrender?" Rei Ao chuckled and shook his head. "No, this is a great opportunity to test my newly mastered power."
Freeze!!!
No cold air or ice appeared.
This time, he was using the conceptual power of freezing for the first time.
Void!!!
In an instant, all the noise in the arena stopped.
Everyone's expressions and movements froze in place.
Even the shattered space around Rei Ao remained unchanged.
With ease, he walked out of the shattered space zone and casually approached Kurono Shinguuji.
In the chat group, the members were confused by what they were seeing.
Akame: "Why is no one moving?"
Saeko Busujima: "@Stella, is there something wrong with the live stream?"
They tagged Stella, but there was no response.
Ayame Yomogawa: "This is really strange."
Frieren: "I think I get it."
Mai Sakurajima: "Get what?"
Frieren: "It's time! And space! They've been frozen!"
Frieren's eyes were bright and curious.
Frieren: "How was that done? @Rei Ao!"
Rei Ao: "Oh, I just simply froze time and space in this arena."
Mai Sakurajima: "You froze time? And space?"
Akame: "That's incredible. Can ice really do that?"
Frieren: "This is a fascinating concept to study."
Frieren: "If the temperature of ice was low enough, it could theoretically halt molecular motion, which might result in a 'frozen space' effect."
Frieren: "But freezing time that's"
Rei Ao: "My ability isn't just ice. It's freezing in the literal sense."
Frieren: "!!!"
Frieren: "Oh! How could I forget!"
Frieren: "Freezing freezing What an interesting power! I want to research this further."
Frieren: "Can I make a trade with you?"
Rei Ao: "We'll talk about that later."
By this point, Rei Ao had reached Kurono Shinguuji.
With a thought, he released the freeze on the area and pointed his ice sword at her throat.
"You've lost."
Kurono Shinguuji trembled at the sound of his voice, as if from a nightmare, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"How is this possible?"
"When did you escape from the shattered space?"
She hadn't seen anything happen.
Was it that strange ability again?
Rei Ao gave a mysterious smile.
"You're not the only one who can manipulate time."
Time!
Kurono Shinguuji finally understood.
Rei Ao also had some form of time manipulation ability.
A bitter smile appeared on her lips. "I've lost."
Suddenly, her gaze sharpened.
"This is bad! The shattered space has gone out of control!"
"What's happening?!"
A short-haired girl with a black headband was watching in panic as the fractured space started spreading toward her.
She felt a tearing sensation in her body as it approached.
"You can't control this?" Rei Ao asked, his expression puzzled.
"My power causes space-time to shatter, but that doesn't mean I can control space!" Kurono Shinguuji replied, feeling anxious. If her students were harmed because of this, she would never forgive herself.
She quickly shouted to the others in the unaffected area of the academy, "Everyone, back away from the dueling arena!"
"That girl"
Rei Ao looked at the girl caught in the fractured space. She seemed familiar.
He smiled at Kurono Shinguuji and said, "Let's add a new condition to our dealI'll help you save her."
Kurono Shinguuji's face grew serious. "Save her, and I'll agree to anything!"
"OK, deal."
Rei Ao froze time and space again, then dashed toward the girl.
Up close, he realized who she was.
Ikki Kurogane's younger sister, Shizuku Kurogane.
