Chapter 71

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Episode 15 - Anti-villain club [3]

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"A fight. If you entertain me, I’ll let you in. Simple as that. What do you think, juniors?"

Her words reached everyone’s ears. She said it so naturally, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Then, everyone focused their Mana Sense on the club leader.

"..."

They had probably already realized that she was a 6-Star.

What was the point of fighting someone like her when she surpassed them in every possible way?

Meanwhile, I stayed silent, somewhat confused.

’According to some players, you could simply enter the club by walking through the door. Literally, that was all.’

So, what exactly was happening now?

I let out a long sigh, tired and frustrated.

I didn’t mind fighting since, in any case, she wouldn’t truly hurt anyone present.

Because of the Academy’s rules, no matter how reckless or arrogant a cadet was, the rules were absolute.

Not even the heads of the Five Houses would sit idly by if their children were severely punished within the Academy.

’All because of Director Bernice.’

Anyway, after hearing the club leader’s words, Rinna finally spoke.

"But... you’re stronger than all of us... and by a huge margin."

Everyone present nodded.

Then, without losing her smile, the club leader said:

"I never said you had to win. It’ll only be for a brief moment, and that’s all, enough to relieve my boredom."

Her way of speaking was just as vague and casual as expected.

She was the type of person who simply didn’t care about anything.

Rinna finally turned around and looked at us.

"What do you think?"

There was silence for a moment as everyone wondered whether we should simply leave or not.

But it was undeniable what they were offering us just by joining this club.

Besides, it would save us a lot of time from searching through those other useless clubs.

As for me, I had no problem with it, but I wasn’t sure about the others.

I briefly turned my attention to Charlotte. She seemed lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Veronica simply yawned.

Diana remained silent, staring into space.

And Julian... well, that guy was simply there.

Rinna waited for everyone’s response.

"I agree."

I finally spoke, and then Veronica followed my lead.

"If my older brother says so, then I agree too."

The others simply looked at us for a few seconds. Then Diana parted her lips and said:

"I’m... fine with it."

In the end, only three were left.

I paid attention to Rinna, Julian, and Charlotte.

At that moment, Julian sighed and said:

"Well, whatever. Friends always stick together."

Then Charlotte followed:

"Whatever, I don’t care."

Finally, everyone looked at Rinna. She froze, as if she hadn’t expected us to accept.

The club leader focused her attention on Rinna.

"And your answer, my adorable saint?"

Rinna lowered her shoulders and nodded.

"Alright, I accept."

The club leader smiled even more and said while clapping:

"Great, then let’s go now. Ah, right."

She paused for a second and finally introduced herself.

"I’m Alessia Moonlight. Do you know how my little sister is doing?"

Yes, the woman standing before me was none other than Lumina’s older sister.

She did not belong to a secondary branch family, but shared the same mother and father as Lumina.

A one hundred percent pure-blood sister.

Rinna simply replied, her shoulders still slumped:

"She doesn’t talk to anyone and always seems cold and emotionless, but... yes, she’s fine."

Alessia nodded as if she had already expected that answer.

"Good, then let’s go somewhere better. We can’t do anything here, right?"

She said it with a radiant smile that unsettled everyone.

It was as if she truly would be capable of doing something if she were in a bad mood.

Anyway, we left the room and headed to a combat hall.

***

The place we went to was completely empty. An enormous platform at least thirty meters long and wide stood at the center.

At the front was a weapon rack. All kinds of wooden weapons rested there quietly.

Alessia, who was leading the group, finally said:

"So, how do you want to do this? One by one, one person representing all of you, or all at once?"

She said it so casually while looking at the platform with obvious boredom.

But clearly, everyone heard her words.

Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, they all stared directly at me.

"..."

’No way.’

Seriously, these bastards were pushing me forward as their representative.

I turned my head toward Verónica, but she quickly hid behind Rinna.

"..."

Honestly, maybe I shouldn’t have accepted this.

In any case, what could I do? I’m the strongest out of all of them.

’Heh, at least they’re aware of that.’

I let out a long sigh. In the end, I was the one who brought them to this club.

I guess I have to take responsibility.

"I’ll represent all of them. That’s fine."

Several pairs of eyes lit up in front of me, but I ignored them and focused on Alessia.

She stared directly at me and smiled.

"Wow, I’ve never fought a blind person before. It’ll be my first time, and it’ll probably be fun."

When I used my Mana Sense, I realized Alessia was even stronger than that woman connected to Adel’s trauma.

Alessia was someone who truly fought and knew how to use her movements.

Compared to that villainous woman, who actually only specialized in torture.

Alessia was far more difficult.

Of course, if we were talking about physical capabilities, Alessia was far inferior to that woman.

But in raw power, experience, and combat techniques, Alessia was dozens of times superior.

So yeah... I’m really screwed.

But then...

〖Disciple, why don’t you take this chance to use the Second Form of Inverted Heaven? You just learned it, so you need your first real experience with it, and what better moment than this?〗

"..."

Something clicked in my mind, and then I remembered that I had just learned the Second Form of Inverted Heaven.

Why hadn’t I remembered it? Literally, this was the perfect moment.

There were no eyes trying to decipher my sword art.

Sure, Alessia was here, but sooner or later she would see my sword art anyway.

And as for the five people in front of me, well, they’re people I’ll have to interact with, so they’ll see my sword art someday.

Besides, Clementine had already seen Inverted Heaven during the Hunting Festival.

’It’s not like I’m hiding it, I just never felt like using it.’

I simply want to become stronger and achieve my goals.

Not show off while everyone looks at me with disgust because of a stupid attribute.

So I let out a sigh and replied:

"Then this will be the first time I fight a blind person."

I returned her smile calmly, and she smiled as well.

"Heh, this is getting interesting."

***

A short time later...

I stood on the platform where the fight would begin.

There was a wooden sword in my hand.

The rules were the same ones the professors used: you could choose your main weapon or a training weapon like this wooden sword.

Personally, I chose the wooden one. First, because this was not a real fight.

It was merely entertainment, nothing more and nothing less.

Second, Alessia had also chosen a wooden sword.

Well, more precisely, a double-edged bastard sword that was fairly long.

Anyway, my own sword was resting calmly in Verónica’s hands.

Finally, I focused my senses and my True Sight on Alessia.

She was swinging the long sword up and down as if she had forgotten how to use one.

’In any case, neither of us is going to get serious.’

She wants to relieve her boredom, and I want to use her as a test dummy.

At last, Rinna stood in the center of the platform, acting as the referee.

"Eh, well, a few words before the fight."

I shook my head without saying anything. Then Alessia opened her mouth and said:

"Promise me it won’t end too quickly, junior."

She said it with a calm smile. At her words, I shook my head.

"I don’t think it’ll end very quickly, so don’t worry, leader."

She tilted her head slightly.

"Mhm, now you’re calling me leader. How adorable."

"Well, you’ll be one anyway, won’t you?"

She simply smiled without saying anything else.

Finally, Rinna sighed and said:

"Then let the fight begin."

After stepping away from the center of the platform, Alessia stopped shaking her sword and looked at me.

I used my senses to "see" her, so to speak, meeting her gaze.

’Ugh, I don’t know how Alessia fights, since she was never given a battle setup in the game.’

Even so, I didn’t care.

The only thing that mattered was testing the Second Form.

’I’ll only use it once, maybe twice, and honestly, after that I won’t even be able to defend myself.’

After all, I would lose all my stamina after the second use of the Second Form of Inverted Heaven.

And that was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Very well then, how about you make the first move? I’ll be lenient with you, what do you think?"

The corner of her lips curled into a mocking smile.

As if she thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything against her.

’Even if that woman from the Golden Forest was weaker than Alessia, she was still a Class 6.’

And I already had experience fighting someone at that level of power.

So, naturally, I wasn’t careless in the slightest.

I knew how strong a 6-Star individual was, so I slowly took a deep breath.

Then I slowly exhaled.

I was preparing for my first battle using the Second Form of Inverted Heaven.

Therefore, I would give it everything I had with the newly unlocked level of this sword art.

Finally, the world around me, although from my perspective it seemed normal...

I knew it had become slower.

Time accelerated tenfold for me.

Second Form: Time.

Instantly, as if I had never been standing in my original position, I simply vanished. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Not even a second passed before I appeared in front of Alessia.

Her eyes could not help but widen in surprise, but at the same time...

"..."

A smile spread across her face.