-1385- Defeat them head-on

Who could have imagined that such a thing would happen?

Not long ago, everyone was just preparing for the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, aiming to compete with strong opponents and striving for the peak of the Seven Academies. They had fought hard up to this point with that goal in mind.

Who would have thought that this year's Seven Stars Sword Art Festival would transform into a stage for political confrontation?

Not only did the students of Hagun Academy not expect this, but Shinguji Kurono did not expect it either.

"Akatsuki Academy, established by the state, has now officially stepped onto the stage. Their participation in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival is already confirmed. If the students of the seven academies cannot defeat them and they end up taking the championship, it will indeed put the League in a precarious position."

Shinguji Kurono couldn't help but show some worry.

Surely, when Shinguji Kurono first heard this news, she must have been equally shocked and found it hard to believe, only to eventually accept the reality and rush back.

However, accepting the reality doesn't change the fact that the situation has become unexpected for everyone.

Shinguji Kurono's emotions had not completely calmed down yet.

It wasn't just guilt and regret towards everyone, but also anger towards Akatsuki Academy's actions.

"To use Hagun as a stepping stone, how audacious."

Shinguji Kurono quietly expressed her anger, which affected everyone's emotions.

No matter what, the actions of Tsukikage Bakuga had indeed caused significant losses to Hagun Academy and harmed the teachers and students who stayed behind. Even though the attacks did not cause real damage, it didn't mean they could tolerate such oppression.

"In the end, those guys not only didn't get punished but also successfully obtained the right to participate in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival. It's infuriating."

Stella Vermillion was furious.

Everyone else felt the same, unable to let go of their anger at not being able to hold Akatsuki Academy accountable.

Kurogane Shizuku even looked at Rozen.

"Why did you let them go at that time?"

Shizuku was dissatisfied.

After all, with Rozen's ability, it should have been easy to keep the people from Akatsuki Academy.

But Rozen let them leave.

So, Shizuku's dissatisfaction was understandable.

But Rozen wanted to say,

"If we didn't let them go, did you want to keep them?"

Rozen spoke somewhat irritatedly.

"They are different from Wallenstein. Keeping them would become a troublesome matter."

Rozen's statement was supported by Shinguji Kurono.

"Wallenstein is one of the 12 Apostles of the Rebellion. Everyone knows that. Killing him can be seen as taking out a leader of a terrorist organization, which is a merit, not a fault. But those students from Akatsuki Academy are different. Not only do we have no evidence to prove they are from the Rebellion, but there's also no evidence that they attacked Hagun Academy. If we killed them on the spot, Tsukikage Bakuga could claim that he knew in advance that leaders of the Rebellion would come to Hagun Academy to carry out a terrorist attack, and he sent Akatsuki Academy's people to support Hagun, only to be killed by us."

If that happened, the country could justifiably blame the Seven Academies and even the League, claiming that they were colluding with the Rebellion to frame the state and harm the students.

If it came to that, it would be a huge blow to the League, and Tsukikage Bakuga would achieve his goals indirectly.

Rozen had considered this in advance, knowing that keeping these people would only cause trouble, so he let them go decisively.

Besides, as Rozen said, seeing the League and the Rebellion fight each other wasn't entirely unpleasant for him. The only ones he had personal grudges with were Hiraga Reisen and, at most, the overconfident Wallenstein. Having dealt with these two, he had no reason to do anything more.

So, letting them go wasn't something Rozen regretted.

Of course, the others couldn't easily accept this.

"Can't we expose them?"

Todo Touka frowned and suggested.

"Let's set aside the attack on Hagun for now. Tsukikage Bakuga claimed that the attackers were students trained by Akatsuki Academy, showing the state's capabilities. But as we know, those people were hired talents from the Rebellion, not state-trained students."

This was a critical weakness in the current conflict.

If they could expose the true identities of Akatsuki Academy's students, showing everyone that they were elites of the Rebellion and not state-trained, Tsukikage Bakuga's plans would collapse. It would prove that the state couldn't train its own Blazers and merely borrowed talents.

In that case, not only would Tsukikage Bakuga's plans fail, but the attackers would also be seen as terrorists, disqualifying them from the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.

However...

"As I said, we have no evidence. If they refuse to admit it, there's nothing we can do, especially with the state backing them. The government will fully cover up the evidence and control public opinion, making black seem white. We can only defeat them head-on."

Shinguji Kurono's words made everyone look frustrated.

In response...

"Is there really a need to be so frustrated?"

Rozen glanced at everyone and suddenly smiled.

"The director said it, didn't she? Just defeat them head-on."

Everyone was initially stunned, then understood Rozen's meaning.

Indeed.

"No matter how perfect their plans are, they still need to win the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, take the championship, and prove their strength for their plan to succeed, right?"

Rozen calmly stated.

"In that case, just teach them a lesson in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, destroy their plan head-on, and that's it."

That's it.

In a nutshell...

"If you're feeling frustrated, then vent it out at the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival."

Rozen said to everyone.

This made everyone relax and feel enlightened.

"Rozen is right."

Kurogane Ikki smiled.

"Our task hasn't changed."

Todo Touka nodded.

"In that case, it's simple."

Kurogane Shizuku also sighed in relief.

"Just you wait, Akatsuki Academy!"

Stella Vermillion clenched her fists, flames surging from her hands.

Everyone was finally motivated.

Only Arisuin Nagi looked on with a bit of bitterness, helplessness, but also a sense of release.

Seeing this, Edelweiss couldn't help but smile slightly.

Shinguji Kurono also relaxed her brow and nodded.

"Like Rozen said, your task hasn't changed. Just win the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, and you can restore everything."

That said...

"I still want to confirm, are you really planning to continue participating?"

Shinguji Kurono asked.

"I can understand if you want to withdraw. Think it over."

Shinguji Kurono advised.