Volume 6 - CH 5(2/4)
Yui was no exception to the rule.
When she saw that she had broken Stella’s hand as planned, she had smirked.
That smirk had become her downfall.
Stella had been aiming for that very moment. Pivoting on her feet, she had brought the full strength of that fist -along with the power of Total Reflect- to bear in that blow.
There was nothing beautiful about that move. It was a breakthrough via brute force.
But even with her arm destroyed to such an extent, Stella still knocked Yui unconscious in one strike.
And it was even using a body blow, with which it was normally hard to knock a person out.
She’s insane...!
Standing and bearing witness all this while in the same ring, Kyomon Academy’s third year student, Icy Sneer Mikoto Tsuruya, was shaken.
She’s too strong...!
Yui’s techniques, tactics...they had all been overwhelmed by that strategic-class arm strength.
And that was to say nothing of her will, that had been unafraid of the injury that she herself would receive.
A strong body, a strong mind, and the cunning to use them well.
She was simply a gem.
I don’t even match up at all...
But she had to win.
The Festival was an elimination tournament - even a single loss could not be tolerated. Not even if, as though toying with her, fate had sent her the worst possible opponent for her first round match.
That was why she had shamelessly borrowed Akatsuki’s strength, and now that she’d gone this far already, a loss was all the more an unacceptable notion.
Her pride would not allow her to accept that result no matter what.
Besides, if I pull through here, I will be able to dominate the entire B Block...!
It was with this confidence that she urged her quailing heart on.
“Worry not. We will win.”
A tepid, almost half-hearted attempt at a statement was voiced behind her.
The owner of that voice was the ominous, pierrot-clad man - Akatsuki Academy’s Puppeteer, Reisen Hiraga.
“...You mean to say you have some kind of plan against a monster who won’t even be hurt after taking a direct hit from a Device?”
Her tone was prickly, the aura of dubiousness that he exuded making him rather unlikeable. But he did not seem to mind, instead laughing throatily.
“Fufu. While it is indeed surprising that a direct hit from Yui’s Sweeping Centipede failed to accomplish anything...in the end, that was merely the effect of mana itself. The Crimson Princess is not a defense-oriented Blazer, and as such breaking her barrier of mana is simple. My own ace should be able to see us victorious in one strike.”
“Well it sure would have been helpful if you’d used it sooner.”
Reisen shook his head.
“While I would have very much liked to have done so, it is most regrettable that this Noble Art requires some time.”
“So you can’t use it.”
“Fufu. I am ashamed. However, if we can last that long, I assure you that my ace shall break her with ease. Thus, if I may so trouble you, could you buy me a little time to until I have completed the preparations for my technique? We of Akatsuki would be rid of the troublesome Crimson Princess, while you would clear this hellish first round - it is to our mutual benefit that we should aid one another now, as people on the same team, is it not?”
“...”
Mikoto responded with silence and a displeased furrowing of her brows.
It was his voice. There was scorn in every word he said, as though he were mocking the world and everything in it. It made her sick; just hearing it rubbed her the wrong way.
But on the other hand, he had a point. Right now, they were fighting on the same side. Cooperation would be the efficient course of action.
Moreover-
I don’t have any means of beating Stella, but this guy says he does.
If only for this alone, she had no reason to refuse him.
“I understand. But - I can’t guarantee this will go well.”
“How timid.”
“If I did have confidence, then I wouldn’t have had to rely on the cooperation of shady folk like you and your ilk.”
With that said, she placed her left palm over her right eye, and swept it across to reveal a monocle - Icy Sneer Mikoto Tsuruya’s Device.
“Done with the hush-hush chit-chat?”
Mikoto entered a stance, and beyond the rim of her monocle was the levelled gaze of the crimson-eyed knight, her red hair trailing wisps of flame.
“Did you wait for us on purpose?”
“Yes. I came late from the first, and then -even though it was with your agreement- made you go along with my desire to vent my anger. I’m really sorry about that...so I’ll be more gentle on you.”
“That’s considerate of you. I wonder if you could considerately cede this match?”
“Fufu. I like your thick skin, Tsuruya-san, but that’s impossible. After all, this fight is very important to me.”
“That so? Can’t be helped then.”
“Yes. I’m afraid the ‘complimentary service’ ends there. I’m coming over now. If you want to resign, the earlier the better. I will not retract my blade once I’ve swung it!”
With that, Stella kicked off the ground and charged towards Mikoto.
“Tch-!”
That embodiment of violence, that had taken down Yui without a thought for her ruined arm, was now closing in with that greatsword in her good hand. Coming to destroy her.
Nothing good would come of taking that strike on. It would most probably make all the hurts she’d taken so far feel like mere tickling.
She might even die.
The fear that pierced Tsuruya’s heart could paralyse her mind.
But even so, she was one of the previous year’s national Best Eight.
She was one of Japan’s elite. She would not retreat or show fear.
The magic she unleashed from her monocle -a rare sight among Devices- was one that could instantly reduce the temperature of a selected area within her vision to Absolute Zero.
“Satin Ice!”
A glaring light wrapped in a frigid, cutting shroud shot forth from the monocle.
This magic’s speciality was that its effect triggered instantly upon her focusing on a target. In other words, this magic travelled at what was effectively the speed of light.
In a split-second, the temperature around Stella fell below freezing point right through to absolute zero. Even liquid nitrogen, which was well-known to be able to freeze objects instantly, reached only around minus 200 degrees Celsius. No human could remain unharmed when exposed to temperatures even lower than that. It would freeze them right down to the marrow - their heart having stopped long before that.
No matter the terms in which one spoke of it -activation speed, range or stopping power- it was a first-rate ability.
With it Mikoto could go toe-to-toe with any of the powerhouses in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Tournament.
That was true.
Only one person-
“Empress Dress”
-the strongest fire user in the world, was exempt.
Turning the entirety of the utterly frozen atmosphere into steam under extreme heat, she caused it to dissipate before the raiment of roiling flames that was clad about her.
“As I thought, that’s how that would go, huh.”
In truth, Mikoto had known it would turn out this way.
Satin Ice was at its simplest the manipulation of temperature. Fire users on the other hand could raise temperatures, thus making it hard for this technique to beat them. If those two abilities were to clash, then the difference between victory and defeat lay with each individual’s mana pool.
In this, the Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion was unmatched, and as such Mikoto stood no chance from the beginning.
But she had managed to slow her down, just for a moment.
And that’s more than sufficient to fulfill my role!
“Tear my enemies asunder, Sphinx!”
“Gooohhhh!!!!”
Having waited on the sidelines away from Stella, Rinna now took advantage of the momentary pause in her movements and struck out with King’s Pressure.
Yes. One moment was enough.
If she but stopped Stella for a moment, Rinna could land a clean hit with King’s Pressure, rendering Stella immobile.
The lion leapt into pursuit immediately, aiming for her head. Earlier, its blow had done no damage - that must have been quite a blow to its pride as the King of Beasts, for even without Rinna’s orders it opened its mouth wide, preparing to crush Stella’s head between its fanged jaws.
Even Stella could not possibly emerged unharmed from being mauled by a lion as large as an elephant and empowered by magic as it was.
If it went through, this would decide the battle.
But even as that faint expectation blossomed within Mikoto-
“Gaaaaoohhh!!!!!”
-Stella led out a sudden earthshaking roar aimed at the black lion the Beast Tamer commanded.
“!?!?!?”
The lion came to a dead halt just as it was about to lay into her.
As though it itself were affected by the King’s Pressure.
“S, Sphinx?! What ails?!” Rinna berated the beast at its sudden disobedience. “Wherefore did you cease?!”
But even so, the lion did not budge.
Why? The answer was simple. Animals in the wild walked far closer with death than humans did. The strong devoured the weak. This was how that lion had lived long before Rinna had ever tamed it.
Thus, it understood, could not help but recognize the vision that hovered behind that young woman.
That vision of a towering, winged dragon.
The crimson-haired girl before it was by far a superior predator.
There was no way it could intimidate her, for how could a mere cat frighten a dragon?
Thus, upon meeting a predator whose capabilities far surpassed its own, wild animals would choose only to do one thing.
Run.
“Nyaaaaaaa~n-!!!”
“Eh?! Kyaau-!”
「Oh dear! What is this! The lion that should have been controlled by the Beast Tamer’s Collar of Subordination, having been defeated by Stella’s intimidation, has fled with its tail literally tucked between its legs, leaving its master in the lurch! And even now, Stella strikes at the defenseless Kazamatsuri-!」
Once again, Stella brandished her sword in her right hand alone as she put her full weight into a diagonal slash.
It was a broad stroke that leveraged on momentum alone, but having been thrown from atop the lion Rinna had landed on her bottom.
There was no way she could dodge that.
The same heavy hand of Stella’s that had taken Yui out in a single strike fell upon Rinna, hitting not only her but also collapsing a portion of the ring itself.
It was unmistakably a killing blow.
“...”
But Stella did not count to two.
The reason for that was a voice that spoke from within the dust cloud churned up by that explosive impact.
“Even in my dreams, Crimson Princess, I did not think that during these parlor games I would be forced to lean on mine favored right hand, and thus bring forth my sin-drenched, fell-branded knight - she whose form was blessed by powers dark: the Sealing Arts of Accursed King!”
“My lady means to say ‘Thanks, Charlotte, you saved me!’ No, no my lady, you need not thank me. I am your personal maid, and also your sword and shield.”
As the wind carried the dust away, it gradually ceased to veil the eyes, and what had transpired in the ring became clear to all.
Stella’s blade had failed to reach Rinna.
The ground beneath her feet broken and cracked, the apron-clad maid Charlotte Cordé stood between Stella and her master...
...having stopped Laevateinn with but a single index finger.
「Wh, what, this is bad! A Blazer from within the stands has stepped in, coming to Kazamatsuri’s aid!」
「Isn’t that the maid that’s always with her?」
「It’s a foul! Umpire, call it!」
The sudden entrance of the the stoic maid threw the entire dome into an uproar.
Once the referee halted the match, they would then await the judgement of the Organizing Committee. This was procedure, but-
「Wh, what is going on here? 」The commentator cried out disbelievingly.「The referee has not stopped the match!」
But there was a reason for this, of course.
「Of course. There weren’t any rules being broken, anyway.」
「Muroto-pro, how is that?」
「Look at that girl’s neck.」
Even as he said this, the Dome’s cameras zoomed in on Charlotte’s neck, and as that image was broadcasted on the giant monitors in the Dome, everyone understood what Muroto had meant.
「Th, that’s indeed the same Collar of Subordination that the lion the Beast Tamer rode wore! I, I say!」
「Yes. And like that lion, that girl has become the Device of the Beast Tamer, the Blazer that controls others. As such, there was no reason to stop the match.」
「Well, the role of umpires are taken up by experienced mage knights. They rarely miss such a thing.」
In the first place, Blazers were capable of detecting the ambient mana surrounding an object. Rinna’s mana permeated Charlotte, a non-Blazer, just as it had the lion. So even without having to look at her collar, Stella knew that she was one of the Beast Tamer’s chess pieces.
“I see...I thought you weren’t a normal maid, but to think that you were Rinna’s real Device, her ace, huh.”
“I am Charlotte Cordé. I shall be in you care from here on.”
Flicking Laevateinn backwards with her index finger, she hitched up the edges of her skirt and curtsied, full of elegance and grace.
But instead of returning the greeting-
“Save the pleasantries, if you please!”
-Stella brandished Laevateinn, once again striking at Charlotte.
“Bloom, Ichirin Junka!”
With a harsh, ringing clang, she once again stopped the blade with her opened hand.
Was she made of steel? No, this was an act of magic.
This was the ability that Charlotte could unleash thanks to Beast Tamer Kazamatsuri Rinna’s Device, the Collar of Subordination, which could transform animals and non-Blazers into Blazers.
Stella saw through this in the two blows they had exchanged.
“Tch...it’s like hitting steel. It looks like you blocked it with your bare hands, but if one looks closely, there is a one millimeter gap between your skin and the blade. So the ability that you are able to use under Rinna’s influence is the projection of a defensive barrier.”
“Very observant of you,” Charlotte praised her earnestly for having hit the mark.
At the same time, the space between the blade and her hand glowed with peach-pink hue, forming a flower-shaped shield.
“You have good eyes, Crimson Princess, to have been able to see through my ability after only having gone two rounds with me. However, you were wrong about one thing.”
“What would that be?”
“My Ichirin Junka is not an ability specialized in defense.”
Then, repelling the blade she had parried using Ichirin Junka-
“Flower Blade - Ryuuzetsuran!”
A blade-like barrier formed in her two hands, and she let fly that blade toward Stella.
“Tch!”
Her stance broken as her blade was repelled, this was not an attack Stella could avoid normally. but in a flash of inspiration she did not seek to correct her stance but instead leaned further back into a backflip, evading Charlotte’s slash.
She did not quite make it, however. The blade shallowly nicked her face - the skin that had withstood the chainsaw-shaped Sweeping Centipede without blemish.
And Charlotte’s onslaught did not stop there. Like a bloodhound in a frenzy she pursued Stella, who responded with a horizontal sweep of her blade, meaning to counter her with that.
Now, Charlotte could do two things in response. She could halt her advance to evade the blade, or she could halt her advance and use Ichirin Junkan to block it. Either way, she would have to stop - and this was enough for Stella.
However, Charlotte’s response was literally one level above.
She took flight.
She did not leap; instead, Ichirin Junkan had bloomed at her heels as she soared into the air. Now directly above Stella, the petals of that flower wrapped themselves about her right leg, and with an elegant flip she aimed an axe kick right for Stella’s head.
Having missed with her sweeping slash, Stella’s right arm and blade were in an over-extended position, leaving her no time to bring them up to defend her head. Seeing no choice in the matter, she squeezed out what strength she could into the shoulder of her broken left arm, using her somewhat less damaged upper arm to take the brunt of the axe kick.
But this blow was even more brutal than the ones before it, easily snapping the bones of her upper arm.
“Kuh!”
“Do you now understand? Like this, the impenetrable toughness that yielded not an inch to your strike becomes a slender blade, and a hammer that strikes harder than any steel.”
Charlotte said this even as Stella’s faced wrenched from the agony of having her bones broken.
This was why she was both Rinna’s sword and shield.
But Stella was not the sort of woman to be tamed by one or two broken bones.
“Empress Dress!”
While that was a mighty blow, Charlotte had made a poor move. Using close-combat maneuvers on Stella that involved bodily contact was close to suicidal.
Summoning the fiery raiment about herself, she raised its output to the maximum.
The flames ran up her forearm and onto Charlotte’s leg, and then her whole body was aflame. Stella’s flames too were magical, and they would not abate unless she dismissed them, or was herself dismissed from life.
Thus, it was a decisive error for an opponent to allow themselves to catch on fire at her hands.
And yet-
...It’s not working?!
-this logic fell flat in the face of Charlotte.
Despite being shrouded in the roaring flames, her stoic mask did not break.
Her barrier did not merely shield her from impact, but was also her mighty aegis against heat and electricity. Wrapped around her whole body as it was, it completely shut out the extreme temperatures of the Empress Dress.
“Ah. Additionally-”
Disregarding Stella’s counterattack, Charlotte continued to pursue her own assault. Using Stella’s left arm as a platform, she launched herself into the air.
“I am also her ‘gun’.”
Ichirin Junka materialized as tens of long, sleek blades that she gripped between her fingers in a fan shape before hurling them at Stella.
She's using her barrier like shuriken..!
She had already experienced the keenness of her barrier first hand.
It would be troublesome if she was hit by them.
“Yaaaaah!”
Judging thus, she swung Laevateinn with all her might, blasting the hail of shurikens away with the force of a sonic boom, swirling up a gale like with a giant Uchiwa fan.
What a terrifying sword-arm. That strike was an imposing sight.
But then something happened that was outside Stella’s expectations.
Around ten or so of those blades, sent flying every which way, were now streaking towards the stands.
「U, uwaaaa! This is bad! Stray shots incoming!」
「Everyone, run!」
Many rose from their seats at the sight of the incoming projectiles.
This was a natural reaction: after all, none of the audience members who did not possess magic could stand against Ichirin Junka, that had even been able to wound someone guarded by such powerful magic as Stella was.
「Please do not leave your seats,」 a commanding voice rang out, stopping those who had stood up.「You would be in more danger if you moved.」
The Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival was an event that showcased modern magicians wielding supernatural power. There were already measures in place to ensure the crowd’s safety and eliminate. There were powerful mage knights waiting in the wings all across the stands to shoot down such stray fire.
And the one assigned to wait in the area about to be bombarded by Ichirin Junka was World Clock Kurono Shinguuji, the Director of Hagun Academy and A-Rank Mage Knight.
Materializing the silver gun Ennoia, she leveled its barrel at the ten or so blades that were inbound.
“Clock Draw.”
A single gunshot rang out.
Yes. Only one - but it was sufficient to ensure that not a single blade reached the stands as they were all knocked clean out of the air.
「Eh?! What was that?」
「It’s her trademark Clock Draw. Stopping time for an instant, she uses that time to pelt her target with a hail of bullets! Look at her feet!」
「Uwa, for real! Look at that mountain of casings!」
「Amazing!」
Kurono’s brilliant technique met with applause from the stands, and in the midst of that clapping-
“As expected of the Knight who was originally ranked 3rd in the K.O.K League, huh.”
It was a gentle voice, and one that Kurono knew when she heard it. Turning her head, she laid eyes upon a black-haired young man approaching while himself clapping.
It was the Worst One, Ikki Kurogane.
“Your skills haven’t rusted at all since your days of active service.”
“Ha. There’s been no reason to become dull, that’s all there is to it. This is part of our job as teachers after all.”
With her reply, Ikki’s friends too became aware of his return.
“Ikki!”
“O, Onii-sama! How are your injuries?”
“I’m fine now, Shizuku. The doctor at the sick bay used magic to patch up my wounds earlier.”
“You didn’t use a Capsule, but got people to heal you with magic?” Kiriko pursed her lips, as though sulking. “You could have just asked, and I would have done that for you.”
Ikki scratched his head uneasily.
“Well, you still have a match later, Yakushi-san. I couldn’t possibly ask you for a favor like that.”
As much as she thought of herself as a doctor before she was a knight, it went against all common logic for a knight before a match to use magic willy-nilly for their own personal use.
“But Onii-sama, didn’t you use Ittou Shura during your match? Doesn’t it hurt just standing up?”
“Well, I can’t say it isn’t difficult, but I’m more concerned about this match. I’d feel worse just lying there.”
So saying, he made his way next to Kurono before looking down at the ring. At the match his lover, who had promised to meet him in the finals, was in.
To feel that he had to watch was normal.
Understanding her brother’s feelings, she held her words of concern for his health in and did not push him.
“By the way, Kurogane, what do you think of the match so far?”
“Well, it all looks to have gone as expected right now. The Icy Sneer was always of opposing elements with Stella, and was no match magically. And while Reflectors are indeed the bane of power types like Stella, she isn’t the sort of knight who would be pinned down by only one technique. Nonetheless..”
As he replied, his eyes drifted over to the outskirts of the ring, where the Puppeteer Reisen Hiraga stood, spookily unmoving, keeping his distance from Stella.
“It seems it might get messy from here - that man is giving off an ominous aura. I wouldn’t claim to know what he is doing, but I sense an uncanny amount of focus. Taking him down before he finishes whatever he is preparing for would be best.”
Everyone present would agree with Ikki. They could all feel Reisen’s eerie aura.
But that was not all.
From their birds’-eye vantage point, one could see all the combatants’ movements. It was clear as day that, Mikoto Tsuruya included, the Akatsuki camp were all moving to defend him.
He was their ace, no doubt about it.
In that case, it was best to nip his plan in the bud as soon as possible. This was the unspoken consensus of all present, and it was surely on Stella’s mind as well.
“However, that looks to be difficult.”
“I wonder what you mean by that, Director?”
Alice asked.
Kurono pointed. “Look.”
There, at the edge of the stands, was a glimmering object embedded deep into the concrete.
It was one of the Ichirin Junka blades that she had shot down using Clock Draw.
“I brought it down in a spot where no one is, but look. There’s not a scratch on it - that’s unnatural toughness. I haven’t ever met a Barrier User this good, not even in the K.O.K. A-League. This might be Vermillion we speak of, but breaking through that with just her right hand is going to be difficult...in fact, that maid may even be able to block Vermillion’s strongest attack - Kalsariteo Salamandra.”
Kurono’s unease was, unfortunately, right on the mark.
「Stella attacks again and again, but to no avail! She is unable to break through the frighteningly redoubtable defenses of Beast Tamer Rinna Kazamatsuri’s ace, Charlotte Cordé! In fact, Charlotte’s counterattacks are blunting her assault bit by bit!」
「If her left arm were usable, she could probably go up against that barrier, but she can’t use it to hold her sword right now. The Crimson Princess is in a tough spot.」
Just as the commentator and analyst had said, Stella’s attacks had so far failed to make a dent in Ichirin Junka’s guard. On the other hand, Charlotte’s consistent counterattacks were wearing her down.
Anyone could see that the match was not going well for her.
Stella’s shoulders drooped as she sighed.
“My, my...you really are outrageously tough. All those slashes did nothing whatsoever. It seems that as expected, nothing will come of using one hand.”
Unproductive actions sapped the spirit as much if not more than the body, and an exhausted spirit lacked strength. At Stella’s weak tone, Charlotte felt sure that the battle was within her grasp.
A little more. Just a little more, and this knight would fall.
There was no need to wait till the Puppeteer’s Noble Art was ready.
“Of course. Protecting my lady is the reason for my existence - the reason why I am both sword and shield. Your sword will not reach her, Crimson Princess. As long as I am here, as long as I draw breath, you will not singe a hair on her head.”
“Such loyalty. I don’t dislike that.”
Charlotte did not respond to Stella’s praise.
Even if she had said nothing, Charlotte understood that her loyalty was a feeling that wouldn’t lose out to anything else in the world. She had sworn to live for that adorable young girl, Rinna Kazamatsuri, ever since the day Rinna had picked her out of that garbage dump. She would give everything, from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet, for her.
And she had given her all.
Never leaving that girl’s side, she swept all danger away from her. If she wished for a cat, she would be that cat. If she wished for a dog, she would be that dog. Having done that much, she had been frustrated to no end when Rinna had began to keep Sphinx as a pet, so much so that she had wanted to stew it for dinner.
But then, the young mistress said that to me:
“You should just be a human being. I would be quite troubled if my right hand were a cat, so please, stop eating cat food on all fours.”
So saying, she had returned to Charlotte the clothes she had discarded in order to become a cat.
Aah, my lady, my lady! How gentle you are!
To think that Rinna would treasure her so greatly - she, who was so lowborn as to be no better than a dog or a cat.
That was why she gave her all, in order to repay her expectations. Her loyalty was firm as a rock - it would not lose. She would not lose.
This was her belief. This was her pride.
“Nonetheless..I’m sorry, but it’s impossible for you.”
So said the red-headed knight facing her.
It was almost as if she was pitying her.
“What do you mean by ‘impossible’?”
“You won’t be able to protect your master.”
Charlotte laughed at Stella.
“Now that’s odd. You say such things, and yet you were powerless against my Ichirin Junka. You admitted it yourself that there was nothing you could do, did you not? To speak so brazenly now without any grounds for it cannot be called anything but unseemly, no?”
“My, you seem to have forgotten something important, Miss Maid.”
“...?”
“I said that I could do nothing. Albeit...with only one hand, that is.”
In that instant, the Empress Dress that shrouded her suddenly began exhibited strange behavior, concentrating its flame around a single point - her left arm, that had been broken and immobilized by Yui’s Total Reflect.
What is she doing?
Charlotte could not comprehend the meaning behind Stella’s actions.
But soon, something even further from her understanding would occur.
Somehow, in that searing heat, that arm that shou-->>