The next day, Nikita arrived at school early by herself and tidied the classroom as usual.
Meanwhile, Aibar and Azamat were sitting on opposite sofas in the living room of Aibar's house.
Aibar spoke calmly.
"Please, trust me, Master. This is truly necessary."
Azamat asked,
"My lord, what are you planning to do with it? More importantly, what made you decide to create something like that?"
Aibar replied calmly,
"We need a war machine. Alternatively, I would have to become one myself. But I can't claim that I'm capable of reaching such a high level."
Azamat looked at him.
"My lord, don't you have me?"
Aibar answered calmly,
"Your armor is almost completely useless in combat. At the moment, your intelligence is your only real asset. But we need a war machine."
The lessons began, and one after another, they continued throughout the day.
As the final lesson was about to end, Symbat happened to glance out the window. To her surprise, she noticed someone hovering in midair outside.
For some time, an organization had been investigating Aibar, gathering information about him and studying his abilities more closely.
Eventually, the organization decided to send an agent.
The agent had been given the following information about their target:
Target: The Guardian of Order
Age: 14
Appearance: Red eyes and black hair
The person hovering outside the window was the organization's newly dispatched agent.
Their target was none other than the Guardian of Order.
The person hovering in midair spoke in a cold voice.
"Hey... Guardian of Order! Get out here. I've come to avenge my friend..."
The hovering man paused briefly before continuing in an angry voice.
"I'll give you three minutes. If you don't come out, you'll have only yourself to blame. I'll tear this school apart and force my way in. You don't want that to happen, do you?"
Everyone inside the school, including Nikita, was shocked.
With only ten seconds remaining before the three-minute deadline expired, Nikita finally stepped outside and came face-to-face with the mysterious man.
The man looked down on her with a slightly arrogant expression.
"Hmph. This little brat is the Guardian of Order? I imagined someone different. Oh, well... Hey, kid. Before you die, let me tell you who's going to kill you. My name is Arsen."
Nikita calmly replied,
"Yes, I'm the Guardian of Order. But I don't know you. I don't even know your friend. Or... did you come here looking for Aibar?"
Arsen spoke coldly.
"Enough talking... Attack me. I'll even give you a chance..."
He said the last part mockingly.
Maria stared at him in disbelief.
"What!? What are you talking ab—"
Before she could finish, a powerful gust of wind struck her, sending her flying into the school wall with tremendous force. She slammed into it three or four meters away from Arsen, hitting her head hard against the wall. Her wig came loose and fell off.
Arsen approached her, looking slightly confused.
"Huh? What the hell is this...?"
Everyone in the school was stunned.
"W-What...? Nikita... is a girl?!"
Arsen walked closer to Maria, descended to the ground, and returned to his human form.
"Tch... You're not the Guardian of Order."
Maria had sustained an injury to her head. Blood began to trickle from the wound, leaving red stains on strands of her snow-white hair.
Nevertheless, Maria slowly regained consciousness and lifted her head slightly from the ground.
"No... I am the Guardian of Order. I only recently obtained this position."
Arsen replied calmly,
"Yes, you're not the person we're looking for. However, I'm going to kill you anyway."
He drew his sword and prepared to attack her.
Suddenly, a sword came flying toward Arsen's head from a distance.
Just before it could strike his face, Arsen caught the incoming sword with one hand.
Looking toward the school gates, he saw Aibar walking inside, his expression completely emotionless and cold.
Arsen gave a slight smile.
"Oh, my... Who are you?"
What a handsome guy... He looks like a model! Could he really be the person we've been looking for...?
Arsen grinned.
Aibar walked through the gates and stopped directly in front of him. Looking at Arsen calmly, he spoke in an even voice.
"I'm the former Guardian of Order. You came here to avenge Asanali, didn't you? I don't know why you people want to destroy the world. However, I believe there must be a reason you chose this path. And..."
Arsen's expression twisted with anger.
"You bastard... You just admitted it yourself! You're openly admitting that you killed Asanali without even the slightest hesitation!!! Aren't you afraid? I'll kill you!"
He lunged at Aibar with his sword.
Both of them were still in their human forms. Neither had used any supernatural abilities yet.
Aibar defended himself against Arsen's attacks. Then, he picked up the sword he had just thrown at Arsen, and the two began a sword fight.
Aibar defeated Arsen without much difficulty, inflicting wounds on his shoulder and thigh.
Enraged, Arsen transformed into his wind form.
Aibar activated his own wind form as well.
Aibar tried to carry Arsen as high into the sky as possible, determined to keep their battle away from the school.
Arsen quickly realized that Aibar was deliberately trying to draw the fight higher into the sky to prevent the school grounds from becoming a battlefield.
Determined to stop him, Arsen fought desperately to escape downward toward the ground.
But Aibar refused to let him go.
A fierce battle was raging, but Aibar was winning without much difficulty.
As he continued to lose, Arsen switched to his Fire Form, gaining a slight advantage over Aibar.
Maria regained consciousness and got back to her feet. When she realized that her disguise had been exposed, her face began to turn red with embarrassment.
However, Aibar was suddenly overwhelmed by a powerful attack and sent crashing to the ground with a loud BAM!
The reason was simple: the Fire Form was far more powerful than the Wind Form. Yet Aibar had managed to fight Arsen almost evenly while using only his Wind Form.
Hovering in the sky, Arsen thought to himself,
How is this possible? He's almost keeping up with my Fire Form using nothing but his Wind Form...
Aibar got back to his feet and flew into the sky again, attempting to confront Arsen once more.
However, Arsen still held a slight advantage.
Suddenly, Aibar threw away his small, slender sword. In its place, a massive, heavy sword designed to be wielded with both hands came flying toward him.
A little earlier, while Arsen was giving the Guardian of Order his three-minute ultimatum, the school principal had managed to call Aibar.
Now, it was Azamat who had thrown the enormous sword toward him.
Aibar caught the massive sword and began fighting with it effortlessly, as though he were wielding an ordinary short sword.
In other words, the weapon was not heavy for Aibar at all.
Everyone was shocked. Swinging such an enormous sword with one hand without any difficulty should have been impossible. Yet Aibar wielded it effortlessly with a single hand, and his attacks had become even more powerful.
His strikes were now devastating, landing one powerful blow after another against Arsen.
The two continued fighting on equal terms.
However, Arsen still had a trump card.
His Green Flame Form.
It granted him devastating attack power, incredible speed, and scorching strikes that burned anything they hit.
Arsen transformed into his Green Flame Form and struck Aibar with a single blow, sending him flying a great distance.
The impact was unbearable, and Aibar suffered severe injuries.
Arsen gave him a faint, mocking smile.
"You wanted to fight in the sky, didn't you...?"
He continued relentlessly attacking Aibar in midair, giving him no opportunity to recover.
Aibar gradually realized just how devastating the Green Flame Form truly was.
Under its overwhelming power, he sustained severe injuries, and burns spread across his body.
Aibar understood that he had virtually no chance of defeating Arsen with his Wind Form. Not only was he outmatched in hand-to-hand combat, but even his weapon was no longer enough to turn the tide.
Aibar was now wielding his massive sword with both hands, while Arsen had put his own sword away and was defeating him with nothing but his bare hands.
Eventually, Aibar grew exhausted. His body was covered in blood, and he could barely maintain his balance.
His transformation faded.
As he began plummeting helplessly toward the ground, Maria leaped into the air and caught him.
She then descended gently, bringing them both safely to the ground.
Arsen was terrifyingly powerful. Aibar's chances of defeating him were virtually zero.
Arsen could effortlessly overwhelm Aibar's Wind Form and land scorching blows that inflicted devastating damage.
And there was another reason Arsen had deliberately kept the battle in the sky.
He wanted to torment Aibar.
He wanted Aibar to suffer as much as possible before finally going down.
Arsen had come to avenge Asanali's death.
Within the organization, Arsen and Asanali had been considered its two weakest members. They were both weak compared to the others, and that shared weakness had eventually brought them closer together.
Over time, the two had become close friends.
But after Asanali's death, Arsen's heart had filled with overwhelming rage toward Aibar.
Aibar slipped out of Maria's arms and returned to the battle.
Maria realized that she would only get in the way of their fight, so she went back inside the school.
The reason Aibar hadn't come to school that day was that he had been working on a new technology of his own invention: a holographic shield designed to protect the school.
The previous day, Aibar had installed several relatively small devices at various points along the school's perimeter. Then, instead of attending school today, he had finished using those devices to create a holographic light shield that enclosed the entire school grounds.
Even though Aibar attacked Arsen with his massive two-handed sword, he was defeated once again.
Arsen didn't even consider him a worthy opponent.
As Aibar lay on the ground, exhausted and barely able to move, he suddenly heard a voice.
An unfamiliar voice spoke.
"Hmm... If I were in your position, I'd take action and activate your other forms..."
Everyone heard the voice.
Aibar calmly asked,
"Who is that?"
The mysterious voice replied,
"What does it matter who I am? Just activate your Fire Form, for goodness' sake. I saw how remarkably well you held your own against the Fire Form using your Wind Form. In my opinion, if you activate your Fire Form, you might even be able to stand against the Green Flame Form.
"But if you don't activate your Fire Form... you'll die.
"I could stop Arsen myself. However, I want to join your team, so I'm putting you to the test. I want to see whether you're worthy or not. After all, I have no desire to form an alliance with someone weak."
Nobody had any idea where the voice was coming from. Even Arsen couldn't figure it out.
"Is that you? Ngh..."
Aibar launched another attack.
However, he was struck by several devastating blows and lost consciousness.
He fell to the ground again, landing within the school grounds.
Azamat was controlling the holographic light shield. As Aibar fell toward the section of the school perimeter where the shield was active, Azamat opened a gap just wide enough to let him through, then immediately closed it again.
Aibar remained unconscious.
Arsen burst into mocking laughter.
"Ha ha ha... What a weakling—"
Before he could finish, Aibar regained consciousness.
However, he was furious.
He had lost control of himself and surrendered completely to his anger.
Aibar rose to his feet and let out a monstrous roar. A terrifying crimson aura began emanating from his body.
Still screaming, he looked up at the sky and activated his Fire Form.
However, the Fire Form was an extremely high-temperature mode, and it began burning his own body.
Whenever someone activated a high-temperature form, a wind barrier would surround their body to protect them from the heat. However, that barrier had to be trained and strengthened.
The first time someone activated one of these high-temperature forms, their wind barrier was extremely weak. As a result, the heat would gradually begin to burn the user.
Even as the Fire Form scorched his body, Aibar endured the unbearable heat and fought Arsen almost evenly.
The only thing protecting Arsen was his exceptionally powerful regenerative ability.
Struggling to keep up with Aibar, Arsen finally drew his sword again.
The sword fight between Aibar and Arsen began once more.
Aibar, unable to control himself because of his overwhelming rage, accidentally activated Green Flame Form as well. The pain was excruciating, and his body began burning even more intensely than before. However, Aibar resolved the situation quickly, because Arsen was no longer a worthy opponent for him. In other words, Aibar could fight on equal terms with opponents using Forms one level above his own. When fighting someone using the same level of Form, Aibar was undoubtedly the stronger one.
Eventually, Aibar's anger subsided, and he regained control of himself. However, his body was in unbearable pain. Despite that, he maintained his usual composure, refusing to let anyone notice his suffering. Only then did he realize that he was using Green Flame Form.
Arsen had been utterly defeated. He was on the verge of death.
Unable to accept his defeat, Arsen ripped out his own crystal core and destroyed it, killing himself in the process. Aibar tried to stop him, but he was too late.
Afterward, Aibar descended onto the school grounds and deactivated Green Flame Form. He was so severely injured that he could barely remain standing.
Maria came outside and placed Aibar's arm over her shoulder, helping him stay on his feet. However, Aibar noticed the students watching them through the windows, their faces filled with shock.
Calmly, Aibar explained everything that had happened at Maria's house, revealing that she was a girl. He also explained that she had wanted to prove that girls were just as capable as boys.
Then Aibar turned toward Maria and spoke calmly.
"You've already proven yourself. Just think about it. Even your own older brother is weaker than you, and I won't even bother mentioning everyone else. There are plenty of guys who can't do anything worthwhile. Compared to them, you're on an entirely different level. You're far superior to them. Do you want me to prove it?
"Even though you couldn't defeat me, you still firmly secured second place. At present, you're the only person who has been able to stand against me as a genuine rival.
"And if you want proof that girls are capable of achieving great things, just look at Symbat. She's right behind you, having firmly claimed third place.
"Now think about it. Among the top three, there's only one boy—me. And below you and Symbat, girls continue to occupy more of the stronger positions in the top ten.
"That's why you don't have to prove anything to anyone.
"I don't know what kind of people your parents are. But I honestly don't understand whether they wanted to raise a warrior or something else entirely.
"There's nothing wrong with a girl being gentle and beautiful. That's not a weakness.
"To me, treating a person as nothing more than a weapon is disgusting, regardless of whether that person is a man or a woman.
"What I'm trying to tell you is that you're not a weapon. You're a human being. And so am I.
"People should be allowed to do what they believe is right and what they genuinely want to do. They shouldn't have to obey someone else's wishes at the expense of their own comfort and happiness."
Aibar delivered these words with a serious expression.
He remained silent for a while before speaking again, his voice just as calm.
"You're strong. I acknowledge that. I'm not saying this to brag, but I'm on a different level.
"Your determination to become stronger is admirable. But don't strive to become the strongest. Let me carry that burden for you.
"Just agree to it."
Maria's face turned red.
The person saying the very words she'd always wanted to hear was none other than the boy she'd gradually fallen in love with—the very same boy who had once been her rival.
At last, Maria felt as though she'd been freed from an unbearable burden. It was as if she'd finally escaped the captivity imposed on her by her own parents, who had disappeared from her life and never truly loved her.
Deep down, she made a decision. From now on, she would live life on her own terms.
She resolved to let go of her rivalry with Aibar. She had proven that even if she wasn't the strongest, she was still one of the strongest people in the world. And now, she finally understood that herself.
Aibar looked at Maria and spoke calmly.
"Would you go out with me?
"I... I love you.
"But these feelings are new to me, too. I'll do my best to handle them properly."
Maria's face flushed red with embarrassment as well. However, she composed herself and decided to tease him a little.
"Ooooh...! My strongest rival is confessing his feelings to me?! But confessing your love without showing any emotion is kind of strange, you know.
"If only you could see your own face right now... Hahaha!
"I never imagined that the man everyone feared as the Guardian of Order could be this adorable!"
Maria stopped teasing him and gave him a warm smile.
"Aibar, thank you so much.
"I've always felt lonely. I thought I had no one in this world except my older brother.
"I tried to find friends among people my own age. I kept wondering whether anyone besides my brother could understand me... but eventually, I convinced myself that nobody ever would.
"And yet, I was the one who kept pushing away the very person who wanted to help me.
"But you never abandoned me halfway through. You stayed by my side and supported me until the very end. Well, after my brother, of course.
"To me, you and my brother are like angels.
"Thank you...
"I don't know how to respond to your proposal. I've caused you so much trouble..."
Aibar interrupted her, speaking in his usual calm manner.
"I already told you. Don't worry about what other people think.
"Whether you try to do something good, actually do something good, or even make a mistake, people will talk behind your back regardless. Well, not everyone, of course.
"Like I said earlier, live the way you want to live. Make your own decisions... and make sure they're truly yours.
"Let people say whatever they want. They can't walk the same path as you.
"That's why some people, when they see others accomplishing things they themselves couldn't, try to find flaws in them instead.
"Honestly, that's something everyone does to some extent.
"But what's important is that you make decisions for yourself.
"Because to the people who genuinely value you, you'll always be someone without flaws..."
Once again, Aibar spoke with an utterly serious expression.
Maria burst out laughing.
"Pfft—hahahaha!"
She laughed for a moment before speaking again.
"You're genuinely an amazing guy, but you're also hilarious!
"I don't know why you're so emotionless... but judging by the way you speak, I can tell you've been through quite a lot yourself.
"Yeah, maybe when the time comes, you'll tell me about it and finally get some of that weight off your shoulders.
"Until then, I absolutely have to treat you with the respect you deserve.
"Because you're my hero.
"And as for your proposal..."
Maria paused, her cheeks still flushed.
"...Yes. I accept."
The students and teachers watching through the school windows were practically all applauding with joy, gazing at the two of them with admiration.
Meanwhile, Symbat watched Maria with a hint of jealousy in her eyes.