Chapter - 1

Osaka Bay City - a city planning project discarded halfway. Ordinarily a ghost town with nary a soul to be seen, its symbol of ruination -the Bay Dome- was now packed to capacity with uncounted numbers of people: all having come to watch the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival, the festival of Japan's knight apprentices.

「You were the one who wanted somethin' like this four-on-one! Show us a good time, Crimson Princess!」

「Time for Akatsuki to show us their stuff too!」

「Don't lose to them, Mikoto-chan!」

The start signal for Block B's fourth match -the match with the unprecedented four-versus-one rule- had already been sounded.

The excitement at this irregularity had swiftly whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

But this sentiment was limited to the stands.

At the heart of that whirlwind of excitement, Yui Tatara of Akatsuki Gakuen's heart burned with a different emotion from where she was within the ring.

And that emotion was rage.

How dare she belittle me…!

Naturally, that rage was directed at Stella.

She had been the one to suggest a four versus one. In other words, she believed that she could put herself at a numbers disadvantage and still be able to defeat them. Leaving aside Stella's original opponent Mikoto Tsuruya, who would have wished for this situation anyway, this was a favorable development for they who were here to dominate the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. But for Yui, who had been forced onstage, this could not be more annoying - being looked down upon to this extent unbearably so.

I'll make you regret thinking so highly of yourself…!

"'ey, Hiraga. This is an official match. They'll write it off as an accident even if I kill my opponent, no?"

"Fufufu. Yes, of course. Our client will understand - Tsukikage is himself a knight, after all."

"Gigigi. Then I'm not gonna go easy on 'er!"

Having obtained the consent of Hiraga, who was serving as the match overseer, she bared a fanged grin.

"No holdin' back this time! Eat yer fill, Sweeping Centipede!"

As she grinned, she reared back the starter cord of her Chainsaw-shaped Device, Sweeping Centipede.

The limb-like blades whirred to life with a sound like as to the ear-piercing shrieks of the fallen. Wielding her wailing weapon aloft, Yui gouged up the ring even as she rushed toward Stella.

「Akatsuki Gakuen's Yui Tatara is on the offensive, a strong a assault without any hesitation! On the other hand, Stella is...wha-?!」

Suddenly, the commentator was rendered speechless.

The reason lay in Stella's hands.

「Stella has yet to materialize her Device! What is the meaning of this?!」

Similarly, an outcry ran through the stands.

「The hell 're ya doin'! Draw your blade!」

「Hey now, hasn't the signal to begin been sounded? Could it be that she doesn't understand Japanese?」

「No, it's in English. But then, why hasn't she drawn?」

They did not understand why Stella had not drawn her weapon to face her opponent.

But even as this doubt hung all about, the battle was afoot.

Her body hugging the ground, long black hair trailing behind her like a serpent, she closed on Stella, and with a cry of-

"Die!!!"

-aimed a brutal strike at her undefended head with Sweeping Centipede.

It was too broad a stroke, too straightforward an attack - hardly any trouble to Stella, who possessed athleticism far beyond the norm.

With the slightest sway backwards she evaded the screaming saw.

"Gyaaaa!!!"

But Yui seemed unfazed by the evasion, employing her strength in a series of reckless swings. Her craft was graceless, her swordsmanship like children playing at samurai. But her weapon, the chainsaw, made all the difference. As a blade that was powered by magic, it required no technique - even the mere kiss of that saw sliced and splintered the specially-made flooring of the ring as it made for Stella.

「Tatara dispensing with defense for an amazing offense-! Wielding her chainsaw mightily, she attacks and attacks!」

However unrefined the swordsmanship, it would be difficult to continually evade that number of attacks.

Stella had to meet it with her sword.

But despite that, she had yet to draw Laevateinn.

「Tatara's firing on all cylinders here! She's pursuing Stella, giving her no breathing room! What a prodigious assault, it's almost like a tornado! Her technique is quite raw, and as such there are many openings to be exploited...but Stella is still empty-handed! 」

「Uwaa! That timing there was really risky!」

「Is Tatara gradually beginning to grasp her movements?」

「It's scary just watching! Just hurry up and draw your sword!」

Her opponent had come out all guns blazing from the starting signal, and yet Stella persisted in not drawing her blade - her actions filled the stadium with voices of confusion.

What on earth could she be thinking, they wondered.

But their doubts would be answered by the man in the analyst seat - ex-King of Knights A-League participant Muroto.

「She's most likely measuring her opponent's attack timing.」

「Measuring...attack timings?」

「In this morning's third Block B match, Tatara had been up against Rentei's Niidome. His axe strike was repelled by an unseen force, and she took advantage of the huge knock-back to slash and thus defeat him. Her ability is definitely the reflection of force - an incredibly potent combat-oriented power. One could leave a huge opening and thus self-destruct if one simply swings recklessly at her…

...and given Stella's offensive power, it will not simply suffice to call it an 'opening'.」

After all, Yui Tatara's Noble Art Total Reflect was an ability that grew in proportion to the power of her opponent's offensive strength. If Stella's exceptional strength were to be reflected, it would not be strange to see her arms shattered.

「In any case, one needs to get around the reflection process in order to defeat Reflectors like Yui Tatara. As such, Stella's strategy of observing her opponent's timing while not materializing her Device or letting her opponent read her own attacks is a correct one.」

「In other words, she intends to hide her cards till the very last moment, before defeating Tatara in a single blow before she can use her ability. That is Stella's strategy, am I right?」

「That is how I'd see it, yes.」

Seated in the stands, Stella's friend Alice recalled a certain event at Muroto's words.

"Somehow, she reminds me of Ikki at that time. Do you remember, Shizuku?"

"I never forget anything about Onii-sama. You refer to the time we fought Rebellion at the shopping mall, don't you?"

That was before the intra-school selection matches.

While the four of them had been out at the shopping mall, they had been attacked by a group of looters from Rebellion. Their leader had been a man named Bishou, who wielded an ability very similar to Yui's.

"At that time, Stella had been right beside Onii-sama - she definitely remembers his strategy from having seen it."

At that time, Ikki had executed a slash exceeding Bishou's dynamic vision while concealing his blade, and thus broke through his Reflect. Avoiding the Reflect using a super-high speed attack that surpassed the Reflector's reaction speed was an effective - and indeed the right way to go about dealing with a Reflector opponent.

"However, there is a problem if Stella wants to imitate Ikki."

"And that problem would be?"

White-robed Knight Yakushi Kiriko, who had remained with them after watching the match between Ikki and Moroboshi together, asked.

"Speed. Certainly, Stella-chan's is a greatsword that boasts unrivalled destructive power, but its speed is far from that of Ikki's Raikou. Moreover, since it spans a human's height in length its swing has to be broader. Can it really produce a speed that rivals Raikou's, I wonder."

No, even if she is indeed able to do that, can she really deceive Rebellion's famed hitman, the Unturning...?

Having once been a part of Rebellion himself under the moniker Black Assassin, Alice was ill at ease.

His unease would not fail to take a turn for the worse, for as she chased Stella about about wielding her chainsaw Yui let out a small chuckle.

This idiotic woman…!

She scorned her opponent's shallowness and folly.

Well of course I would have no time to activate my ability if I am defeated before I can recognize what is going on.

This was the right line of thought, but-

-don'cha dare rope me in with the likes of that lil' punk Bishou. I was raised in a clan of killers who served Rebellion from generation to generation - tried and tested hitmen!

She was different from Bishou, who had stepped onto crooked paths for his own enjoyment.

She was raised to be a killer natural born. There was nothing good or evil about that. The training had been fierce: in order to train her to be able to use Total Reflect whenever and wherever, her own father had constantly tried to kill her since she was three.

Those sleepless days where a bullet could fly at her at any moment went on for ten years, giving her eye-bags nigh impossible to get rid of...and also a focus and dynamic vision sufficient to perceive every single bullet in a hail of gunfire.

Thus, gunshots, explosions, cuts, even the skills Blazers used-

-she could reflect any threat, chasing down her target step by inexorable step till it was eliminated.

It was this fighting style that had earned her the moniker of Unturning.

Her eyes were such that she had been able to perceive clearly Ikki's show of Edelweiss' swordsmanship.

Thus, it was impossible to deceive The Unturning Killer.

Regardless of how one tried to hide their aggression, waiting for an opportunity to strike - that moment would never come.

And anyway, I have no reason to play along with an opponent who's got no options!

"Rinna! Get her-!"

She roared hoarsely, calling to a young lady astride a black lion who had managed to creep up behind Stella while she had busied herself dodging Yui's wild blows - Beast Tamer Rinna Kazamatsuri.

"Do not presume to give me orders! I have no need of your words!"

So she rebutted, but nonetheless acted as Tatara had desired.

When it wore the Collar of Subordination, Kazamatsuri's Device, her lion became able to utilize a Noble Arts - in this case, manipulating the concept of 'stoppage'.

"Cower! King's Pressure!"

"Guuooohhhhh-!!!!"

"Tch…!"

A sonic blast came at Stella from behind her, right from her blind spot.

Her attention being drawn by Yui, she could not evade this blow. From the wide-open jaws of the lion issued forth a torrent of sound that struck her full-on, stripping her of all mobility.

「Aaah! This is bad! Stella's been caught by the Beast Tamer's Noble Art, King's Pressure, the same one that robbed Bunkyoku Academy's Komashiro of the ability to move in the first round! There's no way Tatara will let this critical opportunity pass!」

"I'll finish ya before you ever draw! Just keep cowering there and die!"

Sawblades screamed as they drew a horizontal arc towards Stella, unable to move due to King's Pressure, and struck home right in her defenseless midsection.

"Raaaahh!!!"

With a mighty swing, Yui blew Stella away.

Then-

"King's Charge!"

-another strike came in as insurance.

It was the charge of a magically-empowered lion, a beast that already possessed physical mass and strength far surpassing that of man.

As such, it was only to be expected that Stella, weighing only as much as a normal girl, was knocked back with ease, bouncing like a rubber ball across and out of the ring.

The force sent her into the concrete wall just below the spectator stands, and with a crash and a cloud of plaster a portion of the masonry came crumbling down.