The atmosphere got heavier as both sides continues their staredown. Sigulf slides into his battle stance; his eyes glints dangerously like a wild beast ready to strike. Alba swung her claymore lightly a few times, followed with her cracking a feral smirk.

“En garde.” The system announced.

The noble clenched his fists as a single cold sweat trails down his forehead. His duel partner simply adjusted his own collar the last time.

“Begin!”

Dust flies as the duelists kicked the ground as hard as possible, charging towards each other with fury. The loud sound of steel clashing followed suit. Both parties pressed their offense with all their might, accompanied by sparks scattering from their True Arms.

“Rgh…!” Sigulf grunted as he engaged in a deadlock with the noble.

‘Gotta hand it to them. They are not all talk.’

The noble gritted his teeth, giving his all to push Sigulf’s Fenrir back.

‘My pride… Our pride is on the line…! There’s no way I’m losing here!’

His eyes are burning with determination, even as Sigulf intensified his pressure.

‘If you are pushing with such force, then—!’

The noble suddenly pulled his sword back. Unfortunately for him…

“I can smell the air, you know.” Sigulf said, backing away at the last moment and managed to avoid the noble’s bait.

‘Shit, he read that!? And what did he me—’

The noble didn’t have time to finish his thought, as his body barely reacted in time against Sigulf’s sudden axe strike. Even though he managed to block it, the force still knocks him away.

“Sir!” his lackey called out with worry.

“Hey, now! I’m your opponent here!”

“Guh…!”

Alba pushed her opponent slightly off balance, before she continued with a powerful upswing. Just like his boss, the boy got knocked away without damage.

“It’s not over yet!” Alba roared while she charged; Sigulf wordlessly followed after.

‘D, dammit…!’ the noble mentally cursed as he guarded against Sigulf’s attack. ‘They really won’t let us catch a breath!’

The endless barrage from Sigulf-Alba duo left no opening for counterattacks, forcing the nobles to stay on the defensive.

‘Which one is it…!? Is it another feint!? Or will h—‘

“There.”

“!?”

Using the noble’s moment of uncertainty, Sigulf brought his Fenrir down and broke his opponent’s guard.

“Shi—“

“Gotcha…!”

“Sir!”

All of a sudden, using the momentum from Alba’s strike, the lackey propels himself and tackled the noble away.

Slash!

“Gwah…!”

“…”

The Fenrir struck the lackey instead, sending him flying backwards.

“Battle point, down by 20%.”

“Y, you…!” the noble looks genuinely surprised before regaining his composure. Getting up quickly, he charged once more at Sigulf. “Revenge!”

“Tch…!”

Barely recovering, Sigulf managed to block his attack at the last moment. Before Sigulf had a chance to react, the noble jumped away.

“Are you alright!?” he asked his lackey.

“I, I’m fine, Sir!” his men responded with surprise.

“Don’t give up! It’s not over yet!”

“Man, it’s like we are the bad guys here…” Alba commented.

“We should put those peasants at their place!”

“…nevermind. I take it back.”

Meanwhile, as the duelists clashed once more, Yuu still observed from the sidelines.

“I’m surprised those nobles can keep up with them.” he commented. “Still, for how long?”

The nobles got more aggressive, seemingly had enough with defending.

‘That being said, those two going on an all-out rampage…’ Yuu thought. ‘It would be much easier if it’s just that; a blind frenzy. Yet, this is Sig-kun. Can’t underestimate his instincts. And that Hunter girl is much stronger than I anticipated. I have to think of a countermeasure for later.’

The crowd’s voice got louder, catching Yuu’s attention.

“…more people come to enjoy this one-sided affair, huh?” Yuu laughed bitterly. “Ah, well. It’s their own fault.”

“Gaahh…!”

“Battle points, down by 25%.”

“S, sir!”

Sigulf managed to land a hit on the noble. His lackey caught him as the noble was reeling back from the hit.

“N, not yet…! I can still…!”

Before the noble can finish, the sound of high heels clacking could be heard approaching the area.

“Hey, is that…”

As the source of the sound showed themselves, the crowd went into a commotion.

“I, it’s the student council!” one of the mobs exclaimed.

‘Celina!?’ Sigulf finally diverted his attention.

“I see you guys are still on it.”

Celina Bartram and Chelsea Kensington have arrived on the scene.

“Geh, the Sassenach duo, huh…” Alba muttered.

‘Wait, why are they drawing their True Arms? Did something happened?’ Sigulf thought.

As he noted, the student council wields their weapons; the jagged raven spear Sigulf saw before, and a sword plus round shield combination respectively. Behind them, Sigulf noticed a pair of students he doesn’t recognize; a boy and a girl. The long haired boy with a grim expression wears a huge, oversized gauntlets. In place of the humanoid fingers are five equally big blades, making it looked more like draconic claws.

‘A claw user? And a big one at that.’

On his side is a blonde haired girl, who somehow looks like she’s been spacing out. Her True Arms took the form of a harpoon spear with a steel chain attached to it.

‘This one’s a bit unusual. Those chains… Probably she can use it to swing the harpoon.’

The noble looks unnerved once more, now he’s facing the student council president herself.

“I believe you have an explanation for all of this.” Celina said, addressing the noble.

“Wait a minute. Please listen to me, Bartram. This is—“

“’To regain the nobility’s lost honor’, am I correct?” she cuts the noble off. “Actually, I believe nothing has been lost.”

“Surely you jest!? This guy—“

“Or there’s nothing to warrant an attempted physical assault towards this 1^st-year.” Now’s Chelsea’s turn to cut him off.

“Prez, Prez.” The harpoon girl suddenly talked. “Or how he sent his minions to… Stall us? Buy the time?”

‘He did that!?’ Sigulf thought, now glaring furiously at the noble. ‘I kinda thought she will be fine, but still…!’

The noble gritted his teeth in anger, while his lackey looks unsure on what to do.

“Why, Bartram? As a fellow noble, you of all people should have understood!”

“Don’t worry, I do understand what’s happening here.”

“Then—“

“If anything, it’s people like YOU who humiliated the nobility.”

“What…!?”

“Instead of improving your own self, you used your status as an excuse to laze around and look down on others. Truly, you should be ashamed to even consider yourself a member of this Academy.”

Celina’s words clearly infuriated the noble.

“How dare you, betraying your own lineage and siding with those peasants!!”

“I am not siding with them. I am merely adhering to the principle of this Academy. To judge every one duelist based on their performance and passion, regardless of their societal standing.”

“And that’s coming from the daughter of a sponsor!? You’re a raving mad hypocrite!”

“What the…!?” Chelsea got furious at the noble’s accusation and was just about to step forward, if not for Celina stopping her.

“That may be true.” The student council president simply replied. “As long as I cannot provide any evidence that I passed on my efforts, you are free to say anything you want. However…”

Celina stepped forward and twirled her spear before getting into her battle stance.

“I have a suggestion. How about you try and see for yourself, whether my skills are genuine… or not.”

All of a sudden, a massive and unseen pressure envelopes the whole area, mostly affecting the duelists.

‘What’s… this…!?’ Sigulf thought. ‘This is totally different from back then…! Did my arms… just tremble…!?’

‘Holy shit… I heard she’s the Academy’s strongest… But not like this…!’ Alba thought while struggling to stand straight.

‘Even Sig-kun and Hunter went like that…’ Yuu commented, partially feeling the pressure. ‘So this is the rumored ‘S-Ranker’…’

“S, sir, what should we do…?” the lackey asked his superior. “We’re still fighting, and there’s no way we can face Bartram…!”

A mix of emotions flashed in the noble’s face, but in the end, he decided to brace himself.

“Bartram!” he shouted. “After I’m done with them, you are next!”

“S, sir!?”

“Hm, very well.” Celina responded as she twirled her spear once more, back to standing by. “Then I shall see the end of this duel first.”

The pressure dissipates, allowing the duelists to move unhindered once more.

“Cel, is this really alright?” Chelsea whispered to her.

“If they are genuine, then it should be.”

The noble turned his attention towards Sigulf again.

“Unforgivable…!” he growled. “You dared to cross your boundaries! Thus, I—“

A sudden hard strike from the Fenrir landed straight in his face, sending the noble flying.

“Sir!! Why you…!!”

The lackey dashed straight towards Sigulf, only to be intercepted by Alba.

“The hell are you going!? I’m your opponent!”

“Out of my way, woman!!”

Sigulf’s sudden burst of fury made most of the spectators cheer, except…

‘Sig-kun!? What’s gotten into him!?’ Yuu thought.

‘He’s nothing like this yesterday…!’ Arthfael mentally noted. ‘Is this another trick up his sleeve, or…’

Sigulf, on the other hand, keep landing his attacks mercilessly, not giving the noble a chance to even perform an emergency recovery.

‘Why…?’ the white-haired boy thought in-between strikes. ‘Why am I like this? Am I… angry?’

The noble managed to block an attack and slipped away, though now he has difficulty standing. Sigulf stopped for a moment before continuing his pursuit.

‘Is it because of him?’ he thought, while getting few strikes in. ‘But here I am, dominating him. So…’

It was after he met Celina’s gaze that he realized.

‘Ah, I see… So that’s how it is…’

Sigulf suddenly stopped moving, catching Alba and her opponent’s attention.

“Hrimgard! What are you doing!?”

Sigulf stood still, looking towards Celina’s direction.

‘I was angry…’ Sigulf realized. ‘I was frustrated towards myself.’

Seemingly not paying attention, the noble got up.

‘Standing on the same level as her… How foolish I am. She just easily showed how huge the gap between us.’

The noble finally got up, and charged towards Sigulf.

“This is no time for sightseeing… HRIMGAAAAAAARD!!” the noble roared while closing on him.

“Sig-kun, watch out!!”

“…!”

The noble managed to land a clean hit.

“Battle point, down by 30%.”

“And now— !?”

However, Sigulf only flinched a little, and before the noble could react, Sigulf grabbed his arm first.

‘…and that’s why, more the reason for me to win. To close the gap one step at a time. To reach the same heights. To stand by her side…!’

“I can’t lose here!!”

With his free hand, Sigulf brought his axe down and lands a decisive blow.

“Aaargh…!!”

His opponent got hammered to the ground by the sheer force of the Fenrir, before finally lying unconscious.

“Battle points, 0. Cannot continue duel.”

The announcement earned a loud cheer from the crowd, while the lackey knelt in defeat, losing his will to fight. Alba pulled away from him, watching Sigulf silently.

‘He…’

From the other side, Chelsea sighed in relief, the unknown pair withdrawn their Arms, and Celina slightly smiled at the spectacle before her.

“Just as I thought.” She mused. “They are genuine.”