The Four Great Schools.
These are the schools that hold the highest authority in the academy city, with power that sometimes surpasses even that of nations.
Mikage Academy, Kiso Academy, Senkai Academy, and the Zilnius Institute of Science.
These four schools could even be called the smallest of nations, possessing many holy relics and explorers due to the modern dungeons.

For this reason, it is an unspoken rule that the Four Great Schools avoid fighting each other.
Conflicts between such enormous institutions could shake the very existence of the academy city.

If a conflict were to break out, it would mean the collapse of the current balance.

“…Mikage Academy? What business do they have with us?”

Chiaki, the vice-chairperson of Kiso Academy’s Discipline Committee, halted the actions of all remaining members as soon as she learned the intruders were students from Mikage Academy.
The situation was too uncertain to act rashly, and more importantly, fighting students from Mikage Academy was not a favorable scenario.

“My goal is to capture those weak elementary school students. I believe they’re from the Fectom Academy? They are suspected of infiltrating an important experimental facility in the Central District. I’ll be taking them into custody.”
“That’s not something we can agree to.”

A black-haired boy flashed a kind smile as he held a white katana.
That was his answer.

“Do you understand? If we fight here, the balance between the schools will collapse. It will give us a reason to invade your academy.”
“That was my intention from the start. Besides, I have the moral high ground.”

The girl standing next to the boy said this as she manipulated her Dive Gear to bring up a document on the window.

“This is proof that Kiso Academy was conducting illegal human experiments. Kidnapping students from other schools for experiments? You’re getting too cocky.”
“…Tch, did the higher-ups mess up?”

Chiaki didn’t know the details, but she understood that something illegal happening in the higher ranks was now exposed.

“But I still don’t understand why you’re taking action. Since when did Mikage Academy start acting like the police? What do you gain by protecting those kinds of people?”

The misdeeds of Kiso Academy were not a recent development.
Other schools had criticized them, but never intervened directly.
That was because they always managed to avoid giving others a reason to act.

At Chiaki’s words, the girl laughed as though waiting for this moment.

“You attacked one of our students in this incident, didn’t you? You were the ones who threw the first punch.”

She pointed toward a boy with silver-blue hair.
From his uniform, he seemed to be a student from Fectom Academy.

“…Huh?”
“Kei Naki, from Mikage Academy. He’s currently a student at Fectom Academy, but by pure coincidence, he still has our school registration data. Oops, looks like I forgot to delete it.”
“You’re not serious…”

Chiaki immediately understood what had happened.
The young man was both a student of Fectom Academy and Mikage Academy.

What would happen if such a person were attacked within a special district?

“Are you planning to start a war using him as an excuse?!”
“That’s exactly it.”

A gunshot rang out, and one of the Discipline Committee members collapsed beside Chiaki.

“At first, we couldn’t act, but now we have the pretext of Professor’s lofty voice data and saving our Kei Naki. Isn’t that right, student council officer?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Well then, let me reintroduce myself—I’m Gatou Touraku, the treasurer of the student council. From now on, Mikage Academy will break its alliance with Kiso Academy.”
“Do you even understand what you’re saying?!”
“I do. Eventually, I thought we’d have to defeat you. The student council president has agreed too.”

Touraku drew his katana.

Chiaki hastily raised her spear, but before she could react, all of her Discipline Committee members had already fallen to the ground.
There was no shock, no wind, nothing.
Only the sound of wind being cut briefly.
That was enough to annihilate the Discipline Committee.

“Hmm, I can only cut up to C-rank for now.”
“Tch, what the hell did you do… this is… this is insane!”

Chiaki screamed in a half-mad frenzy, about to charge forward when…

“Calm down, calm down~”

A girl, who had appeared unnoticed, patted Chiaki’s shoulder.
Shaking in surprise, Chiaki looked at the girl’s face and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Kiraku President!”
“Yes, yes, Chiaki’s favorite Discipline Committee President, Gatou Kiraku, at your service~”

Her long black hair shone beautifully under the moonlight, befitting her elegant presence like a Yamato Nadeshiko.
She patted Chiaki’s head and gracefully smiled at Touraku.

“Well, they’re the ones asking for a fight, so you should kill them without hesitation. Trying to reason with them is naive.”
“K-Kiraku President?!”

Kiraku summoned a naginata from her Dive Gear and held it like she was dancing.

“To be honest, I’ve never liked Mikage Academy. I heard they let a failure from the Gatou clan join the student council, didn’t they?”
“…Kiraku-nee…”
“Don’t call me your sister just because of a weak bloodline. You’re a failed branch, aren’t you?”

“Eh? Kiraku President, are you really going to fight? Because if you do, we’ll have an actual war on our hands!”

Kiraku smiled sweetly at Chiaki before saying, “Don’t worry, the main Discipline Committee will arrive soon. Things are about to get fun.”
“I hate this… things always go like this when Senior Rokuhara isn’t here…”

Chiaki, looking on with a face like she was about to cry, and Kiraku, barely containing her excitement, were both looked at by Touraku, who spoke to the Fectom Academy students behind him.

“As you’ve heard, from now on, the battle will be between Mikage Academy and Kiso Academy. Your actions will be overshadowed in this great conflict.”
“…Thank you, you’ve helped us.”

In response to Mizuki’s words, Touraku nodded without turning around.

“…If that’s the case, then it doesn’t really feel like we helped, does it, Kei?”

Kei didn’t answer.
He glanced once at Touraku and Mihaya, then signaled to his comrades to head to the gate. He vanished through it.

“Well, they’re gone now.”
“…Do you think Kei-kun will hate me for doing something so reckless?”
“Huh? What? Are you interested in him? When I’m right here?”

Kiraku glared at her, and Touraku, fully utilizing her Demonsgear contract, swiftly averted her gaze.

“No, it’s not like that. It’s just… I feel like helping him could end up hurting him.”
“You’re overthinking it. Besides, anyone who’s off fighting with Rokuhara under that grand name of ‘Sorciera’ wouldn’t care about something like that.”

“…Is that so?”
“Yep, exactly. By the way… I missed my chance to tease you again. What’s up with that goth-loli outfit, is it a hobby?”

“Please don’t! You know the Fectom Academy people are hiding their identity.”
“Then I’ll tease you when they’re not around.”

Mihaya, laughing mischievously, suddenly struck at Kiraku, but the bullet stopped mid-air in front of her, gently falling to the ground with a light sound.

“Just as I heard, that’s a troublesome ability.”

“It’s the ability to control acceleration and deceleration around herself. Be careful, Mihaya. That person is highly ranked in the Gatou clan.”

Kiraku smiled broadly and held her naginata.

“Oh, I only said that to sound humble. Once you’re born into the Gatou family, you must claim to be the strongest, no matter what. Just like Chiaki.”
“…Fine, I don’t care anymore! Let’s do this!”

Chiaki, now in a frenzy, was the first to charge.

“I’ll take the lead. Mihaya, provide support.”
“Leave it to me!”

Mikage Academy and Kiso Academy.
The battle between these two giant schools began here.