Chapter - 23

Hagun Academy's selection battles for the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival started on Monday, one night after the Rebellion affair.

「It's finally time! On the schedule for our opening day, we have a B-Rank from the new students, a girl descended from that great hero Ryouma Kurogane―it's her first battle for Contender Shizuku Kurogane!」

This announcement from a member of the Hagun Academy broadcasting club was met with cheers by many students who had been following news on Shizuku, the second best of the first-years.

「Her opponent is a third-year student who performed in last winter's inter-school match and won against Donrou Academy's Festival representative Yamamichiyuki Azuchi. He's a C-Rank knight that everyone's looking forward to seeing in this year's Festival, Contender Shigenobu Suga! Having a young knight face such an experienced upperclassman, what a harsh debut! Will this supernova of the next generation show her strength!? Now, the beginning buzzer has sounded… what!? Contender Suga has already begun!」

A twin-sword Device crackled with electricity in Suga's hands.

"Too bad, 'supernova'! My ability is lightning, the one most effective against the water you use! It's too bad you got me as your opponent, but don't resent me for your luck! ―Hakuraijin!"

With a triumphant expression, Suga threw a slash of lightning at the unmoving Shizuku.

"Shouha Suiren."

Shizuku tried to defend herself with a wall of water. How could water protect against lightning? Yet Shizuku's Noble Art blocked the powerful current without trouble.

"What!?"

「S-Somehow, lightning had no effect! Commentator Oreki-sensei, what's going on!?」

「*Cough cough* That's probably ultra-pure water….」

「Ultra-pure water?」

「Yeah… everyone thinks that water loses to electricity, right? But no, when water does so it's because impurities like ions and microbes in the water make it conductive. Water becomes less and less conductive as it becomes more and more pure, until it becomes ultra-pure and forms a complete insulator that electricity won't pass through.」

「I see… oh? Then why don't other water users copy this tactic?」

「It's not that they don't, they can't. Completely removing impurities at the ion level is like sifting gold dust from desert sand. Only Shizuku-san's level of magic control allows her to perform such a technique. If an ordinary knight tries to copy this maneuver, won't his mind burn out first? *Cough* As you'd expect for the first-year runner-up… *guh*!」

「Whoa! This is the third time that you threw up blood today! A-Are you okay, Oreki-sensei!?」

「Aah, I-I'm fine, I'm fine. If I take some medicine I'll settle down. …Aah, u'm feeling guud….」

「Oreki-sensei! Oreki-sensei! The medicine is making you slur your speech! Are you really okay!?」

「I'm fineeee…. It's just something for dealing with this disease, 'kay.」

「Sensei! You're getting completely wasted!」

What a chaotic discussion. Anyway, Shizuku seemed impervious to lightning attacks. What was Suga's reaction, now that he understood this?

"Damn, if that's true, I gotta take some distance."

But Shizuku gave a serene reply.

"And how do you intend to retreat?"

「Ah! How shocking! Contender Suga's feet are frozen to the ground! He can't get away like this!」

"Suiroudan."

Shizuku shot a sphere of water thirty centimeters wide from Yoishigure, and the orb hit Suga right in the face, stopping in midair to cover his head. Suga tried to pull or peel the imprisoning orb away, but water wasn't solid, so he couldn't grab it or shake it off. He desperately sought air and clawed at the liquid, but only splashed and muddled it. Before long―

"…Gah…."

Suga's lungs used up all the air it had left, and when his hands fell limp, Shizuku finally released the watery prison. He collapsed in the ring, and at the same time, the referee made a declaration.

"Shigenobu Suga can no longer fight! The winner, Shizuku Kurogane!"

「The match is over—! Against an incompatible elemental attribute, first-year contender Kurogane has taken the win with an overwhelming difference in technique!」

Coughing modestly, Shizuku turned her gaze and returned a small gesture to Ikki as he waved at her happily from the audience seats.

"It wasn't such a big deal."

Then she turned her attention to the arena scoreboard.

…A suitable time for settling thing

While Shizuku was fighting in the fifteenth training arena, more than four times as many spectators were gathered at the seventh arena where the foreign princess Stella Vermillion, this year's top-ranked newcomer who had already received a nickname from the student body, was having her first match.

"Gooo! Momotaniiii!"

"You're unbeatable in a close-range fight, ya know!"

"Show us an upperclassman's intensity!"

「What amazing encouragement from the cheering section! Contender 'Heavy Tank' Momotani's place among the school's top ten most popular isn't just talk! Now, will his signature move that has blown many knights out of the stadium appear today too!? That heavy charge from the rare armor-type Device Goliath!?」

Takeshi Momotani, a giant standing 190 centimeters tall and stout as a boulder, was Stella's opponent for her first match. Pressured by the screams from the cheering section and by the host's anticipation, he lowered his heavily armored body into a ramming stance with one shoulder pointed at his opponent―but after taking the stance, Momotani didn't move.

"What's wrong, Momotani!? Blow her away like you usually do!"

"That girl lost to an F-Rank! Someone like you has more than enough to take her down, yeah!?"

His friends and classmates jeered, but Momotani himself―

That's easy for you guys say, but how am I supposed to do this…?

―was cringing at the sea of flame spread over the ring. Stella, his opponent, stood in the center of that sea with a dress of blazing flame over her body, and the heat of her Dragon Breath was grilling Momotani inside his armor despite more than ten meters of separation between them. He understood for the first time the extraordinary energy Stella held. Fighting against such an opponent was like throwing himself into a furnace.

Stella addressed the unmoving Momotani.

"It seems you have better judgment than that noisy bunch behind you. This match is a real battle, and if you just dash in, you won't get off with illusionary pain. Keeping that in mind, you should think hard before making a move."

Whether because of his own hesitation or the reasoning he just heard, Momotani took her advice quite seriously.

"…I forfeit."

「W-W-What was that!? Contender Momotani, without taking a step after starting the match, has just given up!」

「Wahaha! How pitiful! Disgraceful! But wise~!」

At Momotani's decision, a petite teacher in red clothing laughed crudely from her seat at the commentator station, and said something that could be either insult or praise.

「What do you mean, Saikyou-sensei?」

「There's no way he could overcome that monster, after all! Haven't you been asking him to burn himself to death? He caaan't! But anyway, giving up before taking a single step is a great move! Ahahaha!」

「U-Umm, Saikyou-sensei, I think you should choose your words a little bit more carefully….」

The female students nearby were unable to let Saikyou's words pass. They wore tight, threatening faces.

「Wahaha. Oh no, it's getting super bad. I'm scared so I'm running away~」

Saikyou quickly fled the announcer station.

「Ah, wait, Saikyou-sensei! There are still matches left! You're leaving too early! Who are we going to get commentary from!?」

…That was some rather disordered match coverage, wasn't it?

Stella left the ring in amazement. On the way—

「Err… just now, we received news that the first-year runner-up having a bout in the fifteenth practice arena, Shizuku Kurogane, has taken a perfect victory over her opponent, third-year Shigenobu Suga!」

—she heard about Shizuku's victory. Well, she didn't think Shizuku would lose to that sort of opponent.

「But what strength! This year's freshmen top-seat and runner-up have completely shut their upperclassmen down! They've debuted in these matches without being touched! The new students this year really are something else! With them, reaching the summit of the Seven Stars might even be possible!」

Part 3[]

"Stella, congratulations."

Ikki greeted Stella as she returned to the dorm room after the first day of selection battles ended. Her response was flat, but from how her nose twitched, she didn't seem to completely disregard his greeting.

"Haa. Well, if I have to fight in this sort of competition, I should at least win."

"I guess I didn't get to see your match after all."

"I just torched something superfluous, like usual."

"But it's disappointing that I couldn't make it."

"…I'm the one who's disappointed."

"Eh? What did you say?"

"N-Nothing! We can't help that Shizuku's match was scheduled in the same slot, but next time come and watch my fight properly!"

"Sure, of course. Anyway, aren't you back a bit late?"

"The fight was a letdown and I didn't know what to do with my energy, so I went to the gym for a workout."

"I see. But it's really great that you and Shizuku, and Alice too, all of you won."

Arisuin's match had been held in the fifteenth training arena right after Shizuku's, and he beat a second-year E-Rank opponent in ten seconds. Though Arisuin described himself as disadvantaged in direct combat, his performance showed he was worth being chosen as the roommate of the first-year runner-up.

"I also saw Alice's strength in the fight against Rebellion, but he finds being the attacker disagreeable and kept his offensive ability secret. That sort of trickiness might be a bad match-up for you."

"I won't lose no matter who my opponent is. I mean… you shouldn't be worrying about other people."

"Ah, haha. I guess so."

Ikki returned his attention to the match he had been watching on TV before Stella entered. In that match was Ikki's next opponent, Shizuya Kirihara.

"Again with that guy's recording? You've been watching it over and over since yesterday, haven't you?"

"Yeah. I thought I should understand his moves as well as I could."

The recording was a piece of data that he begged for and received from the newspaper club president Kagami Kusakabe. It was footage from a first-round bout in last year's Sword-Art Festival. In it, Kirihara circled his opponent and shot arrows continuously. That opponent only searched for Kirihara in bewilderment until collapsing from blood loss, unable to fight back even though Kirihara was standing right there. Why? Because the opponent couldn't see him.

"A flawless stealth camouflage that masks its user's presence, Area Invisible. That's the power of his Device, Oborotsuki."

"It won't help no matter how many times you watch that boy's tactics."

Stella gazed at the recording scornfully, and Ikki understood her mood. The recording's content was vexing; instead of two contenders in a match, it was more like one player at a shooting gallery.

"However, that method is certainly effective. He didn't take a scratch in his fights all year. Kirihara-kun is strong."

"...But isn't it strange? That guy supposedly fought in last year's Sword-Art Festival, but wasn't able to become a Seven Stars Sword King. Then he must have lost, right?"

"In the second round. But that's a loss by abstention."

"Abstention?"

"Kirihara-kun didn't fight an opponent who could beat Area Invisible. His ability is strong, but wide-range attacks work well against him. Kirihara-kun can't fight people who have a way to strike the entire ring. For example, you can turn an arena into a sea of flame, right?"

"I see. Invisibility doesn't matter to an attack that covers the entire battlefield."

"Yep, so there's no question he'll withdraw from the fight if he's facing someone like you. Because he has this fighting style that's inappropriate for a knight, he was given the nickname 'Hunter'."

"…Hmph. That's not a very cool nickname. I don't have an opponent I can't win against, and with just a rebuke besides. In comparison, that boy is a total coward."

Kirihara was only strong as long as he was safe. Moreover his style inflicted unnecessary pain on his opponent by avoiding fatal strikes on purpose. It made Stella sick just watching it.

"But… I understand why you say this is your worst opponent."

"Right? He's my natural enemy."

Ikki needed a wide-range technique to defeat Area Invisible, but he had none. He certainly possessed superior sword technique, a tempered body, and skill in hand-to-hand, but all his attacks were short-ranged, and the scope of his offense was limited to melee. Kirihara's Device Oborotsuki was a bow, a long-range weapon, so Kirihara would always take the first move. And more than anything else, Ikki's trump card Ittou Shura could only be used once a day, with a strict duration of a single minute. It was abysmal against abilities that specialize in escape.

On the screen, Kirihara's opponent was being carried out on a stretcher. Stella, whose eyes might see something similarly tragic happening to Ikki himself tomorrow, anxiously spoke.

"It's okay, Ikki."

"You're not worried, are you?"

At his unconcerned response, Stella's face quickly reddened.

"I'm not really worried about you! I'm only worried that if you won't win, I'll have to be that person's girlfriend! Being your slave is the worst, but being that smug boy's girlfriend is even worse than that!"

"You accepted his wager on your own, you know? It's troubling if you make me responsible for it. After I told you to stop, even."

"Uh… but… you were being such an idiot, it was frustrating."

"Eh? But… what?"

"N-Nothing!"

Stella suddenly turned her eyes away from Ikki, but while her words were too childish, he understood that Stella wanted him to win.

"Well, I don't need Kirihara-kun's apology, but I also don't want you to see me defeated."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I do."

Ikki declared so without hesitation.

"I've already found a way to beat him."

Kirihara was the top-ranked newcomer of Ikki's generation, a tough opponent whose overly-strong ability made him the school's Festival representative despite being a first-year. But even so, Kirihara hadn't made it past the second round; how would Ikki take the summit if he stumbled such an opponent? Besides, the Sword-Art Festival fielded six of the best fighters in the school. His homeroom teacher Oreki had said the average knight fights ten matches or more, which meant the ones who go undefeated without withdrawing along the way might have to fight around twenty. If he was beaten here, perhaps he never stood a chance anyway.

But if he was beaten here, everything he endured would end up meaningless. He couldn't allow that.

"I'll definitely win."