Charles watched silently as Kurogane Ikki was carried away—his condition urgent enough to require immediate treatment in a regeneration chamber.
Charles had only used his illusion-form abilities the entire time, so the injuries Ikki sustained weren't from actual damage inflicted by Charles—they were purely the side effects of One-Cut Asura.
Though Ikki had ultimately lost, Charles didn't take him lightly. Quite the opposite—this encounter made him realize that coming to Hagun Academy might not be so dull after all.
Suddenly, Charles's expression shifted. His entire body stiffened. It was the most primal response to danger—his muscles and nerves tensed to the point of locking up.
He turned around—and saw her.
Standing there was a petite girl, barely over 140 centimeters tall, wearing a kimono with an enormous butterfly ribbon on her head. She idly fluttered an ornate folding fan, her expression hovering between amusement and mischief.
Though she looked like a child, Charles knew better. This was no ordinary girl. She was the very definition of a legal loli, the same age as the academy director Kurono Shinguuji—and an absolute monster.
She was Nene Saikyou, known worldwide by her alias Yasha-hime, currently ranked third in the KOK League.
Before coming to Japan, Charles had done his homework on all of the nation's top fighters. Nene was among the few whose reputation extended well beyond the island—especially given her unique distinction: her Blade-Steel technique was so destructive it was officially banned by the League.
And as it happened, the last person to earn such a restriction had been the previous World No.3—Kurono Shinguuji herself.
Like Charles, Nene was a complete stat monster: six attributes with all A-ranks, save for one—her magic control, which was a dismal E.
Still, Charles didn't fear her because of her stats. After what Ikki had shown him, he knew better than to judge a swordsman by their data.
No, it was the unmistakable pressure she exuded—the pull of fate itself, a clear sign that she was no longer bound by the world's destiny. She had become a Desperado.
"Ahhh, so I've been spotted," Nene said playfully.
Charles replied calmly, "You never intended to hide in the first place, did you? The infamous Yasha-hime's presence is a little too… loud to go unnoticed. Please don't tease me."
He added pointedly, "I heard you're acting as a guest instructor at Hagun this year. Should I be calling you Professor Saikyou, perhaps?"
Nene giggled behind her fan. "How polite."
Then she vanished.
In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Charles—like a ghost.
But Charles had already moved. He had sensed her advance and retreated just before she arrived.
Nene looked surprised. She'd underestimated this boy.
Charles narrowed his eyes. "That was Ashi-nuki, wasn't it? Lord Nango's footwork."
She nodded, impressed. "That's right. I'm surprised you could react that quickly."
Ashi-nuki—"leg removal"—was a technique developed by Nango Inichiro, the only Japanese to ever win the Doujin title in the Dōjin Cup. Nene, his disciple, had inherited the technique directly.
Its principle was deceptively simple—though implementing it was anything but.
The human brain can't process everything at once. It prioritizes based on subconscious cues. When someone's staring down the barrel of a gun, their mind zeroes in on the trigger and muzzle, not the assailant's shirt buttons.
Ashi-nuki was a method to slip through that priority filter—making one's approach so low-priority it gets ignored until too late.
To counter it, one had to deliberately override instinct and focus attention where it normally wouldn't go. Not easy. Not under pressure.
Unless you were Charles.
He didn't rely on vision alone. His perception was sharpened by magic, ki, even scent. Tricks like that wouldn't work on him.
Nene wasn't surprised, though. Against top-tier opponents, Ashi-nuki was just a basic tool. Besides, while she'd learned it, she relied more on her unique ability than her martial skill.
But one thing did surprise her—Charles's ability to resist fate.
As a Desperado, she could tug on causality without trying. For most students, merely standing near her would nudge fate toward the outcome she desired.
If he had been anyone else, her "approach" would've inevitably succeeded.
But not Charles.
He had rejected fate—if only in something small. Still, it was enough to spark her curiosity.
She took a step toward him, without using any special techniques. But with each step, her pressure grew—heavier, denser.
Charles felt it viscerally. The air thickened. His body felt like it was being crushed.
Nene's ability was Gravitational Concept Interference—and the gravity around him had just increased more than tenfold.
For an ordinary human, such a sudden spike would collapse circulation, starve the brain of oxygen, and wreak havoc on internal organs and bones alike.
But Charles endured. Years of training across many worlds had prepared him for this. Though the weight was unpleasant, it wasn't enough to drop him.
Nene's eyes sparkled. "Oooh? Still standing? Then how about—"
She began to close her fan, clearly preparing to escalate the pressure.
But—
WHACK!
A clean karate chop landed on her head.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing to one of my students?" Kurono snapped.
"Ow!!" Nene whimpered, rubbing her head.
"I was just saying hello," she said, feigning innocence. "You're such a worrywart, Kuro-chan."
Charles, deadpan, thought: What kind of teacher greets students by trying to crush them into paste?
But he didn't say it. He bowed politely.
"If the Director and Professor Saikyou have things to discuss, I'll take my leave."
He turned to go—but not before Nene glided over and teasingly tilted his chin with her fan.
"You're such a good boy. How about a special reward from your teacher?"
Kurono yanked her back by the collar.
"Cut it out, you walking harassment lawsuit!"
As Charles disappeared into the arena hallway, the mood between the two women shifted from playful to serious.
"…Kuro-chan, that boy…" Nene said, voice low.
Kurono nodded. "I know. But he came recommended by the Doujin himself. That should count for something."
Nene pouted. "That old coot doing something like this? Doesn't that make it even more suspicious?"
Kurono chuckled. Nene only acted like this when her mentor came up.
The two women had known each other since their academy days. As rivals in the League, and friends in private, they were equals in power—and temperament.
Geniuses, strivers, and above all… mischievous troublemakers, both.
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