Stella’s Karsalitio Salamandra didn’t just bring down the Gale Emperor; it also shot straight through the Dome and into Osaka Bay itself. The giant screen above the arena was burned to a crisp as well, but the commentator excitedly shouted the results for everyone to hear.
“A-Amazing! Stella cut right through the Gale Emperor and even sliced through the sea!”
“H-H-H-Holy shit!”
“If World Clock hadn’t stopped time and gotten us all out of the way, we would’ve been vaporized. That princess is crazy.”
The audience stared at the part of the stands that had been turned to ash by Stella’s attack. Naturally, Ouma was far from all right after taking an attack like that head-on. The referee immediately determined that he was in no state to fight and officially called the match Stella’s victory.
“The ref’s made his call! The victor is the Crimson Princess, Stella Vermillion! What a match! It was a ferocious back-and-forth between two Rank A Blazers, but in the end, Stella proved to be overwhelmingly superior! From the rumors I heard, I thought it’d be a closer contest, but I suppose in the end, you just can’t do anything against such an overwhelmingly large mana pool! Stella really did just overwhelm the Gale Emperor through sheer strength!”
“That’s not quite true,” Saikyou replied, shaking her head.
“You mean to say she didn’t win because of her superior mana pool?”
“Yep. It’s true that a Blazer’s mana is a representation of how large a fate they carry, but the greater the power you’re born with, the easier it is to accidentally hurt yourself with it. It takes a huge amount of effort to control that power effectively, and not everyone has the determination needed to train that hard. Those who don’t have an ironclad will are often swallowed up by their own abilities. In fact, Stella-chan was almost killed by her powers tons of times in the past.”
“R-Really?!”
“It’s a famous story in the Blazer world. But despite almost dying multiple times, Stella-chan didn’t give up. She kept on training and training and training. Boiling your own blood to awaken the dragon within sounds cool, but the truth is, if she messed up even a little, she would have burned herself to a crisp. It took years of nonstop effort to control her mana well enough to use Dragon Spirit. She won because of her grit and determination, not her mana pool.”
While Stella had mistaken what her own ability was for many years, the time she’d spent training under that misconception hadn’t been wasted. If anything, it had been a necessary process to teach her enough mana control to use her true power safely. Her not slacking in her training and continually aiming for greater heights was exactly why she’d been able to properly wield her draconic abilities. Saying that she’d only won thanks to the gifts she’d been born with was an insult to the path she’d walked.
“Though I guess the biggest reason Stella-chan won was because I helped her awaken her true powers!” Saikyou added. “I’m such a good coach, aha ha ha!”
Stella dispelled her Dragon Spirit as she listened to Saikyou and Iida discuss her victory. Her body lost its telltale glow as her blood stopped boiling, and once Dragon Spirit was fully gone, she let out a long sigh.
“I won...” she said in a voice too soft for anyone to hear.
She’d managed to overcome Ouma’s Kusanagi. That, more than anything, was proof that she’d grown much stronger over the past few weeks. She was confident that now she could put up a real fight against the opponent she hadn’t even managed to touch last time. For the past few months, she’d been chasing after Kurogane Ikki, hoping to catch up to him. But now that she’d grown this much, she had full faith that she could stand shoulder to shoulder with him. At the same time, she wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.
I can’t believe you managed to hold your ground despite all that.
She turned back to Ouma, who was still doggedly standing in the ring. He’d lost consciousness and was in no state to fight, but she’d been trying to knock him all the way into the ocean. His glassy eyes were still glaring straight at her despite the massive burn that covered his shoulder, torso, and stomach. His gaze made it clear that he was still determined to make it to the pinnacle. She had broken his sword, but not his spirit. There was no way she could celebrate in front of such a formidable foe.
Eventually, the medics showed up with a stretcher to bring Ouma to the infirmary. It was only once they climbed up onto the stage that Stella turned away from him and started walking back to the waiting room. He’d stayed on his feet out of sheer stubbornness. To the very end, he’d refused to kneel before her, so she didn’t have the right to see him carted off on a stretcher. She wanted to remember him as the dauntless fighter who’d never broken, even in defeat. The sight of him childishly but determinedly chasing after his dream was the sight she intended to burn into her memory.
Regardless, with that, Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion had finally made it to the finals of the Seven Stars Battle Festival.