Chapter - 2

「A, a keen blow! Tatara and Kazamatsuri with the clean one-two punch! Stella was blown right out of the ring - terrible, terrible damage!"」

「Uwaa...that was horrible!」

「...Is she dead?」

The stands were silenced as they witnessed something in a way more grotesque than a bloodletting: a human being blasted away like a bullet.

In that strange silence, the PA system started the ring-out countdown. If she was unable to return to the ring within ten counts, she would be judged as having lost by Ring-Out.

「Stella's form cannot be made out, buried under that pile of dust and debris as she is. But that wall should have been able to withstand a direct hit from a tank cannon - that it is broken speaks volumes of the severity of the damage she must have taken is clear. Will she be able to make it back into the ring within ten counts?!」

「Hey, hey, get it together!」

「I was all hyped up to see what the famed Crimson Princess would be like too...」

「A four-versus-one was too reckless after all! She was so easily hit from behind!」

「You can hear the disappointment in the stands! It can't be helped - who could have expected that the Crimson Princess, a hot favorite to win it all, would be in such danger of defeat so easily?」

Muroto shook his head at these words.

「No. In any case this much was not unexpected. Rather, it was a matter of course.」

「Wh, what do you mean, Muroto-pro?」

「I'm saying that fighting multiple opponents alone is this difficult. If we go by the numbers, it is a four-on-one, but if we factor in the difference in the number of attacks, the kinds of tactics that could arise from the different mix of abilities and thought processes, the difference in battle-strength does not follow the numbers. It could even be five or ten times more than that. The Crimson Princess can indeed be said to be at the level of one-in-a-million, but despite that this handicap is not light - the fact that she was hit from behind so easily is proof. Moreover, this field is also an issue.」

「This field, you say?」

「Yes. As you can see, the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival's ring is a flat circle without any cover whatsoever. There is nowhere to hide oneself, or anywhere to conceal one's movements. This environment lends itself well to those who would assert the numbers advantage. The gap in power increases yet more when one factors this in as well. 」

「So this result was expected, you mean.」

Muroto nodded slightly.

「It's fine to be confident, but going up against four people at once is recklessness, plain and simple. Vermillion is a brilliant A-Rank Knight, but her opponents are far from pushovers.」

The Crimson Princess had underestimated the terrors of a battle against numbers.

Shizuku made a bitter face as she listened to Muroto's analysis from her place in the spectator stands.

"What on earth is that woman doing?!"

"Shizuku…"

"I'm an idiot - when she confidently asked for that four-versus-one match, I was actually expecting her to have gotten stronger in her training with Saikyou-sensei. To have confidence is one thing, but for her to be this careless makes no sense!"

"Indeed, getting taken by surprise so easily back there was too careless."

"Really…!"

She could not help but give vent to her bubbling anger. But from where she stood, this anger was only normal. Her brother's lover, Stella, had taken that unique place in his heart that Shizuku desired...then she had just upped and left without notice to go somewhere, making him worry a great deal. That was difficult to forgive no matter what.

And to add to that, the one to come up with the suicidal modified four-versus-one rules that had to this present outcome had been none other than her. That made it even harder.

Even though she had made that promise to meet her brother in the Finals…

Even though her brother had fought for that sake, overcoming a difficult foe…

"If she loses here...if she betrays the promise she made with Onii-sama here," Shizuku said poisonously, her small fists trembling, "I will go down there into the ring and squeeze the life out of her myself!"

Kurono smiled wryly from beside them at the seriousness in her voice.

I wish you wouldn't say that in front of me - I'm still a teacher, you know?

Well, she did know how much Shizuku loved her brother Ikki, and thus could understand her anger at her brothers' lover's disappointing performance. If she was merely speaking in anger, Kurono would not have blamed her.

"But you shouldn't blame Vermillion too much."

"...Why? She's making a laughingstock of herself out there."

"Well, if you had to blame this one on anyone, it would have to be her teacher."

"Her teacher?"

The blame for having called for but being unable to deal with the disadvantages of a four-versus-one battle and being beaten down pathetically lay not with Stella, but rather with Saikyou.

Unable to comprehend Kurono's reasoning, Shizuku gave it some thought.

"Are you saying that Saikyou-sensei's teaching methods were subpar?"

In response, Kurono flashed a wry smile- no, it was more the grin of the cat that got the cream, as though she was expecting something interesting to happen.

"I guess this was bound to happen if she'd even managed to pass on her slovenly ways. You see, that combo didn't hit Vermillion because she was careless, but because she found it too tiresome to dodge."

"Eh?"

In that instant, it happened.

With a crash that resounded throughout the stadium, a huge piece of rubble that might have weighed a ton was sent rocketing into the sky from where it had lain atop Stella.

"Wha-!"

At that sound, Shizuku's eyes returned to the ring.

Naturally, the one who had knocked it away was Stella, who had been buried underneath. Having swept away the debris atop her with a skyward straight from her right fist, she leapt lightly back into the ring - just in time for the count of 'eight'...

...and with nary a scratch on her from either the charge or the cut to the stomach, she casually swept the remaining dust from her uniform.

"...Hmm. That's all you've got, huh," she said, as though having understood something.