On the day of the Conquest Festival.

From the early hours of the morning, each faction was already on the move.

Among them, the student council of Mikage Academy had been active since before sunrise.

As the representatives spearheading the dissolution of Kisou Academy, backed by support from other schools and numerous corporations, this battle was one they absolutely had to win.

“To solidify our victory… Is that your reason, Rinka?”

In the student council room, Yukihira spoke while brewing coffee to shake off his drowsiness. Behind him, Rinka stared at him.

“The incident where Mihaya was attacked—it feels far too unnatural to pin it on Kisou Academy. It’s as if we’re being led to believe it’s them.”

“Well, if you say so, then it must be true.”

Yukihira didn’t refute Rinka’s words. If she, who had once been part of Silver Twilight, sensed something off, it was worth trusting her instincts.

“Actually, I thought it was strange too. Kisou Academy may be crude, but they are at the top. As long as they’re there, they wouldn’t take such risky actions before the Conquest Festival.”

Yukihira dropped several sugar cubes into his coffee, poured in milk, then gulped it down with relish.

“You’re going anyway, aren’t you? To Silver Twilight’s stronghold.”

“…Did you see it? The future?”

“I did. And I tried to stop you. But it’s pointless. You’re too stubborn.”

Yukihira laughed, exasperated.

“Silver Twilight is definitely involved in this incident. I recognize their methods. That guy never gets his own hands dirty.”

“I won’t stop you now. But what about Touraku?”

“What do you mean?”

Rinka tilted her head. Seeing this, Yukihira snorted. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“Right now, he’s unstable. With Mihaya gone, someone needs to stay by his side.”

“…He’ll be back before the Conquest Festival.”

“Can you promise that?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes burned with unwavering resolve.

This wasn’t the same Rinka who had been part of Silver Twilight. She no longer saw herself as a tool—she acted as a human being, fighting to survive.

“Good eyes. That’s why it’d be a shame to lose you.”

With those words, Yukihira pulled a gemstone from his expanded domain and tossed it to Rinka.

“…What is this?”

“Pretty, isn’t it? One of my holy relics. It can twist the causality of death—once.”

The blue gem rested in her palm. If Yukihira’s words were true, it could let her escape death’s grasp—once.

“You’re giving this… to me!?”

“Yep. Because you need it more than I do.”

Yukihira sat back in his chair and put on an eyemask.

“I’m going to take a nap now. Where you go in the meantime is up to you. But… make sure you come back.”

“…Yes. I will.”

Rinka nodded firmly, bowed, then hurried off.

Some time later—

“…Oh? Rinka told me you were at the training grounds.”

Still wearing his eyemask, Yukihira spoke to the presence behind him—Touraku, standing silently.

Uncharacteristically cold and quiet, his face was ghostly pale as he spoke.

“Put me in the first unit.”

“Hmm…”

Yukihira feigned hesitation, tapping his temple a few times before spinning his chair around.

“Can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s pointless. You’re one of our trump cards for this Conquest Festival, just like me. If we throw you into the frontlines, our defense will collapse. With an S-Rank on their side, we can’t afford that.”

His reasoning was sound.

Touraku and Yukihira’s role was to stall Kisou Academy’s S-Rank, Rokuhara. With Mizuhi handling offense, the two of them defending was the best strategy.

But Touraku refused to back down.

“It’s fine. I’ll cut down everyone on the frontlines.”

“Can you? In your current state?”

“…Not yet. But I will master Star-Slash before the battle.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Yukihira propped his cheek on his hand. Just as Touraku opened his mouth to argue, Yukihira cut in.

“Tell you what—prove your strength to me. Show me you can take on Kisou Academy’s entire frontline.”

“…I don’t have Star-Slash right now.”

“Then just land a hit on me. A single strike. If you can reach me, I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

He pointed at his own neck.

“If you’re about to master Star-Slash, landing a hit on me should be easy, right? A weapon is only as good as its wielder.”

“Understood… Then.”

Normally, Touraku would never accept such an offer. But the current him agreed without hesitation.

He manifested a rugged blade from his Demonsgear.

“You can use Lutra if you want.”

“No need. Injuring the student council president would be troublesome.”

“Bold words.”

Yukihira smirked lazily as Touraku assumed an iaido stance.

A one-hit kill—his specialty. The foundation of the Gatou family’s lethal swordsmanship.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Yes.”

Still wearing his eyemask, Yukihira chuckled. In contrast, Touraku’s aura was murderous.

“—Hah!”

The blade flashed.

Enhanced by his Demonsgear contract, Touraku’s physical abilities surpassed human limits. Combined with centuries of refined technique, his draw was blindingly fast.

The blade shot toward Yukihira’s neck—

Yet Yukihira, still masked, merely yawned—

“Whoops.”

—and tilted his head.

At that moment, the window behind him shattered as something flew in.

“!?”

Reacting instinctively, Touraku intercepted the incoming object with his blade—a habit from years of countering with iaido.

A small snick echoed through the room as something was cleanly bisected.

“…What was that?”

Picking up the two halves, Touraku frowned. It was a sniper round.

“Oh? Looks like you saved me, Touraku. Thanks.”

Yukihira’s tone was light. Standing up, he summoned a knife and tossed it through the broken window.

“Phew.”

He slumped back into his chair, not bothering to check if the knife hit its mark.

“Being student council president means I occasionally get assassination attempts. Somehow, I always survive.”

His voice was utterly relaxed, as if he hadn’t just narrowly escaped death.

“Well… I owe you one, but a deal’s a deal. You didn’t land a hit.”

“That’s—! That wasn’t—”

“—You’ll make excuses on the battlefield too?”

Still masked, Yukihira’s voice carried unexpected weight.

“‘I was interrupted,’ ‘It didn’t go as planned,’ ‘The enemy cheated’—excuses don’t matter. Don’t expect fairness from your opponent.”

“…Even so, I—”

“It’s fine if you don’t get it now. You’ll understand soon enough. Leave the hard parts to your senpai—go visit Mihaya instead.”

With that, Yukihira spun his chair around and loudly pretended to sleep, signaling the end of the conversation.

“…Thank you.”

Touraku gave a perfunctory bow and left.

“This year’s first-years are so damn responsible… It’s exhausting.”

Yukihira’s words echoed hollowly in the empty room.

■

Good morning, everyone!

It’s your mysterious beauty, Sorciera!

I’m dead tired, but I’ll do my best as a mysterious beauty!

In the early hours before dawn—practically still night—I stifled a yawn while maintaining my mysterious beauty act.

『Sleepy Sorciera’s chibi art would be perfect for a loading screen.』

What kind of nonsense signal are you picking up?

More importantly, hurry up and search!

My mysterious beauty act won’t last much longer!

“She’s around here, right?”

“That’s right.”

Gazing down at the city from Kisou Academy’s rooftop, I responded to Clam-chan’s words with mysterious beauty flair.

For the record, I was currently in the middle of playing angel-slaying Sorciera. A cool beauty killing beings known as angels—what a beautiful concept.

Normally, I’d be thrilled, but not this time.

Back then, I’d irresponsibly said, “When I kill an angel, I’ll invite you ♥,” so now Clam-chan had tagged along.

No, more like forced her way along.

Ever since the Trans-Anchor incident yesterday, Clam-chan’s behavior had been… off.

“So how do you kill an angel?”

“Fufu~ No need to rush. The stars will guide us.”

I smiled coolly and patted her head while Starreader’s Staff frantically searched Kisou Academy.

『Where’s the angel…? This is what Eina’s for…』

Grumbling, the staff worked hard as I stalled with mysterious remarks. Sorciera not knowing an angel’s location would be embarrassing.

…She is here, right?

She didn’t spawn somewhere else because of the plot changes, did she?

“Still… You didn’t have to come with me. You could’ve stayed to watch the Conquest Festival.”

“No. I’m going with you.”

“I see.”

Where’s Hika×Kira…?

『Hikari and Clam devouring Sorciera? Now that’s a sight!』

No it’s not! Hurry up and find the angel!

“I already gave Miroku an excuse. It’s fine. If I went back alone now, it’d look suspicious.”

“…Ah, right. ‘With most schools occupied by the Conquest Festival, now’s the perfect time to raid a dungeon’—was it?”

“Exactly. I’ll just hand over a Dungeon Core I purified back in my Purification days. Miroku will cover for us.”

This is NOT fine!

In short, I had to maintain my mysterious beauty act under Clam-chan’s watchful gaze.

No room for slip-ups!

Sudden-death mysterious beauty mode!

『Easy way to find angels』

Don’t rely on the internet!

『Update: No angel found this time. How was it?』

I told you to stop that!

『What do you expect? I’m searching, but I can’t find anything! You’d better help me make a Sorciera doujin later!』

Fine, just shut up and work!

In the original story, the sign of an angel’s appearance was a crack in the sky. The angel would emerge as if the heavens split apart.

This was supposed to be their debut appearance, but honestly, this angel was just a throwaway enemy with no real purpose other than to introduce their existence.

Frankly, killing it wouldn’t hurt anything.

More importantly, having a random angel interfere with the crucial Conquest Festival battle between Touraku and Rokuhara would ruin the narrative beauty.

Since the angel’s appearance overlapped with the festival, it was up to the mysterious beauty to fix it.

Leave historical revisions to me~ ^^

That’s why I would kill the angel!

I’d handle the mysterious beauty moves.

Touraku could handle the protagonist moves during the Conquest Festival.

This was what they called a win-win.

『You’re all talk— Wait, found it! Angel signal detected!』

Seriously!?

Alright, let’s go! Navigate for me!

“It’s about time for them to awaken.”

I slung my scythe over my shoulder. Beside me, Clam-chan smiled brightly.

A beauty’s smile is truly lovely~ ^^

“Shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

And with that, we vanished from the rooftop.