Chapter 126: Blaze Fang

Passive and unresisting, Kanade Tachibana allowed Tsukimi Sakuya to knead her expressionless face, letting out only a feeble, "This is wrong."

After teasing her for a while, Sakuya seemingly grew bored and released her. She clapped her hands, and a large group of people filed into the room. Judging by their presence, they were only slightly weaker than Van, and they showed no hostility.

"Lady Sakuya, isn't it a bit excessive to mobilize the Mausoleum Guards for such a minor matter?" Van asked, looking dejected once he grasped the nature of the group.

"What are you saying! He is the one I have identified as having the greatest potential to achieve the Blaze. Naturally, I must provide absolute protection! Now, now, Saeko and Shiina are already well-acquainted with them. Everyone, follow them obediently; we are heading back to Kouryou Academy immediately!" Sakuya was impatient to return and help Ye Chen implant the Lucifist to become an Awakener.

Kouryou Academy is located at the northern edge of Tokyo Bay and can only be accessed via a suspended monorail. It is an academy dedicated to training the combat techniques of Transcendents. Tuition, room, and board are all free, and students are even provided with living expenses—it is arguably the most unique institution in the world.

However, the academy only admits Awakeners who have been implanted with a Lucifist. Since only one in a thousand people possesses the qualification to receive the mark, the student body is inevitably small. Combined with the high rate of dropouts and eliminations, the academy often takes the initiative to seek out suitable candidates itself.

The architecture and design of the academy are aesthetically pleasing. Especially now, during the cherry blossom season, pink petals drift silently down on both sides of the paths, and a faint, sweet fragrance permeates every corner of the campus. From any angle, it is a sight to behold.

The students waiting to be injected with the Lucifist—all scouted from various locations by Kouryou Academy—found their anxiety eased by the scenery. Only those who successfully awaken can become true students here. As someone brought in personally by the director, Sakuya, Ye Chen and his companions naturally did not need to wait like the others. In fact, Sakuya preferred to perform the implantation herself.

They were led into a lab filled with high-tech equipment. Sakuya produced a needle-less, gun-style injector filled with liquid and pointed it at Kanade. "You go first!"

Influenced by the philosophy of saving the best for last, Sakuya placed Ye Chen at the end of the line. She chose Kanade next, perhaps because she had just finished bullying her and the impression was still fresh.

Kanade tilted her head in a dazed, adorable manner, looking at Ye Chen for guidance. Only after seeing him nod did she step forward and obediently extend her slender arm. With a soft click, Sakuya injected the entire contents of the syringe into her body. Kanade felt no pain, only the sensation of something spreading within her.

After a moment, Sakuya noticed that Kanade was still standing there, expressionless and showing no reaction. Just as she began to suspect that the awakening had failed, a pair of pure white wings, nearly two meters in length, unfolded from Kanade's back out of thin air. The wings seemed to shimmer with a holy radiance, giving her the image of a pure angel. From the unfurled wings, snow-white feathers drifted down, yet they did not fall away; they seemed to move in accordance with her will.

"Wings?" Sakuya gasped in surprise. An "Blaze" is the manifestation of an Awakener's soul, and most people's Blazes are simple cold weapons. While there are exceptions, the probability of manifesting a pair of wings is infinitesimally small.

Such an exception was exactly what Sakuya had been hoping for. Kanade looked at the wings behind her, puzzled as to why they had appeared even though she had not entered her Angelic state.

Ye Chen and Shirahime realized that it was likely due to her Angelic bloodline, which had altered her soul structure, allowing her Blaze to manifest the weapon most suited to her. This made them both curious about what their own Blazes would look like.

Only the Phantom Twin Swords, resting in their scabbard, trembled slightly to express their dissatisfaction. For Ye Xingchen, they were the only weapons needed; if it were any other weapon, they would have destroyed it without hesitation. But since a Blaze is a manifestation of the soul, wouldn't destroying it be equivalent to harming their master? This left Ruoxing and Ruochen, within the sword space, feeling deeply conflicted.

"Wings? In that case... calling you an 'Angel' seems appropriate! In fact, it couldn't be more fitting!" Sakuya exclaimed, marveling at the anomaly and assigning a special title to it.

Retaining her memories from the Afterlife, Kanade tilted her head and said, "I am not an angel."

"Whatever. You're next!" With even Kanade possessing such a unique Blaze, Sakuya began to anticipate what Ye Chen’s would be. Suppressing the urge to imprint him immediately, she picked up another injector and proceeded to inject the liquid into Shirahime's arm without further ado.

Curious, Shirahime waited quietly for her Blaze to awaken. Since Kanade had manifested angel-like wings, would she manifest her own nine tails? With this curiosity, she felt the energy within her body being released.

To her disappointment, her Blaze was not her pride and joy, her nine tails, but a milky-white jade folding fan. It radiated a soothing aura, and when held, it only served to accentuate Shirahime's elegant temperament.

"Another anomaly!" Never before had there been so few anomalies, and today, two had appeared at once. Sakuya could see the absolute Blaze drawing ever closer. She picked up the final injector and walked toward Ye Chen. "Alright, it's your turn! You've shown me that the absolute Blaze is within reach. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what kind of Blaze you have!"

As he felt the nano-computers in the liquid enter his body and begin to stimulate his mental power, Ye Chen and Ye Xing realized that the fusion between their souls had accelerated slightly—though only slightly.

As they offered no resistance, their souls were stirred, and they found themselves in a sea of stars. Ye Chen and Ye Xing immediately understood what their Blaze would be. A small orb of light appeared in Ye Chen's palm. It was only the size of a marble, yet it radiated a warmth that made their bodies feel remarkably light.

Sakuya stared at the orb, wide-eyed, and murmured, "What on earth is this..."