Chapter 318: The Eighth School, Akatsuki, Appears
Luke looked at Stella, who was staring at him with a conflicted expression, and smiled. He had no intention of explaining everything.
He pointed toward the Wind Sword Emperor and said to Stella,
"I'll leave him to you."
Seeing Luke's smile, Stella froze for a moment before understanding what he meant.
The red-haired girl raised an eyebrow and replied somewhat unhappily,
"…Once this is over, you'd better give me a proper explanation."
"Yeah, I know."
Luke nodded.
After signaling two places to Ikki with his eyes, Luke turned around and left Hagun Academy, heading in a certain direction.
Before leaving, Luke left one final sentence for Ouma.
"I hope the next time we meet, you'll be able to stir my fighting spirit."
Ouma watched Luke's back as he left, his emotions somewhat complicated.
Just as Luke had once faced Twin-Wings, Ouma, who had once stood before the leader of Rebellion, the Tyrant—one of the world's three great Desperados—understood very clearly what that feeling was like.
Honestly, the current Ouma truly could not understand how Luke had the courage to challenge Twin-Wings again.
He wanted to call Luke back and ask him clearly, word by word.
However, just as Luke had said, the old him would never have done such a foolish thing.
Soon, Luke vanished into the distance, and Ouma calmed himself before walking back to Pierrot's side.
The two sides returned to their standoff.
A serious and heavy atmosphere gradually swallowed everyone present, and for a while, no one spoke.
The air fell into silence…
…Actually, they were just too awkward to know how to continue.
Pierrot's perfect opening speech, which he had prepared beforehand, had been interrupted by Luke before he could finish it. Now that things had returned to the beginning, even he did not know how to continue the topic.
To put it simply…
How was he supposed to keep acting cool now?
Fortunately, Hagun's side also had their own plans and had no intention of remaining in this deadlock. As the Student Council President, Touka was the first to break the silence.
"You are… Hiraga Reisen from Bunkyoku Academy, correct?"
Although it was a question, Touka's tone was certain.
The main reason was that the other party's strange outfit was simply too distinctive. It was impossible not to recognize him.
Having already seen the list of this year's Seven Star Sword Art Festival representatives from every school, she recognized this first-year representative from Bunkyoku Academy at first glance.
And it was not just him. Including Kurogane Ouma, none of the people standing beside Pierrot were unknown figures.
Seeing the severe expression on Touka's face, Pierrot—or rather, Hiraga Reisen—laughed happily.
"My, my, you know me? To think the great Raikiri would remember my name. What an honor."
Although he said that with an exaggerated expression, deep down, Reisen let out a huge sigh of relief.
The pressure when Luke had been present was simply too great.
The pressure he gave the Rebellion members when he entered battle mode was something no one else could truly understand.
For a moment, it almost felt as though they were facing abnormal monsters like Twin-Wings or the Tyrant.
They knew Luke could not possibly possess that level of strength, yet they were still suppressed so badly that they did not even dare say much.
Only Pierrot, Hiraga Reisen, who was unaffected by aura, and Kurogane Ouma, the strongest among them, had been able to speak to Luke relatively normally.
"Well then, how does it feel? Were you shocked by this stage called Hagun?"
No matter what, Pierrot still continued reading the lines he had prepared beforehand.
This was a script he had spent several nights writing in order to create an "interesting" atmosphere. He could not let it go to waste.
"We are Akatsuki Academy!"
As Pierrot's words fell, every member of Akatsuki Academy took one step forward.
There were seven figures in total. Aside from one person, all of them were representatives from various schools this year.
Donrou Academy, Unturning, Tatara Yui.
Kyomon Academy, Bad Luck, Shinomiya Amane.
Rokuson Academy, Bloody Da Vinci, Sara Bloodlily.
Bunkyoku Academy, Pierrot, Hiraga Reisen.
Rentei Academy, Beast Tamer, Kazamatsuri Rinna.
Bukyoku Academy, Wind Sword Emperor, Kurogane Ouma.
Aside from Ouma, all six of them were first-year students from their respective schools.
Without question, they were all major figures this year.
As for the extra seventh person, she was an ordinary girl dressed as a maid, riding together with Kazamatsuri Rinna on a huge beast that seemed to be a lion.
That was right. She was indeed an ordinary person.
With just a glance, Ikki and the others confirmed that this maid was not a Blazer.
Judging from the situation, she was probably someone like Kazamatsuri Rinna's attendant. After briefly observing her, Ikki, Stella, and the others quickly shifted their gazes away.
In the current situation, an ordinary person was less worthy of attention than the lion she and Kazamatsuri Rinna were riding.
There were seven people in total, and every one of them had strange clothing and a unique appearance.
Before Luke left, everyone's attention had been focused on him. At most, they had only noticed Pierrot, who had been speaking, and Ouma, whose aura was astonishing.
Aside from Luke, Pierrot, and Ouma being particularly eye-catching, this situation was mostly caused by Shinomiya Amane's ability.
When truly facing a hostile Luke, Amane had unconsciously activated his ability to hide himself and the people around him.
Even he did not know why he had done so. It was as though a living creature had instinctively chosen to flee after encountering its natural enemy.
Although Amane convinced himself that it was "for the smooth execution of the plan," whether that was truly the case…
Perhaps even he himself did not know.
Ikki, Stella, and the others looked at the people before them who called themselves Akatsuki Academy, and their expressions all turned grave.
Those capable of becoming representatives in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival were never weak. Moreover, most of these people were geniuses who had become representatives as first-years.
"Akatsuki."
To the seven knight academies of the this country, all named after the Big Dipper, that name was a blatant provocation.
Not only that, the appearance of Kurogane Ouma and Shinomiya Amane made Ikki, Stella, and Shizuku show surprise.
Stella was surprised that Amane, someone they had just met, was actually a member of Rebellion.
Ikki and Shizuku, on the other hand, were shocked that their older brother had actually joined the ranks of criminals.
"Ouma-nii, why have representatives from every school except Hagun gathered here?"
Ikki asked Ouma the question in his heart.
Compared to the others, Kurogane Ouma at least had some connection to him, so Ikki chose to speak to him.
Moreover, he was not only asking a question.
The look Luke had given him before leaving made Ikki vaguely sense that something was wrong.
Using this chance, he was also carefully observing something.
"And I've never heard of a school called Akatsuki existing…"
"Shut up."
However, Ouma cut Ikki off without the slightest courtesy.
It was not a reply. It could not even be called a rebuke.
It was nothing more than cold, emotionless words.
"I cut ties with the Kurogane Family long ago. Don't call me so familiarly."
…
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