"Beating Central isn't really the problem," someone said, puzzled. "But how exactly are we supposed to take the Director's seat from him?"
Everyone was confused. Central faction had been built by Azami Nakiri himself. Even if they crushed Central, it would only damage Azami's prestige and make him lose face.
But at the end of the day, he'd still be the Director.
As long as Azami refused to step down, there was no way to drag him off that throne.
"That's actually not difficult at all," Kael said, shaking his head. "Right now, Azami's only real support is Central. Once Central loses, he'll be completely hollowed out at Totsuki. No one will bother listening to him anymore."
"Whether he's still the Director at that point won't even matter."
As long as Erina Nakiri dared to face Azami head-on—without fear—the purpose of this entire spectacle would already be fulfilled.
Once that happened, Azami's last bit of value would be gone.
The only reason Senzaemon Nakiri had ever allowed Azami back into Totsuki was because of Erina.
Now that goal was being achieved. They wouldn't even need to act—Senzaemon himself would deal with Azami.
Not to mention, Senzaemon still had plenty of methods at his disposal. Feeding someone to the fish was one option, but even cutting off all financial support to Totsuki would instantly paralyze the school.
If Senzaemon wanted, he could even build a new Totsuki from scratch—teachers, land, students, all of it transferred over.
At that point, even if Azami still held the title of Director, what would it matter?
There were countless ways to deal with him.
Of course, Kael wasn't about to explain all that now. After all, they still needed everyone to go all out against Central first.
"In that case, let's give everything we've got and crush Central!"
Yuki Yoshino said confidently.
By now, there were plenty of Four-Star Chefs at Polar Star Dormitory. Quite some time had passed since the Autumn Elections, and aside from Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato—whose talent just wasn't quite there—everyone else had already reached the Four-Star level.
Facing the Elite Ten now, Polar Star wasn't afraid at all.
"I'll take on Eishi Tsukasa," Erina Nakiri said.
"He's a Five-Star Chef with a Special Ability."
Ever since Mana Nakiri's God's Tongue issue had been resolved, Erina no longer needed to suppress her own growth. Once she released those restraints, her cooking skill had rapidly reached the Five-Star level as well.
With her current ability, dealing with Tsukasa wouldn't be a problem.
"No," Kael said immediately, rejecting her proposal.
"He's not your opponent."
"Don't forget—you're the leader of the Research Society Alliance. Soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals, and kings face kings."
"The one you need to face isn't Tsukasa. It's Azami Nakiri."
Erina could defeat Tsukasa—but there was no need.
No matter how strong Tsukasa was, he was still just one of Azami's subordinates. From start to finish, Erina only had one true enemy.
Azami Nakiri.
"Isn't that a bit…" Before Erina could speak, Hisako Arato cut in.
She knew Erina better than anyone and was worried she'd suffer a loss facing Azami directly.
"Hisako, that's enough," Erina said calmly. "I know exactly who my enemy is. And I'm not afraid anymore."
Her tone was firm.
She knew she feared Azami—but everything she'd experienced recently had reduced that fear to its lowest point. Now, she believed she could face him.
Hisako froze.
She still remembered how Erina had looked the first time she'd seen Azami—completely shaken, utterly lost.
And now, Erina was ready to confront him head-on.
The change was enormous.
Hisako finally understood why. She glanced at Kael with gratitude.
From the very beginning, it had been Kael who planned everything. Kael who pulled Erina out of her fear.
"Since that's settled," Isshiki Satoshi said with a smile,
"let's call a meeting with the other research society captains. I'm sure they're already itching to move."
After being targeted by Central for days, everyone was holding in a lot of anger. Losing fairly was one thing—but the methods Central used were utterly despicable.
They were furious.
But until the alliance leader spoke, no one dared to act.
Soon, the captains of the various research societies were gathered at Polar Star Dormitory. Erina wasted no time and explained the plan for a full-scale offensive.
"That sounds good!" someone shouted immediately.
"Those bastards have been targeting us nonstop, using the dirtiest methods imaginable. Let's just go all out!"
Many captains voiced their support.
"Even if it feels good, shouldn't we consider the consequences?" someone objected.
"Using expulsion as the stake for a full-scale war… the outcome could be—"
Support and opposition both existed.
"You're all way too naïve," Terunori Kuga said coldly.
"Those guys are already rabid dogs. They're not going to hold back."
"I know Eizan better than anyone. If he's doing this, he's prepared to fight us to the death."
"Only one can survive between Central and the Research Society Alliance. That's already decided."
"You think hiding will help? They'll come for you sooner or later."
"And besides, no one's asking you to fight the Elite Ten. What are you panicking for? The Elite Ten already have people assigned to deal with them."
Silence fell.
If you choose to avoid it, you're just walking in like lambs to the slaughter.
And as Kuga said, they weren't being asked to fight the Elite Ten anyway.
Those dangerous opponents would be handled by Polar Star.
More importantly, Central's situation wasn't as strong as it looked.
Originally, six Elite Ten members had followed Azami—two Five-Star Chefs, Tsukasa and Rindō Kobayashi, and four Four-Star Chefs.
But Rindō had already withdrawn.
That left only five.
Meanwhile, Kuga and Isshiki—though stripped of their Elite Ten seats—were still Four-Star Chefs themselves.
Add in Polar Star's large number of Four-Star Chefs, and Central was actually at a disadvantage.
Azami had tried recruiting replacements after dismissing Isshiki and the others, but those new members hadn't reached Four-Star level.
After all, Totsuki only had so many Four-Star Chefs to begin with. Azami wasn't a god—he couldn't just turn people into top-tier chefs overnight.
In reality, Central only had five chefs at Four-Star or above.
Against the Research Society Alliance, that was nothing.
With that realization, the remaining opposition fell silent.
As long as they weren't the ones fighting the Elite Ten, they were fine.
The proposal passed unanimously.
The next morning, led by Erina Nakiri, the Research Society Alliance officially declared war on Central.
The challenge letter was delivered directly to Central.
The message was simple.
Everything would be decided by Shokugeki.
And the only stake—Expulsion.
"Are these people insane?" Someone at Central shouted after reading the letter.
"The only stake is expulsion?!"
Even the remaining Elite Ten were shaken.
They'd thought Eizan's earlier actions were already insane—but now the Alliance had shown them what true madness looked like.
This wasn't just targeting a few people.
They were going after everyone in Central.
"Do they really want all of us expelled together?"
"Have they even considered the possibility of losing?"
"With stakes like this, why should we accept?!"
The room erupted into chaos.
Then, Eishi Tsukasa's phone rang.
"Enough," he said grimly.
"Whether we accept or not isn't up to us anymore. Turn on the TV."
Everyone froze and switched on the screen.
A live broadcast was playing.
Standing at the podium—Was Erina Nakiri, leader of the Research Society Alliance.
The challenge letter had been sent to Central privately.
But Erina's declaration of war had been made public.
If Central refused now, they'd never be able to lift their heads again. Any future action against the Alliance would be laughed at by the entire culinary world.
Eizan's original goal had been to reclaim power and benefits.
But if they refused this challenge, even those would vanish.
The Elite Ten's once-envied authority would turn into nothing.
"Eizan, this is all your fault!" someone snapped.
"Look at the mess you've dragged us into!"
And honestly, the blame did belong to Eizan.
After all, he'd been the one who started the war.
Eizan's face was dark.
He'd expected retaliation—but not this brutal.
This was a straight-up death match.
If he'd known it would turn out like this, he never would've acted so recklessly.
"The fact that Rindō-senpai withdrew early really was the smart move," Nene Kinokuni said bitterly.
"She probably saw this coming. We hesitated… and now it's too late."
The room fell silent.
Everyone thought of the same thing.
They should've left back then.
Now, withdrawing or not made no difference at all.
Once full-scale war began, retreat was impossible.
"Looks like everyone's here."
The door opened.
Azami Nakiri walked in.
"Since that's the case, I won't waste words. We accept."
His expression was ugly.
He'd been pleased with Eizan's progress at first—but after seeing Erina's public declaration, he knew there was no way out.
There was only one choice left.
Fight.
"Only option left, huh…" Eishi sighed.
"I never thought it would end up like this."
Regret was pointless now.
The entire school was already in chaos.
The Research Society Alliance wasn't going to let Central off the hook.
In the end, under Azami and Tsukasa's leadership, Central officially responded.
They agreed to full-scale war.
Of course, it wasn't feasible to have thousands of people face off one by one.
So both sides agreed to select ten representatives each. Victory would be decided by those Shokugeki matches.
Even though this arrangement clearly disadvantaged Central, there was no fair option left for them anyway.
From the very beginning, the outcome of this battle had been all but decided.
Polar Star's strength was no joke.
And with Kael and Erina backing them—even without personally competing—
As long as the theme was set, they could help craft near-perfect dishes for the competitors.
Barring any accidents—
Victory was inevitable.