Chapter 03 ― Prodigy Knight and Failed Knight 'Strongest against Weakest'
At the moment the battle begun.
He was quite sure of something, a little thing. Their chances of victory were zero percent.
"In other words, I'm going to be crushed like a bug." Clearly agitated, the boy walked to the center of the battle.
Mage-knights bolstered their country's battle strength, and they naturally sought combat skill. Battle simulations were common among students in the academy. For mage-knight training, a number of dome-shaped arenas dotted the Hagun Academy campus. The interior of each dome included a space for combat with a roughly hundred-meter diameter, with audience seats built on a bowl shape around that space. Battle zones were special and very resilient places.
In the third training arena, Kamijou Touma and Stella Vermillion stood twenty meters apart with Kurono Shinguuji waiting between them as referee. Above them, twenty or so second- and third-year students who had been training, and many visitors who had heard about a mock battle being suddenly declared in the middle of spring break, fixed their gazes on the field.
"You should reconsider it, pervert."
"Eh? I don't want to. "
"You must be a masochist, this will end quickly."
"What a drag. Even you are guilty. You made me lose my breakfast." Kamijou replied.
"Ah, is that so?" Stella tilted her head and spoke with a blank stare. "What's with your carefree attitude? You bastard, don't you understand the situation!?"
"Of course I understand, but I'm not someone who cares about minor annoyances."
"I've heard things from the students. They argue strange things about you."
Those bastards!
Kamijou thought bitterly.
"What I can say? I'm not someone popular in this school." He said with sarcasm.
"Do not you care what others say about you?"
"Not at all. I think it's a way to minimize their shortcomings. Simple human instinct is to talk to the backs of the people."
Stella seems a little confused to hear that.
"After all, I can say that at least you use your brain."
"I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult, Stella-san."
"Hmph, take it as you like."
Stella muttered.
"It seems that you begin to get along. Are you sure to continue this simulation?" Kurono said mockingly.
"I will not retract my own words and this pervert deserves an appropriate punishment."
With a fierce gaze she prepared to begin the battle.
"Likewise, Chairman. This Kamijou-san will not stop until victory."
"The more I hear, the more useless you sound. Shouldn't you just stop trying to become a mage-knight and live as a regular citizen?"
"Well, maybe I should, but I won't be sure if I don't fight for it."
"Don't you get it? You'll become my slave if you lose, you know."
" Know, I've thought about perverted things I could do with your body. "
"WW-What are you s-saying, idiot! I'll cut off you to pieces!"
Lævateinn suddenly lost its raging flames and dimmed to small flickering sparks. When he examined her face, her brow that had been standing up now hung down powerlessly, and her eyes were moist from bewilderment. She was really embarrassed by his earlier comment.
"I was just kidding. By the way, your reactions are very cute."
"Sh-shut up, shut up and begins to fight, pervert!"
Kurono coughed a bit and then spoke. "Now then, we'll start the mock battle. Both sides materialize your Device in illusionary form."
"I'm ready." Stella summoned Lævateinn, the sword shaped from her soul, into a form that deals no physical damage to humans, but cleaves away physical stamina and strength directly.
"Get ready to see something really amazing. Here the most powerful Device of all Blazer-"
Kamijou couldn't continue his tirade due to the murmurs from the audience.
What the hell is happening?
(So that girl's the Vermillion's 'Crimson Princess'?)
(A really beautiful girl, huh?)
(But who's her opponent?)
(Wait, wait. That guy isn't the mass murderer?)
(Yes, his nickname was 'Megalomaniac')
(Is true! He is obsessed with being the strongest.)
(No, his nickname was 'Fantasy Killer' I heard he dueled with more than a thousand students in his former school.)
(That's horrible he should be in prison and not in this school as prestigious.)
(Wait, isn't that Kamijou, the guy repeating the first year? And I think his nickname was 'Psycho Killer')
(I've heard that name before. I think he will transfer in the 'special classroom'. I was in the same class, but because that guy didn't even meet the minimum requirements for combat practice, I haven't really seen him in action before.)
(You said the special classroom?)
(Yeah, this special class where was gathered the Outcasts and criminals in the academy.)
(What the heck, that's boring. Won't the princess kill him instantly?)
(That would be pretty nice, finally be the end of his reign of terror.)
(Careful Lecty-chan, he is looking towards here.)
(Do not look at him, some say he can impregnate with his eyes.)
Stella laughed sourly as gossip floated down from the audience. In all this time, Kamijou seemed paralyzed from head to toe. And after leaving the trance he growled overhead.
"Oi, you bastards stop its spread gossip about me!"
"I don't even know what to say, you really are a complete and utter pervert." Kamijou wryly smiled as Stella spoke. "Why did you do that? Are you really a mass murderer?" Stella asked with interest.
"Of course not! Stella-san, sometimes I think I cannot escape my fate. I guess God's system is strange."
"You... "Stella started to speak again. "People who blame others for their shortcomings, I hate them. If you want to achieve something, you have to make every effort to attain it. 'I worked hard but still couldn't beat talent' I hate ordinary people who think that way. That's why I can't stand being dismissed with cheap words like talent or prodigy!"
It made her angry. Stella hadn't been this strong right from the start. During her childhood, she didn't have the aptitude needed to even aspire to knighthood. She couldn't control her overwhelming power, and sometimes she even burned her own body. Her father and mother, and everyone around her, thought that she'd never become a knight.
"I see ... I guess I should thank you. Now I have wanted to cope with everything I have. You're not only cute also clever."
Immediately Stella's face blushed.
"Al-alright. Well then, let's get started!"
"Here I go!"
…
A strange pulsing sound echoed near. Kamijou was about to summon his Device. What the hell is that girl?
She had taken the initiative brandishing her weapon hitting the ground beneath their feet. Although Kamijou clung bravely, he seemed overwhelmed by the incredible difference in her power. He took a deep breath and head cleared. Then he wiped the sweat from his palms with his pants and chuckled.
The situation had become really annoying.
Stella Vermillion was truly a worthy opponent any other doubt in his mind had been replaced by the facts before him.
There was no lie about her power, she really was a prodigy. He tilted his sword successfully blocking the attack, but the impact drove him back. He twisted his lips and approached just one meter from her, crashing their swords. The metal had splashed sparks here and there, after sending a blow as if gathering strength. It was a decent punch with good angle and momentum. But he had failed; Stella changed her course and strikes his side with the handle.
"Ahhhhh…"
Kamijou gave an almost effeminate cry as he fell backward to the ground. The battle has started two minutes ago and he was losing. Giving several jumps, he eluded several times the thrusts of her sword covered in flames. Instantly her sword grazed his cheek creating a thin line of blood.
"Wow, not bad." She said with annoyance.
"That was close. Do you want cut my head or what? It's just a simulation does not have to be so aggressive."
Kamijou made a complaint while rubbing the wound. His hand was covered in blood and his clothes were shabby. Two minutes had been enough to leave him in this sorry state.
"That is a disappointment." She lowered her eyebrows, and turned disappointed from what he can see. "Is that's a Device? I'd never seen anything like this. You're an arrogant talkative."
"Come on don't say those things, hurts my feelings."
Kamijou muttered, stifling his intense anger and displeasure.
"Oh, did you say something?"
"...Nothing." He responded with indifferent tone.
The match restarted, and Stella instantly dashed toward Kamijou, swinging down her sword now covered in red flames. However, in all this time, he was only cautiously evading their attacks. With one eye open, he looked at her with a hint of annoyance. She was mocking his situation promptly.
"Well, I'm not so good with swords. However, in this academy it is necessary to use a device to the fighting, so I'm using this."
"I see. You should give up immediately, because of your inexperience will end dead before graduation. I am being lenient with you."
At that time, the impact echoed inside the dome. Kamijou walked firmly, closing the distance between him and her.
"You don't fuck me with that shit! Surrender? What the fuck? Never in a million years, Princess!"
Almost simultaneously, in which he said that, a burst of energy was sent with speed. Stella threw a diagonal cut and he just leans to the right. After that, using their hands he blocked the curvature of the sword to divert its path. The swing might've looked crude to unlearned observers, but it was a precise and powerful strike.
"That hurt, my hands are not accustomed."
An instant later, Lævateinn struck the arena floor violently and the entire space shook like an earthquake.
"You are quick and I can tell you're not as stupid as I thought. If you received that blow, it wouldn't have ended with just a few scratches."
Grinning broadly, Stella immediately took pursuit, and Kamijou drew another step back to widen the distance. She moves faster than a hurricane and her strength is far greater than him. Stella's weapon was a long sword, a heavy weapon, and it was common sense when facing heavy weapons that he'd have an advantage in retreating speed.
Putting his hand on the neck can be heard a creaking.
An ear-splitting thunderous roar stone paving came unstuck and large amounts of earth and sand were whirled up. He was thrown into a wall. With that bone shattering impact, he stopped breathing for a moment.
"What an outrageous attack. You're going with all your power without any consideration, was I expected, *cough cough* ... It hurts like hell."
Kamijou was a born fighter; he'd gotten into a lot of fights and had always emerged victorious. When he was expelled from school, some people came to the reformatory where he had been sent. Shortly afterwards he was transferred to the Academy Hagun. As for the rest, he'd been registered as a new student and after that, he had the opportunity to use a Device. Apparently the result actually surprised to the board.
"You're too slow."
*Whoosh!* the wind roared, and Stella immediately caught up to him.
"What destructive power! If I took a blow directly, I'll faint."
In that moment, simultaneous with a violent blasting sound, the ground in front of him was being completely erased. Using his feet, he had again and again prevented Stella's attacks.
"Did you think you could beat me when it comes to speed? Too bad, but magic isn't limited to offense alone. I can increase my mobility several times over by concentrating magic at the bottom of my feet and releasing it in a burst. And my aura capacity is thirty times greater than a normal Blazer, so it won't become spent keeping up with the likes of you. In other words, you can't beat me in either power or speed!"
Kamijou jumped and backed away, getting some distance between her.
"So this is the power of a prodigy, huh?"
An outstanding talent that appeared only once a decade―the public view was wholly accurate. Even the past generations of Sword-Art Festival winners, the Seven Stars Sword Kings, were mostly B- or C-Ranks. The A-Rank knights up through the modern day have all, without exception, been great heroes who carved their names onto history. While keeping his distance, he was planning to use or not use this skill.
Towards Kamijou, who had just been made aware of that fact, the Crimson Princess brandished her blazing sword and swung it in an inescapable strike that could cleave the ground itself. Now that he couldn't dodge her strikes anymore, Kamijou also responded with his weapon, using his blade beating the sword again and again. The swordfight had begun, and clear sounds of clashing metal resounded like music in the ears of the arena's spectators.
Using all his power, Kamijou threw a straight right toward Stella's cheek. Clenching his fist so hard making a sound, his fist flew vigorously...
Crick crick ... crick Crash!
Spitting blood uncontrollably mixed with saliva, Kamijou stepped back due to impaction on metal. Stella had blocked it, using her weapon. Kamijou stomped on the ground, stabilizing his body that was thrown forward by the impulse of punch. Again he repeated the same action brushing his blade against burning metal.
Their cheers rose as they watched the figure creating Lævateinn' s burning arcs. Few mage-knights excelled in martial arts or swordsmanship, because they could become far stronger by training Blazer abilities instead of physical skills. But Kamijou had preferred to train his body.
The minority, the truly strong knights, would master physical skills alongside Blazer abilities, because they had an unflagging will to improve. They would absorb every tactic that could empower them, develop their strength, and reach for ever higher summits.
Stella Vermillion stood among that minority.
She, who won the sword tournament of the Vermillion Empire, used her Imperial Arts as if she was dancing, but with enough force to press Kamijou. However, catching his breath, putting a hand on his knee, Kamijou smiled boldly.
"You're not as difficult as imagined."
What… is this?
Stella Vermillion felt something painfully off about this situation. Her sword dealt strikes that could produce earthquakes, could crush an enemy in one hit without fail. Overpowering an opponent without crushing him should be impossible, because her attacks couldn't be blocked so casually. But this guy had done it using only their hands.
There's no way, he didn't have any damage. Despite being exhausted, he was still smiling arrogantly. Did he really is a monster?
Stella thought with concern.
"Haaa!"
Stella brought her Lævateinn down on the enemy before her. Kamijou received that strike with his blade ―but without stopping there; he rode the force of the strike and swiftly leaped backward, widening the distance between them once again.
What is this? It is impossible he shouldn't be able to get my blows. A simple F- Rank and like him, as he does?
Stella was a little worried.
From afar it certainly seemed like Stella's strikes were pushing Kamijou back, but the reality was different. He began to dominate the battle. Against his tactics, her strikes were being completely negated. If the strength in blocking was even a little bit too high then his arm would be pulverized, and if it was even a tiny bit too low then he'd be cut down. The calculations of power, angle, and timing―missing even one of these factors meant immediate failure, yet Stella's opponent handled all that.
At this realization, Stella felt an indescribable anxiety. As if trying to dispel that feeling, Stella kept on slashing at Kamijou.
And then she realized what happened. He was reading every move she made. As if her clothes, skin, and muscles were being read fiber by fiber, her every little act was being studied. And from that gaze, she realized that Kamijou was trying to understand the Imperial Arts from her movements.
"My sword style isn't so simple that you can see through it easily!"
"I'm afraid to say that you're right, but I'm not reading your movements. I'm anticipating, with a skill that I developed."
Stella shivered as if the blood was freezing in her veins.
"It's impossible; there is no skill like that." As she said, something flashed through Stella's mind.
"You mean, you're reading the future? Are you reading my style during these exchanges!?"
"I've been despised ever since I was a child. I had a skill before being a Blazer. During that time that skill saved my life on many occasions. That's why I'm quite good at these kinds of tactics. I can grasp most sword techniques with only a minute of trading blows."
"It's time to show my ability ― understanding the ability of the opponent, manipulating combat, manipulate the mind of the opponent ―This is my ability and you can also call it 'Precognition' You're neglecting your defense this ends here, Princess!
"No way can you do that!"
Stella took the stance to swing Lævateinn downwards. Kamijou swung his sword upwards in response. She had sent her downward arc to crush his guard, and Kamijou had already grasped the speed and power of the strike when she took the initial stance, so his response was inevitable. Stella abandoned the swing and jumped backwards with a grin. However, at the last moment Kamijou deliberately moved his position and then hit the sword with his hand.
"Haaaaa!"
Stella's sword and Kamijou's blade collided in a clash.
The confused spectators turned their gazes to Stella's face. His sword had indeed landed there, but it was completely stopped. And not only that, the blade was shattered. Since Kamijou really did not have the skills to create a device he used a training sword provided by the school. Of course the quality was inferior to a real device.
"That's cheating, Stella-san."
Setting aside his exasperation, Kamijou once again took a large step back to escape the scorching heat, increasing the gap between them. His opponent was using magic as a shield, and an attack without equally strong magic couldn't harm a shielded Blazer. Magic capacity is the total spiritual energy that a Blazer could spend in using his abilities.
That attribute couldn't be increased with effort. It was locked at birth, bound by the weight of destiny… a human being's predetermined value. Great people were given greatness to make great achievements. From the moment they were born, everyone had a place in an unquestionable hierarchy. In other words, Stella's talent had carried since birth became a firm wall and stopped Kamijou's attack.
"It leaves a bad taste, winning like this….The magic plays its role as a barrier. So, a Blazer covered in magic cannot be defeated unless the attack also is covered with magic. In other words, no matter how strong you are, even with your special ability."
Kamijou opened his sweaty palms and then pressed firmly. Are there people in the world who are so strong?
"In this battle you can say that my victory is thanks to my talent. Kamijou Touma, I'll finish this with sincere respect."
Suddenly, Stella took a large leap backwards. She retreated to the ring-shaped arena's border line, at the wall that separated the arena from the audience seats.
"Pierce the blue sky, blaze of purgatory."
The moment Stella pointed her Lævateinn up at the air, the flames covering the sword burned with more fury and heat―and soon the sword lost its form, taking the shape of a pillar of light that melted the arena's domed roof. The blade that easily extended a hundred meters upward was shining with the sun's own brilliance, an unopposable scarlet conflagration.
"It's over. Accept your loss. That should be easier on you too."
The maximum power of Stella invaded the dome.
"Katharterio Salamandra Καθαρτήριο Σαλαμάνδρα ―!"
As the arena crumbled down, the spectating students started to flee in a screaming mob, and Kurono watched it all with a bitter expression.
He couldn't win by normal methods.
He had a dream that he wanted to meet.
He wouldn't stop. No matter the cost, time or adversity, he would keep trying.
So―
Kamijou dropped his weapon.
"What are you doing!?" Stella said, confused by his sudden action.
"No way, no way, this is stupid. It is true that I'm weak, I cannot use magic and will never be an A-Rank, but I have a dream that I want to fulfill. So I ..." Kamijou clicked his tongue and pressing hard his right hand, he declared.
"You defeat all your enemies in one shot. Grit your teeth well, 'strongest' one. My 'weakest' attack... might shake you up a little!"
At that moment, Kamijou's whole body full length started to shine, darkness black-purple that flickered ever so slightly like flame―was it an elemental power similar to hers?
Even his eyes have changed color. Stella thought so for a moment but soon abandoned the idea. That was not the light of his magical power or prana, it was more frightening, an invisible power that devoured and consumed everything around it.
―But so what!? No matter what kind of power he possessed all things of heaven and earth burn to ashes before the sun!
The boy's eyes shone with a bright red color.
Katharterio Salamandra created a sword of heat that had no physical body, and it could reach a target more than a hundred meters away.
"Who of us will win, Stella-san?"
"I'll beat you!"
With their statements, 'the weakest' and 'strongest' finally clashed.
