"I've noticed it for a while now," Kagami murmured, eyes narrowed as he leaned slightly forward in his seat. "But junior Reina's swordsmanship is… unorthodox. There's no fixed form, no strict school she's following. But did she actually train something new this time?"

At his question, Lucas didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he focused wholly on the clash unfolding in the arena below.

Reina's movements—once a patchwork imitation of every sword style she'd ever seen—were different today.

Refined. Sharper. A thread of cohesion was finally weaving through the chaos.

"It's faint," Lucas said at last, his voice thoughtful. "But she might've started practicing the Heavenly Swordsmanship."

"The Grand Duke's style?" Kagami raised a brow. "I've heard simplified forms of it were spread through the continent for beginner knights… but this—" He gestured at Reina, whose blade danced like a streak of polished silver. "This isn't anything close to the watered-down version. Her swordsmanship right now is clearly… something else."

A quiet, almost proud smile touched Lucas' lips.

"Yes. It seems junior Reina has grown significantly since the last time I saw her fight."

Kagami nodded slowly, eyes tracking the rapid exchange on the battlefield.

Clara, despite being a mage, wielded her floating arcane blade with expert finesse, responding to Reina's rushes with minimal effort.

Even so, her movements—usually smooth to the point of elegance—were just a little off-beat.

A little… reactive.

"Well, no matter how pretty and well-rounded Reina's swordsmanship is now," Kagami said, exhaling through his nose, "it's still not enough. Clara isn't even trying to hurt her. She's controlling the flow, keeping everything within a safe margin. She's only reacting slowly because she's surprised. But the one who's going to win is still obvious."

Anyone watching with a trained eye could see it.

Clara Luminaria had yet to get serious.

It wasn't arrogance—just reality.

Yet beside him, Lucas spoke without hesitation.

"I think Reina will win."

Kagami snapped his gaze toward him. "Huh?"

He stared at Lucas, utterly confused.

Was he blinded by favoritism?

Even Kagami, who didn't underestimate Reina's hard work, could clearly see the difference in level.

But Lucas didn't look delusional, nor did he look like he was forcing himself to believe in an impossible outcome.

Instead, his eyes gleamed with genuine intrigue—almost anticipation—as if he were watching a mystery unfold rather than a match.

Ignoring Kagami's bewildered stare, Lucas continued watching the stage, a knowing smile curling at the edge of his mouth.

...

Strange…

That was the persistent feeling gnawing at Clara as her clash with Reina dragged on.

Her brows knitted just slightly—not from effort, but from an unexplainable sense of dissonance.

CLANGG!!

SHIINNG!!

CLINNG!!

Each strike from Reina came sharp and earnest, brimming with determination.

And each time, Clara's floating blade intercepted with effortless precision, guided only by a sliver of her focus and the bare minimum of her mana.

Reina darted around her—left, right, above, twisting her weight in sudden bursts of movement that would overwhelm any first-year knight.

To Clara, however, all of it was predictable.

A loop.

A cycle of attack and defense that never broke apart.

Reina was giving everything she had.

Clara wasn't even moving from her original spot. Not even a single step since the match began.

Yet despite the sheer gap in ability that Clara clearly recognized…

Something felt off.

A prickling sensation crawled down her spine—an instinctive, almost primal caution.

Her muscles tensed, her senses sharpened on their own.

A tiny, almost whisper-like warning echoed in her thoughts:

"End it now."

But why? Reina was nowhere near capable of defeating her.

So why did her instincts scream danger?

Winds swirled—Reina shifted her stance.

Clara's eyes widened a fraction.

That movement—

That mana flow—

That footwork—

It wasn't the same as earlier.

Reina inhaled sharply.

A faint ripple of mana coiled around her sword.

[Heavenly Swordsmanship – Hell Style]

[Heaven's Tempest]

In an instant Reina blurred—her body twisting in midair, momentum coiling around her like spiraling wind.

Her sword flashed down like a falling star, a violent gust erupting behind her as she descended.

Fast.

Much faster than before.

CLAAANG!!!

A powerful impact shook the arena floor.

But of course—Clara's telekinetically floating sword met the strike, halting it cleanly.

Reina landed, teeth clenched, frustration flickering in her eyes as she stared at Clara, who still…

Still hadn't moved a single inch.

"Haah!"

Reina did not let her momentary disappointment slow her down.

Instead, she pushed forward once again, her breaths sharpening, her focus narrowing.

This time there was a flicker—no, a shift—inside her eyes.

A glimmer of understanding, of something clicking into place.

Her grip tightened around her sword.

[Heavenly Swordsmanship – Hell Style]

[Hell Storm]

A change in tempo.

A crackle in the air.

Her mana shifted—sharper, wilder—sparking tiny arcs of electricity that danced along the blade like excited serpents.

Swiishhhh!!!

Crackle!

BOOOOM!

With only the lightest step, Reina's body detonated forward like a bolt of lightning released from the heavens.

The entire arena trembled under the sudden burst of speed.

Clisssh!!

CLANG!!!!

A deafening impact exploded through the stage.

Clara's eyes widened—truly widened—for the first time that match. A single sword, Reina's sword, had almost pierced clean through her throat.

"What—!?"

It happened too quickly even for her.

Had her layered telekinetic barriers not automatically reacted on instinct, she might have actually died right then and there.

The sheer speed and precision… it was almost identical to—

Her brother.

That realization crashed into Clara.

But Reina did not give her the luxury to digest that thought.

Before Clara could reinforce her defenses, Reina's entire form blurred again—zig-zagging, spiraling, vanishing and reappearing in explosive bursts like lightning coiling around her.

The air hummed.

The stage groaned.

Reina moved with a strange, chaotic elegance.

And sensing another opening, she seized it without hesitation.

[Heavenly Swordsmanship – Hell Style]

[Rain]

Her blade thrust forward in a piercing technique refined to the absolute limit.

CLANG!

Blocked—but only just.

Reina did not stop.

She couldn't stop. Using the momentum of her own attack, she twisted, stepped, and struck again.

Then again. And again.

A relentless barrage of thrusts—sharp, precise, and faster than the last—poured down like a violent storm of lightning-infused rain.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLAANG!

Each strike hammered Clara's telekinetic swords, and one by one—

Crack.

Snap.

Shatter.

Her flying blades broke apart under the unending pressure.

Sparks erupted with every clash, scattering across the stage like glimmering shards of light.

Reina's gaze never wavered. Her breathing remained steady.

This was no fluke.

No lucky burst.

This—

—was Reina Hell's earnest swordsmanship finally taking shape.

Is she… undergoing enlightenment?

That was the only thing Clara could think as she stared at Reina.

A real sense of worry crept up her spine for the first time since the match began.

That look in Reina's eyes—calm, focused, razor-sharp yet strangely distant—was unmistakable.

It wasn't the look of someone simply fighting anymore.

It was the look of someone seeing something.

Understanding something.

Something deep.

And that was dangerous.

Realizing this, Clara finally raised her mana—truly raised it.

The relaxed, playful stance she had been keeping vanished.

Now she couldn't afford to treat this like a casual match anymore.

"Fufu… looks like I underestimated you, junior—"

But Clara didn't even finish her sentence.

Her eyes widened.

Blood suddenly spilled from her lips.

"W-What…?"

Her knees weakened as her body swayed left and right, pain erupting from every angle.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of tiny piercing marks opened all across her body like invisible needles had stabbed through her.

Clara's floating swords clattered helplessly to the ground.

As her vision blurred, she caught a glimpse of Reina's sword—its blade still crackling softly in golden lightning, an almost invisible extension of electricity retracting back into the steel.

Did… did she really just—?

Clara's breath hitched.

Did this kid seriously create such a technique in the middle of the fight?

"Haha…"

A soft, disbelieving laugh escaped her lips as her body began glowing in the emergency gold light of the academy's safety system.

Slowly, her form started breaking apart into motes of light—teleporting her body away before anything fatal could happen.

The entire arena fell silent.

Reina lowered her stance, breathing heavily, yet her eyes still held that faint lingering sharpness, like she was returning from someplace far away.

Then—finally—the announcer reacted.

"W-Winner…!!! R-REINA HELL!!!"

The crowd erupted.

Gasps, screams, cheers—everything mixed together in one explosion of noise as people tried to understand what the hell they just witnessed.

Kagami, who had been watching the match with calm focus the whole time, felt a drop of sweat slide down his temple.

"Well, I'll be damned… looks like both siblings are monsters…"

He couldn't help but wonder if Reina had truly developed that swordsmanship on the spot… because that level of creative combat talent was terrifying.

Lucas, meanwhile, simply leaned back with a soft, proud smile on his face.

"Good job, junior…"

....

Meanwhile, Reina—whose clarity was only just coming back—looked down at her sword.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she tried to steady her breath.

…What just happened?

That clear path she saw a moment ago…

Was that real?

Did she actually win?

Her mind was still foggy, like she'd woken up from a strange dream.

Slowly, she lifted her head toward the giant announcement screen above the arena.

And there, shining bright and unmistakable, was her name.

She was still standing on the stage.

People were shouting.

Cheering.

Calling out her name.

"I-I… won…?" she whispered, almost scared to say it out loud.

Instinctively, she turned toward the VIP seats. Lucas was there, looking right at her, smiling softly.

She couldn't hear a thing over the roaring crowd, but she didn't need to.

She could read his lips, his expression, the warmth in his eyes.

"Good job, junior…"

Just those silent words made her chest tighten.

A small blush crept onto her face as a warm happiness spread through her.

Reina clenched her fist, lifted it high above her head, and held it there proudly.

Big bro… I won!

She shouted it in her heart, her smile finally breaking free.

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