"This juice is amazing! What do you think of it, Big Sis? Koya-kun?"

Koya sucked on the straw of his own juice and sighed.

"It's really nice. What flavor is this?"

"I think it's passionfruit mango fusion…" Hayate replied cheerfully.

Koya was now in one of ALI's restaurants, sitting opposite Hayate, the black-bluish haired half-noble he supposed he was friends with now and next to Hayate sat Shion then Koya realized something.

"Big sis?" Koya asked, glancing at the pink-haired woman and Shion turned her face to the right, ignoring Koya's look. "Your big sister is Shion?"

"Of course!" Hayate said brightly, holding his red juice cup. "Don't we look alike?"

Koya glanced between them. Their hair was different, their faces were different... Also, if Shion was 18 now, how old was Hayate exactly? And why was he even in ALI?

"Not at all…" Koya said.

Hayate's cheeks immediately puffed up in indignation.

"Everyone says the same…" Hayate protested while visibly deflating, why couldn't they believe him?

Shion, upon seeing that her little brother was deflated by Koya's blunt assessment, turned to glare daggers at Koya with enough intensity to kill a mundane person then she sighed heavily, averting her eyes.

"Just because we had different mothers doesn't change anything," Shion said quietly, though her voice carried clear conviction. "He's still my little brother, and I will take care of him as such. That's simply how it is."

Koya felt a small pang of respect for that statement.

"That's admirable," Koya said genuinely. "I have a little sister too, so I understand the feeling."

Shion muttered something that sounded like. "With the way you treat girls, it's hard to imagine you being a good brother."

'She's still mad about Impostors Among Us?' Koya thought. Sure, he'd shot her head and exploded it, but was that really something to hold a grudge about? It was just a game…

"So why did you invite me here, Hayate?" Koya asked.

Hayate shrugged. "It wasn't my idea, actually. Big sis ha—"

Shion's hand shot out, grabbing Hayate's ear and pulling upward.

"Ow ow ow!" Hayate yelped.

"You weren't supposed to say that," Shion hissed, then released him and sat back down calmly then she looked at the table. "I was... sorry for overreacting. It was just a game. I would have done the same thing if I was in your position. But why did you have to kill me like that?"

Hayate blinked. "Oh, we're talking about Impostors Among Us? I was an Impostor too! My class let me kill anyone without needing a cooldown, so I cornered everyone and killed them all. Pretty easy~"

Shion's eye twitched. "Did anyone ask you?"

She punched Hayate's stomach.

THUD!

Hayate collapsed against the table. "S-sorry, sis..."

Koya watched with a raised eyebrow with a small smile tugging at his lips.

"The two of you really are good siblings, huh?" Koya muttered then he turned to Shion. "Well, Lady Shion, I accept your apology and I'm sorry for ending it like that. Now if we're done here—"

He prepared to stand… only the classes that went to Familiar Isle were doing exams, so Koya had free time. He wanted to test the Familiar Communication scroll he'd gotten from that bald professor but someone suddenly hugged him from behind.

Koya looked back. "Yoru?"

The black-haired girl pulled back.

"Morning, Koya-kun! Oh, Shion and Hayate-kun here too? What an amazing meet-up! Why wasn't I invited?"

Shion frowned. She wasn't mad at Yoru anymore, but she was still confused… how had this woman beaten her in Buffer Day Tournament? There was something weird about that last shadow attack, but she couldn't grasp it.

"No need to answer," Yoru said cheerfully, sitting in the fourth seat. "I'm here now anyway!"

Shion gave her a look. "Yoru, you look quite beautiful today. Did you want to impress Koya-kun?"

"I look beautiful every day," Shion stated. "And why are you here?"

Yoru smiled as a shadow hand materialized, snagging Koya's drink and bringing it to her lips. She drank from the same straw Koya had been using.

"Mmm, this juice is pretty sweet."

"You're diverting from the question…" Shion pointed out and Yoru's smile widened.

"I came looking for Koya-kun to share information just decided by the Principal and ALI Council that will be sent to our ALI phones in an hour or two."

Hayate raised an eyebrow. "What information?"

Yoru's expression became more serious.

"According to my sources, the Gold-class monster that attacked Omni Supercity and was driven off by the White King's mere presence is heading toward Keropolis Supercity with an army of monsters through the Outer Zone. Everyone outside city barriers has been ordered to enter protected zones. Red Crests, Blue Crests, and upward will be dispatched to fight them."

All three fell silent and Hayate broke it.

"Why doesn't the White King just intervene again?"

Yoru placed a finger on the table. "The White King could kill it easily but as his subjects, we must prove our power."

Normally Yoru wouldn't praise the White King, but this was a chance for her clan to prove themselves.

"I see..." Shion said quietly then she stood gracefully. "I hope nobody dies. If we're done, Hayate, let us go."

She grabbed her brother and turned to the waiter. "Place whatever they order on my tab."

The young man bowed. "Of course, Lady Shion."

Shion gave Koya one last look before walking out with Hayate.

"Later, Koya-ku—"

The door shut immediately after, cutting him off and after they left, Koya stood up too. "I have stuff to do Yoru, see you later."

He left too, leaving Yoru alone. Yoru watched him go as her cheerful expression faded completely.

'Question Mark...' Yoru thought. 'I hope you keep up to your end of the promise.'

She hadn't actually come to the restaurant just to deliver news about the Gold-class monster, though that information was real enough and would impact everyone soon.

No, she'd come to get an alibi because she'd managed to steal something incredibly valuable from the Academy's high-security vault earlier that morning… using her Shadow Magic to bypass layers of protection that would have stopped almost anyone else. The theft had been risky, dangerous, and absolutely necessary.

Yoru opened her palm beneath the table, looking down at her prize with a mixture of satisfaction and uncertainty.

It looked like a rock that was pale grey in color with numerous small holes pockmarking its surface, giving it an almost sponge-like appearance and it was roughly the size of a large walnut, surprisingly light for its density.

'I hope this is important enough to take out the Clan Head of the Kurohane Clan completely…' Yoru thought grimly with her fingers closing around the strange object.

Question Mark had been very specific about what to steal and exactly where to find it within the vault's labyrinthine storage system. The instructions had been precise, detailed, and completely accurate which both impressed and worried Yoru.

How did this mysterious person know so much about ALI Academy's most secure location?

'What did she call it again?' Yoru frowned slightly, trying to remember the exact terminology that had been used. 'Ah yes. She said it was a rock from the moon.'

Yoru tilted her head, genuinely confused by that description even now.

'Where is the moon anyway?' she wondered idly, glancing toward the restaurant's windows. 'Doesn't it exist somewhere up in the air above us? In the sky? How would anyone get a rock from it?'

The logistics didn't make sense, but then again, magic rarely followed normal logic or reason.

Yoru closed her fist tightly around the moon rock and stood up from the table, leaving the restaurant without ordering anything else despite Shion's generous offer to pay.

She had important work to do, and time was running short. Yoru had to ensure her clan dominated this raid.

...

Knock knock knock!

Mio knocked firmly on a very luxurious door at the top floor of ALI Academy's Main Building. The wood was dark mahogany, polished to a mirror shine with runes carved along the frame and a voice sounded from inside.

"Yes, you may come in."

It was the Principal of ALI Academy himself.

Mio pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside with one hand resting casually on the hilt of her katana out of pure habit.

FWOOSH!

Immediately as she crossed the threshold, a concentrated beam of pure mana tore through the air directly at her face with lethal intent.

Mio's blade left its sheath in a flash of silver steel.

SLASH

She cut the mana beam apart with a single precise strike with the magical energy dispersing harmlessly around her in sparkling motes of dissipating light.

The Principal smiled warmly from behind his massive ornate desk, clearly pleased by her reaction time.

"Good instincts…" the Principal said with genuine approval. "Please, come closer and have a seat."

Mio slowly approached with her hand never leaving her sword's hilt despite the invitation. She pulled out the ornate chair across from the Principal's desk and sat down, maintaining perfect posture.

"Mr. Principal," Mio said formally while keeping her voice neutral. "If I may... can I ask why you called me here?"

The Principal leaned back in his leather chair, steepling his fingers together in a contemplative gesture as his eyes studied her with uncomfortable intensity.

"Ah yes," the Principal said slowly. "Kamemori Mio."

He paused deliberately, letting the silence stretch.

"Or should I say, Kagura of the Yomi Branch Clan?"

Mio's expression didn't change outwardly, but her grip on her sword tightened by the smallest fraction.

"I'm here to offer you a deal you cannot possibly reject." the Principal continued smoothly. "I am well aware of your... limitation. Your complete inability to use the Moon Affinity until you physically remove your own eyes. Quite the barbaric restriction placed on you by fate, isn't it?"

Mio said nothing and simply waiting to hear what he wanted.

"How about," the Principal said, leaning forward slightly. "I tell you that I have a solution for that problem?"

Mio started to respond automatically with the words coming from years of disappointment.

"I've tried many methods already, and there's no—"

The Principal's hand shot out, moving with incredible speed and his palm pressed flat against Mio's chest, directly over her sternum.

Immediately, Mio felt something shift inside her body.

"Ghk—!"

She coughed violently as blood spraying from her lips and splattering across the Principal's expensive desk.

Mio immediately backed away, her chair scraping loudly against the floor as she gripped her blade, prepared to switch consciousness with Pale and go all-out if necessary but the Principal simply smiled calmly, making no move to attack further.

"Try it," the Principal said simply and Mio paused with her heart hammering.

Inside her mental space, Pale looked down at her with a surprised expression.

Hesitantly, Mio reached out with her spiritual senses toward the Moon Mana that always existed in the air around her… and mana she'd never been able to touch without first removing her eyes.

The lunar energy responded.

It flowed toward her call, wrapping around her extended hand in silvery-white light and she guided it down to her katana, coating the blade with the characteristic glow of moon-attributed mana.

The sword gleamed with ethereal lunar radiance.

"H-huh?" Mio's voice came out as barely a whisper as her eyes were wide with disbelief.

This shouldn't be possible…

She could still see perfectly and yet the Moon Affinity responded to her will as naturally as breathing.

"I'm already aware that you are a Red Crest user," the Principal said. "Which makes this even more special. Your potential is truly extraordinary, Kamemori Mio."

He stood up from his chair, walking around the desk to stand before her.

"If you become my student," the Principal said. "I will make you even stronger… Far stronger than you currently are… Stronger than even Amagi Koya."

Behind her, Pale let out an audible Tch of disgust.

"Don't tell me you're actually falling for the oldest trick in the book?" Pale said. "This reeks of manipulation."

But Mio was already reasoning through it carefully… Right now, at this exact point in her personal development and growth, she felt like she'd hit an insurmountable wall.

A fundamental limitation that no amount of dedicated training or desperate effort could possibly overcome on her own. Sure, she could use Partial Frame Skip to enhance her speed in short bursts.

Sure, she'd successfully learned and could execute the first form of the Tsukuyomi Clan's technique and even took it further… but what else did she genuinely have beyond those two abilities? What other paths to power were available to her?

Koya had been far, far weaker than her when they'd first met at the Academy, laughably weaker but now? Now Mio was absolutely certain… certain beyond any shadow of doubt that Koya was significantly stronger than her in almost every meaningful way.

His growth had been terrifying and she was equally sure that he was still deliberately holding back his full capabilities.

She'd never actually seen him go completely all-out in any fight these days and even Boss had directly confirmed that Koya had access to multiple different kinds of spells.

The power gap between them was widening with each passing week, and Mio couldn't stand the feeling of being left behind.

She wanted… no, needed to grow stronger without always relying on switching consciousness with Pale as her only real trump card. She wanted to possess her own genuine power, her own undeniable strength that came from within herself.

Most importantly, she wanted to become strong enough to face Hino… the Tsukuyomi Clan Head and end her life in a single perfect strike if the opportunity ever arose.

Mio's decision crystallized in that moment.

"Principal," Mio said clearly, bowing her head respectfully, "I accept your proposal. I will become your student."

She would gain strength… No matter what it cost…

...

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Hiroto was on his knees in the hallway outside his room with his forehead pressed hard against the cold floor, repeating those two words over and over again like a desperate mantra of gratitude.

The classes that had participated in the Familiar Isle expedition would naturally receive significantly higher class points than those that hadn't gone.

The Familiar Assessment exams were weighted heavily in their favor, giving them massive advantages.

That meant Class 4, which hadn't gone to Familiar Isle due to bad luck, had no realistic way to accumulate enough class points to meet the Academy's strict requirements.

By all rights, Class 4 should have been eliminated from ALI entirely. Their point total had dropped dangerously below the mandatory minimum of 15 Class Points required to remain enrolled as a class. That was supposed to be the end of their story.

… except it wasn't.

Somehow, impossibly, Class 4 was still here. They'd been demoted significantly… they were now the new Class 5, taking the absolute bottom position in the Academy's hierarchy but they had managed to claw their way back from a situation where there should have been no possible comeback whatsoever.

They weren't Class 1, filled with supernatural prodigies and monster-level talents who seemed blessed by the gods themselves.

They weren't Class 2 or the former Class 5, which had their scattered exceptional individuals who could carry the weight.

They were relatively normal students, average in almost every way with unremarkable talents with unremarkable futures and yet…

Within that suffocating sphere of crushing normalcy, a single flower had bloomed… one that was anything but ordinary.

Like a crimson lotus pushing defiantly through cracked stone, like a brilliant star suddenly igniting in the deepest darkness of space, this singular anomaly had defied every logical expectation and completely rewritten the narrative that should have ended only in failure and disappointment.

BAM!

A foot stepped down hard on Hiroto's head, driving his face into the floor with enough force to make his vision blur.

The person who'd done that was a tall young man with sharp black hair and intense eyes. He wore his ALI Academy uniform with casual confidence with the jacket open to show a dark shirt underneath.

This was happening in Hiroto's own room within the Class 4 dormitory building.

"As you should be thankful, you absolute fool…" the young man said coldly. "It's because of your incompetent leadership that Class 4 ended up in this pathetic situation in the first place."

He shifted his weight slightly, pressing Hiroto's head harder against the floor.

"But you don't have to worry anymore, Hiroto-san." The man continued. "I'll clean up your mess and I'll even fix everything you broke too."

Then he kicked Hiroto sideways with casual brutality and Hiroto's body shot across the room like a rag doll, slamming into his wardrobe with enough force to bend the wooden frame inward as cracks spider-webbed across the surface.

The tall young man grabbed his own tie, adjusting it with one hand as he looked down at Hiroto with something between contempt and pity.

"Make sure to spread the word to everyone…" The man said with a sharp grin spreading across his face. "Tell them I'm the new Class Representative of Class 4."

He paused.

"And make sure you tell them my name."

Hiroto scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room immediately, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

The young man watched him go, that same predatory grin still on his face.

His name was Ryōma Tatsumi and he was the savior of Class 4.

...

"Master."

Disguise Master's voice greeted Koya the precise moment he entered his dorm room and closed the door behind him.

He pulled off his shirt casually, tossing it onto his neatly made bed with one hand.

"Yes?" Koya asked while stretching his arms high above his head and rolling his shoulders. His joints popped satisfyingly after sitting in that restaurant chair for so long.

Now that the Mid-terms were finally done and he had some actual free time, he could go see Mable and check in on how she was doing.

Maybe take Nami on that date and maybe just relax for once without worrying about exams or missions or—

"We have been given a mission by Boss, Master…" Disguise Master reported and Koya's good mood deflated slightly like a balloon with a slow leak.

Of course there was a mission…

"What mission are we supposed to do this time?" Koya asked with a resigned sigh, lowering his arms.

"Boss has instructed us to report to the Outer Zone near Isle Supercity," Disguise Master explained carefully. "Order members who are stationed in that region have discovered some ancient ruins during a routine patrol and the ruins require immediate investigation by capable individuals."

Koya sighed more heavily with his shoulders slumping.

'Why is there always something to do?' He thought tiredly. 'Can't I just have one normal day? Just one?'

"These ruins have been thoroughly analyzed by our specialists," Disguise Master continued. "They've been found to contain distinct traces of someone very similar in nature to Lady Victoria as the magical signature is remarkably close."

That statement immediately got Koya's full attention.

Tori was his wife… Did that mean there was another Vampire here too?

"Boss believes," Disguise Master said slowly. "That there is a Vampire in those ruins."

"...Huh?"