At night, in the infirmary...
Noah looked at his injured arm. He hurt his arm after using the Annihilation Punch on Usa-sensei, most of the damage was sustained from hitting her Ouroboros blade. It is still bleeding even now.
Imari wrapped bandages around his arm while applying pressure. Noah can only see his fingers after this wrapping job was done.
"Hmm..."
Imari isn't used to the first-aid treatment. She examined Noah's wrapped arm.
"Is this fine?"
"It isn't a serious injury, you don't have to wrap my arm like this."
He clenched his fists.
"Our Exceed regeneration will heal this up in a few days at most."
Noah could have released his Limitation and that would heal his injuries in an instant.
Noah doped himself with countless strains of Gastrea virus using concentrated concoctions. Even if he lost an arm or leg, he was sure he can regenerate it.
This superficial wound is nothing to him.
"But..."
Noah looked at his bandaged arm with only his fingers poking out.
"People are going to assume I got in a traffic accident or something. Look at my arms."
He wrapped his left arm up because of his scar.
At the time, Noah hadn't injected himself with the Gastrea virus.
Unless he cut off that part of his skin, his superhuman regeneration cannot heal that scar.
His right arm is still injured, he reckons it would heal in a few days.
"Noah."
Julie got closer, he can see the concern in her eyes.
"Are you alright?"
"Just a minor wound."
Noah shook his head. He rubbed Julie's head with his bandaged arm.
"Don't worry."
"Yaa~"
"I am surprised you are still so calm."
Imari sighed.
"We were so close to being murdered."
The room turned still when she said this.
After Tsukimi-sensei was defeated, Tooru sent her back to the school's discipline committee for further processing.
Meanwhile, Noah & co carried Aoi into the infirmary for treatment. He was wrapped like a mummy too.
Excluding Tooru, everyone was here.
Imari, Tomoe, Miyabi, and Julie tended to Noah.
"Why did she attack us?"
Miyabi said.
"She said she was ordered to do that. What did she mean?"
"Usa-sensei said she wanted to weed out the stellar students."
Tomoe said.
"Maybe she is an agent sent by another hostile organization?"
It is entirely possible that was the case.
The Dawn Organization is a research organization focused on creating superhumans through nano-tech and advanced technology bordering on magic.
Naturally, countries around the world wanted a piece of the action.
The Dawn Organization is also a private security contractor in this country. Graduates of Kouryou Academy can look forward to working as a part of the security teams deployed around the world for covert operations.
Noah knew this because he hacked into this country's security agency servers and found that the Dawn Organization is classified except to the highest offices of the government.
The Dawn Organization is one of this country's hidden forces. Their existence is tied to national security.
Criminals and terrorists naturally can't tolerate a super-powered group of security enforcers.
They posed an incredible threat to these people.
It is not hard to imagine the villains paying off a teacher to kill off promising students.
Tomoe, Imari, Julie, and Miyabi agreed with this guess.
Noah grinned.
"A job, huh?"
A male in a suit presented a stack of documents.
"That was the report of this round's New Duos battle royale."
The male guard was reporting to a young lady in a black gothic lolita dress. Sakuya digested the findings before asking about another individual.
"Mikuni, how is Rito?"
"Bad."
Mikuni replied.
"I don't see her recovering in weeks even with her Level Limit released and her Rank V regeneration."
"I see."
Sakuya mumbled.
"That is surprising."
"Are you referring to the Irregular?"
"Yes, he defeated Daisuke with a mortal's power. He also defeated a Rank V exceed with Rank I power. This is even when I permitted Rito to use her Released Blaze."
Without a doubt, the gaps between differently ranked Exceeds were huge.
At a rank gap of 1, the difference in strength between fighters is measured in multiples.
At a rank gap of 2, the gap is visible, if not despair-inducing.
To beat an opponent 4 Exceed Ranks above him while facing Rito with her true Blaze unleashed, anyone would be shocked to hear this news.
"We assigned a teacher to test promising students to the limits by threatening death. This is how we speed up the growth of promising students."
Mikuni pushed up his glasses.
"Rank I students are expected to lose to the Rank V teacher. If memory serves me correctly, the last time the proctor failed was years back but only because the proctor went easy on the Rank I and the Irregular Rank I had a special Blaze. That time, the proctor only retreated so it isn't a win in the truest sense. We are talking about an Irregular that defeated a teacher with mortal powers."
"That is why I gave Rito special permission to use her full power, including using her True Blaze."
Sakuya said.
"In the end, she was still defeated."
Sakuya reckoned that Noah would have lost without his Annihilation Punch and the Annihilation-derived power jump.
Yet, Noah is the victor nonetheless.
"Speaking of Irregulars, we have news from England."
Mikuni said.
"That Ojou-sama left her school and enrolled here. She is on her way now on her family chopper."
Sakuya chuckled after a brief pause.
"She is probably intrigued by the two irregulars here, she probably wants to see her own kind, right?"
"Most likely, you know how that Ojou-sama can be very whimsical."
Mikuni lowered his head.
"Plus, I bet she is here to see the exceptional Irregular."
"True."
Sakuya giggled again.
"After all, they have similar Blazes."