Women’s Rookie Event, Battle Board Qualifying Sixth Rabsp;

  Yuuji, Aika, Tatsuya, Miyuki, Shizuku, and Nakajo Azusa sat together on the spectators' seats to watch Honoka’s Battle Board matbsp;

  While Tatsuya was the engineer in charge of Honoka, Azusa had also helped him calibrate Honoka’s CAD, so she came to watch along to see her performanbsp;

  “e to think of it, I wonder why Mitsui-san’s has so many Optical Activation Sequences prepared?”

  “Under Battle Board rules, using magic to interfere with other testants is prohibited. However, you are not barred from hindering them as a result of interfering with the surface of the water.”

  Tatsuya pulled out a pair of sungsses and hahem to Azusa.

  “Hm? What are these for?”

  Azusa looked over and saw Yuuji and the others already wearing it.

  “...What’s the meaning of this?”

  She said fusedly, but still put it on.

  And soon, the match begins.

  The bring sound of the horn ting down resounded, and the moment it start, a fsh of brilliant, blinding light shined on the surface of the water.

  “Uwah!”

  “W-What’s happening?!”

  All other testants covered their eyes with their arms as they struggled to maintain bance from the initial shock from being blinded. Some even fell and spshed into the water.

  But from within the light, Honoka, with her sungsses, burst forth at tremendous speed, leaving behind ead every one of her rivals at the start line.

  “That’s amazing… It never even occurred to me that she would cast an optical spell oer’s surface.”

  Honoka tio domihe match, going further and further beyond any of her other petitions. She was essentially going through the course alone, and soon, she reached the goal with no one else in sight behind her.

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  In the aTown of Yokohama, within an octagonal room, restyled to fit the Great Union of Asia architecture and decorated with filigree from the same try, five men in suits gathered around a circur table.

  A pot of tea and several tea cups id upoable that was covered with a wiable cloth.

  Behind them, fe monitors dispyed an artistic depi of red dragons along with a golden emblem of a headless dragon.

  “Wasn’t Third High supposed to be the front-runner for the Rookie petitions?”

  “After going to the trouble of engineering Watanabe’s withdrawal, at this rate, First High will end up winning anyway.”

  “If the favorite wins, as bookmarkers, we’d be the only losers.”

  “And we drew an especially rge crowd this time. For us, it won’t e cheap, paying out the dividends. It’s sure to put a huge dent in our busihis term. ANd if that happens… All of us will be purged.”

  “Depending on the size of our losses, the boss might just do the deed himself.”

  “If it were only a matter of dying, it wouldn’t be so bad…”

  “...We’ve got to make a mht away. Especially when we have… “that” in our way.”

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Fifth day of the petition, Women’s Rookie Event Ice Pilrs Break Venue.

  “A-Aika… Are you really going out in that outfit…?”

  Within the waiting room of the venue, Yuuji stared at Aika in disbelief upon seeing what she would be wearing for her Ice Pilrs Break matbsp;

  “Of course I am~! Isn’t this a great ce to show off~? The rules allow for it, so I might as well do it~”

  Aika turned with a brilliant smile, causing the long hem of her dress to be dragged around the floor.

  She was dressed in a pure white, shoulderless, long party dress with a deep v-cut on her back, revealing much of her impeccable white skin. Floral ce covered her upper chest slightly and up towards her neck, leaving her shoulders bare. And following the floral pattern, she also wore pure white, floral ce gloves that run up to the middle of her upper arm.

  “No… It’s not just your dress… You look like yoing to a ball…”

  While she was beautiful normally, Aika almost never used any makeup on her day to day basis. But this time, she did, and she also left her gsses behind, fully dispying her beautiful eyes.

  “Eeeeh~? I just wore a little bit of makeup and did my hair into a flower braid~ Isn’t it cute~?”

  “...Too cute.”

  “Ufufufu~ Are you going to be jealous~?”

  Aika leaned forward, narrowing her eyes in a teasing manner.

  “...Well, I’ll be lying if I said I’m not.”

  Yuuji sighed, standing up from his seat and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “Good luck. I’m sure you do it. And most importantly… Have fun.”

  “Uhn~ Thank you, Yuuji~ I love you~”

  “I love you too.”

  After sharing a long, passionate kiss, Aika went out to the venue while Yuuji went to the bench to watch her match as her engineer.

  Kasuga Akane from Fifth High school, her oppo on this Ice Pilrs Break match, was dressed in a jet-bck, old-japayled, militaristiiform, plete with a jet-bck cape and militaristic hat. And pleting her look, she also had a piece of straw on her mouth.

  Her outfit would have attracted a lot of attention as she rose up oform, just like all the other testants of the Ice Pilrs Break event, sihey’re allowed to use any outfit they wanted.

  But this time, all eyes were focused on the pure-white Goddess who was slowly asding to her ptform on the opposite side of the board.

  “Woah… She’s beautiful…”

  “A Goddess…”

  “Am I in heaven…? Is this real…”

  Murmurs, gasps, and mutterings of awe filled the entire venue as Aika stood silently oform with a calm smile on her fabsp;

  This was her first appearan the Nine Schools petition. But like the still surface of a ke, she showed no sign of excitement, nervousness, or anxiousness at all. It was as if she was unshaken and untroubled by the worries and tributions of mortals.

  But inside…

  Ufufufu~ How is this, Yuuji~ You must be super horny after seeing me like this, right~? I look super i aiful, right~? Don’t you want to defile me in this dress~? It’s white, so you don’t have to worry about soiling it~!

  Her lips curled up into a small smile, and immediately, the crowd burst into cheers. But Yuuji, who saw her expression, could immediately tell what her expressio.

  She must be thinking of perverted stuff…

  He had to admit, she was extremely beautiful. Even more so than usual. No… much more.

  But Aika was still Aika. No matter how heavenly, i, or pure she looked, Yuuji khat she would always have dirty thoughts in that little pink head of hers.

  Well, as long as she’s having fun…

  He smiled and watched over her silently as the start of the match began to t down.

  The poles in the middle of either side of the arena with a red, yellow, and green light oip of it began to shine. And along with the bring sound of the horn, it began ting down to the start of the matbsp;

  The moment the green light lit up and the sound of the horn that sighe start of the match, Aika immediately raised her right hand into the sky.

  On her oppo’s side of the arena, a massive, light blue magic circle appeared above all twelve of Akane’s ice pilrs, crag with electricity.

  Her eyes widened, and instead of going through with her pn on drawing first blood by attag, she immediately ged her pn intthening her ice pilrs.

  But before her spell could even activate, Aika dropped her hand down.

  “Raikou (God of Lightning).”

  With a word whispered from her smiling lips, the massive light blue magic circle began to glhtly and brightly before a massive n of lightning pierced down to the ground, enveloping all twelve ice pilrs iwelve meter square area.

  *ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR*

  The deafening thunderous sound and blinding light filled the entire venue.

  And when the light dissipated, not even a hint of shattering of the ice pilrs remained. Only the remains of electricity crackled on the surface of the arena.

  And soon after the horn signaling the start of the match resouhe horn signaling the end of the match was blown.

  Alright~ Now I fight agaiher Miyuki or Shizuku~ I ’t wait~!

  Aika thought excitedly in her mind as she walked back to the First High’s bench where Yuuji was, ign the look of shod awe from everyohin the venue.

  As soon as she arrived near Yuuji, she raised her hand up and they high-fived.

  “Otsu~ How was it~? Was it good~? I was goht~?”

  “You were amazing. You did go a bit overboard a bit, but… I’m sure it’ll be fi’s a new spell that I made and it’s an A-rank spell, so it might surprise people. But we know Miyuki will use Niflheim and Inferno, two A-raked spells as well, ter, so there’s o worry.”

  “Uhn~ The’s return~ I want to go and watch Miyuki’s match too!”

  “Alright. Let’s go.”

  “Ufufufu~ And on the way, maybe we sneak in a little quickie~?”

  “...”

  Barely making it to Miyuki’s match after a not so quick “quickie” session, Yuuji and Aika saw the final moments of the match where Miyuki vingly won against Shizuku using Nifelheim and Inferno, firming her match for tomorrow’s Rookie Ice Pilrs Break Finals and ehe day of the petition with a magnifit dispy of magical skill and talent.

  Though it was still less fshy than her match, both figuratively and literally.

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  “Tsubakihara-kun, you were sooooo amazing itle board event~!!!!”

  “Uhn uhn! You set a record in Battle Board history!!!”

  “C-gratutions on passing the qualifiers!!! I-I couldn’t stop looking at you!!! Y-You were so… A-Amazing!!!”

  “Oh, and didn’t you alsram that “Raikou” spell for Kiryuu-san? It was soo amazing~!!!”

  “A-Ah, thank you very much, everyone.”

  Watg from the side, outside of the massive crowd that had formed around Yuuji, Aika snickered, holding back her ughter, as Miyuki and Tatsuya smiled helplessly at Yuuji's plight.

  Tonight, a small, private ba was held for the first year students to gratute them on passing their first day of the Nine Schools’ petition ahem have fun for the night, so they could rest and do eveer for the remaining days of the petition.

  But for Yuuji, the ba was anything but rest… He had been swarmed by girls sihe moment he arrived in this hall. They were even more excitable than usual, and it was easy to uand why after his performan the Battle Board event.

  He had been gng at Aika, Miyuki, and Tatsuya and tried to send them signals to help him numerous times. But they didn’t… Aika even dared to ugh at him…

  Is this how you react when your boyfriend is swarmed by girls?!

  Holy, if they were simply gratuting him, then he wouldn’t be so tired. But… judging by their redly blushing cheeks, he knew why they’re so excitable tonight.

  The humiliation he had to face this m… He wasn’t an exhibitionist that would enjoy being “seen”!!!

  Is this how Aika feels when men ogle at her breasts? No… Is this how all women feel? I-It’s so embarrassing…

  He let out a sigh inwardly aly g Tatsuya.

  In the ahese girls were supposed to approach Tatsuya after he showed off his amazing engineering skills for the first time in the Speed Shooti and the Girl’s Rookie Battle Board event for Shizuku and Honoka.

  And because of that…

  He gowards Shun, who was chatting with his friend a few distance away with a drink in his hand.

  Shun became overwhelmed by his sense of inferiority after seeing how much praise Tatsuya got and became reckless in his monolith atch the day.

  The monolith atch where Shun and his friend were caught up in an act when the opposing team “actally” used the magic spell Battering Ram in the abandoned building area.

  Perhaps it was iable si’s caused by those No-Head Dragon bastards. But perhaps their injuries became so severe because they were reckless to try and win as quickly as possible.

  But now, Shu seem to be showing any signs of ag up, which is good.

  Still, I ’t be careless. Those bastards would defiry to sabotage the monolith atorrow, especially after seeing my performaoday…

  To witle Board vingly, eveing a record of finishing with the fastest time in Battle Board history was essentially Yuuji painting a target on his own babsp;

  Well, that’s fi’s better if I’m the oargeted since I defend myself. And they won’t live for long anyways.

  Tatsuya said he would “ up” the root of the problem as he would in the anime. So they won’t live for any lohan a few days.

  For now, he just o be careful with the Monolith atorrow.

  I’ll o tell Shun and his friend to not be reckless again ter on… At least not during tomorrow’s monolith code event in the abandoned building. If they do… they might still get injured even if I mao save them in time…

  He let out a sigh once again…

  What a day…

  Even though he has [Divine Physique], his mind was truly exhausted by everything that had happeoday and thinking about what would be happening tomorrow.

  He really o cuddle with Aika and Erika right now to recover his spirit…

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Sixth Day of the Nine Schools petition.

  On the way to watch Honoka’s Rookie Battle Board event, passing through a quiet hallway, Yuuji and Aika noticed two familiar figures in Third High School uniforms walking from the opposite side of the hallway towards them.

  One was a handsome man with brown-hair and green eyes while the other was a shorter, bck-haired boy with crimson eyes.

  Their eyes met, and there was an immediate look nition. After all, both their looks aation were famous in their schools and others.

  Though, the two was stunned for a few moments at the sight of Yuuji and Aika, before they snapped out of their daze and regain their calm.

  The brown-haired man stepped forward with a smile, his eyes focused on Yuuji, while the bck-haired boy followed after him, his eyes carefully Yuuji.

  “I am Iasaki, a first year at Third High School.”

  “And I am Kichijouji Shinkurou, also a first year at Third High School.”

  Ah… I didn’t expeeet them here…

  “I am Tsubakihara Yuuji, a first year at First High School.”

  “Hello~! I’m Kiryuu Aika~! A first year at First High School as well~! o meet you!”

  Immediately after Aika introduced herself, Yuuji could immediately tell they were mesmerized by their dazed, and slightly flushed, expression.

  Well, it was iable. After all, his girlfriend is extremely beautiful and super sexy. It’s uandable why these twins would immediately beesmerized at the sight of her.

  “So tell me. What do the Crimson Prind Cardinal Gee want with me before their match?”

  Both Masaki and Shinkurou snapped out of their daze and faked a cough, their face still blushing redly as Aika giggled.

  “A-Ahem… Excuse me. We came to see the Bck Emperor who made the world record for the fastest pyer to ever finish a p itle Board petition and shocked everyog.”

  “Tsubakihara Yuuji… I’ve only heard of the hrough rumors before. But I will never fet it. Along with Shiba Tatsuya, the two of you are most likely the most dangerous enemies we will be fag in this Nine Schools petition. I know it is rude to do this before the match, but we simply wao see you in person.”

  Ah… So these two are both locked in on me and Tatsuya, huh?

  “I’m humbled to be regarded so highly by the boy genius who discovered one of the Cardinal Codes at the tender age of thirteen… But you are right. It is… unorthodox.”

  Yuuji turowards Aika, who was already pying with her phone because she was bored.

  “Aika, you go ahead and save a seat for the two of us?”

  “Hm? Sure~”

  Aika nodded and turowards the two with a bright smile.

  “See you two ter~ Oh, and good lu your matches~! Don’t lose until your match with Yuuji! I’d like to see him go all out, so please do your best!”

  She winked, causing them to flind blush once again, and ast them.

  Their gazes instinctively gravitated towards Aika as she walked away before Yuuji’s fake cough shem out of their daze.

  “Staring at a dy as she walks away isn’t something a gentleman should do so outwardly isn’t it, prince, cardinal gee.”

  The two panicked and became flustered when they heard Yuuji’s words and Aika’s giggle.

  “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  “P-Please five me as well…”

  Yuuji couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of these two panig at his slight teasing. Them staring at Aika was only natural. And they’re staring because they’re mesmerized by their beauty, so Yuuji only teased them a bit.

  If they’re ogling at her though… Well, Aika would get her wish of seeing him go all out against these two.

  “So? Is that all?”

  “...Yes. We look forward to our match. Don’t lose until you reach the finals.”

  “Likewise. Then, please excuse me.”

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Honoka’s matded with her win, as expected. After all, she was quite skilled in magid with Tatsuya’s urategy of expanding the shadow oer surface to force her rivals, who were wearing dark sungsses as a termeasure her previous strategy of blinding them with light oer surface, to avoid taking the inside was but a done deal.

  And now, Aika, Miyuki, and Shizuku gathered in a meeting room with Mayumi. Yuuji and Tatsuya were also there as the three girls’ engineers.

  “Thanks to everyone’s outstanding efforts, our own pyers have swept the Rookie Women’s Pilrs Break Final league. Kiryuu-san, Shiba-san, Kitayama-san, gratutions on a job well done!”

  “Thank you very much~!”

  “In reition of this brillia, the Tour ittee has approached us with a proposal. Regardless of the standings in the Final, the total points awarded to our school will be the same, so they want to know if we’d like to skip the finals and have all three of you share first pce.”

  “Yes! I want to fight against Miyuki~!”

  “A-Aika-san?”

  Miyuki, Shizuku, and Mayumi all looked at Aika in shock. They didn’t expect her to be this enthusiastid excited to pete against Miyuki.

  “Hehehe~ That’s okay right, Miyuki?”

  Miyuki looked at Aika for a moment in silend smiled.

  “Mm. If Aika-san wishes to pete against me, then I have no reason to refuse.”

  “Yaaaay~! Thank you, Miyuki~ Let’s have fun!”

  Aika cheered and hugged Miyuki, rubbing her cheek against her.

  “U-Uhn…”

  Mayumi nodded and turo look at Shizuku.

  “What about you, Kitayama-sam?”

  “...I’m fine. I’ve fought to the best of my abilities with Miyuki-san. I am satisfied.”

  “Okay. Then I will tell this to the ittee.”

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  On this clear and sunny day of the sixth day of the Nine Schools petition, cheers, appuses, and gasps of awe filled the Pilrs Break venue as Aika in her white dress and Miyuki in her shrine maiden’s outfit rose up to their ptform.

  In her focus, Miyuki stared directly at Aika’s eyes.

  She’s strong. From the few times she had seen Aika use her magic, Miyuki knew full well how skilled and powerful she was.

  The Niflheim spell she used during the raid in Bnche’s hideout. The spell on par with her brother’s “Regrowth” she used to “heal” the ones she froze. And the extremely powerful lightning spell, Raikou, that annihited all twelve Ice Pilrs in an instant…

  I o focus ahis quickly before she uses Raikou…

  The bring sound of the tdown started. And as soon as the green light shined, Aika immediately raised her hand and jured a massive magic circle above Miyuki’s side of the arena

  She’s fast!!

  Miyuki cast Infernht after, decreasing the temperature on her side of the arena, strengthening her Ice Pilrs, while increasing the temperature on Aika’s side, melting her Ice Pilrs.

  But then, Miyuki’s eyes widened in shock when she saw Aika raising her left hand up to her chest.

  What? Don’t tell me…

  Around her wrist, there was another bracelet-shaped CAD, gleaming with the light from the sun.

  It glowed, and a momehe effeiyuki’s inferno disappeared.

  No… It didn’t disappear… But this is… Did she…?!

  Inferno is a medium-scale magic that works by dividing the target area into two ses and decreasing the kiid rotational energy of all objects within oion and this surplus energy then be released into the other se in the form of heat. This was how Miyuki was able to melt Aika’s ice pilrs while freezing her own.

  Aika simply used the same spell to reverse the effeiyuki’s spell. But her spell was stronger.

  Instead of simply returning the amount of kiid rotational energy in both areas to normal, Aika’s Inferno erased the effeiyuki’s Inferno aur in spades.

  And in just a fra of a sed, the situation was reversed.

  Miyuki’s eyes widened and looked up towards Aika, her simply standing there with a beautiful smile on her faot one ance, but ohat showed genuiement and happiness. Like an i child pying with her best friend.

  Such a beautiful expression… Even Miyuki, a beautiful girl herself, couldn't help but beesmerized.

  Ah… I’m pletely outcssed…

  The massive magic circle above Miyuki’s side of the arena glowed brightly, and from it, a massive n of lightning struck down to the entire area, hitting her brittle, melting ice pilrs.

  Blinding light and the thunderous sound of lightning filled the entire venue. And when it dissipated, the Ice Pilrs on Miyuki’s side of the arena were no lohere.

  AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please ent your thoughts~! I would love to hear what you think about it~!!!!

  Also, if you'd like to read additional chapters ahead a a pdf version (Light & Dark), please feel free to chey at patr.eon./vergsx ~!!