Inside the infirmary at Saint Diyashi Academy.

“Bear with it. It might sting a little.”

Yu Ge picked up a sponge soaked in alcohol with a pair of tweezers and gently dabbed at the scrape on Luna’s arm.

“Mm. Thank you, Yu Ge.”

A bead of sweat appeared on Luna’s lovely cheek. Her lips pressed together, and when the sponge touched the wound, she couldn’t help but flinch.

After disinfecting Luna’s wound, Yu Ge covered it with a Band-Aid.

“All done.”

Yu Ge dusted off his hands. The wound was bandaged now. Luna hadn’t suffered any serious injuries in her fight with Inzack, but when she fell, her arm had scraped against the ground. What puzzled Yu Ge was that the wound could’ve been healed with magic, yet Luna had insisted on treating it the old-fashioned way.

“Hey, Yu Ge.”

Luna looked at her bandaged wound. After a moment’s hesitation, she spoke.

“What is it?”

Yu Ge blinked.

“You’re clearly so strong. Why hide who you are?”

What Luna couldn’t understand was that Yu Ge was incredibly strong. She didn’t know just how strong, but he was at least stronger than she was. Sure, he’d won his last few battles with all sorts of strange tactics, but having so many rare cards was a part of being strong too, wasn’t it?

So here was the question: why did Yu Ge pretend to be an ordinary student? If he became the top student in Class S, he’d have access to all sorts of advantages. After graduation, he could study or work in a major city like the Imperial Capital. It was something countless people dreamed of.

Was it simply that Yu Ge didn’t care about fame, fortune, or status?

“What do you mean?”

Yu Ge didn’t quite understand. Had Luna already figured out who he really was?

“I mean, you’re clearly strong enough to be first, but you’re choosing to be last. I don’t get it.”

“Because there’s something more important to me at this academy.”

Yu Ge thought about it. He hadn’t come to this academy to study. He’d come to date pretty girls. That should be a perfectly fine answer, right?

“Something more important?”

Luna was curious. What could possibly matter more to Yu Ge?

“Being with you, for example.”

Yu Ge grinned at Luna and sheepishly scratched his head.

“Honestly, you always say things like that.”

Luna puffed out her cheeks, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at Yu Ge as if she were upset. But for some reason, her heart felt warm.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the infirmary at Saint Diyashi Academy.

“What? Father, listen to me! It was an accident this time. I underestimated him. I’ll definitely win next time.”

Inzack spoke urgently into the phone.

“No, Father, please don’t take the Queen of Blades away from me. I acted without permission this time, but I still beat all of Class S!”

“I’m revoking your right to use the Queen of Blades. You’re useless—good for nothing but making a mess of things. You never think about the consequences. You’re on your own now.”

After saying that, the person on the other end hung up. Inzack stared in disbelief as he pulled the Queen of Blades monster card from his pocket. He’d just started to breathe a sigh of relief when the image of the Queen of Blades began to fade. The A-rank monster card instantly turned into a blank template card, as if nothing remained.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Inzack punched the wall beside his hospital bed, his face twisted with rage. It was all that damn transfer student’s fault. He’d toyed with him, even though Inzack had been one step away from wiping out all of Class S. Then that guy had suddenly jumped in and used such a cheap, underhanded magic card. He’d turned Inzack into a laughingstock in front of everyone.

Now Inzack had no idea what to do. Without the Queen of Blades, he had no way to fight Yu Ge. But he still wanted to make Yu Ge pay. He even wanted to kill him outright.

“Damn you, Yu Ge.”

Inzack clenched his fists and kept cursing Yu Ge—the guy who’d taken his place in Class S and humiliated him in front of so many people.

“Throwing a tantrum because you’re powerless?”

Just then, a mocking voice suddenly sounded beside Inzack.

“Who’s there?”

Inzack looked around in alarm, but there was no one in sight. This was a private room. No one could’ve gotten in.

“Don’t you feel furious? Don’t you want revenge?”

The voice didn’t answer Inzack’s question. Instead, it went on asking its own.

“Of course I do.”

Inzack looked around, but still couldn’t see who was there. He stopped searching and nodded. Damn it, who wouldn’t want revenge?

“Then I’ll give you a chance to destroy Yu Ge. Let’s see if you can make the most of it.”

As soon as the voice finished speaking, a pink magic card dropped from above and landed face down on Inzack’s blanket.

“An A-rank magic card?”

He couldn’t see the card’s effect with it face down, but he could tell from the color of its back that it was an A-rank magic card. Whatever its effect, it was at least as powerful as the Queen of Blades.

“It’s a forbidden card among A-rank magic cards. Use it well, and it could even reach S-rank. How you use it is up to you.”

After saying that, the voice vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Unable to contain his excitement, Inzack picked up the pink card with trembling hands. The moment he turned it over, disbelief spread across his face.

“Yu Ge, your time is almost up.”

Inzack gripped the magic card in his hand and spoke through gritted teeth.

In a corner outside the infirmary, Xibolai’s figure slowly appeared. Yu Ge’s recent actions had crossed his bottom line. Luna belonged to him, and he’d never allow anyone else to lay a finger on her. Still, Yu Ge wasn’t worth dealing with personally. Why waste a perfectly good weapon?

“Heh heh. Don’t blame me, Yu Ge. You brought this on yourself by touching someone you shouldn’t have.”