User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 489: Universe One, Review./@comment-7418318-20160613161549/@comment-25506576-20160613174015

Yes, August is stated to be the strongest of the twelve, numerous times actually. The thing Brandish said was just to clarify that the title of 'Strongest' has multiple users, Irene as strongest Female and August as strongest overall/male member.