Heimer leaned against the back of his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest with a rhythmic thud.
In the world known as Armed Girl’s Machiavellism, if he wanted to choose Familia members, those two were undoubtedly existences standing at the very top.
First was Inaba Tsukuyo.
In the eyes of ordinary people, blindness might be seen as a flaw abandoned by the gods, a fatal weakness that doomed someone to never become truly strong.
But in Heimer’s eyes, it was precisely a window the gods had left for her to reach a higher realm.
Human senses often interfered with one another.
When other senses occupied most of the brain’s ability to process information, people would ignore the flow of wind, the trembling of muscles, and the instant when the air froze before killing intent bloomed.
As the old saying went, “The five colors blind the eye.”
Too many colors, too much light and shadow, could instead obscure the mind’s eye that looked directly at the essence of things.
Inaba Tsukuyo had lost her sight, but through that loss, her hearing had evolved to an unimaginable degree.
She could hear every movement across the entire academy.
In a place like Orario, where the Dungeon’s environment was extremely complex and one’s vision was often obstructed, such an ability was practically a divine skill born for survival and slaughter.
Not to mention the style she practiced: Yakumaru Jigen-ryu.
It was a madman’s sword style that abandoned defense and focused entirely on ultimate speed and quick-draw techniques.
Its greatest feature was killing with a single stroke.
The very first slash was meant to take the opponent’s life.
As the saying went, “Doubt not the first strike, for the second strike means defeat.”
In other words, when using this sword style, the most important point, the very essence of it, lay in the first strike.
That first strike had to be fatal.
If the opponent managed to dodge it, then once they saw through the second strike, they could turn the battle around.
A girl who could not see the world could swing the fastest sword.
From such contradiction and contrast, monsters that broke common sense were often born.
If she could obtain a god’s Falna, then her so-called “extraordinary hearing” might very well sublimate into a rare skill similar to the Mind’s Eye.
She was absolutely an S-rank potential stock.
As for the second candidate…
Heimer’s gaze shifted to that domineering name.
Amou Kirukiru.
If Inaba Tsukuyo was a blade of extreme speed hidden within its sheath, then Amou Kirukiru was a heavy hammer fully drawn and wantonly releasing destructive force.
The Empress.
That title was by no means undeserved.
With her strength alone, she had defeated the so-called Five Supreme Swords one by one and reigned over the summit of Aichi Symbiosis Academy.
The Ryukyu Kingdom’s ancient martial art she practiced, Uechi-ryu, emphasized training the body to its absolute limit.
A girl capable of turning her own body into a weapon had self-evident value.
Moreover, there was something even more important.
Her mentality.
That attitude of looking down on everything and craving challenges from the strong.
That was exactly the core driving force required to become a top-tier adventurer.
A lion would never walk among sheep.
If he wanted to control such an Empress, ordinary methods would be meaningless.
Only by displaying power greater than hers could he make her willingly lower that proud head.
“One is the ultimate combination of shield and spear, while the other is the peak of speed and perception.”
“I have to personally meet these two.”
As a god, this was the kind of decisiveness a patron deity aiming for the top of Orario had to possess.
In this world full of competition, one slow step would lead to every step falling behind.
Since the system had given him an opportunity, he had to seize the strongest seedlings with thunderous momentum.
So-called high potential did not merely refer to their current strength.
It also referred to the possibility within them—the possibility of breaking through the shackles of fate.
“System.”
Heimer stood up and straightened a collar that did not actually exist.
Although he was still wearing that plain linen outfit, the aura around him at this moment made it seem as if he were already clad in divine armor, standing atop the clouds.
“Lock onto world coordinates S-14.”
“Open the teleportation channel.”
“Target location: Aichi Symbiosis Academy.”
[Command confirmed.]
[World coordinates locked… S-14, Aichi Symbiosis Academy.]
[Detected that host’s divine power is currently sealed. Cross-world teleportation will consume system reserve energy…]
[Teleportation ready.]
[Countdown: 3, 2, 1…]
As the system’s cold countdown ended, the originally calm space inside Heimer’s temple suddenly rippled violently.
A brilliant azure gate of light appeared out of thin air and swallowed Heimer’s figure in an instant.
The next second, the temple returned to deathly silence.
Only the recruitment sign that had fallen to the floor remained, lying alone in the dust.
…
World S-14.
Aichi Symbiosis Academy.
It was afternoon.
Sunlight filtered through the lush branches, scattering mottled light across the walls of the school buildings.
This was an academy filled with a strange atmosphere.
The girls wore neat uniforms, yet all kinds of weapons hung at their waists or were carried on their backs.
As for the boys…
Most of them lowered their heads, their faces painted with ridiculous heavy makeup as they timidly avoided the girls’ gazes, looking like a flock of frightened quails.
This was the academy’s unique correctional rule.
However, in one corner of the campus, inside a special upper-level area known as the Headmistress’s Office, the air felt especially heavy.
A figure stood silently before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the students below as they moved about like ants.
It was a tall girl with long black hair.
Her eyes were as sharp as blades, carrying an arrogance that seemed to place no one in her regard.
Amou Kirukiru.
The Empress of Aichi Symbiosis Academy was currently feeling a boredom unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Yes.
Boredom.
When a person stood at the top of the pyramid, looked around, and found no one left worthy of battle, the loneliness of standing too high would begin to gnaw at their heart.
The Five Supreme Swords?
They were merely a little stronger than the rest.
Ruling over this narrow cage was, in the end, nothing more than a frog sitting at the bottom of a well.
Human desire was endless.
Once the need for survival was satisfied, and once the peak of power had been reached, the desire for something higher, buried deep within human genes, would grow wildly like weeds.
She longed for an opponent.
She longed for a powerful enemy who could make her blood boil, make her heart race, and even let her feel the fear she had not tasted in far too long.
Only on the edge of life and death could life bloom with its most dazzling brilliance.
That was also why some people were always obsessed with challenging their limits and climbing peaks that seemed impossible to cross.
Because atop those cliffs, there were sights that the mediocre would never be able to appreciate.
…
“So boring.”
Just as Amou was immersed in that hollow feeling of having no worthy rival left, an abnormality suddenly occurred.
Without any warning, the cloudless sky split open.
There were no dark clouds.
There was no thunder and lightning.
It was as if someone had taken an invisible pair of scissors and forcefully cut open the curtain called the sky.
Azure radiance poured down from the crack, instantly enveloping the entire academy.
The light was not blinding, yet it carried a majesty that made it impossible to stare at directly.
It was as if some higher-dimensional existence was gazing through that rift at this tiny world.
The commotion throughout the academy stopped in an instant.
Whether it was the armed girls swinging bamboo swords while scolding boys, the boys trembling in corners, or the teachers preparing lessons in their offices, everyone instinctively raised their heads.
They all stared blankly at the strange phenomenon in the sky.
At the very center of that light, a human figure slowly emerged.