Chapter 6, part 4
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A group of student knights and rookies standing against actual ones aligned with a noble house. Such sight would certainly catch a normal passerby’s attention.

‘This will definitely make the news, won’t it?’ Sigulf thought.

“Insolent whelp! Where do you think you are looking!?”

“Whoa…!”

Yet another near miss from the senior knight’s halberd.

“Sigulf, be careful.” Celina advised.

“Sorry… It seems the old fart does get faster.”

Rallying behind Arthfael and Minato, students from different years stared boldly against the Rhine paladins, while the Penndreic heir spoke against them.

“Before things escalate further, Sir, I demand you lay down your Arms and leave at once!”

“With all due respect to your father,” Pepijn emphasized the last bit. “We refuse. What makes you think we would concede in the first place?”

“I was hoping you would still remember a knight’s honor…”

“And I was hoping you’d still remember the very foundation of this school…”

“It was always about duel of chivalry, not aristocratic and nobility domination you’ve been forcing!”

“Hmph, idealistic and painfully naïve. Our views won’t meet after all…”

Pepijn raised his hand, signaling his knights.

“Rest of the Twelve and the others, show these children a painful lesson. Roeland, Olivier, Haastolf, this is no time to sleep.”

“””Yes, Sir!”””

“Karolingische Paladijn… Judge them.”

With a shout, his underlings rushed out first, while the Atlantics stood their ground.

“I’m sorry to drag you into this, Amakawa.” Arthfael apologized.

“It’s alright, I too can’t stand by idly, letting this happen…!”

Minato brandished his Sky Fencer and got into fighting stance.

“Let’s go, everyone! Bartram-senpai, Hrimgard-kun and the others, please hang on a bit longer!”

“Wha…?”

Sigulf nearly stumbled upon his words.

“He’s just worried. Don’t take it personally.” Celina responded.

“Ah, right…”

“How dare you two…!!”

Another strike successfully defended by Sigulf before he regroups with Celina, though he doesn’t seem too thrilled by this.

“Playing defensive doesn’t feel right…” He quipped. “Can’t we just release our Arms now?”

“Are you sure?” Celina asked back while evading a powerful swing. “Not going to hold on for a bit?”

“…know something I don’t?”

“Not quite, but I got a hunch…” she trailed off, eyeing the uncharacteristically defensive Eliot and Vigdis.

“I see…! Well, at least it’s not about keeping secret moves, but…!”

“Hm!?”

An unexpected and powerful deflect by Sigulf pushed one of the knight away, giving them some space.

“Better be safe than sorry, right!?”

“Very well. Then I shall cover you!”

Twirling her spear once, Celina rushed towards the knights.

“Fool! Even if you are Bartram’s daughter, in the end you are still just a little girl!”

“Oh, I wonder about that…!”

Suddenly braking, she then spun around while swinging her weapon with full strength.

“De-yah!!”

“What!?”

Her blade struck their halberds loudly. While it didn’t break through their defenses, the force and razor wind was more than enough to knock them back.

“Sigulf!”

“Right!”

Sigulf immediately crossed his axes and began chanting.

“Hunt… Slay… Be victorious! Break free from your bindings and run wild, Fenrir!!”

A burst of invisible energy emerged from Sigulf, and his Fenrir glinted as if receiving new life. But he’s not done just yet.

“Limiter: Laedingr, release!”

Another explosion, and his Arms glows pale blue.

“What is he— Eei, get out of our way, child!”

“Fufu, I see that you are scared.” Celina taunted. “But worry not, it is nothing but his first stage.”

“What!?”

True to what she said, Sigulf didn’t go into the counter-offensive and opted to continue reciting instead.

‘A bit of a waste to use it here, so let’s crush them as fast as possible…!’

“Limiter: Dromi…! Release!!”

“Oh…!”

Three times in a row Sigulf unleashed raw energy. And this time, the aura surrounding his weapons begun to look sharper and jagged, while it took a darker tint of blue.

“Grr…!”

Instinctively growled, Sigulf then assumed his combat position before vanishing from sight, a cue well understood by Celina.

“Here he comes…”

She promptly disengaged from the paladins by backflipping away to safety.

“Hey! W—“

Celina only gave them a dangerous smile, as an unseen force struck the Dutch knights and almost landed a clean hit.

“Guh…!? What’s going—“

With axes in each hand, Sigulf stopped their enemies’ halberds and prevented them from going any further.

“You are not going anywhere…!”

“I, impossible! He stalled us both!?”

“Where did he hide this much strength!?”

Landing safely, Celina smiled at the sight of her duel partner.

“Ah, to see you fought ferociously like that… Makes me want to go all-out as well!”

She switched out from her fighting stance and it made the senior knights slightly more desperate.

“No! We must s— Ugh, why you…!!”

“Didn’t I tell you? So stay still!!”

“Thank you, Sigulf…” Celina said almost quietly.

Even before she unleashed her True Arms, everyone on the field could feel the sudden spike of power coming from her.

“This is…!?” Pepijn murmured.

‘Finally I got to see it…!’ Sigulf thought.

“The War Goddess… Has called for harvest!”

A dark blue, almost black aura manifested, spiraling around her before rising high to the skies.

“As the blood raven shrieks…” Celina began. “All shall fall above this garden of blades. Soar towards glory, Badb!!”

Like being blown off by a storm, her aura dispersed upon Badb’s reawakening.

‘No matter how many times we sparred, her pressure is overwhelming as always…!’ Sigulf thought.

Indeed, no matter how short it was, every fighter on the field had to freeze against her presence, save for the exceptional ones.

“The War Goddess… Is here.” Lindorm murmured.

“Whoa, it’s sure been a while…” Laine added.

“Is this President’s…” Eurypha asked, both amazed and surprised.

“So this is what Hrimgard-kun faced most of the time…” Minato said.

“B, by the Lord…!” Pepijn expressed his disbelief. “How is it possible for a mere child to wield this much power!?”

When the situation calmed down for a bit, Celina returned to her duel position and stared coldly at the Rhine paladins.

“Very well, gentlemen. Shall we resume? Who wants to fall first?”

“Y, you…!! A shock tactic like that won’t work against us!”

“A shock tactic, you say…? Then how about you come and try us for yourself?”

“Wha—“

Unexpectedly, Sigulf jumped away from his enemies and landed in front of Celina, assuming a bestial posture.

“What’s the matter? If you are not coming, then…”

“…!”

Not having the proper time to react, the senior knights can only saw the eerie blue eye trails from Sigulf before clashing steel once more.

“Kuh…! Impossible! They are just students! How—“

The older men now found themselves being forced to defend as opposed to before. Between Sigulf’s furious assault and Celina’s masterful strikes, it’s only a matter of time until their defense breaks.

‘This… Feels incredibly good!’ Sigulf thought in-between attacks. ‘My body feels so light… It just obeys what my brain tells. It’s as if we are beasts playing with our prey…!’

Not too far from them, the Chelsea-Alba pair gets to study their dangerous fighting.

“That looks kinda fun!” Alba commented. “Should we—“

“No, wait.” Chelsea quickly interrupted. “Let’s not get too hasty on that.”

“Wait, what? Why!? Is it about keeping your best moves secret again?”

“Partially that. The other is… Well, just observe.”

“…ah, I see. Can’t be helped, no showing off this time…!”

As Chelsea pointed out, even though technically most of the Atlantics have inferior skill, Sigulf and Celina’s limiter release, as well as Minato and Arthfael’s constant encouragements kept their morale high.

“Come on, everyone!” Minato rallied. “Let’s keep this up!”

“We shall show them! Our honorable way of duel!” Arthfael followed suit.

“Kh…! How could you be this persistent!?” Roeland cursed.

“What are you doing!?” Pepijn shouted. “They are mere peasants! How can you get pushed back like that!?”

“Looks like your delusions began to shatter, huh?” Eliot provoked. “How about we fight for real?”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Vigdis protested. “Leave him to me!”

“Guys, be a bit more serious…” Melanie sighed.

“Silence! I still can turn this back around! I—“

“Guah…!”

A well-timed swing from Sigulf finally broke open a paladin’s defense. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Celina swiftly got into position.

“Now!”

“The first honor… Shall be mine!”

“Hold it right there. I think that’s enough.”

“…!?”

With machine-like precision, Celina stopped her spear at the last moment, nearly hitting the knight’s armor.

“…she sure took her time.” Celina sighed while withdrawing her Arms.

“Is that…”

The source of the voice casually strode unto the field with her usual grace, taking a good look at everyone involved.

“My, what a rowdy way to start the day.” Victoria commented.

“Ma’am, you are the one who’s taking this too lightly…” Eliot retorted.

“Geh, it’s Stark…!” Vigdis realized.

“Oh, good morning, Miss Hrimgard. I see you are doing fine.”

They exchanged fake smiles, something Sigulf quickly noticed.

‘Even at this situation, they’d rather be hostile with each other…’ he mentally noted.

“You…! So you finally showed yourself, Stark!” Pepin yelled, pulling the attention back.

“…oh, it’s you, Sir Rijn.” Victoria responded, now putting a much more genuine contemptuous expression. “What business you might have with us?”

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