Part 2
The silence lingered.
But inside Eva... everything was noise.
Shizuki's words echoed in her mind like a distant, relentless bell.
"Why do you insist on forcing your logic onto others?"
For a moment, she wasn't the President of the Student Council.
Nor the best sharpshooter at Seisen.
Nor the daughter of a prestigious German military legacy.
She was just a girl.
A girl with cold eyes and a perfectly pressed uniform, with an impeccable record that made everyone look at her with distrust.
Even in the halls of NovaTech Berlin, she would hear the whispers behind her back.
"Look at her... she probably wants to control everyone."
"Looks like she was pulled straight out of the war archives..."
"So perfect... it's terrifying."
And sometimes... words far crueler.
"The little future assassin."
"She probably wishes everyone would march in line."
Eva clenched her teeth, even now.
She had never told anyone.
Not even Reiji or Leonhardt.
She never wanted to impose anything.
She only wanted to protect.
But when no one listens to you... When everyone fears what you appear to be rather than who you are... What choice do you have but to be firm?
"It's not that I want to force my logic..."
"It's that if I don't... no one else will."
Eva gripped her rifle tightly between her fingers.
But she wasn't seeing it.
Because in her mind... she was somewhere else.
Three years ago – NovaTech Berlin
The walls were white. Immaculate.
The corridors echoed with firm footsteps, distant voices speaking technical German, and automated doors opening with mechanical precision.
In Classroom 4B, a young girl with golden hair and icy eyes completed her combat simulation for the third time...
And for the third time, the instructor fell silent.
"Evaluation complete," said the system. "Evangeline Strassburg: Accuracy 100%. Response time: Academic record. Evaluation: Outstanding."
The other cadets murmured among themselves.
Eva didn't celebrate.
She didn't even smile.
She simply lowered her rifle and returned to her seat.
"Wow… perfect again."
"She thinks she's better than everyone else."
"Yeah, the professors probably want us to become tools like her."
"The little miss always doing everything by the manual..." someone whispered from the back.
Eva didn't react.
She was used to it.
But every word chipped away at her.
Not because she doubted herself but because she understood perfectly what they thought.
They didn't see her as a comrade.
They saw her as an echo of a past she had never lived.
"Strassburg," her instructor said—a woman with a stern but fair face. "Why do you always follow procedure to the letter? Even when you could improvise?"
Eva met her gaze directly.
"Because when emotions fail... protocol remains."
The woman nodded—and the others laughed.
But that day, Eva understood something:
Her discipline would be her shield. And if she wanted to reach Seisen... she would have to become perfect.
Back to the Present – Seisen Arena
Shizuki's voice still lingered in the air.
The audience remained silent.
The duel seemed frozen in time.
But Eva was not.
"It's not that I hate you, Shizuki..."
"But you have the luxury of choice. I don't."
Eva straightened her posture.
The dust had completely settled.
The barrels of her rifles began to glow again—not with anger, but with pure determination.
"Do you believe that power corrupts, Tokisaki?"
Evangeline Strassburg's voice rang out with firm conviction, amplified by the SEI system.
"Then let me show you... what happens when power is used with purpose."
With a flick of her wrist, her rifles detached.
The pieces disassembled midair and reformed into six flying drones—each shaped like a silver warhead, hovering in a tactical formation.
At the same time, her uniform began to dissolve into blue particles, revealing a lightweight EXO suit underneath—armored with nanobot plates that molded perfectly to her figure like a ceremonial battle armor.
Minimalist, aerodynamic, brutally beautiful. A custom design from NovaTech Germany.
A murmur swept through the stadium.
"She's deploying an advanced combat EXO!" someone exclaimed.
Touma leaned toward his private communication mic.
"Careful, Shizuki. She's shifting into... Valkyrie Mode."
Shizuki narrowed her eyes.
The SEI system projected a new window:
[Eva Strassburg – Valkyrie Mode: ACTIVATED]
[Drone synchronization: Complete]
[Astra Core at maximum stability]
Eva extended her arms with martial grace.
The drones began to rotate around her, forming segmented wings.
"It's easy to criticize others."
"It's easy to call me a dictator… or judge me for my nationality."
Her tone wasn't aggressive.
It was direct. Raw.
"What's hard... is protecting your convictions."
"And for that, you need more than just power."
"You need strength of will."
The very sky seemed to tighten.
And in that instant... Evangeline Strassburg was no longer just a student.
She was the shield, the spear—
And order itself amidst chaos.
From the stands, Hina clicked her tongue.
"Was all that really necessary?" she asked incredulously.
"What did you expect? She's the Student Council President. Her honor's on the line," Jake said, leaning against the railing.
"Yeah… now I understand why Shizuki didn't want me to fight in her place," Akari added in a serious tone.
"Still feels like overkill if you ask me," Hina muttered again, arms crossed.
Touma said nothing.
His eyes were locked onto the battlefield, his lenses gleaming with calculations and projections.
"Ellie... what do we know about Valkyrie Mode?"
His virtual assistant's voice sounded more tense than usual.
"I have everything related to Valkyrie Mode in my database. Drone synchronization, physical enhancements via nanobots, combat patterns..."
"Then what's the problem?"
There was a pause.
"I don't have a single data point on Shizuki."
Touma blinked.
"What?"
"She doesn't appear anywhere in NovaTech's internal files. Only a label: 'Advanced Astra Core – British Prototype.'"
"And what does that mean?"
"It means... her Astral Core wasn't developed by NovaTech or activated at Seisen."
Ellie lowered her voice.
"It means... Shizuki Tokisaki is a foreign experiment. Or at least, that's what I believe."
With that in mind, Touma refocused on the battlefield, fixing his eyes on Eva.
The drones floated around her like swords suspended by invisible strings.
Eva raised both arms, and the cores within the silver warheads began to glow.
"Formation: Schutzengel." (Guardian Angels.)
The drones expanded into a wide circle, generating an invisible web of crossfire.
Shizuki narrowed her eyes.
"A total perimeter control..." she murmured.
From the stands, the SEI system projected a tactical image.
Every evasion angle was covered.
Every centimeter of the field was under threat.
"You can't escape, Tokisaki," Eva said firmly.
"And what if I don't want to escape?" Shizuki replied.
Another electric surge shook the ground.
"Golden Time!"
In an instant, her silhouette vanished, leaving only a violet trail behind.
"Drones, fire at maximum precision!" Eva ordered.
The six drones unleashed their projectiles across the field in milliseconds.
But they didn't hit their target.
Shizuki's violet trails zigzagged between the lines of fire, activating Golden Time only at critical moments, deactivating it to conserve energy—defying the mathematical logic of the Valkyrie system.
From the spectators' view, it looked like a dance of light.
White light against violet light.
Order against freedom.
Eva frowned.
"It doesn't make sense... her movements don't follow any pattern."
But as the drones spun, searching for a target, a spark flared just behind her.
"Here!" Shizuki shouted.
Time resumed just as Shizuki appeared behind Eva, thrusting her rapier straight at the EXO suit's generator.
But two drones reacted instantly.
"Intercept!" Eva commanded.
Both warheads positioned themselves between her and the attack, exploding into a burst of light and shockwave pressure.
"Shizuki!" Touma shouted from the stands, jumping to his feet.
The blast shook the field.
Eva slowly lowered her arms, her composure unshaken.
"You see now, Tokisaki..." she said coldly. "German engineering. Precision at its finest."
The four remaining drones repositioned themselves defensively, circling their master like a floating steel crown.
When the smoke finally cleared, the audience held its breath.
Shizuki was still standing... But only barely.
Her suit showed visible damage.
One sleeve was torn, and a thin line of blood trickled down from her left shoulder.
She steadied herself with difficulty, releasing her grip on her rapier—the blade falling to the ground with a metallic clang.
Without a word, she opened the chamber of her silver hand-cannon.
Two empty shells fell to the floor with a hollow metallic echo.
"What... what was I doing?" she murmured, glancing around in confusion.
Her eyes clouded over for a moment.
From the stands, Touma felt a chill run down his spine.
"No... it can't be..."
He gripped his earpiece tightly.
"Ellie... tell me it's not what I think."
"I'm running verification... but all indicators point to memory loss. Small fragments—but real."
Touma swallowed hard.
"Shizuki... do you remember why you're fighting?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes remained clouded.
Her left arm trembled slightly.
But then… she heard Touma's voice in the intercom.
"Shizuki... 'A fortune will never buy you a second of your life.'"
She closed her eyes.
And in her mind, her grandfather's image surfaced for a brief instant.
His calm voice.
His steady gaze.
That ever-present pocket watch in his hand.
Shizuki took a deep breath.
And when she opened her eyes. The determination had returned.
"Thank you, Kisaragi... Now I know what I have to do."
With firm movements, she loaded two fresh bullets into the chamber of her hand-cannon, snapping it shut with a clack that echoed through the entire arena.
Then she crouched down, picked up her sword from the ground, and spun it once between her fingers before raising it into a ready stance.
"This suit wasn't cheap, you know? I'll send the bill to your office later," she said with a confident smile, aiming straight at Eva.
For the first time, the president allowed herself a genuine smile—without arrogance.
"That's more like it. Show me what the British scholar is capable of."
And for the first time in the duel...
It didn't feel like they were enemies.
For the first time in their lives...
Both were truly enjoying a real match.