"Cough—!"
"Groan..."
Meanwhile, on another battlefield, Charlotte spat out a mouthful of blood, her face pale as she collapsed to the ground.
Beside her, the Black Lion lay weakly, its entire body covered in water, completely drained of any remaining fighting strength.
Rinna, trembling uncontrollably, was backed into a corner before being knocked unconscious by a water bullet from Shizuku.
"This one's so weak!"
Shizuku glared fiercely at the unconscious pink-haired girl.
This was the woman who had blocked her from rescuing Nagi.
She had no idea how he was doing now—whether he had been saved or not.
"Her ability is controlling pets, so it's only natural she's weak herself."
Ikki's expression was entirely unsurprised.
According to intelligence, Rinna Kazamatsuri's title was "Beast Tamer." Her Device, the
For example, the Black Lion had gained its stasis ability through the collar around its neck, and the same applied to Charlotte.
So while her maid and lion were strong, she herself was exceptionally weak—essentially just an ordinary person with magical power.
"The real problem lies elsewhere."
Ikki turned his gaze toward the other battlefields.
The remaining members of Akatsuki Academy had regrouped.
The last three stood side by side.
Among them, Kurogane Ouma's strength was unimaginably overwhelming, Amane Shinomiya's abilities were bizarre beyond measure, and Sara's power to create Blazers could form terrifying formations.
"Not like we expected much from them anyway."
Amane Shinomiya glanced at the unconscious Tatara Yui and Rinna Kazamatsuri lying in the distance, his face utterly indifferent.
Among Akatsuki Academy's members, these three were the true core—the rest were just filler.
These three were undeniably in a league of their own, far surpassing Tatara Yui and Rinna Kazamatsuri.
"Junior, what do we do?"
Touka retreated to Eiji's side, her expression darkening as she spotted Kanata in the distance.
"These three are all incredibly strong!"
Ikki's expression grew grave.
His eyes darkened further as he glanced at the unconscious Stella in the distance.
In contrast,
On Hagun's side, Stella and Kanata were both unconscious, and Ikazuchi Saijou had collapsed at some point, leaving only Eiji, Touka, Ikki, and Shizuku—four in total.
Amid the towering flames,
The seven remaining combatants stood in a tense standoff.
The atmosphere between them was several times more suffocating than before, their clashing auras enough to stop an onlooker's heart.
"This is bad..."
Eiji muttered under his breath.
Honestly, this lineup was hard to win against.
If either Kurono or Nene had stayed behind at Hagun, their chances of victory would have been higher. But as things stood... just holding their ground was already a struggle.
"No choice."
Eiji took a step back.
"Don't look back!"
The others instinctively shot him surprised glances at his sudden shout, halting their turns mid-motion before refocusing on their enemies.
As their junior, lover, friend, rival, and the one who had saved Ikki, they held absolute trust in Eiji.
"Hmm?"
Amane Shinomiya tilted his head.
Tilted.
Puzzled by Eiji's actions, he watched him with keen interest.
Kurogane Ouma and Sara also shifted their attention to Eiji, who was behaving unusually at this moment.
Perfect opportunity!
Eiji's spirits lifted as he prepared to activate his charm ability.
If he could defeat his opponents with his blade alone, he would never resort to charm.
But since victory seemed impossible now, there was no need to hold back.
Time to turn them all into his dogs!
Boom!
Suddenly, a massive shadow loomed over them.
In that instant, everyone's gaze shifted skyward.
The faculty building that had stood opposite them was now inexplicably split in half, collapsing toward the group.
Eiji frowned.
Was this the aftermath of Stella and Kurogane Ouma's earlier clash?
Regardless, his chance to use charm had vanished.
For maximum effect, his opponents needed to look directly at him. If their eyes weren't locked onto his, the charm's potency would drop to less than ten percent—far from enough to turn them into his dogs.
As the building toppled, the group scattered.
Amid the deafening crash, the structure crumbled into ruins, sending dust billowing into the air.
"Hmm... Seems he was planning to use some kind of trump card?"
Amane Shinomiya studied the collapsed building thoughtfully.
"And one powerful enough to take down all three of us at once!"
"To think he still has such strength in reserve?"
Kurogane Ouma's lips curled into an intrigued smile.
"Judging by his reaction, it must be a double-edged technique... I look forward to our next one-on-one duel."
But not today.
"Let's end this quickly!"
Kurogane Ouma raised his odachi again, wind coiling around the massive blade.
"Agreed."
Sara lifted her paintbrush, her expression turning deadly serious.
"Heh. Their defeat was inevitable from the start."
Amane Shinomiya casually twirled his rapier.
With that, the three charged forward again.
"Stop them!"
Eiji barked the order.
To safely use his charm, he couldn't mix with Touka and the others—friendly fire was a risk. While Touka wouldn't be an issue, accidentally turning the Kurogane siblings into his dogs would create... complications.
No need for instructions. As the trio advanced, Touka and her companions moved to intercept.
Touka clashed with Kurogane Ouma, lightning tangling with tempest winds.
Ikki fixed his gaze on Amane Shinomiya, tracking his every move with caution.
Shizuku lunged at Sara, pelting her with water orbs to disrupt her breathing.
Another perfect chance!
With Touka's group facing away and Kurogane Ouma's trio facing him directly, Eiji steadied himself to unleash his charm.
Whoosh!
But then—
A gale-force wind erupted, kicking up a swirling dust screen that severed Eiji's line of sight to his targets.
It was the aftermath of the clash between Kurogane Ouma and Touka.
"Talk about terrible timing!"
Eiji emerged from the dust, now covered in grime.
"Perfect chance... Shizuku, why are you turning around?!"
"Again... Damn it, our figures overlapped!"
An utterly bizarre scene unfolded.
***
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