That night, Kurogane Ikki went out to the park near the hotel to train. He’d checked up on Shizuku and Alisuin earlier, and both of them were still unconscious. His training menu for the night was quite simple: He’d stuck a wooden stake into the ground and was practicing slicing through it.
Taking in a deep breath, Ikki drew his weapon and slashed through the still night air. With every swing, he shaved off a tiny chunk of the stick, which fell to the ground with a thud. A few dozen slashes later, the pole that had once been as tall as him had been reduced to waist height.
“Phew...”
Sweat beaded on Ikki’s brow as he stopped for a break. He’d been concentrating intently on each and every swing. He’d had to. After all, he wasn’t swinging his Device but a single sheet of paper—a perfectly normal sheet of copy paper that could be found at any stationery store. He’d been swinging with such precision that it hadn’t bent at all, making it possible for its sharp edge to cut through something as thick and solid as wood.
His training wasn’t over yet either. Once he’d caught his breath, he stuck a metal pipe into the ground and repeated the process, slicing through it bit by bit. Though it seemed physically impossible, Ikki was actually cutting through steel with a flimsy sheet of paper. Such a Herculean feat was extremely difficult, even for someone with as much martial skill and control over his body as Ikki.
“Ah.”
For the briefest of moments, there was a light breeze, and the paper Ikki had stuck halfway through the metal pipe ripped apart. The wind had bent it ever so slightly, warping its cutting edge. Ikki let out a long sigh and swept back his sweat-slicked hair.
“I’ve still got a long way to go,” he said. “I was so focused on controlling my body that I forgot to pay attention to the environment around me.”
Just then, he heard Stella’s voice from behind him.
“Can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone do training like that before.”
He turned to see her walking toward him.
“Stella...”
“So, what’s the point of that training?”
“I’m trying to improve my control over my muscles. Now that I can copy Edelweiss-san’s swordsmanship, I’ve gotten a lot stronger, but...I haven’t truly mastered her techniques yet.”
Edelweiss’s slashes were so perfect that they made no noise as they cut through the air. That meant she ensured there was no energy loss when transferring power from her muscles to her swords. It also meant that she didn’t let air resistance change the trajectory of her attacks whatsoever, which was why there were no vibrations that created sound. Ikki’s version of Edelweiss’s swordsmanship wasn’t at that level yet. He was still letting too much energy get lost to air resistance, as well as to the inefficiencies in his muscles.
“This training is helping me increase the precision of my slashes and cut out any excess energy loss from them. If I want to master Edelweiss’s techniques, I need to be able to cut through metal pipes with a piece of paper without breaking a sweat. That’s not all either. I need to be able to do it like it’s second nature. If I can’t accomplish that without focusing intently, I won’t be able to pay attention to external factors that might impact my movements. Which is why...” As he trailed off, Ikki grabbed one of the scraps of torn paper off the ground and threw it like a shuriken. It sailed cleanly through the air and dug a good centimeter into the metal pipe before coming to a halt and drooping limply. “Ultimately, I need to reach the point where even things I throw have no energy loss to them. Only then will I be able to make soundless slashes like Edelweiss-san,” he concluded.
“That’s an absolutely insane skill...”
“Yeah, Edelweiss-san really is something else. I’m still nowhere near her level.”
Stella had, of course, been referring to what Ikki had just done to the metal pipe, but naturally, Ikki wasn’t content with just that. While Stella was still stunned by his boundless desire to improve, Ikki spoke again.
“Thanks for earlier, by the way.”
“What do you mean?” Stella asked, cocking her head.
“When you saved Shizuku. If I’d gotten there first, I definitely would’ve beaten him to a pulp.”
“Oh, that. You don’t need to thank me. I just couldn’t let him get away with slandering her.”
In truth, Stella hadn’t even been thinking about how the situation might escalate if Ikki had gotten there before her. She’d just wanted to shut Amane up as soon as possible, before he could say any more horrible, insensitive things about Shizuku. Her relationship with Shizuku was a rocky one, and they often butted heads. Since they were both in love with the same man, it was somewhat inevitable. But it was precisely because they fought so much that Stella truly understood the depth of Shizuku’s love for Ikki.
“Um, you know, Ikki... The stuff he said about Shizuku...”
Stella wanted to make sure Ikki knew that Amane had been spouting nonsense, but Ikki held out a hand to stop her.
“Don’t worry, I know.”
“Huh?”
“She made it so obvious that even someone as dense as me could figure it out. I know Shizuku loves me as a woman. But I also know that’s not all. She loves me as family, as a friend, and as everything else too. I don’t deserve such a wonderful sister.”
Ikki understood just how deep his sister’s love for him ran. She wanted to make up for all the love he’d never received from anyone else, including his parents and the rest of his family. He was truly proud of her. And of course, he loved her back, even if his love was only familial. He was willing to do anything for her, which was why he hadn’t hesitated to fight Edelweiss to help her get Alisuin back.
“But Amane-kun insulted her and degraded her in front of the whole world,” he continued. He wasn’t enough of a saint that he would let Amane get away with that. “I’ll be sure to make him pay for that!”
Ikki picked up another scrap of paper and threw it at the metal pipe. This one stuck even deeper into the hard steel than the last.
“I see... Good.” Stella breathed a sigh of relief. “As long as you understand how Shizuku really feels.”
“You really are kind, Stella.”
Ikki smiled warmly at her, and she blushed and looked away bashfully.
“Sh-She’s going to be my sister-in-law eventually!” she cried. “It’s only natural that I look after her!”
They fought too much for Stella to honestly admit that she was fond of Shizuku. But Ikki found that bashful side of her cute, and his smile grew wider.
“D-Don’t give me that look. Anyway, I’m going back up to my room. I don’t want to interrupt your training, and I’ve got my own match tomorrow too.”
“Gotcha. The semifinals are going to be pretty tough, after all.”
“Yeah, but we’ve finally made it this far. There’s only a little further to go.”
One more win for each of them, and they’d finally be able to fulfill their promise to duel again at the Seven Stars Battle Festival.
“Tomorrow’s opponents are on a whole different level from the people we’ve fought until now. It won’t be easy to make it to the finals,” Ikki said.
“Hmph. Bring it on. I’m going to pay him back for what he did back at Hagun. With interest.”
“Ouma-niisan’s pretty strong. Probably stronger than anyone you’ve fought before.”
“I know. But...” Stella crouched down and picked up a few scraps of paper herself. She scrunched them up into a ball and started channeling her mana. “I’ve grown even stronger.”
A hot gust of wind blew around her as her entire body glowed with a scarlet aura. Ikki could see a visage of a snarling dragon behind her.
Wow...
Stella then threw the paper wad at the metal pipe. It blew the pipe apart and kept on going, embedding itself in the concrete wall of the bathroom building. Ikki stared at it in awe.
“Holy shit...”
Naturally, a ball of paper had very little mass. Stella had to have thrown it with an ungodly amount of force for it to have blown apart a metal pipe and still had enough energy to create a tiny crater in a concrete wall. Ikki couldn’t even fathom how much mana that must have taken.
“My match comes first tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you at the finals, Ikki.”
She grinned at him, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit, then turned on her heel and walked out of the park. As he watched her go, Ikki realized that Stella had learned far more than he’d expected from her training with Saikyou Nene. At the same time, he’d seen a glimpse of Ouma’s power when he’d attacked him the night before the tournament had started. Ouma had been through hell and back in pursuit of strength. The foundations of his might had been built up through numerous harsh trials. He was the favorite to win the tournament for a reason.
A serious duel between two Rank A Blazers would be harsher than anything Stella had faced thus far. That meant she would be forced to go all out and reveal the foundations of her strength as well. Ikki was looking forward to seeing that. However, there was something he needed to tell her first.
“Um, Stella? Sorry to ruin your cool moment where you walk off into the night, but, uh...this is a public park. I don’t think we’re allowed to just destroy their property like this.”
“I-I’ll call the city hall tomorrow and let them know it was my fault...”
Though she didn’t turn around, Ikki could tell she was blushing by how red her ears had gotten. Even so, it wasn’t as if Stella had been trying to break the wall. Furthermore, tournament fighters had permission to use magic in parks and facilities around the hotel while the Seven Stars Battle Festival was underway in case they wanted to train, so Ikki doubted anyone would get too mad.
“Now then, back to my training,” Ikki muttered. “I won’t be able to head back to the hotel tonight anyway, so might as well make the most of my time awake.”
Just as he stuck another wooden pole into the ground, he heard another voice from behind him, interrupting his focus.
“That was quite impressive. I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never seen anyone destroy a metal pipe and smash through concrete with a paper ball before.”
The voice was soft, but Ikki could sense the confidence emanating from it.
What the...?
It was a voice he knew well, even if this was his first time hearing it in person. After all, it was the voice of this country’s prime minister.