Chapter 4
Huh? Upon returning to the student dorms after his daily jog, Sora Blake Kurogane Sparda found a half-naked girl in his room.
Her bright red, naturally wavy hair licked her body like a flame.
Her ruby-red eyes, just one of her gorgeous, foreign-looking features, were wide with shock at the sudden intrusion.
Her pale skin, white as the winter's first snow, contrasted perfectly with the bits of black lace she wore.
She's beautiful.
That was the only thing running through Sora's mind. Her beauty, reminiscent of artistic depictions of goddesses, left no room in his mind for impure thoughts.
He was captivated.
Wait, but why is a girl like her in my room? Am I in the wrong room?! Room 405 in the first & Second dormitory, a mere thirty square feet with a bunk bed, was definitely Sora's. In other words, she was the one who'd gone into the wrong room.
"Ah," she squeaked, barely able to make a sound. A long inhale followed shortly after. This is bad, he thought. If she screams, I have no way of explaining this. I'll be done for.
"Hold it!" Sora exclaimed. "I know exactly what you're thinking. I'm not going to make excuses or pretend I didn't see what I saw." He intentionally avoided making mention of who was really at fault for the tragedy.
For a girl his age to be seen in such a way by a man she'd never met would certainly be painful; that much he knew. The only manly recourse was to try to help out.
"I'll strip too. That way, we'll be even!"
"Nooooo! Get away from me, you dooooog!" Her scream shattered the morning silence, piercing even the heavens.
(Few Minutes Later)
"Mm-hmm. So you thought that if you stripped as well, it'd balance out her embarrassment?" The suit-wearing, cigarette-smoking woman who spoke to him from her leather chair was the director of Ansullivan Dragon Blazer Academy and Sora's Aunt, Kurono Shinguuji.
Kurono is a beautiful slender yet curvaceous woman with short dark hair, multiple bangs that covers her forehead with one that reaches her nose and others on the side of her head that covers some of her hair, often tied up into a small ponytail in the back, and yellow eyes.
Sora had been brought to her office after being apprehended for sexual harassment, and had just finished telling his side of the story.
Sora you know Ansullivan academy has one of the best track records among all the chivalry schools in Japan." She said and he nodded. "Yes, I know that you've said it before." He replied.
"And you know that at the seven stars Battle Festival, which decides the strongest knight, our school representatives have won almost every year." She said and he nodded again.
"I know this too." He replied. "But lately, in the past few years we haven't had good results. I took up the post of director to rebuild the school. And on day one of Summer I have to deal with something as asinine as a peeping Tom." She said.
"Sorry, Auntie." Sora said as he shrugged and she sighed. "Seriously, Sora walking in on her in your own underwear is one thing that was an accident but you just had to curse at her and call her sexy while stripping to your underwear to make things even." She said,
"Hey, like I said I blame little demon-chan." He said.
"You can't blame her for everything." She said, "I can do this!" He retorted.
"Whatever, like I said I'm sorry okay." He said as he crossed his arms.
"Oh it's not me you need to apologize to." She said before she snapped her fingers.
"But it's definitely got to be to her." Kurono said, pointing behind him.
Sora turned to see Stella Vermillion Gremory standing in the room by the door looking all over the place, trying to avoid making eye contact with him and he sighed.
'This is going to be a pain in the ass.' He thought before he walked over to her. He put his left hand in his pocket and held out his right hand for a handshake.
'What is with this guy! He doesn't even bow or anything when he apologizes!' Stella thought.
"Look. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for what happened to happen and I didn't mean to do what I did. It truly wasn't on purpose or anything." He said before he sighed and continued.
"So whatever it is you want me to do for an apology is fine with me. I'll do whatever you want." He said with a blank expression.
"What's your name?" She asked. "My name is Sora Blake." He said.
'Is he! Wait there's no way! There's no way his name is the same as the missing prince I've heard about!' She thought. "No really stop lying and tell me your name." She said & Sora ended up with a tick mark.
"Don't call me a liar, that's my name so deal with it!" He said.
"pfft, as if you have the same name as that prince that went missing 5 years ago." She said,
"He's actually telling the truth, Sora Blake met Stella vermillion. Stella Vermillion meets Sora Blake." Kurono said.
Unlike last time, she had clothes on; she wore a tasteful, dark gray blazer that served as Hagun Academy's uniform. Its modest color only emphasized her crimson hair. Her most eye-catching feature, however, was her breasts. They pushed up on her ribbon as if to signify their grandeur.
"For being so gallant, Sora, I'll be lenient. All you have to do is fall on your sword." Or not. "Whoa, what?! You think suicide is lenient?!"
"Even if it's accidental, committing such a sin against a princess can only be atoned for through death. My first thought was to impale you on a stick and let eager citizens pelt you with rocks. I'm majorly reducing your sentence!"
"It almost sounds like you're preparing a meal rather than doling out punishment."
"You get to die an honorable death! No need to thank me for being such a bleeding heart."
"Y-You expect me to pay with my life just because I saw you in your underwear? Who cares?!"
"'Wh-Who cares'? H-H-How dare you say such a thing, you lecherous commoner?! This is how you respond after defiling an unmarried princess?! Not even my own father has ever seen me like that!" A fiery rage built up in Stella's eyes.
Actually, her eyes weren't all that caught fire. Even the air around her crackled with flames, brightening the room. Oh, that's right, Sora recalled.
The newspapers said her power was— "That does it! You disrespectful, creepy, crude, perverted little commoner. I'll turn you into ashes myself! Serve my will, Laevatein!"
The flaming aurora that filled the room shone all at once, revealing a burning broadsword in her hands.
It was her Device, her Blazer soul manifested. Holy Swords, Demon Bows, Cursed Tools, and Blessed Tools.
These items, like the magic wand that was all too common in legends and oral traditions, served as mediums for Blazers to activate their Noble Arts. In the Crimson Princess' case, her special ability was scorching flames!
"Prepare yourself, lecher!" Stella was furious.
"You'll be nothing but a pile of ash when I'm done with you!"
"S-Seriously?!" Sora cried.
"Don't waste your breath!"
"Snarl. ──Ryuuzume." Sora responded by Summoning His Own Unique Device, He manifested the essence of his soul.
It possessed a blade a little longer than that of a Japanese katana, belonging to the Nodachi type of sword.
That was Sora's Device, Ryuuzume.
"Resistance is futile!"
"Hot, hot, hot!"
"Of course it's hot! My Noble Art, Dragon Breath, covers Lævateinn in fivethousand-degree flames! Even if you avoid her claws, the dragon princess burns all who dare oppose her!"
──I won't be stopped by such fireworks.
He did not mind the incoming bombing, and broke through from the center by using his power to control the wind to take it on. He did not decelerate at all, rather, he was approaching Stella while accelerating.
"What ridiculous power!" Clenching his teeth, Sora Shortened the Distance between him and Stella in the Office.
"Hohoho… Foolish man. You can't escape me in such a tiny room. I'll end your existence and erase my premarital loss of innocence!"
"Hey, hold your horses! Let's just calm down and talk! What do you mean, 'loss of innocence'? I didn't even touch you!"
"Liar! You soiled me with your l-l-l-lascivious gaze!"
"Yeah, I saw you, but I—Uh… I wasn't thinking of anything bad! I just, umm… I was just stunned by how beautiful you are, Miss Stella!"
"Wha—?!" The seething rage visible on Stella's face instantly changed into a deep-red blush.
Sora broke into a cold sweat, afraid of angering her further.
"Wh-Wh-What did you just say, fool?! H-How can you call an unmarried woman b-beautiful? You c-commoners certainly have no tact!"
Laevatein's flames lost their vigor, reducing to smolders. Stella's attitude faltered and she began to look around the room uncomfortably. Her eyebrows, once raised in anger, fell weakly as tears welled up in her eyes.
She seemed embarrassed. This is unexpected. Shouldn't someone like her be used to hearing that?
Either way, Sora took her declining anger as his opportunity to explain the truth.
"That aside, you're the one who messed up and changed clothes in my room. Cool it with the 'honorable suicide' nonsense, please."
"You have no idea what you're talking about! You took it upon yourself to enter my room! I used my key that I got from the Director for my room! At what point did I mess up?!"
"Huh?" Sora couldn't hide his confusion. Wait. I always lock the door, so even if Stella went to the wrong room, she shouldn't have been able to get in.
Then how? Stella had just told him how: Kurono gave her a key.
"What's this about, Auntie?
"Heh. Heh Heh." Kurono tried to stifle her laughter.
"Director, Auntie?" They both turned toward her.
"Haha! Sorry, kids. Things were getting silly in here, so I decided to be a little mean. But hey, there's nothing left for me to explain. Nephew, you know Asu Academy's dorms are made for two people each.
Neither of you went into the wrong room! You're actually roommates." An unbelievable declaration escaped her lips.
"Wh-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"
"E-Explain, Director! A-Am I supposed to share a room with this lecher?!" Stella asked, stupefied.
"That's exactly the case, Stella Vermillion Gremory. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I have plenty of problems with it!"
"I do too," Sora chimed in. "I know the dorm can fit two people, but I've never heard of opposite-sex pairings."
"You're too caught up in the past, Nephew. Everything changed when I took office! I've already told you my policy."
"A completely merit-based system with an emphasis on combat abilities, right?"
"Yes, that is my policy. Ansullivan is the runt of the litter compared to the other six schools here in Japan. All seven help sponsor the Seven Stars Battle Festival every single year, and yet ours loses every single year. That's why I was brought on as director. The first step to saving Ansullivan is redefining the dormitory system. Your student number and gender don't matter; instead, classmates of similar strength are put together so they can push each other forward. Two people of comparable ability will naturally compete, after all. In short, these dorm assignments are designed to foster competition," Kurono elaborated. She endlessly, shamelessly tooted her own horn, but Sora wasn't entirely convinced.
"Then that makes this even weirder. Stella is the undisputed number one, so why is she being paired up with a bottom-of-the-barrel flunk like me?"
"'Flunk'?!" Stella couldn't believe her ears.
"You mean you actually failed?!"
"Embarrassingly, yeah. I'm a Rank F."
Kurono cleared her throat, gaining their attention.
"Actually, dear nephew, I knew you would try and fail on purpose, but since you went to the Mage's Association, I asked the Grand Master to put you under surveillance before, during and after that test," she smiled innocently and Sora looked surprised.
"Wait? You did what?! You violated my privacy?!" Sora asked as he pointed at her with an accusing finger and a betrayed expression.
"Yep, and with the information gathered, you easily made Rank A. Nice try, though," said Kurono as Sora just looked at his aunt defeated while Stella looked at him with an angry expression.
"You tried to fail on purpose! Why would you do that, you coward?!" Stella asked, causing Ayato to glare at her.
"Shut it! You don't know anything about Sora to say that!" Eco shouted while Stella scoffed.
"I know that only a coward would try and fail on purpose, which Your Nephew is," Stella said as Sora's glare grew harsher, which actually shook her a bit.
"It's none of your business, and I do what I want to do, Stella, so keep your mouth shut while you still have it," Sora spoke coldly.
"Hehe. Well, you two are exceptions." Kurono explained.
"To put it bluntly, there's nobody better than you, Vermillion, and there's nobody worse than Sora. You were leftovers since you're both on such extreme ends of the spectrum and nobody else could reasonably be paired up with either of you. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"I don't get it at all!" Stella's hands made a bang! as she slammed them on the director's desk.
"B-Besides, it's c-common sense that a woman my age shouldn't be sharing a room with someone of the opposite sex! What do you plan to do if something bad happens?!"
"Ooh, interesting. What sort of 'something bad' are you thinking would happen, Vermillion? I'm dying to know."
"W-Well… Eurgh…" "You're stumbling over yourself like you're drunk." As Stella stopped to wipe the tears from her eyes at the affront, Sora kept arguing with Kurono. She continued to laugh and insist that she was just playing around, but she also refused to overturn the decision.
"Sorry, kids, but the decision is final. There are other coed pairs, too. And this convenient system's blindness toward other priorities is a good point, too; it means you don't get special treatment for being a princess, Vermillion. If you don't like it, there's the door."
You can leave. Stella recoiled at the harshness of those words. She transferred all the way from Europe to Japan. Sora didn't know why she wanted to be here so badly, but he did know that she would be reluctant to leave.
"…Yes, ma'am." Even Stella could only fold to Kurono. "Are you sure about this?" Sora asked her.
"I-If that is your academy's policy, then I have no choice," Stella responded. "But if we're going to share a room, I have three conditions for you to obey!" She held up three fingers.
Sora wasn't too happy about the arrangement either, so he had no reason to accept her demands. As the older of the two and as a man, though, he chose to at least cooperate.
"As long as they're not 'tall, smart, and rich', I don't care."
"None of those matter to me. My conditions should be simple, even for someone like you," she scoffed.
"Don't talk to me. Don't open your eyes. Don't even breathe." She listed her demands.
"He'd probably die, y'know," Kurono butted in.
"If you can follow these three rules, I will allow you to be my roommate!" Stella stood her ground.
"I'll be evicted in minutes!" Sora rebutted.
"Why? Are you not man enough to obey me?"
"Nobody could obey those demands! At least let me breathe!"
"I will not! You just want to breathe near me so you can sniff up my scent, you lecher!"
"I'll mouth-breathe, then! If I do that, I won't smell you."
"Not good enough! You just want to open your mouth so you can taste the air I breathe, you pervert!"
"Do all princesses have imaginations this bizarre?!"
"Why don't you just leave, then?! I can have the room to myself that way!"
"This is ridiculous."
"Good Lord. You two are never going to get anywhere at this rate. How about you act like chivalrous knights and let your swords do the talking? We'll hold a mock battle; the winner decides the rules. Then neither of you will have any reason to complain about the outcome."
Kurono, obviously tired of their arguing, proposed a solution. Fight a fair battle, and the winner gets what they want, plain and simple. A very conventional suggestion for resolving disputes between knights.
"Yeah, that sounds fair. Let's do it, Miss Stella." Sora readily agreed and waited for Stella to do the same.
"H-Huh?!" Instead, her eyes and mouth opened wide in shock. "What's the matter?"
"N-Nothing, but… Are you hearing yourself talk?"
"Yeah? Did I say something weird?"
"You're an Rank A that tried to fail on purpose against me? Excuse me for being so blunt, but there's no way someone who appears to be a coward can beat me who's an experienced Rank A," Stella replied.
Sora looked completely unfazed before he shrugged.
"You should never be so overconfident. In combat, you never know the end results until you've actually engaged your opponent," he said before he put left hand in his pocket and clenched his right hand into a fist. "And besides, I'm working my hardest to control what may very well kill me. I've been working too hard for too long and-"
"Urghhhh! How dare you, commoner?! Was peeping on me while I was exposed not enough for you?! Now you of all people claim superiority over me as a Mage-Knight?! I have never been so insulted in my life! This may be the worst excuse for a country I've ever seen!" Stella declared, flames of hostility in her gaze.
"All right, fine. I accept your challenge. But since you've brought me down to your level, I'm not only after the rules anymore! Now, the loser must pledge his life to serving the winner! No matter how humiliating the order, he must obey like a dog! Are we clear?!"
"Wh-Whaaat?! I-I think you're taking this a little too far."
"You can't back out now, coward! You'll regret speaking to me so carelessly! In fact, a mock battle won't cut it; this calls for a full-blown duel!"
"Looks like it's settled, then." Kurono declared. "You have my permission to use the third training field."
"A-Auntie?! It's not settled just because you say it is!" It was too late for Sora to argue back.
Stella exited the director's office with a "Get ready to lose, dog! Hmph!" She was probably headed to the third training field.
"Wow, this really blew up. Thanks a lot, Auntie," Sora chided.
"Hehe. You don't want to be her servant?"
"No, I don't. In fact, I don't even want her to be mine if I win."
"If you win, huh? Well, you've seen how strong she is, and there's a reason she's so famous. Her flames can melt anyone who so much as approaches her. Her presence alone is an overwhelming threat to others. Nobody else out there has that much offensive power, much less the gall to use it. You're one interesting guy if you still think you can beat her."
"I'll have to beat her at some point; you know that better than anyone. After all, you're the one who promised I could graduate if I seized victory at the Seven Stars Battle Festival. She'll be there too, so it's only a matter of time until we fight."
Kurono, however, just continued smiling and simply replied, "You'll be fine, Sora. I'm sure you can win. After all, you did very well in the Little League Tournament and the U-12 World Tournament."
"Then there's no point in hesitating, is there? All you have to do is win. Once you do, you can make whatever rules you need for your dorm room and forget about all this 'servant' nonsense. Now then, that's that." Kurono patted Sora's shoulder and walked away as he sighed for the millionth time that day.
"All you have to do is win", huh? Well, she isn't wrong. He knew that was easier said than done, though. His enemy was the strongest of the strong. Her power was overwhelming; an aura of pure fire that would even go against her own volition to respond to her emotions. Against her, Sora's magical power was essentially Higher. He was a Dragon fighting an elephant; it was an insult to even compare them on the same scale.
He had been prepared for such a thing for a long time, though. "No matter how hopeless things are, there will always be battles where a man mustn't lose or flee." Ayato had chosen the path he walked the day he saw his smile and heard those words.
"I guess I gotta do this," he muttered, finally leaving the director's office. He was off to the stage of his duel, to sever the threads of fate with the blade of his soul.
** At the Hallway **
As Stella was proceeding to the stage to face her opponent, she heard the other students talking.
"Look. It's the Crimson Flaming Princess."
"A Princess, a genius, and is related with the most popular student, Rias Gremory."
"It must be nice having an easy life."
"But who's she fighting?"
"With the Sword Emperor of the Wind, of all people. If he was that missing prince, then this would be a battle of all battles, especially with many others from other schools attending here."
"A flunk like him is gonna fight Miss Stella? Isn't she a Rank A genius?"
"I dunno what he's thinking. Hey, did any of you second-years have him in your classes last year? What's he like?"
"Forget about moving up, he can't even train? That's pretty awful."
"Laaame. The princess is gonna one-shot him, end of story."
"You're sounding more pathetic by the minute. Have you thought about giving up on chivalry and living life as a common man?" Stella giggled when she heard what they said about him
"Maybe I should," Sora replied. "I'll never know until I try, though."
"You do understand that you'll be my servant if you lose, don't you?"
"Yeah, but that's only if I lose. All it means is that I have to win."
"I'm amazed that you still think you can beat me."
"It's what all my hard work has been for." Sora gave a weak, wry smile in response to her harsh words, but he didn't try to move from his starting position; he was already prepared for defeat. That made his enemy even angrier.
Hard work…
"With enough hard work, even the most talented enemy isn't insurmountable." Stella was infuriated to hear such a thing from a commoner.
When he lost to her, he would just say, "Well, I tried my hardest, but I just couldn't stand up to raw talent." As if he's the only one who knows hard work.
As if I won only because of my natural talent. It frustrated her to no end.
It's not like she had been born strong; quite the opposite, in fact. When she was younger, Stella was told that she could never be a real knight. Her abilities, powerful beyond her control, engulfed and scorched everything, including her own body.
Not even her parents believed she could become a knight. Despite that, she never gave up trying.
She knew a great knight lay dormant within her.
To a small empire like the Vermillion Empire, the presence of strong Blazers was crucial. Long ago, Samurai Ryouma led Japan, a tiny oriental country, to victory in the second World War.
Like him, she could be a legendary MageKnight who put her empire on equal footing with larger nations.
She was still burned by her own flames, but if she could learn to use them to their fullest extent, she would be akin to a savior for her land. That was why, despite all the resistance she met, Stella pressed onward.
Three years of arduous toil later, she harnessed the power of Dragon Breath.
So many times, her body burned; so many times, her spirit faltered.
Yet through persistent effort, she was able to find herself. That's why I can't stand when people try to cheapen my success with words like "talent" and "gifted"!
"The mock battle will be starting soon. Both of you, be sure to summon your Devices in Phantom Form," Kurono said.
"Snarl. ──Ryuuzume."
"Serve my will, Laevatein!" Stella materialized her soul in Phantom Form, a form in which attacks chipped away at the enemy's stamina instead of doing real damage. Facing Sora, she swore: I will defy all expectations.
And then, Stella swung her Lævateinn like a conductor's baton. "Burn to dust. ──Broken Arrow." She ordered the super hot spheres exceeding a hundred behind her back. Answering that command, the fame spheres waiting in air behind Stella shot out with vigor, becoming arrows of light to assault the Sword Emperor of Wind. The carpet bombing of intense heat that would bury everything within the width of the ring approached.
Stella's overwhelming magic power that nobody could catch up to except Sora, did not leave any gaps for Sora to evade... 「D-Direct hiit! The fame sweeped the ring and raised black smoke!」 Furthermore, it did not stop with one hit. More arrows of fame rained down onto the location where the fames had swallowed Sora. Explosive noise and confagration. Not a single person in the venue could see Ouma's figure anymore. It was not unreasonable. What Stella used was an excessive violence to defeat a single person.
However── 「However, it doesn't seem to be efective.」
──Even so, the opponent was the Sword Emperor of Wind. Right after Saikyou murmured so. Breaking through the flame and dust from Stella's simultaneous firing, Sora's figure showed up. There was not a speck of soot on his clothes. He did not mind the incoming bombing, and broke through from the center by using his power to control the wind to take it on. He did not decelerate at all, rather, he was approaching Stella while accelerating.
──I won't be stopped by such fireworks.
The gaze behind his bangs swaying in the storm was telling her that.
Towards that gaze of Sora...
"Empress Dress."
Stella also responded with another move. Holding Lævateinn upright tightly in her hand, her whole body wrapped in fame, she stepped forward herself.
「Contender Stella has wrapped herself in a dress of flame! The heat is burning the atmosphere to the extent of twisting her surrounding scenery!」
Stella's flame, Dragon Breath, had a temperature of three thousand degrees Celsius. Not to mention a direct hit, just entering its range would cause the skin to be burned to crisp.
However── 「However, Contender Sora isn't stopping! He dashed into the zone of burning air!」
「That's cause Sora-chan's ability is 「Wind」 after all. Since it's conductive heat, so he just needs to make a vacuum heat insulating wall to prevent the heat from transmitting through. Rather than that ── the audience-chan sitting at the front most row should brace themselves.」
「Brace themselves?」 At the instant the announcer felt confused about what that meant, it happened. Stella and Sora, the Devices those two swung clashed...
──The noise produced from the clash, which exceeded the realm of sound and could only be described as shockwave, slammed the whole dome with a physical impact.
「「「UWAaAAAAAAAAAA～～～～～!」」」
The audience leaning next to the fence were blown back by the 「sound」 of the clash between the swords of those two and landed on their bottoms. Furthermore, it did not end with just one strike.
Second time, third time── Every time the flaming red sword and jade wind blade crossed each other, the fence would squeak, and the glass windows would vibrate.
「I-It stiiings! T-This is what you call the sound of swords clashing!? It's just like the explosive noise and shockwave from a collision between high speed jet planes!」
However, despite releasing so much energy, the two people at the epicenter did not retreat a single step, and continued to clash their swords.
And after crossing for about ten times── A loud explosive sound, as if ten streaks of lightning struck down, echoed, blowing both of them towards the edges of the ring at the same time.
"I see. As expected of your power. To be able to match my sword straight on." Sora praised Stella's ability as numbness remained in his own arm. Because he had not experienced a clashing of swords for a long time.
However── "However, it's only at the level of numbing my arm. This much won't be enough to take my life." Sora's expression clearly showed that he had room to spare as he told her.
Stella pouted in displeasure. "...You're still quite carefree, huh."
"Oh no. Just what I thought."
The one who said that belonged to a woman who has the appearance and stature of a preschooler, being very small, for her age. She has long dark back length hair, which consists of bangs that cover her forehead.
She is usually seen wearing cherry blossom kimono, and an eye-catching red haori, that is too long for her, both low cut and hanging off her shoulder. She also wears clogs, which are heard when she is walking.
They look to see her at the far end of the booth.
"I really can't believe you, Ku-Chan. You need to tell me these things, especially when we have a packed house such as this," she told her as she watched the fight as well.
"Either way, you'll detect it and manage to get here," said Kurono as she looked back at the fight.
"That's true," the small woman replied. "But you didn't see this coming, did you? I didn't think that Yukio would actually do this…"
'Ayato, you can control that power more than this,' she thought. 'I know it and you shouldn't have to keep hiding who you are.'
What's going on here? Stella Vermillion couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Any normal opponent would've been crushed by the immense power of just one of her attacks. A situation where they "can't get a single hit in" couldn't have been happening, could it? They should have been down for the count already. Blocking her attacks should have been impossible.
But if that were the case, how could she explain the current situation? Despite her one-sided assault, a cold sweat formed on her brow. He can barely even dodge? He's just defending? It's just a matter of time? They're all wrong, Stella realized. He's toying with me!
"Haaah!" Stella took another swing at her enemy with Lævateinn, and Sora again blocked the attack with Ryuuzume. He didn't take the blow head-on, however, instead using the momentum from the impact to leap away. Again?!
To the untrained eye, Ayato appeared to have been blown away by her attack, but that was wrong. Stella's immense power was canceled out entirely by Ayato's technique & power. Defending oneself with a gentle parry was no simple feat. Equal in power and he would be crushed by the weapon; little difference in power and he would be powerless to defend against the next strike.
Power adjustment, angle, and timing—if even one detail was off by so much as a fraction, that tightrope walk would have ended in a fall, yet the samurai before her had pulled it off without even breaking a sweat. Faced with that realization, feelings that could only be called fear began to build in her heart. Alarms blared inside her head, screaming, This enemy is beyond dangerous!
"Can't you do anything but run away?!" Stella taunted as she continued her assault, hoping to hide her fear.
Sora didn't even bother to respond, however. With his vague, mischievous grin gone, he simply watched her unresponsively, carefully, almost to the point that it was scary.
I can't stand that look! He was looking into her; beyond her clothing and her skin, down to the very fibers of her muscles. He monitored every minute twitch, every breath she took. His gaze must have been the source of her discomfort. Only then did she realize what he was doing.
Ayato was trying to gather information on her Imperial Sword Style by watching her movements. "My style isn't so basic that someone like you could imitate it!" she boasted.
"You think? 'Cause I've already got it."
"Wha—?!"
The tables had turned. For the first time since their battle began, after nearly five minutes, Ayato Hosomaki was on the offensive. It was suicide; no matter how great his swordplay, a samurai who came face to face with a tank would logically be destroyed by its cannon with his own Huge Power. Logically.
"Ngh!"
Somehow, however, Stella was forced backward. In sword-to-sword combat, the clear winner in terms of strength was being pushed back. Why? The answer lay in the ray of light traced by Ryuuzutsu's movements. Without question, it was Stella's own Imperial Sword Style.
"Impossible…! Where did you learn that?!" As the words escaped her lips, something—the most unthinkably terrifying possibility—flashed through Stella's mind.
"Did you… steal my technique while we were fighting?!"
"Well, that's just how it goes. Nobody liked me as a kid, so nobody taught me anything. I had to watch other people and steal their techniques for myself. I'm so good at it that I can pretty much learn any sword style in under a minute."
One's swordplay revealed their knowledge; their form revealed their traditions; their technique revealed their principles. Seeing through the leaves and branches to the root of the matter made it easy to grasp the enemy's style and formulate a way to respond to it.
"Once you reach that level of understanding, you can come up with your own style to counter your foe's."
But how could one completely nullify the enemy's sword style? Simply revise every last bit of the enemy's style and combine it all into a new one.
Old methods always fall to new. And once one knew everything there was to know about the old way, they would subconsciously compensate for its deficiencies. It inevitably provided one with the ability to preempt their foe.
"Stealing my enemies' techniques and making them my own is a technique I came up with, Blade Steal. It took two whole minutes to steal your style because it's so well-refined, and another thirty seconds to surpass it. But now that I've mastered your style, I figure it's time for my counterattack."
"H-Hey, is the princess really getting beaten back?!"
The tide of battle was turning against Stella, causing a stir among the audience. But she was more shocked than anyone. Not only had she been eclipsed in swordsmanship & Magic, but her very own sword style had been stolen from her and overwritten for the specific purpose of surpassing the original.
He had uncovered so much knowledge, so much history, stealing her special technique just by watching the flash of her sword. It was as if his observational skills could bring anything to light. On top of all that, the samurai before her wasn't using Much of his magical power with It.
To that man, surpassing the Imperial Sword Style and toying with a Rank A knight, the Stella Vermillion, were purely physical feats. Just how much practice did it take for him to reach that level?
He's too strong!
There was no longer any doubt in her mind. In terms of swordsmanship, he far exceeded her. Her style was simply no match for his knowledge and experience. Stella accepted that fact.
The Rank A knight and Crimson Flaming Princess, Stella Vermillion Gremory, was able to do so thanks to her resolve to surpass all those who were above her.
If he's figured out my style, then I'll just use that to my advantage! Stella prepared for another slash with Lævateinn, and Ayato instantly raised Ryuuzetsu to meet it. Her attack appeared to be a downward swing.
Just from her preparations, Ayato had calculated the angle and force of what appeared to be a downward swing, formulating a response, but he had actually fallen for her trap.
It worked! With a smirk, Stella jumped back without following through on her strike, expecting to take him by surprise given how well he knew her technique.
Though she had been on the offensive for the whole fight, she was forced into the defensive role.
The very fact that Ayato had preempted her attack was what caused him to fall for her feint. His blade hit nothing but air, which was just what Stella hoped for.
She unleashed a horizontal slash, a sudden shift in tactics from her usual thrusts. Ryuuzetsu, still mid-swing, would be unable to parry her attack in time. Lævateinn would then cut deep into his exposed torso—or so she thought.
"Your swordsmanship is slipping," he said, and parried the blow before it could reach him. H-How?! She had changed her rhythm and method of attack; she had outsmarted him. Intetsu shouldn't have been in a position to parry her swing.
But it did! Why?! The answer: its hilt. Ayato had defended himself from her retreating slash using Ryuuzetsu's hilt, of all things. Her blade struck directly between the hands he used to wield it.
How is his eyesight so good?!
"You're trying to rush your victory because you're flustered. Taking potshots while you run away isn't your style; even someone like me can parry a blow from cowardly attacks like that. Losing control is a fatal error! Haaaaaaah!"
Ayato shouted, powerfully repelling Lævateinn before bringing his blade down on the defenseless Stella.
"It's over?!"
"His swing hit its mark. He must've won."
"No way… A top-tier Rank A like Stella lost?"
"She didn't take him seriously. That's the only way—"
"No, wait! Look!"
The crowd, dumbfounded by what had just happened, fixed their gaze on Stella's right shoulder. Ryuuzutsu dealt a clean hit to her right shoulder—but stopped there. Even with all of his strength behind that blow, Sora was only able to damage Stella slightly.
Sora immediately backed away from her as Stella's eyes were shadowed by her hair and said, "It doesn't look good. To win like this."
"You knew that my sword couldn't hurt you, and yet you decided to swords," Yukio told her.
"Yes, so that I could beat you with my sword skill, and let everyone know that I'm not just a gifted person," Stella replied. "However, you should also know that this duel…is not just about swords. We can also use magic and martial arts, right?"
"The reason I was able to win Because It Was certainly thanks to my magic ability. So with the greatest due respect, I will defeat you." She said and then Sora did something that surprised Kurono and the young woman: He smiled a genuine smile as his hair shadowed his eyes.. "I see. Well then I have to say that with all due respect, that you won't and I'll show why right now." Sora said.
Sora couldn't move due to the heat entering his body all of a sudden.
'W-What is going on?' he asked. 'My body…what's happening to me?'
Sora felt something hot in his body, and it was only getting hotter. What he didn't know was that one of his three Seals that his older Sister placed in him, was about to be unlocked; the second one to be exact as the first was already unlocked thanks to his Sacred Gear.
'It looks like my plan to continue to stay hidden just got tossed out the window.' Sora Thought
"Pierce the blue sky, flame of purgatory!"
When she raised Lævateinn to the sky, the fire within it grew ever brighter, ever hotter, until it became more accurate to call it a pillar of light, spreading even beyond the dome's ceiling.
"Whoooooa!"
"This is ridiculous! Is that even still her?!"
Stella's sword, far beyond three hundred feet in length, was as the sun itself— an aurora of pure destruction. She had unleashed the prized Noble Art belonging to the Crimson Princess, a Rank A knight. She clearly had no intention of trading blows anymore; she wasn't vain enough to believe she could.
She was well aware that Sora's swordsmanship & Power far outclassed her own, and her acceptance of that fact only furthered her desire to destroy the battlefield using her unfair level of raw talent.
"You're done for. It would be better for both of us if you accepted defeat gracefully."
The words she spoke before her final strike were full of nothing but respect. It was for his sake as well as her own that she was going to crush him with the decisive power of her talent.
Anyone who dedicates themselves to their work like that can be successful in anything they choose to do, Stella except this poor excuse for a Mage-Knight. His fatal flaw is that he can't Control his talent.
I don't know how strong this guy really is, but I do know that he means business!
In order to defeat him, she couldn't hold anything back at any point during their fight. If opening with Katharterio Salamandra was all it took to finish the match, that was fine with her. If not, she would learn her enemy's true strength through how he countered. That was Stella's decision, her determination leaping like the temperature.
"Hmph. Is that really how you intend to end this? Boring." With a savage grin that revealed his canines, Sora responded with his own most powerful Noble Art. Ironically, it involved the same movements as Stella's.
Gripping his long sword with both hands, he held it aloft as he poured magic into it. As the Gale Sword Emperor, Sora's ability was the manipulation of nature, specifically wind. The savage gale born from his power created a tornado centered around Ryuuzume, devouring the air around him.
Likewise, debris and fire were swallowed by the storm that consumed everything in its wake. Once the violent storm had grown and condensed around his sword to the point that it too seemed to have mass, Sora coolly uttered a single word: "Kusanagi."
A sword of blinding flame versus a sword of raging wind. Each one was nearly two hundred feet in length, able to attack at an unprecedented range. They were more than capable of bridging the hundred-foot gap between their wielders. Both warriors simultaneously swung their supermassive swords down on their waiting foe, the blades colliding in midair. Instantly, the reinforced elements summoned by the knights' magic, flame and wind, began to grind each other away, sending sparks flying. The sparks quickly began to unravel, becoming storms and conflagrations of their own that continued to wreak havoc on the surrounding area as they battled.
At long last, however, the competition between the blinding flame and raging wind began to break down. The Crimson Princess was being forced back. N-No way! The bones in Stella's arms creaked. Her heels gradually dug into the asphalt beneath them, carving fissures into it. Though she prided herself on her unprecedented strength, she was under pressure she had never faced before. I'm actually losing in a battle of raw strength?! The sheer power that Sora was unleashing bewildered Stella; she had never experienced anything like it. Unable to keep up, her plan to use Katharterio Salamandra to ascertain her opponent's strength began to collapse at an alarming rate. Never before had she come across so much as a single person who could withstand a frontal attack from her esteemed Noble Art, but Sora had done just that, and was even pushing her back. Stella could hardly believe her eyes, let alone measure his strength.
She had no experience facing such a situation, and with that lack of experience came a lack of ideas as to how to recover. I don't know what to do…! Slowly, gradually, the perfect cross shape created by the blades distorted. Raging wind overcame blinding flame, the tornado grinding away at the light pillar like a drill. Finally, the blade of Katharterio Salamandra was severed, and Kusanagi descended toward Stella's head.
Oh no! Reeling from the overpowering force that broke her sword, Stella couldn't move to escape her opponent's attack. Nobody was able to jump in to save her, either, as everyone else in the area was preoccupied with protecting themselves from the incredible impact of the Rank A knights' swords. Stella was going to be hit.
Slash!
Its speed and Power left her no time to intercept, no time to defend, no time to even scream; The dragon's claw, cloaked in wind, mercilessly dragged Stella into the darkness. All her strength left her and she collapsed. It was a special kind of blackout, experienced when one took what would have been a fatal blow from a Noble Art in Phantom Form.
Ittou Shura brought down the Crimson Princess with only one strike.
"That's enough! The winner is Sora Kurogane!" As Kurono announced the winner, the students watching the spectacle stared silently at the failed knight before them, shocked beyond belief by the unimaginable outcome.
"Finally awake, Vermillion?" Kurono asked, smoking a cigarette while sitting next to her on the bed with Slivia,Rebecca,Rias,and Mio.
"Your room. You collapsed after being dealt a would-be fatal wound by a Device in Phantom Form. You weren't hurt enough to need a doctor or an iPS capsule, so I was told to let you get some rest." Said Mio.
"So that really did happen, then?" Her mood worsened as she came to that realization. She had hoped that it was a dream, but of course, the truth could never be that convenient. She had lost. Even worse, there was no excuse for how terrible a loss it was. "Heh, so this is what it's like to lose."
"There's no point in dwelling on it. Sora even bested me, albeit in a handicapped battle. You're just not up to the task of beating him right now."
"He could even best the former third-rank, the World's Clock? That's insane," Stella replied.
"Rias, how is he holding up?" Rias nodded slightly at Stella's question and gazed at the top of the bunk bed. "He's in much worse shape than you are, but don't worry. He'll live."
Stella crawled out of bed and looked up to see Sora, pale-faced and wearing a tank top . He could've been easily mistaken for a dead man were it not for the snoring.
"He saved enough energy to change clothes and hop into bed, at least," she added. "If he couldn't do that much, his technique would be too inconvenient to use. Kurogane must have been careful to keep that in mind."
"Doing that doesn't take that much effort, anyway." It left him completely unable to fight. If he used it improperly even once, he would be down for the count in no time. But the extreme high that ultimately led to self-destruction allowed him to overcome the extreme High of his normal ability levels.
"What's his story, Director?"
"What do you mean?" Kurono asked in response to Stella's question
"In any case, it's strange for someone like him to be an A Rank and still a Breeder! Please explain to me exactly what's going on!"
"Indeed. Vermillion, doesn't the name Kurogane ring a bell?"
She shouldn't know. That's what she wanted to say, but one person with that surname appeared in her mind. "Wait, no way… Samurai Ryouma?"
"Exactly. The hero who guided Japan to victory in the Second World War, Samurai Ryouma. His real name is Ryouma Kurogane, and he's Sora Blake Kurogane's great-grandfather. Even without him, the Kurogane clan is a distinguished family dating from the Meiji era that has produced superior Blazers for generations, and holds strong clout in mage-knight society.
That clan tryed to put direct pressure on Hagun Academy and said, 'Don't let Sora Blake Kurogane, the reprobate who fled the Kurogane house, graduate.'
"To uphold their distinguished family's prestige. If an outlier like an A-Rank was born with the Chalice from their lineage, it would make them jealous of him and Him Alone. They probably thought something like that, since knights today emphasize rank and Talent more than anything else.
(Few minutes later)
Stella, now somewhat abandoned, looked up at the upper bunk bed and studied the boy who defeated her. I'm… certainly not weak. She wasn't brash enough to think she was the strongest in the world, but she'd never lose to a person of mediocre ability. Sora was very strong, and she was curious about the source of that strength. She wanted to know how he could continue to believe in himself without all that mistreatment overcoming him.
She walked over to him and climbed up the ladder to get a better view of him. She saw that his shirt was riding up only a bit and decided to try and reach over to touch him. When her hand touched his back she blushed at the feeling of his skin. "So this is the back of a man..." She said.
'Its.. so soft.' She thought as she caused his shirt to raise up some more. However, that was when she noticed the appearance of scars on his back. 'How did he get these it almost if he had something shoot right through him.' She thought before Sora then rolled onto his back trapping her hand under his arm. "Th-this isn't good! W-well, Right, If I do this..." Stella said before she found herself on top of Sora straddling his waist.
"Oops?" She said before she got her hand free. She then covered her mouth afraid she might wake him. She then glanced at his shirt and she saw a bit of it exposed abdomen. 'Huh? The scars on his back are worse than the ones on his abdomen. I thought they went through and through.' Stella thought. Stella moved her hand to touch his body,
"So this is the body of a man..." She said as she touched the part of the scar that went over his heart. It was at that moment that she felt a huge amount of his magical energy surge through her body.
"Wow! Such strong energy!" She said as she started to breathe heavily while she held herself. A pleasurable cool feeling coursed through her as her blush reddened.
"Wh-what's happening to me?" She said as she struggled to calm herself down.
"Tch. Is she just gonna tell the world about my delicate family matters…? Sorry about that. I'm sure it wasn't a very fun story."
"Knowing That I want You to tell Me. Why are you aiming for Knighthood despite having to facing all that suffering? He almost enjoyed hearing her disparage him again.
There wasn't really any reason not to tell her. It was a bit embarrassing to talk about, but if she insisted, he didn't particularly mind.
"A certain man is my role model," he told her. "Your role model? Are you talking about Samurai Ryouma?"
Sora knew that name, the name of the man anyone in the Kurogane family would look up to, would come up sooner or later.
"That's right," Sora responded. "He's one of my great-grandfathers. And he's one of the many people I'm aiming to become. Generation after generation, the Kurogane family have produced excellent Blazers and Soul Reaper Blazers and Devils, thanks to the Sparda bloodline that we all carry. We're what you'd call a distinguished family. "Yeah. You got it. While I had talent, I was also a hybrid, except for my parents and my sisters. Family gatherings never included a seat for me. I heard those voices – of people having fun."
"You're worthless, so you should remain worthless."
Sora's fifth birthday was neatly summed up in his father's last words to him. Ever since then, his father had never said a word to him. In fact, he may never have even looked in Sora's direction. The patriarch's decision had affected the rest of the family as well. Everyone had treated Sora Blake Kurogane Sparda like he never even existed. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt. He'd often wished that he hadn't been born.
"Then one year, on my 5th birthday, I lost my parents, my home, even the girl that I tried to save while we were attacked, everything. I was the only survivor and I had to escape, but I had nowhere to go. And to make matters worse, it was a heavy snowstorm, and it got so rough, I got lost pretty quickly. Knowing that my attackers may be getting closer, I was ready for death. That's when I just kept thinking…how frustrating it was that this was my end.
And that's when he appeared before me."
"Samurai Ryouma?" Stella asked.
"Yeah," Sora answered. "I remember word-for-word what he said to me back then…"
(FLASHBACK TIME! – 10 years ago)
"Are you annoyed, youngster?" he asked as he looked at the bruised Sora. "Do you regret of what you've done back there? Don't throw away that frustration just because you couldn't control your powers. That's proof that you haven't given up yet. On yourself, that is."
As he was carried back by his great-grandfather, Ryouma continued, "Got it, boy? Don't become a worthless man who has given up and says that they're living within their means. A person can do anything if they refuse to give up. After all, we're creatures with wings, and yet we've haven't gotten to Mars."
(FLASHBACK ENDS!)
"Although they were just words, they truly did save me," Sora continued. "And when I was handed over to my Godfather, that was when I decided that I'd become an adult like him and my Godfather, who taught me how to be a Hero. That if I ever come across someone in the same situation, I'd become a person who can pass along his words."
"So that's why you want to become a Magical Dragonar Knight?" Eco asked.
"But nobody would teach me anything," Sora answered. "So I always trained alone with my Godfather and the people at the Hero Clan."
"Alone…" Stella muttered as she remembered battling against some warriors all by herself at a young age.
"But I can't do that just yet. I have to be strong like him, or else my words will just sound like the complaints of a sore loser. So for now, I can't give up. If I want to be as strong as Ryouma Kurogane, I'll have to be the new Seven Stars King."
"Hmm. Would you call that your dream, Ayato?" Stella asked.
"You must think it's impossible for me." He must have hit the bullseye, as her face clouded over in discomfort. She admired his dream, at least, but as for whether he could make it real…
"You don't have to say it, and you don't have to look so sorry; I know my goal would normally be impossible. But Miss Stella, if you had a goal that you could never stand to give up on, would you give up on yourself just because others told you to?"
"Ah…" Stella's ruby eyes suddenly opened wide, as if she had suddenly come to an understanding, but her apologetic expression changed to intense laughter.
"I see." He said before silence fell between the two. However, it didn't last long as a smirk grew across Sora's face.
"So.. Vermillion you'll be... my servant, right?" Sora asked.
"Huh?" Stella asked confused.
"The loser will obey the winner for the rest of their life, right?" Sora asked and Stella blushed.
"Well, th-that was, um... a figure of speech..." Stella stuttered as she looked away.
"You'll do anything I say, right?" Sora asked.
"A-a-anything!? No! Not anything!" She said as her blush reddened and she crossed her arms.
"I see. So the princess of the royal Vermillion family can't even keep a promise she made." Sora said with he turned to look away from her with a sly smile.
At that Stella's face turned redder than a tomato as she glared at him.
"H-Hold it!" Stella took the bait, as Sora expected. She glared directly at him, her eyes red with tears.
"Just who the hell do you think I am?! I-I-I'll do it! Treat me like a servant, a dog, I don't care! Make me do whatever you want! You can even make me do something perverted for all I care! Stupid creep! I hate you!"
"What are you getting mad at me for?! This is your fault!"
Maybe I was a little too heavy on the teasing. Sora had tried to scold her in a roundabout way for so bravely putting her life on the line, but maybe he had gone too far. He regretted his playfulness. It wasn't like he wanted to make her serve him, anyway; all he really wanted was to share a room with her.
"Okay, Miss Stella. Here's your order: I want you to be my roommate."
"Uh…? Th-That's all?"
"Yeah. When we were fighting, I got to thinking that we might get along pretty well after all. Besides, I want to get to know you better. Instead of an order, consider it a request."
"Ah…" Stella's brain evaporated in response to his words, as she realized they were thinking the same thing.
"Y-Y-You've got some nerve… c-calling an unmarried princess beautiful, and… saying you want to get to know me… as if they're normal things to say! You really do lack tact…" She avoided looking at Sora, as her face was burning red, but he didn't mind.
"Oh. I guess you're not into sharing a room with a guy. S-Sorry for being weird. Should we go see my aunt together, then? I'm sure she'd be flexible enough to give you your own room if we asked."
"Wait!" Stella shouted, stopping him. "…n't mind."
"What was that?"
"C-Clean out your ears! I said I… I wouldn't mind."
"Are you sure?"
"F-First of all, it's an order, right? I don't want anyone thinking we Vermillions are liars. Th-That's all there is to it, I swear! I totally don't want to be friends with you or anything!" Her eyes darted all over the place as she threw out excuses.
There were a lot of twists and turns involved, but she eventually made it clear that she was willing to share the room with Sora. He was glad to hear it, too.
"All right. Glad you're on my side, Miss Stella."
"Not like I have a choice. Hmph." Stella reluctantly shook his hand, turning up her nose at him. Her hand was smaller and warmer than he'd imagined.
"Stella." She said and Sora tilted his head.
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"If you don't call me by my name, I won't try to make this work." she said as she closed her eyes.
A small smile spread across Sora's face before he chuckled and then looked at her.
"Alright then. I hope we can make this work.. Stella." Sora said and Stella smiled brightly which made Sora blush slightly.
"If you insist on it Sora. Let's try and make this work." Stella said as she held out her fist to him. Sora smiled before he made a fist and gently bumped fists with her.
(The Few Next Days)
An eye was staring at Eco in the dark. Its blood red pupils were blazing like a burning torch. One, two, three... The number of eyes were increasing.
"Don't... Don't look at me!"
Eco ran wildly as if to escape the ominous sight. She was wandering in the dark without any direction. But regardless of how far Eco ran, she couldn't escape those eyes. Those blood red eyes, like moons hanging up high in the sky, were staring down at Eco.
"H-Help..."
Eco, who usually didn't communicate any signs of weakness, shouted out loud for help - because her overriding fear had long exceeded her self-esteem limit.
"Sora… Please help me!"
Even when she had shouted a name, that she rarely mentioned, there was no response.
"Urk...!"
Eco suddenly fell to the ground hitting her face hard. The cause seemed to be something wrapped around her right ankle. That has to be the culprit that tripped her.
"W-What is this...?"
Eco wanted to stand up quickly but now… Even her left ankle was caught.
"No... Don't!"
Even when Eco was clinging to the ground, struggling to avoid being pulled away, her efforts were in vain. Her fingers just couldn't cling to the dark slippery surface which eerily felt like the skin of a soft animal. In only a few moments Eco's hands had also been entangled and she lost their freedom. In the next second she was easily raised up in mid-air. This frightening feeling… Eco had experienced it before.
"Is this a... Necromancia?"
Soon, an object with nine eyes appeared in front of Eco. Its eyes became the only light source which dimly lit up its surroundings. The initial black shadow had finally revealed its true-self. It was a shocking space covered with a dense mass of creepy purple worms. But those creepy objects were no ordinary earthworms. Each of the worm was, in reality, a tentacle thicker than Eco's arm. Those countless tentacles were facing Eco.
"Eek…"
Eco kept on struggling. If this continued her body will be sacrificed for those tentacles. However, the more she struggled, the more firmly the tentacles gripped her hands and legs. Not only that… The rest of the tentacles had launched a series of attacks targeted at tearing Eco's clothes.
"Stop…!"
Those frightening tentacles were squirming on Eco's naked skin. Such as over her chest, on the tummy, and along the inner thighs... Eco was frightened enough to have goosebumps.
"S-Stop. How dare you look down on me!"
Even though she shouted with all her might… The tentacles attack only became more intensified.
"I've had enough... This is... Too cruel..."
In the end Eco, who was now covered only in ripped and tattered rags, was hanging in mid-air almost naked. She felt like livestock that was led to be slaughtered.
"Boo… Hoo…" Sobbed Eco.
The humiliation Eco received made her furious almost as if her blood is boiling. However. The tentacles were not bothered in the least, by her indignation, and continued to wrap around her body unhindered.
"Why... Didn't you come and save me?"
Sora's face emerged in Eco's mind Why did he sit back, while watching his master experience such misery, and yet still refused to rescue her? No, in fact, Eco had long been aware that Sora is her master and that she was the one that was being reared. But, because of her self-esteem, she was unwilling to admit that Sora was really her master. She also, in turn, treated Sora as her pet dog.
Is this karma? If this is the case… Such a fate can only be blamed on myself.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"
Eco was in tears. Unfortunately it was too late. Even if she shouted with all her might… Sora would not show up. Eco was aware of that and she closed her eyes. No matter what kind of punishment God bestowed. She intended to accept it with her heart. The tentacles swarmed over her body gradually and eventually covered her-
Right at that moment... A low sound originated from the ground and was heard from every direction.
"This time… let's us have our stuff settled for once and for all- 'Daughter of Avalon' "
"Hey... Wake up. Hurry up..."
Sora's shoulders were vigorously shaken which caused him to wake up from his sleep.
"Hmm... Eco?"
While rubbing his sleepy eyes Sora looked around. The room was dark and the sun's rays that managed to pass through the curtains silts were still very weak. It seemed to be some time before the morning bell rang. Sora was rather surprised for such a rare thing to happen. Eco had actually woken up early and, then of course, woken up Sora. It was a rare sight for Eco, who was a sleepy head, by nature. More surprisingly he felt nothing of her usual aggressiveness.
"What's wrong with you?"
Suddenly sweeping away his sleepiness, Sora jumped up from his bed to examine Eco's peculiar behavior.
"That..." Eco showed some uneasiness in her expression.
For Eco, who was always acting haughty, it was hard to think that she could make such an expression. Even her pair of stubs, that signified a young dragon, looked pale. In addition, he was also very surprised that Eco had already put on her clothing this morning. Because in the past, Eco always woke up naked - Without any exception. Sora was surprised to find that there was a hint of soap fragrance emanating from Eco's body. It seems that she had taken her bath while Sora was sleeping.
"What's the matter?"
"On the bed... That..."
Eco flushed while she looked at the bed.
"What's wrong with the bed?"
Sora crawled out from the futon on the floor, and moved towards the bed. Eco, with her embarrassed expression, looks downward and blushed. Judging by the looks on her face, Sora finally understood why. He remembered his conversation in the past with Eco.
-"Anyway... I have not seen you secrete a Bright Dragon Crystal."
-"How can I casually expose those shameful things in front of others!"
-"Bright Dragon Crystals are formed when excess magic crystallizes(?) Even when seen… I think it is no big deal….! "
-"Although I do not deny that I inevitably will run into the kind of really intolerable situation. At least carelessly become incontinence..."
"Ahh… Now I understand. Eco. You have finally undergone incontinence. Is it not?"
After Sora cast her a snappish smile Eco's shoulders are shaking.
"I- I. It is not my intention to do so... There are always times when things happen without our consciousness!"
"It is alright and don't you worry about it. Anyway, for us humans, it's no big deal."
"Really?"
"Of course. I even wanted to carry it as a good luck charm!"
"Wha-What did you say?"
"Hey. What are you fussing about? In fact. There are also many students who carry them along as an amulet!"
"I-I can't believe it... Also. How do they carry it?"
"You just have to put it in your pocket or inside the bag!"
"H-How is it possible...? Are you kidding me? Those liquid...
"Liquid? You are the one who is joking. It's always solid!"
Upon hearing that Eco clenched her teeth.
"What do you think I had come out with! How could it be solid!"
Sora crossed his arms and thought. He had never heard of a liquid Bright Dragon Crystal. Even though he had become more and more curious about what had happened. But, the real priority was to calm down Eco's anger. Sora took a deep breath to calm down his heart. What he needed right now was to speak with her.
"Listen to me carefully. There exist many differences between human's and dragon's cognition. Perhaps to dragons, it is indeed a very shameful thing, but for us humans that is but a small matter."
"Err…"
Even though Eco was still hiding something, perhaps she was moved by Sora, her temper finally calmed down.
"So please let me have a look."
Sora stretched out his hand towards the bed, but Eco quickly blocked.
"I-I really can't... It is too shameful!"
Seeing Eco blushing and humbly pleading, Sora's heart started to race.
"Don't worry. Eco. You are my pal! Regardless of what substance you had secreted I will never abandon you and will never laugh at you. I will accept you as who you are."
"... Really?"
Eco's eyes were wet as if she was deeply moved and she finally moved aside.
"Alright... I believe in you."
"Then I'll make my move."
With mixed feelings Sora flipped over the blanket.
"...?"
However, the moment he saw the sheets, Sora was shocked. There was a huge world map on the middle of the bed sheet. When Sora was still in his family home, he had helped take care of his younger sister and Been taken care of By his Older Sister as well . This sight made him felt a little nostalgic.
"You... After this long argument… You wet the bed!"
"If not so, what were you originally thinking about!"
Eco flushed while shaking her pair of fists.
"Err. I originally thought it was the... Bright Dragon Crystal."
"Don't you know how many times more shameful it is to come out with the Bright Dragon Crystal!"
"Is that so- Urgh!"
With Eco iron fist bursting, Sora was knocked against the wall in one hit. If he wanted to fix the gap between humans and dragons… It seemed that he needed to communicate with her more.
Part 5The school's students were assembled in the hall for the first period in the morning. The school had also announced the change of seasonal uniforms on the same day as the arrival of the month of Gemini. Raymond, and many others, were delightfully surprised by being able to see the girls in their lighter clothes. But for Sora…
It was the beginning of a worrisome, self conscious period. Sora's left hand was engraved with the dragons' contract - Seikoku.
Generally, the size of the Seikoku would not be any larger than the size of a palm. But somehow, Sora's Seikoku was far larger than the normal ones. The large area it covered spanned his whole left arm. Sora had decided, from the bottom of his heart, to hate that shocking pattern and had never liked to show it to others. Actually, in the past, he was often ridiculed because of his unique Seikoku and the Only Son of the Kurogane Family. Sora, who could no longer bear this, had ultimately decided to cover his left arms's Seikoku with bandages.
The problem was, once it changed to the short-sleeved summer uniform, another problem would be born from it. The bandages originally served the purpose of covering the Seikoku to prevent the others from being disgusted. But, once it was summer, those exposed bandages instead had been attracting attention. That was why the reason Sora hated seasonal changes... was understandable. Before long the Chancellor made his appearance in front of the podium and the hall become silent immediately .
"Surely you must have been looking forward to it for a long time my students. I'll immediately announce the list of participants eligible for the Selective Training Camp."
Sora personally felt there was a little nervousness in the air which was different from the usual school assemblies. For those who were like Sora that 'will-never-be-selected' naturally they were not particularly tense. However, for those students who harbored a slight hope, their palms were sweating with nervousness. The chancellor, who was always friendly and cheerful, had put on a priest like serious expression.
"For those who are named, please answer loudly and come forward."
The chancellor moved his eyes downward to look at the name list.
"Advance course third grade. Rebecca Randall-san."
"Hai!"
Rebecca coolly left the group of students from the highest grade and moved forward. The red hair looked as if it was blazing more than usual. The chancellor read out the names of those selected one by one. The students from the higher grades consisted of most of the students. There were more than thirty people who were from the third and second grade of the advance course.
"Next is the advance class first year. Silvia Lautreamont fourth Princess."
"Hai!"
After she answered with an exceptionally brave voice, Silvia left the first grade group to stand on the podium in front. Her bright blond hair looked like a bright aura that only gods had.
"Hey! what are you mesmerizing about? Are you in love with her?"
Raymond casually whispered in Sora's ear.
"H-How could I be! She is a Princess!"
Sora quickly refuted. His cheeks were red hot.
"Haha. Of course I was kidding. Anyway. She is a flower on a high ridge."
Raymond who, had just laughed whole heartedly, suddenly became serious.
"That being said… The only boy Princess trusts is you."
"T-That is because we help each other in the student council? "
"Maybe you are the only one who thinks so?"
After Raymond gave an evil laugh their attention turned back to the podium. The chancellor continued naming.
"Advanced class first grade. Maximillian Russell-san."
"Advanced class first grade. Jessica Valentine-san."
As the treasurer of the student council and at the same time also a friend of Sora, Max was chosen. Although it was a surprise that Jessica was also chosen, but Sora remembered, the comment that Rebecca gave her was "She is able to overcome any difficulty if she her heart desired it."
"- Next is the Basic class."
After a break, the chancellor flipped the name list over. By doing this, it was confirmed that Ash was not selected. Although he has held few expectations at the start, but there was inevitably some regret. By having such feeling, Sora himself thought that was very extraordinary. Because in his past self, he would not even be bothered.
"This year, there is only one student from the basic class selected. Third grade Lucca Sarlinen."
A foreign name came out from the chancellor's mouth. But the hall was silent. Lucca Sarlinen did not respond for any reason. Soon the students began to chatter amongst themselves. Raymond, who was no exception, started to talk to Sora.
"It's hard to imagine that a serious girl like her is absent..."
"Do you know her?"
Raymond looked at Ash in astonishment.
"You are the weird one for not knowing her! Lucca Sarlinen is a celebrity seconded only by the 'Scarlet Empress' and 'Ice Blue Princess'!"
The former refered to Rebecca and the latter was Silvia. Since she was below these two but it still meant that she was really famous.
"Is it?... Is she such an amazing student?"
"She is a genius for being the youngest ever to be appointed as a Dragner! Isn't that terrific enough?"
"Hold on. The one who held the record for being the youngest isn't it Rebecca-san...?"
"The one who rewrote Rebecca onee-san's record is no other than Lucca Sarlinen! Moreover. she is obviously the secretary from the student council! How come you don't know her?"
Raymond obviously looked surprised.
"You can't blame me… We never even met."
"You've never met each other... Is it true?"
Although Raymond was not yet satisfied, unfortunately they could no longer continue their private conversation. The chancellor who had received an explanation from the teachers continued to speak:
"Lucca Sarlinen-san is absent because of an illness. Then finally -"
However, because a sudden burst of resentfulness swept the auditorium, the chancellor had failed to finish his words. Sora looked around puzzled. It appeared that some students were protesting against Lucca Sarlinen being selected.
"What is happening? It is just that she took her leave and is absent? What's there to be angry about?"
Right after Sora asked Raymond, with a bitter face, replied:
"I heard that she was absent, not only from today's school assembly, for about three months. For someone who is absent for so long, to be selected, it is not a wonder for some people to get angry."
"Why has she been absent for three months? Is She injured or sick?"
"...the rumors might be true."
Raymond actually said something with deep meaning… Which made Ash curious.
"What rumors-?"
At this time the chancellor, who was famous for his gentleness, spoke with his rarely used commanding voice:
"Silence! It is true that Lucca-san has been absent for a long time. But she has left good results. Her total results topped the fifth so we selected Lucca-san."
The chancellor's righteous explanation instantly calmed down the waves of protestation.
"So then. I'll finally announce the 'Specially Recommended' student. The Specially Recommended Student System was only adopted this year. It is evaluated by the student council president and not by the staff. Rebecca-san, you picked this student personally, so please take my place and announce his name."
"Hai."
Rebecca coolly walked up to the podium.
"As you have just heard, based on the Specially Recommended System, I have selected one student for the Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy's Selective Training Camp to be held at the Allonnes lakeside."
Rebecca suddenly stopped after saying that. A terrible suspenseful silence enveloped the hall. Everyone present was nervous… Quietly waiting for Rebecca to announce the name.
"That student is - Advance class first grade. Sora Blake."