Ikki is reborn

"Th-The winner is Kurogane Ikki!" 

"..." 

In the third Battle Arena, as the emcee's voice fell, everyone stared at this scene in a daze. 

Ikki Kurogane, known for being the weakest, won against his opponent, Heavy Tank Momotani, who was also known as one of the strongest among the older years. 

"N-No way..." 

"He-He became the winner!" 

"Amazing..." 

While those who were unfamiliar with Ikki were dumbfounded as they didn't expect this failure Blazer to win against Momotani, those who knew him felt happy about his victory. 

"Onii-sama!" 

"Kurogane-senpai! You are amazing!" 

"Ikki!" 

While those who were happy about his victory weren't much, Ikki felt glad, and for the first time, he knew that his hard work was paid and everyone had acknowledged his power. 

"H-How...? How did you attack me, who was protected by this Impregnable armor?!" 

Momotani knew that he had lost, but he couldn't help but ask how Ikki attacked him even though his armor was impregnable. In the beginning, he had never thought of Ikki as an opponent, especially when he knew how weak Ikki was. 

Not only was Ikki's magic power below the standard and even closer to that of a normal human, but Ikki's ability as a Blazer was also just to double his physical power. 

With all of those factors, how could even this weakest Blazer defeat him? 

After all, Momotani believed that his armor could even block a canon from a tank, yet why did he lose? 

Yet, the fact was like this, and he wasn't a loser who couldn't accept his loss. He acknowledged Ikki as a warrior who had made his way to the top from the bottom of the sea. 

"Dokuga no Tachi (Poisonous Moth Long Sword)."

Facing this question, Ikki answered Momotani honestly. "It's one of my secret sword techniques that allows me to send a vibration on my blade. Your armor might be strong, but your internal organs are the same. By using this technique, I attack your internal organs directly." 

By working all of his muscles, from his feet to his fingers, he created vibrations, so the moment that his blade came into contact with an opponent's weapon or armor, the vibrations were transferred into their body, causing numbness in their muscles, forcing them to drop their weapons, and even affecting internal organs.

This was one of his Seven Secret Swords, Dokuga no Tachi!

Still, even though it should be a secret technique, Ikki didn't mind telling this to a warrior who had acknowledged him. 

"I see... that's how it is..." Momotani held his chest as he still felt in pain, understanding why he had lost. "Ikki Kurogani, I acknowledge that you are strong, but I am just the beginning. If you want to be able to enter the Seventh Stars Sword Art Festival, you will face many monsters that you have never imagined, but even so, don't lose, okay? I will be watching you." 

"Thank you, Senpai." 

Ikki bowed his head respectfully, feeling his eyes wet. No one thought of him as the weakest anymore. He felt that he had been reborn and had become an existence that wasn't underestimated. 

While he had never cared about the eyes of others as he only wished to become strong, it felt great to have people acknowledge his hard work. 

"But I won't lose. I will definitely participate in the Seventh Stars Sword Art Festival and be the champion!" 

If Ikki wanted to graduate, he had to become the champion of the Seventh Stars Sword Art Festival. With his weakest, if he wanted everyone to change their opinion toward him, he had to win against many of the strongest, so he would win no matter who his opponents were! 

"That's a good spirit, but I am going to sleep first. Your attack hurt me so much..." 

After Momotani said so, he fell and passed out immediately. 

"Senpai!" 

As the two showed such a moving and respectable match, no one looked down on Ikki, and all of them clapped their hands happily. 

Naturally, while some were moved, the others couldn't help but feel jealous. 

"Hmph, isn't he just playing around." 

"I can imagine that the Kurogane family must have paid Momotani to lose this match." 

"How could you say that?! The fact is before you! Kurogane-senpai is the winner!" 

Even though Ikki had tried his best, it was impossible for everyone to feel good about him. Yet, it was normal since the existence that they had been looking down and made them feel better suddenly rose up above them. How could they accept it? So, to comfort their petty and small hearts, they made an excuse, saying that this match was dirty and Momotani was paid by the Kurogane family to lose so Ikki could win. 

"You..." 

Shizuku was enraged and wished to beat those people up. 

"Shizuku, enough!" Ikki quickly stopped her. 

"But Onii-sama..."

"It's fine." Ikki still had a gentle smile on his face as he patted Shizuku's head softly. "Talking with them is useless, and all I can do is to win." 

"Onii-sama...." Once again, Shizuku felt that she had fallen in love with her older brother. 

Watching the interaction between the two, Arisuin smiled softly and then asked, "By the way, Ikki, how is your relationship with Stella now?" 

"By the way, where is that fat woman?! Onii-sama had just won his first match, yet she didn't even watch or say anything!?" 

When Arisuin reminded her of Stella, Shizuku couldn't help but become annoyed as she couldn't see Stella's presence in this battle arena. 

"...." 

Ikki fell into silence, and his expression became awkward. 

"What's wrong? Are you still fighting?" Arisuin asked helplessly. "You know, I saw her in the corner before." 

"Re-Really?" Ikki looked at Arisuin in surprise, and his heart also felt happy somehow.

"Um." Arisuin nodded, then asked, "But then, I guess you two are still awkward after that, right?" 

"...we have been fighting after that." 

Ikki knew that the fault was on him since he felt... a little jealous as Stella showed her care toward someone. He knew that he should apologize, yet he wondered why, whenever they talked, it ended up with a fight. 

More importantly—

"She is too stubborn!" 

'Aren't you the same?' 2x

Shizuku and Arisuin thought inside their hearts. 

"Forget about her, Onii-sama! Just stay with Shizuku! Shizuku will become a perfect woman for you!" 

As Shizuku said so, she pressed her petite body against Ikki's arm as if she wanted him to feel the growth of her body. Nevertheless, inwardly, she felt angry toward Stella since she knew that Stella was someone that Ikki loved. Even though she hated it and even felt jealous, she knew that Stella was the one that Ikki wanted. 

Unfortunately, a stupid fight happened between them, and with their inexperience in this area, the two could only remain stubborn and unable to make peace with each other. 

'If this continues...' 

Sooner or later, Shizuku was afraid that they might be completely broken.

If there was something better, it was the fact that Ikki and Stella were still living in the same room, so there should be a chance for their relationship to be better. 

While it might be strange and even inappropriate for Ikki and Stella to be in the same room together, anything could happen in this harem story. 

Arisuin didn't care much about their relationship, or rather, he felt that they should make up for each other after a while, especially when there was no existence that could threaten Ikki to take Stella's heart in this school. 

In this school, even if Ikki was the weakest, Arisuin knew that Ikki was the brightest. 

'If only that guy didn't appear...' 

Arisuin thought about that devil-like existence that suddenly fell from heaven. That guy robbed everyone's heart and rewrote anything that happened between everyone so easily. More importantly, that guy even took his heart! 

How cruel! 

Arisuin wanted to cry whenever he thought that he had met someone who happened to be his type, yet in the end, they weren't fated to be together. 

'If we can't be together in the end... then don't let me have hope...' 

As Arisuin cried inwardly, Shizuku asked, "Let's go back, Onii-sama. Let's have a celebration party for your first victory." 

"Ah, wait for a moment. Can we visit one of the battle arenas first? I want to see a match," Ikki said with an awkward smile. 

"Match? Whose match?" 

This time, unlike before, Ikki didn't show the gentle and kind smile that he usually showed to everyone, but a tense and slightly nervous expression. "You can say... he is my nemesis."