One soul, two twins, the other half is Bronya

In the college's Great Hall:

Byakuya, Ikki, Bronya, Stella, and Toudou Touka walked up to the stage one by one to receive their medals.

"The leader of the Pojun Academy delegation has been confirmed to be Dongtang Daohua."

As she said this, Shinguji Kurono also handed the flag symbolizing Pojun Academy to Toudou Touka.

Although Dongtang Daohua might not be the strongest in terms of strength, the more important thing for a leader is whether he is suitable. After all... we can't let Bai Ye take the position, right?

A demon who can fight against Ning Yin... To be honest, Kurono still doesn't know why the other party is doing this.

……

After the ceremony, Ikki, Byakuya, and the others gathered together and walked inside the academy.

"Speaking of which, why isn't Arisuin here?"

It was in the Great Hall before, and Ikki didn't dare to ask, so he only had time to ask Shushizuku now.

"He's taking a day off today." (Shizuku)

"After all, because of him, Shushizuku wasn't chosen. He must be feeling bad, right?"

Bai Ye also added, "But it's true that the academy's lineup this time is quite luxurious. Under the circumstances, there's probably nothing we can do about it."

"Let's talk more when we have time." Bronya nodded, echoing Bai Ye's words.

However, who is the protagonist of this topic?

"Hello, hello, is that the Shadow Killer?"

A very teasing voice came from the student handbook.

Arisuin kept in touch, but the jokes and banter of the past were gone from the familiar face, which looked so cold and strange.

"What's up, Joker?"

It was hard to imagine that these cold words came from Arisuin's mouth.

"Oh my, don't be so cold..."

The clown's sarcastic tone made people feel angry. "The target of the operation has been confirmed~ It's at Pojun Academy where you are undercover. You must cooperate well, Shadow Killer..."

"Oh no, maybe I should call you... Comrade "Black Rose"? Right, Arisuin-san~"

"..."

On the other end, Arisu remained silent. Perhaps it was because Shizuku wasn't selected? His mood shifted slightly, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the student handbook.

"Silence again?"

The Joker wasn't surprised. After all, Arisuin, or rather, the Shadow Killer, had always been that way. "Never mind, the preparations for the 'pre-festival' are complete anyway."

As he spoke, the clown's tone gradually became more amusing, with a hint of madness. "The actors are all here. I guess everyone thinks so, right?"

"But they're all wrong. The real 'protagonist' hasn't appeared yet!"

"Next, let's jump onto the stage and beat up those foolish audience members. And then, we'll announce our victory to the world..."

——"The protagonist of this year's Seven Stars Sword Festival will be our Akatsuki Academy!"

On the other end of the line, Arisuin had already hung up early. He had no interest in the clown's daily outbursts.

……

It was mid-July.

With the end of the representative selection competition, the first semester of Pojun Academy also came to an end.

Then comes the summer vacation that students look forward to.

During this period, most students returned to their hometowns, and the entire campus became much emptier.

The Seven Stars Swordsmanship Festival was held in mid-August, and for this purpose, the academy also launched a ten-day intensive training camp.

However, due to the Puppet Master incident, the training location was moved to Jumen Academy, with the two academies training together. However, Bai Ye was missing.

"Brother is a little anxious~"

"I can't help it. I finally got the guidance from His Excellency the Fighting God. I can't afford to be too lazy."

As he spoke, Bai Ye lowered his center of gravity little by little, and slowly stroked Wanxiang's blade with one hand... A magical glow ignited, very similar to Yihui's, but more stable.

"Oh, this is..."

Nango Torajiro's eyes widened slightly, but he remained calm overall, leaning on his cane like an ordinary old man. "Are young people nowadays so serious?"

"Zheng——!"

A wave of sword energy struck—a soaring dragon flash! An ultra-high-speed sword slash. Then, lightning converged on the sole of his foot, instantly unleashing an overwhelming force of propulsion.

Thunder Breathing: Thunderbolt Flash! This is the only move in Demon Slayer that Byakuya can replicate. The others are mostly vague and cannot be practiced based on the manga.

"Oh~"

But even so, Nanxiang Torajiro still looked relaxed. He took a few steps and slightly turned his body to avoid it. "Brother, this set of moves is well connected..."

!!!

As he was speaking, Nango Torajiro suddenly jumped back and immediately put some distance between himself and Bai Ye.

"Across all directions!"

A flash of sword light flashed, followed by a terrifying sword energy. But this was not over yet. Bai Ye tapped the ground with his toes and flew towards him with his sword in hand...

——Hundred-step flying sword!

It was an incomparable speed. Even Nanxiang Torajiro had a slight cut on his face. "It's really scary. Such a sharp sword technique."

"Whoo~"

Elsewhere, Bai Ye also breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few seconds? No, not even a second! But he had truly given it his all, so much so that his exhaled breath resembled a sword beam.

"But it's still not enough."

Bai Ye turned to look at Nanxiang Torajiro. The small cut was almost healed. "It's still far from enough."

"Young man, you really set high standards for yourself. Just now, I, an old man... I already used my supernatural powers."

Even so, Nanxiang Torajiro was still injured! This shows the sharpness of this set of swordsmanship. "In the human realm, the young man's swordsmanship has reached the pinnacle."

"But you also said it was in the 'human realm'."

"..."

For a moment, the two sides met eyes and fell silent.

After a long moment, Bai Ye flicked the blade with his index finger, then lowered his center of gravity and took up his stance again. "Your Excellency Fighting God, how about you feel my sword a little more?"

"Young man, you are really energetic." As he moved his hands, a dangerous aura emanated from Nango Torajiro's body little by little.

……

After a slightly serious exchange, Bai Ye leaned on the rubble behind him, leaning on his sword. "As expected of His Excellency the God of Fighting, I have gained a lot from this fight."

"This little brother is really amazing~"

At this time, Nanxiang Torajiro also walked over to Baiye and sat down on the ground without any concern. "Young man, you are trying so hard, maybe you want to reach the demon realm?"

"And it relies solely on your swordsmanship. In that case, you might have found the wrong person, young man."

——You should go find [Biyi]!

"I know, I've been looking very hard. But what can I do if I can't find it?"

Bai Ye's strong adaptability soon made him stop panting and gradually recovered. "So, Your Excellency Fighting God, what do you think I still lack?"

"Young man, you've really stumped me, an old man. Your swordsmanship is already very mature. If I must say..."

33. Academy Training

"boom--!"

On the special training ground, red flames and golden lightning intertwined, erupting with terrifying destructive power.

"That's the Red Lotus Princess? She's amazing! She can even fight that Raikiri on equal terms."

At the edge of the field, several people holding cameras excitedly recorded the scene. "Quick, quick, quick! Record it! It's rare to see such an intense simulated battle."

emmm...

In contrast to the people in the news department, the representative players from Jumen Academy were completely paralyzed. "Hey, can you beat them?"

"Huh? Are you still asleep? What are you talking about in your sleep? We're lucky we didn't get killed instantly."

"I can't do it anyway."

"No, there's no way. I mean, are they really from the same class as us?"

I was feeling pretty good about myself, even thinking I could get a place in the Seven Stars Sword Competition. But after watching these two sparring...my mentality collapsed!

In addition, according to internal information of Pojun Academy, Stella and Toudou Touka have both lost to Kurogane Ikki.

There is also Kurogane Jushizuku, known as the "Deep Sea Witch", but she was directly eliminated!

You know, this is decided based on strength... Shit! What kind of gods are these Pojun Academy? Does Jumen Academy even have a chance at this Seven Star Sword Festival?

"Playing games again?"

However, there was one corner that stood out from the crowd. Bronya, her fair thighs pressed together, hid in the shade, playing her handheld game console, the screen flashing furiously.

"This level of sparring is useless to Bronya, so Bronya will not participate."

Without even looking up, Bronya already knew who it was. "Alice (Arisuin), what are you doing here?"

"I had no interest in the Seven Stars Sword Festival in the first place. Becoming the representative contestant was just luck."

"..."

Bronya remained silent... Do you think Bronya doesn't know? You're the "Shadow Killer," a world-renowned expert. Your skills must be A-rank, right?

But it would be troublesome to expose it. Some things are hard to explain, so it’s better to keep it as it is, “Forget it…”

"Forget it?"

Arisuin waved his hand and naturally moved closer to Bronya. "Okay, okay, Bronya, what game are you playing? Can I take a look?"

"Some very simple mini-games, not difficult at all." Bronya turned slightly to the side so that Arisuin could also see the screen.

emmm...

Perhaps you have some misunderstanding about the word "simple"? Looking at the madly flashing electronic screen, Arisuin was speechless. "Speaking of which, where did Bai Ye go?"

"Bai Ye went for special training."

【YOU WIN！】

The victory sign popped up on the screen. Bronya expertly switched games and continued to operate the handheld. "By the way, Alice, haven't the new coaches arrived yet?"

"Yeah, after all, we can't find a suitable candidate. If the person who comes is weaker, I'm afraid they will be defeated again."

Arisuin thought about what happened before, and the corners of his mouth curled up. That was at the beginning...

Bronya wanted to slack off, and the so-called training camp just happened to be sparring with the coaches. And so... without a second thought, she beat up all the coaches.

Finally, with his overwhelming strength, he obtained the privilege of slacking off. Then everyone else came, Ikki, Stella... and others also went up to fight a few waves.

The result is a complete victory!

Several coaches were immediately upset and refused to stay any longer, so they resigned and left overnight.

That's why, since there were no sparring partners, Stella and Toudou Daohua could only practice with themselves, and no one cared about Bronya's slacking group.

After a while, Bronya cleared several levels in succession. She stood up a little to stretch her body and glanced around. "Alice, where is Ikki?"

"Hey, isn't Ikki right here..."

But when Arisuin looked over, there was no one where Ikki was. "...Oh, if he's not here, then I don't know."

"……,never mind."