Ten days ago, Stella had gone to the Demon Princess Saikyou Nene, who was serving as a provisional teacher at Hagun, for training. She’d been shaken by her loss to Ouma and needed to get stronger fast. Saikyou had agreed to train her, and the two of them had gone to the training camp in Okutama. Her training with the third-strongest ranked Blazer in the world had proven useful, but there was one thing Saikyou had said on the first day that had nagged at her.
“Stella-chan, your swordsmanship is lacking something critical.”
Honestly, Stella didn’t have any clue what it was she could be missing. From her perspective, she was a well-balanced Blazer who excelled in all fields. Perhaps it was arrogant of her to think so, but she couldn’t find any fatal flaws in her swordplay. At the same time, though, she had a feeling that what Saikyou was pointing out was something really important.
Saikyou’s words had stayed with her for the rest of the training camp as she’d tried to reflect on what she lacked. But time had passed without her figuring it out, and on the morning of the final day of the training camp, the day before the Seven Stars Battle Tournament began, she finally ran out of patience.
“Now then, the tournament’s tomorrow, but have you figured out what you’re missing yet?” Saikyou asked Stella when she arrived at the training grounds deep in the forest.
“Nene-sensei, please, just give me a hint!” Stella begged desperately, but all she got was the same reply.
“No.”
“But why?!”
“Because if you don’t figure it out on your own, it might make things worse. That would be especially bad for you in particular.”
What’s that supposed to mean? Is she saying that if it wasn’t me, she’d be willing to just come out and say it?
“I have no idea what you’re trying to do...” Stella said, looking completely lost.
“I see. In that case, it’s unfortunate, but...” Saikyou let out a long sigh. “Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion, I’m afraid your journey to the Seven Stars Battle Festival ends here.”
Saikyou brought out her Device—a pair of ribbed fans called Crimson Swallowtail—and swung horizontally. A second later, there was a shallow cut on Stella’s cheek, and droplets of blood fell to the ground.
“Huh?”
The declaration was so sudden that Stella couldn’t process what had happened right away. It was only a few seconds later that she realized she was bleeding.
“Wh-What do you mean? The tournament’s tomorrow! I—” Stella cut herself off when she saw Saikyou’s expression. Why’s she looking at me like that?!
There was true hostility in Saikyou’s eyes. It was something Stella hadn’t seen once in their week of training.
She’s serious!
“Ngh!”
Stella had no idea why Saikyou was doing this the day before the tournament, but what she did understand was that she was in danger. She concentrated her mana in her legs and leaped backward to try to put some distance between them.
“You’re not getting away.”
Saikyou beckoned to Stella with one finger.
“Hwuh?!”
A second later, an invisible power started pulling Stella back toward Saikyou—gravity. The Demon Princess had activated her Noble Art. She was serious about destroying Stella here. There was no room for Stella to hesitate, then, so she summoned her Device and started gathering flames around it.
“Karsalitio Salamandra!”
She swung down the mass of white-hot flames at Saikyou. But when the blade of light and heat was just thirty centimeters away from her, it suddenly bent and went in a completely different direction.
“What?!”
Stella had no idea what had just happened, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Because now, she was in range of Saikyou’s iron-ribbed fan.
“Jet-Black Yatagarasu!”
A field of gravity so dense that it sucked in even light enveloped Saikyou’s fan as it bore down on Stella. Having just missed with her own attack, Stella was in no position to dodge, but her godlike reflexes allowed her to just barely block the fan with the back of her sword. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to stop Saikyou.
“Death of Obsidian Butterflies.”
Though Stella had blocked one fan, Saikyou had another one in her left hand, which she fanned open and waved at Stella as if sending a gust of wind her way. A wave of gravitational energy shaped like a cloud of butterflies slammed into Stella’s stomach.
“Nnngh?!”
Feeling like she’d been hit by a truck, she sailed through the air, crashing through trees. She only came to a stop when she slammed against a sturdy cliff wall.
“Gah!”
She slumped to the ground, coughing up blood. But she stuck her sword into the ground and forced herself back to her feet, glaring at the kimono-clad woman bearing down on her.
“Rrrgh! What...the hell?! Why are you...?”
“It’s simple. You want to beat Ouma-chan so you can duel Kuro-bou again, right? That’s what you’re doing all this training for, isn’t it? But if you can’t figure out what it is you’re lacking, you won’t be able to make that dream come true. It’d be pointless to even try. In fact, if you fight Ouma-chan the way you are now, he might just kill you. That’s just how serious duels between Rank A Blazers are. I may have only been your master for a short period of time, but it’s still my duty to stop you from doing anything suicidal. So I’m going to put you out of commission for a few days. The tournament will be over by the time you wake up.”
As she said that, she activated her Binding Circle. The gravity around Stella was amplified tenfold, making it impossible for her to escape.
“Don’t fuck with meee!” Stella shouted, pulling her sword out of the ground and pointing it at Saikyou. A normal Blazer wouldn’t have been able to move under such extreme pressure, but Stella was no normal Blazer. “Dragon Fang!”
She swung Lævateinn down, firing four flaming dragons at Saikyou. They weaved between the trees as they bore down on her, but right before they reached her, they twisted away as if running away from their target.
Why can’t I control them?!
No matter how many times Stella ordered them to go back, none of them managed to close in on Saikyou. It wasn’t that her dragons’ tracking was being intercepted, though. Saikyou didn’t have that kind of power. But after a few seconds of thinking about it, Stella realized what was going on.
I get it! She’s using gravity to warp the air around her, twisting it into an impenetrable maze!
But knowing what Saikyou was doing didn’t bring her any closer to breaking through her defenses.
“Time for you to sleep.”
“Gah!”
Saikyou strengthened the gravitational pull of Binding Circle, and this time, Stella was forcibly brought to the ground. Her bones creaked as her body slowly sank into the earth. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stand back up. Lifting her upper body was the most she could manage.
She’s...too strong...
It was only natural, since Saikyou was ranked third in the King of Knights A league. That quite literally meant she was the third-strongest Blazer registered with the Mage-Knight Federation. Stella might have been a Rank A just like her, but she was still a student, and she had far less combat experience. There was nothing she could do to stand against Saikyou.
At this rate, she really wouldn’t be able to make it to the Seven Stars Battle Festival. She wouldn’t be able to fulfill her promise to Ikki. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she realized she was about to lose everything.
I’m sorry, Ikki... I...
But just as she started apologizing to Ikki in her head, she felt her heart start to pound.
Huh?
Though she was on the verge of giving up, it seemed her heart was still going strong, pumping blood to every inch of her body. It was as if it were screaming at her, “Don’t give up, you idiot,” reminding her that there was no one she couldn’t beat.
Come to think of it, I was a lot more confident in the past.
Back when Stella had first learned to control her powers, she’d gotten cocky. The more she’d trained, the stronger she’d gotten, and she’d become convinced that her talent was bottomless. Then, she’d learned that she had the largest mana pool in the world, and she’d begun to believe that there was no one who could possibly defeat her. She’d truly believed that no matter what enemy appeared at her doorstep, she’d be able to protect her family and her countrymen from them.
I can’t believe I forgot...
Stella grinned to herself. She’d come to Japan and learned how vast the world truly was, and she’d certainly gotten stronger in the process. But at the same time, grappling with defeat had made her forget something truly important: the fact that she was the strongest Blazer in the world.
Her losses had made her so strict with herself that she’d started underestimating herself instead. Just because she was a student, Saikyou was too much for her to handle? What a foolish thought. A person’s mana pool was a representation of the fate they bore. And since she had the largest mana pool in the world, she bore the greatest fate of them all. She didn’t know exactly what that fate might be, but she was certain it wasn’t something the likes of Saikyou—only the third-strongest Blazer in the world—could stop! In which case, all she needed to do was unleash her full strength. She knew without a doubt that there was more power sleeping deep within her that she just wasn’t aware of. And now was the time to awaken it.
“Raaaaaaah!”
The moment Stella made her decision, her body moved on its own. She gripped Lævateinn tightly and thrust it into her own chest without hesitation. She wasn’t conscious of the action; it came as naturally to her as breathing. But her instincts knew what to do to unlock her true power.
A second later, a blast of heat erupted from Stella’s body. The burning shock wave was so hot that the nearby trees were turned to ash before they could even catch fire. As Stella’s hair waved gently in the wind, Saikyou smiled in relief.
“Yeesh, it took forever to wake you up,” she said. “You really are a troublesome pupil.”