Chapter 23 – ２３ – Public Morals Committee Chair vs. Student Council President

Entrance Ceremony Arc

Two Masked Forms emerge from the light.

“Alright then…”

The Masked Form of the Public Morals Committee Chairman, Matsuri Maruta—’Steel Colossus’ Stahl—takes the shape of a giant standing three meters tall, its entire body forged from steel.

In its hands, it grips cages connected by chains to function like nunchucks, just as they had been when fighting Naru a few days prior. Two massive turrets protrude from its back, and rifle muzzles peek out from various parts of its body; numerous other gimmicks wait for their turn to be deployed, emitting mechanical whirring and sparks.

“Come. I’ll give you the first move.”

Opposing her is the Masked Form of the Student Council President, Kishi Yamasube—’Knight of Victory’ Winnight. He is a knight clad in Western-style plate armor, wielding a double-edged sword in his right hand and a large shield in his left.

The armor is polished to a mirror finish, and neither the armor, the sword, nor the shield show any visible gimmicks.

As the two Masked Forms face off, the composition is like a scene from a myth: a brave warrior challenging a metallic giant.

In reality, however, Winnight does not budge. He simply holds his shield up, conceding the initiative to Stahl.

And as for Stahl, having been given the first move…

“I’m blowing you away from the start! Full Burst!!”

The opening move is a barrage from the two turrets on her back.

What she fires are not physical shells, but bullets created by solidifying magical power into physical form. Their speed and hardness are no less than those of a real cannon.

Since Winnight shows no intention of moving, the attack hits him dead-on and explodes.

Blasts of flame and shockwaves scatter across the area, kicking up clouds of dust.

“Hmph. Is that all? The power is impressive as always, but it’s within a range I can endure.”

Winnight emerges from the smoke, unscathed save for a few slight scorch marks on his shield.

“A few of the freshmen look like they were startled by the blast.”

“It seems the Barrier for the training session is designed to be well-ventilated. The attacks themselves don’t leak out, so it’s not a problem. Or do you not want to scare the freshmen, Mr. Student Council President?”

“Hardly. Quite the opposite. I… can’t wait to blow the minds of those arrogant first-year brats. So… don’t go dying too easily, alright?”

Winnight begins to move.

With the shield in front and the sword held back, he charges straight toward Stahl.

His speed is like the wind, far faster than his appearance would suggest.

“Big words!”

In response, Stahl fires the rifles across her body, but the majority are blocked by the shield, and those that miss the shield are deflected by the armor, rendering them ineffective.

In that time, the distance between them closes…

“Haa!”

“Oraaa!”

Winnight’s sword and Stahl’s cage clash first, producing a violent metallic ring.

It was Stahl’s cage that suffered the nick.

“One more!”

“!? “

Immediately, Stahl swings down with her other cage, gripping it by the chain. Winnight blocks the chain with his shield, but the cage swings around the shield to strike him directly.

“How cheeky!”

“Is today my victory!?”

Blending the attack with the noise and sparks of the rifles firing from the gaps in her body, Stahl ejects a sharp, thin blade toward the gaps in Winnight’s armor.

It is a “first-sight kill” type of attack—one that becomes a lethal blow if the opponent cannot handle it on the fly.

“Did you think something like this would get through? Long Edge!”

“I figured! I knew you’d do that!!”

Having accurately recognized the incoming threat, Winnight shifts his body ever so slightly, parrying the blade.

Simultaneously, he thrusts his shield forward to strike Stahl, then follows up with a swing of his blade. With the blade extending unnaturally, he carves a deep gash into Stahl’s chest armor.

“Tch, I can’t even land a decent hit, yet I’m taking hits to my cage and chest. This is why I hate fighting a flawless knight.”

“It’s not that there was no damage. If I hadn’t changed the inner lining to a better material, those nunchucks would have resonated quite a bit.”

“Ugh, you were tuning your Masked Form… when did you…?”

“Just the other day, my sponsor proposed a new structure. If it worked against you, it seems it was worth it.”

Stahl retreats a few steps to check her condition and devise a new strategy.

Winnight does not force a pursuit; instead, he steadies his breathing and readies himself for the next move.

The difference in their movements is a reflection of the difference between their Masked Forms.

In truth, there wasn’t a huge gap in their Magic Capacity.

However, due to the massive size, the cannon shells, and other projectiles, Stahl’s expenditures are overwhelmingly higher.

Because of this, Stahl must attack. Otherwise, she will be the first to run out of magical power, triggering a forced cancellation of her Masquerade.

That is why she employs tricks—changing the trajectory of the nunchucks by the chain or using gimmicks for surprise attacks—and why she looks for openings even while attacking.

Winnight understands this.

Precisely because he understands, he defends with steady reliability, delivers painful counterattacks, and steadily tilts the board in his favor.

If the opponent makes a blunder, he finishes them; if they make an effective move, he avoids overextending and resets.

A duel where the attacker and defender are clearly defined.

This was the norm for duels between these two.

“In that case, next… is this!”

Having finalized her plan, Stahl moves.

Firing the rifles as a distraction, she throws the nunchucks while simultaneously closing the distance.

“A charge? But if it’s just this…”

Winnight reliably evades the nunchucks and ignores the rifles as harmless, bracing himself as Stahl closes in.

“Return Weapon, and Herding.”

“!?”

A sudden impact strikes Winnight from behind.

The source of the impact was the nunchuck cage, which moved as if returning to its master’s hand from the spot where it had been thrown.

Furthermore, while the soft lining should have dampened the impact, the damage from the direct hit was transmitted directly into the body inside Winnight’s armor.

“Guh, using two Skills at once here! Keen Edge!”

“Recently, I’ve been fighting opponents with absurd durability, and I learned that making something harder can actually make it more brittle! It’s a bit different from the form I imagined, but I wanted to try it!”

Winnight slices through the cage with an unnaturally sharp blade. With that single strike, the magical power composing the cage fails to maintain its form and vanishes.

In that window, Stahl gains distance and gathers magical power in the turrets on her back.

“Let’s see how much you can endure with armor that can’t dampen impact! Full Burst!!”

Two cannon shells are fired from Stahl, just as they were at the start of the duel.

“In that case, I don’t need to endure them—I just need to deflect them. Parrying Shield!”

Winnight catches the shells with a shield enveloped in a veil of magical power… and deflects both.

Moreover, at the moment of impact, he skillfully uses his arm to kill as much of the shock as possible, minimizing the load on his own body.

“Herding!”

However, Stahl had already calculated that they would be deflected.

Consequently, Stahl activates one of her gimmicks—the rollers on the soles of her feet—at full power, circling around to Winnight’s side immediately after he deflects the shells. She then applies Herding to her own arm and swings it down.

“Too naive!”

“!? “

And faster than Stahl could bring her arm down, Winnight’s blade swung upward, carving deeply into Stahl’s body.

“Dammit…”

That strike was likely the finishing blow.

Stahl’s body vanishes, and Maruta, her Masked Form destroyed, appears outside the stage without a single scratch on her.

“The winner! ‘Knight of Victory’ Winnight!”

The deciding factor in the match was Winnight’s parrying technique.

By relying on honed skill rather than Skills, he shortened his recovery time, creating a speed differential that exceeded Stahl’s expectations.

“—————!!”

The great hall erupted in cheers following the short but intense duel.