You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Arisuin Nagi stared in disbelief at the rapier piercing her chest. Every ounce of strength drained from her body, and she collapsed heavily to the ground.
"Alice!" Kurogane Shizuku screamed, rushing forward without a second thought.
Suddenly, however, a violent gust of wind struck, tearing through the arena like a typhoon. Caught completely off guard, she was hurled into the air and bounced across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.
"Shizuku! This ability is...!" Kurogane Ikki tensed immediately, his eyes snapping towards the source of the wind.
"Big Brother Ouma, did you really have to go this far? Shizuku is your own little sister!"
For the first time, the ever-good-natured Kurogane Ikki showed anger towards the big brother he had always admired.
"Shut up. I've told you countless times, I have no little sister." Kurogane Ouma's figure materialized out of thin air like a mirage. His voice was devoid of emotion and showed not the slightest remorse for having injured his little sister.
"What a pity. If we didn't have a powerful prophet on our side, you might have succeeded."
Shortly afterwards, seven figures emerged one after another from the transparent space.
Hiraga Reisen gazed down at the fallen Arisuin Nagi and let out a pitying laugh.
Meanwhile, Kurogane Ouma, Shinomiya Amane, Sara, and the others remained standing unscathed, coldly watching the spectacle unfold.
"This can't be right..."
Sprawled on the ground, Arisuin Nagi couldn't comprehend what had gone wrong.
He had made the decision to defect mid-battle just last night, without informing Hiraga Reisen. There was no way the Akatsuki Academy students could have known his plans and taken precautions against him.
"How is this possible?"
Stella glanced at the seven figures lying on the ground beside her.
Their appearances, auras, and Spiritual Items were all identical. They were undeniably themselves, not mere imitations.
"Could these be avatars too?"
Disbelief registered on her face.
Upon hearing this, Ryoji shot her a sharp glare.
"Keep your mouth shut!"
"Not avatars," Sara said dismissively, shaking her messy blonde hair. "These are illusory projections, painted illusions. My creations are even more lifelike than the real thing!"
She held a paintbrush and palette in her hands. With a snap, she cut off the flow of magical power, and the seven prone figures dissolved into wisps of smoke, leaving no trace behind.
"Sara creates the illusions, and I manipulate them with Hell Spider Silk. Pretty convincing, right? Did we fool you all?"
Hiraga Reisen raised his hands, with nearly invisible threads coiling around his fingers. His triumphant giggles rang in their ears.
The group's faces darkened and their expressions turned grim.
"But I never thought you'd actually betray us. If the One-Armed Sword Saint finds out, he'll be furious!"
Hiraga Reisen lowered his head, his hollow eyes fixed on Arisuin Nagi, who was lying helplessly on the ground. His tone was laced with pity as he said, 'What a shame. In the end, you failed.'
"Why...?"
"Hmm?"
"I never exposed myself!"
Arisuin Nagi was utterly unwilling to accept this outcome. His plan had been flawless; the tactics were guaranteed to succeed. He couldn't fathom the possibility of failure.
"Let me answer that for you."
Shinomiya Amane tossed several silver rapiers up and down in his hand. They were identical to the one impaling Arisuin Nagi's body; it was precisely his Spiritual Item (Device).
"Because my ability is precognition! Of course your plan couldn't succeed!"
He smiled serenely.
"Precognition?" Arisuin Nagi's mind went blank for a moment.
"No. Impossible."
Why?
"How many more lies will it take to satisfy you?"
A cold voice cut through the air from the side.
Shinomiya Amane's smile faltered slightly, then she offered an awkward smile in the direction of the voice.
"No, no, no! I wasn't lying! How could I ever lie to you, Ryoji?"
"No, you were lying." Ryoji's gaze was icy as he spoke. "Long before this operation began, we contacted the vice-president of the student council, Misogi Utakata, and borrowed his ability. We adjusted the probability of our ambush succeeding to one hundred percent, so playing along with the plan was never an option!"
That's right. Misogi Utakata's ability allowed him to manipulate the probability of events. Even if there was only a one percent chance of something happening, he could increase it to one hundred percent. It was a blatant violation of the rules, and even Ryoji envied him greatly for it.
The chances of Arisuin Nagi successfully betraying and ambushing the vice president were far greater than one percent. Misogi Utakata readily agreed and activated his ability for the task.
Yet the ambush still failed.
"Ordinary people can't resist interventions in fate, even with foresight. They can only witness their inevitable defeat. The chance of evasion is zero."
Ryoji stared intently at Shinomiya Amane across the battlefield.
"The only way you could break free from one hundred percent certainty is by using an even more powerful form of fate manipulation to override the Vice-President's interference!"
Exactly.
Although Misogi Utakata's probability adjustment fell under causation manipulation, it was essentially the ability to interfere with fate, a remarkably potent power.
However, stronger manipulation of fate could easily shatter his probability adjustments. Shinomiya Amane had already demonstrated this in his six mock battles at Kyomon Academy.
Relying solely on his ability to foresee the future, he could not possibly ensure that all his opponents would withdraw from the mock battles. However, if he could manipulate fate itself, he could make his opponents disappear for various reasons before the battles even began.
Misogi Utakata could have done the same, but he chose to respect the rules instead.
But this person did not.
The smile gradually faded from Shinomiya Amane's face.
"So that's how it is. You have someone like that on your side too, don't you? I really miscalculated."
He slapped his forehead, looking vexed. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered with the disguise. What a hassle."
"Wait, so this guy's fate manipulation power is even stronger than the Vice-President's?!"
Stella stared at Shinomiya Amane in disbelief, as if she were looking at a monster.
She had already considered Misogi Utakata to be monstrous, but she had never imagined that there could be someone even worse!
"Then what exactly is his ability?"
"I don't know." Ryoji's expression remained cold and stern.
Stella was speechless, overwhelmed with emotion.
Eh?
Well.
It was indeed difficult to guess, given how mysterious fate manipulation was.
"An ability that interferes with fate... I suppose I didn't lose unfairly," Arisuin Nagi said, his expression growing increasingly bitter.
That's just how Blazers are. Until the very end, you never truly know how insane or unbelievable your opponent's ability might be!
His shadow manipulation was already immensely powerful, but against someone who could tamper with destiny itself, it proved utterly futile.
"Regardless, this matter no longer concerns you, Black Shadow Killer," Hiraga Reisen said while crouching down and lifting Arisuin Nagi's body.
"Everyone, I'm taking him back to Akatsuki Academy to be dealt with by the One-Armed Sword Saint. The rest is up to you. Don't disappoint our client!"
(End Of This Chapter)
I am translating some new fanfiction (Haikyuu- Starting From Volleyball). Read it and support me.