[Chapter - 5: Cutting the Gordian Knot Part 2]

「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 Ittōu 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."

Saying so, 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.

"...?"

"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 should have been shattered began to move!

"Wha-!"

The twisted arm regained its former straightness; crushed fingers formed a fist, and then released it. Rinse. Repeat.

The flames then dissipated, and Stella held Laevateinn in her once-broken left hand.

A greatsword like that, always having meant to be wielded in two hands, was now so wielded.

It shouldn't have been possible with a broken arm.

That she could, meant that she had healed that arm.

And yet a fire user like Stella could not use healing magic.

So how…

"...!"

Something flashed across Charlotte's mind, something reckless, incoherent.

"Could…" she said, her voice almost pained, "could it be that you used your fires to melt and weld your broken bones back together...?!"

Stella did not reply.

She merely smiled in triumph.

That smile said it all.

It was exactly that: she had melted down the calcium in her broken bones and put them back together.

And now with both her hands restored to her, she was no longer held back by anything.

"Pierce the heavens, O you fires of purgatory-"

Holding her sword aloft, she activated her mightiest Noble Art.

A pillar of crimson fire burst forth from Laevateinn, searing through the sky, its incomparable flame turning blue even as it grew ever hotter and hotter, before finally losing all coloration - becoming light.

A blade of light fifty meters long, with which to mercilessly incinerate all in its path.

"So what will you do, Miss Maid? My Katharterio Salamandra is about to cut the Master behind you down. You are not a representative - I will not pursue you if you flee, you know?"

"Tch!"

The pressure that Stella's words exuded weighed heavily on Charlotte's back.

She knew.

This was her final warning.

If she did not remove herself, the Crimson Princess would bring that holy blade of light, forged of her unnatural birth-right of magic, to bear on her without holding back.

She was powerless before something of that order.

But…

"Foolishness!"

She did not retreat.

Standing in front of Rinna to shield her, she declared her resolve.

"I said it before. You shall not touch her!"

"Very good!"

Like two western gunmen at high noon, they moved as one.

"Katharterio Salamandra!"

"Bloom wildly—Senben Junka!"

Stella let fly her blade of light and heat to slice Charlotte and Rinna behind her clean in twain.

Charlotte responded, pouring all her magic power into an impregnable shield the likes of which surpassed Ichirin Junka by three orders of magnitude in order to protect her master.

Their strikes met...

...and a raging storm of light was born, as though to sweep everything in the Dome away in its wake.

"Haaaaa!"

"Aaaaahhh!"

「Cordé's shield, which has withstood Vermilion's repeated attacks up till now, now meets the unbridled fury of Vermilion's strongest Noble Art in the middle of the ring! These fierce magics blow wildly about the Dome, th might of their flowing magic evident! The keenest spear and the hardest shield battle it out furiously, neither yielding an inc... victory lies in the balance still!」

And yet, there existed no such equality between spear and shield in real life. A spear that pierced all could not coexist with a shield that blocked all. One must triumph. And as though to prove that point, the force behind that nimbus of light began to destroy that fine balance.

'It's... heavy... So hot...'

The one being driven back was Charlotte. The thousand petaled Senben Junka was starting to wither and shed petals under the relentless push of Katharterio Salamandra. And as the shield began to fail, so too did its ability to block out the heat given off by that Noble Art. With sickening gurgles, the ground began to melt and bubble. Skin and hair began to darken and char. Despite the fact that her shield was holding against the blade itself, the energy it was giving off had that kind of power.

What a outrageous strength.

'At this rate...'

Her shield would be broken through. Charlotte cried out, in a last-ditch effort to protect her master.

"My lady! Retreat!"

But...

"I refuse."

Her master, Beast Tamer Rinna Kazamatsuri, put her arms around her waist from behind, leaning into her back.

"M-My Lady, what are you doing?!"

Charlotte's normally well-schooled expression caved way to distress at her master's incomprehensible actions.

Rinna on the other hand just gave a confident grin.

"I said 'I refuse'. My loyal retainer, there is no need to flee. For the one standing before me Charlotte Cordé, my ablest servant, my right hand of darkest night, who has sworn fealty to me. You shall not fall—am I wrong?"

And she held her closer still. Through the contact she could feel that warmth, that absolute trust.

"...Yes, my liege!"

From her soul she poured forth more power. With a wailing sound, the luster returned to the crumbling Senben Junka. Petals that had wilted under the searing light stood strong again, once more shutting out its heat. And with that at last, despite her ragged state, Charlotte's Senben Junka repelled the Crimson Princess' Noble Art.

「And... Senben Junka triumph! It barely manages to hold against the strongest sword, A-Rank Knight Stella Vermilion's Katharterio Salamandra!」

"Ugh..."

Sweat beading down her face, Charlotte fell to her knees, her hands barely holding her up. Her hair was frazzled and fried. Her shoulders ached, and her breaths came in ragged pants. She was at her limit. But even so...

'I... Was able to protect...'

Yes—she had successfully defended her master from the brunt of Stella Vermilion's ace in the hole.

Feeling her master's warmth and heartbeat behind her brought a smile to her lips. She had fulfilled her master's wishes. There could be no greater joy than that. It was an indescribable thing, that sense of achievement, that euphoria.

But that would turn to blackest despair in an instant.

"Katharterio Salamandra"

"It... can't be..."

Charlotte saw it.

The flame-haired knight produced a second blade of light not in the least inferior to the first in overflowing might without wasting another breath, before swinging it downwards.

'She can launch conservative attacks of such powers... So quickly !?'

"That's why I said it's impossible for you."

In all honesty, Stella had felt right from the start that it would have been difficult to break Charlotte's defense in a single blow. But what did that matter? If one strike was not enough, then she would just strike out with two, three strikes, one after the other. The Crimson Princess did, after all, have enough to spare to launch twelve such conservative attacks of Katharterio Salamandra.

On the other hand, Charlotte could not even squeeze out a single drop of mana more.

"Charlotte!"

"Mi...lady..." Charlotte croaked as Stella's scorching flames

engulfed her.

「Th-That's a direct hit! Charlotte just barely managed to defend against Stella's first Katharterio Salamandra, but she didn't stand a chance against the second! She's down for the count, as is the Beast Tamer!」

「Neither of them is going to be getting back up after that. Even if they do miraculously find the strength to stand, they're in no shape to fight. Charlotte expended all of her strength and mana to defend against that first Karsalitio Salamandra.」

"And that's two down," Stella said, turning her attention to the remaining two combatants. There was nowhere for them to run, and neither of them appeared to have the ability to defend against her attacks. As long as she got rid of the Jester before he finished whatever he was preparing over in the corner, her victory was all but assured. But as she watched a smile spread across his face, she muttered, "Doesn't look like I made it in time for that, though."

"That's right. Cordé-san did a wonderful job of keeping youbusy. And now, all of my preparations are complete," Hiraga Reisen replied. A second later, a shadow fell over the entire stadium.

"Huh? Did the forecast call for rain?" one of the spectators asked, confused.

"No way, I didn't bring my umbrella... Wait, what the hell is

that?!"

But then, as everyone looked up, their confusion turned to shock.

It wasn't clouds that were blotting out the sun but rather piles and piles of debris raining from the sky. They all fell into the center of the arena, piling on top of each other in a giant heap of metal and stone.

"Wh-What's going on?! Chunks of buildings, cars, and even trains are falling into the ring! Were they blown here by a tornado or something?!"

While it was reasonable to assume that only a tornado could have ripped up such massive objects, a natural disaster wasn't what had brought them to the stadium. If that were the case, a lot of the rubble would have been falling into the stands. Instead, however, it was all dropping neatly into the arena.

Hiraga Reisen sneered at the crowd's confusion as he waved his hands, dropping the last few pieces of rubble into place. He'd stretched his threads outside the stadium and pulled in all of the abandoned buildings, trains, and cars he could find. All so that he could create his masterpiece.

"Wh-What on earth?! The pile of rubble is starting to connect into the shape of...a person?! It's as if everything's being magnetically attracted together to create one giant doll!"

'We've seen that before!' Kurogane Ikki and Stella Vermillion

thought at the same time.

Indeed, the creation looked strikingly similar to the golem they'd fought in Okutama. This was the power of Hiraga's Noble Art, which allowed him to freely connect things with his threads and remotely control his creations.

"Behold the power of my Deus Ex Machina. Heh heh, don't you think my giant robot's cool?" Hiraga said as he put the finishing touches on his fifty-meter-tall doll made of metal and concrete. This was his trump card, as well as the reason he had a second nickname—the Dollmaker.

Stella clicked her tongue as she looked up at the rubble giant.

"So you really were behind that attack on the training camp. I had a feeling it was you."

"Heh heh heh, I hope you enjoyed playing with my dolls back then." Hiraga's voice was coming from inside the giant doll. It seemed he'd placed himself there while building it up. The fact that he was controlling it from the inside made it seem a lot like a mecha.

"Raikiri smashed that poor golem, but this Deus Ex Machina is made from far sturdier stuff than mud. It's much larger too! I bet not even you can survive a punch from this guy, Crimson Princess!"

The giant doll lifted its left arm, which was made of a bundle of metal pipes, and pulled a set of eight linked train cars out of its shoulder. It then swung the train cars like a whip down at Stella.

They smashed into the ring, pulverizing it and causing the entire stadium to shake.

"My god! Deus Ex Machina's train whip just blasted apart a

quarter of the ring! Look at that dust cloud! Is Stella still alive in there?!"

The train cars were made of stainless steel, which was a relatively lightweight building material. However, they still weighed a few tons each, and there was no way a human could survive one falling on top of them. They'd be crushed to the point that their remains wouldn't even be recognizable as human.

"I definitely won't survive being hit by that, but your giant whip's so slow, I'd have to be asleep to get hit in the first place!" Stella shouted, shooting out of the dust cloud looking no worse for the wear. Not only had she easily managed to dodge the impact, she'd used the shock wave it had created to bolster her jump height.

She landed softly on the giant doll's right arm and started running up to its shoulder. Once there, she slashed at its neck, which was made of an amalgamation of large delivery trucks. Lævateinn sliced cleanly through the metal trucks, and the giant's head tumbled to the ground. The cars, traffic signals, and metal canisters that had made up its head shattered into countless pieces as they slammed into the ground. Then, Stella jumped down, landing amid the

scattered rubble.

"Too bad for you, but I'm gonna turn this doll you spent so much time making into scrap metal in less than a minute," she said, pointing Lævateinn up at the doll with a grin. However, the Jester simply laughed in response.

"Aha ha ha ha ha!"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's just hilarious how misguided you are. I've had this

particular Deus Ex Machina ready since well before you started fighting Corday-san. The puppet I spent all that time on was something else entirely."

"Ah?!" A shiver ran down Stella's spine as she suddenly felt a wave of overwhelming pressure. It wasn't coming from the giant doll in front of her, though. No, it was coming from directly behind her.

'What's this feeling?! I don't know what's going on, but I need to move!'

Trusting her instincts, Stella kicked off the ground with all her might. She kept running forward, not caring about maintaining her stance or avoiding anything the doll might throw at her. A second later, the area she'd been standing in, including the air, was frozen solid.

"That was..." She turned to look back at the ice pillar blooming in the arena. There was only one person in this ring capable of freezing air.

"Icy Laughter's Thirteen Eyes of the Reaper!"

Tsuruya Mikoto was standing a good distance behind the shocked Stella, her monocle glowing with pale blue light and emitting far more mana than it had been earlier.

Anything and everything within Tsuruya's field of vision was a valid target for her magic. The beam of absolute zero frost she emitted traveled at the speed of light, meaning you had to already be moving if you wanted to dodge it—much like Stella was doing.

She dashed across the arena while Tsuruya created a line of ice pillars behind her.

「What a surprise! Icy Laughter's going on the offensive once more! She just keeps firing off Thirteen Eyes of the Reaper over and over while Stella has to keep running around to try and stay out of Tsuruya Mikoto's sight! Fortunately, it seems the Crimson Princess's speed is top class as well, and she's managed to stay safe for now!

That said, she easily stopped Thirteen Eyes of the Reaper with her Empress Dress earlier! Why isn't she doing the same thing this time?!」

「It's because Icy Sneer's attacks are much stronger than before. The Icy Laughter I know is capable of freezing everything within a three-meter radius of the focal point she's chosen, but look. Now she's freezing everything within her line of sight, not just a small area around her target. Her Noble Art has gotten much stronger. I had no idea she was hiding her true strength... Frankly, I'm amazed. With this much power, she might actually be able to freeze the

Crimson Princess through her flames!」

Muroto exclaimed. Just then, Tsuruya was blessed with the perfect opportunity. Stella had been so focused on staying out of her sight that she hadn't realized she'd run into a corner and was surrounded on three sides by ice pillars.

「Uh-oh, Stella's trapped now! Is this the end for her?!」

Tsuruya focused her gaze on Stella and launched yet another beam of absolute zero light. But of course, Stella wasn't one to give up so easily. She transferred the flames of her Empress Dress onto Lævateinn and swung her fiery sword at the deadly attack.

"Haaaaah!"

「Sh-She blocked Thirteen Eyes of the Reaper with her sword! The Crimson Princess really is something else!」

「But look at what's happened to her Device!」

「Huh?」

At Muroto's words, everyone turned to look at Lævateinn. A

second later, the audience gasped.

"O-Oh my god! Stella's Lævateinn has been...f-frozen?!"

"H-Holy shit!" one of the spectators shouted.

A flame user's Device, like the center of the sun, was where their heat was the most concentrated. Freezing one wasn't something an average ice user could do. Even Stella was surprised by the turn of events.

'You've gotta be kidding me...'

She focused her energy into Lævateinn and tried to melt the ice with her flames, but it didn't work.

「Th-The ice isn't melting even after being bathed in Stella's

flames! Just how powerful is Icy Laughter?!」

'Not even my flames can melt it?!'

Cold sweat poured down Stella's back as she turned to glare at Tsuruya.

"I never knew you were the type to hide your power level,

Tsuruya-san. I guess you're craftier than you look."

Tsuruya said nothing in response. At first, Stella thought it was because she wasn't interested in responding to backhanded praise from an opponent, but then she realized that there was something wrong with Tsuruya's expression.

"Hmm?"

Stella had thought Tsuruya would be sneering triumphantly or something, but her expression was completely blank. There was no light in her eyes, and her body was completely slack. It was as if she were a corpse. Or rather...a doll.

"This is what I spent so much time working on!" Hiraga crawl from within his giant doll.

"Ah!"

In that moment, a terrible thought ran through Stella's

mind.

"Hiraga, don't tell me you..."

"Aha ha ha ha. That's right, I did exactly what you're thinking," he shouted. The doll he'd spent so much time perfecting was none other than Tsuruya Mikoto. While Stella had been distracted by Charlotte, he'd carefully inserted his Device, Black Widow, into Tsuruya's brain and nervous system through her ears. He'd been so stealthy about it that even the girl herself hadn't noticed. He'd then stolen away her autonomy and turned her into his doll. This Noble

Art of his was his real trump card.

"Marionette. It's a pretty basic ability, but sometimes basic is best."

Marionette didn't just let Hiraga control whoever he'd turned into his living doll. Since his Device was connected directly to their brain, he could send the electrical signals needed to make them turn off their limiters and draw out their full power regardless of the damage it might cause to their bodies. That was why Tsuruya had suddenly gotten so much stronger.

"Unfortunately, humans aren't built to withstand the burden of using their full strength," Hiraga added with an evil grin. As he said that, blood began to spill out of Tsuruya's eye.

"Tsuruya-san?!"

"If you keep resisting, that eye of hers might burst from the

strain. Well, modern medicine can easily fix a popped eye, but...my strings have invaded her brain as well. Isn't it sad? This girl has nothing to do with Akatsuki or your revenge, but if you keep making her fight, she might push herself so hard that she ends up a braindead vegetable."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"Your friends may have been scum, but they still came at me

head-on and fought with pride. But you... You don't have any intention of fighting fairly, do you?!"

"Nope! Not one bit!"

"Rgh!"

Stella ground her teeth in rage. This man, Hiraga Reisen, wasn't a mere criminal like Tatara and the others. He was pure evil. As royalty, Stella had seen many different kinds of people from all walks of life, and she knew just how subjective good and evil really were. To some people, Rebellion's goal of creating a paradise for Blazers was a noble one worth fighting for. Most people labeled

criminals by society were just those whose values didn't align with the majority's or who had their own extenuating circumstances that justified—to them, at least—their "evil" acts. But this clown was different. He found joy in other people's pain and reveled in their suffering. He was truly evil.

"From the very start, our goal wasn't to gain fame or honor from this tournament. We've been hired to win. Only a second-rate mercenary cares about the methods he uses to achieve victory. A true pro completes his job no matter what it takes. That's why I won't hesitate to use underhanded tricks, and I won't show any mercy to anyone who gets in my way. You better step carefully, Crimson Princess, because I always make good on my threats. So,

what will you do now?"

Hiraga asked gleefully, and Stella's fury rose to a fever pitch. But at the same time, she knew she had no choice.

"You scumbag..." she spat, dropping Lævateinn. As her sword clattered onto the arena's stone floor, Hiraga let out a triumphant scream.

"Hyaaaaaaah!"

This time, the doll's train whip landed a clean hit on Stella.

...

'Everything's going according to plan.'

Hiraga Reisen had that thought from inside his Deus Ex Machina as he ordered the doll to slam its train whip into Stella over and over. In truth, he'd been sure of their victory since the moment this fight had started. When she'd asked for a four-against-one battle as her penalty for being late, he'd immediately figured out that she wanted revenge for Akatsuki's attack on Hagun.

'Heh. Taking a disadvantageous fight just to get revenge for your friends is a beautiful display of friendship for sure. If I cared about morality, I'd even respect you for your noble heart. Problem is, the more kindhearted a person is, the easier they are to manipulate!'

He didn't even need his strings to make a person with a strong conscience dance to his tune. He'd known from the start that anyone with as kind a heart as Stella's wouldn't be willing to sacrifice Tsuruya for the sake of their revenge. That was why his true trump card had been taking Tsuruya hostage and forcing Stella to drop her sword. From the start, he'd been planning to end things this way. And Stella had played along with his script perfectly.

「Deus Ex Machina is raining down a barrage of blows on Stella! Is she okay down there?! There's so much dust that I can't tell from up here! Also, why did Stella drop Lævateinn right before he started attacking?! What could she have been thinking, letting go of her weapon in the middle of a battle?!」

「I don't know what prompted her to do that, but she's in danger.」

Muroto said. The referee seemed to be thinking the same thing, and was looking for an opportunity to jump in and end the match. Seeing that, Hiraga let up on his assault and decided to wait for the dust to settle. He'd felt the train whip hit flesh through his strings, so he knew he'd landed at least a few clean hits. Stella definitely hadn't dodged this time, so he didn't need to go any further. His goal wasn't to kill Stella but to win this tournament. And if the referee saw Stella lying in a bloody heap on the ground, they were sure to call the match.

Finally, after half a minute, the dust cloud began to clear.

「The dust's finally thinning. How's Stella—」

The commentator's jaw dropped open, and he stared dumbfounded at the ring. The audience looked equally shocked. Stella wasn't lying on a bloody heap on the ground at all. While she was bleeding from a rather large gash on her head, she was still on her feet, staring defiantly up

at Hiraga's Deus Ex Machina.

「U-Unbelievable! Stella let those trains hit her without dodging or blocking, but she's still standing! Just how

sturdy is that body of hers?!」

The ring had been completely pulverized, and there were deep craters in the red soil underneath it, which spoke to the power behind Deus Ex Machina's blows. Hiraga clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You're even tougher than I gave you credit for. But this match is over, so hurry up and collapse!"

Stella cocked her head to one side and gave Hiraga a questioning look.

"What do you mean this match is over?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who dropped your sword. Doesn't that mean you've surrendered?"

Hiraga was certain that there was nothing Stella could do

anymore since he'd taken Tsuruya hostage. After all, that was the scenario he'd written out in his head. Unfortunately, he'd miscalculated the caliber of the knight known as Stella Vermillion.

"Dumbass," she said with a nod, a snide sneer on her face.

She hadn't thrown her sword away because she'd given in to Hiraga'sthreats.

"I only dropped my sword, the manifestation of my soul,

because you're not worthy of being cut down by it. A knight's sword is something they wield in battles they take pride in. You're not worthy of that honor!"

"Ngh..."

"Honestly, I didn't want to use this technique because it means relying on the strength of others, but I guess I'll show it to you."

As she said that, a giant, crimson dragon made of pure flame arose behind Stella, towering over even Hiraga's Deus Ex Machina. It wasn't a real dragon, just an illusion created by the intimidating aura Stella had wreathed herself in, but it still left Hiraga and the audience speechless. The fact that her mana could create an illusion this overwhelming was terrifying in its own right.

_Since Tsuruya-san's here, I'll be kind enough to hit you with this in phantom form. So you don't need to worry about dying."

Stella sucked in a deep breath, and Hiraga could tell he was in trouble. His honed criminal instincts were telling him that if he let her finish whatever she was about to do, he was done for.

""Marionette!" he cried, using his Black Widow to make Tsuruya fire off another Thirteen Eyes of the Reaper.

Tsuruya's eyes turned to Stella and froze her solid. Despite that, the pulsating dragon remained. Its crimson eyes continued to glow brightly from within the massive ice pillar Tsuruya had created.

"Bahamut Howl!"

Responding to Stella's shout, the dragon let out a deafening roar.

A second later, there was a flash of light so brilliant that it leached the color out of everything around it. The flash was followed by a gust of blazing heat that enveloped the entire arena, including Tsuruya and Hiraga, who was still inside his Deus Ex Machina. The blast of heat stopped just before the spectator stands and rose upward, turning into a pillar of fire so hot that it was like looking at pure light.

After a solid twenty seconds, the light and heat began to fade, and everyone looked down to see that the ring had been completely melted. The lawn surrounding the ring had been turned to ash, and the ground itself was burnt to a black crisp. It was as if a volcanic eruption had hit the stadium. Deus Ex Machina, which had been close to the center of the blast, was a shell of its former self. All of

the concrete had sloughed off in a melted pile, and the steel frame that made up the doll's skeleton was charred beyond recognition.

After a few seconds, the remains of the doll crumpled to the ground in a soot-stained heap.

"Well...I guess this means I've failed," Hiraga muttered, lamenting his lack of foresight.

The power Stella had just used had been overwhelming. Had she used that at the start of the match, it would have been over in an instant. In other words, Stella could have won the match anytime she'd wanted. There was only one reason she'd waited until now to use Bahamut Howl: It was simply too powerful. It had enough force to encompass far more than just the hundred-meter space that was the ring; the entire Bay Dome and even the buildings around it could

have been swallowed up. Even in phantom form, it wasn't the kind of technique that was safe to use in a public match with spectators nearby.

Illusionary form made a Blazer's powers harmless to other humans, but not the rest of the environment. Bahamut Howl was so powerful that Stella couldn't fully control it, and she'd been worried that using it might destroy the stadium. If the damage had been too great, it might have even put a stop to the Seven Stars Battle Festival as a whole. That was why she had said that using it meant relying on the

strength of others. She'd been hoping that the people the

Management Committee had sent to keep the audience safe would be able to contain her powers to just the ring and keep her flames from damaging anything else. Without their help, there was no way Stella could have used an attack like that.

Relying on people who weren't participating in the match went against her creed as a knight, however, hence she had opted not to use it for so long. She'd fought using only techniques she knew she could control so that she wouldn't have to rely on others to keep the audience safe. But Hiraga Reisen had done something so heinous that it had superseded her desire to fight in accordance with her

creed. Using his Marionette to hold Tsuruya hostage had crossed a line, at which point she had stopped treating the match like a duel.

By then, she'd just been taking out the trash.

'I shouldn't have done anything that freed her from the

restrictions she'd placed on herself. That was a grave mistake.'

Hiraga knew that was why he'd lost.

A shadow fell over Hiraga, and he looked up to see Stella

standing over him, the blazing summer sun at her back. She was looking down at him like he was garbage. He knew why she was so disappointed in him. The body she was looking down at, Hiraga's body, wasn't human. It was a doll made of metal and resin.

From the very start, Hiraga Reisen himself had never set foot in the ring. He'd sent in one of his dolls that looked exactly like him instead. Naturally, there was no way someone willing to take hostages like him would ever boldly show himself in public. Nor would he ever put himself in a position of danger if he could help it.

Stella had figured that out at some point too, which was why she wasn't surprised as she looked down at the doll in disgust.

"It seems you were a bit too unruly to turn into one of my

puppets. I concede victory to you, Crimson Princess," he said, though his praise was nothing more than empty flattery.

Stella mercilessly stomped down on his doll's blackened face, crushing it. She had nothing to say to him, nor was she interested in hearing anything he had to say. He was the worst kind of scum imaginable, and she didn't want to waste any more of her time thinking about him.

With that, Stella became the only fighter still standing, bringing a conclusive end to the final battle of the B block.

...

「Wh-What a turnaround! After dropping her sword and being bashed in by Hiraga's Deus Ex Machina, it looked like she was on the verge of defeat, but then she unleashed a blast of fiery light so powerful that it literally reduced the entire arena to ashes! Stella's the only one still standing! Even the referee was taken down by that attack! To think she was still hiding this much of her strength!」

「She wasn't hiding it. I think she just didn't want to use it.」

Muroto cut in.

「What do you mean?」

「That technique she just used, Bahamut Soul, is a very basic one. All she did was unleash as much mana as she could in one giant blast. For the non-Blazers out there, think of it like yelling as loudly as you can.」

That was why she'd been able to activate it pretty much instantly, as well as why it had been so powerful. But it was also the reason she'd been unable to control the attack and had knocked out the referee. If the knights waiting in the stands hadn't all leaped forward and erected a barrier, everyone in the audience would have been knocked out too, and the entire stadium would likely have been destroyed.

In general, knights did their best not to use Noble Arts that might harm innocent bystanders. After all, the Mage-Knights' creed was;

"Those with power must protect those without."

「I-I see. So the reason she used it was because the Jester backed her into a corner?」

「No... I don't think that's it either,」 Muroto replied with a shake of his head. He looked down at Stella in awe. Earlier, when she'd unleashed her Bahamut Howl, he'd been able to sense the feelings she'd poured into her mana.

「I think she was trying to gauge our ability.」

「Our ability? What do you mean by that?」

「More specifically, the strength of the Management Committee and the knights they've stationed to protect the audience. She wanted to see if she could go all out in this tournament without the risk of destroying everything. And I guess she's gotten her answer. She really is one hell of a girl. This is the first time I've ever seen anyone test the people running the tournament like this.」

Muroto's guess was right on the mark. Stella always

unconsciously held back some of her strength to avoid getting the spectators involved or accidentally killing her opponent. Because she'd been born with overwhelming power, she'd always been cautious about how she used it. Saikyou Nene had realized that as well, and before she'd sent the girl off to Osaka, she'd given her a warning.

"Somewhere early on during the tournament, you're gonna need to undo those shackles you've put on yourself. Don't worry, though. This time around, Kuu-chan will be part of the crew that protects the audience. She isn't so weak that she needs a kid like you holding back on her account."

So Stella had done as Saikyou had asked and unleashed her full power for just an instant with that Bahamut Soul. And indeed, not a single audience member had been harmed. The moment Stella had activated it, all of the Blazers in the audience had leaped into action and deployed a multilayered barrier around the stands. Now Stella knew for certain that she didn't need to hold back out of fear of

hurting innocents. With how skillfully those Blazers had erected their barriers, she knew that even if she went all out for an extended period of time, they'd be able to handle any incoming collateral damage. The Management Committee had chosen some of the strongest Mage-Knights in the Federation to serve as bodyguards for this tournament, after all. There was one thing that had surprised her, though.

"I didn't think you'd be the first to move to protect the audience, Ouma."

The Sword Emperor of Wind, Kurogane Ouma, had been the fastest to react to Stella's Bahamut Howl, creating a wind barrier to direct her flames upward and away from the stands. She had no idea why he'd moved to help her, but she didn't like it one bit. Not just because she owed him now, but also because he'd been able to perfectly redirect her full strength without breaking a sweat. She glared up at Ouma, who was watching from the highest point in the stands.

'Well, whatever his reasons are, this means I don't have to worry about the audience.'

With that thought, she turned and made her way out of the

scorched arena, her flaming red hair fluttering behind her.

...

"Thank you. Blocking power of that level is a feat only a Rank A knight like yourself could have accomplished. Knowing there's youngsters like you out there gives me hope for our great nation's future."

Japan's Prime Minister and the director of Akatsuki Academy, Tsukikage Bakuga, said, turning to Kurogane Ouma and giving him a small round of applause. The two of them were on the top floor of the VIP room of the stadium.

"But even if you hadn't done something, I'm sure Shinguuji-kun would have stopped the Crimson Princess's flames. Shouldn't you be conserving your strength for your

upcoming matches?"

"I didn't want there to be even the slightest chance that anyone got hurt."

Ouma replied, not even turning to face Tsukikage.

"It would make for a very boring match if she felt guilty about unleashing her full strength and restricted herself in her battle against me."

Ouma's gaze was fixed on the red-haired knight glaring up at him from the arena. There was a surprising amount of bloodlust in her gaze, but not an ounce of fear despite the fact that he'd defeated her once before. Her eyes were full of confidence and burning with fighting spirit. Upon seeing that look in her eyes, Ouma smiled—a rarity for him.

"I'm getting fired up now."

Her aura was completely different from when he'd faced her a week ago. It seemed she'd grown quite a bit stronger in that time.

'All in order to defeat me.'

That was exactly what Ouma wanted. He was the pinnacle she should strive to reach, not some lowly charlatan like the Worst One. So long as she was chasing after Ikki, her talent would never bloom.

And if that was all she aspired to, there wasn't much point in

defeating her. Ouma wouldn't get his wish if he beat her while her sights were set so low.

'Keep looking at me. Focus only on overcoming me. That's how you'll become stronger...'

And so, the final B-block match ended with Stella defeating three Akatsuki members and Tsuruya Mikoto—and the referee to boot. As a result, there was no one to declare the victor. But Stella's majestic figure as she alone walked across the scorched arena toward the gate was enough to tell everyone watching who had won.

Though officially she'd only won her first match, she had

effectively conquered the entire B block with how overwhelming her victory had been. And that was indeed how things ended up working out. Stella's second match would have been against Tatara Yui, but the doctors said she was in no state to fight. Meanwhile, Kazamatsuri Rinna voluntarily withdrew from the tournament, and since the last remaining fighter, Hiraga Reisen, hadn't actually

stepped into the ring for his match, he was disqualified. In the end, Stella Vermillion became the first person to reach the semifinals.