Since this duel wasn't officially sanctioned or anything serious, just a result of two students' differences, the setup was quick and sloppy. No formal announcement, no grand stage, just the curious students crowding around the stadium seats to watch.
On the field, Ichika stood tall, wearing his IS suit: a navy-blue, skin-tight combat uniform that left his stomach exposed, paired with matching pants and sleek white-blue shoes.
On the opposite side, Tsutsumi walked out lazily, wearing his assigned IS suit as well, but for some unknown reason, his suit was colored magenta. So he threw an oversized white shirt and baggy black shorts over it.
"So," Tsutsumi started, his tone casual as if he was deciding what to order for lunch. "How are we gonna decide this?"
Since Tsutsumi wasn't compatible with the IS, he didn't have the system's signature energy shield, the so-called "health bar" that determined when a duel ended.
Inside the observation room, Chifuyu stood with her arms crossed, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else. The teachers nearby seemed equally uninterested, waiting for this farce to end.
"The first to land three clean hits on the opponent wins," Chifuyu announced coldly.
She didn't bother hiding her irritation. This whole duel was pointless, a petty display sparked by her idiot brother's jealousy. She'd only allowed it so Ichika could get this nonsense out of his system before it turned into something worse later. Problems like this had to be dealt with early; otherwise, they festered.
"I'm fine with that," Tsutsumi replied with a shrug, his voice calm. Ichika, on the other hand, looked visibly uneasy.
The crowd murmured in concern. Despite being an IS pilot, Ichika didn't exactly have an overwhelming advantage in skill; his fame came from being the first male pilot, not necessarily from his talent.
"Are you both ready?" Chifuyu's sharp voice cut through the air. Both boys nodded.
"Begin."
Ichika immediately summoned his weapon, a massive metal katana that gleamed under the stadium lights. His hands were covered by his IS gauntlets, which helped him grip it tightly, making the weight bearable in his hands.
Tsutsumi, meanwhile, held the wooden practice sword the school had given him. The comparison was almost insulting.
Tsutsumi: "…"
He stared down at the wood, unimpressed.
The teachers could practically feel his irritation. It was obvious the school didn't want their golden boy, the "first male IS pilot," to risk losing face to an outsider.
When the match began, Ichika lunged first. His large sword came crashing down in a heavy arc, fast but telegraphed. Tsutsumi barely moved, just a simple sidestep, letting the blade whistle past him.
Before Ichika could recover, Tsutsumi tapped him on the shoulder with the wooden sword, clean hit.
The first point went to Tsutsumi.
They reset to their positions.
As the second round began, the two charged at each other, Ichika swung his blade at Tsutsumi, once more, Tsutsumi easily avoided it and was able to deal another hit.
Ichika gritted his teeth and activated his IS's function. The blade in his hands shimmered with energy, transforming into a glowing energy sword that hummed with lethal power.
Tsutsumi's eyes narrowed.
He leapt back just as Ichika swung, the energy edge slicing cleanly through the wooden sword like it was paper.
Cheers erupted from the stands, the girls rooting for Ichika. Thinking he was taking things seriously.
Tsutsumi didn't say a word. His expression was annoyed.
Back in the observation room, Chifuyu slammed her hand on the table.
"This is completely unfair," she snapped. "He's using an active IS weapon!"
The principal beside her, calm and smiling faintly, raised a hand. "The rules didn't forbid IS use," she replied smoothly. "This is an IS duel, after all. So it's still within regulation."
"Regulation my ass…" Chifuyu muttered under her breath.
She was pissed, since in her eyes, a match like this is completely unfair and disgraceful. She was already displeased with Ichika using his IS weapon, inactive form or not.
Meanwhile, on the field, Tsutsumi stood motionless. He'd already realized no one planned to call this match off. It was obvious who they wanted to win.
Ichika smirked, confidence returning as he leveled his glowing sword toward Tsutsumi. "You can't win this anymore, Tsutsumi-kun."
Tsutsumi tilted his head slightly, his voice calm but sharp. "Is that so?"
Without warning, he pulled out a card from his pocket.
Attack Ride: Auto Vajin!
A bike materialized beside him, Faiz's Auto Vajin, gasps rippled through the audience.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Did he just summon that like an IS?!"
Even the teachers were stunned, except Chifuyu, who buried her face in her hands and groaned. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"
Tsutsumi drew the Faiz Edge from the bike's side holster and activated it.
Ready!
The photon blade ignited, glowing crimson.
Ichika tried to react, swinging his energy sword in defense, but Tsutsumi was already on him. The clash of blades sent sparks flying, the photon edge pushing the energy blade backward with sheer force.
In a flash of movement, Tsutsumi struck Ichika's IS gauntlet instead of his body. The hit was precise and controlled, knocking Ichika backward but not injuring him.
Tsutsumi stood his ground, the crimson light glowing from his blade.
"One more to go," he said calmly, stepping back to his spot.
Ichika struggled to his feet, his pride bruised more than anything else. Around them, the entire stadium fell silent.
How had he done that?
Summoning a motorcycle exactly like how IS systems manifested their armor and weapons. But that shouldn't be possible for men.
Ichika was supposed to be one of a kind.
So how did this second male suddenly summon something like an IS system, but instead of a mech suit, it was a motorcycle?
Ichika clenched his teeth, panic and confusion twisting inside him. Just one more hit, if Tsutsumi landed one more, it was over. He would lose, without even scratching his opponent. Houki would be lost to him. And that thought burned. How could he lose when he was the one with the advantage?
Still holding the glowing Faiz Edge, Tsutsumi dashed forward with that same effortless calm that made Ichika's nerves spike. The male pilot swung his energy blade in desperation, slashing horizontally, the light-green arc cutting through the air.
Tsutsumi jumped, easily clearing the swing. The wind from the slash brushed his hair back as he came down, blade aimed straight at Ichika's gauntlet hand, going for a clean finish.
But Ichika's desperation boiled over. The image of Houki, of losing her to another man, stabbed at his mind.
"No!! I won't lose!!" he shouted.
White light exploded around him. His entire body became wrapped in shining armor, white plates locking into place around his torso and limbs, sleek mechanical legs forming beneath him, and folded wings snapping open on his back. A headpiece slid over his head as the transformation finished.
Ichika had fully activated his IS.
The crowd gasped. Even Chifuyu, who was watching through the observation room, widened her eyes.
Before Tsutsumi could land, the boosters on Ichika's feet roared to life. The sudden blast of power shot him forward like a missile. Tsutsumi instinctively raised his blade to block, but the impact was overwhelming.
The energy sword cut through the air and slashed across Tsutsumi's chest.
The impact threw him backward. He hit the ground hard, sliding several feet across the arena floor.
For a heartbeat, silence swallowed the entire stadium.
Then, Tsutsumi slowly sat up. His hand pressed against his chest, feeling something wet. When he looked down, his palm was stained red. His shirt had been sliced open cleanly, and blood trickled down from the gash.
Gasps rippled through the audience.
But Tsutsumi didn't flinch. He didn't even groan. His expression barely changed, except for a faint, puzzled look in his eyes.
He watched as the blood dripped down his fingers, and a quiet realization crept into his mind.
He could feel the warmth, but the pain barely registered.
His aura and magic circuits had already kicked in, trying to accelerate the healing process.
But that wasn't what bothered him. What unsettled him was how little he felt. How he barely even noticed the pain.
With a tired sigh, Tsutsumi grabbed the hem of his ruined shirt, ripped it into long strips, and calmly wrapped the cloth around his chest. His movements were unhurried, almost routine, like someone patching up a minor scrape instead of a fresh wound.
The entire audience watched in stunned silence. Even Ichika froze midair, unsure of what to do next.
Tsutsumi looked up, eyes calm but distant. He flicked his hand and pulled out another card.
"I'm tired…" he murmured, his voice heavy with quiet finality. "So let's end this pointless game."
Form Ride: Metal Cluster Hopper!
A blinding swarm of silver particles erupted around him, thousands of tiny metallic grasshoppers that buzzed and shimmered like living light. The swarm converged on his body, forming a sleek silver version of his Hero Costume that gleamed under the arena lights.
When the light faded, Tsutsumi raised his left hand slightly, and the metal hoppers that covered his body suddenly broke apart again, bursting outward into a massive cloud.
The swarm moved like a living storm, surging toward Ichika.
The male pilot immediately took to the air, his boosters igniting as he tried to fly out of range, but the hoppers followed, changing direction midflight with eerie precision.
"Get away!" Ichika shouted, slashing his energy blade through the cloud.
The green energy wave tore through the swarm, only for the metallic hoppers to split apart, parting perfectly around the attack before closing in again. His strike hit nothing but air.
"What the!?" Ichika gasped, trying to shake them off.
The tiny hoppers swarmed around him, latching onto his armor like living magnets. He tried knocking them away, but they clung stubbornly, biting into the plating with sharp metallic teeth.
His energy shield began to drop rapidly, each percentage ticking down faster and faster on the monitors.
"Energy shield dropping, thirty percent, twenty-five!" Yamada Maya called out in shock from the observation room.
The sight was horrifying. The white armor of the Byakushiki began to flake and tear as the hoppers devoured its surface layer by layer.
Sparks burst from Ichika's shoulder as one section of armor was completely ripped away. The students screamed, some standing from their seats in alarm.
Ichika's cries echoed across the arena as more and more of the Byakushiki's white plating was torn away by the metallic swarm.
The once one-sided duel had turned into a terrifying spectacle.
In this world where women reigned supreme and technology ruled every aspect of life, a single man possessing an army of microscopic, metal-eating grasshoppers was nothing short of terrifying.
"Tsutsumi!!" Chifuyu was the first to break free from her shock, grabbing her phone and frantically dialing his number.
"I know," Tsutsumi's voice came through, calm and almost eerily steady. "I won't kill your brother. I'll only make him unable to use his IS for a couple of days."
The teachers monitoring the match collectively exhaled in relief, despite the fear still lingering in their eyes. They knew how completely unfair this duel had been, how Ichika had kept pushing Tsutsumi's buttons, making things harder than they ever needed to be. Yet Tsutsumi hadn't complained once. He had played along, patient and composed.
But after taking a wound that deep… no one would have blamed him if he snapped.
"Tsutsumi, can-" Chifuyu began wanting to talk him out of this, but her sentence was abruptly cut off. Their gazes quickly shifted back to the screen.
"For fuck's sake!" The room erupted in shouts as they realized what happened.
Tsutsumi's phone had been blasted to pieces, shot down by Charlotte Dunois, the IS Representative Candidate of France. She stood in the arena, rifle in hand, firing beam after beam of bright energy.
Tsutsumi barely flinched. The metal hoppers swarming over his body split apart like a living organism, forming a reflective shield that curved the attacks away.
And she wasn't alone.
Cecilia Alcott, the Representative Candidate of England, unleashed her own assault. The drones on her IS wings detached and hovered, peppering him with precision laser fire. Each beam was bent off course by another wave of metal hoppers, forming layered shields that shimmered under the lights.
Then came Lingyin Huang, the Representative Candidate of China, closing in fast with two massive blades. She swung them down with full force, only to watch in horror as the hoppers broke formation, devouring the metal plating of her IS mid-swing.
And just when everyone thought it couldn't get more chaotic.
Laura Bodewig, the Representative Candidate of Germany, launched her wire-guided daggers. They spiraled through the air, wrapping tightly around Tsutsumi's torso before dragging him upward, then slamming him back into the ground with brutal impact.
Form Ride: Ark-One!
The earth shook as Tsutsumi hit the ground, dust and debris exploding outward in a blinding cloud. When it cleared, the figure that stood up was no longer the same.
His clothes have switched to black with white trim, and white, sleek armor plating covers part of his body. A segmented white mask covered his mouth, and a second mask obscured the upper half of his face; its left side adorned with a single horn. Beneath it, one glowing crimson eye gleamed like a predator's, while the right eye was completely removed.
A chilling aura poured off him, thick enough to make even the spectators watching from behind their seats feel their blood run cold.
Without a word, Tsutsumi raised his left hand. Then every IS and every electronics in the arena went dead.
One by one, the suits lost flight and crashed to the ground. His metal hoppers descended on them like a swarm of locusts, tearing through the powerless armor with surgical precision.
"Tsutsumi Ryoko! Stop this!"
A voice cut through the chaos. Turning, Tsutsumi found Shinonono Houki standing there, her knees trembling, fear plain in her eyes. Yet despite that fear, she didn't back away.
He met her gaze. "I won't kill them. I'll just make sure their IS won't function for a month or two." His tone was calm, almost gentle, yet it carried a quiet menace that silenced the room.
As the white armor dissolved from his body, the hoppers returned, swirling around him before vanishing into the air. Behind him, a single metallic eyeball formed and floated in silence, glaring down at Chifuyu and the principal, who both stood frozen in disbelief.
"Tsutsumi… when did you-" Chifuyu began, but he cut her off.
"Since the beginning. I listen to you not because I was afraid for my safety or anything like that." His voice softened, laced with quiet exhaustion. "I just wanted a peaceful school life."
Regret flickered across several faces watching and hearing his words. It was only his third day here, and already things had spiraled this far.
"People have their limits," Tsutsumi continued. "A person can only endure so much before snapping."
He started walking toward Houki. Though fear trembled in her legs, she didn't move. When he finally passed her, the two stood back to back, silent.
"Leave me alone."
And with that, Tsutsumi stepped into the shadows. The dark corridor ahead shimmered faintly, rippling like glass before swallowing him whole.